Exodus 1: Their Story, Our Cry

Intro

I recently started reading the book On Her Ground, the biography of Madam C.J. Walker, written by Madam’s great-great granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles. Madam Walker, as you likely know, was a great African American Businesswoman in the early 20th century whose rags to riches story is one for the ages. It wasn’t until Madam was nearly 40 years old that she created her amazing hair products which propelled her to become the first female self-made millionaire in the United States. In 1910, she relocated her business here to Indianapolis, just on the other side of the White River from Haughville.

In the books prologue, A’Lelia talks about how she grew up with a kind of apathy toward Madam Walker. A’lelia’s perception of Madam was that she was stoic, too serious. Though she became exceptionally wealthy, A’Lelia was not much attracted to Madam’s story.

A’Lelia was in her 20’s when she began to realize what she called her “extraordinary family heritage.” Fortunately, she said, her mother Mae Walker had taken great care to preserve the history of the Walker family so that A’Lelia could discover it in her own time. When Mae was on her deathbed, she charged A’Lelia to use her words to tell the true story about the Walker family for the world to hear.

A’Lelia describes how she was filled with a sense of adventure and anticipation as she did the long, slow work of discovering her family’s history so she could tell it to the world. By the time she published the biography, A’Lelia said:

“Whatever teenage reservations I may have had about Madam Walker are long gone. Now that I am the same age as Madam Walker when she experienced her greatest achievements, I fully understand why many consider her an American Icon. It is a privilege to tell her story.”

A’Lelia moved from apathy, to excitement, to deep appreciation as she discovered her family history. In going back to her past, A’Lelia was formed in the image of her great-great grandmother so she could keep that story alive.

The Exodus is a story that God has taken great care to preserve for us that we might discover it in our own time. Like A’Lelia with her family history, we might have a sense of apathy toward these old, old stories. Yet, if we would do the long slow work of digging into this story, we too will be filled with a deep excitement and appreciation for what God has done for his people. By looking back to the past, we can be formed into people who keep the story of his salvation alive in our world today.

The Exodus is one of the world’s oldest stories; it may be the most influential story in global history. Though it is over 3000 years old, There is something about this underdog story that captivates every generation, and every people, whether or not they come from a Jewish or Christian background.

The story of a God who takes the side of the oppressed against the tyrants of this world is enough to swell our hearts enough to ask, “Could such a God be real? Could this story be true?”

You may feel a sense of apathy as you come into this old story. Maybe you feel that this story, as old as it is, couldn’t possibly be relevant to your life. I want to appeal to you on two grounds to give your full attention to our time in Exodus these next few months.

First, you need to know that Exodus may be the most important book of the Bible. The rest of the Bible simply does not make sense without the Exodus. Exodus is written in such a way that sets up the rest of the Old Testament story; and the rest of the Old Testament looks back to the Exodus.

Likewise, our New Testament uses the Exodus as the defining narrative to explain what God has done to save us in Christ. Exodus is the third most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament. The life of Jesus is itself a re-telling of the Exodus story; he is a child like Moses who comes out of Egypt, survives the infanticide of a Tyrant, to become a prophet who will save his people. Jesus deliberately used the Passover meal to explain his death to his disciples; he is the lamb to be sacrificed for the sins of his people. John said that through Jesus, God was dwelling with his people again, just as he had done in the Exodus. Paul, Peter, the author of Hebrews, all use the Exodus to frame our salvation in Christ.

These connections will become more clear to you as we move through this series together. For now, just know that if you want to understand Christianity, you must understand the Exodus.

Second, if that first point doesn’t appeal to you, let me try again at a more grounded level. Exodus is a crazy story. There’s conflict. Oppression. A tyrant. Strong women who set the example of godly civil disobedience. A powerful, compassionate God. Miracles. Family drama. A flawed but courageous leader. Betrayal. Exodus has it all. If this series its boring, its not the fault of the story but the preacher who is doing the story telling.

Tonight I invite you to try to connect yourself to the Exodus story. There is an entry point for each one of us into this story of redemption. In these opening verses, we are going to learn how to let the cry of this oppressed people become our cry. Like the Israelites over 3000 years ago, we are still crying out to be liberated from the wickedness of this world. I believe as you find yourself in this story, your experience of God and his salvation will be magnified in your life.

Setting the Stage

Let’s set the stage on which this story unfolds. Exodus begins by telling us the descendants of Jacob who had settled in Egypt. Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, is specifically mentioned by name.

This introduction connects Exodus to Genesis, which immediately precedes Exodus in the Bible.

You might be familiar with Joseph’s story. Betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, Joseph ends up as servant in Egypt in the house of one of Pharoah’s officials. One day, the wife of this official tries to rape Joseph, but Joseph flees. He ends up in prison, where, through wild circumstances, it is discovered that Joseph has the ability to interpret Pharoah’s dreams.

Though he was an Israelite, Pharoah eventually puts Joseph in control of all of the resources of Egypt. Soon, Joseph’s brothers who are facing famine in their country, come to Egypt to ask for help. Through another series of wild circumstances, they discover that it is Joseph, the brother they sold into slavery, who is providing help to their family. Eventually, Joseph’s brothers, along with his father Jacob, move to Egypt, and are given a privileged position in the city. In fact, we’re told in Genesis 47:11 that Jacob and his family settle in the district of Ramses. This is the same district we read about in Exodus 1:11, where Jacob’s descendants will be enslaved and forced to build a “treasure city” for Pharoah.

Many read Joseph’s story and label him a courageous hero. In many respects he was. But there is a dark part of Joseph’s story that is often overlooked, likely because we don’t know how to make sense of our heroes when they act like villains.

Immediately after Jacob’s family settled in Ramses in Genesis 47:11, Egypt is hit with a severe famine. The Egyptians come to Joseph, who is in charge of all of Pharoah’s riches, to ask him for help, just as Joseph’s brothers had done. Yet this time, Joseph is not so generous.

First, he Joseph takes all of the money of the Egyptians before he will give them any help. After their money runs out, he takes their livestock. After their livestock runs out, he takes their land. After their land runs out, he takes their bodies, and forces them into slavery.

Before the Egyptian Pharoah oppressed the Israelites in slavery, the Israelite Joseph oppressed the Egyptians. As Scripture unfolds, Joseph’s actions will be condemned in places like Levitucus 25 and 1 Samuel 8. What are we to make of this?

My friend, Michael Rhodes, an Old Testament scholar, can help us here. I’m following his work at several points this evening. Rhodes explains how Joseph acquired Pharoah-like power to save his family and the Egyptians, but in a way that enriched his own family at the expense of the Egyptians. Biblical justice focuses us on a faithful exercise of power that brings freedom and equity to all people; Joseph utterly fails in this regard. He stands with all those who throughout history have used power to improve people like themselves at the expense of “the other.”

The political tables are about to turn on Joseph and his people. Verses 6-8 tell us that Joseph and his family died, and a new Pharoah arose, one who did not know or respect Joseph. This new Pharoah now turns everything around.

Even as the story of Genesis comes to an end and Exodus begins, we are meant to be taking an important lesson here. If you live be the power of the political sword, you will die by the political sword. If you build power for your people through self-serving politics, you will end up as slave labor building someone else’s kingdom later on.

If you look to power as a means to dominate and control people, rather than to serve, then you will soon find that you are the one being dominated by those in power.

The message is clear: Do not look to kings and powers for your salvation. Put your hope in God, and in God alone.

Later generations must read these events as a call to self examination. Injustice and oppression is a cycle that we, too, can get caught up in. One day we’re the victim only to find ourselves abusing our power the next.

Let us each examine ourselves this evening. What is your relationship to power? Where are you putting your hope for deliverance and salvation?

Have you put your hopes in today’s political idols? Are you looking for the strong politician who is going to make things right for you, even at someone else’s expense?

Or maybe your idols are a little bit more subtle. Is it money? Is it stuff? Where in your life do you say, “If only I had _____, then I’d be happy. Then I could rest. Then I’d feel in control.”

Anything we look to for hope and power, more than God, will come back and crush us. Put your trust in God and cry out to him! He is our hope and salvation.

The Conflict

With the stage set, let’s look more closely at the brewing conflict in our story.

This new Pharoah runs what Rhodes calls the most “intensely centralized government” in world history up to this point. Pharoah is powerful. Egypt is a superpower of the ancient world. They’ve now spread to a point that they gather tribute and labor from other countries to support their own empire.

There have been men like Pharoah all throughout history; men who lust for power and crush others under their foot. Even so, there have been few men in history who have actually had as much power as this Pharoah did.

And yet.

With all the power in the world, Pharoah grows increasingly nervous. “Look at the Israelite people!” he said in verse 9. “They’ve become more numerous then us! We have to do something about this. We must make a plan to control them, or they might join our enemies and overtake us.”

What is it about power that the more we have, the more we’re afraid to lose? Have you ever noticed that pattern in yourself? The more you have, the more anxious you are to hold onto it. Kelly Price sang it best on her hook with Notorious BIG: “The more money we come across, the more problems we see.”

That those in power act out of fear and aggression is, as we know, a tale as old as time. We might be tempted to look at recent abuses by one political ideology and allow that to drive us into the arms of another. Last week’s changes to the Voting Rights Act last week, where the Supreme court ruled in such a way that will make it harder to challenge racially discriminatory voting maps, appears to be a clear violation of power. But let us not forget that politicians of all parties have been fanning the flames of unrestrained capitalism, and have been bombing dark-skinned people around the world, for generations.

No, Exodus is telling us not to trade one form of oppressive politics for another. We work within politics, but our hope is in the Lord. We must wait on him.

This Pharoah might have written the playbook in oppressive power politics. Look, he said! Look at those people! They’re not like us! And they’re everywhere! You can hear Pharoah now, can’t you? “They’re going to destroy our culture! They’re going to marry our daughters! They’re going to take our jobs! They might even join forces with our enemies!”

We know how this goes, don’t we? Fear and propaganda lead to economic exploitation. Come on y’all, our world is nothing new! Ethnic discrimination, nationalism, exploitation, they’re nothing new! They just take different forms. We know this.

So what did Pharoah do? He made their lives bitter with harsh labor making bricks. Like the immigrants who first settled Haughville in indentured servitude to our neighborhoods iron factories, the Israelites were subjected to heavy, hot, dirty, exposing, exhausting, and dangerous work. Surrounded by walls several feet high, these brick making ovens are filled with a dust and smoke that constantly hangs in the air, coating skin and lungs alike with red soot. Barely able to breathe, the dust mixes with your skin until, like the bricks you’re making with your hands, your flesh begins to crack in the high heat.

This is one of the worst jobs in a history of awful jobs.

It is where God’s people found themselves 3000 years ago.

And it is where we still often find ourselves, generation after generation. It may sound strange to our ears to be told that there is comfort in knowing that we’ve been here before. But I believe there is.

We must remember that our pain and suffering is nothing new among God’s people. We have been here before, and God has heard our cries for help and mercy, and he has taken action. He will conquer Pharoah. He will deliver the Israelites. This is the world Jesus was born into to save. Jesus has taken action against rulers and authorities. He has broken the knees of those who oppress in power; their days are numbered like Pharoah’s. Most of all, he has conquered sin and death for us. He still hears our cries for mercy and offers us his salvation freely by his grace. He will come again to take final action and restore this world.

There is comfort in knowing, but we must recover the discipline of patience and waiting. There is a time for acting; we’re going to learn more about civil disobedience in the next couple of weeks. Trust me. Exodus gets spicy. Yet before we act, we must learn to wait. More than 2 centuries passed between the events of verse 6 and verse 8. The Israelites groaned and cried for generations. But God did not forget them. He was not slow to remember his promise. God always acts when the time is right; and his time is always right.

We want our problems solved immediately. We’re tempted to believe those who tell us they can quickly solve our problems with their power. Wait in hope for the Lord, beloved. As the Psalmist promised in Psalm 33,

“We wait in hope for the Lord, he is our help and shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.”

The Hero

But how do we know God will act? We read these verses and it appears that God is altogether absent. In fact, God will not show up and speak until Exodus 3; where is he while the Israelites were being crushed like the bricks they built?

Though he is silent, the hero of this story has walked onto the stage. In the background, yes. But he is not absent. He was not absent in this story, and he is not absent in your story, either.

Verse 7 says that the Israelites were “exceedingly fruitful and multiplied greatly.” Now, who knows where that language comes from? That’s right, genesis 1 and 2. God forms Adam and Eve and then he gives them the charge to go out into the world and be fruitful and multiply.

And so verse 7 is telling us that the people have in fact done what God commanded. Now look at verse 12. The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied! Pharoah’s logic seemed sound: “If I work them harder, they’ll have less time to make babies.”

Yet the more they worked, the more babies they made, the stronger they became!

Though he had done wrong, Joseph was right when he said, “what you meant for evil, God has meant for good.”

Now stay with me, don’t get too excited yet, we’re almost there. Verse 13 and 14 repeat the use of this word “work” and “labor.” In the original Hebrew, this word also means “serve,” or even, “worship.”

It is the same word that Moses is told to say to Pharoah, in what may be the key verses of the book of Exodus. Chapter 4:22-23,

“Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.”

Before God is ever mentioned by name, Exodus 1 is telling us what he is doing. Even in their oppression, God is working to make the people strong. And he’s helping the people see that their problem isn’t physical oppression alone, but also the spiritual oppression in being made to serve the wrong god. So what God is about to do is free them from their physical oppression and, more than that, bring them into his presence so that they can worship the true God.

The message of Exodus is that your liberation is not complete until you find your absolute freedom in service to God and God alone.

What God did for his people in the Exodus is what God has done for us in an even greater way through Christ.

Luke 1, using the framework of the Exodus, says that Christ has redeemed us of our enemies so that we can serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness all of our days.

We want someone like Joseph - or even Pharoah - to be our hero. But know how the story goes. People like us, when they build power for themselves, use it to for selfish gain and the expense of someone else.

Jesus, with all the power in the world, didn’t do anything for selfish gain, but gave everything he had for us.

At the cost of his death, by dying on a cross, Christ has freed us from the bondage of wickedness and death so that we might serve God in true freedom!

Until Jesus is the center of your life, there is always going to be another power, another god, that will force you into crushing service.

Jesus is your freedom.

I know the days are long and the nights are cold. Believe that God is always doing a million things in your life for your good, even though you may not be able to see any of it right now.

So as you cry, as the shivers go down your spine, as your flesh cracks under pressure, God is shaping you. He’s forming you. He’s giving you the strength for another day.

As we enjoy Christ’s freedom together as a church, we are equipped to show up for our neighbors to offer them the liberation that we now share. We take sides with our oppressed neighbors, helping them get free from abusive situations, or get out from under oppressive landlords. We are led to generously share our material possessions, rather than lord them over others as Joseph and Pharoah did.

And we can offer people the true story of God’s salvation. Hope, salvation, life can be found when we give ourselves to Jesus.