Exodus 1.8-22 – God’s Silence
September 14, 2008
Sam Ford
A Disciple Follows
Last week we saw how God meant for Joseph to be betrayed by his brothers, meant for him to be falsely accused, meant for him to be sent to prison, and meant for him to prosper. This isn’t my opinion, its Joseph’s—the guy who was suffering. It seems strange and uncomfortable to read that led the people He loved into slavery. It seems strange, unfair, and wrong for God to allow us to fall into sin, or to be hurt by others.
When we understand that God’s is interested in conforming us to the image of His son Jesus, who suffered, we can perhaps for a moment see the grace in the dirt that we have to walk through sometimes. The Bible talks often about the discipline of the Lord. Our understanding of the word has evolved, or perhaps mutated, into a narrow understanding as punishment. The English word discipline, however, focuses more on LEARNING that shapes character and enforces behavior. In fact, it comes from the Latin word meaning “instruction or training.” To discipline someone is not to punish them, although that is A MEANING, but more accurately means to take that which is chaotic or undirected and put into a good order or set in a clear direction so that they function in the way intended. Discipline, in spite of a popular misconception, is not inherently stern or harsh.
It makes sense then that the Bible translators chose “disciple” as an appropriate term for one who learns by following. Following God, like Joseph followed him right into Egypt, sure hurts sometimes. But following God and experiencing his discipline, the means through which he shapes us and perfects us, is nothing compared to the pain of his wrath. It is understandable that people fear discipline from God (Ps 6:1), but it is his wrath that should be feared. The Bible says that his discipline is directed toward those he loves; His wrath toward those who have declared themselves his enemies through disobedience.
Exodus: God’s People vs. God’s Enemies
In the story of Exodus, we see a clear distinction between these two things. We have the people, the nation that God loves, leads, and disciplines, and the man, or nation that is condemned and subject to his wrath because he opposes God. He pours out love on His people that they might be freed from service to a man who is worshipped as a god, and FREED TO serve and worship the true God. He pours out his wrath on His enemies that they might recognize He IS GOD and be punished for their failure to obey his command. God’s love and discipline results in worship of God’s glory and life. God’s wrath results in the confession of God’s glory and death.
The Exodus then is the story of God’s people being saved by God, and God’s enemies being crushed by God. The Hebrews used the first words of the book of Exodus for its Hebrew title, which means, “the names of.” The English Bible took the book’s title from the Septuagint (Greek OT), which named the book according to its principal theme: the Exodus. There is a strong allusion to the mandagte given to Adam and Even in Genesis 1.7, where they were commanded to multiply and build a god-glorifying culture. Because of sin man has done more to build a self-glorifying culture utterly devoid of God. Regardless, through Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, God promised to bless them and their children and build a nation. Jacob brought his family into Egypt numbering 70 men and grew into the nation that God promised. Eventually, Joseph died and all that he did for Egypt was forgotten.
A New King and a New Threat
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
A new King
A new king comes into power over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He either simply ignored what he know or he slept in Egyptian history class during the lecture on why our nation wasn’t destroyed during the 7 year famine. It’s also possible that this guy wasn’t Egyptian at all. Scholars disagree on exactly WHO this Pharaoh is and, because the author Moses doesn’t give us specifics about him, we are left to read into the subtle hints of the narrative. What we do know is that there was a time when Egypt was oppressed:
· COULD BE: Rameses II (1304—1238 b.c.) because of reference to the city of the same name.
· COULD BE: Ahmoses (1:8; 1580—1548 b.c.), who drove out the Hyksos (the foreign rulers) and founded the Eighteenth Dynasty or the guys right after him, Amenhotep I (1545-1526) or Thutmose I (1526-1512). If “did not know about Joseph” means “had no appreciation for Joseph’s character or achievements,” this suggests that the new monarch came after the Hyksos oppression. In the wave of Egyptian nationalism (which included a hatred of the Hyksos) all Semites, including the Hyksos and the Israelites, may have been treated with suspicion.
· COULD BE: Hyksos invaders who took over in Egypt. This might explain several things including why there is really not record of the great Exodus in Egyptian history. The “king” is from a different people, probably from Assyria. Since Joseph had been the savior of Egypt, it is unlikely that an Egyptian king would not know him, but this new king was an outsider.
A new threat
Whoever the king was, he felt threatened by the sheer number of Hebrew people who had multiplied in the land of Goshen. The land of Goshen sat between Egypt and the invaders who may come from the North. The new king warned that the presence of so many Jews was a threat to their own national safety (lose their government) as well as their national economy (lose a work force). So they decided to deal vigorously with the Children of Israel.
A New Plan to Enslave
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
Taskmasters
The first means of dealing with the threat of the Children of Israel was to degrade them to the condition of slaves forced to labor over building projects. The storehouses that are being built are less like warehouses for grain, and more like strategically located hubs to be used for storing and defense. The King is more likely less concerned about his building program and more concerned with keeping the people oppressed—and even with killing them in the process. He sets taskmasters over them, who anciently had sticks—now whips—to punish the indolent, or spur on those taking water breaks. All public or royal buildings, in ancient Egypt, were built by captives; and on some of them was placed an inscription that no free citizen had been engaged in this servile employment.[i]
Harsh Lives
· Made their lives bitter: pointed, sharp, penetrating smell, soured
· Made their lives hard: through hard service you become hardened
· Made their live work: laborious, weariness, tired, misery
· Made their lives slaves: controlled, directed, oppressed
Deut 4.20 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
More they were oppressed…more they multiplied and spread
A New Plan to Kill
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
Killing the Sons
The King’s plan to enslave the people does not go as planned so he escalates the program. He instructs to Hebrew mid-wives to kill the male children at birth—most likely by suffocation. Since all males who were above infancy would be allowed to live and grow up to adult slavery, this was a long-term policy. That is often how Satan and Sin work…he will plant seeds and patiently wait for destruction.
Saved by the Daughters of God
Our God is so big, that he often uses the weakest of weak things of this world to defeat the might. He uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. He uses the ugly things of this world to make that which is beautiful. The courage and actions of these women is so noteworthy, that their names are recorded. They did nothing but obey God and we sit today and speak their names over nearly 4,000 years later. We don’t even know the name of the king who built a nation—but we know the names of two women who feared the Lord and recognized the sacredness of life.
· God uses the weak
· God is in the mundane
· God is to be followed before men
Obedience always results in blessing
Some might argue that they shouldn’t have lied. Most likely they didn’t, they were just real slow in getting to the deliveries—“whatever you do…don’t call for me until the last minute!” Acts 5.29 teaches us that when the laws of the land are definitely contrary to the commandments of God, then the believer has the right and duty to put God first. And they were blessed with families of their own which appears to have been unusual for a woman in this profession.
A New Plan to Destroy
22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
With each new stage, the King has revealed himself to be more than just a shrewd King—but a tool of Satan. He has moved from slavery to murder to full out national genocide. The Egyptian people, men, women, even children, are COMMANDED, to join in the killing o newborn boys.
Our Slavery to Sin
Into our own Egypt
We all have our own Egypts. As we imagine what our personal Egypt is that we need salvation from, we can’t ignore how we got there. The road to slavery never looks like a road to slavery. Usually it looks like the land of prosperity—even becomes that. Sometimes, the place of our satisfaction may soon become the place of our affliction if it is not where God wants us to be.
Even though God used the Egyptian detour to grow and build a nation that was not God’s final destination for them. In a very real sense, that is not where they were supposed to be.
Genesis 48.21 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Genesis 50.24 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Into our own Bondage
Bondage never begins as bondage. I believe that Satan will give you exactly what you want if it will eventually lead you away from Jesus. It is the times of plenty and prosperity that we fail to ask the questions about whether I’m in God’s will, whether I’m following God’s plan, whether I’m living a godly life—how can I not be…I’m rich! Setting all apparent prosperity aside….ARE YOU WHERE GOD WANTS YOU TO BE? Because I’m getting paycheck, my job is good. Because my spouse is not upset, I must be a godly husband or wife. Because my kids are not in prison, I must be a good parent.
Our greatest and final enemy is not a King, but it is Sin.
· SIN WILL CONTROL: 1Cor 6.12 12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. Sin always starts out feeling like prosperity—that’s how it works. It has the power to take that which is GOOD and enslave you. Disguising himself as an angel of light, Satan will give you whatever you want. He will use the best things of this world to master you. If you are not worshipping Jesus as the source of meaning, hope, and purpose, then you’re worshipping another savior. IF your savior is an idol, then sin will eventually master you. Over time, life will become hard and bitter. You know that you are mastered by it because it begins to control and affect all other aspects of your life—like a taskmaster, you will do whatever you have to do to feed that master.
· SIN WILL RESULT IN HARM: Eventually, your bondage and mastery will lead to the harm of those you love. While women you are just as sinful as men, I want to speak to the men because I believe that since Genesis 1, men have been called to lead. And because of that, Satan and sin will attach men powerfully. Satan knows that if he can disrupt the husband and father of a family, then he can destroy the entire family. Quite honestly, we are able to AVOID HARM because of some godly women who have stood up when the men should have.