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Topic: Wisdom Pays
[DCLM Daily Manna 10 June 2020 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Exodus 1:15-22
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
Key Verse: “But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive” (Exodus 1:17).
MESSAGE:
The culture of volleying blame, buck-passing and excuses are prevalent in our society. Too often, people are quick to blame others for their misdemeanor, weaknesses and lack of conviction or wicked actions.
Employees blame employers for tempting or pressuring them to be unfaithful or lazy because they are not being treated fairly. Some husbands/wives may try to hide under the leaking umbrella of having ‘a difficult spouse’ as an excuse for extra-marital affair.
Also read: Open Heaven 10 June 2020 – Prayers for our Leaders
But the narrative in our passage stands to condemn many people and shut their mouths from giving excuses for failures and lack of fear of God. The midwives had every excuse under heaven to carry out the ungodly and inhuman decree of Pharaoh to kill every male Hebrew child. But they disobeyed that wicked order. Of course, they knew the danger if they were discovered but the fear of God and compassion made them to damn the consequences. God who sees all deeds of men commended them (verses 20, 21).
It is important to draw some useful lessons from this incident. At one time or the other, we will definitely be confronted with choices to do right or wrong, to be human or inhuman, to do good or evil. Our responses in such difficult situations may well reveal the depth of our character. We are created as free moral agents with power to agree or disagree with issues or things that we know to be inhuman and ungodly. God will also commend and reward us when we take our stand against ungodly actions under whatever guise.
Thought For The Day: You will give account of your actions and inactions.
The Bible In One Year: 2 Samuel 15-16
