Fear of Man Versus Fear of the Lord
The passage of Exodus we’re studying this morning is an ancient account about an ancient event about an ancient problem. It’s a story about fear. It teaches us that what we fear controls us.
The text draws a contrast between the fear of man and the fear of the Lord. The main characters are Pharaoh and two midwives, and each was controlled by their fear. But the object of their fear was drastically different, leading to actions that were drastically different. Pharaoh’s fear led to death and destruction. The midwives’ fear led to life and flourishing.
Fear is an important subject to discuss because we live in what Michael Reeves calls a “culture of fear.” He says, “Though we are more prosperous and secure, though we have more safety than almost any other society in history, safety has become the holy grail of our culture. And like the Holy Grail, it is something we can never quite reach. Protected like never before, we are skittish and panicky like never before.”[1]
Fear in one sense is a very normal and natural thing. God designed our bodies to react to threats for the sake of our survival. But when fear comes, what we do with it is what’s important. Do we identify it for what it is in a way that leads us to God for protection, help, and refuge, in a way that leads to faith and wisdom? Or do we seek to manage it in a way that leads to control, anxiety, and, left unchecked, rage? Or do we run from it by medicating it?
What do you do with your fears? The main point of this message is that we fear controls us. In our text, we’ll look at Pharaoh’s fear (vv. 8-14), the midwives fear (vv. 15-21), and freedom from fear (v. 22).
Pharaoh’s Fear
In verses 8-14, Pharaoh’s fear is on full display. First notice in verse 8 that it says a “new king arose who did not know Joseph.” It’s unlikely that this king was the immediate successor of the one in Joseph’s day since the Hebrews were in Egypt for over four centuries (12:40). The “new king” was likely a new dynasty.
Depending on how you date the exodus (some prefer the middle of the 15th century BC, some the middle of the 13th century), the historical situation in Egypt would’ve given this “new king” some reason to be afraid. Starting in the 18th century BC, Egypt was controlled by foreign invaders, called the Hyksos people, for over 150 years. The Hyksos weren’t organized invaders, but were a conglomeration of ethnic groups, predominantly Semitic people who probably came from Canaan. They established their control and built their capital in the eastern Nile Delta, and gradually replaced Egyptians in high administrative offices. Joseph’s rise to power and the migration of the Hebrews to Goshen likely took place during the Hyksos era.
The Hyksos were finally defeated and Egyptian nationals establish their rule again. But for generations the Egyptians feared the outside world and were haunted by the danger of foreign invasion, especially from Semitic peoples coming through the eastern Delta. Semitic people living there could not be ignored or underestimated.[2]
Pharaoh’s concern is justified in one sense. But his fear leads him to spiral into anxiety about hypothetical situations (vv. 9-10). Pharaoh was managing his fear through anxiety and control. Rather than pursuing peace with the Hebrews, his fear of man controls him.
The Fear of Man
Before we’re too hard on Pharaoh, let’s remember that the same sin disease that lived in his heart lives in ours too. We also struggle with fear of man.
The fear of man is sneaky and lives all over our lives. These questions can help you see fear of man in your life: Do you struggle with peer pressure, feeling like you have to be a certain way to fit in? Are you over-committed, finding it hard to say “no”? Are you a people-pleaser, desperately wanting people to be happy with you? Do you seek to control people or are you controlled by people? Are you afraid of being exposed or of being seen as a failure? Are you so afraid of making mistakes that you never risk anything? Are you easily embarrassed? Do you cover things up and live in the dark to make yourself look better to others? Are you jealous of other people? Do other people often make you crazy? Do you avoid people? Do you compare yourself to others to make yourself feel better about yourself? All of these things are a way of being controlled by people rather than God, ways we use other people to define our lives rather than God. This is the fear of man.[3]
Heavy Burdens to Break Their Spirits
Pharaoh’s fear of man led him to mistreat the Hebrews in ways that escalated in evil. First there was slavery, then the secret killing of the boys, then the public killing of the boys. Each time his plan is thwarted in different and strange ways, almost as if there’s another plan in play keeping Israel alive, “hanging on by a string.”[4]
The first thing he does is set taskmasters over them “to afflict them with heavy burdens” (v. 11). Why doesn’t he just kill them at the beginning? Because he wanted to use them first. Fear of man always leads us to use people instead of loving them.
This wasn’t an all-out murderous assault on Israel. These “heavy burdens” were designed to ruin their health, shorten their lives, lessen their numbers, break their spirit, and ultimately destroy their hope. Pharaoh wanted to break their spirits before he broke their necks.
Pharaoh’s plan at first was slow, but cruel. He wanted to break the Hebrew’s will, to make them so bitter and angry and sick that they despaired of life itself.
The harsh taskmasters in your life are no different. The seed of the Serpent doesn’t have any new tricks. He usually starts by trying to kill us slowly, by stealing our hope and overwhelming us with the burdens of life so that we despair of life itself.
More Affliction Led to More Spreading
But notice what happened in verse 12. Pharaoh’s first plan backfired. The more the Hebrews were afflicted, the more they grew! The heavy burdens of the Egyptians somehow made Israel stronger instead of weaker.
Isn’t this always the case with God’s people? For some inexplicable reason, suffering and persecution often produces growth in God’s people. For example, the authorities plotted against Jesus and his fame spread more and more. The authorities killed Stephen in Jerusalem and Paul was throwing Christians in prison, but the word spread as the disciples scattered (Acts 8:1-4).
Over the last decade or so, the governments of China and Iran have sought to crack down on Christians and churches, only to see the church spread and multiply in miraculous ways.
Peter said, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Pet. 4:12). Persecution is the way the unbelieving world treats the church. Having a certain candidate in office or living with religious freedoms won’t change that. The seed of the serpent is intent on crushing the seed of the woman. But the cross is always followed by the resurrection. So we agree with Gamaliel, the Pharisee who said in defense of the apostles, “If their plan is of man, it will fail, but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them” (Acts 5:38-39). God’s plan to grow his people will not be stopped by anyone or anything at any time. Even death takes us to glory!
Life as Slaves
The growth of Israel made the Egyptians even more afraid, and so they made the Hebrew’s lives even harder (vv. 13-14). Moses underscores just how bad it was by repeating the phrase “they ruthlessly made the people work as slaves” in both verses.
A document from this time period describes life as a brickmaker: “He is dirtier than vines or pigs from treading under his mud. His clothes are stiff with clay; his leather belt is going to ruin…His sides ache, since he must be outside in a treacherous wind…His arms are destroyed with technical work…What he eats is the bread of his fingers, and he washes himself only once a season. He is simply wretched through and through.”[5]
The enslavement of the Israelites wasn’t like the domestic slavery of the antebellum southern United States in the 1800’s. Later we learn that the Israelites lived in close proximity, possibly in the same house sometimes, with the Egyptians (3:21-22). One scholar says, “What we are dealing with is state slavery, the organized imposition of forced labor upon the male population for long and indefinite terms of service under degrading and brutal conditions.”[6]
The dehumanizing scheme of the Pharaoh didn’t produce the expected results. The more they were oppressed, the more they grew and spread. Nothing could stop the promises of God.
But God was taking note. The word used to describe the “hard” labor Pharaoh imposed on Israel (v. 14) is later used to describe God “hardening” Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh made their work hard, so God made his heart hard.
The Midwives Fear
In verses 15-21, we see another kind of fear. Pharaoh’s fear of man led to death and destruction. The midwives’ fear of the Lord leads to life and flourishing.
These midwives (who probably led the guild of Hebrew midwives) performed the first recorded case of civil disobedience. Why? They “feared God” (vv. 17, 21).
Honoring Two Heroines
We’ll talk more in a moment about the fear of the Lord, but first notice what Moses is doing here. In verse 15, Moses tells us that the midwives names are Shiphrah and Puah. Why is this important? Did you see a name given for Pharaoh? No, “Pharaoh” is a generic title given to the reigning king and his house, similar to what we mean when we say, “The White House decided to do this or that.” “White House” refers to the President without using his name.
Do you see what Moses is doing? He’s naming these two lowly women and not naming the most powerful man in the world. Why? To give honor to those who deserve honor. Those who work for justice and righteousness in the land deserve to be named. Those who work to oppress and mistreat don’t even deserve a name.
All the power and wealth and monuments and building projects of the Pharaoh are ultimately insignificant and will crumble and turn into dust because they rest on foundations with no moral content. The midwives (mentioned seven times in the story to indicate their importance), however, will live on in the memory of God’s people as heroines. “A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Prov. 31:30), and that is what Moses is doing here.
A woman’s fear of God must outweigh every other fear, whether that of her husband, boss, children, or future. For example, a wife’s fear of the Lord means that she doesn’t have to stay silent while her husband mistreats her. Her ultimate fear or hope is in the Lord, not in her husband, so she’s free to speak up when her husband is rude or inconsiderate or selfish or controlling or abusive or hurting her.
These women were commanded to kill, but they disobeyed the command and let the boys live. Why only the boys? Because boys would grow up to be soldiers, girls could easily be assimilated into Egyptian culture through intermarriage, bloodlines and status were conferred through male lineage, and because the Pharaoh and the seed of the serpent sought to thwart the promise of a male Redeemer (Gen. 3:15).[7]
The Fear of the Lord
Why did these women disobey the command of the king? Because they had a higher king, because they “feared God” (v. 17).
What is the fear of the Lord? This phrase is used at least 100 times in the Bible. It’s not about being scared of the Lord. Deuteronomy 10:12 talks about fearing, loving, and serving the Lord together. Psalm 130:4 says, “with you is forgiveness, that you may be feared,” so grace increases our fear of God.
The “fear of the Lord” isn’t less than terror, but it’s so much more. Ed Welch describes it as a continuum that moves from terror to astonishment to reverence to devotion to trust to worship.[8] John Bunyan says that Satan tries to make us afraid of God so we’ll flee from him, but the Spirit creates in us a fear that wins our hearts and draws us to God.[9] Michael Reeves says that the kind of fear that pleases the Lord “is not a groveling, shrinking fear. He is no tyrant. It is an ecstasy of love and joy that senses how overwhelmingly kind and magnificent, good and true God is, and that therefore leans on him in staggered praise and faith.”[10] The “fear of the Lord” changes everything. Tim Keller says the fear of the Lord is a “life rearranging joyful awe and wonder before the greatness of who God is and what he’s done.”[11]
The fear of the Lord means that God becomes absolutely central in your life. Your relationship with God is no longer about enriching your life spiritually like your gym membership enriches your life physically. God isn’t just another thing on your shelf or an add-on to help you live a better life. Everything you do is done with this question in mind: how does this effect my relationship with God?
The Hebrew midwives put everything on the line because of their fear of God. Is there anything in your life not yielded to God? Anything you’re holding onto out of fear of man?
Acting in the fear of the Lord is no guarantee that things will always work out. After all, God didn’t whisk these midwives away and hide them from Pharaoh. He allowed them to be called to account (v. 18).
A Delicious Irony
But their fear of the Lord pleased the Lord, and in this case, God brought great blessing to them because of it (vv. 20-21). Verse 20 echoes verse 7, letting us know that God’s blessing is still on the Israelites and that death isn’t stopping his promises.
Verse 21 is actually what one commentator calls a “delicious irony.”[12] The midwives saved families by disobeying Pharaoh, so God rewards them with families for their stand against evil.
This isn’t karma, it’s grace. God owes none of us anything, he always gives us more than we deserve. But the Bible says that he honors those who honor him – sometimes in this life, always in the next.
Freedom from Fear
What we fear controls us. How can we be free from fear of man and grow in the fear of the Lord? Verse 22 points toward a solution in an unexpected way.
Pharaoh commands a direct holocaust. The Egyptian public is called on to help aid in the extinction of the Hebrew people.
This decree to publicly kill all the boys foreshadows a New Testament event found in Matthew 2:16, “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under.”
Like Pharaoh, Herod attempted to kill a bunch of Hebrew boys, wiping out the promised Redeemer. But in each case, God orchestrated events so that each deliverer was delivered.
As we’ll see next week, Moses was saved by the water instead of killed by the water. And ironically God used water to kill all the elite Egyptian males at the Red Sea (15:1), turning Pharaoh’s scheme on its head. The means he intended to kill the baby boys was the instrument of his own punishment.
This great reversal is God making it clear that the seed of the serpent will not prevail over the seed of the woman. How does he prevail? Isaiah 53 uses the same Hebrew word for “burdens” as Moses does in Exodus 1:11. Isaiah says that the coming Redeemer will bear his people’s burdens (vv. 4, 11).
The Egyptians afflicted with “heavy burdens.” The Messiah came to bear his people’s burdens. We’re languishing under the burden of our sin and God came not just to help us carry it, but to take it from us. Jesus came to take our burden, not be a burden.
This is why Paul can say, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). The “law of Christ” is the law of undeserved burden-bearing, of sacrificially entering into the life of another to do them good no matter what it costs.
The burden-bearing mercy of Jesus creates the fear of the Lord in us. This love sustains the fear of the Lord. This grace grows the fear of the Lord in us. Jesus came to set us free from fear of man and free to fear the Lord. He “takes pleasure in those who fear him” (Ps. 147:11)
What you fear controls you. As the hymn Amazing Grace says, “’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.” Jesus’ burden-bearing love sets us free from the fear of man and free to fear the Lord. Which fear controls you?
[1]Michael Reeves, Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 19.
[2]See Nahum M. Sarna, Exploring Exodus: The Origins of Biblical Israel, 2nd ed. (New York: Schocken Books, 1996), 16-17.
[3]Edward T. Welch, When People Are Big and God Is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1997), 14-17.
[4]Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1974), 14.
[5]Sarna, 23.
[6]Ibid., 21.
[7]John D. Currid, A Study Commentary on Exodus: Volume 1, Chapters 1-18 (Darlington, England: Evangelical Press, 2000), 52.
[8]Welch, 97.
[9]Reeves, 43.
[10]Ibid., 67.
[11]Knowing God – Gospel in Life
[12]Currid, 54.