Blessings in Bondage

Exodus 1:13–21 (NASB95)

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.

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.”

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.

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.”

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.

Introduction

I was remarking with someone recently that the meteorologists and the newscasters report on the weather a little bit differently in Ohio than they do in Minnesota. I was catching the weather the other day and the meteorologist was recommending we stock up on milk and eggs for the snow that was coming the next day. It was good advice, but I’m personally used to a little more snow in the forecast before we start stocking up on eggs and that sort of thing. There’s a healthy amount of fear when bad weather is in the forecast, particularly if it’s weather we’re not used to. That little bit of fear drives us to prepare a little more than usual because we’re unsure whether our ordinary needs will be provided for. If that fear gets out of hand it can turn unhealthy as we attempt to prepare for every possible circumstance. There’s wisdom in preparation certainly, but at some point fear can take over for what used to be wise, and very often fear prevails when provision is left to the person in the mirror, ourselves.

On the other hand, think of a child, perhaps even your own kids when they were young. There isn’t even a second thought about whether food will be there because it’s always there. Their provision and fundamental needs aren’t left up to them and so there isn’t a fear in the world. They might fear the possibility of something they don’t like, but at the end of the day there’s nothing to fear because their parents always put food on the table.

I’d like us to recognize this contrast in our narrative this morning. Pharaoh is found to be the one afraid because he is god in his own eyes. He is his own provider and so he must secure his well-being by oppressing the people of Israel. In all his power and wealth, Pharaoh is the one fearing men and seeking to secure his well-being.

In contrast, the people of Israel come to be oppressed, yet God continues to bless them and multiply them time and again. Surely Israel would have every reason to fear Pharaoh for his oppressive rule and his ambition to kill off the sons of Egypt, and yet we see two midwives defying Pharaoh in fear of the Lord. They know that they’re provision is in the Lord and not in the appeasement of Pharaoh. In fearing God and not man, even Pharaoh, God provides an abundance for them.

The fear of men is unfitting for those who are blessed by God’s hand.

How are we blessed? Where is our provision?

In answering that simple question we can begin to answer the following:

Who/ what do we fear?

Blessings in a foreign land. (vs.7)

Blessings under affliction (vs. 12)

Blessings through the God-fearing (vs. 20)

Blessings in a foreign land

Exodus 1:7–11(NASB95)

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.

8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

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.”

11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.

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Exodus picks up immediately where Genesis ends. All of Joseph’s family, his 11 brothers and all their children come to live in Egypt in the land of Goshen. Up until this point Joseph is the clear provider for the people of Israel. He’s overseen all of Egypt having wisely managed the land and the resources so that they can survive the 7 year famine. He’s given his own family the best of the land in Goshen with Pharaoh’s blessing. For all that Joseph has done for Egypt you could imagine a certain comfort growing among the people of Israel. “As long as Joseph is overseeing Egypt, we’ll be in good hands.”

Then Joseph dies. There’s no one of the people of Israel in a position of influence any more. There’s no one with power to look out for us anymore like Joseph did. “Who will provide for us? How will we be blessed?”

Exodus gives us no room for wondering.

“, but the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty.”

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As much as God used Joseph in his position of influence for the good of Israel in the past, he wasn’t necessary. The loss of our power and potential doesn’t make the promise of God any less sure.

God gave Abraham a promise: a promise that rested in the power of God not in the power of His people.

Genesis 15:5–6 (NASB95)

5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

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Did Abraham believe because he saw potential in himself, an old man with an elderly wife and no children? No, he believed in the LORD.

Israel likewise would come to know the blessing and provision of God when they were weak, when all power and influence they once knew died with Joseph. It’s at this point that God proves faithful to His promise, and in no uncertain terms:

they were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty. ‘exceedingly’ translated literally is just “very, very”

Joseph is dead. Who is Israel’s provider? Who is securing their blessing? God is! Even in a foreign land with no one to vouch for them, they prosper!

We too are people in a foreign land! We are sojourners and strangers in an unknown land awaiting the day when God will bring us home. We too are more weak and lowly than we would like to be. In some seasons we may have representatives in places of power to work for our good, but should a day come when those representatives lie dead in the grave like every other man, will our hope diminish on that day? I hope not. Who is our provider? God is not dead and as long as Christ sits on his throne, Christ’s kingdom, Christ’s church will prosper and will endure!

At this point we begin a back and forth between God’s provision and Pharaoh’s oppression. We’ll see through the end of the chapter, that every time Israel prospers and multiplies according to God’s promise Pharaoh takes one more step to secure his own provision and blessing out of fear.

There’s a new king over Egypt! A stranger to Israel and Joseph. Perhaps this rogue king will upset the provision and blessing of Israel with his rule and authority? Yet who is the fearful one? Pharaoh is the one who is afraid. He’s the king of all of Egypt. One of the most powerful empires of his day commanding hundreds perhaps thousands of chariots. The Pharaoh’s of that time were considered gods themselves having the ear of all the other gods. In spite of this ‘power’, what does he say?

“Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.

“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.”

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At the end of the day he speaks like every other godless man in fear of other men. “Someone is more powerful than me. How will I secure my blessing and provision? I must act wisely.”

We need to stop here and ask an important question.

What kind of wisdom is this that is driven by insecurity and the fear of men? What do we know of true wisdom?

Proverbs 9:10 (NASB95)

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

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We can say with assurance that Pharaoh’s so called ‘wise’ actions to preserve himself is not wise at all because his fear is of men and not of God. Pharaoh’s inability to find his blessing and provision in anyone other than himself leaves him fearing men and calling it ‘wisdom’. He will knowingly and intentionally afflict the ones who supposedly threaten his provision with hard labor in the name of wisdom.

We certainly don’t find ourselves resorting to putting populations under forced labor, but how often do we act out of the fear of men and call it wisdom? There’s nothing wrong with preparation and readiness yet what is the posture of our heart in that preparation? I believe we need to ask ourselves in those moments, “Who do I look to for provision?” And that’s not just a question for the hard times. Pharaoh was in no state of oppression or trial when he asked, “Who secures my provision?” In prosperity and in trial, should we answer that question with any person on this earth: Myself, my family, my doctor, my government, we will soon find ourselves being driven by the fear of men rather than the fear of God, and the fear of men can drive us to foolish things that we will be tempted to call ‘wise’. This doesn’t mean however we avoid foolish action with foolish inactivity and call it wise. Foolish actions ought to be avoided by taking wise action. The God-fearing midwives of Israel set themselves apart from Pharaoh’s foolish activity, but not with a passive demeanor that says, “I must obey the king, God will provide.” They fear God, they’re assured of His provision, and take action to save the lives of the newborn sons of Israel.

First, God will show himself faithful once again in the face of Pharaoh’s oppression.

Blessings under affliction

Exodus 1:12–16 (NASB95)

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.

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 back and forth continues. God has multiplied his people in a foreign land, Pharaoh responds with so called ‘wise’ oppression. God recognizes Pharaoh’s efforts to curse the people of God with hard labor and difficulty, yet God’s blessing and provision is unhindered. To shame the so called wise and the strong God continues to prosper his oppressed people according to His promise.

At this point Pharaoh is no more than a pair of pruning shears in the hands of God. If you’ve ever seen someone prune a tree you might have an immediate sense of worry. “What did you do? Why are you cutting all these branches off?” In the end the apparent harm has only brought about multiplication and fruitfulness. The same is true of Israel.

I believe God is making a very clear point to His people from the very beginning. Israel doesn’t need a promised land to prosper and multiply, they need God. They don’t even need a favorable king over them to prosper and multiply, They need God.

It’s this fundamental truth which Israel will so quickly forget when the promised land and their own king comes to rule over them, God is forgotten, and all of a sudden the kings of Israel start acting like Pharaoh counting their numbers, sizing up their opponents, seeking allies only to find themselves exiled to foreign lands to be taught the same lesson again.

Jeremiah 29:4–6 (NASB95)

4“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,

5‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce.

6‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.

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In a foreign land and without a king, God will once again show His people that He is their God, He is their provider, in Him they will prosper.

God has made the same point to us, in how He established His church.

On the heels of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ our King and Savior, the church multiplies according to the work of God in the Spirit. There is no favorable King on an earthly throne. There is no promised land flowing with milk and honey. Many are persecuted and forced from their homes as Stephen is stoned for his confession of faith.

And much like Israel: the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out.

If we’re honest we don’t have the experience generally of Israel’s slavery, Israel’s exile, or the early church’s persecution. We live in an era of worldliness certainly, but we have immense freedoms allowed to us. We have leaders, governors, and politicians sympathetic to our beliefs and values. We thank God for those freedoms; Might we never take them for granted, yet we have the same means of provision and advancing the kingdom as the persecuted churches in North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. No matter our freedoms or the king that sits on that earthly throne, God is our provider, and in Him the kingdom will prosper. Should we know prosperity, let us fear God for His faithful provision. Should we come to know labor and hardship, let us fear God for His faithful provision.

For centuries kings and emperors have resisted the work of God in the church much like Egypt’s continued resistance and oppression of Israel. There’s no hiding fear with wisdom anymore, it’s outright dread. (vs.12) They’re well-being and provision is in imminent danger because now Israel isn’t only a more powerful nation, they’ve oppressed them. Egypt has made the people of Israel an enemy through their forced labor, and rather than sue for peace, they double down on their policy of oppression out of dread.

We’ve moved on from taskmasters and hard labor to rigorous labor rigorously imposed, and the outright murder of children to control Israel’s multiplication. As much as things have escalated, Pharaoh is not yet at the point of killing babies using military force; He tries to do so discreetly. He invites the midwives of Israel to do his bidding for him.

Surely the most powerful man in the kingdom, Pharaoh, would be able to get the humblest of women doing the humblest of work to do his bidding? Surely this time he’s found a vulnerability in God’s people which he can exploit. No, not this time! It will not be the first time God will put the faith of His humble servants on display.

Blessing through the God-fearing

Exodus 1:17–22 (NASB95)

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.

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.”

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.”

When Moses writes of their response to Pharaoh’s, what is the matter of first importance? Their resistance to Pharaoh, their bravery, their faithful actions… No, the matter of first importance is who they fear.

Can you imagine for a moment what that would have been like for these two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. The people of Israel are growing and multiplying in the land of Goshen, they’re overflowing the land of Goshen. These two midwives are delivering babies left and right and one day they’re brought to see Pharaoh. No doubt they would have seen time and again the men coming home from work having been driven to a pulp by taskmasters, and out of nowhere they meet the big guy. Surely there’s some degree of fear there. If they don’t do what he says, who knows what he’ll do. He’s enslaved an entire population and wants them to kill the baby boys. Surely he wouldn’t hesitate to make midwives disappear if they don’t do as he says. Their lives are very much in danger at this point, yet who do they fear? Who is their provider? Who is their sustainer? Surely Pharaoh is the one with the power to kill and to save, “We must obey if we are to keep our lives.” No… “the midwives feared God...” Even in that moment when disobedience could easily have brought about their death, they did not fear Pharoah. Pharaoh didn’t have the ultimate power to provide or take away. God did, and in the fear of God they honored God by letting the boys live.

Pharaoh naturally wants to know why they haven’t listened to him and they don’t even honor him with a straight answer.

“Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”

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The Hebrew women are stronger than your Egyptian women Pharaoh and we can’t get there fast enough, by the time we get there she’s holding the baby.

I want to address their response briefly, but not enter into a new conversation about ethics. Many have wrestled with this verse asking, “Is their response justified? In just a moment God will bless Israel and the midwives, is this dishonesty permissible in the eyes of God in some way?

Some might say that Pharaoh was undeserving of the truth for his wickedness.

Some might consider the intention of the heart, “All they wanted to do was save lives.”

Some may conclude they provided merely a half truth and so it wasn’t really a lie… they took their time in getting there, and so when they arrived a day late…

I believe there’s freedom on this matter, but I’d like us to try avoid the murky water of half-truths, determining whose deserving of the truth, and the human heart. That’s a lot of murky water.

I believe we need to hold fast to the character of God and thereby the character of His people being devoted to the truth even in difficult circumstances.

In any case I think we can miss the point of the narrative if we get carried away with the midwives statement.

Here’s the takeaway from this final point. God uses lowly, humble and faulty people who fear Him to bring about His provision for His church. The point is that they feared God above anyone else including Pharaoh. Furthermore, God doesn’t need us, twice God has already multiplied and prospered his people in the midst of oppression, but God in his sovereignty has decided to use God-fearing men and women for the furtherance of His kingdom. They don’t need to be CEOs, military generals, politicians, or wealthy entrepreneurs. God’s looking for people a little more like a humble midwife, so that He would receive the glory.

The same is true of the church today. Those who are humble and who fear the Lord are the people who God in his sovereignty use for the multiplication and growth of His people. These women are named so that all of God’s people would remember the two humble women who God used to prosper his people. They weren’t kings, governors, priests, or prophets, but they would be remembered because they feared God above men.

What is that we want to be remembered for? Perhaps we won’t have our names written down for generations to remember, but what will those closest to us remember us for? Might it be a fear and a reverence for our God who is greater than any man and more faithful to provide than any man. For those who fear God, we may come to know a kind of bondage, trial, and difficulty in this life, but by God’s grace we can know the blessing of the church. The love of the people here, the comfort and security of the gospel, the encouragement of the saints, the growth in maturity of the church, perhaps the growth in multiplication of the church should the Lord provide.

A prayer we can pray this morning, “Father in spite of my trial, help me to fear you and revere you through it. Keep me from fearing for my own well-being that I may act in faith upon your provision.”

We cannot forget the final verse of the chapter. Pharaoh responds a third time to God’s multiplication and blessing of His people.

Exodus 1:22 (NASB95)

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.”

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Pharaoh has moved beyond actions of secrecy. He has made it an edict! All sons will die. Will God continue to bless His people as he had before? Yes! and He will do so by providing a deliverer amidst all this turmoil and bondage. Through the means Pharaoh intended for the boys to be killed a deliver would come. Moses will be literally set in the river according to Pharaoh’s command so that he would be drawn up later.

The whole of this narrative tells us time and again that nothing can keep God from working good for His people! He will do it Himself at times when affliction comes. He will use the humble God-fearing among us to work good for His people. He will even us the edicts of wicked kings and Pharaohs to bring about His sovereign will. Through it all God will never cease to be our provider, our God who is to be feared above all others.

I hope we would not forget the provision God has made for us in Christ through the most dire of circumstances. What

Let’s Pray.