PODCAST
Who Do You Fear?
August 30th, 2011
RG AUDIO 083011Exodus 1:15-22
Hard labor wasn’t solving Pharaoh’s “Hebrew problem.” He came up with another solution–kill the boy babies at birth. The Hebrew midwives who were commanded to perform the grizzly task were in a tough place. You didn’t tell Pharaoh “no”–not if you wanted to take another breath. The text doesn’t say they feared Pharaoh; instead, they feared the God of Israel. They would not obey Pharaoh.
When the midwives were called to account for not obeying Pharaoh’s command, they came up with a creative explanation: The Hebrew women were not like Egyptian women. “They are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrived” (v. 19). Pharaoh was a man after all; he “didn’t know nothin’ about birthin’ no babies!” Pharaoh believed their explanation.
Pharaoh may not have been smart, but he was determined. He commanded his people to throw any Hebrew male infants into the Nile. “That will solve the problem,” he may have thought. Pharaoh’s “Final Solution” became the opportunity for God to open another chapter in the plan of salvation.
