November 2008

Stories Seldom Heard

111^th Edition

November 2008

Exodus Chapter 1: 1-22 – The Story of Puah and Shiphrah

Welcome to Stories Seldom Heard. I would especially like to welcome the members of St Thomas Aquinas Parish in Brooklyn and St. Benedict’s Parish in the Bronx, New York.

Recently one of my nieces e-mailed me asking if I knew any good books with Bible stories for her children to read. Her two boys are very curious about the Bible. They have a lot of questions concerning the stories so my niece wants to encourage them in this pursuit and provide them good resources that will help them understand the Bible. As she says, "There’s a window of opportunity, and I don’t want to miss it. I am so delighted the boys are interested in learning more about God. And to tell you the truth I, too, am learning a lot about the Bible."

I guess no matter how young or old we are being interested and willing to study the Bible is a great gift. Over the last few months we have been studying parables. I hope these articles have been helpful so that when we listen to these special wisdom stories about God, we will be able to hear their complexity and understand them better. They are worth rereading because they will not always strike us in the same manner because as we change, the way we hear God’s Word also changes.

For the next few months, I thought we could read some stories of women in the First Testament, the Old Testament. Since many of us know the story of Moses’ birth, I thought we might begin with the women in Moses’ life. Before reading the following article it would be helpful to take a few minutes and read Exodus 1:1-22. It is such a good story you will probably find yourself reading into the second chapter. As you read be sure to notice the details in the story. What’s the situation? Is there anything that surprises you? Are there any contradictions or ironical twists in the story? What qualities of Puah and Shiprah attract you?

On my desk I have a two-part cartoon. Since I can’t include the cartoon in this e-mail, I will try to describe it. There’s a river lined with cattails. Two young Egyptian girls are making their way towards two small homemade baskets floating in the river. One of the girls looks into the first basket and announces, "It’s a baby boy!" The second girl pulls back the blanket in the second basket and with a shocked expression on her face proclaims, "Pampers!"

I’m not sure where I found this cartoon, but it certainly adds a modern touch to an old story. Many of us know the story of Moses’ rescue, but some of us have never heard of the two midwives who were behind the plot - Puah and Shiphrah. Granted, the Bible version of the story does not recount exactly what happened. Rather it is the result of an oral tradition handed on from one generation to another. Yet, in the refining and shifting of the story throughout the centuries these two names continually surface - Puah and Shiphrah. Isn’t it odd that most of us have never heard of them before especially since they are the heroines of the story! Their courage and creativity not only saved Moses from death, but also saved many other baby boys as well. Without Puah and Shiphrah Pharaoh’s plan to end the Israelite race might have succeeded.

But that’s getting ahead of our story. We don’t want to rush to the conclusion and miss the many other insights that the author offers us. Each line of Chapter 1 is carefully crafted. Verses 1–4 give us background information that helps remind us of the situation. It tells us where the Israelites are living and how they got there! If you want to fill in the details of the story you can go to Genesis 37:2. That is where the story of Joseph begins. If you have time to read it, it’s a great story. In fact, many of you might remember the Broadway musical rendition of it: Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.

Exodus 1:8 begins to unfold the story of the Israelites living in Egypt many years after Joseph’s death. When Pharaoh began his reign the land was at peace. People of different backgrounds worked together. There was prosperity. Evidently there was enough food and work for everyone because the population was growing and we hear nothing about a fear of famine.

However, everything is not as peaceful as it seems. The first hint of Pharaoh’s inability to rule well appears early in the story. "Then there came to power in Egypt a new king who knew nothing of Joseph." This statement might sound casual enough, but it subtly makes a bold comment. Pharaoh "knew nothing of Joseph." The obvious implication of this comment is that Pharaoh might have the power, but he’s not an astute leader. He doesn’t know how or why the people of his kingdom - of different ancestries -have come to live in the same land together. Without this understanding of history, he misses the lessons it can teach him. That alone is a dangerous pitfall for any ruler. But there is also another more subtle implication couched in this sentence. If Pharaoh didn’t know Joseph he also did not know Joseph’s God. In fact, as the story unfolds Pharaoh not only miscalculates the power of the people, but also ignores the subtle ways of the God of Israel.

Pharaoh doesn’t know Yahweh and perhaps even more importantly Pharaoh doesn’t want to know Yahweh. Pharaoh desires one thing and one thing only – power. In his mind nothing is going to stop him from ruling his kingdom for his own advantage. We hear the reason why Pharaoh wants to kill the Israelites. "They (the Israelites) might take up arms against us." We also hear what is guiding that decision – fear and a lack of imagination. For Pharaoh the only way to deal with those who threaten him is to annihilate them – get them out of the way, out of the picture. With these two undesirable qualities, the lack of a historical perspective and a fear-driven style of leadership, Pharaoh begins to make decisions and some major mistakes.

The story in Exodus is not kind to Pharaoh. At every turn his arrogance, pride and ignorance are revealed. He is fearful, ruthless and racist. "These people, the sons and daughters of Israel, have become so numerous and strong they are a threat to us." He is bent on breaking their backs and their spirits. "The Egyptians forced the sons of Israel into slavery, and made their lives unbearable with hard labor…" As Pharaoh’s plans develop, he calls into his richly clad court some Hebrew midwives.

Now the plot thickens! We can imagine how intimidating it must have felt: poor, peasant women standing before a powerful ruler. Yet, once again, Pharaoh has no idea of how poorly he has misread the situation. These young women might not be wealthy, but they are wise. They might not be of the ruling class, but their defense is clever. They have a biblical wisdom that is rooted in a passion for life and the reality of their daily work as midwives. Their "street smarts" run circles around the fearful Pharaoh. And besides that, they are spiritual "God-fearing" women. They know "the story" and they know "the God of Joseph."

Pharaoh orders the young midwives to "Throw all the boys born to the Hebrews into the river, but let all of the girls live." In other words, Pharaoh is saying, "Don’t worry about the girls. They’re no threat. They're worthless, only property, easily dismissed. They're too weak to lead a revolution." In Pharaoh’s mind even if there were a God of Israel that God wouldn’t be so foolish as to rely on such poorly made rebels - girls. What a gift and what an irony! Once again God shifts the playing field and does the unexpected. (1)

These not so simple women stand in contrast to Pharaoh whose decisions will not only result in the collapse of his kingdom, but also will cause his own people great suffering. Ironically Puah and Shiphrah observe the same facts as Pharaoh does, but they name them differently. Puah and Shiphrah don't see the tremendous growth in the Hebrew population as a possible threat to any earthly king, but rather as a partial fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah. Puah and Shiphrah share some of the fear that Pharaoh expresses. They have heard the death commands from their earthly ruler, but they don't fear the authority of Pharaoh. What draws them to act is a different kind of fear - a biblical fear - that is better translated as a "love of God." This fear or love of God is built on a reverence and respect that comes from knowing the awesomeness of God.

Puah and Shiphrah have experienced the terrible mystery of life and death while "mid-wifing" babies into this world. These wonder-filled experiences of joy and struggle, laughter and pain, life and sometimes death have given them the strength to act according to their hard - earned God-wisdom. In their waiting, hoping, silence and the bittersweet pains of birth, they have come to know God intimately and to place all of their trust in God.

The story of Puah and Shiphrah is the story of God working behind the scenes. It’s the story of God working through the decisions and lives of ordinary people like ourselves. The decisions of these two women and the others with whom they worked changed the course of the Israelite history. For them there was no burning bush, no flash on the mountain as there was for Moses. For them, it had to do with listening and timing things right. Puah and Shiphrah were midwives, life-catchers. They caught the Israelites at birth. In other words they caught the foreigner, the powerless, the delicate and fragile. They caught those who otherwise could be lost. And in turn God caught them and protected them. God graced these ordinary women with great insight and courage. Through their daily work within the community God touched Puah and Shiphrah and shaped their God fearing/loving hearts into hearts filled with integrity, justice and love.

Puah and Shiphrah aren’t the only ones who the world counts as unimportant and under-valued. There are many stories in scripture and in our own lives of "those kinds of people" who listen well to the small voice of God who lives within each of us. There are many people who do great things and make courageous decisions that affect the course of history. Their stories might not be written in the Bible or even in our daily newspapers, but they surround us. They are people like us who often feel rather ordinary, or on the fringe of society, but who through their daily choices are life-catchers like Puah and Shiphrah.

Each of us is a life-catcher in our own way. We make life-giving choices for our families and for those we know. But as people of faith our concerns go beyond our family and friends. Thanksgiving is coming soon. Many of our churches will be collecting food and clothing for families under financial stress. Other people will be planning as a family to serve Thanksgiving dinner at a local dining room that serves the homeless. Still others of us will be helping to organize and staff winter shelters. So it might be a good time to reflect on our holiday traditions and incorporate some acts of love that we as a family can do together to help out those who are in need. Everyone this year feels the pinch of our economic downturn – especially the poor. But as my niece said, "It’s a window of opportunity that I don’t want to miss. It might not ever open up again." In other words, it is an opportunity to put our faith into action and with our children broaden our understanding of what it means to be the family of God.

Oh, there’s one more part of the story on which I would like to comment. Puah and Shiphrah are named in the story and their story continues to be told even today. On the other hand, the Bible doesn’t even mention the name of the Pharaoh. "Pharaoh" is not a personal name, but rather a generic Egyptian word that means "the House." In modern day terms it is an expression similar to the one we use for "The White House." In the story the use of the word "Pharaoh" heightens the irony because he who thinks he is so important is never named. It’s a way for the authors to say that Pharaoh doesn’t deserve to be remembered. Pharaoh thinks he has the last word over life and death and yet he is blind to what is happening right before his eyes. In history Pharaoh is viewed as just one more brutal king who thirsts for power and wealth.

As we reflect on this story we might want to give thanks for the following people:

And pray for:

because we, like Puah and Shiphrah, are held lovingly in the hands of God.

Throughout history women have had a strong and powerful presence. Today’s women are no exception. In 2003 the Nobel Peace Award was awarded to Shirin Abadi. Shirin is an Iranian woman lawyer who has struggled for human rights and has been a formidable voice of conscience in Iran and the Middle East for many years. Shirin’s unflinching advocacy for women and children has earned her the wrath of hard liners, including death threats and time in prison. Yet, like Puah and Shiphrah she continues to stand firm in her God fearing ways.

Special thanks to Sharon Grant who has helped in editing this article.
　
"Stories Seldom Heard" is a monthly article written by Sister Patricia Bruno, O.P.  Sister is a Dominican Sister of San Rafael, California.  This service is offered to the Christian community to enrich one's personal and spiritual life.  The articles can be used for individual or group reflection.  If you would like "Stories Seldom Heard" sent to a friend, please send a note to "purple115@juno.com".  If you would like to support this ministry, please send tax deductible contributions to Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, c/o Sister Patricia Bruno, O.P., 1520 Grand Avenue, San Rafael, CA  94901

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