Exodus 1: God’s Covenant Faithfulness

Sacred text: Romans 8:28–29 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Introduction:

Imagine being ten years old, standing in the garage with your father as he works on a classic sports car. It’s a beautiful machine—too powerful for a child to even comprehend. In a moment of kindness, your father makes a promise: "One day, when the time is right, this car will be yours.” As a teenager, you are convinced you are ready. You want the power, the speed, and the status right now. But your father, knowing your heart and your lack of wisdom, knows that giving you that engine at sixteen would be giving you an instrument for your own destruction. He knows that in your current state, you would wreck the gift and perhaps lose your life in the process. Instead of the sports car, he gives you a humble sedan—a "means of grace" to help you learn the road. Years pass. You don’t just "grow up"; you are shaped by trials, by responsibilities, and by the Father’s constant guidance. There are moments you forget the promise entirely, or you think he’s changed his mind because the wait is so long. Then, at the perfect moment—a time of the Father’s choosing, not yours—he pulls into your driveway with the classic car. You realize then that the delay wasn't a denial; it was a mercy. He wasn't waiting for you to become "good enough" to earn the car; he was working in you to prepare you to receive what he always intended to give. When we look at the promises of God in Scripture, we must see them through this lens of Sovereign Grace. God knows that if He gave us His highest blessings while our hearts were still ruled by selfish idols, we would use His gifts to destroy ourselves. He is not a cosmic vending machine that responds to our "readiness" or our "work." He is a Covenant Father who is faithful to His word, but who is also committed to our being conformed to the image of His Son.

Context:

This story we are about to begin is in a way a continuation of what God had started back in Genesis. If we remember the story of Genesis, we had the creation account, then the fall of man followed along with multiple curses and the first gospel in Genesis 3:15. This first gospel is the foundation for the rest of Scripture, a promise that becomes more realized as we travel through the Old Testament. All the other covenants in Scripture are built upon this first promise of the seed of a woman who will crush the head of the serpent. Then we have this series of stories where new people are introduced and a line of descendants is beginning to form. But in chapter 15 of Genesis, there is a very important promise made to Abraham. In this covenant that God makes with Abraham, the promise is that God will make him into a great nation through his descendants and that they will be a blessing for all people. But Abraham and his wife are old and well past the stages of bearing children, so they think that God has forgotten about them. But God reminds them in chapter 17 of Genesis of his promise, and eventually, Isaac is born. From Isaac, the line continues through Jacob and Esau, and through Jacob is born Joseph and all of his brothers. Then Joseph is sold into slavery and lands in Egypt under Pharaoh, eventually becoming a powerful man, and is able to bring his family, after reconciliation takes place, into the land of Egypt with him. Genesis ends with the deaths of both Jacob and Joseph, and a reminder that God’s promises never fail. Now, let’s see how the story continues.

God’s Covenant Continued (Exodus 1:1-7)

Exodus 1:1–7 “These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.” We are going to stop there for a moment.

God’s Faithfulness Continues On (1-7)

The story picks up with the descendants of Jacob, the Sons of Israel, who went into Egypt with him. Notice that Joseph is not listed with the brothers, but in verse 5 it says why, because “Joseph was already in Egypt.” So, all of Jacob’s family was with him in Egypt, numbering around seventy altogether. Then verse 6 tells us that Joseph dies along with all of his brothers and the rest of that first generation of Israelites in Egypt. Now it would seem that God was not remaining faithful to that promise that was made with Abraham, back in Genesis 15, if everyone is passing away, but if God is faithful, there has to be an explanation. Verse 7 gives us that explanation: “BUT the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly.” This echoes back to Genesis 1-2, where God told Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply.” It even looks back at the promise made to Jacob, who was later named Israel, in Genesis 46:3, which says, “Then he said, ‘I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.” The rest of verse 7 continues to explain this fulfillment, saying that the Israelites multiplied, grew strong, and filled the land of Egypt with their people. So, God’s promise IS being fulfilled. This growth of the people reveals the absolute sovereignty of God in growing his people and blessing them, even in a foreign land that wasn’t theirs. This growth in people also foreshadows the growth of the church in the New Testament, even into today. But is this how the church today sees their growth?

God Builds Nations

In today’s culture, it is easy to fall into a false sense of security and pragmatism. Pragmatism, especially in the church, is this idea that if we just do all the right things and have all the right events the way everyone wants them to be, then we will be able to fill the seats and grow into a megachurch, and plant campus churches in every town, and become these global icons of the faith. It is a false sense of security built on fake numbers and work that is entirely selfish. Rather than depending on God they depend on themselves and their own works. We have also seen a new movement rise up known as Christian Nationalism, which is nothing more than pragmatism wrapped in orthodox speech. It is a vile movement that leads people into racism and hatred for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. The goal of this movement is to topple the current government by infiltrating it with so-called Christian ideals, to restrict women in every way possible, and to rebuild the family and social structure according to the ancient patriarchal way of life. They want to rebuild a nation that no longer exists, in their own efforts and their own ways. It is pragmatism, on a very large scale, wrapped in orthodox speech, designed to draw you into it. Listen, Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Our fight is not against flesh and blood, it is a spiritual fight, in which we put on the armor of God and fight. We are not here to topple governments but to fight a spiritual war against Satan and the enemies of God. While we are earthly citizens of this nation, the churches hope and primary mission is the heavenly kingdom, not the earthly kingdoms. If you have any questions concerning Christian Nationalism, then please reach out to one of the other elders or me, and we will gladly have those conversations with you. Now, what we have seen in Genesis and even here in these first seven verses of Exodus is that God builds a people for himself, nations, kings, and churches; not us. God builds in his way, in his timing, according to his covenant that was made with Abraham. A covenant that is wholly fulfilled in the person and work of Christ and the building of His church.

God Gives the Growth

Paul himself reminds us of all of this in 1 Corinthians 3:5–9 “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” It is God, through Christ, who builds the church and his kingdom. We are simply to be faithful and obedient servants, much like the Israelites in verse 7 of our text. They were faithful to the calling of being fruitful and multiplying, even in a foreign land that did not belong to them, and God was faithful to keep his covenant promise. It was true for them, and it is true for us today. God is faithful to keep His promises, which empowers us to keep His commands. So, we see that God is remaining faithful to his promise to Abraham, but this fulfillment isn’t good news for everyone. Let’s pick up in verses 8-14.

Kings and Suffering (Exodus1:8-14)

Exodus 1:8–14 “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 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.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 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. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 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.”

A New king brings Suffering (8-14)

There has obviously been a large amount of time that has passed since the days of Joseph in Egypt. One commentary says that this period was around 400 years. Joseph was no mere slave in Egypt; he was very successful and even served the Pharaoh himself as a leader of the Egyptian people. For Joseph to be long forgotten, a lot of time had to have passed here, but the people remained strong and growing. The people of Israel have obviously fallen out of favor with the Egyptian leaders at this point. Their growth was forcing harsh economic, military, and political dilemmas that were quickly becoming a reality for the Egyptians. They were becoming more wealthy, more powerful, and more favored than the Egyptians, and this was a bitterness that the new king could taste. A new king takes over and is worried that with the growth and strength of the Israelites, they would face total defeat in the case of a war breaking out, and the Israelites would be able to leave the land freely. In an effort to slow the Israelites down, this new king begins to oppress them even more, forcing them to build entire store cities. But the more they are oppressed, the more they grow in number. But the more they grew in number, the harder this new king came down on them all. Verse 14 says that he made their lives “bitter with hard service,” and “ruthlessly made them work as slaves.”

Suffering Today

This part of the story reveals the enmity and strife that would be created between the seed of the woman and the serpent in Genesis 3:15. Pharaoh, as an evil ruler, representing an evil kingdom, and resisting God’s plan, is like Satan, who does the same thing. This points forward to King Herods decree in Matthew 2:16 “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” Do you see how the Old Testament points us to Christ in the New Testament. We are seeing the gospel begin to unfold here. The people of God are blessed in their obedience to God through faith in his promises; they are growing and thriving in a land that isn’t theirs, and yet at the same time, they face such bitterness and suffering. Can you see the gospel? God is preparing his people, through faith and suffering, for a divine deliverance like no other. Their obedience is being blessed, and yet they face the human sinfulness of an evil government that oppresses them to no end. This is Romans 8:28-29 playing out right before our eyes. Paul says, Romans 8:28–29 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” God blesses His people through suffering. Your suffering doesn’t mean that God hates you or that God has left you; it means that God is doing something in your life! And yet we despise it. Instead of turning our suffering into opportunity, we just grow angry and bitter, and we blame God for it. We have pity parties and sulk. All the while, God is trying to get our attention, to conform us, grow us, and mature us into the image of His Son. God has given us the means to survive our trials and suffering by giving us the church, His Word, prayer, a community of believers, all to help us become more like Christ.

Suffering Turned into Growth

As I was reading and studying for this chapter, I came across an illustration I was going to use about WWII, and this saying, “Keep calm and carry on,” that was being used. But I thought I would use a more recent and local event for this instead. A couple of years ago, we had the largest fire in the history of the Texas Panhandle break out. On February 26, 2024, the Smokehouse Creek Fire started and ended up burning just over 1 million acres of land. Houses, ranches, animals, businesses, all gone within a few hours. I remember thinking, “It’s not going to get that close to us.” Then the alarms sounded, and we were being evacuated. We stood in our grandmother’s backyard just down the road from here and looked out towards Fritch; all we could see was the orange glow and smoke in the distance. We didn’t know if everything we owned was gone or not. I use this example because it was a time of great suffering for many people, and for some, they are still suffering. Those memories and fears may never go away. But when the smoke cleared, and it always does, God used that tragedy and suffering in such a mighty way. For months, people came together, prayed, worshipped, and served like they never had before. In a time when it seemed like there was no point in going on, God remained faithful and turned our suffering into something beautiful. Because that is what God does with our suffering. Suffering is taking what the world means for evil and God using it for your own good. The last chapter of Genesis reminds us of this, and we will see this idea of suffering well continue to grow in the remainder of this first chapter.

Fearing God Over Man (Exodus 1:15-22)

Exodus 1:15–22 “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “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.” But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 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.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 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.”

Evil Government, Faithful People (15-22)

In these last verses, we have the new king of Egypt continuing his evil reign on the Israelites by seeking to eliminate the males, thus stopping the ability for procreation and diminishing the people back to a sustainable size. Two of the midwives are introduced, named Puah and Shiprah, who were skillful women who helped pregnant women give birth, much like a nurse today. The new king of Egypt commands these two midwives to kill any males that are born to the Israelites, but to let all the females live. This was an evil form of population control from an evil government that did not care for people, much less did they view people as image bearers of God. But the midwives, Shiprah and Puah, feared God more than they feared this new and evil King. They let the male children live, and when pressed about it, they simply explained that the Hebrew women were vigorous and would have the babies before they could even get to them. As a grace for their obedience to God, God gave them families of their own, and the Israelites continued to multiply and grow strong in Egypt. But I want us to notice the last verse here because it exposes a wrong view that we typically have about suffering.

God Rewards Obedience but Suffering Continues

In this story, we see suffering come upon God’s people, as an evil king oppresses and commands the midwives to kill all of the male children being born. They are faithful in their obedience to God, in his grace, God even blesses their obedience, but the suffering didn’t stop; it got worse. You see, we typically believe that, when suffering hits, if we are just good enough and pray the right prayers, and read the right verses, and keep showing up to church, that God is somehow obligated to make all the suffering go away. But that isn’t what we see here, and you won’t see it anywhere else in the entire Bible. The Bible actually tells us that as long as we are in this world, we are going to suffer. 1 Peter 4:19 says, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” Peter presupposes the continued suffering allowed by God, that is for our benefit, and reminds us to keep entrusting ourselves to God through faith. So, what we see here is that God is a rewarder of faithfulness and obedience, but that doesn’t mean that the suffering will end. It often only intensifies. But listen, it is for your own good. Romans 8:28-29 tells us this. It is in the fire that refinement happens. In our suffering, God is doing something great in our lives, but we must continue to be faithful in reverence and obedience if we are to see any earthly blessing from it. That doesn’t mean that if we suffer with that 1990 Honda Civic for long enough, we will eventually get a Ferrari from God. But God blesses the obedience of his people that is rooted in faith and love, through Jesus Christ. I want us to hear that again and remember that obedience isn’t rooted in reward, obedience is rooted in grace through faith and love in Jesus Christ. We obey because we love God, not because we want his stuff. There is one more thing I want us to see before we wrap this text up.

Standing Against Sin

In Acts chapter 4, we have this story of Peter and John going before the council on charges for preaching the name of Jesus in the public square. They are being commanded, again by the evil government, to stop preaching Christ to the people. Listen to their response in Acts 4:19–20 “But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” In other words, Peter and John answered and told them they would only obey God in this matter because they could not help but speak of everything they had heard and seen in Jesus Christ. Puah and Shiprah, in much the same way, through faith refused to listen to the evil government telling them what to do because they feared God more than man. When the government, or any other human being, commands us to sin, we reject them and we obey God in faith. That is our calling. There are many ways this happens in our world today. One is in the debates over the sanctity of life, abortion, and euthanasia, the justifying of killing innocent human life, image bearers of God. We should wholeheartedly reject the government and cultural pressures to kill innocent life. This is an evil act that must be rejected and spoken about. It is an evil act that goes all the way back into ancient cultures, and God has not been silent about it; neither should we. Take a stand against sin and the evil pressures of this world. God is faithful to stand by you and strengthen you, just like we see here in this story and throughout the rest of Scripture. So what do we learn overall from our text today?

Conclusion:

Through pain, suffering, and obedience, God’s plans move forward no matter what. God’s promises will always stand, but they may not always be when we expect them to be, much like the story I opened up with. You see, as young children, we think we know it all, and we tend to act like our parents don’t know anything. Young and immature Christians are much the same way; we know everything we need to know, better than anyone else, and we want our blessings now! We see this over and over again with the Israelites. But, like the good Father that God is, He makes us wait; He lets us walk through the pains and sufferings of this world, growing us and maturing us along the way, eventually giving us our inheritance in glory.

Invite the band up

Exodus chapter 1 teaches us that through provision, pain, and obedience, God’s plan unfolds exactly the way He intends for it to and in his timing. So, we trust in the sovereignty of God. We fear God in our daily choices and actions, even in this evil world when oppression is all around us. We remind ourselves that suffering and trials are preparation for deliverance. But, ultimately, what we learn is that this chapter points us towards Christ, as the seed of the woman who crushes the serpent’s head. The gospel doesn't change just because we are in the Old Testament. That glorious promise in Genesis 3:15 becomes more and more realized as we continue through this book. Because of the life, work, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we have our hope and security, a future with a King who is perfectly holy, just, and righteous, who brings us into His kingdom away from sin and suffering once and for all. Is that the hope you hold on to in your suffering? It should be. If it isn’t, then come to Jesus and be filled with hope. Come to Him today. You can repent and put your faith in Him instead of yourself. We will have pastors in the back if you need someone to talk with or just need prayer for anything going on. Let’s pray.

Prayer: