Faith and trust

Faith That Grows Under Oppression

When the king's heart grew hard, faith quietly blossomed in the hands of the Hebrew midwives.

BibleVibe Editorial5 min read
Translation：ESV
Exodus 1:1-20
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These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. The total number of persons that were of Jacob’s issue came to seventy, Joseph being already in Egypt. Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. But the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them. A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.” So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor; and they built garrison cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the [Egyptians] came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field. The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, saying, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women: they are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.” And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly. And [God] established households uncertain. for the midwives, because they feared God. Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “Every boy that is born you shall throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Exodus 1:1–20 lays the groundwork for Israel's bondage in Egypt and introduces two faithful women—Shiphrah and Puah—whose fear of God outweighed their fear of Pharaoh.

📖 Exodus
🕰️ Exodus & Mt. Sinai Era📍 Land of Egypt / Mt. Sinai region
Narration

Context

The opening chapter of Exodus marks a hinge in redemptive history. The sons of Jacob, seventy souls in all, had descended to Egypt under Joseph's care during a famine. A generation passed, Joseph and his brothers died, and the covenant people multiplied until 'the land was filled with them.' Then a new dynasty arose 'who did not know Joseph'—a political rupture that became a theological crisis. Fearing the Israelites' numbers, Pharaoh imposed forced labor at Pithom and Raamses, and when that failed to stem the growth of the people, he escalated to infanticide through the Hebrew midwives. The text is careful to name these women—Shiphrah and Puah—honoring them as the first covenant witnesses in the book of Exodus. Josephus preserves an early Jewish reading of this episode, noting that the midwives were rewarded because they preserved the nation and defied the tyrant for the sake of piety (Antiquities 2.9.2). Geographically, the action takes place in the lower Nile delta, in the brickfields and garrison cities of the eastern Delta region. The era falls within Israel's sojourn in Egypt, traditionally dated to the late Bronze Age, roughly the second millennium BC.

Spacetime

Mount Sinai, where Israel gathered at the foot of the mountain to receive the Law and learn the foundations of faith in the living God.

Meaning

The theme of faith and trust emerges in Exodus 1 not through a heroic speech or a mountaintop miracle, but through two ordinary women making a quiet decision. Shiphrah and Puah 'feared God'—a Hebrew idiom meaning they oriented their entire lives around His reality rather than Pharaoh's authority. Their trust was not abstract; it was operational. They lied to the king. They risked their lives. And God 'dealt well with them,' establishing households for the midwives even as the Egyptian houses were threatened. The structure of the chapter is itself a parable of faith: human oppression tries to shrink the promise, but divine blessing expands it. 'The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied.' The text teaches that faith is not the absence of threat but the presence of a deeper allegiance. Trust, in Exodus 1, looks like small brave acts done before an audience of One. The midwives could not see the exodus that would follow, the plagues, the Red Sea, Sinai. They only saw a crying infant and a king's command—and they chose the God who made covenant with Abraham over the throne that ruled the Nile.

Application

How do we live out faith and trust when the pressure is political, structural, or simply exhausting? Exodus 1 suggests three concrete practices. First, name the fear honestly. The midwives' courage did not begin with bravery; it began with naming who they feared most. When you can say, 'I fear God more than I fear this situation,' you have already begun to act in faith. Second, practice small faithful disobedience. You may not be called to confront a pharaoh, but you may be called to refuse a lie, to protect the vulnerable, to speak truth at a cost. Faith grows in the muscles of daily obedience, not in dramatic gestures alone. Third, expect God to 'deal well' with you—not in the sense of escape from hardship, but in the sense of covenantal faithfulness. The Israelites still suffered in Egypt, but they multiplied. God often blesses His people not by removing the brickfields but by sustaining them within. Trust Him for the hidden fruit you cannot yet see.

Reflection

Lord, You are the God who hears the cry of the oppressed before they pray. Forgive us for the times we have feared Pharaoh more than we have feared You. Give us midwife-hearts—steady hands, clear voices, and the quiet courage to choose life when authority demands death. Multiply us, Lord, even under pressure. Build households of faith where the world expects ruin. And when we cannot see the Red Sea ahead, help us to trust the One who already sees it. Amen.

FAQ

Why did God allow Israel to suffer while still multiplying them?

Oppression exposes human weakness; multiplication displays divine faithfulness. God often uses affliction to refine His people while preserving His promises.

Did the midwives sin by lying to Pharaoh?

Scripture says they 'feared God,' and God 'dealt well' with them—showing their act sprang from a higher allegiance. The theological tradition calls this 'pious deception,' similar to Rahab's act in Joshua 2.

What can modern believers learn from the midwives?

Trusting God means placing His authority above human authority in the small daily decisions. No matter the situation, God blesses those who fear Him.

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