Exodus [1:15-21] 2: 1-10 (NRSV)
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Verse 15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, Verse 16"When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live." Verse 17But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. Verse 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?" Verse 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them." Verse 20So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. Verse 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.]
Chapter 2Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. Verse 2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. Verse 3When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. Verse 4His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.
Verse 5The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. Verse 6When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, "This must be one of the Hebrews' children," she said. Verse 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" Verse 8Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Yes." So the girl went and called the child's mother. Verse 9Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed it. Verse 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, "because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."
Devotion
“It’s not easy being green,” sings Kermit the Frog. Kermit shares his pain at being unseen and unvalued despite his wonderful qualities. In this week’s texts, we see God working amidst people whose cultures disregarded them.
Throughout history, women frequently are discounted. Yet, when God worked amidst women, Moses survived. Midwives Shiphrah and Puah courageously defied Pharaoh’s command to kill Hebrew baby boys (Exodus 1:15-21). Moses’ mother skillfully wove the buoyant bassinet that carried her son into the compassionate arms of Pharaoh’s daughter. Defying her father’s order to drown Hebrew male infants, she brought Moses into the palace culture that prepared him to advocate for the Israelites’ release. Moses’ watchful sister, probably Miriam, cleverly offered an arrangement that reunited mother and son. Through God’s powerful guidance, Moses’ protectors—and countless women nurturers of families and communities—could sing, “I am woman, hear me roar in numbers too big to ignore.”
Prayer
Dear Creator of us all, thank you for working and bringing hope through women of all times who, though often unseen and undervalued by their cultures, faithfully, wisely, and lovingly serve you, their people, and their families. Amen.