Friday, February 15, 2019 – Archived Post from Salvation Soldier Blog
Stand for God Like Shiphrah and Puah
If we desire to be a people who live to bring salvation to the world with the gospel of Jesus, we have to seek God’s will and walk according to it. God’s people love truth and love holiness–while the world is full of people under bondage of sin, who love their sin and the comfortable lies that allow them to keep walking away from God.
We must confront issues of great evil in our world, and in so many ways the church already does address various issues. It is encouraging to see so many in the church band together to educate people on modern day human trafficking, truly exposing some of the darkest evils of humanity. Recently evil continues baring its fangs in the U.S. as extreme politics in some state governments have passed laws, or are working to pass laws, which remove almost every restriction from abortion–the killing of unborn babies–including protections for babies born alive. In New York, at this very moment, there are no protections for babies born alive after botched abortion attempts. Babies can be left to die after birth without penalty; this is a tragedy for which there are already reported occurrences in the U.S.A., so please don’t assume abortionists will protect these babies.
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| Shiphrah and Puah |
Years ago I wrote of two faithful Hebrew midwives mentioned in Scripture, in the book of Exodus chapter 1, by the name of Shiphrah and Puah. If you read the entire account you will see a tragic story of a Pharaoh in Egypt seeking to put a stop to the rapid population growth of the Hebrew people.
In the beginning the Pharaoh tried slavery. He ordered slave masters to put the people into harsh labor all in an attempt to shorten their life expectancy and weaken their fertility. When that failed to work the Pharaoh turned to the midwives Shiphrah and Puah and ordered them to commit infanticide by killing the male babies after they were born. Regardless of the threat to their own lives the brave midwives refused to go through with the murders, making up an excuse as to why they couldn’t. The midwives were honored as women who “feared God”. Because they refused to kill the most vulnerable among us God blessed them with families of their own.
It is unfortunate that the narrative does not end there. After his plan with the midwives failed, Pharaoh ordered every male newborn to be cast into the river and a terrible slaughter ensued. The child who became the prophet who would lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses, only escaped this tragedy by the hand of God.
The final outcome of the Israelite slavery in Egypt should clearly expose God’s heart to us on the
evils of infanticide. God took the lives of the firstborn sons and firstborn cattle in Egypt. Passover was a day of redemption, and of judgment, where the blood of the Hebrew children was avenged.
What then can we say in favor of abortion and infanticide when years later the sins of Israel would grow to the point of child sacrifice to the pagan god Molech? That sin would lead to the exile of Judah, where the people would be taken into captivity in Babylon as judgment and discipline for sin.
What a terrible day it is for America when infanticide is cheered by so-called Christian politicians, and political Christians march and fight for the right to kill unborn babies without restriction. We must stand up for this oppressed, voiceless, and vulnerable group.
Picture Source:
University of Toronto Students for Life [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Shiphrah and Puah, courageous midwives
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.
Posted by Violet Nesdoly on 15 October 2015, Shiphrah and Puah (Artist unknown)
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