Exodus 1-2 When God Is Silent

Intro

Exodus does not begin a new story, the opening word in Hebrew is “and” or “now”, it is a connection directly back to Genesis

Joseph had sold into slavery, God turned it to good and preserved the nation of Israel through Joseph.

Joseph eventually rose to power in the kingdom of Egypt and his family multiplied greatly, thus fulfilling the promise of Genesis 46:3 “3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:”

From a small start of 70 family members (Exo 1:5), to Exodus 1:7 “7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.”

However, Genesis 50:26 “Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”

Not only did Joseph die, but Exodus 1:6 “and all his brethren, and all that generation.”

And now, Exodus 1:8 “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.”

Or as Stephen put it, Acts 7:17–18 “17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.”

So where was God when His people were suffering? Working providentially, the same place He was during the days of Joseph.

God Preserved His Promise

Pharaoh saw a people that were 600,000 in male number besides the women and children (Exo 12:37) and reasoned that in the event of a war they might join with the enemies of Egypt, war against them, and win! (Exo 1:10)

Exodus 1:11 “11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.”

Notice the result of Pharaoh’s attempt, Exodus 1:12 “12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.”

While Pharoah possessed political authority, military might, economic control, and the power to enslave, he could not stop Israel from becoming the nation that God had promised.

Q: What did Pharaoh misunderstand about the source of Israel’s growth?

Q: Why does suffering not necessarily mean that God’s promises have failed?

God Honored Those Who Fear Him

When the forced labor did not deter the growth of the Hebrews, Pharoah resulted to what was essentially a mass abortion of all the male children,

Exodus 1:17 “17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.”

They stood between the human authority of Pharoah and the divine authority of God!

A similar edict is found in Acts 5:29 “29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Some claim that because of this act of the midwives there is “situational ethics”. This is not true in the word of God and should not be endorsed by Christians.

So many have commented these midwives lied, and thus the charge that God rewarded them for their lying. We recognize that some people, brought to such a crossroads and making such a decision, might falter in giving explanation to the authorities empowered to punish them. However, the point still needs to be made, in examining verse 19, "Could their statement be correct?"

We believe so. With these midwives making their moves because of their fear of God, it would be entirely possible that they did not enter into the birthing place, but remained nearby until those family members attending would give word whether the child was male or female. If female, then their entry to complete the process; if male, then to allow the Hebrew women to handle these matters. Once more, the point is that there can certainly be a logical explanation, in keeping with the Biblical text, that does not dishonor either God or those proposing to fear him!

Q: What is the difference between fearing God and merely being afraid of consequences?

God’s Providence Preserved and Prepared Moses

Since Pharoah had been unsuccessful in the slave labor, and in persuading the midwives to commit mass murder by means of abortion, he now commands that every male child must be thrown into the river!

Moses’ parents Hebrews 11:23 “23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.”

When hiding him no longer was possible his mother placed him in an ark among the reeds.

Notice the circumstances that are not miraculous, but work together through God’s providence.

Moses’ mother prepared the ark.

His sister watched nearby.

Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river.

She discovered the child.

Moses cried.

She felt compassion.

Miriam offered to find a Hebrew nurse.

Moses’ own mother was selected.

Jochebed was paid to care for her own son.

Moses was later raised in Pharaoh’s household.

Not a single one of these things required God to preform an elaborate miracle, however God used the ordinary, to create the extraordinary.

Pharaoh intended for the Nile to become an instrument of death, but God? Genesis 50:20 “20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

Moses failure and flight

Acts 7:20–29 “20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: 21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. 23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: 25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. 26 And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? 27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? 29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.”

Moses apparently recognized that he would play a future role in being a deliver of his people, but he attempted to act

Through his own strength

According to his own timing

Without God’s call

After Pharaoh learned about this and sought to kill him, Moses fled to Midian.

How many of us often flee when we have been found out in our sin?

From the human perspective it seems that Moses opportunity was now lost, that he would live in a strange land and die there unknown to the world.

But God used Midian as a part of Moses’ preparation!

Egypt had taught Moses wisdom and culture

Midian taught him humility, patience, survival, shepherding, and how to live in the wilderness (he sure would need that)

The first eighty years of Moses’ life prepared him for the final 40 years!

Q: Can we sometimes do a good thing that wrong way or at the wrong time?

God Had Not Forgotten His People

Exodus 2:23–25 “23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.”

God Heard (their groaning)

The cries of the people had not gone unnoticed

Psalm 34:15 “15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears are open unto their cry.”

Psalm 18:6 “6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, even into his ears.”

Psalm 116:1–2 “1 I love the Lord, because he hath heard My voice and my supplications. 2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”

God hears the prayers of Christians!

1 Peter 3:12 “12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.”

1 Peter 5:7 “7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

God doesn’t promise that when you pray every burden will immediately be removed, but He does promise to hear us and care for us.

Q: How should knowing that God hears us change the way we respond to suffering?

God Remembered (His covenant)

God had not literally forgotten His covenant. To say that God “remembered” means that He was now preparing to act in accordance with the promises He had made.

God had promised Abraham that his descendants would suffer in a foreign land but would eventually be delivered.

Genesis 15:13–14 “13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”

The bondage had not invalidated the promise. It was part of the history God had already foretold.

Deuteronomy 7:9 “9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;”

Joshua 21:45 “45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.”

In the NT God is just as faithful!

2 Corinthians 1:20 “20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

Hebrews 10:23 “23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”

Application

We should interpret our circumstances through God’s promises rather than interpret God’s faithfulness through our circumstances.

Israel might have reasoned:

“We are suffering, so God must have abandoned His covenant.”

But the truth was the opposite. God was moving history toward the fulfillment of that covenant.

Christians may face suffering, persecution, grief, or uncertainty, but none of these circumstances cancel what God has promised to the faithful.

Romans 8:35–39 teaches that tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and death cannot separate faithful Christians from the love of God in Christ.

The lesson is:

God may not fulfill every promise according to our preferred timetable, but He will never fail to fulfill His word.

Q: Why are we sometimes more inclined to trust our present circumstances than God’s enduring promises?

God Looked (upon the children of Israel)

God’s looking upon Israel means more than simply seeing them physically. He regarded their condition, recognized them as His covenant people, and knew their suffering fully.

The idea is rendered in Exodus 3:7 “7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;”

Psalm 33:18 “18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, Upon them that hope in his mercy;”

Nahum 1:7 “7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; And he knoweth them that trust in him.”

God does not merely know that suffering exists. He knows the people who are suffering.

Jesus reveals the same divine awareness and compassion.

Matthew 6:31–32 “31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”

Matthew 10:29–31 “29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

2 Timothy 2:19 “19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

Because God sees and knows us, Christians should avoid two opposite errors.

we should not believe that we are forgotten during suffering.

we should not imagine that hidden sin escapes His attention.

God saw Israel’s oppression, but He also later saw Israel’s unbelief and rebellion. His perfect knowledge is comforting to the faithful and sobering to the disobedient.

No plague has fallen, Moses is far away in Midian, Israel is still enslaved, and Pharoah still sits on the earthly throne

Yet in this God is working behind the scenes in a mighty way!

Q: Why is it wrong to interpret God’s silence as God’s absence?

Conclusion

Pharoah attempted to reduce Israel, but they multiplied

He ordered the midwives to practice abortion, but they feared God

He intended the Nile to produce death, but it produced a deliverer

Moses thought he was fleeing, but God was preparing

God may be working most significantly during the period in which we see Him the least.

In this way, when God is silent he is

Preserving the promise.

Strengthening faithful people.

Preparing the servant.

Arranging the deliverance.