Slavery in Egypt

Genesis Review

We started at the beginning with creation, saw how creation fell, then we were promised that God would redeem his creation through a sacrificial savior. We watched God cleanse the earth of the wicked and faithless with a flood, and maintain a remnant through Noah and his family. From there, we watched creation fall again and follow the generations of this remnant, to Abram, who God chooses to bless and make a covenant with. We saw how the generations of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob were blessed, and God was faithful, regardless of the faithfulness of his people. We finished Genesis with Joseph bringing his family from the land of Canaan, to settle in the land of Goshen, in Egypt. Jacob blesses his sons and dies, and is buried in his homeland. We’re given a brief synopsis of Joseph’s life of 110 years, and that before he died, he told his brothers that God would bring them to the land promised to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and that his bones should be carried out of Egypt with Israel when they leave.

Exodus Overview

Author: Moses(Pentateuch/Torah)

Audience: The people of Israel

Purpose: To tell the story of God’s faithfulness from slavery in Egypt to service at Mount Sinai

Organizational Breakdown:

Egypt to Sinai(v.1-18)

Bondage to Passover(v.1-12)

Exodus from Egypt to Sinai(v.13-18)

God’s Covenant at Mount Sinai(v.19-40)

Typologies:

Moses(Adam/Jesus)

Pharaoh(Serpent)

Israel(Christians)

Egypt(The World)

Exodus 1

v. 1-7 The people of Israel were in Egypt

Some time has passed Jacob and his brothers have all died

A group of 70 entered the the land of Goshen

We see the same language that continues to be repeated from Genesis. The people were fruitful and multiplied(prh/para)

Genesis 17:6 “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.” (God>Abraham)

Genesis 28:3 “God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.” (Isaac>Jacob)

Genesis 48:4 “and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’” (Jacob>Joseph)

Creation was not a one time event that occured and we look back on. It is ongoing. We saw it in the beginning of Genesis, we saw it with Noah and with Abraham, we see it here, we see it in our own lives as believers when we are made a new creation in Christ, and we await one more creation in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

v. 8-14 From Honor to Oppression

When the Israelites first came to Egypt, they came as honored guests under the protection of Pharoah himself, and brother of the second in command

We see that God has greatly blessed the people, so much so, that this family of 70 that came in, only hundreds of years later will leave Egypt as tens of thousands.

How does the world view those who are blessed by God? What happens when God’s plan and purpose goes against what the world views as fair or useful?

The thing that this Pharoah knows for sure is that he does not see the people of Israel as Egyptians, and he does not trust their allegiance. He felt threatened by their strength, numbers, and their rapid growth.

What better way to ensure a people doesn’t rise up then to break their will and prosperity by oppressing them? This was not just for the working age men, but hard labor for all of the men, taking them from their wives, taking children at a young age, and working old men to death. This was population control in a subtle, but direct way.

While Pharoah made the Israelites miserable, God’s blessing on them did not decrease, in fact, under these circumstances, they prospered more the worse they were oppressed.

This Pharoah is trying to get rid of his problem quietly, in a way that maintained his favor with his people.

Parenthood

Israel’s blessing from the Lord made them a target of the enemy

v. 15-22 From Oppression to Genocide

These two women did not need to be named for Moses’ account to be accurate, but he names them anyway. In fact, he names them intentionally.

Even in the midst of horrible oppression, under circumstances we can’t even begin to imagine, these two women, types of Eve, make the choice that shows where their honor and their fear is.

These women sound like another type of Eve that will come many years later. In Matthew 26:13, we read “Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

This was not just a temporary command. These are decrees that were made by Pharoah to remain in place for all of Egypt until their problem was gone.

We end this chapter in a truly evil place, but God is faithful to his people. The next chapter begins with the birth of the savior of Israel. God uses this decree of Pharoah to send this boy right into the home of Pharoah. Later in Exodus, the same way that Pharoah used water to kill the children of Israel, God will use water to destroy Pharaoh’s army.

Conclusion

If we rightly see ourselves as Israel and the world as Egypt, we see that as long as our heart is in Egypt, we will be oppressed by the serpent and in forced service to him. Today, we can praise God that he sent a savior. The same way that He sent Moses to rescue his people out of bondage in Egypt, He sent His son to rescue us. The Israelites found themselves forced to work hard labor and victims of genocide. Today, we see those burdens in many different ways. We see addiction, depression, distraction, infidelity, anything that the enemy can use to keep us serving him and not the one true God. But when God said that he would send one that would crush the head of the serpent, it wasn’t just to bring them out of Egypt, but it was to bring them into the promised land where there would be no more enemy. When we read these stories throughout the book of Exodus, don’t miss God’s faithfulness to an unfaithful people, because that’s us. The same way that God carries them into the promised land, he carries us too. The journey for Israel isn’t easy, but God is with them the every step of the way. Those of us who proclaim Jesus and Lord of our lives and savior of our souls today can be assured that we may be suffering in the wilderness right now, but God is providing for our every need on our way to the promised land. And if you find yourself making bricks and being oppressed right now by an enemy who will do everything he can to enslave you, know that the book of Exodus doesn’t end here at the end of chapter 1, but this is just the beginning of the story. There is hope in the promises that God makes to his people, and if you accept Jesus as your savior out of Egypt, you are forever grafted into the family of Abraham, and you receive all of the blessings that come with the covenant that God has made with His people. The road out of Egypt isn’t an easy one, but rather than serving an oppressor that hates your life, you’ll be serving the God that loves your life so much, He gave His only son as a perfect and eternal sacrifice for your sins so that He could have a deep and intimate relationship with you, forever.