Exodus 1-2, God Remembers

Introduction

Good morning! It is so good to be with you this morning and to once again have the joy and privilege of opening God’s Word with you. Please open your Bible with me to the book of Exodus. We are beginning a new study this morning. More accurately we’re continuing a sequential series through the Old Testament. At the beginning of this year we worked through Genesis. This morning we are picking up where we left off by turning to the book of Exodus. We will be looking at Exodus 1 & 2 together this morning. Before we begin, let’s pray together.

PRAY

I wonder how many of us gathered here this morning have questioned whether God is near to us in uncertain or difficult times. How many of us have groaned under the difficult circumstances that we sometimes experience in life? Perhaps the words of the Psalmist from Psalm 13, “How long, Oh Lord?” have resonated deeply with you in different seasons of life. Perhaps you’re in such a season now. God seems distant to you. You’re tempted to doubt His goodness, His presence, His faithfulness.

If you find yourself in that place this morning, or have ever found yourself in that place, then you know to some extent how the people of Israel must have felt here at the beginning of Exodus. We need to remember that what we have recorded here in Exodus is real history. These things really happened in real time and space. It is also important to remember that it is a continuation of God’s unfolding plan of redemption. A continuation of Him revealing Himself to us––His character and his ways in the world. It is an ongoing display of His glory.

Exodus is the second of the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch. But we would be better served to recognize that Exodus is less of its own separate book that stands on its own. It is more a volume in the continuing story of what God is doing to fulfill His promises to His people. We need to read and understand Exodus in light of all that we saw in our study of Genesis earlier this year. It is a continuation of all that we saw unfold in the lives of the patriarchs and their family.

Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt. This creates a tension with regard to how He will keep His covenant promises to Abraham and his offspring. A promise of many descendants living in a promised land that they now had to leave. A land where God would dwell with them and be their God. They are a mere seventy persons in total. They are most definitely not in the land God had promised them. And so the tension we’ve been left with is how will God fulfill His promise to Abraham? Or will He keep His promise?

Maybe you’re here this morning and you’re experiencing that very same tension in your own life. You could be feeling that tension in a variety of ways. Maybe it is in the groaning under indwelling sin that still clings close. You’re struggling to believe that God has given you His Holy Spirit who is sanctifying you and enabling you to put such sin to death as you become more and more like Christ.

Maybe it is discouragement about the state of your life or the state of this world. You’ve forgotten that God is still ruling and reigning. That even the hard circumstances of life are part of His good and sovereign plans for the display of His glory and the redemption of a special people as His own treasured possession. Whether that describes you now or will describe you at another point in your life yet to come, you need the book of Exodus. You need to be reminded that God has not forgotten His promises to His people.

MAIN POINT — Know that God remembers his promises to his people and is always at work to fulfill them.

God Remembers His Promises

Let’s read the first portion of our passage this morning. READ Exodus 1:1-7.

In Good Times

The first thing we want to note is that God remembers His promises in all circumstances. In good times and bad. Here in these first seven verses we see that God remembers His promises in good times. These verses serve as the connection to all that came before in Genesis. It functions much like the reminders you see on your favorite TV show where you see a replay of snippets from previous episodes. You could read these verses and imagine a narrator saying, “previously on God’s dealings with Israel.”

We’re reminded of Jacob, whom God said would be known as Israel, and his sons who came into the land of Egypt with him. There were, at that time, about seventy persons in all. Then, as we grasp what lay in the past in Genesis, we fast forward suddenly to the time and events of Exodus. We’re told that Joseph died, along with his brothers and all who were of that generation. But then comes a key description of what followed the passing of that generation.

Notice the language of verse 7 where it says, “But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.” There’s a couple of things we should note here with this language. First, I think the language offers us further connection to God’s overarching plan for the world way back as early as creation in Genesis 1. They were “fruitful.” They “multiplied.”

From the very beginning this was part of the cultural mandate that God had given Adam and Eve and all who would follow. They were to be “fruitful and multiply.” They were to “fill the earth and subdue it.” I think God wants us to see this as a continuation of His creation plans. God will see to the increase of His people. The land will be filled with those who bear His image. This is language that we should hear echoes of creation as God creates and increases His special people, even while they sojourn in a foreign land.

But even more than that, there’s a second thing this should remind us of. This was part of God’s covenant promise to Abraham back in Genesis 15. God’s Word, His promises to Abraham prove true. He told him to look at the stars and number them if he could and said, “so shall your offspring be.” Here we see that God is making good on that promise. He continued to bless His special people by seeing to their increase, even in a foreign land.

Loved ones, we have this same hope when it comes to the spread of the gospel. As we faithfully open our mouths to share the gospel with others we know that it is the means by which God is saving His people. Faith comes by hearing. We share the gospel and God’s uses that faithful gospel message to soften hearts and open eyes and bring people to repentance and faith. Just as He gave the increase to the people of Israel while they sojourned in Egypt, we too can be confident that King Jesus will build His church.

In Bad Times

God’s faithfulness to His promises is just as true in bad times. That’s what we see next. Follow along with me as I READ Exodus 1:8-22.

God had delivered the family of Israel from a famine through Joseph by bringing them to dwell in the land of Egypt. All was well for a time. But, as time passed, they seemingly went out of the frying pan and into the fire. The people increased and multiplied throughout the land. Joseph and his brothers have died along with all who were of that generation. Now there is a new sheriff in town. A new king in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. He saw the increase of Israel as a threat to him and Egypt. Once again, the people of Israel found themselves under duress.

Here in these unfortunate circumstances, we are reminded that God’s promises prove true. The reality is that these circumstances were promised by God to Abraham concerning his offspring. Notice the language in verse 11 where it says, “Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens.” Back in Genesis 15:13 we saw that this very thing was part of what God promised would happen––they would sojourn in a foreign land and “be afflicted for four hundred years.” Nevertheless, God was still with them.

We see an escalation of the affliction throughout the passage we just read. The affliction began with enslaving Israel and ruthlessly putting them to work. Their taskmasters afflicted them with heavy burdens. We’re told two times they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. They made their lives bitter with hard service. The irony is that Pharaoh did this to hinder them from continuing to multiply. In other words, the work they were forced to do was so hard that they should have died from exertion. Or, at least, be too tired to be fruitful and multiply.

Nevertheless, we’re told in verse 12, “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. In light of this, did Pharaoh repent? No, of course not. He doubled down. He escalated the oppression. Not only were they required to ruthlessly work, Pharaoh instituted a campaign of infanticide against Israel, particularly the male children. He summoned the Hebrew midwives and instructed them to kill the sons who were born to the Hebrew women.

Here we are introduced to two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. We’re told that they feared God and did not do what Pharaoh told them to do. They let the male children live. They demonstrate for us that, despite the difficult circumstances Israel faced, some of their people still feared God above all. They embodied what the disciples said in Acts 5–– “we must obey God rather than man.”

Somehow, it occurred to Pharaoh that his instructions were not being carried out. And when he questioned the midwives they told him the Hebrew women were giving birth before they could get there. The text doesn’t offer us much detail on what this looked like. Were the midwives lying to Pharaoh and, if so, were they wrong to do so? Were they in some way telling the truth, but leaving out key details?

Perhaps they intentionally dragged their feet getting to the birth so they wouldn’t be in the position to follow Pharaoh’s orders. Perhaps they warned the Hebrew mothers to call for them when it was too late. Any answers we try to come up with are just a guess. We can’t be certain. But what is abundantly clear is that God blessed these two midwives for their faithfulness to Him in not carrying out Pharaoh’s instructions. That’s what we’re supposed to see and focus on.

We see such blessings in a couple of ways. First, just the simple act of naming them in the narrative, where so few are named, is a means of blessing them and commending their faithfulness to the LORD. Isn’t it ironic that not even Pharaoh, the king of the greatest earthly power at the time, is not even named. But here, two seemingly insignificant Hebrew midwives are named for future generations to know and honor throughout the ages for their faithfulness to God. And God also gives them the increase with families of their own.

Loved ones, we would do well to consider this example of fearing the LORD. Regardless of circumstances, the people of God are called to fear God above all earthly powers. Sure, Pharaoh could have killed them for failing to carry out his instructions. Harm may come to us for obeying God rather than man. But that doesn't make God any less faithful. For the Christian, even if man puts us to death, God delivers us from the groaning of this life into eternity with Him. To live is Christ and to die is gain. Loved ones, no matter what, fear God and not man.

By God’s grace and kindness, the two midwives were protected from a harsh fate. He dealt well with them. But Pharaoh, seeing that his plan didn’t work, escalated once more. He commanded all of his people to kill every son that was born to the Hebrews by casting them into the Nile. Now, all of Egypt would be on the lookout for Hebrew baby boys to throw them into the Nile. Just imagine what a frightening time this must have been for the people of God.

God Prepares A Deliverer

No matter what the circumstances are, whether good or bad, we must know that God is always at work to fulfill His promises. He is never aloof. He is never taking a nap. God is actively working to fulfill His promises. We see this on display in our passage as God prepares a deliverer for the people, whom He would use to bring them out of Egypt and into the promised land. God prepares a deliverer. We see this preparation through both extraordinary means as well as the ordinary.

Through Extraordinary Means

Follow along as I read the extraordinary events of Exodus 2:1-10.

All that we just read is happening against the bleak backdrop of Pharaoh’s genocidal campaign against the Hebrew boys being born. Moses was born in dire circumstances. His odds of survival were bleak. Every Egyptian would have been on the lookout and listening for Hebrew baby boys being born. Yet, God’s plans and actions cannot be thwarted. God used extraordinary and even ironic means to spare the deliverer He was preparing for His people.

In verse 2, concerning Moses’ mother, it says, “she saw that he was a fine child.” The original language more literally reads “she saw him, that he was good.” I think we are meant to hear echoes of the creation account in Genesis 1. Once again, we’re seeing the birth, the creation, of the people of God. Moses was born, and it was good. And so, she hid her precious baby boy for as long as she could––about three months. Many of us have children and know what it's like to have a baby that will not stop crying. When those lungs really develop, those cries are loud!

So, she took Moses and she took a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. Again, we have language here that recalls events in Genesis. The word for basket here can also be translated as ark and it is the same word used back in the flood account for the ark. She placed Moses in the basket and into the Nile. But just as Noah and his family were delivered from the waters of judgment in the ark, so too, Moses would be delivered from the waters of judgment that Pharaoh intended for his destruction in the Nile. And irony of irony, who was it that God used to deliver Moses from certain death in the Nile? Pharaoh’s own daughter.

Loved ones, this is no coincidence. There is no such thing as mere coincidence. It is the extraordinary means of God’s providence working in all circumstances for His glory and the good of His people. God is the one who delivered Moses and saw to it that his very own mother would have the joy of nursing him for Pharaoh’s daughter. More than that, she received wages to do so. God would allow her to have a part in raising her son and be enriched by the very house that sought to destroy him.

Through Ordinary Means

Now, if we were writing this story, we’d probably have Moses grow to great power in Egypt and deliver the people of Israel that way through human strength. But we’re not the ones writing this story. God is. God is the One who is working in all of this for His own glory. Unlike movies like the Ten Commandments that would have us see Moses as the central figure of this grand epic, we must recognize that it is God who is the main actor and central figure of all that unfolds. Through both extraordinary means and through seemingly ordinary means.

Follow along as I READ Exodus 2:11-22.

It’s not clear how, but in some way Moses knew his origins. He apparently knew that he was not a native Egyptian. Even for all of his being raised in the Egyptian palace, he knew he was a part of the Hebrew people. We’re told that he went out to them and looked upon their burdens. While doing so, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. So he rose up to defend the Hebrew and killed the Egyptian.

What are we to make of this? Is Moses guilty of murder? Was this an unjust act on his part? While it's not super clear, I think the wording used gives us a sense that this was a just act of defending someone’s life. The word used in the original language to communicate the Egyptian beating the Hebrew suggests that he was beating him violently to death with the intent to kill him. Thus, it seems, that what Moses did was right in defending a weak and defenseless person who was being murdered by the Egyptian.

Despite his efforts to cover the matter, it was clearly witnessed and known in some way. Moses realized this when he tried to separate two Hebrews who were fighting with one another. They knew what he had done. Notice how they question him as to who made him a prince and judge over them. I can’t help but think this is a foreshadowing of the future grumbling he would face while trying to lead Israel in the wilderness as they groaned against his leadership.

Sure enough, what Moses had done was discovered and Pharaoh sought to kill him. Moses fled into the wilderness. He would experience a foretaste of the wilderness wanderings of Israel which he would lead. He too would know what it was to be a sojourner and stranger in a foreign land, not his home. Far from the comforts of Pharaoh’s palace where he was raised. Now on the run from those who sought to kill him.

Once again, beginning in verse 16, we also see another instance of Moses rising up to protect those who were weaker. He protected seven young women from shepherds who tried to drive them away from the well they were using to water their flocks. God is placing Moses into circumstances that require him to protect and deliver others from harm. He delivered the Hebrew from the Egyptian. He delivered these young women from the shepherds who sought their harm. God was preparing His chosen deliverer for His greatest deliverance of the OT.

Have you ever felt that God has no purpose for you? That all the things you have faced or are facing are simply mundane, ordinary things that will amount to nothing? Loved ones, God is using every single circumstance, good and bad, in your life to mold and shape you into the image of His perfect Son. He has a purpose for His people. For one thing, He is after our holiness. He wants to make us more like Christ. He will do that through all sorts of means. Oftentimes through trials and difficulties that serve to refine us.

But He also could be preparing you to be used in the lives of others. Either for their sanctification and growth in Christlikeness. Or perhaps for their salvation. The next time you or a loved one are sick and you find yourself in the hospital, could it be that you are there for the sole purpose of opening your mouth to share the gospel with a doctor, or nurse, or fellow patient, who is still dead in their sin. And God has brought you there that you would speak and they would hear the good news about the even greater Deliverer, Jesus Christ, and be delivered from their captivity to sin and death.

Loved ones, don’t despise any of the circumstances in your life. Good or bad. Extraordinary or ordinary. God is always at work in every detail, both big and small, to accomplish His eternal plans and purposes for His own glory and the good of His people. Though Moses finds himself away from the people of Israel, they are still in need of deliverance. And God is preparing His chosen deliverer.

Let’s take a quick look at how things are going for Israel in Egypt while Moses is away. Follow along as I READ Exodus 2:23-25.

During the time Moses was on the run, what would amount to forty years, the Pharaoh who sought to kill him died. But Israel remained enslaved. And Israel groaned because of their slavery. They cried out, presumably to God, for help amidst their oppression. I imagine this groaning and crying for help happened a lot throughout those many years. I imagine that many in Israel doubted whether God heard them or remembered them. And God clearly wants us to not wonder or doubt.

God heard their groaning. The groanings of His special people. God remembered them. He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God always remembers. He had not forgotten. When we see this phrase, “God remembered,” it is not as though He had forgotten and then it suddenly came to mind. We saw this with Noah back in Genesis 8. When it says that God remembered it is communicating that the designated time has come. He is about to take action for the welfare of His people.

Conclusion

Loved ones, we have no reason to ever doubt the goodness or faithfulness of God to His promises. He has not forgotten. He remembers. He knows. He knows what He’s doing. He knows our frailty. He knows what He is doing in making His people more like Him. He knows all the details that He is providentially working out to fulfill all of His plans and purposes. He is good and wise and sovereign and all powerful. You can trust Him. Even when things seem uncertain. Even when life is hard. Even when your faith is waning, Know that God remembers his promises to his people and is always at work to fulfill them.