I Pulled a Card for You

From my Sacred Muse deck: a woman, her story, and oh-so-much wisdom - all for you!

Today’s card: The Midwives

Her story: I swear that I am NOT intentionally drawing cards that are chapters from my book! And yet, again this week, a story that I couldn’t not include. Two women who teach us so much about courage, about friendship, about standing firm in our beliefs and convictions, about being committed to all that is good and beautiful and worthy. They have taught me all of this and then some, to be sure!

Here’s the gist of their story:

Over hundreds of years, the Israelite people became the “great nation” that had been foretold. But as would be the case multiple times in their history, they found themselves in captivity—this time, in Egypt.

Despite hardship and suffering, they were “exceedingly fruitful” and grew in number. This was not what the Pharaoh wanted to hear. He said, “Look, the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. We must do something before things get worse; if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave.” So, he put slave masters over them and oppressed them even more. But it didn’t matter: the worse things got, the more they multiplied. The Egyptians came to dread the Israelites, treating them more and more ruthlessly as time went on.

In desperate response, the Pharaoh called two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, into his presence. “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth, kill any boy and let the girls live.” But instead of doing what they were commanded, the midwives helped birth girls and boys alike. Again, the Pharaoh summoned them into his presence saying, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” They answered him, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before we can even arrive.”

The text tells us that God was kind to the midwives and gave them families of their own. Meanwhile, the Israelite people continued to increase while the Pharaoh became even more enraged. He ordered all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile but let every girl live.”

Up for another excerpt from my book?