Shiphrah, Puah and Jochebed

Influential Women Of The Bible
Shiphrah, Puah and Jochebed

Exodus 1:15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 16And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. 20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. (Exodus 1:15-21)

2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. (Exodus 2:2)

In the first chapter of Exodus, Shiphrah and Puah are singled out for their bravery and their efforts to save the Hebrew children. As the population of the people of Israel grew in Egypt, Pharaoh was threatened by the large number of Hebrew slaves and their potential power. So he commanded that all Jewish male babies be killed so that the Israelite population couldn’t expand any further. He gave a particular assignment to the two midwives of the Hebrew community, Shiphrah and Puah, to see to it that all male Hebrew babies be killed. Despite the possible danger to their own lives, Shiphrah and Puah disobeyed the order. They lied and told Pharaoh that the Hebrew women were giving birth so fast that the babies were arriving before they could get there. At the same time, an Israelite woman named Jochebed gave birth to a son and hid him for three months. Then she risks everything by putting him in a wicker basket instructing her daughter Miriam, to place the basket in the river. Through God’s sovereign control, God allowed Pharaoh’s daughter to find the baby and have compassion on him. Even though she identified him as a Hebrew child who should be killed, she takes Him into the household of Pharaoh as her own son. Of course, we know who the child was. He would become the future deliverer of Israel. His name was Moses!

Because these three women decided to risk it all, God provided a deliverer for His people. We should take note, and realize Shiphrah and Puah took the position of helping to give birth despite obstacles they would have to face just to secure deliverance for God’s people. Jochebed took the position of giving birth just so deliverance could come to God’s people. The enemy does not want what is inside of you to come out. What is inside of you is great; what is inside of you is world changing; what is inside of you is the ministry of reconciliation! 18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (2nd Corinthians 5:18). What is inside of you is too big to stay inside of you, so it is time to get in the birthing position. Like these three women, what position you take can lead to deliverance for many.