Throughout church history, many interpreters have wrestled with the fact that God rewards the midwives even though they lied. For some, this is a sign of God’s grace. John Calvin, for example, holds that the midwives sinned by lying, yet God values their good works, as if they were pure.
Because the two women acted with heartiness and courage, God endured in them the sin which he would have deservedly condemned.
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However, this approach considers their lie in abstraction from redemptive history. For the lie of the midwives is part and parcel of their spiritual warfare against the serpent, Pharaoh. Most importantly, the text gives no indication that God was displeased with their lie. Right after the lie is stated, the text says that God dealt well with the midwives.
Moreover, the text reiterates that the midwives feared God,
implying that even their answer to Pharaoh was born out of this reverence.
20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.