Oh, my — I never realized the “play” book God put in place centuries ago so that we could understand Him. He put things down in writing so we could know how to be on His winning team. It’s very basic really and so simple a child could understand yet a scholar can never grasp. To the seeker and true fan, patterns and jewels will be seen. To the scoffer the page is only filled with ink and space. Let’s check out Exodus 1:
“Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.” Poor king, he was the one on the throne, but his story revolves around the life of a guy with some colorful threads. Joseph was despised by his family but God had other plans for him. God likes to write stories on His own timeline. So, the king starts blowing smoke and starts rolling the stone to manipulate people to his way of thinking and to build his own kingdom. He did not read Proverbs 26:27 which says, “whoever digs a pit will fall into it, if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.” When people set out to intentionally harm someone — that never goes unnoticed by a righteous God. So, this king maneuvers a plan to hurt the Israelites, invites others into his scheme (making them complicit in his wickedness) and then oppresses the very ones who were bringing natural and divine blessing into his country.
The plan was to murder all the baby boys.
This was the plan to capture a generation, to put the wicked kings’ kingdom in motion. If you want to annihilate a people, don’t go for the ones in the fields, go after their babies. If you wipe out the babies you can guarantee that another nation will suppress and rule them quickly. It’s a strategy right out of the book of Exodus. Wipe out their children and the sheer numbers of the new ones coming in will guarantee their ruler-ship within one generation. This wasn’t the first wicked king that came up with this idea- it was in the play book centuries before him and my contention would be straight from the garden of evil. Going after a nations children is what Hitler did, it was what Stalin did. While no one is watching the inconsequential lives of the children, plans are put in place and nations are altered.
There are some unsung heroes in this chapter. I’ve read this story hundreds of times and skipped over it to get to what I thought was the main thing. In God – ALL involved in the story are His main thing. Two nurses {midwives in their generation) were skilled at what they did. Seeing life and death makes people become grounded. Focusing on saving a mama’s life creates a strength that cannot be learned in a medical textbook. These women were commissioned to do one thing – bring healthy babies into the world. If you know a nurse you know that they are extraordinarily called. They get up early, work thru the night and do things no one else will or can do. They are a special breed often working undercover. God has given them a task and they have an incredible fortitude. Anyone who could hear screams and look at blood and guts is tougher than your average bear. It does not matter how much the papas huff and puff or the leaders around them pontificate. Their one task is to see that baby survive and that mama thrive. You do not get in the way of a mama nurse protecting her sheep in labor. Pharaoh made the mistake of thinking they were just silly women holding pregnant mother’s hands. He missed their “Gronk” power. He was looking at the big guys in the field and the little bundles that could easily be tossed away. He did not factor in the call, the virtue, the strength of a couple inconsequential women just going to work every day.
I don’t remember the kings name in this story, but the two nurse’s names were Shiphrah and Puah. Shiphrah means fair, bright one and Puah means brilliant glittering one, the splendid mouth. All the verbs in this text are regular but when it comes to the king’s command it is super intense. He was off the charts crazy wanting to kill these children. (Perhaps it was as spiritual as it was mental). These women who are trained to follow protocol disobeyed their leader. It says they “feared God”. To fear means to be in awe of, to reverence and honor. They wanted to follow God more than they wanted to follow a leader who had gone off the rails with paranoia and jealousy. We are not sure if they were single or married but it hints at them being childless and serving the moms. The Bible says that they were summoned by the king to explain themselves. They used wisdom and God blessed them with children of their own. The king grew more agitated and instead of killing babies at birth he ordered them killed after they were born- drown them! . The king with all his authority and leadership got his eyes off building a kingdom to serve others and his jealousy blinded him. Drowning children would be his legacy. Instead of being blessed by the gifted ones God sent –he annihilated them. The midwives on the other hand did not have their eyes on the Pharaoh, the armies, the laws of the land. They were focused on honoring God – no matter what the cost. They were true players in the kingdom and they acknowledged the King of that kingdom.
This weekend as I watched the chiefs and the patriots play I was reminded of this story. Of course, I cheered for the chiefs since I live in KC. They are “our team”. I wear red whenever possible and eat all the crazy “chiefs specials” our city has to offer. I’m a loyal home town fan. I rooted for them and watched every second of the game. However, there was a time in my life when I was in grad school and lived in Massachusetts. I gained something there that remains in my DNA. That “something” caused me to fear the Patriots win. My experience and memory gave me doubt of a sure win. I kept thinking last week “these people (chiefs fans) don’t know the storm that is coming to our city.” I had watched the Super bowl smack down of 2002, Brady was new, and the Rams were favored to win. It was a Sunday night and the whole church watched it in the parsonage. I was surrounded by people with New England accents who were normally quiet type people. Not that night! The smell of fish was strong on the Cape outside and Clam chowder on the inside. They had braved many a Nor’easter which is a combination of snowstorm and hurricane. These were seasoned men.
The Rams trained on turf.
It was an amazing game. I think it was one of my first football games. I’m reminded of a shirt my hubby wears – “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. ” See, the people of New England are not just ordinary. They are THE PEOPLE of New England and they live not in a state but a COMMONWEALTH. They were strong people who broke away from a kingship that suppressed and oppressed them. They value every single person and their unique individual gifts. Because winters were cold, and babies were dying they became FIERCE. Death was part of their struggle and each person and what they brought to the table mattered. The people who founded Massachusetts refused to let their children forget that they had broken free from an oppressive kingdom, they refused to let the lives and deaths of their relatives go unnoticed. All the legal and government documents of Massachusetts are stamped “the COMMONWEALTH” of Massachusetts, you won’t see “state” anywhere. The Patriots are now in a state of – joy.
The chiefs sit in the state of misery this morning and I too grieve with them. Unlike when the Royals won the championship, last night there was no shouting, cheering and celebrating in the streets. They fought an awesome game, they used every ounce of energy and will power they had. Tom Brady. during the almost physical snowstorm in KC this weekend declared he was the best quarterback ever! He boldly declared he could face ice and snow anywhere! He used the oldest trick in the book – get their eyes off the mission and make them jealous of one impressive player. The Chiefs’ losing point was NOT the last coin toss. It was when they were faked out by Tom Brady, a master at his craft . You can’t see the whole team when you get mesmerized by one Giant. Gronkowksi, a resident of the commonwealth came up from the backside several times while the Chiefs and the kingdom were mean muggin Brady. All eyes were on Brady, so the commonwealth came along and did some impressive whoopin. The Chiefs were fighting and playing the illusion of Tom Brady, …. however, the Patriots were
being the Commonwealth team of Massachusetts and together – THEY won.
This is why Boston is strong, this is why the Patriots continue to win. Keep whispering about stolen games, unfair this or that and mismanaged players or calls and bla bla bla. THEY get the ball, THEY run it down the field and THEY win. Touchdown! The other stuff is just whiny DISTRACTION. They have learned how to be commonwealth strong and it shows. When every player does their part – the team wins. Mahomes is fresh and awesome but he is not the totality of the team. It takes ALL to make it happen.
The nurses? They kept their focus on the game and honored God. They influenced from the quiet corners, in the dark while no one was watching. They pulled a Gronkowski. They were fair, brilliant, shining players. What if they called in sick that day? What if they didn’t like being unsung heroes and changed occupations the month before? What if they got distracted and the mom or baby died? There would be no baby Moses. EVERY player counts because you never know what play the coach will call next or when the game will go into overtime. Only one thing we know for sure – it won’t last forever and every second counts.
Who do you honor most? What spot do you play? Are you aware of your potential for influence? Are you aware of how you can impact your team for good? What if you are the one making way for the next or last DELIVERER?
I read the end of the book. We know who wins. We have a coin toss also – will we choose The Lord to be our head and leader, directing all our plays? Or will we focus on others and continue to be jealous of those with different gifts? We choose to lose when we hog the ball, sit on the sidelines and do our own thing? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Lord, help us to fear and honor YOU. Help us influence who you want us to. Help us do the things you want us to do. Make us into the team You want us to be. A Deliverer is coming and while we wait we will do our part and
make way for HIM.
We will be careful to give You all the praise and all the glory, Amen!
RenaeRoche2019
Ps. Our little guy offered a visitor to our home who was fixing our internet a protein bar and water. I told him he had “Gronk power” and helped get the work done. It takes a team – let US play ball!