Exodus 1 (view this passage)

nathan made this entry on August 3rd, 2008
Topic(s): Courage, Compromise

In the beginning of Exodus it talks about how the Israelites were put into slavery. During this time, the King ordered the midwives to kill all male Israelite boys. Carrying out such a command was obviously an act of high sin. In verse 17 it says that "the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive." God was please with what these midwives had done, and "God dealt well with the midwives".

There are times when we are put into situations where our superiors tell us to do something that we know is wrong. It is very easy to go along with it, and say "The Lord understands my situation, and He knows my heart, and that I don't really want to do this." Well, what you really want to do, and what you actually do makes a huge difference. We are responsible for our own actions. If someone in power commands us to do wrong, that is not an excuse to do it. If our boss tells us to lie or cheat or steal, that is not an excuse to do it.

I'm always amused when I watch movies or TV shows that have evil tyrants as villains. Without fail, these evil bad guys always have a multitude of followers, minions so to speak, who carry out the tyrant's commands. I often think, do these people not have a mind for themselves? Do they carry out wrongful orders and not realize that they are just completely on the wrong side of justice? The sad thing is, the minions probably feel that they have no choice otherwise, but in reality the evil tyrants would not be able to get anything done without their minions.

The main point is that we need to have minds of our own. We can't be the little minions who carry out even the most evil and sinful commands of the superiors because we feel we have no other choice. I say that if midwives, yes lowly midwives, could stand up to the Pharaoh of Egypt in time past, we should be able to stand up to anyone today. 

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