Expert: Dr. Tim Gladu - 2/11/2010

Question
According to Exodus 1:15-21, Shiphrah and Puah were two courageous women who risked their lives by lying to Pharaoh to save Hebrew male children. Were the record merely to note their courage or we would applaud their actions and even tell white lies when the situation was desperate.

Answer
Eddie,

I am not sure that what these women did would be considered a lie. The pharaoh had ordered that when the midwives were called to help with a birth that if it were a boy they were to kill the child. The women in this case were first given the order to carry this act out. Then later they were called to answer for not doing what they had been commanded. In this case when they came before pharaoh they stated that the Hebrew women were able in most cases to handle childbirth without their assistance so if they came after and killed the child then it would look bad. The pharaoh wanted these women to be present when the child was being born so they could say that there was something wrong during the birth process thus being able to blame birth and not the midwife. The women feared God more than they feared the pharaoh so they made sure not to be present and therefore they were not able to carry out the evil the pharaoh had ordered. When in life if we are commanded to do things that are against God but ore ordered by man then God tells us not to follow that law. If we are to blindly follow mans law even when it is in violation of Gods law then we are just as guilty when we follow the law in Gods eyes. This for me is easy to understand because of the 20+ years in the military I am to follow lawful orders. If I was commanded to do something that was not legal then I did not have to follow it, just as if we violate Gods law then we are subject to His punishment. When I read what happened to the women at the last verses I see that they were rewarded for their actions. They were given a order but they knew that the order would put them in conflict with God so they found a way to follow the order but at the same time not violate Gods law. Pharaoh in the next verse 1:22 states this

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive."

Here you can see that the pharaoh was not able to get what he wanted done, so he made all the people to do his bidding. God will make sure that His people are protected and this also shows the evil of mans heart and why we all need Christ.

Acts 4:19,5:29 - But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;

But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men