Although Pharaoh enslaved the children of Israel and tried his best to slaughter the male life, God was still sovereign over the whole situation (1:7, 12, 17-21). For example, it was of God’s sovereignty that the “children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew strong exceedingly” (1:7, Heb.). Today the church often becomes strong for no apparent reason. Only God’s sovereignty can account for the strengthening. Throughout the years, I have learned that we should not trust in our work or labor. We should trust only in the Lord’s sovereign blessing. When the Lord blesses us, even our mistakes turn out for good. (This does not mean, however, that we should do evil that good may come.) But if there is no blessing from the Lord, we shall not see much positive result, no matter how good or right we may be. Our trust should never be in what we are nor in what we can do. Our trust must be absolutely in the Lord. We should pray, “Lord, we are simply doing our duty as we follow You. But, Lord, You know that we do not trust in what we are nor in what we are able to do. Our trust, Lord, is altogether in what You are. If You sovereignly bless Your church, the church will multiply and become strong.”
God’s sovereignty is also seen in His making the Hebrew women lively (1:19). When Pharaoh asked the midwives why the male children were still being kept alive, the midwives replied, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them” (v. 19). By answering Pharaoh in this way, the midwives were not lying. It was a fact that the Hebrew women were more lively than the Egyptian women. This was according to the sovereignty of God. The Hebrew women were lively because God sovereignly made them lively.
The same is true with the church today. Whether the church becomes lively or deadened does not depend on what we do. It depends solely on the Lord’s sovereignty. But this does not mean that we should be lazy or idle. On the one hand, we should not think that our work will bring in God’s blessing. On the other hand, we should not think that because everything depends on the Lord’s blessing, we should do nothing. We need to labor, to do our duty, realizing as we do so that the condition of the church and of the saints is a matter of God’s sovereignty.
Furthermore, the Lord sovereignly used the female life, the midwives, to save the male life, in the same principle that He used the virgin Mary to bring forth the Savior (Gal. 4:4-5). In his own wisdom Pharaoh planned to terminate the nation of Israel. God did not fight against Pharaoh. Instead, He sovereignly used two midwives to save the male life.
Verses 20 and 21 say, “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and became very strong. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them households” (Heb.). By dealing well with the midwives, God made them households to bring forth life for the fulfilling of His purpose. This means that He used the life that is for man’s pleasure to produce the life that is for God’s purpose. In this picture we see that if we refuse to stand with Pharaoh but stand with God, God will deal well with us so that we may produce life for the accomplishment of His purpose. Sisters, when you stand with God, not with Satan, God will establish households for you. This means that God will establish units to produce life for the fulfilling of His purpose.
From this message we may conclude that no matter how much Satan may seek to enslave us or to deaden us, God is still sovereign and He can use us to be today’s midwives. We all can be those who turn the life for man’s pleasure into the life for God’s purpose. If we are such midwives, God will establish households for us filled with people producing life for the accomplishment of God’s purpose. In the following message we shall see that Moses was preserved through three women: his mother, his sister, and the daughter of Pharaoh. Praise the Lord for the midwives, for the female life that turns to God for the fulfillment of His purpose! Praise Him that in the darkness of Exodus 1 a bright light is shining.