Sadly, two of Exodus’ most intriguing characters, Shiphrah and Puah, frequently get overlooked.  Come on!  Admit you have no idea who Shiphrah and Puah are, and that you assumed they were make-believe words my 18 month old son invented.  While not well known, these two, very real, heroines exemplify faithful obedience and action to the living God.  In a book filled with captivating characters, Shiphrah and Puah stand out for faithfulness. 

As your primary Sunday school teacher once taught you, Exodus’ first chapter begins with Egypt’s Pharaoh resisting God’s blessing toward the immigrant Israelites.  According to Genesis, YHWH promised the patriarch Abraham’s offspring would increase and prosper.  As Exodus picks up the story, God’s fulfillment of this promise is already evident.  Abraham’s descendants are prospering financially and swelling numerically down in Egypt.  Everything appears peachy keen until a new Pharaoh arrives on the scene.   Sadly, instead of embracing and honoring God’s work among the Hebrews, the new Pharaoh forces them to work as slaves.  When Pharaoh’s forced labor plan fails to halt the immigrant community’s growth, he attempts to destroy Abraham’s heirs through systematic genocide.

With a plan worthy of the 20^th century’s most wicked despots, Pharaoh instructs the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill all male Hebrew children during delivery.  When the two heroes disobey Egypt’s King, he calls them back to the throne room and reiterates his plan for forced population control.  Nonetheless, the midwives continue to subvert the Egyptian extermination policy, because as the text says, “the midwives feared God.”  In response to their faithfulness, the bible claims God provided the midwives with houses (or families) of their own.   Additionally, in a book whose first chapters list only Moses’ and Jacob’s families by name, it is significant that the midwives’ personal names are listed.  Pharaoh’s name is unlisted, along with his magicians and counselors, in fact even the elders of Israel go unnamed.  Yet, the biblical writer found faithful Shiphrah and Puah worthy of naming.

This week Christians experiencing the blessings of God will encounter oppression and opposition like the chosen people of Exodus.  May God’s spirit grant the congregation of CFWBC, and you individually, the same strength Shiphrah and Puah possessed – the strength to remain faithful in the midst of oppression.