Whom Shall I Fear?
Opening Prayer
“Teach me Your way, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart that I may fear Your name” (Psa. 86:11).
Read Exodus 1:1–22
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Do you fear God—or other people?We hear echoes of the creation story in today’s passage. The mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” is being fulfilled—not in Eden, but in Egypt! From humble beginnings (5), the Israelite population explodes into a force to be reckoned with (7).
As in the Genesis narratives, wherever God’s purposes are being worked out, Satan sets up stumbling blocks. The new ruler, who knew neither Joseph (8) nor Joseph’s God, grows increasingly fearful about the population explosion. Fear frequently gives rise to ruthlessness—Pharaoh resorts to exploitation (11–14), then extermination (16,22). Yet his attempts fail to enlist the Hebrew midwives, because they are grounded in a different kind of fear: fear of God (17).
Jesus reminds us that God is the only one we need fear (Matt. 10:28). And, as Oswald Chambers put it, “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”
Numerous, and possibly nebulous, fears (9,10) brought out the worst in Pharaoh; fear of God brought out the best in the midwives. Does fear of what others may say or do paralyze us? Or does fear of God inspire us to act boldly in his name?
Apply
How will fear of God influence your words and actions today?
Closing prayer
Think of Christians who are being persecuted for their faith. Ask God to calm their fears and fill them with courage.
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