Divine Justice and Human Responsibility

Exodus 1:20–22 (NASB95)

20So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. 21Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them. 22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

Commentary - Divine Justice and Human Responsibility

God honored the Hebrew midwives for their courage and faithfulness. Because they feared God more than Pharaoh, He gave them families of their own. The fear of God is not merely dread of punishment. It is a way of life that takes into account all that God is—His greatness, His faithfulness, and His kindness. The midwives chose to obey God rather than an unjust ruler. God’s blessing rested on them because they protected the innocent and upheld what is right.

Pharaoh’s response to the midwives’ defiance was to escalate his cruelty. He commanded all his people to cast every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile. This was not merely a royal decree for officials or soldiers. It was a command for every Egyptian. The entire nation became responsible for this atrocity. The Egyptians were no longer passive bystanders. They became active participants in oppressing the Israelites. This collective involvement explains why God’s later judgment fell on all of Egypt. The plagues were not punishment for the sin of one man. They were divine justice for a nation that chose to participate in evil. The guilt was shared by all, so the consequences were shared as well.

There is a deep irony in how the story unfolds. Pharaoh tried to destroy Israel’s future by drowning their sons in the Nile. Later, God would deliver Israel by drowning the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. The very method Pharaoh used to harm God’s people became the means by which God destroyed Pharaoh’s power. The Egyptian soldiers who carried out Pharaoh’s orders and pursued the Israelites were themselves drowned by God’s hand. This is not merely poetic justice. It is a demonstration of God’s sovereignty and His commitment to justice. Those who seek to destroy God’s people by violence will ultimately face the same fate they intended for others. The divine reversal at the Red Sea shows that God’s justice is perfect and inescapable.

For us today, these verses call us to stand for what is right, even when it is costly. It is not enough to avoid doing evil ourselves. We must also refuse to participate in or support systems of injustice. Silence or passive compliance makes us complicit. God honors those who act with courage and integrity, as the midwives did. He remembers His people, even when the world forgets them or attempts to harm them. Our hope is not in the shifting loyalties of political leaders or in the approval of society, but in the unchanging faithfulness of God. As we face challenges in our own time, may we remember that God sees, God remembers, and God will act justly for those who trust in Him.

Blessings,  

Ryan Goodnight