Sandy Silverthorne - The Awesome Book of Unusual Bible Heroes for Kids

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON

Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

Cover illustrations Sandy Silverthorne

THE AWESOME BOOK OF UNUSUAL BIBLE HEROES FOR KIDS

Copyright 2012 by Sandy Silverthorne

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-2925-7 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-4226-3 (eBook)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

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To my beautiful wife, best friend, and hero, Vicki
thank you for always listening and laughing in all the right places.
And to Christywhat a joy and privilege it is watching you
become a beautiful and talented young woman.

To the West and Nevin familiesthanks for all the memories,
laughter, and family fun.

I n the beginning, God createdeverything! He made the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the rivers, the stars and the planets, the mountains and the valleys, the glaciers, forests, tigers, monkeys, giraffes, and even the platypuses! But the best things God created were people.

Throughout the entire Bible we meet some pretty amazing folkskings and queens, peasants and beggars. Some were old, and some were just kids. But they all had this in common: They were friends of God and loved and trusted Him, sometimes even when that wasnt the popular or easy thing to do.

What if you were threatened with being tossed into a fiery furnace just for worshipping God? Or what if soldiers were chasing you because you happened to be loyal to the wrong king at the wrong time? What if an angry army was headed for your house to wipe out all your friends and family? Could God use you to be the one to step in and save the day?

In The Awesome Book of Unusual Bible Heroes for Kids, youre going to meet some fairly unknown but amazing people. A general who goes for a swim, the worlds first counterintelligence agent, a queen who risked her life to save her people, and two best friends who defeated an entire battalion!

Through these stories youre going to find that even if you arent big or strong or rich or famous, God can do tremendous things through you. You dont even have to be in the majority. If you want to be like the people youre about to meet, you just have to be one thingavailable.

So fasten your seat belt and get ready to meet some pretty amazing and unusual heroes. People with courage, wisdom, trust, and faith. But best of all, theyre people just like you!

E arly in their history, Gods peoplethe Israeliteslived in Egypt for about 400 years. At first there were just a few of them, but they kept growing and growing until there were more than one million. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, started worrying that they might rebel and take over the country. To make sure that wouldnt happen, he issued a crazy order that he hoped would weaken the Hebrew people

Did you hear the order from Pharaoh? Shiphrah said. It says that if a Jewish woman gives birth to a little boy, were supposed to throw him in the river!

What! Thats horrible! said Puah. These women were midwives. Their job was to help women deliver their babies and keep them healthy.

Shiphrah handed Puah a written copy of the official order. We cant do that! Puah said after reading it. What would God say?

I dont think Hed like it.

But Pharaoh was the king of Egypt, and his orders were to be followedor else. He thought that too many Jewish people lived in his land, and he was afraid they would revolt, so he came up with his awful plan to kill all the newborn boys.

What will we do? one of the other midwives asked.

Well, I dont know about you, but Im going to obey God rather than Pharaoh, Shiphrah answered.

The other ladies agreed. We will too. But how do we get away with it?

Shiphrah scratched her head and thought. Ive got an idea. Mrs. Lowenstein down the block is due to have her baby any day. Watch what I do, and then you all do the same.

Sure enough, the next day Mrs. Lowensteins 11-year-old daughter showed up at Shiphrahs house. My moms having the baby! she said. Come quickwe need your help to deliver it!

Shiphrah and the little girl rushed down to the house where Mrs. Lowenstein lived with her husband, Herb, and their children. The midwife knelt down and spoke gently to Mrs. Lowenstein. Its okayhere he comeseveryones going to be just fine.

And sure enough, after a little while, Mrs. Lowenstein was holding a beautiful baby boy.

Lets call him Obed Wan Kenherbert after his father. Or maybe just Glen, Mrs. Lowenstein said.

He sure came quick, Shiphrah said. Hmmm, this gives me an idea

That afternoon, as Shiphrah was relaxing on her veranda overlooking the Nile, a messenger from Pharaoh himself appeared on her doorstep. Come with me, he said. As they walked, he said, Boy, are you in trouble. You delivered a baby boy and didnt throw him in the river. Pharaoh wont be happy you disobeyed his order. I sure wouldnt want to be in your caftan.

Whatever, Shiphrah said.

When she was escorted into Pharaohs presence, she knelt down in honor of the famous ruler.

Whats this I hear about you not throwing the baby boy into the river as I ordered? Pharaoh thundered. I specifically said that if you deliver a boy, you are to throw him in.

Shiphrah took a deep breath and then began.

Your honoror Your Highness or whateverI know the edict, and I know that you mean business. Its just thatwell, these Hebrew womenthey go into labor, and before I can even get to their houses, their babies are born!

Just then Puah was brought in, and she confirmed what Shiphrah was saying. Oh, shes right, Your Lordship. These kids pop out like theyre in a toaster! By the time I get there, theyre already dressed and in the high chair!

These Hebrew women give birth so quick it makes your head spin, Shiphrah agreed. Well try to do betteryou know, throw more babies in the riverbut I tell you, these kids look like theyre being shot out of a cannon. One minute, labor, and the next minutebang, zoomtheres the kid!

Pharaoh was clearly ready for this conversation to be over. Well, get there quicker next time, he said. We cant have any more Hebrew boys born around here!

Oh yes, yes, the ladies said as they backed out and stepped into the outer hallway.

Shiphrah smiled and winked at Puah as they walked down the marble hallway leading to the street. She knew that even after their stern warning, they wouldnt throw any babies into the river. These two little-known heroes of the Old Testament wanted to honor God more than Pharaoh.