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The Command to Kill all the Male Children
v. 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, their names being recorded to their lasting honor;
v. 16. and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, in determining the sex;if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, the male children should be killed right after birth; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. Whether these two women were the only midwives in Israel, or whether they were the heads of the order of midwives, is immaterial, the devilish command to use inhuman violence referred to all male children among the Hebrews.
v. 17. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. They placed the reverential fear of God before the slavish fear of the tyrant.
v. 18. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, he stormed at them with an angry cry, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
v. 19. And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, full of life and energy, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. This was not a mere evasion or deception, but agreed with the general experience, although in this case art untruth would have been defensible.
v. 20. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, gave them evidence of His goodness; and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty under their ministrations, the remarkable growth of the children of Israel continued.
v. 21. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. He blessed them with abundant prosperity.
v. 22. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born (to the Hebrews) ye shall cast into the river (Nile), and every daughter ye shall save alive. Since his first plan had failed, he made use of open, violent brutality in not only giving permission, but even a command that his people might at any time drown the male babies of the Israelites. No Christian will permit himself to be made the instrument of a tyrant who seeks to destroy the Church of God. And it will be found that it is to the advantage of believers to obey God rather than men, even here in time.