Episode #5
What God Does With Faithful, Unseen Women | The Midwives of Exodus
Most people know Moses. Most people know Miriam. Some people know Jochebed. But do you know Shiphrah and Puah? They had no platform. No position. No power. They stood before the most powerful ruler in the known world and quietly, courageously, at great personal risk — said no. And then they went back to their work and kept giving life. Because of what they did in secret, in the dark, in the unseen — a nation was born. In this episode Jennifer Strickland digs into one of the most overlooked stories in all of Scripture and pulls out gold that will change the way you see your own faithfulness, your own calling, and your own place in the story God is writing. This episode is for the woman who feels invisible. For the mother who wonders if her ordinary work counts. For the teacher, the mentor, the spiritual mother, the woman who has been pouring into others for years with no recognition and no applause. God saw Shiphrah and Puah. He wrote their names in eternity while Pharaoh — the most powerful man in the world — remains anonymous on the same page. He sees you too. WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE The Setting — Exodus 1 God's people are enslaved, oppressed, and crying out. Pharaoh is afraid of their multiplication — so he gives a horrifying order to the Hebrew midwives. Kill the boys. Let the girls live. And two women decide they fear God more than they fear Pharaoh. Who Were Shiphrah and Puah? Their names are preserved in Scripture while Pharaoh is never named in this passage — one of the most profound theological statements in the entire book of Exodus. God remembers the faithful and the unseen. Jennifer unpacks the meaning of both names — Shiphrah meaning beautiful, brightness, to make clean, and Puah meaning the birth cry itself — and shows how God named the women who gave life with life-giving names. The Hebrew Word for Midwife — Meyaledet The Hebrew word meyaledet — from the root yalad — means one who causes to bring forth. The midwife does not create the life. She does not own the story. She serves the emergence of what God has already planted and creates the conditions for it to come safely into the world. Jennifer shares how this word is the foundation of her calling as The Writing Mid-Wife — and why it is a picture of ministry for every woman who pours into others. The First Act of Civil Disobedience in the Bible Before Daniel. Before the three men in the furnace. Before any of the celebrated acts of courage against ungodly authority in Scripture — two women simply kept giving life. Jennifer unpacks their response to Pharaoh and the extraordinary theological question it raises about fear of God versus fear of man. God's Reward — Batim God gave Shiphrah and Puah batim — households. Legacies. Futures written in flesh and blood and generations. The women who preserved life were given life. Jennifer speaks directly to mothers, to women without biological children, and to every woman who has poured into the lives of others in the unseen — and reminds them that God is building them a household too. Midwives Throughout Scripture Midwives appear at every critical threshold of new life in the Bible — at Rachel's death and Benjamin's birth in Genesis 35, at the birth of Tamar's twins and the scarlet thread in Genesis 38, and in the very language God uses to describe His own faithfulness in Isaiah 66 and Ezekiel 16. God Himself speaks as a midwife — the one who brings to birth and does not abandon the delivery. What Shiphrah and Puah Could Not See They had no idea what they were protecting. They did not know that the boys they saved would grow into the men who followed Moses through the parted Red Sea. They did not know they were preserving the lineage through which Jesus Christ would enter the world. They just kept showing up. Jennifer draws a direct line from their faithfulness in the unseen to the fruit they could not see — and speaks to every woman who cannot yet see what her own faithfulness is producing. The Books Jennifer Has Midwifed Into the World Jennifer shares the stories of women whose books she has helped bring forth as The Writing Mid-Wife — and reflects on the readers those books have reached in places neither of them will ever visit, in languages neither of them wrote in, changing lives neither of them will ever know about this side of eternity. The fruit of faithfulness always outlasts the faithful. God Names the Unnamed Pharaoh is never named in Exodus 1. Shiphrah and Puah are. Three thousand years later we are still saying their names. Jennifer speaks directly to the woman who feels invisible — unseen, unnamed, overlooked — and reminds her that she is engraved on the palms of His hands. KEY SCRIPTURES Exodus 1:15-21 — Shiphrah, Puah, and the king's order Genesis 35:17 — The first midwife in Scripture at the birth of Benjamin Genesis 38:28 — The midwife and the scarlet thread at the birth of Perez and Zerah Psalm 22:9-10 — God as the one who brought us from the womb Proverbs 29:25 — Fear of man is a snare; trust in the Lord brings safety Isaiah 49:15-16 — "I have engraved you on the palms of my hands" Isaiah 66:9 — "Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" Ezekiel 16:4-5 — The birth without a midwife as a picture of abandonment KEY TAKEAWAYS God named Shiphrah and Puah while leaving Pharaoh anonymous — the most powerful man in the world forgotten, the faithful midwives remembered for eternity. The Hebrew word for midwife — meyaledet — means one who causes to bring forth. The midwife does not create the life. She serves its emergence. This is a picture of every woman who pours into others. Shiphrah and Puah are the first recorded act of civil disobedience in all of Scripture — and they did it quietly, in the dark, with no audience except God. They feared God more than they feared Pharaoh. That single reorientation produced a courage that changed the course of history. What God gave them — batim, households, legacies — was directly proportional to what they had given. They preserved life. He gave them life. You cannot out-give God. They could not see what they were protecting. You cannot always see what your faithfulness is producing either. But God can. And He is writing a story from your obedience that is bigger than you know. Your story will bless people far beyond your telling of it. JENNIFER'S BOOKS MENTIONED 📖 I Am a Woman: Taking Back Our Name Jennifer's powerful exploration of the Hebrew meaning of the word woman — and what it means for every woman's identity, calling, and worth in God's eyes. 👉 https://iamawoman.us 📚 All of Jennifer's Books 👉 https://urmore.org/product-category/books/ RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED 🔥 Free Masterclass — How to Turn Your Mess into a Missionfield A free live Zoom masterclass where Jennifer will help you mine your story for gold, write your testimony, identify your missionfield, and step into what God is calling you to — even if you feel insufficient. Your story will bless people far beyond your telling of it. 👉 Register Free at https://events.urmore.org/ 📚 Jennifer's Books Girl Perfect Beautiful Lies (available in Spanish) 21 Myths Even Good Girls Believe About Sex Pretty From the Inside Out More Beautiful Than You Know I Am a Woman 👉 https://urmore.org/product-category/books/ 🎙️ Subscribe to In God's Eyes Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen. 🙇 Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@Behold_TV 📱 Connect with Jennifer Instagram: @jenniferstrickland_author & @behold.tv Facebook: @jenniferstrickland.author Website: URMore.org Email: support@urmore.org WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR Share this episode with the woman in your life who… Feels invisible, overlooked, or like her work does not count Is a mother pouring herself into her children in the unglamorous unseen Is a teacher, mentor, counselor, or spiritual mother who invests in others with no recognition Longs for children and wonders if her love for other people's children is seen by God Has a story inside of her she does not yet know how to tell Needs to hear that God names the faithful while the powerful remain anonymous
