Monday Memo 1276: They Let the Boys Live

Shiphrah and Puah — Exodus 1:15–21

As Israel multiplied in Egypt, Pharaoh became increasingly afraid of the Hebrew people. His first response was to oppress them with forced labor, but when that didn't stop their growth, he devised an even more sinister plan. He summoned two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, and ordered them to kill every Hebrew boy at birth while allowing the girls to live.

The NIV identifies them as “the Hebrew midwives,” although the original language can also be understood as the midwives who served the Hebrew women. Therefore, we can't be absolutely certain whether Shiphrah and Puah were themselves Hebrews. What we do know is what mattered most about them: “The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live” (Exodus 1:17).

WHAT DO YOU PRODUCE?

Think about what Pharaoh was asking these women to do. Midwives helped bring life safely into the world, but Pharaoh ordered them to use their position to produce death. He was asking them to use their skills and access for the exact opposite of what those things were intended to accomplish.

That raises an important purpose question: What does your purpose produce? Perhaps you teach and produce understanding. Maybe you organize and produce order, create and produce beauty, lead and produce progress, or encourage and produce hope. Your purpose isn't simply what you do; it also has an impact on the people you serve.

Shiphrah and Puah understood what they were there to do, and they refused to allow Pharaoh to redefine it. That's an important lesson because there will always be pressure to use what you have for purposes other than those God intended. Money, recognition, acceptance, fear, and even authority can tempt you to compromise what you know is right.

THEY FEARED GOD

Pharaoh was the most powerful man in Egypt, but the midwives feared someone more powerful. Scripture specifically tells us they disobeyed Pharaoh because they “feared God.” Their fear of God established a boundary that Pharaoh couldn't cross.

When Pharaoh confronted them, they gave him an explanation for why the boys were surviving. People have debated whether their response was truthful, deceptive, or perhaps only part of the truth, but the biblical writer doesn't stop to resolve that issue. Instead, the story returns to what God thought of their actions:

“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).

They knew what their work was supposed to produce and refused to cooperate when someone ordered them to produce the opposite.

PROTECT WHAT YOUR PURPOSE PRODUCES

In our last entry, the Shunammite woman fought to maintain what God had given her. Shiphrah and Puah take that principle in a slightly different direction. They fought to protect what had been entrusted to others. Every child they helped deliver represented a future they would probably never see and a story they would never control.

Your purpose will also produce things that eventually belong to others. A teacher invests knowledge that students carry into places the teacher will never go. A writer puts ideas into readers who may pass them on to others. A leader develops people who may eventually accomplish more than the leader ever did. A parent invests in children who will make their own choices and pursue their own purpose.

That's why you need to know not only what your purpose is but what it is supposed to produce. Once you understand that, you can better recognize anything that threatens to distort, compromise, or destroy its fruit.

Shiphrah and Puah didn't overthrow Pharaoh or change Egypt's government. They simply refused to cooperate with something that violated their fear of God and contradicted the life-giving nature of their work. Sometimes purpose requires a dramatic public stand, but sometimes it simply requires you to keep doing what God equipped you to do when pressure tells you to do otherwise.

What does your purpose produce? Who benefits when you are faithful to it? And is there any pressure in your life right now tempting you to compromise its fruit? Know what God created you to produce, and don't allow anyone to turn your purpose into something it was never meant to be.

Purpose Principle: Your purpose produces something that serves others. Know what that is, protect it, and don't allow pressure, fear, or authority to make you use what God gave you contrary to His intent.