HOW COULD GOD BLESS SHIPHRAH AND PUAH FOR LYING?
Exodus – Shiphrah & Puah lied?
June 6, 2019
READ TIME: 1-2 MINUTES
“Dave, in Exodus 1:16, I don’t understand God blessing Shiprah and Puah when they lied.”
Credit goes to Gleason Archer and the Apologetics Study Bible for a helpful answer to this excellent question.
From the viewpoint of the midwives’ arriving too late, this was likely true. They simply didn’t share the fact that their late arrival was intentionally planned.
These ladies knew the principle that when the laws of man are in conflict with God’s commandments and will, faithful believers are under obligation to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).
When faced with the choice between taking the lives of babies of their people and misleading the king by a half-truth to avoid this murder, they rightly chose the lesser ill (truth-telling) to avoid the greater (life-saving).
God didn’t honor and bless these two brave women for their withholding part of the truth; rather, He blessed them for their willingness to incur personal danger to save the lives of innocent babies.
Others in the OT were recorded as deliberately misleading people to protect innocent human life, including Samuel (1 Samuel 16:2) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:24–27). In a world marred by sin, it is not always possible to choose between pure good and pure evil, and one is sometimes compelled to choose the least sinful alternative.
Sources Used
Archer, Gleason L. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties.
Cabal, Ted et al. The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007.
The Moody Bible Commentary. Moody Publishers.