Deliverance Story


Exodus 1:1-22
1These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. 8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10Come 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.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12But 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. 13So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14and 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. 15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19The 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.” 20So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22Then 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.”

It is time to dive back into the history of the Old Testament (my first love when doing Bible study). The Book of Exodus has captured my attention yet again so we’re going to dive in and see what God has in store for us in this Old Testament story. While Exodus tells a great story it also contains hefty theological implications and lessons. Exodus is about rescue from human bondage and rescue from sin’s bondage. Yet another way to think of the two parts of the book is through the idea of servitude: in Egypt, Israel was the servant of pharaoh; at Sinai they became God’s servants.

The story of God’s people heats up considerably in this book as Moses takes God’s direction and becomes the deliverer. When the book of Genesis ends, Jacob’s (whose name was changed by God to Israel) 12 sons live in the Promised Land. There are 70 of them living together in community when famine strikes the land and they are forced to travel to Egypt where there are stores of food. This food store is a result of God’s provision through Joseph – the brother sold into slavery 22 years earlier. By the end of this dramatic reunion Jacob and his sons move to Egypt to live close to Joseph and receive the food they need to survive. Exodus picks of the story 400 years later. The 70 people that traveled to Egypt have now become mighty in number and Pharaoh perceives them as a possible threat.

Pharaoh’s answer to what he sees as a Hebrew over-population problem is to have the baby boys killed upon birth. God moves the Hebrew midwives to work against that policy and they save many lives through their rejection of his plan. Pharaoh is trying to prevent the raising of an army by doing away with future soldiers. We’re already learning about his character.

Exodus is a great read. In this amazing story we learn of God’s ability to move His plans forward and to both protect and provide for His people. It is also a story about how we get to know God. When we enter Exodus, we find a people who probably don’t really know God at all. They have been living in Egypt for 400 years and the teaching of Abraham and Jacob have been largely lost. God is about to change all of that. Exodus gives us great insight into our God who always has our salvation in mind. The Exodus story is a major part of God’s overall plan of salvation and we will uncover those truths as we go through the material.

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