Exodus 1

CHAPTER 1THEME: Israel in Egypt; the heroism of two womenThe first few verses of Exodus connect it with the account of Genesis. Those who came down into Egypt are listed first and the years between are quickly covered. Exo_1:7 continues the Genesis account. The key verse in this book is Exo_20:2, which says, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

Exodus 1:1

ISRAEL IN EGYPTExodus is the sequel to Genesis. The death of Joseph concludes Genesis. Exo_1:6 tells us that Joseph, all of his brethren, and all that generation had died. Three and one-half centuries have passed. In Genesis chapter 46 God said that Israel would increase and multiply and become a great nation in the land of Egypt. As we come to verse seven, this prophecy has actually taken place.

Exodus 1:7

Verse eight indicates that a great change has taken place.

Exodus 1:8

A new Pharaoh has come to the throne of Egypt who has never heard of Joseph. Perhaps the Hyksos or shepherd kings, who were Semites, had been deposed and the former dynasty of Egyptian kings sat on the throne again. The new king never knew Joseph and felt no indebtedness to him or his descendants. There is a tremendous lesson to be learned in verse eight. I have often wondered why movements today which specialize in reaching children have not used this verse. It should be used. There is a continual responsiblity of teaching the Word of God to each generation. If we neglect to teach the Bible, the time will come when it will be forgotten. A Coca-Cola executive in Texas once told me that a certain percentage of each bottle is spent for advertising. I kidded him about having to advertise such a well-known product. I mentioned to this man that I had once seen thirteen Coca-Cola advertisements in a small town in Texas and thought that was overdoing it. He said, “Not so!” Then he asked me, “When was the last time you saw a can of Arbuckle coffee?” I told him that it had been a popular brand when I was a boy, but I had not seen any lately. “They thought,” he replied, “that they did not need to advertise.” Now there arose in Egypt a Pharaoh that did not know Joseph. And there is always a new generation that has never heard about the Lord Jesus Christ. I was shocked not long ago when I realized my own daughter and son-in-law had no knowledge of the Depression. They are of a new generation that did not live through the Depression. They did not understand what some of us older folk went through in the way of hardship and suffering. Therefore it is always necessary to teach the next generation what happened in previous generations. And so there arose a generation who never heard of Joseph. At one time Joseph was so well known that he was a hero and his body could not even be taken from the land. The new Pharaoh who came to power was not as kindly disposed toward the Israelites as had been his predecessors.

Exodus 1:9

It was a real possibility that Israel might have joined forces with the enemy against Egypt. Although Pharaoh wanted slaves, the simple way to solve the problem would have been to let Israel go. Instead of releasing Israel, Pharaoh decided to use worldly wisdom to take care of the difficulty.

Exodus 1:11

The children of Israel were forced to do hard labor. They did not build the pyramids because they had already been in existence many, many years. They were, however, forced to build treasure cities. They built the treasure cities of Pithom and Raamses. They constructed the cities with bricks which they as slaves were forced to make. At the beginning of their slavery the Israelites were provided with straw to make their bricks.

As Pharaoh’s persecution of them increased, they were compelled to hunt for their own straw and at the same time produce the exact number of bricks they had made before. Dr. Kyle, one of my professors, brought a brick to class one day that had been taken out of the city of Raamses. The brick was made without straw. The biblical record of Israel’s bondage in Egypt needs no defense; the brick only confirms that the record is accurate. There is no doubt that the Israelites were in a difficult position in Egypt. The Egyptians made life harder and harder for Israel.

Exodus 1:12

God told Abraham that Israel would have times of hardship in Egypt. Gen_15:13 says, “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.” Three things are predicted in this verse. The Israelites were to be strangers in a strange land; they were to be servants, that is, slaves; they were to be afflicted. All of these predictions had come true in just the first few verses of Exodus 1. The more the Egyptians afflicted the Israelites, the more they multiplied and grew.

Exodus 1:13

The Egyptians not only made slaves of the Israelites, they mistreated them also. In spite of the persecution, God’s blessing rested upon them and their numbers increased greatly. The king noticed the rapid growth of his slave nation and spoke to the Hebrew midwives in an attempt to solve the problem. It is interesting to note the meaning of the names of these two women. Shiphrah means “beauty.” Puah means “splendor.” Have you ever noticed the silhouette pictures of Egyptian women? Beauty and splendor characterized the women in the land of Egypt. These women apparently occupied high official positions in Egypt and were in charge of the nurses who were responsible for delivering babies.

Exodus 1:16

This is another attempt of Satan to destroy the line leading to the Lord Jesus Christ. Satanic attempts to cut off the line leading to Christ run all the way through the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Many attempts have been made to destroy the Jews, and it is quite interesting to note the way anti-Semitism has spread throughout the world. It is satanic in its origin, and therefore no child of God should have any part in it. It is generally people with no knowledge of God who persecute the Jews. Someone is undoubtedly thinking, “Yes, but during the Dark Ages, the church engaged in anti-Semitism.” This is true. But it was the Dark Ages and the Church was far from the Word of God, involved in external religious affairs. In my opinion no person can study the Word of God and become anti-Semitic.

Exodus 1:17

THE HEROISM OF TWO WOMENAs Satan attempted to get rid of the children of Israel, God intervened. This attempt to destroy all the male Hebrew children was a political maneuver that did not work out.

Exodus 1:21

These women had to choose whether to obey Pharaoh or God. They had learned to fear God and their obedience was seen and rewarded by God. He gave Shiphrah and Puah both a name and a place in Israel, and they were greatly respected in the land.

Exodus 1:22

If this order had been carried out, Israel would soon have been exterminated. Pharaoh’s orders were not obeyed, and the succeeding chapters in Exodus clearly show it. God raises up Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Exodus is the great book on redemption. It reveals, in picture form, how God delivers us todayfrom sin, the world, the flesh, and the Deviland saves us for heaven.