Yesterday morning The Old Fool was refreshed. The senior pastor of his church sat comfortably surrounded by children who listened intently while he explained the role of a midwife.
The preacher of yesterday morning’s sermon again had the difficult task of using an Old Testament text to enlighten a twenty first century audience. The story reveals Pharoah to be a nervous conspiracy theorist. He feared the growing numbers of Isrealites in Egypt and ordered the midwives, Shiprah and Puah, to kill the Israelite boys as they were born. The good news is that the midwives refused to do as commanded, and the Lord blessed them for their disobedience even though they lied to protect themselves.
The Old Fool preached many sermons with Old Testament texts. Now he wonders why he did it. It seems to him that it would have been better to use a new Testament text and illustrate it by appropriate stories from both Testaments.
J. Irvin Lehman
The Old Fool’s preacher father taught him that a christian should always be subject to the government as it says in Romans 13. That means that a christian should not join a rebellion that attempts to overthrow a government. But my father offered the following caveat. A christian can be subject to the government and yet disobey a law that is contrary to the way of Jesus. Shiprah and Puah of the Old Testament and Peter and John of the New Testament are fit examples for today’s followers of Jesus.
