Daughters of Grace: The Hebrew Midwives and Mothers of Moses

Last week we continued a study from the Daily Grace Co. called Daughters of Grace. We talked about Leah and Rachel, their stories, characteristics, and what we can learn from their lives. I haven't posted the blog post from last week yet but will post it sometime this week (it will be out of date order). This week we are talking about a big story in the Bible and all of the amazing women that took part in this story. The story we are covering today is the birth of baby Moses and the execution order by Pharaoh on all Hebrew baby boys. The women who took a stand during this time were the Hebrew Midwives and Moses' mothers: Jochebed and Pharaoh's daughter. 

If you would like a link to purchase the study we are reading from, click here. You may also head over to our Facebook Page and watch the live video from 1/11/21 if you would like to just listen to what the book reads and follow along. 

This is a lot of characters to cover but I felt it would be best to group all of these amazing women together because they displayed some of the same acts of courage to be faithful to God during this time. To read the full story in the Bible, flip to Exodus chapters 1 and 2. I am going to hop right in to the discussion questions from this story.

1. What do we learn about God and His character in this story?

• That God is just and faithful
• That God rewards those who are faithful to Him
• He always has a bigger plan

2. What character qualities, positive or negative, do we see demonstrated in the lives of the midwives and the mothers of Moses? 

Midwives (Shiphrah and Puah):

• Defiant/strong-willed: the midwives disobeyed a direct order from the King because of their own beliefs. It would have been so scary to defy the King in this way but it seems from scripture like they didn't even think twice about it.
• Faithful: these women acted on their faith when it would have been so scary to do. They knew that God's will and plan was more important than Pharaoh's.
• God fearing: this is so similar to why I called the midwives faithful but I still wanted to include this character trait because the Bible specifically says in Exodus 1:17 that the midwives feared God. They not only were faithful but they feared disobeying God more than disobeying direct orders from the King.
• Intelligent- I feel that the excuse that the midwives gave for letting Hebrew boys live was quick thinking on their part- they tell Pharaoh that the Hebrew women aren't even using midwives and that the babies are born before they can even get there.
• Courageous- this one is obvious and all the women we are talking about tonight get the courageous attribute added to their list!

Jochebed:

• Resourceful: Jochebed knew that Moses was special and was able to keep him hidden for 3 months which I feel would have been very hard to do in a life of oppression and slavery. She must have been very cunning and resourceful to be able to keep Moses hidden for so long. We also know that she constructed the basket that Moses would be found in, which I think is pretty smart!
• Intelligent: I mentioned Jochebed's intellect above for knowing how to conceal Moses and then crafting a basket out of papyrus, but I think that it also shows intellect on Jochebed's part that she had a plan to be reunited with Moses and to nurse him for Pharaoh's daughter. I don't know if this was her plan all along, if it was divine intervention, or if it was all quick thinking on Miriam's part but I still think it was ingenious and I am giving Jochebed some points for that. She actually got paid to nurse Moses!
• Faithful: Through everything, Jochebed was faithful to God and knew that all of this was part of God's plan for Moses
• Courageous- this one is obvious and all the women we are talking about tonight get the courageous attribute added to their list!

Pharaoh's daughter:

• Merciful/compassionate: Pharaoh's daughter knew of the order by her father, yet she felt sorry for Moses and showed him mercy to the point of taking him in as her own.
• Strong-Willed: Similarly to what I said above, Pharaoh's daughter disobeyed his orders for what she believed was right, no matter what that would mean for her. She also very decisively let a Hebrew woman nurse him until he was old enough to be returned to her. We don't know a lot about this woman but in the couple sentences we have about her, she spares Moses' life and quickly reunites him with his real mother.
• Courageous- this one is obvious and all the women we are talking about tonight get the courageous attribute added to their list!

3. What can I learn from the lives of these women that I can apply to my own life?

1. God will honor and bless you when you honor Him

2. Your obedience to God can have the ability to change and save lives

3. Always prioritize God over other leadership

4. Sometimes you have to make bold, uncomfortable moves to have favor