The Heroic Women of Shemot — A Story the World Overlooked

A Shift From Families to a Nation

We have just finished reading the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis from the beginning to the end deals with families and individuals. Right from the beginning of the book of Exodus the scene changes and the focus is on a people, a nation, united tribes that have the same fate and the same problems.

The Hebrew Bible doesn't have book names or chapters or verse numbers. That tradition developed with the Septuagint — the translation of the Hebrew Bible to Greek in the 2nd Century B.C.E. — and in Medieval Europe. The Hebrew text was written in a scroll and the names are not based on logic like in the Greek Bible, but on the first word or words of the scroll. This is why in Hebrew the book is called "Shemot" — "the names" — while the Greek and English call it "Exodus" because the main topic deals with the going out of the children of Israel from Egypt.

In this Torah reading from Exodus chapter 1 to chapter 6, the real heroes are really heroines — women! Five women that are little appreciated in most Christian circles.

A New Pharaoh — A Familiar Pattern

The book of Exodus starts seemingly well, but just a few verses in and about 200 years later, a new Pharaoh rises up in Egypt who doesn't know Joseph. What does this mean? It means a change in government. It means that the political system changes, and a new dynasty comes into power in Egypt, a Pharaoh of a different political party who didn't appreciate Joseph and what he did for Egypt. This happens in history often, and there is a bloody history of changes of dynasties by war, and by revolution, and by subterfuge. The United States of America as we know it today was born out of a revolution. Today's Europe was born out of a revolution. Russian Communism was born in a revolution, and in all these cases there was a "purge" of the old regime and the establishment of a new system of government.

The Midwives — The First Heroes

The first women that were real heroes were the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. There is some discussion among scholars as to whether these two women were Egyptians or Israelites. Egypt was full of Semitic tribes and nations that had moved from both Europe and Asia to Egypt. One of the largest groups was the Hyksos. The Hyksos came from Asia, they were of Semitic origin and they ruled Egypt during the 15th dynasty, around 1500-1600 B.C.E. Judging from the names of these two midwives, they are probably of Hyksos origin. The name Shiphrah means "beautiful" — like Linda in Spanish. This name is the same name as Saphira in Acts chapter 3.

These two women took the job to drown every male child of the Hebrews in the River. They must have been very professional for Pharaoh to choose them for this job. They accepted the job. But they didn't obey the ruler of Egypt, the Great Pharaoh who ruled from Lake Victoria in Africa to Tunisia of today. They took a terribly dangerous chance to not obey the command of the Pharaoh and to save the Hebrew male babies. They were brave, they were moral, they were faithful to God and not to the Egyptian Pharaoh.

This is the first and very important lesson for us all to learn. This lesson was not learned by the enemies of Israel in World War II. The German, Austrian, Hungarian, Rumanian, Estonian, Latvian, Ukrainian, and Polish Christians as a whole, didn't disobey the German Nazis who appointed them to be the guards and the executioners that killed Jews in the death camps. Although it must be stated that there are thousands of Christians in Europe that did exactly what the two Egyptian midwives Puah and Shiphrah did. These Christians endangered their own lives to save Jews and Jewish children from the Nazi death camps. These very special people have a very special name. They are called Righteous Among the Gentiles. The state of Israel has the Yad VaShem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem to remember the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. In that same place there is also a memorial for these Christians who saved Jews. There's a tree with a name on it for each of these Righteous Among the Gentiles.

Amram and Jochebed — An Act of Defiance

A point that amazes me is the attitude and actions of Amram and Jochebed, the father and mother of Moses. Amram, the father of Moses, is called "a man of the house of Levi," and his wife Jochebed is called "a daughter of Levi." This Levite man, the father of Aaron, Miriam, and Moses, "went." Where was this Levite that suddenly he "went"? The implication is that this Levite left his wife Jochebed, because he could not imagine that a baby boy would be born that would have to be drowned in the river of Egypt. At a certain point this Levite man understood that Pharaoh's scheme is to destroy Israel, and take away the promises that the Lord had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At this point, this Levite man decides to go back to his wife and make a baby.

The birth of this baby is a rebellion against the forces and powers of this world, the forces of colonialism and racism, and enslavement of the stranger, the weak, and the outsider. What this act is saying to us today is that Pharaoh thinks that he can stop the Almighty God from keeping His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — and Israel.

The three months of living and hiding this healthy baby were both wonderful and terrible. They were wonderful because it gave this mother of three children now a period of bonding with this baby, born as an act of defiance and demonstration of rejection against Pharaoh and Egypt's authority. To save her household and the life of this baby by putting this child in the hands of God, the mother of Moses makes the decision to float the baby in the water of the river, not knowing where and how and who will save this baby, or how this baby will be raised.

Pharaoh's Daughter — The Nameless Pivoting Point of History

The idea that this baby will land in the hands of the princess of Egypt, the daughter of Pharaoh, and be raised and educated as prince of Egypt, was for sure so far from the wildest imagination of Jochebed.

Pharaoh's own daughter, a nameless person, a woman who becomes one of the most important women in the whole Bible. This gentile woman, an Egyptian, a pagan woman raised in the great palaces of Egypt, with golden spoons and silk sheets, is apparently chosen by God to find this Hebrew baby.

The Jewish rabbis very early on noticed the hidden subtext in this story and understood that Pharaoh's daughter must have been acquainted with the Hebrew slave nation and have known their customs and identifying marks. There is only one explanation to this scene — the rabbis reasoned — she was a convert to Judaism, and she went alone into the river for purification purposes, not for fun or for a normal bath, but for a Jewish ritual purification, a Mikveh. She was able to immediately identify this as being a Hebrew child.

By taking this baby and keeping it alive and by bringing the child to the palace and raising this male child as her own son inside the palace of the great Pharaoh, she broke her own father's law to kill every Hebrew male child.

This woman, nameless, is the woman who saved Moses, and raised this baby as a prince of Egypt, as Pharaoh's grandson. She saved the holy history of Israel, and the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel and to the whole world. This Egyptian woman is the pivoting point of history. She takes the right turn and saves this Hebrew child, who saves Israel, brings the Torah from God, and carries the Hebrew children to the edge of the Promised Land.

What if this one gentile woman would not have made this one act of kindness and saved this Hebrew child? If Pharaoh's daughter had not saved Moses, there would be no Israel, no King David, and finally no Yeshua.

Miriam — The Prophetess by the River

The last woman who is a hero in this story is Miriam, the older sister of this baby in the basket. She is hiding by the river and without doubt expecting something like this to happen. Miriam is considered a prophetess and she must have had a premonition that God will take care of this baby in the basket. As soon as Miriam sees Pharaoh's daughter pick up the basket, Miriam appears from behind the vegetation on the river banks and comes to talk to Pharaoh's daughter and suggests a Hebrew woman to take the baby as a wet-nurse. It is not so simple to believe that a simple girl, a Hebrew slave, has access to the royal shores of the Royal palace precinct. Without doubt it must have taken more than courage for Miriam to enter there and address the daughter of the great Pharaoh.

Praise God for courageous women who chose to follow God and His righteousness and not the evil laws of this world's dictators.