In Exodus 1, we read about two Hebrew midwives who defied the order of Pharaoh to kill all male children born to Hebrew women. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15) and they have spectacular meanings*:
Shiphrah🌟: “Brilliant,” from the Hebrew word that means “to shine”. It also connotes “pleasing, calm, composed, beauty or loveliness; a canopy under which peace and stability may be achieved.”
Puah 🪩: “To glitter,” also, “splendid, radiant.”
These women were lights in a dark time because they feared God more than Pharaoh.
Therefore God dwelt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared [revered] God, that he made them houses [households].
-Exodus 1:20-21
Here are two takeaways,
- God dwells with those who love Him and serve Him. He blesses them well, along with the people they love.
- Be a light to somebody today! Like Shiphrah, your light can be a place of peace and stability to a friend. Like glitter (Puah’s name meaning), your trail of righteous influence can remain long after you leave the room.
*Name meanings taken from the Abarim publications website. Emily Belle Freeman also contributed to my appreciation of this passage of scripture.