Do you know who these characters are? Pallu, Hezron, Huppim, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, and Ard. I will let you know in a moment. And here are two more names worth mentioning: Shiphrah and Puah. Any idea who they are? These names recently came out of my daily Bible reading – I just finished Genesis and started Exodus.
As to the first set of names, they are all found in Genesis 46. That chapter deals with the story of how Jacob and his family journeyed to Egypt to be kept alive during a great famine. In verse 27 we read this: “All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.”
Now all Christians should know the names of some of God’s great people, be it Abraham or Moses or David or Jeremiah or Peter or Paul. And many would know of Jacob’s twelve sons who basically morphed into the twelve tribes of Israel.
So you likely know who Joseph or Levi or Reubin is. But the children of the twelve sons are not so well known. Some of them I listed above. And only the descendants of Judah eventually led to the Messiah. The closing chapters of Genesis deal with the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt.
After some centuries there, we read in Exodus about a new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. Recall that he wanted to kill the male children born to Hebrew women. But two brave midwives (named above) kept them alive, including Moses, who would go on to free the people from Egyptian bondage and take them to the Promised Land.
So in Genesis 46 we have all sorts of names, many of them who mean nothing to us, or are long forgotten by us. But in Exodus 1:15-22 we read about these two women who are now forever known in history. Had they not been named in verse 15, they would just be two anonymous heroines.
Lessons for believers today
So what is the point of all this? My aim is simple: There are countless people that have played a role in the ongoing work of God. There are millions of these people that have lived over the centuries and served the purposes of God. Some of them are found in Scripture. But in the Bible we get various differences in this regard.
-Sometimes Scripture records the names of people that we know quite a lot about. They are well-known heroes of the faith.
-Sometimes Scripture records the names of people that we know very little about. We might even wonder why they were named in the first place.
-Sometimes an individual is noted in the Bible but without his name given. Consider Mark 14:51-52: “And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.” It is thought that this individual was Mark himself.
-Sometimes God records the heroic acts of individuals, and we have their names in print. The entire account of the Hebrew midwives takes only eight verses, but it is an integral part of the Old Testament story, and an integral part of God’s on-going work, leading to the ministry of Jesus Christ. So we can thank God for Shiphrah and Puah.
You and I are not found in the Bible – obviously. But you and I are part of the great work of God. If the Lord should tarry, and more history books – especially church history books – are written, some of us alive today might find our names therein.
But likely most of us will never make it into any church history books, or Christian magazines, or church sermons, and so on. Millions of us will forever be unknown by the world – and the Christian world. But we are seeking to be a part of what God is accomplishing on planet earth.
The truth is, most of us will never be running a mega-church, or overseeing a global Christian ministry, or writing heaps of best-selling books, or having zillions of followers listening to our online sermons or watching our podcasts. Most of us are not learned theologians, famous worship leaders, or much-loved pastors or missionaries.
Most of us do not have our own YouTube channel. Most of us are not invited to speak all around the world. Most of us do not make guest appearances on secular TV shows. Most of us are not invited to speak at Christian conferences. Most of us do not have a massive social media presence.
Most of us are just ordinary Joes that nobody has heard of. But if we are seeking to faithfully serve the Lord in our own small way, and do it not for the praise of men but for the glory of God, then that is enough. If our desire is to honour God, to love our family, to share the gospel, and to seek to be salt and light where God has put us, that really is enough.
I take it that Shiphrah and Puah were nobodies back in their own day. But because they loved God and sought to faithfully worship and serve him, their names are now found in the Bible itself. They served the Lord in their own generation.
That is what we read about David in Acts 13:36 – ‘David had served the purpose of God in his own generation’. Are you serving the Lord in your generation? Are you seeking to be used of him, even though basically no one knows you from Adam, and no one knows what you are doing for Christ and the Kingdom?
Often our work for the Lord will go completely unnoticed not just by the world, but by the church. We just quietly do what God is leading us to do. We serve when, where and how we best can, and that is enough. Again, we will not make it onto Fox News, or Sky News, or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
Our story will not be told in the New York Times, the Guardian, or Christianity Today. But our story WILL be recorded in God’s annals of history. Our meagre efforts for him WILL be noticed. Our love for Christ will NOT be in vain. Se we must keep at it.
Let me close with two brief stories of this sort of ministry – both involving my late wife. I do it not to call attention to us, but to show you what Christian service can look like – service that is not in the spotlight.
On one occasion Averil had come to know some young mum who was struggling big time. Her house was a mess and her kids unruly, and so on. She was too overwhelmed to do anything. So Averil went over there a number of times and taught her by example that she had to start somewhere. She had to take some first steps.
So Averil would wash a large pile of dishes one day, or try to clean up a very messy kitchen on another day. These little things which had overwhelmed this young mum were being dealt with bit by bit, and it gave this woman some hope that she could go on and take charge of her life.
A second example had to do with another young mum who had a number of young children. She also had cancer, and her husband had just left her. So my wife told me she needed someone to take a daughter to basketball practice. So for a little while there I would pick up this girl and take her back and forth to practice. I not only could help out in a small, practical way, but I could act as a sort of substitute father figure or male influence since her own dad had left them.
Now except for these two women and their families, almost no one else ever heard of these small stories of Christian service. But God heard of them. They have not been forgotten, and they will not go unrewarded.
What are the small acts of Christian love and grace that you are performing – often daily – but totally unnoticed by the world at large and the church at large? You might feel discouraged and you might wonder if you are doing any good. But you are. So keep at it.
In this life you might get zero attention for what you do, but your humble service for the Lord WILL be fully remembered and acknowledged by Him – certainly in the next life if not in this one.
Well said indeed. We can’t all be King David. He needed thousands of foot soldiers to play their roll. Also bear in mind the scriptural warning that to whom much is given, much is required.
Well said indeed. We can’t all be King David. He needed thousands of foot soldiers to play their roll. Also bear in mind the scriptural warning that to whom much is given, much is required.
Thanks for that Ken.