“The King of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ‘When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.’ The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ The midwives answered Pharaoh, ‘Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.’” Exodus 1:15-19
This past weekend, we talked to our daughter, Kinsey, who currently lives in Zambia. She told us about something that had happened a few days earlier. A pregnant woman who lived nearly fifty kilometers (30 miles) away knew her time was near and began walking to the clinic. Before she could get to the end of her journey, labor began and she gave birth to a baby girl on the side of a dusty road. A few minutes later, she had more pains and delivered a second baby girl. A few minutes later, pains came again and a third baby girl was born. Two of the sisters weighed four pounds and one weighed under four pounds. Somehow, the mother gathered her newborns and made it to the clinic. I would call her vigorous.
The story of the midwives preceded Pharaoh’s fiercer decision to throw every male child into the Nile River. After this horrible decree another vigorous Hebrew woman hid her baby and God raised him up to deliver a nation. The story of the Zambian triplets has only just begun. The mother said she could only afford to take care of one girl since she had other children at home, so the kind people at The Haven, a ministry for orphans at the base where Kinsey stays, agreed to keep the other two. Only God knows the future of these little ones, but the love poured out to them is from His heart.
I say the Hebrew midwives were vigorous women. They feared God more than they feared an evil king. A friend recently pointed out that God made sure their names were recorded in His Word while the powerful king’s name was omitted. He gives honor to whom honor is due.
I say the people who take care of these African orphans are vigorous. The work, the expense, the energy, the emotions, the diapers… Some would ask, “Why go to all the trouble?” But the vigorous don’t ask such questions. They have other thoughts: “Here’s a child made in the image of our Heavenly Father! I will honor life. I will care. I will serve. I will love.”
“So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.” Exodus 1:20-21