Women of the Bible

Happy Mother’s Day ! Today’s post is about Women who followed there faith :

1. Shiphrah and Puah
   OK, technically these are two women, but they are a matched set. Their story is found in Exodus 1:15-22. Shiphrah and Puah are the two named midwives whom the unnamed pharaoh commands to kill the male children of his Israelite slaves. In a lovely twist of the Hebrew, we are not certain whether these two are themselves Hebrew slaves who refuse to betray their people or Egyptian midwives, representing the ever-present righteous foreigner. Either way, this pair chose the preservation of life, their professional identity, motivated by “fear of God” over obedience to their king. They are rewarded by the God of Israel and given families. These two women are joined in Exodus 2:1-10 and 4:24-26 by Moses’ mother, sister, and wife, Zipporah, as well as pharaoh’s own daughter as a company of women who rescue the savior (draw him out of the chaotic waters) so that he might rescue others, drawing all of Israel out of the waters. Well, now I am up to six women I am counting as one!

2/ Jochebed

Jochebed, the mother of Moses influenced history by surrendering what she treasured most to the will of God. When the Egyptians began killing the male babies of Hebrew slaves, Jochebed  put Moses in a waterproof baskets  and set it adrift on the Nile River.

Pharaoh’s daughter found and adopted him as her own son. God arranged it so Jochebed could be the baby’s wet nurse. Even though Moses was raised as an Egyptian,  God chose him to lead his people to freedom. The faith of Jochebed saved Moses to become Israel’s great prophet and lawgiver.07of 20

The Birth of Moses : Exodus

2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, ² and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket^[a] for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,^[b] saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Miriam : Moses sister

3. Miriam, Moses’ sister, played an important role in the  Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, but her pride got her in trouble. When her baby brother floated down the Nile River in a basket to escape death from the Egyptians, Miriam intervened with Pharaoh’s daughter, offering Jochebed as his wet nurse.

Many years later, after the Jews  crossed the Ref Sea , Miriam was there, leading them in celebration. However, her role as prophet led her to complain about Moses’ Cushite wife. God cursed her with leprosy but healed her after Moses’ prayers.

Happy Mother’s Day ….. Lisa