When Midwives Sing the Magnificat
During the season of Advent, the Christian church reflects on the incarnation of the Son of God in the person of Jesus and looks toward his promised return to consummate his kingdom. In this time between the advents of Christ, God’s people wait with expectation, cling to the promises of God, and seek to live in light of our hope – even in the dark.
At Christmas it’s common to look to the women of Luke 1 (and rightfully so) to appreciate the humility and faith of God’s servants, chosen to participate in the fulfillment of his promises in Christ. As we plumb the depths of Mary’s Magnificat and the glorious works of God that she extols, we may also rejoice with women who nearly 2 millennia earlier received God’s promissory word for the fruitfulness of his kingdom.
Exodus 1:15-21 (Author’s Translation)
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named was Shiprah and the second Puah, 16 and he said, “When you assist the Hebrew women in childbirth and you see the delivery, if it is a son you shall kill it, but if it is a daughter, she may live. 17 Yet the midwives feared God and they did not do that which the king of Egypt had commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and he said to them, “Why have you done this thing that you let the boys live? 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous, before the midwife comes to them they give birth.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became exceedingly mighty. 21 And because the midwives feared God he established households for them.
This passage occurs in the first literary movement of the book of Exodus, picking up the story of Joseph and his descendants from the end of Genesis. God has promised to make the offspring of Abraham into a great nation and yet the situation seems dire as the Israelites find themselves trapped for generations under the oppression of a mighty power. Even in persecution, the people are experiencing the resultant fruitfulness of God’s promise to Abraham, but the question remains as to how they will become a great nation. The encounter with the midwives takes place when God’s promise to Abraham is being tested by a threatened god-king of Egypt. Seeking to subdue this people under his power, he first attempts to do so by hard labor (1:10-14), here by instructing the midwives to commit covert infanticide, and finally by leading all the people of Egypt to pursue abject genocide (1:22). In these verses, the king identifies the most vulnerable moment during which the midwives have oversight in order to exploit his power through them.
The God of Exodus 1 is YHWH who sees and knows his people and will act for their deliverance, design them as a holy people, and direct them in worship so he may dwell with them. Through the story of the midwives we see that when we face dire circumstances, fearing God leads to life.
Shiprah and Puah: Women Who Fear God
Amidst the conflict between the king’s exploitative power and the Israelites’ unstoppable fruitfulness, there is the faithfulness of women who trust God and protect life. Remarkably the powerful, oppressive king who is not named throughout the entire book of Exodus is juxtaposed with the inferior Hebrew midwives who are explicitly named. Shiprah and Puah come into focus, partially in their response to the king but mostly in their faithful relationship to God. The narrative is explicit that it’s because the midwives fear God that they do not do what the king commanded. The language indicates that not only did they spare the boys, but they intentionally used their position to ensure that they would live. Theirs was not an act of idle disobedience, but oppositional defiance to the king’s homicidal command.
The fear of God is a robust theme throughout the Old Testament. Some scholars suggest that fear in the Bible can range from communicating terror, respect, or worship; in this context, the fear of God refers to worship. There are notable examples of others in the Bible who fear God above earthly authority, acting out a faithful disobedience in oppositional circumstances. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Jewish overseers under the king of Babylon, who refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. When they were thrown into the fiery furnace, they trusted in God to deliver and keep them even upon the threat of death (Daniel 3:16-18).
Many know the big faith stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Daniel in the lion’s den. Though Shiprah and Puah are names not so often found on the lips of Christians today, their steady and active fear of God bore the fruit of a spiritual heritage that would produce men such as these.
The fear that the midwives convey is a quieter yet deeply powerful display of worship informing their obedience and high moral conduct. Before the miraculous Exodus rescue, even under threat of destruction, Shiprah and Puah worship the God of Abraham by acting in accordance with his promises. Their obedience to God over Pharaoh out of this fear reveals that the power of the object of their worship exceeded that power of the king they defied. Theirs is a fear that the Israelites in the wilderness would not be able to hold for longer than a moment, but a fear that God blessed so that those very people could know and dwell with him for generations.
The God Who Keeps His Promises and Blesses His People
Pharaoh’s reaction to Shiprah and Puah’s shrewd explanation is withheld in the narrative. It is God’s response to the actions of the midwives that becomes important. As God deals well with the midwives, the people increase and grow strong; when God blesses the midwives, their families expand. The fear of the God who sees and knows his people leads to blessing and life in keeping with his character and promises.
The midwives of Exodus 1 receive not an arbitrary, temporary reward from the Lord for their good deeds, but a lasting inheritance — bearing descendants of the promise. Their fear of God evokes a response that is perfectly in line with his character. It is an expression of his abundant lovingkindness toward these women who remain faithful to him in the face of looming destruction. Not only does he preserve his people through the midwives’ covert professional protection, but he blesses Shiprah and Puah specifically in kind. His promise of a house to David was no less than biological family, but it was so much more (2 Samuel 7:11; 1 Kings 2:24). Likewise his gift to the midwives may certainly be understood as “households” or “families” so long as there is an appreciation for how this specific blessing relates to their part in the building of God’s people. They are rewarded not just with children but with descendants of God's promise. He gives them a fruitful inheritance.
God fulfills his promise of life even in dire circumstances, honoring the actions of those who fear him by strengthening his people and specifically bearing fruit through his faithful servants. God’s purposes cannot be thwarted and he sees and deals generously with his people. The theological heartbeat of this story pulses throughout the redemptive story of Scripture, not only from Abraham to Moses, but from the old covenant to the new.
God, the builder of all things (Hebrews 3:4), builds and preserves his people throughout redemptive history, despite threats and obstacles. As Moses was faithful as a servant in God’s house, Jesus would be faithful over his house as a son (Hebrews 3:5). Living between the promises to Abraham and Moses, the midwives display confidence and hope in the character of God – characteristics which would become markers of those who are his house and God blesses them with this inheritance.
Faithful Women Bearing the Fruit of God’s Promise
The midwives are not the only biblical characters who teach us that fearing God in the midst of dire circumstances leads to life.
Shiprah and Puah join a long line of women throughout redemptive history who act in fear of God in the face of external opposition. Like Rahab the midwives deal shrewdly with authority to protect God’s people (Joshua 2), with Jael they boldly defy the power of their oppressor (Judges 4), with Ruth they choose hope over despair (Ruth 1), akin to Esther they leverage their position to spare God’s people from extinction (Esther 8:6), like Abigail they show discernment amidst grave peril (1 Samuel 25), with Mary, sister of Lazarus, (John 11:32) and the women at Jesus’s tomb (Matthew 28:8; Luke 24:8) they display faith in God’s power of life over death. Finally, like Mary and Elizabeth, Shiprah and Puah believe that there would be a fulfillment of what the Lord had spoken (Luke 1:45) and are made participants in his fruitfulness.
The relatively unsung story of Shiprah and Puah may be heard to the tune of Mary’s song.
Considering Exodus 1:15-21, we can rejoice because God looked on the humble estate of his servants (Luke 1:48), for he who is mighty did great things for the midwives and all of Israel (Luke 1:49). The LORD bestowed his mercy on Shiprah and Puah because they feared him, blessing them with generations (Luke 1:50). In preserving the lives of the Hebrew boys and increasing his people against all odds, he showed his strength over Pharaoh, who sat proudly on his throne, and exalted the humble estate of the midwives (Luke 1:51-52). Through the faithful actions of Shiprah and Puah, God helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, in accordance with his promise to Abraham and to his offspring forever (Luke 1:54-55).
We who are in Christ are these offspring, we are the household of his inheritance, we too are recipients of God’s life-giving promises. With Shiprah and Puah, and the many who followed after, we can trust our promise-keeping God as we honor life in our work, seek justice for the vulnerable among us, and receive the fruitfulness of our faith, even in unseen ways. This Christmas – whether we find ourselves in joyful surroundings or dire circumstances, because of Jesus, we can fear God above all else and receive the lasting life he gives us by his grace.