Prepare
Opening Prayer
Father, you are gracious, merciful, patient, loving, and faithful to your promises. Bless and care for us as we read your Word, and teach us. In Jesus' name, amen.
Read
Scripture Passage
Israel’s Suffering in Egypt
1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). 6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”
19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ex 1
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
A new Pharaoh forgets Joseph, fears Israel's growth, and oppresses the people with harsh labor, yet the more they are afflicted the more they multiply. Pharaoh then orders the Hebrew midwives to kill the sons, but they fear God and preserve the children, so God blesses them even as Pharaoh commands Egypt to cast the boys into the Nile.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Exodus 1:7, 12, 21
Bryan explicitly identifies verses 7, 12, and 21 as underlined. They show Israel multiplying, oppression failing to stop God's purpose, and God blessing the midwives because they feared him.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Trust that God still keeps his promises and builds a redeemed kingdom. Through faith in Jesus, believers receive adoption and cry, 'Abba, Father.' Even after long delays, Christ will return at the right time and complete every promise.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
hey hey good morning good morning welcome to coffee and devotions this is where every day you and I we get together we have a little bit of coffee we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together in this year 2023 Lord willing we'll make it from Genesis to Leviticus and this morning we make our step into the next book we are officially at Exodus chapter one why don't we have some coffee we'll pray and we'll get into God's word let's pray father you are an incredibly gracious God merciful and long-suffering abounding in loving kindness you are good to your people and you always remember your promises God we pray now that as we read your word you would bless us please care for us God we pray teach us in Jesus name amen all right let me grab my spectacles here and we are at Exodus chapter 1 Exodus chapter one here we go now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt each man and his household came with Jacob Reuben Simeon Levi Judah issachar zebulun and Benjamin Dan nephtali Gad and Asher all those who were descendants of Jacob were 70 persons for Joseph was in Egypt already and Joseph died all his brothers and all that generation but the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly multiplied and grew to exceedingly mighty and the land was filled with them now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph and he said to his people look the people the children of Israel are more and mightier than we come let us deal shrewdly with them lest they multiply and it happen in the event of war that they also join our enemies and fight against us and so go up out of the land therefore they set task Masters over them to afflict them with their burdens and they built four Pharaoh Supply cities pythm and Ramses but the more they Afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew and they were in dread of the children of Israel so the Egyptian made Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with vigor sorry served with rigor and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in brick and mortar and in all manner of service in the field all their service in which they made them serve was with rigor now the king of Israel sorry then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives of whom the name of one was Safara sifra and the name of the other was Pua and he said when you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stools if it is a son then you shall kill him but if it is a daughter then she shall live but the midwives feared God and did not do as a king of Egypt commanded them but saved the male children alive so the king of Israel is so the king of Egypt called for The Midwives and said to them why have you done this thing and saved the male children alive and The Midwives said to pharaoh because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women for they are Lively and give birth before the midwives come to them therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and grew very Mighty and so it was because the midwives feared God that he provided households for them so Pharaoh commanded all his people saying every son who is born you shall cast into the river and every daughter you shall save alive wow what a turn in the story we need to ask ourselves hey what's this about B what's the best verse to some racist and see what are we called to do we just left off the Book of Genesis where everything seemed great Joseph was doing well things were going wonderful and now not so much now a new king arises and he doesn't know Joseph he doesn't remember him he doesn't care about him all he sees is there's these people in Goshen they're not Egyptians and they're multiplying like rabbits right and they're a problem right they're they're getting strong they're getting Mighty and they could overthrow us and so we gotta deal with them now it's interesting here in verse 10 he says come let us deal shrewdly with them the word here is the word which is the word for wisdom he thinks this is the wise way to go here's the wise policy here's the plan we're going to enact right we're gonna we're gonna make them serve with rigor we're gonna make them we're gonna make them work and work and work we're gonna make them so doggedly tired that they don't even have time for their families right we're gonna deal with them harshly and yet what happens is the exact opposite the more they oppress them the more they they're they're multiplying the more they do this the the more the Israelites are blessed the more they're continuing in in their multiplication and so they they realize even though they're building entire cities out of these bricks that they're making right this huge Public Works project this isn't the end of it and so he says he makes a public declaration he says okay here's what's going to happen I'm gonna kill them where all their male children kill them why the boys well boys are able to multiply more regularly right uh there was polygamy in the ancient near East it's not just with Israel it's also in Egypt it's all over the ancient near Easton so one man could have multiple wives would just think about Jacob right Jacob's one guy and he ends up having 12 sons there's all sorts of of grandchildren and great grandchildren right all this problems in their mind came from one guy to kill all the males but there's something to notice here he can't do this one is against the law of God but notice the pharaoh's name is never mentioned we actually can speculate but we don't know for certain what Pharaoh this was but we do know the name of these two midwives we do know that God takes so much pleasure in these midwives saving the lives of these children that he actually names them he inscribes them in history forever Saphira and Pua beautiful and flowering and God blesses them right these these women who will defy even pharaoh I remember they fear God and even though Pharaoh is I don't think he knows it I'm not sure if he's even cognizant of the promises of God but he's playing the role of the adversary of Satan and he's he's trying to stop God's Redemptive work but nothing's going to stop it time and time again he raises up Heroes and heroines of the faith in here the first two heroines we meet are Saphira and Pua these two women who fear God more than they do the king and God remembers some blesses only God continues to multiply the Egyptians I need to also just point out uh just as a note for this God's blessing them for caring for children cares about unborn and newborn children they have a place in his kingdom they have a place in what's going on and so it would be likewise of us if we fear the lord to also be on the side of children and see that infanticide is abhorrent in every moral way well what's the best verse to summarize this well I have verse 7 double underlined but the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty mighty and the land was filled with them and then I have verse 12 but the more they Afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew and then I have verse 21 and so it was because the midwives feared God that he provided households for them I think those three verses kind of get at the heart of this so what are we called to do right this is a great story but how does it impact Our Lives God is still building a nation and a kingdom for himself he's still doing it amongst the Jewish people who believe in Yeshua and he's doing it by adoption for each and every one of us you if you believe in his one and only son Jesus Christ and he has poured out your spirit into your heart if you are one of his redeemed children It Is by a spirit of adoption by which we cry out Abba Father he is still multiplying he is still growing his kingdom a kingdom of priests a nationhood a nation of redeemed people for himself this is the story of how he is going to redeem his people it's been four centuries since Joseph but God hasn't forgotten his promises and he's still building his kingdom today it's been 2 000 years since Christ told us he would return again he's going to do it just the right time he's going to return and so we can trust him he's still building his kingdom he's still caring for his redeemed people and he's going to bring about the completion of his promises let's pray father we thank you for your promises and we thank you for the amazing ways in which you care for us Lord we pray that we would take to heart the faithfulness which you display we thank you that you have given us stories historical true stories that show us that you are real your Redemption is true and our hope as a firm foundation in Jesus name amen well may the Lord bless you may you rest in Jesus Christ and I'll see you next time bye [Music] thanks for listening to this week's message from God's word for you a Ministry of Sharon RP Church in rural Southeast Iowa we pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week if you'd like to get more information about us feel free to go to the website Sharon rpc.org we'd love to invite you to worship with us our worship time is 10 a.m every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue Morning Sun Iowa 52640 may God richly bless you this week [Music]