A familiar story crossed my path a few times recently and caused me to look at it more closely.
In Exodus, we find the story of Moses.
God’s people, the Israelites, are settled in Egypt and doing well. Until the new king begins to take notice of one thing.
The Pharaoh’s paranoia is rising up. He is fearful the Israelites will be greater in number than the Egyptians. So with his mounting fear of losing control, he makes a demand of the midwives to kill any sons that are born to the Hebrew women.
Two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, defy him for one reason only – “But the midwives feared God” (Exodus 1:17, NASB). Their fear of God, prompts them to let the Hebrew baby boys live.
They may not have known the true and living God, but they knew right from wrong. They knew to murder these new born boys was an atrocity they could not commit.
We are not told how long it took for Pharaoh to notice the increase in the Israelite male population, but it is fair to say, it probably was a few years.
Seeing the number of boys yet being born, Pharaoh questions the midwives again, but even in offering an explanation, the midwives hold to their firm fear of God.
We all know the story. Pharaoh’s daughter finds the baby boy in a basket. He is tended to by his own mother until he is weaned and must be surrendered to Pharaoh’s daughter. He is adopted and grows up in Pharaoh’s household.
Why would she do this, going against her father’s own decree? Exodus 2:6 provides insight:
“When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” (Exodus 2:6, NASB)
She felt sorrow in seeing a baby in distress.
It came down to one word >>> compassion.
Compassion = being aware of the distress or pain of someone while being moved to do something to ease it.
I was reminded of the many times in the Gospels where we are told Jesus was moved with compassion and then brought healing.
And then it brought to mind the compassion of God:
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.” (Psalm 103:8, NASB)
Two lessons from this familiar story:
- Their fear of God led the midwives to a wise decision. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10, NASB)
- A heart of compassion led Pharaoh’s daughter to save Moses. “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:12, NASB)
May our hearts fear God,
be filled with wisdom and understanding from His Word,
so we will be moved to act with compassion.
This week is back to school for our family. In light of that, this prayer by Lisa Brittain is just what we all need as we begin this next chapter of our year. May each of our hearts feel reassured and at peace. Read her complete prayer, All the feels of back to school: shalom prayers HERE.
Come, sit a spell. Bring your coffee, your posts, and your thoughts. If you link up, kindly visit those who have drawn up a seat around you.
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
The fear of the Lord and compassion for others are beautifully tied together. May God fill us with both.
Amen! I too recently had this account in a devotion about generations Joanne.
Blessings, Jennifer
Your definition hit a good spot: ” being aware of the distress or pain of someone while being moved to do something to ease it.” Some with a gift for compassion can really feal the pain of the hurting along with them. I’m not one of those people – but I am aware of distress and pain, like you said – and am moved to do something to ease it. My “emotion” comes in the “moved” to do something to ease it. I had always thought you had to “feel their pain along with them.” Maybe you do – but this definition was a liberating one for me.