October 9, 2022 Faith Story: They Saw
Hebrews 11:1-2, 23 & Exodus 1:8-2:10
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
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Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “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.” But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” The 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.” So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When 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. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.
The 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. When 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. Then 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?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’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. When 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.”
I hold before you a piece of paper, 11x17. I’m going to draw an “X” on the far left side of the paper, and an “X” on the far right side of the paper. Now let me ask you: “What’s the shortest distance between these two points? Would it be a curvy, squiggly line? Or a straight line?” How many of you would say a squiggly line would be the shortest distance between the two points? How many say a straight line?
The shortest distance between the two points isn’t a squiggly line. It isn’t a straight line. You see, I set up a false dichotomy. I only gave you only two options when there’s actually a third. The shortest distance between the two points is when I fold the paper in half and make the two points touch. That’s close!
This is a fun way to illustrate what in physics is called the “Einstein-Rosen Bridge” named for the two scientists who developed the theory: Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen. The more colloquial term for the “Einstein-Rosen Bridge” is “wormhole.” These theoretical wormholes connect disparate places in spacetime, giving writers of science fiction endless fodder. What if humans could enter a wormhole and land in some other galaxy or travel back in time? It’s one of the predictions within the theory of relativity. Did you know scientists have been able to create wormholes in labs on a microscopic level? They’re beginning to set their sights on bigger wormholes. Who knows what the future holds?
But it took a couple of guys who could see beyond the false dichotomy of “squiggly line/straight line.” Einstein and Rosen opened up a whole new way of seeing.
Today in our deep dive exploration of the characters named in the book of Hebrews “Roll Call of Faith.” We come to a couple of individuals who did not make it into the Roll Call of Faith, and couple of individuals, and one in particular, who did make it into the Roll Call because they saw beyond the false dichotomy they were given, and in so doing, vicariously saved the nation of Israel. Let’s dive in!
In this “Faith Story” series, we’ve looked at Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. Last week we took a peek at Joseph who brought his entire family to Egypt where he had risen to power. But centuries later (430 years according to Exodus 12:40) the situation for the Israelites in Egypt turned sour.
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
The new Pharoah made slaves out of the Hebrew people, subjecting them to harsh labor and conditions. Eventually the Pharoah felt threatened by the strength and numbers of the Hebrew people and came up with a plan to keep the Hebrews from growing any stronger. He summoned the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, and instructed them to kill any male babies they helped deliver.
Let’s pause here for a moment.
What are Shiphrah and Puah’s obvious options?
1. Do as the Pharoah commanded, kill the male babies, and live to see another day.
2. Tell the Pharoah “no” and face certain death.
Which of these two options do the midwives choose? Whoops! I’ve given you a false dichotomy once again! They choose neither of these options, and found a third.
The midwives verbally accepted Pharoah’s command, but did something different with their actions. They did not kill the male babies, and when they were confronted about it, they feigned impotence. They acted as if they were powerless to carry out the Pharoah’s orders. “Those women just drop those babies in the fields!” (My paraphrase.) Shiphrah and Puah lived to see another day AND the male Hebrew babies were spared.
So Pharoah came up with Plan B. He issued a decree to all the people saying:
“Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”
So when Moses is born, a healthy Hebrew baby boy, his parents have two options:
1. Do as the Pharoah commanded, throw baby Moses in the Nile, and live to see another day.
2. Tell the Pharoah “no” and face certain death.
Which of these two options do Moses’ parents choose? Whoops! I’ve given you a false dichotomy yet again! They choose neither of these options, and found a third and even a fourth!
The Bible tells us Moses’ mother hid him (option #3) for three months. And when she could no longer hide him, she found a fourth option. She took a basket, covered it with pitch, and instead of “throwing” baby Moses in the Nile, she gently placed him in the Nile. Perhaps she knew the Pharoah’s daughter bathed there, or perhaps other wealthy Egyptian women. She sent her daughter, Moses’ older sister Miriam, to watch what happened. And wouldn’t you know Pharoah’s daughter decided to keep the baby boy, even using Moses’ own mother as a nurse maid to the child?
This “third way” of seeing is what earned Moses’ parents a spot in the “Roll Call of Faith” in Hebrews 11:
By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
We’ll talk more about Moses next week and what he did to earn his place in the “Roll Call of Faith.” This week, I want to focus on Moses’ parents and the midwives, who played such an important role in Israel’s history because they could see beyond the obvious options available to them.
Have you ever been in a difficult position in which you had to choose between two seemingly bad options? I have.
I was serving in my first full time ministry position out of seminary—working as a campus minister at the University of Georgia. I was part of a three-person ministry team. All three of us were members of the same church. One day, an edict came down from our boss over in Atlanta that we could no longer be members of that particular church (a decision borne out of denominational politics and gamesmanship.) None of us liked this edict. We loved our church! How dare he tell me I have to leave it! Here were the options:
1. Leave the church, like we were instructed to do.
2. Or else. (Termination was implied but never explicitly stated.)
One of my colleagues chose option number one. He and his entire family left the church and joined another big-steeple church (where they were never happy). Me? I chose option number two (I was young and single—I didn’t have a family depending on my salary.) And yes, I found a pink slip on my desk in due time.
But my colleague, Nathan, was able to see an option that I couldn’t see. He approached a pastor at a small, out-of-the-way church and told him his dilemma. He offered a proposition to that pastor: “I’d like to join your church; my wife and kids will stay at our current church. I’ll come to your early service, and join my family at the later service at our current church. I’ll give my tithe to your church; my wife will give her tithe to her church. I’ll pitch in as needed. How does that sound?” The pastor agreed! So Nathan kept his job AND he and his family continued their relationship with the church we all loved.
Sometimes the best solution to our problems isn’t the most obvious. Either/or thinking can be problematic, and in fact, most of the world’s biggest problems remain big problems because too few people can see third, fourth, fifth-way solutions.
The midwives saw beyond the false dichotomy: they kept Pharoah happy AND kept the baby boys alive. Moses’ parents saw beyond the false dichotomy: they kept Pharaoh happy AND kept Moses alive. Moses grew up and saved the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt! Amazing!
My friend Nathan saw beyond the false dichotomy: he kept the boss happy AND kept his church. You want to hear the rest of that story? When the church we all loved needed a new pastor last year, guess who they called as pastor? Nathan! Amazing!
Holding the Bible up to our lives, we can draw relevant connections for the living of these days. If Shiphrah and Puah, and Moses’ parents can find creative solutions to their problems, maybe we can too.
I invite you to think about your own life: do you have a problem that seems to have no good solutions? Option one is no good. Option two is no good. But what about the option you haven’t considered?
And thinking beyond our individual problems, consider this: our world is in crisis. We’re living through a once-every-500-year paradigm shift in which the previous solutions no longer work. We need people who can find third way solutions. We need older people to see like sages. We need younger people who can dream new dreams.
The nation of Israel survived because of the third way vision of Shiphrah and Puah and Moses’ parents. These were average, ordinary people with the simple ability to see and implement third way solutions. The world needs people like that today! Our survival depends on it!
May each of us meet the challenges of this life, individual and global, by expanding our vision! Oh God, help us see.