Oppression and the People of God

Historical setting (recap of Gen. 41-50)

We are beginning a multi-year study of the second book of the Bible and Pentateuch, the book of Exodus. It is the account of Israel going out of Egypt. It is filled with many stories with which many of us become familiar with at young ages. It is a remarkable book.

It is a book about God’s promises to His people. It is a book about God’s sovereignty over the affairs of men. In fact, we will witness the best of man against God and we all know how it turned out for Pharoah and the Egyptians.

It is also a book filled with suffering. Not unlike our present day, the people of Israel faced severe oppression under the tyranny of Egyptian slavery. Chapter one connects this book with Genesis, sets the stage for the rest of the book of Exodus, and I would argue for the rest of Old Testament history. I believe that will become clearer as we work through this book together.

For now, our focus will remain on this first chapter, and the main issue is one of oppression. This chapter gives us a word-picture of what oppression is. Listen to the words used to describe it: afflict them with heavy burdens, oppressed, ruthlessly made them work as slaves, and made their lives bitter.

In other words, life was not a walk in the park. It was grueling. We may not face slavery and this type of oppression today, but I believe that many people today, and Christians too, live lives of bitter slavery. No, not slavery to people, but to things, to credit cards, to various addictions, to friendships, to positions. The list could go on, but I think you see the connections. What do we do? How do we, as the people of God, overcome this oppression?

Among the many lessons we will learn from this book is that God cares about His people. He cares deeply. He feels, if we could speak like this, our pains. We will see this in the next chapter, but I want to read it for our own help this morning. Exodus 2:24-25 “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” God hears your groaning. God remembers His covenant with you. God sees you. God knows.

God uses all things for our good and His glory (Cf. Rom. 8:28)

I. God Cares about His People- 1:1-7 (Gen. 1:28; Eph. 1:3)

The first seven verses connect this book with the book of Genesis, but they do much more than that. Joseph, one of Jacob’s children, is used by God (through intense suffering, by the way) to save many people. God promised Abraham that he and his children would be blessed. And they are! Tremendously so, as we learn from 1:7. The words call our minds back to Gen. 1:28 as well.

God cares about His people, and we begin with this point because it is true and because it is the backdrop for the suffering of which we will speak momentarily. Notice the fourth word: names. We won’t spend much time on this, but simply to say that you, your name, who you are, matters to God. He cares, He blesses, and multiplies. These periods of life are sweet and a just a taste of the life to come. But this account is not primarily about the blessings. It sets the seen for suffering. Suffering, by the way, that does not come as a shock or surprise to God.

II. God Promised Suffering-1:8-14 (Gen. 15:13-14; John 16:33)

A new pharaoh emerges and begins to change his dealings with Israel. The previous pharaoh loved Joseph (see Gen. 41). But this pharaoh, long separated from Joseph, does not know nor does he care. He begins to enslave Israel and put them through bitter bondage. Their suffering is painful. It is slavery.

We are not strangers to slavery. Our own country, and most of the world, has witnessed slavery first hand. It is bitter. It is terrible. And it is nothing compared to the slavery of sin. Sin is a crueler task-master than any of the Egyptians. We are slaves to sin, Paul tells us in Romans 6:20.

This all harkens our minds back to Gen. 2:17, when God warned Adam (who acted in our place) what would happen if he ate the true of knowledge of good and evil. More than physical death, Adam brought God’s just judgment of suffering on humanity and creation.

What we need to see, and remember, this morning is that this did not catch God by surprised. When Adam ate the fruit, God was not surprised. When Pharaoh and the Egyptians enslaved Israel, God was not shocked. He told Abraham, long before, that they would face this time of suffering (Gen. 15:13-14). Just as He tells us we will experience suffering in this world (John 16:33).

Do not forget that God cares for His people, even in the midst of suffering. But this suffering involving Israel brings about another important part of this opening chapter for us to remember: the world hates God and His people.

II. The World Hates God and His people- 1:15-22 (1 John 3:13)

What this suffering brings to the forefront is the epic, spiritual battle that has been fought since the completion of creation between God and the Devil. It may say Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but these are human servants to the spiritual master, the Devil (cf. John 8:44-45). Now, as a test I want to ask you a few questions to help us understand the nature of this conflict. I will say a word and you will answer with the opposite. LIGHT, HOT, CLEMSON, Satan.

We tend to think of Satan as God’s equal rival because Satan is the main opponent of God. But as the book of Exodus will remind us, Satan is absolutely nothing in the eyes of God. To us Satan is like a roaring lion, he is a powerful foe, unrivaled in power. He wreaks havoc on God’s people. But even this, as we learn from the book of Job, is only at the hands of God (cf. Job 1:12; 2:6).

Why the hostility? Why the hatred? Notice that beside the experience of slavery something even more terrible happens. The king of Egypt tells the Israelite mid-wives that if a son is born to kill him. Why only boys? Perhaps we could argue that men are more capable of fighting back. No doubt that factored heavily into Pharaoh’s thinking.

But it goes beyond that. In Gen. 3:15 God promised the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. In Gen. 12:1-3, God promised that through Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed. For a similar account, see Matt. 2:13-23 where Herod tried to murder the Messiah.

All this is to say that the world hates God and His people. Don’t be surprised by this!

But in the midst of this hatred, God’s people obey God. Shiphrah and Puah chose to obey God rather than men (cf. Acts 4:19). What separates God’s people different from the world is that we obey God first. Now, notice how they respond, because particularly during this time in our own country many Christians are obeying God first, but they are obeying wrongly.

Shiphrah and Puah do not storm Pharaoh’s palace and protest and argue and destroy. They simply did not obey. Daniel and the apostles also provide excellent examples of how to obey God rather than men. We should be Matt. 5:43-48 obedient Christians. We should disobey rulers when they ask us to go against God lovingly.

By the way, notice what the text does not say. It does not say these midwives lie. Sin is never excusable. God honors their obedience by giving them homes.

God uses all things for our good and His glory (Cf. Rom. 8:28)

How do we apply this chapter?

Remember that God loves you (John 3:16; Rom. 8:32; 1 John 4:10)

Remember that God reigns (Psalm 115:3; Rom. 8:28-29)

Remember the War (2Cor. 4:18; Rev. 12:1-6)

This will not take oppression away. Rather, it will reorient your mind and heart so that even in the midst of oppression you will glorify God and grow into Christlikeness.