It continues to be a wonderful task to exposit the Old Testament. I
preached through the book of Exodus in the second half of 2018 verse by verse
and paragraph by paragraph. We left no word unread and did not skip the
exposition of any section. It is a wonderful exercise for myself to go back
now, chapter by chapter, and review the wonderful truth of this book. I pray
that it is as beneficial for you, the reader, as it has been for me. More
resources can be found at www.fbcroxana.com
The title of Exodus in the Hebrew
Bible is “Names.” It is so called, because that is how the book begins:
1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt
with Jacob; they came each one with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon,
Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan
and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the persons who came from the
loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. 6
Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the
sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became
exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
The sons of Israel lived in the land
of Egypt for 430 years, and during that time, God caused them to greatly
multiply. As a people, they had become a mighty nation, spreading out
throughout the land of Egypt.
8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
This king was likely a Hyksos king,
who took over Egypt for a period. As a foreigner, the king would not have known
much about Joseph and his family. He was only worried that this people would be
able to overpower him.
9 He said to his people, “Behold,
the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. 10
Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event
of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against
us and depart from the land.”
The king calls his people to deal
with the people of Israel wisely lest they were to continue multiplying and be
able to join with the Egyptians and oust them from the land. The idiom
translated here as “depart from the land” literally says “they will go up from
the land.” In Hosea 2:1-2, this same phrase is used to mean that the people
will multiply. It seems to picture the people growing up as a plant from the
land. The king of Egypt feared the people of Israel, that they would continue
to increase in might.
11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard
labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12
But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they
spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. 13 The
Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; 14 and
they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all
kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on
them.
So the people, under the leadership
of the Pharaoh, afflicted the Israelites with hard labor. The Israelites built
the storage cities for Pharaoh. However, not even hard labor hindered the
fruitfulness of the Israelites, for the harder they were worked, the more they
multiplied. So the Egyptians continually made the labor harder and the lives of
the Israelites more bitter.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom
was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; 16 and he said,
“When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the
birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a
daughter, then she shall live.”
The king resorted to infanticide in
order to control the population of the Israelites. His plan was probably to
diminish the male population so that the females would be married off outside
of the nation and be assimilated. What is fascinating here is that the names of
the Hebrew midwives are the first characters named in this narrative. The
parents of the baby were not named, nor the king of Egypt. But these midwives’
names were preserved in the biblical narrative. Why? Because:
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt
had commanded them, but let the boys live.
The midwives feared God more than they
feared Pharaoh. Their allegiance was with God, and so they defied the orders of
Pharaoh. This is the kind of faith God would later desire from Moses and the
Israelites throughout Exodus. The defiance of the midwives did not go
unnoticed.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them,
“Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” 19 The
midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian
women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to
them.”
The midwives made sport of the king
and his people, implying that the Hebrew women were superior to the Egyptians.
The Pharaoh, who supposed himself a god, was powerless against these women, and
could not answer them! His plan was thwarted, and the people continued to
multiply and increase in strength:
20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and
became very mighty. 21 Because the midwives feared God, He
established households for them. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his
people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every
daughter you are to keep alive.”
Since the midwives feared God, He
gave them households in Israel, and established them. So Pharaoh commanded the
people to kill their sons by throwing them into the Nile River. Already,
Pharaoh has been shown to be powerless to stop the people of Israel from
multiplying and becoming mighty. No matter what he throws at them, the people
continue to be fruitful and fill up the land.
Conclusion
Pharaoh was working against the
Almighty God who had made a covenant with Abraham that He would make his
descendants as the sand of the seas. In the years that they were in Egypt, God
increased their number so that there were approximately two million Israelites.
And He was continuing to expand that number at an incredible rate.
Next, God began to fulfill the
promise of land by beginning the process of delivering Israel from Egypt to
take them to the Promised Land. Of course, we know that the people of Israel
were not all like the midwives. They did not yet fear God. They did not yet
regard Him as superior to Pharaoh. In fact, their history is full of idolatry
as they constantly turn away from worshiping the true God. Thankfully, God is
patient, and He will soon bring all of His promises made to Abraham to
fulfillment.
In the mean time, He has delivered a
people from sin by sending His Son, born of the seed of Abraham, to die on a
cross. In His death, Jesus, the Son of God, paid the full penalty of sin on
behalf of those who believe in Him so that they may have everlasting life. They
will rule with Him in the Kingdom when it is finally realized, and the people
of Israel are securely in the land with Jesus reigning over them as King and
dispensing blessing unto the whole world. Repent and believe in Jesus as the
Messiah, the Savior from sins, who will come to judge the world for its sin.
Trust in Him, and you will gain eternal life with Him.
Imitate the faith and obedience of
these two midwives who feared God rather than Pharaoh. Keep your focus on God
who rules over all, standing firm on the truth that no one can overcome His
will. Though Satan throws himself against the church with all his might, he
will never overcome it. The harder he tries to destroy the church, the greater
the church flourishes.
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