MOTHERS AND MIDWIVES: PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE, 14TH MAY, 2023.
SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)
TOPIC: MOTHERS AND MIDWIVES
DATE: 14TH MAY 2023
BIBLE TEXT: EXODUS 1:15-21
Let us rise up together as we make our “DECLARATION OF GATHERING” in this “YEAR OF GATHERING”.
Are you ready? Say with me:
I Proclaim Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. The Lord is the Shepherd of my Soul, my Shelter by Day, my Light by Night.
In His Name, we Plough our fields, by His Spirit we gather the Harvest, in His Light we seek and find.
In this Year of Gathering, the Lord of the Harvest has commanded: Launch Out into the Deep. At His Words, we cast our Nets, we gather in Souls and Substance for God’s Kingdom.
The Lord is our Reward; in this Season I received God’s Portion set aside for me: Full Measure, Pressed down, Shaking together and running over.
Nothing is Lost and Nothing is wasted in Jesus Name – Amen!
Since today is Mother’s Day, I will Minister along the line. You know, each one of us came into this world through a mother.
… Isn’t that amazing?
Everybody has a mother and a father too. Definitely everybody came through a mother!
Whether you know your mother or not, you came through a mother;
Whether you love your mother or not, you came through a mother. And it is a tough thing to be a mother. Very tough!
No matter the quarrel you have with your mother, remember that for nine (9) Months, your entire existence depended on her. And she carried you all by herself to bring you to this world. So, forgive her sins! And forgive all the Problems she gives to you.
If you have a mother you disagree with, after this Message, no matter the quarrel you have with her; go and Thank your mother for carrying you for Nine (9) Months.
… It takes a lot to make that happen and we want to Thank God for all our mothers.
Of course as we grow up, relationship become a bit more complicated; but we must never forget where we came from.
So today, I want to Preach from an interesting Passage in the Book of Exodus – And it is a Story about Mothers and Midwives.
And so I have titled my Message today: MOTHERS AND MIDWIVES.
At the end of the Message you will determine which of these roles you are Playing in Life – whether you are Playing both roles in Life, or one of them in your Life.
And the Passage is in Exodus 1:15-21 (NKJV);
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;
16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”
19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.
21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them – AMEN!
This Passage talks about Mothers.
Because it talks about Hebrew Women who were giving birth. And then it talks about the People who helped them to give birth.
A mother is a Person who gives birth; a Person who brings forth; a Person who Produces another Human Being.
And at this time in the Life of Israel, they are in Egypt; and the number of the People is multiplying. They are becoming a great Nation. Egypt is scared of them because they are not sure what the Israelites would do – Maybe one day they would become an Army and fight Egypt.
The Pharaoh who thought he was smart decided that the only People who can fight in the Army are the men! So, ensure that they don’t come into this world by killing the Male children. And he addressed this challenge to the Midwives.
So, who is a Midwife?
… You know that already;
A Midwife is one who help mothers to bring forth.
A mother brings forth, but many times they need help to bring forth. And the midwife is another woman who is not bringing forth, but who helps the one who is bringing forth to bring forth safely.
If you look at the Hebrew meaning of the Midwife, it is very similar to the meaning of a mother – A mother is one who brings forth; and a Midwife is also one who brings forth!
Of course we know that a Midwife doesn’t bring forth by herself, but helps another to bring forth.
But what the Midwife does is very similar to what she is doing – Both of them are bringing a child into this world: One as a Mother, the other as the helper of the mother. And without both of them, the child’s Life is in danger.
There are People who are Mothers and there are People who are Midwives – They help mothers to bring forth and to take care of their children.
Pharaoh addressed his challenge to this group (to the Midwives). And they are the ones he gave the Charge to.
I want you to note something about the Passage – That it mentions the names of the Midwives. It says one is Shiphrah and the other is Puah.
You know, the Passage could easily have said – “And certain Midwives”. But the Bible mentions their names.
And anytime the Bible takes time to mention somebody’s name, it means that they deserve Special recognition.
Because there many People whose names are not mentioned in the Bible – “A certain man, a certain woman.”
But this is not just a “Certain Person”; these are People who were mentioned name!
In other words, something they did caught God’s attention; and God says, if I am going to record their deeds, I want History to remember them by name.
And I don’t know those two (2) women, but I know their names – Shiphrah and Puah. They are important to God.
… There are times we do things, and God sees what we do as so important that he records our name.
May the Lord record your name – Amen! And may He record your Good works – Amen!
Now, Pharaoh set out a rule; a charge, a command.
I want you to understand that Pharaoh is an “Absolute Monarch” – He was not a President like our President, who needs Parliament to approve of his Legislation.
Pharaoh is Absolute!
If he says, “this is what is happening”; that is what happens.
He doesn’t need Parliament, he doesn’t need Supreme Court, he doesn’t need the votes.
So his word is the Rule, his word is the Law. His word determines their behaviour. If he says something should happen, that is what happens!
Now I want you to pay attention to how Bible describes their Role:
Exodus 1:16, And he said, “When you do the duties of a Midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
He said, “when you do the duties of a midwife, kill”.
But the duty of a Midwife is not to kill – The duty of the Midwife is to give Life.
The Midwife is the one who sees the child born, before the mother. The mother carries the child, but the Midwife sees the child first.
Actually, the Midwife is the one who is going to say, “It’s a Boy! Or it’s a Girl!” – They announce that to the mother.
That is their duty – They are supposed to be Carriers of Good News, Givers of Life.
But Pharaoh says, when you are doing your duty (which was supposed to be a Life-Giving duty), kill the boys!
So what is Pharaoh doing? – Pharaoh is Perverting the roles of the Midwives.
Instead of being a Protector, he is telling the Midwives, be a Destroyer! – Use your role to destroy lives. Instead of Life, you must give death.
Use your Position wrongly – He wanted them to take what was designed to be Good and let it become an instrument of evil.
And he says, you’ll do it whilst you are Playing your role.
It’s a very wicked, devilish, invidious command – “That when you are doing what we trust you to do; what you have the Power to do, what have the Privilege to do, Pervert it, use it wrongly.”
What a Charge! What a Command!
Now remember that the children that these Midwives were to kill were not their own children – They were children belonging to other women.
And so we see how easy sometimes, it is to take a Position of Privilege and use it for Destruction.
Women, it’s Mother’s Day and I am talking to women – Start Life as children; they become Sisters, Nieces, Aunts, friends, wives, mothers, In-laws, Grandmothers.
And in the Process, women also become Midwives! They become like these women who are given Places of responsibility in the Society. And are supposed to use that Place for Life. But there is a Culture that is going to say, use that same Position for Destruction.
Soon enough, every woman would discover the Power they have – Every woman discovers it.
You start as a woman, you are young (5-6 years). By the time you got your Adult Age and your body starts Changing, beauty starts manifesting; then you’ll realised that you have Power.
And more than anything else, you’ll realised that you have Power over men.
Women realised that! – They are beautiful, they are attractive.
You are beautiful to behold. People look at you and they fall into gutters (Laughter)!
Eyes follow you wherever you go.
I am not a woman but I can imagine the Power to know that when you enter a room the men are going to turn towards your direction.
Some of them are your father’s age mates and you are conscious of the Power!
- What are you going to use that Power for?
- Why did God make you attractive if you are a woman?
- Why did God give you such a feature that a man has to focus his attention on you: look at you, desire you, come to you, talk to you, seek for you?
What do you think you have all that Power fot?
God gave you that Power so that you can attract in your existence in this Life one man who would look at you; be attracted to you, come to you, stick with you, be your husband, be the father of your children.
That is the beginning and the end of that Power.
But you can also use that Power to deny another woman of her husband.
You can use that Power to make a man leave his wife and children – Abandon them, kill the children, destroy the future of his children for you!
That is what Pharaoh is telling the Midwives to do – “The Power you have to bring Life, Pervert it to destroy Life.”
An unfortunately, a lot of women are like Midwives who have abused their Positions of Trust!
You may not have directly kill a child, but you have brought heartache, pains, madness, depression to another woman. Heartache to children, their Education destroyed!
You are like that Midwife – You have the Power of Life; but Pharaoh says, “misuse it!”
Pharaoh is the System of this world that Perverts the Purpose of God for our lives.
Of course the men would say, “thank you Pastor” (Laughter)!
But there are men too who are like that – Your day would come!
You are a man – You are a father-figure. You are supposed to help a Young girl get her first job; you are supposed to help her discover Life, and confidence. But you say unless you sleep with her, she is not going to get a job!
What kind of a father does that?
So what am I saying?
Pharaoh says, you are a Midwife: this woman trust you. In her moment of Vulnerability, she allows you into her Space. You see her nakedness, you see her being Vulnerable, you see her between Life and Death; you are the only one in the room, you are the only one she trusts!
… But when she delivers a child, kill the child.
I wonder how many Midwives have been Perverted by Pharaoh?
Sometimes People say women are their worse enemies – I don’t like that phrase but sometimes it appears so.
- Because you are the ones who break other People’s families and lives.
- You are the ones who make some fathers not take care of their responsibilities at home.
- You are the ones making some women cry in bed all through the night because her husband is not home.
You are the Midwife; you are supposed to bring Life, but you are bringing Death!
HOW DID THESE MIDWIVES RESPOND TO PHARAOH’S RULE?
They had a Code of Conduct:
Exodus 1:17 says, “But the Midwives feared God, and did not do as the King of Egypt commanded them, but saved the Male children alive.”
… These are what I consider as the “Midwives’ Code:
- FEAR GOD:
They Submitted to God’s Agenda – They feared God.
Because once you fix your eyes on God everything falls in the Right Place.
And I want every woman to adopt this code – Fear God!
I know you also need money to take care of yourself; you have bills to pay and you have no Helper, or whatever you think.
But you have hands, don’t you? You have a brain, don’t you? You can get a job, you can train yourself, you can earn an income.
Why do you think that your Prosperity must cause a family? – Fear God!
And the reason why the Bible says you should fear God is because, God is God – Whatever you sow, you will reap. So fear Him.
In your Youth, you may seems like it: Everything revolves around you. But you grow Older, and your “Past Investments” start Paying back. Then you say, what have I done in this world! What have I done!
You’ve forgotten what you have done? – The Bible says: Fear God because God doesn’t forget!
That is what the Midwives did.
The Bible says that they feared God; so they didn’t do the word of the Pharaoh.
- RESIST EVIL:
Resist the Temptation, resist the Impulse, resist the Pressure – Whatever you feel, resist it.
You may feel it, you may feel even justified!
It’s amazing how sometimes women feel justified taking another Person’s husband – “His wife doesn’t make him happy.” Fear God and resist evil.
- PROTECT LIVES:
These are what I call, the Midwives’ Code: Fear God, Resist Evil, Protect Lives.
That’s what the Midwives said:
I. We are going to fear God, we are not going to fear you Pharaoh, we don’t fear you!
II. We may not have children, but we would not kill somebody’s children;
III. We may not have a husband, but we are not going to destroy somebody’s home.
IV. We don’t have it, but we are not going to deny other People from having it.
SO, WHAT WAS THEIR REWARD?
… What did God do for them?
Therefore God dealt well with the Midwives, and the People multiplied and grew very Mightily. And so it was, because the Midwives feared God, that He Provided Households for them – Exodus 1:20-21
God is a Rewarder – He rewarded them in Two (2) Ways:
- DIVINE FAVOUR:
The Passage says, “God dealt well with them”.
God singled them out for Special Attention – That’s why their names are in the Bible (Shiphrah and Puah).
The Bible should have said, “Certain Women”, “Certain Midwives”; a “Certain Whatever”; but God honoured them by putting their names in the Bible.
So that thousands of years after them; in a Place they never knew in their Lifetime, a time frame they could never have imagined, somebody is talking about Shiphrah and Puah.
Because “God dealt well with them – God remembered them.
And God wants you to know – If you do Right, He would record your name; He would favour you; your name would never be forgotten.
- DIVINE ESTABLISHMENT:
Not only did God give them Favour, but God also established them.
I like how the Bible puts it – And the Lord Provided Households for them.
… God gave them Households.
Why did God give them Households? – Because they kept other People’s Households, God gave them their own Households.
So the impression you get is that at the time they were doing this, they were not married and they didn’t have children.
The Bible says, because they fear God, because they acted right, God gave them Households – God gave them Husbands, their own children, and a Generation.
They became Households.
You know, normally in Israel, the Household is headed by a man. But in these Women’s cases: they became the Households. They became the heads of the Households.
In other words, they became Matriarchs of a Whole Generation!
And whenever their Descendants are today, may the Lord remember them, and do them well – Amen.
God is able to give you a Household; He is able to give you what is your own, He is able to give you your own children, your own home, Income, house, Property.
That’s what we’ve learned – You don’t need to steal it from somebody!
And fir every woman here this morning and all of you reading now on the Label of DMC – I want you to take these Codes and say:
“I am going to Fear God, I am going to resist evil, I am going to Protect lives: and I am going to Protect what doesn’t belong to me”.
And I Charge every woman here or reading now on the Label of DMC to take these Codes:
I. You may not be going after other women’s husbands; but Protect other women’s Careers.
II. If you are a Woman Boss and there are other women working with you, treat them well.
Be kind, be nice to People, be a mother, be a Mentor, be a Matriarch and don’t be a Pharaoh.
III. Protect other women’s Marriages, Protect other women’s children – The child is not yours, but Protect that child.
And these I believe, are the Codes that God wants all women to live by.
And if you do that – He would remember you, He would favour you, and He would Provide your own Household for you – Amen.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL THE WOMEN!
Before we close, I just want to Pray for every Woman here and all of Women reading now on the Label of DMC:
Women go through things that men have no idea of. And men go through what the women have no idea of.
You go through Pains, harassment, rejection, you go through all kinds of things.
Some of you have had ‘Midwives’ take your husbands from you, destroy your Marriage, destroy your home.
But I Pray that the God of Restoration would restore all you’ve lost you, today! Watever the enemy stole from you, God would restore – Amen.
Some of you are saying, God when would You establish me? When would You also give me mine. May the Lord give you yours – Amen.
And I Pray on this day, the Blessings of God would favour you and find you – Amen!
PRAYER FOR WOMEN AND CLOSING PRAYER
… Lift up your hands to the Lord!
Father; I lift up every woman in this house and those reading now on the Label of DMC into Your hands:
You know their Private Pains and their Struggle; their Prayer and the cry of their Heart – They cry for themselves, they cry for their children, they cry for their homes and they cry for their families;
The desires that they have brought before You concerning all of these things today; Father, I stand with them in Agreement and we Present every Need in the Auditorium and Online from all women into Your Hands:
We lift up every Prayer, we lift up every cry, every desire, every Hope, every Pain, every disappointment, every hurt, everything Lord, in the Hearts of Your daughters this morning into Your Hands.
You are the God of Faithfulness, You are the God Who establishes Households, establishes Purposes; the God Who makes all things Right for Your Children.
So, for every Prayer of every woman crying this morning or as they read now on the Label of DMC; for themselves, for their husbands, for their children, for their grandchildren, for their sons in-law, for their daughters in-law;
Whatever the Prayer is, I Pray Father in the Name of Jesus, that Heaven would open over them!
And beginning from today and throughout their Lifetime, let there begin a Process of a Turnaround!
For those desiring Children, You are the Giver of Children. Against every Expectations, even when they have given up Hope, even when they say, we don’t think it can happen, let it happen Lord!
Let there be Pregnancies in this House! Let the Pregnancies be Protected, and the children be born!
For those who have been Widowed, those who have been Divorced, those who are going through Life, desiring Lord for a New Relationship, may You Provide New Relationships for them!
And I Pray Father, for every woman, that You would do something in their lives this week, that would cause them to laugh; that would cause them rejoice, that would cause them to be exceedingly glad!
In Jesus’ Name – Amen!
God would do it for you – AMEN!
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