Exodus
Summary
Exodus 1 chronicles the transition of the Israelites from a favoured family in Egypt to an oppressed nation. Generations after the death of Joseph, a new Pharaoh arose who did not recognise the history of the Hebrews. Fearful of their extraordinary growth, he enslaved them with harsh labour, yet the people continued to flourish. In a desperate attempt to curb their numbers, Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all newborn boys. When the midwives feared God and spared the children, Pharaoh issued a brutal decree for all Hebrew sons to be cast into the Nile, setting the stage for the birth of a deliverer in the midst of genocide.
These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came to Egypt with their families.
The sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
In total, seventy members of Jacob’s direct family arrived in Egypt, where Joseph was already living.
Eventually Joseph died, along with all his brothers and that entire generation.
But the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied and their numbers grew rapidly. They became so many and so strong that they filled the whole land.
Later, a new king came to power in Egypt who did not know anything about Joseph.
He said to his people, "Look, the Israelites have become more numerous and more powerful than we are."
"We must be smart about how we handle them. If we don’t, and a war breaks out, they might join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country."
So the Egyptians appointed cruel slave drivers to mistreat them and force them into hard labour. During this time, the Israelites built the storage cities of Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh.
But the more the Egyptians mistreated the Israelites, the more they multiplied and spread. This made the Egyptians even more afraid of them.
The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work without mercy.
They made their lives miserable with bitter, hard work, making mortar and bricks and doing all kinds of field labour. Every job they were forced to do was [1] (brutal and heartless).
Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah.
He told them, "When you help the Hebrew women give birth, look closely at the baby. If it is a boy, kill him. If it is a girl, let her live."
But the midwives respected and feared God, so they did not follow the king's orders. They allowed the baby boys to live.
The king of Egypt called the midwives in and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are strong and give birth so quickly that the babies are born before we even arrive!"
Because of this, God was kind to the midwives. The Israelite people continued to grow in number and became very powerful.
And because the midwives honoured God, He blessed them with families of their own.
Finally, Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every Hebrew boy that is born must be thrown into the Nile River, but you may let every girl live."