A friend brought this to my mind this week: Misery and murder by Troy Dobbs. I ran my notes through Claude to get additional insight and scripture ties to it.
1. Misery and murder (the setting: Exodus 1:8-22)
A new king forgot Joseph, feared the Hebrews, enslaved them, then ordered the baby boys killed. This is oppression escalating into state-sponsored murder.
Supporting scripture:
- Acts 7:18-19. Stephen retells this exact king and the forced abandoning of infants.
- Psalm 105:24-25. God multiplied his people, and Egypt's heart turned to hatred.
- Genesis 15:13. God told Abraham this affliction was coming, 400 years ahead.
- John 8:44. Jesus names the source: the devil was a murderer from the start.
- Matthew 2:16. Herod repeats the pattern, killing the baby boys of Bethlehem.
2. Root out prejudice (self first, then culture; God sees the heart)
Pharaoh's fear of "too many" Israelites drove his policy. Prejudice starts inside before it shapes a culture.
Supporting scripture:
- 1 Samuel 16:7. People judge appearances. God looks at the heart.
- Psalm 139:23-24. Search me first. Self-examination before culture critique.
- Matthew 7:3-5. Remove your own plank before the speck in another's eye.
- James 2:1, 2:9. Favoritism is named as sin.
- Acts 10:34-35. God shows no partiality between peoples.
- Galatians 3:28. In Christ the dividing lines fall.
3. Remember those persecuted (believers stand against authorities worldwide)
This is the direct application of the midwives' courage to the global church today.
Supporting scripture:
- Hebrews 13:3. Remember prisoners and the mistreated as if you were with them.
- Matthew 5:10-12. Blessing on the persecuted.
- 2 Timothy 3:12. Everyone who lives godly will face persecution.
- John 15:18-20. The world hated Christ first.
- 1 Corinthians 12:26. When one part of the body suffers, all suffer.
- Revelation 6:9-11. The martyrs cry out and are told to wait a little longer.
4. Rest in God's promises (cry out, he remembers, hard times don't erase them)
Even under the whip, the people kept multiplying. The promise outran the oppression.
Supporting scripture:
- Exodus 1:12. The more they were oppressed, the more they grew.
- Exodus 2:23-25. God heard their groaning and remembered his covenant. (This is the payoff a chapter later.)
- Numbers 23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie.
- Joshua 23:14. Not one of God's good promises failed.
- 2 Corinthians 1:20. Every promise is "yes" in Christ.
- Lamentations 3:22-23. His mercies are new every morning, even in ruin.
- Psalm 34:17-18. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears.
5. Recognize when to resist (submission has limits; obey God rather than men)
The midwives Shiphrah and Puah feared God more than Pharaoh and refused the order. This is your Reformation anchor too. (Side note: the 500th anniversary of Luther's 95 theses was October 31, 1517 to 2017.)
Supporting scripture:
- Exodus 1:17, 1:21. They feared God, disobeyed the king, and God gave them families.
- Hebrews 11:23. Moses' own parents hid him, unafraid of the king's command. Faith, not fear.
- Acts 5:29. We must obey God rather than men. The clearest statement of the limit.
- Daniel 3:16-18 and 6:10. Refusing to bow, refusing to stop praying.
- Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17. The default is submission. Hold this in tension with Acts 5:29.
- Titus 3:1. Be subject to rulers, ready for good works. (Your own teaching on this letter sits right here.)
- Joshua 2 with Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25. Rahab protects life against the authorities and is commended.
The honest tension to teach: the Bible commands submission as the norm and resistance as the exception, and the line is drawn where the state commands what God forbids or forbids what God commands.
6. Fight for life (wider than anti-abortion)
The midwives did not just refuse evil. They actively preserved life. That widens the application to defending all vulnerable life, born and unborn.
Supporting scripture:
- Proverbs 24:11-12. Rescue those being led away to death. And note: "doesn't he who weighs the heart perceive it?" ties straight back to theme 2.
- Proverbs 31:8-9. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
- Psalm 139:13-16. God formed us in the womb.
- Isaiah 1:17. Defend the oppressed and the fatherless.
- James 1:27. Care for orphans and widows. This answers "not just anti-abortion."
- Matthew 25:40. What you did for the least of these, you did for Christ.
7. Good for others and glory to God (there is hope, God rules and saves)
The chapter ends dark, but the next chapters raise up a deliverer. God was never not in control.
Supporting scripture:
- Genesis 50:20. What men meant for evil, God meant for good. (Same Egypt setting, perfect bridge.)
- Matthew 5:16. Good works that lead others to glorify the Father.
- 1 Peter 2:12. Live such good lives that they glorify God.
- Psalm 103:19. The Lord's throne rules over all.
- Daniel 2:21. God removes kings and sets up kings.
- Acts 4:27-28. Rulers conspired, yet only did what God's plan had decided.
- Romans 8:28, 8:31. God works it for good. If God is for us, who can stand against us.
8. The enemy targets men, so get into a ministry
Sharp observation in your notes: Pharaoh aimed at the boys specifically. That is a spiritual-warfare pattern, and the counter is to get men engaged, not passive.
Supporting scripture:
- Exodus 1:16, 1:22. The target was the male children.
- Revelation 12:4-5. The dragon waits to devour the male child. Same strategy, cosmic scale.
- 1 Peter 5:8. The devil prowls, looking for someone to devour.
- Ephesians 6:10-12. The real fight is not flesh and blood.
- Nehemiah 4:14. Fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives, your homes. (Straight from your Nehemiah work.)
- 1 Corinthians 16:13. Be watchful, stand firm, act like men, be strong.
- Ezekiel 22:30. God looks for a man to stand in the gap and find one.
- 2 Timothy 4:5. Do the work, fulfill your ministry.
A couple of threads tie the whole study together if you want a closing move: the "boy killers" pattern (Pharaoh, then Herod, then the dragon) all aim at the deliverer and all fail, and the two scared midwives end up named in Scripture forever while the most powerful man in the world is left nameless. God remembers the faithful and forgets the tyrant.
The Christian Code of Conduct for the Church Militant (Ben Lorence)
