Beyond Belief: Learning from Shiphrah and Puah

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Exodus 1:15-16

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—the first whose name was Shiphrah and the second whose name was Puah— ¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.”

(CSB)

While the name of Pharaoh is never mentioned in the entire book of Exodus, the names of the two Egyptian midwives Shiphrah and Puah are given mention in Exodus 1:15.  This is because their rebellion against Pharaoh saved the lives of many Hebrew children, possibly even Moses, unlike Pharaoh who called for genocide.  Exodus 1:17 tells us that these midwives also feared God indicating a belief in God.  However, a fear of God indicates something that goes beyond belief. 

The Christian band Petra sing a song entitled Beyond Belief.  I encourage you to click on the video link of the song here to watch it.  (1)  The lyrics of the song speak of a higher place than just belief in God.  The highway in the video represents our life journey and as we can see from the video, the young man in the car encounters many problems in his journey, finally ending up at a dead end.  The Jews enslaved in Egypt had flourished from an initial 70 people (Exodus 1:5) to an estimated 2 million counting the women and children (Exodus 12:37). 

This vast number of people represented a threat to Pharaoh, so the oppression began (Exodus 1:8-11).  However, the more Pharaoh oppressed God’s people, the more they flourished (Exodus 1:12).  The rebellion of Shiphrah and Puah is another miracle of deliverance for the Nation of Israel, rescuing future generations from genocide.  The source of this miracle was Shiphrah and Puah moving beyond belief in God to a reverential worship of God that forbid them from harming God’s people.

In our troubled times, we as God’s people often find ourselves on a journey like what we see in the video.  Our life’s journey will consist of,

1)      Winding roads (John 16:33) – It would sure be easy if after we accepted Jesus as our savior, life became easy and smooth with a straight wide path to heaven.  Fortunately, however, Jesus promised us trouble (John 16:33).  I say fortunately for it is through these winding twists and turns of life we become stronger (Romans 5:3-5). 

2)      Flat tires – Just when we think our road in life is becoming easy, some unexpected emergency, financial crisis, loss of job, or illness occurs.  Fortunately for the young man in the video, he limps into a repair shop in the middle of nowhere and gets the help he needed.  When we find ourselves at a time in life where all we can do is limp down the highway of life, we can go beyond belief and on to trust in God, finding a solution to our situation even in the wilderness. 

3)      Running out of Gas – At times on our life’s journey we may feel a lack the energy to go on, essentially running out of gas.  Fortunately for the young man in the video, a good Samaritan comes along offering help (Luke 10:25-37), and even when the young man in the video has no money to pay for his gas, the good Samaritan and owner of the gas station give him the needed gas for free.  While modern technology lets us to attend church services on line, something necessary for those unable to attend services, there is also a need for face-to-face fellowship with other believers who may be our good Samaritans when trouble comes. 

4)      Mistakes – A Police officer pulls over the young man in our video, most likely for speeding and then the young man makes a wrong turn.  The speeding was the young man’s fault, but the wrong turn was not for the detour sign was down.  We will all make mistakes in our life, some of which are our fault for which there is full forgiveness (1 John 1:9).  Other mistakes in our lives are due to bad advice or possibly no warning as occurred in the video with the broken detour sign.  However, once again we see help coming with a gracious police officer letting the young man continue and someone coming with a map showing the young man the path back to the main road.  Both Judas and Peter made a mistake in their lives by betraying Jesus in His time of greatest need.  For Judas the remorse for his mistake led to his taking his life (Matthew 27:3-5).  For Peter, however, the remorse led to repentance (Matthew 26:75) and receiving full forgiveness and reinstatement as leader of the early Church (John 21:15-19). 

When our walk with the Lord moves beyond belief and on to trust in God, the winding roads of life, flat tires, running out of gas, and mistakes will not sidetrack us in carrying out God’s will in our lives.  We can persevere through these challenges not because we have some super level of faith but because Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).  We must remember that the thief, Satan, has one purpose, to steal, kill, or destroy us (John 10:10), but Jesus has come to give us abundant life even in the middle of the enemy’s efforts to destroy or sidetrack us.  May we all move from just belief to trust and a reverential fear of God like that of Shiphrah and Puah. 

1. metalfranlazar777(Lazaro Ochoa). www.youtube.com. Petra - Beyond Belief Song (Original Music Video). [Online] You Tube, April 12, 2010. [Cited: January 14, 2018.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KY7jLQGHA0.