In our Bible study yesterday, we learned about the command in Ecclesiastes 12:13 to fear God. We discovered what it looks like to have a healthy fear of God. Today, we will examine the second command given in Ecclesiastes 12:13, "Obey His commandments." You see, as we learned during the weekend message, the fear of God and obedience go hand in hand.
Our Bible study today takes us to the book of Exodus to learn from unlikely heroines who can help us understand how the fear of God and obedience go hand in hand. Exodus 1 tells us that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was threatened by the growing number of Israelites. He saw that the Israelites outnumbered the Egyptians. Because he felt threatened, he made the Israelites become slaves in Egypt (verse 11). He then ordered the Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah to kill any Israelite baby boys whom they delivered. Pharaoh put them in an impossible situation. If they defied Pharaoh's decrees, they could face dire consequences. These women were not deterred, however. Scripture tells us that “Because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders” (verse 17). Do not miss this. They feared God more than Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. As a result, they allowed all of the baby boys to live who they delivered, regardless of the consequences. Because of their obedience, God honored these two midwives and "gave them families of their own” (verse 21).
The Israelite midwives' fear of God and obedience went hand in hand. They feared God and the spiritual consequences of disobeying Him more than the physical consequences they could have faced by defying Pharaoh's orders. What about us? Do we have a healthy fear of God, a fear that leads us to take risks and obey Him, regardless of the consequences? May our fear of God be marked by radical obedience no matter what, even when our lives are on the line.
Is there something that God has been calling you to do, but you have been delaying obedience? Before you read through the verses in the Going Deeper section below, think about the one thing that God has called you to do that you have been putting off. Then, read the verses from the Going Deeper section listed below. In light of His power and holiness, out of fear of the Lord, commit to obedience starting today.
1These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with their father, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 In all, Jacob had seventy descendants in Egypt, including Joseph, who was already there.
6 In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. 7 But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.
8 Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. 10 We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.”
11 So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. 13 So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. 14 They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands.
15 Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: 16 “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?”
19 “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.”
20 So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.”
