Who Do You Fear?

Exodus 1 sets Pharaoh’s fear over against Abraham’s hospitality. Genesis had pictured Abraham seeing strangers, running, bowing, serving, and making room. Exodus now shows a king who “did not know Joseph,” so the memory of shared blessing is lost, and the Israelites are not seen as neighbors made in God’s image but as a problem to be solved. Pharaoh’s fear speaks first as common sense. “Come, let us deal shrewdly with them.” The language sounds sharp, practical, careful, even wise. But that so called wisdom hardens into a system. Taskmasters are appointed, hard labor is imposed, and bitter service with mortar and brick becomes normal. Strategy slides toward violence, and violence strains toward genocide.

Fear, not difference, drives the harm. The Israelites are different, but difference did not destroy Egypt when Joseph stored grain and life was preserved. Fear tells a story about what might happen, multiplies suspicion, and then builds structures to control. The text presses the question back into the human heart. What happens inside when difference stands close, at the table, in the pew, in the neighborhood, on the news. Bodies tense, rumors rise, camps form, and fear poses as prudence. Real wisdom still sets wise boundaries, but holy discernment begins by noticing the story fear is trying to write.

Into that pressure, two names rise. Shiphrah and Puah fear God. Not panic before God, but reverence, allegiance, trust. God grows larger than Pharaoh’s threats, so the midwives let the boys live. When confronted, they turn Pharaoh’s own fear back on itself. “The Hebrew women are vigorous.” Their quiet refusal becomes the first ripple toward deliverance. A baby set in a basket, a sister named Miriam, a people saved. Centuries later, Herod’s fear repeats the pattern, and faithful magi refuse to report back, so Jesus lives.

The midwives do not out argue fear. They simply refuse to let Pharaoh’s fear become their fear. Holy fear frees them to treat difference as neighbor rather than danger. This same fear of God trains a church to look at itself, name its fear, slow down, pray, listen, and then, within wise boundaries, practice Abraham’s hospitality. When fear is dethroned and God is feared, humility can take hold and difference can grow people. Love can gather difference into a community. Curiosity can make difference a doorway to wisdom. Grace can make difference a strength. Difference is not the enemy, and fear is not Lord. God is.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Fear often wears wisdom’s clothes Fear starts as a feeling, then writes a story that sounds practical, careful, and realistic. That is why “deal shrewdly” can pass as common sense while it quietly hardens into harm. Real discernment asks what fear is doing inside before it becomes policy outside. The heart must be examined before the hands get busy. [33:01]
• 2. Holy fear reorders allegiance Shiphrah and Puah fear God, not Pharaoh, and that allegiance loosens the grip of threats. Reverence expands love until it grows larger than intimidation, so obedience to God becomes possible in risky places. Holy fear is not terror, it is trust that steadies conscience when power demands compromise. [39:57]
• 3. Difference is not the enemy Scripture remembers a season when Israel’s difference saved Egypt through Joseph. Fear, not difference, turned neighbors into targets and policy into violence. When God is feared, humility, love, curiosity, and grace can make difference a gift that builds a wiser and stronger community. [46:27]
• 4. Practice hospitality with wise boundaries Abraham’s welcome shows the pattern, and Exodus warns against fear shaped reactions. Prayer, listening, and slowing down create space to see the image of God before assumptions take over. Hospitality honors dignity, and wisdom sets good boundaries, so love can move toward the other without naivety. [44:46]
• 5. Refuse to mirror another’s fear The midwives do not debate Pharaoh into virtue. They discern his fear, decline to share it, and answer to God instead. Courage often looks like quiet refusal that keeps one’s soul from being scripted by someone else’s panic. [43:19]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [23:43] - Abraham’s hospitality revisited
• [24:45] - Pharaoh names a threat
• [25:11] - Oppression becomes policy
• [25:50] - Midwives under command
• [26:09] - Midwives fear God, not Pharaoh
• [31:34] - Fear writes a false script
• [33:01] - Shrewdness that masks cruelty
• [33:54] - Strategy sliding into violence
• [39:57] - Holy fear and allegiance
• [41:30] - Turning Pharaoh’s fear on itself
• [42:18] - Ripples toward Moses and Jesus
• [44:46] - Practicing wise hospitality
• [46:54] - Difference is not the enemy

1. What specific actions did Pharaoh take to control the Israelites, and how did his initial strategy escalate over time?
2. How did Shiphrah and Puah respond to Pharaoh’s command, and what reason did they give him for their actions?
3. What phrase does the text repeat to describe the midwives’ motivation for disobeying Pharaoh?

1. Pharaoh’s fear led him to “deal shrewdly” with the Israelites (v. 10). Why might fear-driven strategies like this sound reasonable at first, and how do they ultimately lead to harm?
2. The midwives’ response to Pharaoh (“the Hebrew women are vigorous…”) turned his own fear back on him. What does this reveal about the relationship between truth, fear, and power?
3. How does the story of Shiphrah and Puah foreshadow later acts of resistance in Scripture, such as the Magi refusing Herod’s orders (Matthew 2:12)?

1. Fear often disguises itself as “common sense” or practicality. When have you seen this happen in your own life or community? What practical step could help you discern whether fear is driving a decision? [33:01]
2. The midwives’ reverence for God freed them to act courageously. What would it look like to prioritize “holy fear” (trust in God) over fear of consequences in a situation you’re facing?
3. Pharaoh assumed difference was a threat. How can you intentionally practice curiosity or hospitality toward someone whose background, beliefs, or choices feel unfamiliar to you? [44:46]
4. The sermon warns against letting fear “write the story” about others. What assumptions do you need to examine about a person or group you find difficult to understand?
5. Wise boundaries and hospitality are both part of loving others. Where do you need to set healthier boundaries, and where might you be withholding hospitality out of unexamined fear? [28:55]
6. Shiphrah and Puah’s small act of defiance started a ripple effect. What “quiet refusal” of fear could you make today that might create space for God to work?