You’ve heard that behind every good man is a good woman. In the case of Moses, from the Bible, we find that before there ever was a great man, there were five valiant women.

Many years before the birth of Moses, God had told his servant Abraham that for 400 years, his descendants would be in a foreign country and would eventually become enslaved, but would ultimately be delivered out of their slavery. (Genesis 15:13)

As the years ticked by, Satan, who can certainly do basic math, began to make a plan. He would just get rid of the “deliverer.” He enticed Pharaoh to instruct the two Hebrew midwives to kill all of the baby boys just as they were being born.

Pharaoh did just that.

What he wasn’t counting on was the five heroic women who would risk their own lives and wellbeing and thwart his plan.

First, the two Hebrew midwives had no intention of murdering babies, no matter what their supreme leader said. They cleverly found a way around Pharaoh’s instruction. Who knows how many babies were saved by their holy cunning, but it was certainly at great risk to themselves and their loved ones. God blessed them for their bravery.

Second, at least one mother (but possibly many others) was going to do anything in her power to protect her newborn child. When Moses was born, his mother hid him for as long as possible. When that stopped being realistic, she did the only thing she could think of; she put him in a basket and floated him in the reeds of a river.

Moses’ sister became the fourth heroin of this story. She stood close to her baby brother as he floated, keeping a watchful eye on him. As soon as she had an opportunity, she bravely stepped in on her baby brother’s behalf.

Finally, (and most ironically) God used Pharaoh’s own daughter to rescue the baby and raise him as her son.

Without the clever midwives, his brave mother, his watchful and bold big sister and a merciful step-mother there would have been no Moses.

Here’s what we can learn from these five heroic women: We cannot just accept evil. In the face of it, none of these women were passive. Each of them realized that they had a unique ability to do something and they did it. When evil raises its ugly head, you and I are each equipped to do something also. We should never fail to do the good that we have the ability to do.