Exodus Sermons (written)

Exodus 2:16-25
Seven Daughters Drawing Water From the Well

Introduction: Curious stories seem to pop up among other curious stories. Today’s verses show one of them, don’t they. In a period which spans forty years of Moses’ life, just seven verses are given. After that, three more verses are provided to take us right back to the plight of the Israelites in the land of Egypt – ten verses in all.

One has to ask, “What is so important about these seven verses in comparison to all of the other things that must have happened during those forty years?” Why is this single event recorded? The answer is, as always, because God wants us to see pictures of other things in redemptive history and to understand that His plan is precise and preplanned.

To me, that’s the most comforting thing about knowing the Lord. If He has everything already planned as to how it will come out, then He must know how things will turn out for me as well. And if His word says that because of Jesus, I’m included in the good things to come, then what an absolutely satisfying feeling that is.

If we see our name is listed in the will of a rich family member, it gives us something to look forward to with anticipation. Not anticipation that the person will die. But rather that death is inevitable, that they are old and will inevitably die, and that we have an inheritance which will come from that inevitable situation.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 1 that in Christ we have an eternal inheritance in store for us. He goes on to say that we even have a guarantee of that inheritance, which is the sealing of the Holy Spirit. It is the surest guarantee that could ever be given.

Unlike an earthly inheritance which could be lost before we receive it, or which may never come to us because we get run over by a car first, nothing in heaven or on earth can separate us from the inheritance we have coming because of our faith in Christ.

These stories which show us pictures of God’s plan are especially wonderful to understand because they remind us that the future is set. We have a sure path to glory and it is all because of the work of Jesus Christ. What a great feeling that should leave us with.

Text Verse: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13, 14

Everlasting life. We can’t even imagine what that will be like. Now, we get tired and we grow old. Things are temporary and more often than not, they bring us as much pain as they do pleasure. We might enjoy our pets, but when they die, we suffer through the loss.

We might have a car that we are crazy about, but when it gets a spot of rust or a dent, we tend to lose heart and get frustrated over it. Everything wears out, runs down, or fades in the bright sun. But Jesus promises us a fountain of water that will refresh us for all eternity. This is offered to those who call on Him.

It is He who waters His flock. A small picture of that is seen in today’s verses. It’s all to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I.  The Father’s Flock (verses 16 & 17)

In the last short account, Moses set out to join with his Hebrew brethren and to deliver them from bondage, going so far as killing an Egyptian in order to rescue one of them. However, when he came to two others fighting the next day, they rejected his attempt to reconcile them and they rejected his authority over them.

Because of this, and because the word had gotten out that he killed the Egyptian, he fled from the face of Pharaoh. The last verse looked at said, “But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.”

We saw that it all pointed to the first advent of Christ and His appearing to His own people, but He was rejected by them. From there He went to the Gentiles. And this is where we start today…

¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters.

The “Priest of Midian” is the term kohen midyan. As we saw last week, Midian means “Place of Judgment.” The term kohen actually has two meanings. It means “priest” but it also means “prince.” And thus, this person is probably a man similar to Melchizedek who was seen in Genesis 14.

He would then fulfill the dual role of prince and priest. However, most translators simply call him a “priest” because he, or one of his descendants, is noted as performing priestly functions later in Exodus 18 where it says he “took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God.” (v. 12)

This person is likely a descendant of Abraham, born to his ancestor Midian who was born to Abraham’s concubine Keturah. This is recorded in Genesis 25:1, 2 –

“Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. ² And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.” Genesis 25:1, 2

As a descendant of Abraham, he may have carried on the traditions of his father and been a priest and worshipper of the true God. There is no reason to think otherwise, especially because of his prominence in the life of Moses.

God directed Moses’ feet to this particular well where a seemingly chance encounter would take place which is actually not at all by chance. This priest of Midian is said to have seven daughters. Saying that may seem like an unnecessary addition unless it is trying to show us a picture of something else.

If not, it could have left the number seven out and not changed anything. Why are the seven daughters mentioned so specifically and right at his introduction, even before his own name is given?

^{16 (con’t)} And they came and drew water,

The seven daughters are all out together, thus setting up the story in a specific direction. They have stuck together and have come to the well together. The word for “drew” is dalah. It’s used only five times in the Bible and 3 are in this chapter. Also it’s used once in the Psalms and once in Proverbs.

It means “to dangle” which then leads to the thought of letting down a bucket which would be for drawing out water. And so figuratively it would mean to “deliver.” This is the use of it in the  30th Psalm where it says –

“I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my foes rejoice over me.” Psalm 30:1

The only other time it’s used is in Proverbs 20:5 –

“Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.” Proverbs 20:5

These girls have come to draw water from the well. It is a scene wholly reminiscent of the accounts of Rebekah and of Rachel, both of whom came to wells to draw water at the time of chance meetings which brought them to their future husbands. And yet, neither was chance and both were used to picture the work of Christ, just as this passage will as well.

^{16 (con’t)} and they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

After drawing, they use the water to fill the troughs of their father’s flocks. Another interesting word to look at is the word for “troughs.” It is rahat. It was used twice in Genesis 30 when Jacob peeled rods of trees and placed them in watering troughs for the flocks to mate in front of.

All of that account pictured the work of Christ. The word is used again here and only one other time, in the Song of Solomon –

“Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
And the hair of your head is like purple;
A king is held captive by your tresses.” Song of Solomon 7:5

It might seem unusual to say that locks of hair are like a gutter used for watering animals, but the idea is that the beloved’s hair was flowing down like water, even like ringlets. And who doesn’t love the look of flowing hair on a beautiful young lady!

There is nothing to suggest that this account isn’t true. Rachel tended Laban’s flocks and even into modern times, a man named Burckhardt notes that the unmarried daughters of Bedouins have been the ones to tend to the flocks of the family. In this case, they are tending to the flocks of their father.

¹⁷ Then the shepherds came and drove them away;

Adam Clarke notes that the verb used here for “drove them” is the word yegareshum which is in the masculine gender and it therefore implies that the shepherds drove away the flocks of the daughters, not the daughters themselves.

This is certainly the case. The daughters took the time to fill the troughs and once the work was done, the worthless shepherds proceeded to drive away the animals in order to benefit from the hard work of those who came before them. What is this telling us?

First, it tells us that the priesthood of their father was not held in any esteem by them. If it were, they would have been considerate to them. Secondly, it showed a desire to profit off the work of another and to use it for their own benefit by directing it towards their personal flocks.

And finally, we will see that this was not uncommon. In the coming verse, their father will be surprised at their early return which means that this was a common occurrence which they had simply put up with and kept silent about in the past.

^{17 (con’t)} but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

The last time Moses was mentioned was in the last sermon. It said in verse 15 that “he sat down by a well.” Now it says he “stood up.” The account is showing action on behalf of the daughters and thus for the flock.

But again, we need to ask why. Why the descriptive words when it could have simply said “but Moses helped them.” A picture is being given and we are being asked to reflect on what it is. Moses personally intervened and “watered their flock.”

The story is so remarkably similar to what happened in Genesis 29 that it cannot go without note. That is the account of when Jacob met Rachel. At that time Jacob pictured Christ, now Moses fills that role. Moses is watering the flock of the priest of Midian, a man who is an upright Gentile seeking the one true God.It should be noted that when Moses lived in Egypt, he lived as a royal in the royal and Great House of Pharaoh. He left that position and went to dwell among his own, but his own did not receive him. And so he instead went to the land of the Gentiles. He has found an opportunity now to be a servant and he has prevailed in that task. Does this sound like any other figure you may be aware of?

The father has seven daughters
Who tend to his flock, watching over His sheep
They are to pass to them the well’s healing waters
And to bring out for them the Bible’s mysteries deep

But there are other shepherds who would chase the sheep away
And disturb their peaceful lives, leading them astray

Yet the Lord is there to watch with tender care
And will carefully water the flock, all who are His own
And when He sees any danger there
To the false shepherds His anger will be shown

II. In Drawing He Drew (verses 18 & 19)

¹⁸ When they came to Reuel their father,

The father’s name is finally given, Reuel, which means “Friend of God.” As a connection back to Abraham, we read this in James –

“And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.” James 2:23

The name Reuel, or Friend of God, ties him back to his great ancestor, Abraham. And he, like Abraham, is living in faith towards this true God, seeking to be His friend. As an added squiggle for your brain, the fantasy author JRR Tolkien is partially named after this guy. His full name is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

^{18 (con’t)} he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”

In this statement of surprise, we can see that the actions of the unruly shepherds were common. But we can also see that the daughters kept the matter quiet, not troubling their father with it in the past. They simply allowed others to push them out of the way and then they watered their flocks and headed back home.

¹⁹ And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds,

The daughters probably thought he was an Egyptian either by his clothes or his speech and so the shepherds would have seen this as well. The fact that Moses records their words is a sound indication that he is the true author. Someone else would have just called him a stranger or a foreigner.

There could be several reasons why he was able to overcome more than one shepherd. The first is that he wouldn’t be expected to be alone. It would seem improbable that an Egyptian would have travelled all this way by himself.

Another reason is because of the mere boldness in his demeanor, they may have been wary of him. Moses certainly had physical training in his years in Egypt and probably carried himself in a manner which reflected that. Whether for one of these reasons or another, he prevailed and was able to run off the offenders until the flocks were fully tended to.

^{19 (con’t)} and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.”

This is another hint that Moses is certainly the author of the account. The fact that he tells that he drew more water shows that the other flocks had already been moved in and had started drinking the water that wasn’t for them.

In this, the final two uses of the word for “drew” in this chapter are used. In Hebrew it says v’gam daloh dalah lanu – “and also in drawing he drew for us.” It is an expression which shows that he drew abundantly and zealously for them.

It’s interesting that the man named Moses, which means “He who draws out,” is shown to do so in the story and to do so in a manner of diligently drawing. The flocks were given an abundance, right from the hand of Moses. All of this allowed them to return home earlier than normal.

²⁰ So he said to his daughters, “And where is he?

Reuel here asks what would be an obvious question, “And where is he?” In modern language, is would surely have been preceded by the elongated “Helloooooooo. This guy has put himself out for you and you have done nothing in return!”

Having heard the story that one man defended against a number of shepherds, he knew him to be trustworthy. If he wasn’t, what would he have done? He would have chased off the shepherds and then gone about violating the girls. Because they came home unscathed, he knew he was dealing with a man of integrity.

^{20 (con’t)} Why is it that you have left the man?

And if a man of integrity, then a man who was not to be left unwelcomed into his own home. As he could figure this out, he was curious as to why the daughters, all seven of them, couldn’t. Why would someone be practically at the door and not welcomed into it. His words show that what is right and proper is to open the door and allow him in.

^{20 (con’t)} Call him, that he may eat bread.”

The term “that he may eat bread” means more than just bread. The intent is that he be brought in to be entertained and have a meal. We would say, “so that he can dine with us.” The word “bread” is substituted for the entire process of dining. He defended them, so now he instructs them to call out for him.

Where is the Man who defends the daughters?
Why haven’t you brought Him home with You?
He has passed out the life-healing waters
Surely this one is Faithful and True

Bring Him into your home, don’t leave Him outside the door
Because when you invite Him in, He will protect you forevermore

And then tell others of the great things He’s done
Don’t keep it a secret or hide the word away
Be sure to let the world know of God’s glorious Son
That He has saved and will come again for us someday

III. A Bride and a Son (verses 21 & 22)

²¹ Then Moses was content to live with the man,

It’s obvious that Reuel found Moses to be a decent guy, just as he expected after hearing his daughters’ words. At some point he welcomed him into his home on a permanent basis. From this, it appears that Israel’s deliverer was set on a new and permanent course that led away from them.

Would he be the deliverer of these seven daughters only? At this point in time, it must have seemed like it to Israel. It will be a full forty years until he will be ready to return and deliver them. Until that time, he will live among the gentiles and come to have a gentile wife…

^{21 (con’t)} and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.

It should not go unnoticed that none of the other daughters are mentioned by name. Thus, Zipporah represents all of the daughters who were rescued by Moses. She is given to Moses as a wife. Her name means “bird” which is from the word tsippor.

It’s a word used to describe birds throughout the Old Testament, even in the Genesis creation account. But in a great parallel to Zipporah becoming Moses’ wife and what it pictures, the 84th psalm shows that the bird can find a home where the Lord dwells –

“Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.” Psalm 84:3

And this isn’t unique to the Old Testament. Jesus gives the same basic idea in the New –

“Then He said, “’What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.'” Luke 13:18, 19

The giving of Zipporah to Moses is certainly reminiscent of Laban giving his own daughters to Jacob many years earlier. He stayed and labored, thus receiving his wives. Moses is staying and has certainly come into Reuel’s family as a helping hand as well. Thus in return, he receives a bride.

A final point about this verse is that in marrying his daughter, Moses is symbolically adopted into the tribe of Reuel. We see this later in Exodus 4 when Moses receives his call to return to rescue Israel. At that time, he actually asks for permission to fulfill his calling. There in Exodus 4:18, it says –

“So Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, ‘Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.'” Exodus 4:18

²² And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

Time and again, when a child is born in the book of Genesis, he was given as a picture of something in redemptive history or even as a picture of Christ himself. Such is the case here. The name Gershom indicates being a stranger in a foreign land.

The first half of the word, ger, means “stranger.” The second half shom, comes from either sham, “there” or shem, “name.” And so his name means “Stranger There” or “Stranger is His Name.” However, Abrarim notes that the verse –

“… merely says that the boy was named such-and-such because his father was a so-and-so. There is no law that demands that the such-and-such should be etymologically akin the so-and-so. For all we know Moses might have been expressing his gladness for having finally settled, or grief for having been expelled from his familiar homeland. A verb that may have been on Moses’ mind is גרש (garash), meaning to drive or cast out.”

Thus his name may also mean “Exile.”

While the Lord is building the church, a beautiful bride
He has a son who is gone into exile
And someday soon the church will be at His side
And once again on the firstborn son God will smile

The story is given to show us of God’s faithful and tender care
To His people, those who call on Him, at all times and everywhere

See the marvelous things that God has done for all of us!
For any and all who will call out to Him through Jesus

IV. So God Heard Their Groaning (verses 23-25)

A sudden, even dramatic shift now takes place in the story. In the first 22 verses of the chapter, God was never mentioned. In these last three verses, he will be mentioned 5 times. Where the focus has been on Moses, it will now be on Israel.

As Stephen shows us in Acts 7:30, about forty years have passed with complete silence. And yet the details of this next year will be overflowing in the biblical account. As seen in the last sermon the number forty is associated “with a period of probation, trial, and chastisement.” And more specifically a “chastisement of sons, and of a covenant people.”

Understanding this, we can see that Moses’ heart was turned toward his people when he was forty, but they rejected his advances and thus their probation continued for another forty years. That time is drawing to a close and Moses’ heart will again be turned towards his people.

²³ Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died.

The Hebrew says, v’hi bayyammin ha’rabbim ha’hem – “And it came to pass in time much the same.” It is a superlative way of saying that a whole bunch of time passed and things remained unchanged. But suddenly, there was a change which matters to the redemptive narrative. The king of Egypt died.

Notice that it doesn’t say Pharaoh, but the king of Egypt. The position remains, but the ruler changes. Certainly at a time like this, the people would look for a change in their fortunes as well. Maybe a new policy towards the people would be enacted and there would be an acceptance of them instead of the years of bondage they had thus-far faced.

^{23 (con’t)} Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out;

The bondage didn’t change, the slavery continued, and the people groaned in their agony. When they looked for a lessoning of their anguish, they were rewarded with only more of the same. And so they cried out.

While Moses was dwelling among the Gentiles, the Hebrews toiled in the land of double distress. While he was in the open fields tending sheep, their lives were filled with the narrow confines of slavery and bondage. He was free to enjoy contentment of life while they faced nothing more than oppression and trial.

But when they cry out to Him, there is good news for God’s people. He is the covenant keeping God and His ears will not forever be shut to the sound of His people’s trials…

^{23 (con’t)} and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.

Once again, out of twenty versions of the Bible that I check for each sermon, and out of the multitudes of commentaries I researched for this passage, not even one seized upon the importance of these words. It says v’taal shavatam el ha’elohim – “and came up their cry unto ‘the‘ God.”

It presupposes that their cries of the past 40 years had not been to “the” God. Rather, if they cried out it was to a god or maybe between one another, but “the” God had been left out of the picture. Now He is petitioned once again. How translators can skip such an important definite article is beyond imagination. A point is being made which is completely lost in the translation.

God will allow His people to go their own way and to face their own difficulties until they are prepared to call out to Him. Such is the wonder of how He deals with His children. When they are ready to reach out to Him, He will hear and He will respond. As the Geneva Bible succinctly states it –

“God humbles his by afflictions, that they should cry to him, and receive the fruit of his promise.” Geneva

²⁴ So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

Here in verse 24, and verse 25 to come, God will be mentioned four more times. All four times, it will simply say elohim; God. With the matter of the true God being restored to the hearts of His people, God, meaning that same true God, hears and responds.

Their groanings have come to His ears and in turn He is said to have remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. He never forgot as we tend to think of such a term. But rather, in the Bible when something is forgotten it is simply pushed out of the mind.

When something is remembered, it is called back to the center of attention. As you can see, the remembrance was based on His faithfulness to the covenant and to His covenant people. When God makes a promise, it will never fail. God promised to the patriarchs and when their descendants returned to Him, He has determined to return to them.

It is the fulfillment of the words He first spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15 –

“Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Genesis 15:13-16

The four hundred years are ending, the iniquity of the Amorites has now reached its fullness, and the people of Israel have at the same time returned to the God, the true God. It is a confluence of events in redemptive history that seems beyond astonishing. And yet it is a confluence of events which has been repeated in history and which will again be repeated, maybe in the span of our own lives.

*²⁵ And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.

Albert Barnes notes that, “The whole history of Israel is foreshadowed in these words: God heard, remembered, looked upon, and knew them. It evidently indicates the beginning of a crisis marked by a personal intervention of God.”

The many times that the word “God” is mentioned in these three verses hints to us that something great is to be expected in the pages ahead. And so it will be. Great things are just around the corner for Moses and for the suffering Hebrew people. God heard, remembered, looked upon, and knew His people once again.

If you depart from God, not calling on His name
He will let you wander off though you may suffer harm
But if you return to Him, He will do the same
And restore you to His favor by His mighty right arm

He will never leave you nor forsake you
But He will allow you to set your own trail
So choose to follow Him in all you say and do
And He will guide You, His word will never fail

Stand firm then upon that precious word
And fix your eyes resolutely on the Lord

V. Wonderful Pictures

Now that we’ve looked at the surface of the story, the historical and cultural aspects of what happened, we need to ask ourselves, “Why is this story here? What is it that God wants us to see? The answer is, as always – Jesus.” Here is the Light –

Time and again, the Bible focuses on receiving a Gentile bride by the man who is the main focus of the narrative. At the same time, the Bible never departs from the concept that God’s covenant people Israel are still on His mind. Even if they have rejected Him.

Last week we saw Moses’ rejection by his own and His departure from them while they remained in bondage. It pictures Christ who came to Israel and they rejected Him. And so He went to the Gentile people. As Moses went to Midian, the Place of Judgment, so went Christ to the Place of Judgment on heaven’s throne.

Moses sat by a well where water comes forth; Jesus sits at heaven’s throne from whence the Spirit issues. Along came the seven daughters of the Priest of Midian. These seven daughters represent  the seven churches of the church age mentioned in Revelation. In fact, the term “church” in Revelation is a feminine noun.

The daughters come and draw water from the well, picturing the churches drawing from the Spirit during the church age. The word used to describe their effort was dalah. It figuratively means to deliver. This water is used for the flocks which in the Bible consistently picture individual groups of people under a shepherd.

The water is brought out and put into the troughs for the flocks, just as the Spirit is intended for the people of the church. The same word for “troughs” was used in the story of Jacob watering the flock and there it carried the same pictorial connotation, a source for the people of the church to drink from.

However, there was a problem. Other shepherds came and drove the flocks away. It is the false shepherds of the church age, the heretics, the money-grubbers, the cult leaders and those who care nothing for God or the people of God. But rather, they care only for themselves and the flocks who they have already led astray.

But there was good news. Moses was there and stood up for the daughters. Likewise, Jesus is there and He is ready to stand up for those churches who are faithful to Him and His word. Though He is there by the well in the Place of Judgment, He is not idle.

In Revelation 2:1, which is a record of the church age, it says, “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.” There He is, even now, walking among the seven churches, the seven golden lampstands, tending to the flocks of His faithful churches.

It’s not coincidence that the daughters then tell their father that the man who rescued them was an Egyptian. Though Moses is actually a Hebrew, this was all but hidden from them. And it is the same with the church. For 2000 years, the fact that Jesus is a Hebrew and a Jew has been almost completely overlooked, both by the Jews and by the church as well.

He has almost carried the appearance of a Gentile in the minds of the people, but His true nature didn’t change because of that. It is a misperception that will be corrected in the story of Moses and it is a misconception that is being corrected more and more each day in the minds of the church and in the eyes of the Israeli people. The Christ of the nations is the Messiah of the Jews and He is a Jew.

After this, Reuel asks, “Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” The Lord doesn’t force himself into the seven churches, rather he awaits his invitation, only then will He come and dine with us. In Revelation 3:20, it says this –

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

After this, the next words said were, “Then Moses was content to live with the man.” This is exactly what Paul says would occur in the Gentile church –

“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16

And of course, like many of the major figures used in these pictures of redemptive history, a Gentile bride is received. Isaac received Rebekah, Jacob received his beloved Rachel, Joseph received Asenath, and now Moses receives one. As only one daughter’s name is given she is representative of all of them.

It is the continuing theme of the Bible. While Israel is in exile for disobedience, God is taking a different course of action, not frittering away the hours, but using them wisely until Israel is finally ready to call out to their Messiah.

If you go back and read the two quotes about the birds that I read from the 84th Psalm and from Luke 13, you will see how Zipporah, the little bird, pictures those in the church who have found a home among the Lord’s temple and in His kingdom.

Along with Zipporah though, there is a son. His name is Gershom. Curiously, Moses has another son, Eliezer, whose birth isn’t recorded and he won’t even be mentioned until Exodus 18:4, kind of as an afterthought. The Bible is focusing on this one son, the firstborn. He is a picture of Israel.

In Exodus 4:22 it will say, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.'” At the time of his birth, his name is given as Gershom. During the time of Jesus’ reign over the church, the son named Exile, the Stranger There, is in exactly that state. His name is Stranger; he is a stranger there; and he is in exile.

If you can see it around us, we must be close to the end of the church age now. The story of Moses’ time in Midian, until the time that God hears the cries of Israel, is almost completely empty with the exception of a few verses and names.

The time of calm is coming to an end, Israel is back in the land, and God’s focus is even now being redirected to the end times, all of which will be prefigured in the coming chapters of Exodus – filled with plagues and the glory of God being revealed.

As the Hebrew of verse 23 said, v’hi bayyammin ha’rabbim ha’hem – “And it came to pass in time much the same.” The years have gone by and things have remained unchanged. The Church Age has had many ups and downs, but it has been the Church Age. Things have remained much the same.

But all of a sudden, the ancient prophecies have been coming to pass, even before our eyes. The time is at hand. When Israel’s groanings are finally directed to “the God” the true God, meaning the Lord Jesus, He will hear and He will reveal Himself to them. We saw it clearly in the Joseph sermons and we will see it in the coming chapters of Exodus as well.

This is the marvel and this is the beauty of the age in which we live. But this age will end. The church will be taken to glory in the twinkling of an eye and the great plagues of Egypt will come on a global scale. There will be horror and dread and terrifying choices to make.

The Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” If you have never come to know the salvation which is found in Jesus Christ, I would ask you to not wait another day. The Bible gave us these ancient stories to show us of what is coming and how to avoid it.

It is coming individually in each of our deaths, and it is coming collectively upon an unrepentant world. But God sent His Son in order to bring us back to Himself before one or both occur. Let me tell you what you need to know to be a part of His great work of salvation…

Closing Verse: “In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.” Psalm 18:6

Next Week: Exodus 3:1-6 (Standing On Holy Ground) (6th Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Watering the Father’s Flock

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters
And they came and drew from the well’s waters

And they filled the troughs for their livestock
Yes, they filled them to water their father’s flock

Then the shepherds came
And drove them away
But Moses stood up and helped them all the same
And watered their flock that day

When they came to Reuel their father, he said
“How is it that you have come so soon today?”
And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us instead
From the hand of the shepherds who treated us in a bad way

And he also enough water for us drew
And watered the flock until they were through

So he said to his daughters, yes to them he pled
And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man?
Call him, that he may come and with us eat bread

Then Moses was content with the man to live
And to Moses, his daughter Zipporah he did give

And she bore him a son we understand
He called his name Gershom, for he said
“I have been a stranger in a foreign land
And not been among the people from whom I am bred

Now it happened in the process of time
That the king of Egypt died
Then the children of Israel groaned
Because of the bondage, and out they cried

And their cry came up to God because of the bondage
So God their groaning He heard
And God remembered His covenant
With Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, yes His spoken word

And God looked upon the children of Israel
And God acknowledged them as the Bible does tell

Surely it is better at all times to remember God
Never departing from His love and grace
Than to forget Him while in this life we trod
Until we come to a difficult or an unhappy place

If we can keep our eyes always focused on Jesus
Then whether things are good or difficult it will be the same
We will know that He is always attentive to us
Because we have held fast to Him and His wondrous name

In this there will be great rewards when we are ushered into glory
And we stand in front of our great and awesome Lord
So let us always hold close to the Bible and the gospel story
Keeping hidden in our heart God’s precious saving word

Hallelujah and Amen…

Exodus 2:11-15
Shunned By His Own

Introduction: Not everyone who is famous or wealthy was successful on their first attempt. History is replete with people who were rejected once or even many times before making their mark. One famous American of the 19th century went to war as a captain and returned home as a private – a rather sizable demotion.

After that, he failed as a businessman. He tried being a lawyer, but it’s said that he was too impractical and temperamental to be successful at that. And so he did what many crummy lawyers do and he turned to politics where he was defeated in his first try for the legislature.

He was then defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for congress, defeated in his application to be commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and then defeated in the senatorial election of 1858.

At about that time, he wrote in a letter to a friend, “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.” Such was the life of an obscure loser named Abraham Lincoln, until things turned the corner for him.

Each one of his steps ultimately led him, whether he knew it or not, one step closer to his eventual success. Being rejected then isn’t the end of the story, nor does it indicate the fault is with the individual. Sometimes extenuating circumstances are involved.

This was the case with a man named Moses. He had a calling but he was rejected by those he was called to. And the rejection of Moses only pictures a greater rejection in human history. We’re in church and there’s a cross on the wall to remind us of that.

Text Verse: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” 1 John 1:11-13

If you have faced, or if you are facing, rejection don’t let it bring you down. Instead, look at it as an opportunity to do other things until you’re recognized for the potential you possess. This is what Moses did, this is what Christ is doing, and this is what we should do as well.

In the end, it will all work out as it should. God has a plan and if you’re in Christ, then you are a part of that plan. Be confident of this and stand firm on the promises which are given to You in His superior word. And let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. One of His Brethren (verses 11 & 12)

¹¹ Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown,

The preceding verse said, “And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, ‘Because I drew him out of the water.'”

That was while Moses was still a young child, certainly no more than three and quite possibly even younger than that. In just one verse, the Bible has skipped over all of his adolescence and teenage years, stating that he is grown. And in fact, in the New Testament, Stephen, during his speech to the ruling council says that he was now 40 years old.

This means that a total of 37 years or more of the life of Moses are completely overlooked by the Bible. This is one of the many important clues found throughout Scripture that reminds us of the fact that God is not giving us a detailed record of history, but rather He is giving specific details recorded from history.

Time and time again, the focus is on specific occurrences which have been selected to reveal significant points in His redemptive plans. Because of the importance of people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and so many others, one might think that detailed biographies about their lives would be appropriate.

But the Bible doesn’t give them. Even in the life of Jesus, there is scant information about his childhood. Other than the time of His birth and very early childhood, there is only one recorded detail about His life at 12 years of age. After that, the next specific part of His life which is detailed came when He was about 30 years old.

By contemplating this, it makes the things that are recorded all the more special. The selected details show attentive care and call out to us to look over them carefully. Why God has so meticulously focused on the events then is what we should consider. What is it that He wants us to see, remember, and learn?

In the case of Moses, he is about to enter into a new part of life. He will go from the high position of being in Pharaoh’s household to a life of considerable difficulty and uncertainty. Why he chose this path or why he didn’t make his decision to take this avenue sooner isn’t known, but it could be that the years of high life left a void in him which needed to be filled.

Solomon, writing in Ecclesiastes 2, spent many verses writing about all of the great things he accomplished through his skill and wisdom, but after this effort, he wrote these words –

“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:11

His conclusion concerning the vain existence we live under the sun is that life apart from God is useless and ultimately has no lasting point to it. It seems that Moses figured this out and desired to be a person of God and united with God’s people. And this is what the author of Hebrews tell us –

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26

In this time of learning and growth, Moses is not unlike Jesus. In Luke 2:52, before He revealed Himself to the people of Israel, it says this about Him –

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52

Both had long periods of unrecorded life-events which molded them and shaped them for the work they would perform. And both of them were initially rejected by their own people. Eventually, Moses led his people out when they accepted his leadership. And someday Jesus will deliver Israel when they accept His.

And so to understand that precept, and what is about to occur in the coming passage, we should hear Stephen’s word in Acts 7 that detail these same events. By seeing what he had to say about this portion of the life of Moses, we can then more properly comprehend what will transpire –

“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
²³ “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. ²⁵ For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶ And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ ²⁷ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.” Acts 7:22-29

As Stephen said, Moses was “mighty in words and deeds.” It is an exacting comparison to Jesus. In Luke 24:19, while talking along the road to Emmaus, the men said that Jesus “was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” Despite this, both men were rejected by their nation.

Moses fled to Midian in order to continue being prepared for freeing his people, and Jesus ascended into heaven until the times of refreshing would come to pass. Knowing these things in advance, we can then more clearly sort out what lies ahead.

^{11 (con’t)} that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens.

Moses is a man of forty years who has dwelt the majority of his life in the grand halls of Pharaoh’s courts, and yet he still has a heart for the people of his ethnic origin. Whether his adoptive mother openly shared his birth status with him or not, he had the short time with his true mother to instill in him who he was and who his people were.

He was with her until he was weaned and that would have been enough to ensure the bond needed to soften his heart towards his own people. As a wise person once said, “No throne in the universe is so potent as the mother’s knee for good or evil.” The knees on which he was dandled, and the milk that nurtured him as he developed, were permanently ingrained on his young mind.

And so ingrained with this indelible mark, it says “that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens.” It is the first recorded sign of his affection for his people, but it was only an outward reflection of a reality that had been with him all along. Throughout the rest of his life, the bond would only grow stronger.

Even when they came to the point of the most absurd rebellion against their God, he would continue to speak for them and put himself in harm’s way for their sake. At the time when they made a golden calf to worship, Moses stepped forward on their behalf and said this in Exodus 32:30-32 –

“You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” ³¹ Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! ³² Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

Moses always held fast to his people, never forsaking them even when he was offered his own dynasty in their place. In this, he reflects Christ Jesus who loves His people Israel with an undying love, even despite their rebellion and rejection of Him.

Here in verse 11, the word siblah is used to describe their burdens. It is the second of only six times it will be used in Scripture. All are in the first six chapters of Exodus and it is the same word first used to describe their burdens in verse 1:11.

In other words, this unusual bondage and load placed upon the Hebrews has been on-going since more than forty years earlier. During all of that time, Moses has been free of the afflictions. Instead, he lived in Pharaoh’s house, looking at his people from a distance. Now he has come to attend to their burdens.

In this, he again represents Christ who from eternity past dwelt in the Great House, heaven, and who left the riches and glories of that most noble abode to come and dwell among us. Because the duration is known from the New Testament, that of forty years, it is right to determine what the significance of the number forty is.

From his book, Number in Scripture, EW Bullinger says that forty is associated, “with a period of probation, trial, and chastisement.” He further refines it to be a “chastisement of sons, and of a covenant people.”

Understanding this, we can see that Moses’ heart has been turned toward his people at this time in hopes of ending their time of chastisement. However, we will see as we continue that they will reject his advances and thus their probation will continue for another forty years. And so it was with Christ and Israel. And so they continue on to this day awaiting their final deliverance.

^{11 (con’t)} And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.

Referring back to the speech of Stephen, we read his words about this account, “And seeing one of them suffer wrong,” Acts 7:24

In other words, this beating wasn’t justified, but rather it is was a malicious and spiteful beating. It is believed that the taskmasters’ rods were made of a tough and yet pliant type of wood that was actually imported from Syria. It would have been a painful experience to be beaten with one.

And to further highlight Moses’ reason for a response, we are again told that this was “one of his brethren.” But even more, he is called “a Hebrew, one of his brethren.” The bond is one which is deeply ingrained in him as a man. He is one of the people of God. The last time the term Hebrew was used was in the story of his nativity. There it was used twice. Here is what it said –

“Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. ⁶ And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children.’
⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?'” Exodus 2:5-7

He was identified with his people then, and he is identified with his people now. Why is it important to know this? The answer is that this term, Hebrew or ivri, is used only 34 times in the Old Testament and 14 of them are in the book of Exodus, more than any other book in the Bible. Only 1 Samuel comes close and that is with 8 occurrences.

Moses and the book of Exodus are being used to highlight the uniqueness of this group of people and the bond that should exist between them. The Hebrew people look to Abraham as their great father, they look to Jacob, who is Israel, as their family patriarch because all of the tribes descend from him. But they look to the exodus account and to Moses as their great redeemer and prophet.

It is for this reason that the uniting bond among them is that they are Hebrews, not just Israelites. They are people of God who have crossed over, as the term “Hebrew” implies.

¹² So he looked this way and that way,

These words are given to show us that what will occur is not a heated rage or an impetuous act. Rather, Moses took thoughtful consideration to stop and review his surroundings in order to ensure that what he would do would be unnoticed.

^{12 (con’t)} and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian

After looking around, he took an action which is either glossed over by Jewish commentators, or is hailed by them as a heroic or even patriotic act. At the same time, most Christian commentators term it “impetuous,” “wrongful,” “undisciplined,” and so on. With only a few exceptions, they find it to be unjustifiable.

And yet, from the context of Stephen’s words to the ruling council in Acts 7, it appears to be an act of faith. There Stephen says –

“For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.” Acts 7:25

Stephen seems to suggest that Moses knew he would be used of God to deliver the Hebrews from their bondage. He was a Hebrew raised in Pharaoh’s palace and so if for no other reason, he could logically believe that he had been spared from the river and raised in the wisdom of Egypt for this very purpose.

In fact, just prior to the exodus, the Lord will say this to Pharaoh concerning his own position and status –

“But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Exodus 9:16

Moses understood that time, place, and position were gifts of God to be used for God’s purposes, and which God uses in us for His own purposes. Because the Bible records that he took the time to look around first, it indicates his belief that he was doing the right thing in his attempt to rescue his Hebrew brother.

Regardless of this, it became an act which would involve the complete severance of his ties with Egypt and also a lengthy severance from His Hebrew people as well. And yet, the time would be used by God to further mold him in preparation for his coming role and it would also allow for the continuance of God’s mercy upon the people of Canaan.

In Genesis 15, the Lord spoke these words to Abraham –

Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Genesis 15:13-15

The Hebrews were not ready to be delivered, and God was not yet ready to judge the Amorites. Everything is timed according to God’s plan and if we can remember this, then we can trust that all of the things we don’t understand are still being handled exactly as they should be by Him.

^{12 (con’t)} and hid him in the sand.

The word for “sand” is khol. In the Bible, with a few exceptions, it is used as a simile which equates the sand with a great multitude of people, such as “like the sand of the seashore.” The genuine nature of these words, “and hid him in the sand” show that Moses was certainly the author of this account.

If anyone else had written this, they would have said that he “buried him in the ground” or that he “dug a hole and placed him there.” But the words “in the sand” show a personal knowledge of the area where it occurred, including the type of ground – that of sand. It’s little details like this that show us the authenticity of what we are looking at.

I have come to rescue you from the bondage you face
Chosen by God, I will lead you out
No longer will you languish in this place
But you shall leave with a triumphant shout

I have stepped down from a great place to meet you here
And have joined Myself to you as your Hebrew Brother
Trust in Me and have no fear
We are of the same blood and are joined to one another

The time of your redemption is surely at hand
I will lead you out of this woe-filled land

II. Who Made You a Prince and a Judge Over Us (verses 13 & 14)

¹³ And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting,

The NKJV translated this just right when they said “the second day.” Many translators simply say “the next day.” But the term is b’yom ha’shnei “on day the second.” What might seem rather unimportant actually isn’t. The reason is that there is another term which can mean the same thing, mimakhorat – “on the morrow.”

Moses uses both of them in his writings, even in Exodus, and so there must be a reason why he chooses them as he does. In this verse, right after saying “the second day” he next says that v’hinneh shnei anashim ivrim nissim – “behold two men, Hebrews, disputed together.”

There is in this the indication that we are to focus on the number two because it is listed twice in this specific manner. And so we go to Bullinger to see the meaning that we are asked to not miss –

Two affirms that there is a difference, there is another; while One affirms that there is not another! This difference may be for good or for evil. A thing may differ from evil, and be good; or it may differ from good, and be evil. Hence, the number Two takes a two-fold colouring, according to the context. It is the first number by which we can divide another, and therefore in all its uses we may trace this fundamental idea of division or difference. The two may be, though different in character, yet one as to testimony and friendship. The Second that comes in may be for help and deliverance. But, alas! where man is concerned, this number testifies of his fall, for it more often denotes that difference which implies opposition, enmity, and oppression.*

In what took a few words, Bullinger shows that concerning the number two, there is a contrast of things, and yet there is a confirmation between them. For example, there are two testaments in the Bible – the Old and the New. They contrast – law and grace, and yet they confirm the totality of the word of God.

There are two natures to Christ, they contrast – Man and God, and yet the confirm the incarnation. One day has daytime and nighttime. They contrast – darkness and light, and yet they confirm a day’s duration. Moses is asking us to look at the two accounts and determine a contrast between them while still confirming the message. And so when the thought is finished, we will do that.

^{13 (con’t)} and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”

Instead of “the one who did the wrong” the Hebrew here actually says la’rasha – “the wicked one.” Most translators use the Greek translation which says adikounti – “the one who did wrong.” But the Hebrew is trying to show us the contrast through its choice of words. It is an evil act in Moses’ eyes.

It is because of this evil act, one Hebrew fighting another, that he steps in and asks “Why are you striking your companion?” Moses is simply trying to get them to think the issue through properly and to contemplate the bonding principles of unity and justice.

In unity, he tells them that they are brethren. And in justice, he shows them that evil towards one another can only disrupt their unity. It is his first attempt to wake them up to the realization that these forces are needed in order to cast off the greater burden they suffer under Pharaoh.

And yet they take offense at what he says. He thought that his words would lead to their liberation, but in his zeal for his people Moses has left out the key and principle factor in their deliverance. He has left out the God whose name they bear.

In this entire chapter, the word “God” or “Lord” is never used until the very last paragraph and then it is used five times. Eventually, when he is ready to lead his people, it is the name of the Lord that he will give them to show that he has been chosen to bring them out of Egypt.

¹⁴ Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?

Moses resided in the Great House, that of Pharaoh. At the same time, the Hebrews suffered in bondage. Moses stepped down from his exalted position to come and teach them a better way. Further, he intended to bring them out of the bondage they were in, and yet they rejected his claim by asking “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?”

If we simply substitute a couple names and words in that paragraph, we can see the connection to Christ: “Jesus resided in the Great House, that of heaven. At the same time, Israel suffered in bondage. Jesus stepped down from his exalted position to come and teach them a better way. Further, he intended to bring them out of the bondage they were in, and yet they rejected His claim by asking “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?”

In this story, we’re being asked to see the work of Christ.

^{14 (con’t)} Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

If Moses is the picture of Christ, and the Hebrews in Egypt picture the nation of Israel, then Egypt must picture the work of the devil – sin in a world of sin. In each person who comes to Christ, the devil is defeated. The individual Egyptian was killed by Moses for an individual Hebrew, but now the word has gotten out by the person who was saved that Moses is the one who saved him.

However, instead of seeing the deliverance from the Egyptian, they see a ruler whose authority they don’t recognize. Again, it is a picture of the work of Christ. And thus, in the book of Revelation, Jesus uses these words concerning those Jews who rejected His authority during the church age –

“I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Revelation 2:9

The Hebrews chose continued bondage in Egypt over freedom at Moses’ hand. The Jews of Jesus’ time chose continued bondage in sin over freedom at the work of Christ.

^{14 (con’t)} So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!”

In order to set up a continuing parallel between the work of Christ and the life of Moses, we are shown why Moses will flee from His people and from the land of Egypt. His good deed towards his fellow Hebrews has been taken in an ill light. And not only that, it has become generally known as well.

The Hebrews weren’t ready to accept Moses as their leader and Israel at Christ’s first advent was not yet ready to receive Jesus either. But the thing that Moses did was known and couldn’t be hidden. Likewise, what Christ did was known. It was something that couldn’t be hidden.

Now that we’re finished with this second section, we need to take a moment and see the contrast between the accounts in the first two sections. In the first, an Egyptian is beating a Hebrew and Moses took action necessary to save him. He slew the enemy and rescued his fellow countryman. It was a positive action towards one of God’s chosen people.

And it had to be received as such because the matter became known. The Bible says that Moses looked this way and that which means that nobody else knew what occurred, and yet the saved person told the good news of his deliverance. It is reflective, for example, of the deaf mute who was healed in Mark 7:36 –

“Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.” Mark 7:36

On the second day, two Hebrews were fighting and the offender is described as la’rasha – the wicked one. But instead of being received favorably, the wicked offender turns on him. It is reflective those Jews of Jesus’ time who laid burdens on their own people and afflicted them and yet turned and questioned Jesus’ authority, which was clearly evident by his actions.

The two contrast in what occurs and yet they confirm that Moses’ actions were intended for good towards his countrymen. What has occurred is an excellent picture of the work of Christ towards His people, and yet also the hostility displayed towards Him by the wicked of the people, just as the gospels record.

I have come to set the captive free
And yet you fight among each other?
Look to My example and come, follow Me
Do not be oppressive towards your brother

Who made You a prince and a judge over us?
We don’t recognize Your authority at all
Who do You think You are Mr. Jesus?
We are God’s people and only to Him will we call

Surely if God were your Father
You would listen to Me, for Me He sent
But there are others who will listen
If you don’t want Me, then to them I will be sent

III. The Place of Judgment (verse 15)

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses.

It has to be remembered that what Pharaoh pictures here isn’t the same as what Pharaoh pictured during Joseph’s reign. In chapter 1, it said this about the new dynasty of Pharaoh, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). This Pharaoh then is set in contrast to the Pharaoh of Joseph’s time.

Jesus came from heaven and he was raised by His Hebrew family, but He was also raised in this fallen world. The king of this world at Jesus’ coming was Satan. That is confirmed in Luke 4 where it says –

“All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” Luke 4:6

Upon Jesus’ rejection by His people they sought out to kill Him and they accomplished that. But death couldn’t hold Him. And so the pattern still rings true. The ruler of this world did seek to kill Jesus, just as Pharaoh sought out to kill Moses.

There is the historical record of Moses’ life, and there is the pattern that it is showing us in the work of Christ. It’s exciting to see these things. It allows us to know that the plan is still being worked out.

^{15 (con’t)} But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian;

As all Scripture is God-breathed and because complimentary passages may show things from a slightly different perspective, we should go back and see Stephen’s words about this verse. There in Acts 7 he states it this way –

“But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian…” Acts 7:27-29

In Stephen’s words, it shows that Moses fled “at this saying,” meaning at what the Hebrews said to Him. In this then, the integrity of the picture of Christ is upheld. He was rejected by His own and thus the kingdom was not ushered in at that time, something that would have otherwise happened.

In other words, both accounts, though stated a bit differently, confirm the work of Christ beautifully. But Christ didn’t actually flee from anything in the sense of fearing. The word used by Moses for “fled” is barakh, a verb which carries the “basic meaning of ‘going through'” (HAW).

The same word in Greek used by Stephen means to flee, but its use can include fleeing by “shunning something,” such as in “fleeing from idolatry.” And the Greek of this verse in the Old Testament apo, is simply the word “from.” In other words, there is nothing here that would speak against picturing the work of Christ and everything to speak for it.

In his move from Egypt, Moses is said to have dwelt in the land of Midian. The term for “dwelt” is v’yeshev or “and sat.” It is an idiom which means the place where one dwells. The name Midian means “Place of Judgment” and thus it is an exact picture of the work of Christ who departed from His kinsman of the flesh, meaning the Jews, and went to preside over the Gentiles where He sits in His place of judgment.

This is perfectly summed up in the words of Hebrews 10 –

“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.” Hebrews 10:12

Moses’ life was sought by those who hated him and he passed through to a Gentile location called the Place of Judgment until he would be called to subdue his enemies in the years ahead.

In like fashion, Christ’s life was sought by those who hated Him, but He passed through from the Hebrews to the Gentiles and is now at the right hand of God, the place of judgment, until His enemies are made His footstool.

And to finish out our verses today, we see one more short thought which seems almost curious to be affixed to the verse as it is. And yet it completes the picture of Christ’s work in this passage…

*^15 (fin) and he sat down by a well.

Unfortunately, out of the 20 versions of the Bible that I checked for this sermon, only two were correct. The Hebrew says that he sat down by “the well” ha’beer, not “a well.” A third version at least said a “certain” well to show more than just any well. The definite pronoun is not a mistake. It is given to show us something specific.

And again it says “and sat.” Moses “sat” or “dwelt” by the well. Each time a well was introduced throughout the book of Genesis, it generally pictured an outpouring of the Spirit. The pattern follows here. It is the Gentile-led church of which Christ is the Head, which has received His Spirit during this dispensation.

Moses dwelt, or sat down, by “the well” making an exact picture of Christ. We are granted His Spirit because His work is complete for us. The fact that Stephen used this entire account in his speech shows that he was equating it directly with the work of Christ whom He was speaking of as he addressed Israel’s leaders. But they couldn’t see what your eyes are being opened to.

Moses was rewarded several times with accounts from his life being recorded in Hebrews 11, the Hall of Fame of Faith. This passage today is one of them. And the reason why is because he so perfectly mirrored the faithful work of Christ. Here is what Hebrews says –

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26

Satan tempted Christ and He refused to be called into that unholy house. Instead, He chose to suffer affliction with and for the people of God rather than to fall into the same trap that Adam fell into. Christ esteemed the greater riches of heaven and the honoring of His Father more than all of the world’s riches. Just like Moses, Christ looked to the reward.

Now we have a chance and a choice. We can look to the reward and we can receive the crown of life because of the work of Christ. He prevailed over the devil and He alone can lead us out of the bondage of Egypt, the world of sin, and bring us to the holy Promised Land.

I would hope that you have called on Him and received Him as Lord. If you have, you are eternally saved by His work. You have been redeemed from the land of bondage and are God’s child by adoption. However, if you haven’t yet called on Christ, please let me tell you how you can…

Closing Verse: Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3:19-21

Next Week: Exodus 2:16-25 (Seven Daughters Drawing Water From the Well) (5th Exodus Sermon)

Having travelled to all 50 state capitols, I can tell you that the man who was continually shown to be a failure in his earlier years, Abraham Lincoln, is honored in statues and paintings more than any other president in our history. Even if you’ve faced continual failure in your own life, there is still the possibility for you to become great. Trust the Lord and let Him use you for such greatness.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Shunned by His Own

Now it came to pass in those days
When Moses was grown
That he went out to his brethren
And looked at their burdens, to his eyes they were shown

And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew
One of his brethren as he knew

So he looked this way and that way
And when he saw no one
The Egyptian he did slay
And hid him in the sand, covering what he had done

And when he went out the second day
Behold, two Hebrew men were fighting
And to the one who did the wrong he did say
“Why are you your companion striking?

Then he asked inquisitively
“Who made you over us a prince and a judge?
Do you intend to kill me
As you killed the Egyptian? Do you bear me a grudge?

So Moses feared and said
“Surely this thing is known!
This thing about the dead

When Pharaoh of this matter heard
He sought to kill Moses in that place
But as we are told in the word
Moses fled from Pharaoh’s face

And dwelt in Midian’s land
And he sat down by a well as we understand

Like many great men before Him recorded in the word
Moses is now used as the Bible’s central figure
In order to give us portraits of Jesus the Lord
And the great works He wrought are seen in each picture

And as we see in this story once again
There are those who fight against what God has planned
They reject His authority and against Him complain
And yet He still reaches out His loving hand

Let us not reject His kind offer of grace
But instead let us accept what is recorded in His word
He offers us a new home in a heavenly place
If we will just call out to Jesus as Lord

And so let us receive Jesus Christ and be reconciled to God
So that for all eternity in His glorious presence we will trod

Hallelujah and Amen…

Exodus 2:1-10
This is One of the Hebrew’s Children

Introduction: There’s a common proverb we use which is firmly rooted in the Bible – “From small beginnings come great things.” How many times do we see this theme repeated in Scripture? The life of Moses, like any human, was one which started out small. Other than Adam, we were all born as infants.

But the story of Moses takes on an additional likeness to the proverb simply because we have the record of his birth and then the most unusual of circumstances which surrounded his infancy. Today’s account is a favorite of most people because it’s so touching and human.

Throughout it, we can almost feel the emotion of the mother, the anticipation of the sister, and the heartfelt pity of Pharaoh’s daughter. We see all of these emotions from time to time, but rarely are they combined into a single occurrence. But the story of Moses skillfully weaves them together so that they do.

Small beginnings don’t always mean small endings. And it would be a mistake to think they do. And so Solomon gives us wisdom in Ecclesiastes concerning the work of our hands. There he says –

“In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6

Seeds are small, but they may end in a great harvest. Picking up pennies along life’s highway seems almost futile, but for each one saved, there will be a greater return when the piggy bank is finally opened. From small starts, great things can and do come about.

Text Verse: For who has despised the day of small things? Zechariah 4:10

Billy Graham started out his revival meetings in a circus tent in a parking lot, but eventually his crusades would go out to audiences of tens of thousands of people. His largest crusade was held in Seoul, South Korea where he preached to an estimated 3.2 million.

As South Korea at that time only had a population of 30 million people, he preached to more than 1/10 of the nation in person and many, many more by television. Whatever great thing you aspire to, let it be founded on a heart for the Lord and I’m sure He will use you in the perfect way to obtain the most perfect results.

He sure did it with Moses. The words of the man who spoke to the Lord face to face are still read, studied, and cherished 3500 years later. Not bad for a person who started as a baby seemingly destined to perish in the waters of the Nile River. This is the greatness of God – that He can take what the leaders of the world find below contempt and He can turn it into the greatest of stories.

The superb workings of this marvelous God are to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. A Beautiful Child and a Little Ark (verses 1-4)

And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.

Chapter two begins with an amazingly simply pronouncement which follows directly after the words of woe which ended chapter 1. There in the 22nd verse it said, “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.'”

This first verse of chapter 2 gives no names except of the line of descent from which they came. Both of these people are of the tribe of Levi. This thought then sets up the events which follow, and the tribe of Levi will continue to be highlighted all the way through the rest of the Bible.

Leaving out the names here is significant because it is intended to show us that a higher Power is working behind the scenes, apart from and yet in connection to, human activity. It is not the names of the people who are important, but that God is using the people and events to work out His plans.

Though we don’t know it yet, their identification as Levites is intended to show that He has chosen this particular family to introduce the chosen family for the priesthood of Israel as well as to lead to their great lawgiver Moses. Reading verses like this throughout Scripture gives us an advanced notice that something is coming which will be connected to them.

And so the verse begins with “and.” It shows a direct continuation of what was mandated by Pharaoh while also leading us in a new direction at the same time. Because the Hebrew language is deficient in tenses in comparison to English, it sounds like this verse is actually happening after Pharaoh’s edict, but it’s not.

Rather, he had gone some time before the edict to marry. From that time, they had already had two children. However, the narrative isn’t given to tell us any of these things. It steps into the picture at this point to show that these two, who were already married, will now have to face the edict of Pharaoh.

In order to understand the times then, there is the need to know who the man is, who the wife is, and who the siblings are. The man’s name is Amram, a son of Levi’s son Kohath. The woman’s name is Jochebed. Their details are mentioned in Exodus 6:20 –

“Now Amram took for himself Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven.” Exodus 6:20

She is actually Amram’s aunt, the sister of his father. But even this needs to be further explained because in Numbers 26:59, it appears that Jochebed is actually a daughter of Levi. There it says –

“The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.” Numbers 26:59

The term “daughter of Levi” doesn’t specifically mean she was his direct daughter, but a descendant of him. She is a daughter of his household. And from this verse, we can see the names of the whole family who have, with the exception of Moses, actually been excluded from the narrative in Exodus 2. The family is comprised of Amram, Jochebed, Miriam, Aaron, and Moses.

Miriam is the oldest of the three and was probably born not long after the marriage. Aaron was born about twelve years later and he is three years older than Moses (Exodus 7:7). And now, shortly after the Pharaoh’s edict, a third child is born. The fate of this third child is now the focus of the biblical narrative.

² So the woman conceived and bore a son.

Again, the Bible has skipped over all of the other details that we might think are necessary, but which are actually unneeded at this point. Those lacking details will be filled in at the right time, but the specific wording shows us that there is precise purpose and intent to establish the rest of the account.

The lack of the woman’s name is not unlike the account of Genesis 38. In the first paragraph there, eight people or places are named and yet the one person you would expect to be named isn’t. She is the daughter of one named person, the wife of another, and the mother of three more, and yet her name isn’t given.

In this, we are provided just what we need to not be distracted from what God is revealing, because through concealment, there is actually often marvelous disclosure. It is a special note to consider that no sooner has the Pharaoh devised his cruelest of plans against the Hebrews than God determined to bring forth the deliverer of His people.

What the devil thinks will be his greatest victory is always turned around to be his most stunning defeat. In this case, out of the mouth of Pharaoh in his own edict literally comes the reason for the downfall of the kingdom of Egypt.

^2 (con’t) And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.

This portion of verse two is so important to the Jewish tradition and culture, as well as to all of the people of God, that it is recorded twice in the New Testament. In Acts 7, Stephen refers to it in his speech to the high priest and his council. There it says –

“At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months.” Acts 7:20

Later, in Hebrews 11, Moses’ parents were rewarded for their faith in the record of those whom God singled out for their steadfast devotion to Him. There we read these words –

“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.” Hebrews 11:23

What’s interesting is that the specific amount of time, three months, is mentioned and it is mentioned three times in the Bible. What is it about the three months that showed the parent’s possessed proper faith? What if it were two months or four months?

According to EW Bullinger, the number three “stands for that which is solid, real, substantial, complete, and entire. All things that are specially complete are stamped with this number three.”

There was a pre-appointed time for Moses to be hid for the events of this story to unfold as they should. In fact, the next verse will tell us that this time of three months met that time of completion, but it doesn’t tell why. Only by understanding the meaning of individual numbers do the words come to make sense.

Otherwise, they seem rather arbitrary and random, even unnecessary. These three months were needed in order for history to unfold in a proper manner. The words used to describe Moses in this verse are ki tov hu, or literally, “and good he.”

The beauty of the child must have only heightened the parents attention to the wickedness of Pharaoh’s decree so that instead of obeying the king’s command, like the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah they determined to disobey the edict and save their son.

And believe it or not, the reason for the giving of the names of these two women in the previous chapter is to alert us to incidents here in the second chapter and then to parallel them. As I said then, the name Shiphrah comes from the word shaphar, which means to be pleasing. The derived feminine noun is shiphra which means fairness. And so her name is translated as Beauty.

Thus her name is given to show us a parallel to the child Moses. The parents saw that their child was beautiful and so they spared him, showing the faith of Shiphrah, a woman whose name means “Beautiful” and whose example to the Hebrew people of sparing the children was enough to give them the same courage.

For all we know, the courage of those midwives may have been evident in the saving of Aaron who might have been one of the children saved by the midwives when they were told to kill the males at birth. That example could have been the impetus for the parents to follow in the same courageous fashion. The name of the second midwife will have a parallel as well in just a few verses.

³ But when she could no longer hide him,

This is parallel to what occurred in the previous chapter. There was a time where the Hebrew’s midwives could no longer hide their actions and they were asked to explain them to Pharaoh. And their explanation is what led directly to the third measure taken to destroy the Hebrews.

Now during this time of that third measure, the actions of the mother are what lead us directly to the events of the story ahead. Every step is so precisely detailed to show the absolutely perfect plan of God in a fashion which drips with irony as He continuously frustrates the plots and schemes of man.

^3 (con’t) she took an ark of bulrushes for him,

The word for “ark” is the Hebrew word tevah. It indicates a box or a chest or even a basket. Some have attempted to tie the word in with a coffin, but there is no substantiation for this. Rather, its use in Scripture gives no indication of this at all.

The word is used 28 times in the Bible, but in only two stories – that of Noah and that of Moses. In the first, the ark was made of wood and it was intended to be used as God destroyed man through judgment, but to preserve mankind through grace. It was used to float over the entire world as the waters prevailed during that time, saving a man of righteousness who would usher in a new dispensation, that of Government.

In this account, it is made of bulrushes, a kind of papyrus. It is intended to float within the boundaries of the earth which is merely divided by a river. It was used to save a child who would go on to be God’s instrument of redemption for His people while at the same time overseeing God’s judgment on a different group of people. The person to be saved in this ark, Moses, will also usher in a new dispensation, that of Law.

And so we can see a contrast between the two accounts while at the same time they confirm God’s sovereignty and His attentive care, both for and over the people of the world through the unfolding of His dispensational plan of the ages.

^3 (con’t) daubed it with asphalt and pitch,

The word for asphalt here is khemar and is used just three times. Once at the building of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11, once in Genesis 14 during a battle in the Valley of Siddim when Lot was taken captive, and once here. It is referring to a mineral pitch.

The other word for pitch is the Hebrew word zepheth. It’s also used only three times, once here and twice in Isaiah 34:9. It is a vegetable pitch which was used in the embalming process. This tiny basket of rushes, is daubed with materials linked to death, but which are here intended to preserve life.

^3 (con’t) put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.

Unlike how this story is often depicted, mom didn’t plop the ark in the river and let it float away. Instead, she placed it in the reeds, probably hoping that they would keep it from floating away. The term for “the river’s bank” in Hebrew is al sephat ha’yor – “at the lip of the river.” It is an expressive way of showing the river is like a mouth with two lips.

The Geneva Bible says that she was “Committing him to the providence of God, whom she could not keep from the rage of the tyrant.” There in the very river which the Pharaoh had purposed for the destruction of the Hebrew’s male children, mom was purposing the safety of one of them, and God was purposing the deliverance of all of them.

⁴ And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.

This is Miriam who is the only recorded sister of Moses. After the exodus she will be called a prophetess as she sings of the Lord’s deliverance from bondage. It is more than probable that while singing, she was reflecting on the day when she took her stand, and watched to see what would become of her little brother there in the reeds by the river.

Her song of deliverance at that time was with these words –

“Sing to the Lord,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!” Exodus 15:21

The Lord rescued Moses from the river through the house of Pharaoh and yet He later hurled Pharaoh’s house into the sea. She was a witness to both magnanimous events. Matthew Henry sums up God’s care of Moses there on the river in this eloquent fashion –

“Moses never had a stronger protection about him, no, not when all the Israelites were round his tent in the wilderness, than now, when he lay alone, a helpless babe upon the waves. No water, no Egyptian can hurt him. When we seem most neglected and forlorn, God is most present with us.” Henry

God used an ark of reeds, Moses to save
And He used a boy named David to defeat the Philistine
With what may seem useless or weak, a grand road He can pave
And He can turn that which was once vile into something pristine

God has chosen the foolish things of the world
To put to shame those wise in their own sight
And He has chosen the weak things of the world
To put to shame the things which seem to have great might

And the base things of the world which seem rejected
And the things which are despised, objects of scorn
God has chosen these things, yes these He elected
Because through His Son, they have been reborn

II. Behold, the Baby Wept (verses 5 & 6)

⁵ Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river.

**** Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible? (Pharaoh’s daughter. She went down to the bank of the  Nile and drew out a little prophet.) 

By the providence of God, the child was placed where the daughter of Pharaoh would come to and at the time that she would come. And even if it could be speculated that the mother knew of this as an ordinary custom or not, the Bible doesn’t hint at it, thus showing us divine providence rather than human guidance.

The fact that the previous verse shows that the sister stood and watched to see what would come about shows that their was uncertainty as to how events would unfold. The word here for “bathe” is rakhats and means “to wash.” Whether she was there to bathe, to have her servant bring water to wash her, or to be there as they washed their clothes isn’t known. She simply came to wash.

^{5 (con’t)} And her maidens walked along the riverside;

This little section of verse appears to confirm that Pharaoh’s daughter didn’t actually go into the river. Maybe because of the possibility of a crocodile nibbling her up, or for some other reason, it appears that she remained further back and watched as her maidens either went and got water, or washed the clothes, or did whatever they were doing. While they were busy with that, the eyes of Pharaoh’s daughter roamed the shoreline…

^{5 (con’t)} and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it.

The word for “maid” here, amah, is different than “maidens,” or naar, that was just used. This would probably be her personal servant or slave while the others may have been friends of hers or household attendants.

Although there is nothing to indicate this, I would like to think this was a Hebrew. The imagery is too wonderful to not at least enjoy the thought. Whether a Hebrew or not, the one who would free the slaves of Egypt would himself be brought out of the waters by a slave.

⁶ And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept.

Everything in God’s good timing, even the tears of a baby in a basket. When the light shone into the once dark tomb of the ark, it caught the eyes of the child and stirred him to tears for the meal he was missing or the tender caress he desired. And nothing like a child’s tender cry will rend the heart and soul of a young lady.

Hence the two possibilities for the midwife Puah’s name from the first chapter are seen here. Her name, Puah, is believed by some to come from the word yapa, which means to shine or be beautiful, and so the name is given to be either Splendid or Light. However, it may also come from another word, pa’ah, found in Isaiah 42:12 which says –

“I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a woman in labor,
I will pant and gasp at once. Isaiah 42:14

Because of this, her name would mean “one who cries out.” There on the banks of the river, the light shined in and the child cried out. Thus we have a reason why the two midwives’ names were included in the exodus story. Just as they were rewarded with their own households, so will the house of Amram be rewarded as well.

From him will come the household of the high priestly line of Aaron, and also the household of Moses, the great lawgiver.

^6 (con’t) So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

She would know for several reasons why this was a Hebrew child. The edict of casting the children into the river would make it obvious. Though not following the law directly, putting a baby in a basket and letting him go into the river would eventually have the same effect.

Another obvious way to tell he was a Hebrew would be to see the sign of circumcision. It was plainly evident to Pharaoh’s daughter that the child was a Hebrew. But despite his ethnic origin, the Bible specifically mentions her feelings of compassion as an overriding reason to ignore her father’s commands.

For a third time, the edict of Pharaoh has been overturned by events which stem from the edict itself. The irony is perfectly evident in each step of the process leading to the release of the captive people Israel.

In this story we see where Moses resembles Christ. Both were subject to death by a wicked ruler, Moses under Pharaoh and Jesus under Herod when he ordered all the male children to be killed in Bethlehem, but both were delivered in order to become deliverers.

Concerning the emotions of Pharaoh’s daughter there on the banks of the Nile, the Pulpit commentary says, “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” It is that common spark of humanity which has brought her to ignore her immediate family commands and to hold to the higher tie which binds.

The very place which should have been the final grave of Moses became the place which brought about the unfolding events of Israel’s redemption. The same is true with Jesus. While the tomb should have been His final resting place, it turned out to be the very place by which we have a confirmation of our deliverance.

The little basket in which Moses was laid
Did its job and kept him safe from the water
Until the time when Pharaoh’s daughter’s maid
Took it from the river and gave it to Pharaoh’s daughter

And when she opened it, the little baby did cry
And her heartstrings were tugged at the sight
She surely felt pity knowing the reason why
Such a beautiful baby was found in such a plight

But God knew what would happen on that day
And He watched over the baby until he was found
And so Moses’ life would turn out in a marvelous way
This is the norm with God; His plan will always astound

III. He Who Draws Out (verses 7-10)

⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women,

“Oh what an adorable baby! Did I hear you say it was a Hebrew child? Well aren’t you an Egyptian? It’s mother must have loved him very much to place him in a basket, and now she will never see him again. It’s so sad! But if you’d like, I could find a Hebrew nurse for him and save you the trouble of finding someone else to nurse him. Would you like that? I’ll do it. Poor, beautiful baby!”

Timing is everything and Miriam’s timing was perfect. The baby is crying, the child needs milk, and Pharaoh’s daughter’s heartstrings have been tugged just enough to make any other option impossible.

^7 (con’t) that she may nurse the child for you?”

And the wording by the sister is perfectly calculated to endear the princess to the child even more. “I can go find a Hebrew to nurse the child for you. You’re a mother now and your child needs attentive care. Look at it cry. Poor, beautiful baby.”

She has successfully looked into the heart of the princess and then both anticipated her need and also shaped the outcome of the situation through her words. If Pharaoh’s daughter was even a bit reticent to have the child, that was washed away like the sand in the Nile at the words of Moses’ noble sister.

⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother.

With her mind all made up, the suggestion is approved and the directive is given – leki, “Go.” And so she went, straight back to her own mother, who by the way, is the child’s own mother. No tale ever penned has exceeded the level of emotion or excitement which is seen in each character.

And no tale, true or imagined, has ever encompassed such ironic circumstances. Not only is the child rescued, but it is rescued back into the arms of the once mournful mother. And even more than that, there is an added bonus for the faithful actions she has displayed…

⁹ Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.”

The natural mother will nurse her own child for his new adoptive mother. The added grace is that his new mother will be able to provide for him in a way that was almost beyond imagination. And even more, he will continue for a time to live in his own home of birth.

There he will begin to learn the culture and traditions of his family and his people. And even more than that, the home will be given wages for their efforts, which are really no efforts at all, but rather the greatest grace of God they could have ever imagined.

What Pharaoh intended for evil, God turn into good. And He did it in a manner that still leaves people of faith both smiling and praising Him for it 3500 years later.

^9 (con’t) So the woman took the child and nursed him.

Imagine the giggles around the dinner table. Imagine the joy of Miriam as she tickled her little brother, and imagine Aaron, just a few years old, enjoying his little brother and never realizing the amazing events which surrounded the home life he was a part of.

When all seems beyond hope, this is when God shows Himself the most marvelous to those who understand His acts of tender care. If we can remember this as we face even the most terrifying prospects of life, we will be able to handle them much more responsibly and with the faith that is most pleasing to Him.

These individual stories show us that He is never far away and that He is attentive to what is best at all times.

¹⁰ And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.

His age isn’t given, but the boy eventually came to the age where it was time to enter into a new phase of life. It was probably between 2 and 3 years old. Whatever the age, he was old enough to know his own people and to have them firmly set in his heart and in his emotions. This will be seen as his life story continues to unfold.

At the appointed time, the mother once again gave up her son, but this time she did it knowing that he would live and prosper. The pain was certainly there, but no doubt there was also a sense of gratitude to God for being given the grace they had received towards their beautiful child.

*^10 (fin) So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

The name Moses is frustrating to scholars because it resembles both Egyptian and Hebrew words and they carry a variety of significations. The explanation for the name is given, and it at least provides a clue as to its meaning. “She called his name Moses” because she “drew him out of the water.”

The phrase she uses is min ha’mayim meshitihu “out of the water I drew him.” The Egyptian word for “son” is mesu, which sounds like “Moses,” and she is claiming him as a son. However, the same word is derived from a verb which means to “produce” or to “draw forth.”

And so in one sense, in her mind he is the son drawn forth from the water. This is the same meaning as the Hebrew word used in her exclamation which is mashah and means “to draw.” But there is one more aspect to consider. The name Moses in Hebrew is mosheh and it is a masculine, singular, active participle, and so it means “He who draws out” instead of “He who was drawn out.”

His name then isn’t based on what she did so much as it is a play of words on what she did. Because she drew him out, he is the one who draws out. As an example, if a baby were born on a train, he might be nicknamed The Engineer. If a child was born while crossing a bridge, he might be called The Bridge Builder.

Moses is “He who draws out” and it is a perfect representation of the work he will do by bringing his people out of the bondage of Egypt. This same word, mashah, from which Moses is derived is used only two other times in the Bible. Both are from David in parallel psalms of praise.

In the 18th Psalm, speaking of the Lord, he uses the word which is a mirror reflection of the work of Moses, thus picturing the greater work of the Lord –

“He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷ He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
¹⁹ He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.” Psalm 18:16-19

From this point until many years later, nothing more is said of the life of Moses. Only in the New Testament do we get a taste of his upbringing while in the house of Pharaoh. In Acts 7:22, during Stephen’s great speech to the high priest and the ruling council, he notes this about his great forefather –

“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” Acts 7:22

The evidence of this education is found all over the writings of Moses. While all Scripture is inspired by God, He uses humans as the way conveying his word to us. The songs of Moses found in Exodus 15 and in Deuteronomy 32, as well as his blessing upon the tribes of Israel and the psalm he recorded, which is the 90th Psalm, all give insights into his knowledge of Egyptian literature.

In other portions of the Torah, his knowledge of particular weather conditions and locations indicate that he was versed in those aspects of Egyptian life as well. This marvelous beginning of the life of Moses will lead to a more marvelous life which is recorded in great detail.

He will come to be called a prophet of God, the most humble man who ever lived, Israel’s human deliverer, and the man with whom the Lord spoke face to face. But it all had to start somewhere. The story of his birth shows us that great things can come out of the most trying of circumstances.

It also shows us that even out of the greatest of heartaches can come joy ever-lasting. God is in the business of doing the marvelous, but the display of His marvelous hand goes both ways. It can go towards us in grace, love, and fellowship, or it can go against us in wrath and judgment. The dividing line between the two is Jesus.

What we choose to do with Him will be the deciding factor in how God deals with us. And so, as I do each week, I’d like to ask for a moment to explain to you how you can become a friend of God and be the object of His affection and blessing because of the work of His Son, Jesus…

Closing Verse: The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me? Psalm 118:6

Next Week: Exodus 2:11-15 (Shunned By His Own) (4th Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Moses

And a man of the house of Levi went by and by
And took as wife a daughter of Levi

So the woman conceived and a son she bore
And when she saw that he was a beautiful child
She hid him three months behind her door
Because Pharaoh’s edict was cruel and wild

But when him she could no longer hide
She took an ark of bulrushes for him to fit
Daubed it with asphalt and pitch on the outside
And put the child inside of it

And laid it by the river’s bank in the reeds
And his sister stood afar off
To know what would be done to him through these deeds

Then the daughter of Pharaoh came in stride
Down to bathe at the river, which is the Nile
And her maidens walked along the riverside
Where they had come to spend a while

And when she saw the ark among the reeds along the shore
She sent her maid to get it to see what was the score

And when she opened it, she saw the child
And behold, the baby wept just then
So she had compassion on him, her manner mild
And said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children

Then his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter said
“Shall I go and call a nurse for you
From the Hebrew women that she may nurse instead
The child for you; shall this thing I do?

And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.”
So the maiden went and called the child’s mother as we know

Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her
“Take this child away and nurse him for me
And I will give you your wages for sure
So the woman took the child and nursed him tenderly

And the child grew, and she brought him
And he became the son of Pharaoh’s daughter
So she called his name Moses, saying
“Because I drew him out of the water.”

Sometimes the irony of the Bible story
Is so rich and wonderful to behold
God turns even the worst things out for His glory
And shows us treasures worth more than gold

When we see His mighty hand so displayed
We have a sure foundation on which to stand
Never should the faithful be fearful or dismayed
Because our God is glorious and His deeds are grand

Just when all seems lost and it’s all out of control
That is the time when God’s glory is most clearly seen
Away from us the troubles and trials He does roll
And He leads us into soft pastures, lush and green

O great God who does such marvelous things for us!
Precious Creator revealed in the pages of the word
You who came in flesh, our precious Lord Jesus
To You all praise is due, our wondrous, glorious Lord

To you we will praise and to you we will sing
Throughout all eternity, let our voices ring

Hallelujah and Amen…

Exodus 1:15-22
Obeying God Rather Than Men

Introduction: Chapter 1 of Exodus has four major parts to it. The first part is the recapitulation of the names of those who went down to Egypt with Israel and a note that there they had multiplied abundantly. This was seen in verses 1-7. It was an introductory section and a transition from Genesis to Exodus.

After this there are three sections which deal with measures to control and subjugate Israel. The first of them is the transition from Joseph who was the previous person to picture Christ. There, it begins with, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” The last of the three is a transition to the story of Moses, the next person who will picture Christ.

In these three sections dealing with controlling Israel, the first is verses 8-14. It is seven verses which describe the fear of the new Pharaoh at the vast number of the sons of Israel and the way that he treated them in order to subjugate them in hopes of reducing their numbers. It is the first measure of control.

The next section also comprises seven verses, from 15-21. Instead of dealing with the sons of Israel, it deals with the Hebrew’s midwives and the children they delivered. It is the second measure of control.

The final portion is verse 22 which deals with the expected treatment of the children born to Israel and is addressed to all the people of Egypt. It is the third measure of control.

The first and second sets, which are each seven verses long, have some nifty patterns. In the first, the term “Israel” is used three times. In the next, the term “Hebrew” is used three times instead of Israel. In the first, God is not mentioned, but in the second, God is mentioned three times.

And in the first, it merely notes there is a new king over Egypt, but in the second it calls him the king of Egypt three times. In each of the three sets of judgment, the term “Pharaoh” is mentioned once. In all of these sets then, there is intentional structure that I had never noticed before.

Our eight verses today center on the final two sets of measures used to control the Israelites. Of these two, the first comprises most of what we will look at. The last is only one verse and is a lead-in to chapter 2 and the life of Moses, the man of God.

In the first seven verses, there are some interesting contrasts. There is the command of Pharaoh which is in contrast to the fear of God in the midwives. There is a contrast in what they are told to do – they are to kill the males but spare the females. There is a contrast made between the Hebrew women and the Egyptian women.

There is the hope of reducing Israel’s numbers, and there is the contrasting statement that they multiplied and grew very mighty. There is also a contrast in the lives of the two midwives. It is implied that they started with no households, and it is explicitly stated that they were granted households because of their obedience to God.

Like I said, there is intentional order and structure in this first chapter. In the end, these patterns show logic, order, and harmony. They show intent and purpose and are certainly not random. You might ask of what importance this is, but it is patterns such as these which help show us why the Lord does certain things in the course of history.

By seeing these patterns of the Bible, we can see and be reminded that He is always in control. But even without the patterns, the story is one which is intended to direct us towards the unfolding events of time and the promised redemption of Israel that was spoken to Abraham about 400 years earlier.

In addition, it shows a pattern which reveals the steadily degenerating morals of a society which is not unlike how our own society has progressed in recent years. Without exercising our conscience towards God, there can only be ungodliness.

Without the fear of the Lord, there will only be enmity towards the people of the Lord. And without respect for human life in all of its aspects, there is the certain truth that the lives of those around us will become of less and less value until only self-centeredness remains.

Text Verse: “He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

The Lord redeemed Israel and gave them His laws to guide them. They were laws which didn’t merely require mechanical obedience, but they were laws which required a heart for Him. In the end, they failed to adhere to this aspect of their instruction.

Eventually, there was religion without relationship, and a culture of God without caring for God. Because of this they were judged for their failures. Even without the Law of Moses, there is a conscience granted to each person so that we should instinctively know right from wrong.

Being obedient to our conscience isn’t sufficient to save us, but it shows us that God is a moral Being and that we are obligated to Him because He has bestowed upon us His moral nature.

The midwives to the Hebrews had a conscience, but they also had commands that were given to them by Pharaoh which were in direct conflict with their conscience and with the law given to Noah many generations earlier. How would they respond when faced with this moral dilemma?

Each of us will, from time to time, also face moral dilemmas. How we handle them, especially as Christians, defines who we are as individuals. What course of action should we take, and why?

These are things that are explained to us in God’s superior word for our learning and our growth. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Shiphrah and Puah (verses 15 & 16)

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives,

Our verses today start off with an immediate problem and one which divides scholars right down the middle. Does the Hebrew say that the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, or to the midwives of the Hebrews? Most translations assume they are Hebrew midwives, but the translation could be either.

Flavius Josephus, the great compiler of Jewish history, says they were Egyptians.

^{15 (con’t)} of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;

The names of the women don’t help with the first problem as much as one might think. Many scholars find their names to be Hebrew, but others find Arabic roots for them. Each name is mentioned only once in the Bible and no other person has an identical name. There is a third possibility that no one else mentions, but which makes sense. That is that one is an Egyptian and one is a Hebrew.

Whatever is correct, there were certainly many midwives both in Egypt and among the Hebrew people, and yet only these two are mentioned, and they are mentioned by name. The reason for mentioning their names is not given and only in the context of the events of chapter 2 does it make any sense at all as to why their names are even provided.

But once we arrive there, we will come to understand exactly why they are mentioned at all and exactly why their specific names are given. But for now, if for no other reason than because they feared God and worked to save His people, they have been remembered in His word.

The name Shiphrah comes from the word shaphar, which means to be pleasing. The derived feminine noun is shiphra which means fairness. And so her name is translated as Beauty.

The name Puah is believed by some to come from the word yapa, which means to shine or be beautiful and so the name is given to be either Splendid or Light. However, it may also come from another word, pa’ah, found in Isaiah 42:12 which says –

“I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a woman in labor,
I will pant and gasp at once.” Isaiah 42:14

Because of this, her name would mean “one who cries out.” What is more likely is that the name Puah is a pun on both words. Together they give us an insight into the person of Moses and his nativity story. We’re being told something through the names along with the moral lessons which the Bible is showing us through the story itself.

As only these two midwives are mentioned, it could be that they were the chief of the midwives. They may have actually reported directly to Pharaoh concerning the number of births and other statistical information that any working society would collect.

Because of this, believing that one is an Egyptian, over all the births in Egypt, and the other is a Hebrew, over all those born to the Hebrews, takes on an interesting possibility. None of the three options for this are given in the Bible, but the logic of this is convincing to me.

¹⁶ and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women,

Here the Hebrews are singled out. The orders from Pharaoh are in regards to one group of people and none other. It calls to mind the German holocaust, the Russian pogroms, and other times in history when the Jews have been singled out. At times, like during the holocaust, many other groups were targeted as well, but the emphasis has been on the extermination of God’s people.

Satan’s reason for this prior to Christ was to thwart God’s plans leading to His ultimate redemption of the people of the world as was promised right at the beginning, just after the fall. If the Hebrews were destroyed, then there would be no line for Christ to have come through.

Satan’s reason for this since Christ is to thwart God’s plans for His return to Israel. If Israel is destroyed, then Jesus’ words that He spoke to them will have failed. There would then be no millennial reign of Christ among His people and thus God’s word would be a failure. However, God has continuously used these attempts to actually realize His purposes.

^{16 (con’t)} and see them on the birthstools,

This is a curious set of words. It reads ur-re-iten al ha’abenayim – literally, it means “and see on them on the stones.” Because it is so unusual, some translations, like Young’s, drop a letter which changes the word from stones to children. And so it will read –

“When ye cause the Hebrew women to bear, and have looked on the children…”

However, this requires changing the wording as it is written. The only other time that this term, “the stones,” is used in this way in the Bible is in Jeremiah 18:3 –

“Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.” (literally, on the stones)

In Jeremiah, it indicates two horizontal stones which are attached to a vertical pole, just the way modern potter’s wheels are made. There are differing views on what “the stones” here mean. Some think it is merely a way of identifying a type of chair made specifically for giving birth; hence birthstools.

Others think that the stones formed a type of bathtub that would receive the child and wash it at the same time. It’s a very curious term, but it is not so impossible as to require changing what has been written.

^{16 (con’t)} if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”

Throughout the Bible, it is the male father who defines heritage and inclusion into the chosen people. In Leviticus 24:10, a person is charged with blasphemy and he is identified as the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man.

In 1 Kings 7:14, a person is hired for temple work by Solomon and he is identified as the son of a widow from Naphtali whose father was a man of Tyre. They are singled out in this regard to show that they are not included in the males’ genealogy. They could be assimilated into Israel, but their ancestry would be so noted.

By killing off the males, the intent was that the culture would diminish twice as fast. There would be no men to continue the line and the women would be forced to marry outside of the society and thus end their ties to the Hebrew culture.

If the hard bondage that was levied upon the men didn’t work, it was hoped that this avenue would. Satan would work through human agency in an attempt to destroy the people of God. As Matthew Henry says this about these words –

“The enmity that is in the seed of the serpent, against the Seed of the woman, makes men forget all pity.”

Do not keep silent, O God!
Please, do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
Let Your hand of protection never cease

For behold, Your enemies make a tumult
And those who hate You have lifted up their head
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people
Be not silent, O God, take away our dread

They have consulted together against Your sheltered ones
They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more
Lord, let our name not end with this generation

II. Obeying God Rather Than Men (verses 17-19)

¹⁷ But the midwives feared God,

Of the 20 versions of the Bible I look at for sermons, none of them translate these words as they are written. And of the many commentaries I read, none of them explained what is lacking. The title in Hebrew is ha’elohim – And thus it would say “But the midwives feared ‘the’ God.” A definite article is in front of “God.”

This makes a big difference. There were many “gods” in Egypt and even Pharaoh was considered a god, but there is one true God. The term ha’elohim is given for a reason. In Genesis 9:1, God spoke to Noah. At that time, it was understood that there was only one God for all people because only Noah and his family were alive on the earth. Thus, there were no false gods known to man.

When speaking to Noah, God gave him these words of instruction –

“Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
⁷ And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.” Genesis 9:6, 7

The time of this account in Exodus is around the year 2434AM. It is only a bit more than 750 years after the flood and there is still a knowledge of the true God and of His words to Noah. This is what is implied in the term “the God.”

It is a gigantic tragedy that translators fail to accurately put forth the words of Scripture as they have been given. Without this one word “the” in front of God, a polytheist could pick up the Bible and come to a wrong conclusion concerning the word elohim.

In this, translators assume that everyone reading the Bible knows what they are thinking. But that is a bad assumption, especially when folks like the Mormons believe in many gods and that they will someday be their own little god in charge of their own little universe.

These two women were women of faith, properly directed faith, towards the unseen God who spoke to their forefather Noah and gave them a warning concerning murder.

^{17 (con’t)} and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.

Francine Klagsbrun, the Jewish author, notes that this act here “may be the first known incident of civil disobedience in history.” In order to save the Hebrew children alive, these two women willingly disobeyed the edict of the king. This precept, that following God’s laws first at the expense of man’s laws which are contrary to His laws, follows throughout the Bible.

Civil disobedience is mandatory when an edict would violate the higher rule and authority of God. In the book of Acts, the high priest who is the supposed representative for God in Israel, gave a command to the apostles which was contrary to the truth of God. The exchange is recorded as follows –

“Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”
²⁹ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:28, 29

And so it is to be with us. When we are faced with a choice such as this, we must be disobedient to the government if what they ask us to do would cause us to violate our allegiance to God. These two midwives understood this and they set an early example which is not only correct, but which was recorded as worthy of blessing by the God whom they honored.

In their civil disobedience, they upheld the higher authority of God, spoken many centuries earlier to their forefather Noah.

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?”

The verse shows the obvious nature of their disobedience. The reports coming back to the king would have included the live childbirths along with all of the other statistical information of his kingdom. And it was probably the midwives that provided it.

It’s unlikely that Pharaoh went to Goshen to look around, and it is unlikely that anyone would have made a report about live births if it wasn’t their job. Instead, the information probably came to him right from these two women. The old expression, “It’s better to ask forgiveness rather than permission” parallels this.

Eventually, if the king found out of all of the live births through someone else, they would have a poorer argument concerning the matter. But if it were their reports, the confusion of the king would be awaiting their response for a clear defense, something they would be prepared for in advance. And they were…

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.”

This report by the midwives has no need to be disbelieved, either by Pharaoh then or by us now. Throughout cultures where the women work hard, they tend to bear children with much less effort than those who don’t.

Eskimo women in past times worked right up until the time of childbirth and then would get back to work in a short amount of time. As the people were living under hard bondage and unusually difficult working conditions, the women would have carried many responsibilities the men were kept from.

In all, they would have been just like any other group in such circumstances. And this is certainly so because if it weren’t, then Pharaoh would have had a many avenues open to him to find out if it were false. In their words, they are turning the hard bondage back on Pharaoh and using it as an excuse. Adam Clarke, speaking as if one of the midwives, says it this way –

“The very oppression under which, through thy cruelty, the Israelites groan, their God has turned to their advantage; they are not only fruitful, but they bring forth with comparatively no trouble; we have scarcely any employment among them.” Clarke

Despite the actions of Shiphrah and Puah, believe it or not, some scholars still chide them for lying. Without thinking this through, they have come to the conclusion that their lying is not justifiable. The Geneva Bible’s comment on this verse says –

“Their disobedience in this was lawful, but their deception is evil.” Geneva

Either way, whether they told the truth, or whether they didn’t, that is a bad analysis. The law of God at that time for all people was the preservation of life. The Ten Commandments had not yet been instituted and therefore, they were fulfilling the higher calling apart from the law. Their actions are justified and they are noted as such.

We ought to obey God rather than men
Certainly this is our highest duty to uphold
Gods favor is the sweetest reward, I say again
His favor is worth more than the most precious gold

What can man do to me, I ask?
In whom shall I place my fear?
Being faithful and true to God is my solemn task
All the days that the Lord keeps me here

To Christ I will be faithful as long as I live
As I await that final heavenly call
When in that day to me eternal rewards He shall give
Because in this life Jesus has been my All in all

III. That Which Has Been Will Be (verses 20-22)

²⁰ Therefore God dealt well with the midwives,

With bold determination, even in the face of probable danger and possibly death, the actions of these two women speak for themselves as evidenced by God’s treatment of them. He was pleased with their actions and the Bible notes that for their faithfulness, He dealt well with them.

Interestingly in this verse, the term elohim, not ha’elohim is used. They feared “the” God and God (who is “the” God) responded with favor. Because it is understood that this favor is from “the” God, there was no need for the definite article.

^{20 (con’t)} and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.

In verse 7, it said, “But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.” The same words, multiplied and grew very mighty” are repeated to show that the effect of both of Pharaoh’s attempts to diminish the people of Israel were instead turned around to increase them.

This type of irony is seen numerous times in the Bible. When Joseph’s brothers meant him harm, God turned it around for good. In the book of Esther, when Haman tried to destroy God’s people, we’re told that the wicked plot he devised against the Jews was returned on his own head.

In the greatest of such moments, the people of Israel plotted to kill the Lord. But in His case, the old saying, “You can’t keep a good man down” rang true. What they did by taking His life led to the greatest multiplication of life in human history. The spiritually dead have been quickened into such a great multitude that the apostle John says it can’t be numbered.

The use of such descriptive terms shows the magnificence of God’s accomplishments in contradistinction to the futility of the plans and schemes of man.

²¹ And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.

Again in this verse, the translation is lacking. It says once again ha’elohim – because the midwives feared “the” God. Again, He is set in contradistinction to the false gods of Egypt and those of Pharaoh. What was implicit and understood in the previous verse allowed for no definite article.

But in this verse, we are being shown an explicit distinction between the gods of Egypt and the true God. Thus there is a need once again for the definite article. Pharaoh himself was considered a living god and so the article makes the verse more poignant. The words of the 56th Psalm are prefigured in the actions of these two women –

“In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?” Psalm 56:11

In their fear of the true God, we are told that He looked with favor upon them and that “He provided households for them.” In the Hebrew, the word “them” is masculine, not feminine. And so some people claim that it is referring to the people of Israel and not the midwives, but the term “households” is a proverbial expression. It means that they married and became mothers in Israel.

This is similar to what is seen at the end of the book of Ruth where the people blessed the union between Boaz and Ruth. There after Boaz accepted the right to marry Ruth, it said –

“The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. ¹² May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.” Ruth 4:11, 12

In this section of Ruth, the masculine word is speaking of the whole household. Through their fear of the true God, they were built up into a house of their own. Though they aren’t ever mentioned again in Scripture outside of this passage, they are included among the faithful none-the-less.

*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 Geneva Bible says this, “When tyrants cannot prevail by deceit, they burst into open rage.”

Let none of us deem that this is either an untrue verse because of its horrible considerations, nor should we even for a moment think that this is either unusual in our own nation, or something that is unlikely to occur in our own lifetime. In fact, it is the anticipation of a large portion of our own society today.

In the logical progression of wickedness which permeates the world in which we live, we see an edict which mirrors the thought process of our own leadership in America. First, Pharaoh tried to work the people into a decrease in numbers.

When the women were over-taxed, he figured they would abort their babies. It didn’t happen. Instead, they multiplied. And so the next logical course of action was partial-birth abortion. Kill them as they are being born. Something desired by the left in the United States and a procedure often argued for by them as necessary.

When the midwives realized the immensely grotesque nature of this, they upheld the law of God and refused to be a part of it. And so now Pharaoh demands that any male child born alive is to be taken to the river and cast in as if it were a rotten tomato or a spoiled piece of beef.

In recorded hearings on the issue of terminating lives of babies outside of the womb, our current president, while still a senator in Illinois, can be heard calling these babies “fetuses” and that they had not yet reached the age of viability. In other words, they are not worthy of constitutional protection. These are right on You Tube and can be listened to anytime you wish.

His voting record on this issue shows three separate occasions where he voted to keep infanticide legal. Since the passing of Obamacare, his supporters can be seen on a video published on You Tube signing petitions to make it legal to kill children up to 3 years old in order to “relieve the burden to deal with the children themselves” or to “help keep the population down.”

One of the signers was actually holding his own child while signing the petition which was intended to “support infanticide for small children.” Although this is a sermon concerning Pharaoh’s actions towards Israel, the passage itself is an indictment on the sheer depravity and wickedness of those who are willing to attack God’s image bearers because of their hatred of God.

This is Pharaoh, and the memory of his wicked actions are recorded to remind us of our own obligations concerning the sanctity of human life. In order to destroy an entire population of people and end a culture which was given to bring restoration between God and man, Pharaoh demanded the lives of the males and the destruction of the female’s inheritance among their people.

Having seen this, before we finish, I want to show you an interesting parallel which is found in Numbers. This exodus account is just before the coming of Moses. In Numbers, just before Moses’ death, an account occurs which is almost parallel to what we have seen today. Let me read it to you –

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
³ So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian. ⁴ A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.”
⁵ So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand. ⁷ And they warred against the Midianites, just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed all the males. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.
⁹ And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. ¹⁰ They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts. ¹¹ And they took all the spoil and all the booty—of man and beast.
¹² Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. ¹³ And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.
¹⁵ And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive? ¹⁶ Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. ¹⁸ But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately. Numbers 31:1-18

After giving this instruction, the Bible records that there were 32,000 women who had not known a man intimately. What does this mean? Assuming there were an equal number of boys as there were girls, Israel exterminated at least 32,000 boys and all of the grown women. In all, probably more than 100,000 people died that day.

An entire population was destroyed in this manner and the virgin women were assimilated into Israel. One must question why this was acceptable and yet the same wasn’t concerning Pharaoh’s actions toward Israel. The answer comes down to a simple precept, obedience to God. The two midwives understood this. They served “the” God. Midian however was ripe for judgment for having rejected Him.

In our nation, we are following the same path and we are set for the same judgment. The deaths of more than 50,000,000 innocent lives will not go unpunished by this same God who watches over the affairs of men. It is a lesson that must not go unheeded, lest we perish.

On this seemingly depressing note, we will close for today, but in reality, there is nothing depressing about God’s word, nor His love for us. It is we who turn our backs on Him, as He continually reaches out His hands in love to us. Even in our lies, our abortions, or drunkenness, or our drug addictions, He is willing to forgive all and forget all if we will simply turn to Him.

And so not knowing whether you have actually called on the Lord or not, I’d like you to allow me a moment to tell you how you can come to know Him by sharing with you the good news of Jesus Christ…

Closing Verse: Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” 1 Kings 18:37

Next Week: Exodus 2:1-10 (This is One of the Hebrew’s Children) (3rd Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him, and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Obeying God Rather Than Men

Then the king of Egypt spoke
To the Hebrew midwives, words of shame
Of whom the name of one was Shiphrah
And of the other, Puah was her name

And he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife
For the Hebrew women, as I instruct you
And see them on the birthstools
There is something I want you to do

If it is a son, then you shall kill him, no mercy give
But if it is a daughter, then she shall be allowed to live

But the midwives feared God and took a stand
And did not do what he said to them
As the king of Egypt did command
But saved alive the male children

So the king of Egypt called
For the midwives and said to them
“Why have you done this thing
And saved alive the male children?

And the midwives to Pharaoh said
“Because the Hebrew women as we say
Are not like the Egyptian women, but instead
They are lively and give birth right away

Before the midwives come to them
And so they have already had their children

Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, it is true
And the people multiplied and very mightily grew

And so it was, because the midwives feared God
That He provided households for them
A reward for the faithful walk in which they trod

So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying
“Every son who is born you shall into the river cast
And every daughter you shall save alive
And we will be free of these Hebrews at last

Such is the nature of man’s enmity with God
How we fight against his plans and purposes for us!
On a wicked path we would gladly trod
And turn our backs to His Gift of love, His own Son Jesus

But until our last breath, He continues to call
Because of His great and undying love for us
And in one act He can in us reverse the fall
Just by receiving that great Gift of love, His own Son Jesus

Thank You for patiently waiting, even for me, O Lord
Thank You for patiently waiting for each one of us
Until the day when someone showed us in Your word
About the most marvelous Gift of love, Your own Son Jesus

Praises to You for this our matchless King!
For all eternity our souls to You will sing

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Exodus 1:1-14
Bitterness and Bondage in the Land of Egypt

Introduction: As we enter into Exodus, we should look back and see the contrast between what is coming and where we have been. The book of Genesis showed us a snapshot of creation. Exodus will show us a snapshot of redemption. In the book of Genesis, we traveled through approximately 2370 years of human history. Exodus will take us through about 80.

In Genesis we saw three separate dispensations – Innocence, Conscience, and Government. In Exodus, the fourth dispensation will be introduced – Law. This one dispensation will remain through the next 42 books of the Bible. Only at the end of each gospel will the next dispensation, that of Grace, be introduced.

Genesis began with a single line of people, carefully selected to lead to a single united family called Israel. Exodus will begin with Israel and they will continue to be the focus of God’s redemptive plans all the way through the Bible. Even during the church age, Israel is still considered a part of God’s plans, though temporarily taken out of the highlights and placed on the sidelines.

In Genesis, we have the beginnings of all things which come from the eternal Father. In the garden there was freedom and fraternity between God and man. In Exodus we begin with oppression and bondage leading to deliverance, picturing the work of the Son, the Deliverer of His people.

Genesis focused on many great individuals as God used them to picture portions of future history. In Exodus, God will almost exclusively use Moses for this purpose. We could go on for hours discussing what is coming in the book, but we will be looking into it in detail until we finish it, and so there’s no need to go too deep.

Let it suffice to say that because this is a part of God’s word, it should be handled carefully, researched completely, and cherished with delight. God chose the details of the book of Exodus to reveal to us the coming Redeemer, Jesus. If we keep reminding ourselves of that, we should find it an absolute delight to our senses.

Text Verse: “Israel also came into Egypt, And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham. ²⁴ He increased His people greatly, And made them stronger than their enemies. ²⁵ He turned their heart to hate His people, To deal craftily with His servants.” Psalm 105:23-25

God directed Israel to go to Egypt and to Egypt he went. There they prospered and grew into a vast multitude. But, they remained united as a people and they did not assimilate into Egypt. This caused tension between them and the ruler of Egypt. And so they were brought into bondage and servitude to the Egyptians.

At the same time, their bondage was not undeserved. The people of Israel failed to honor the Lord and so He was not unjust in allowing them to suffer for a time. God is never unfair nor does He cause misery or trial to occur without a reason. This is a lesson we should continually remind ourselves as we face our own trials.

The good news though is that if we have called on Christ, then a time is coming when all of these things will be behind us. We are the redeemed of the Lord and so He will never leave us nor forsake us. This is a constant theme of God’s superior word and so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Sons of Israel (verses 1-5)

¹ Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt;

Like many of the other books in the Old Testament, the book of Exodus actually begins with the word “and.” The words are v’elleh shemot bene yisrael – “And these are the name of the children of Israel.” This word “and” begins 13 of the books of the Old Testament and it shows that the writers instinctively felt that they were writing words that belonged to a greater book with a unified message.

The first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch, are all ascribed to Moses and so the “and” may seem less unusual, and yet it is a completely separate book from Genesis and so the “and” at the beginning really is no less notable.

This reason we know this is an entirely separate and distinct book from Genesis is because the first verse begins with the exact same words as Genesis 46:8. This was immediately followed with a list of all of the family who went to Egypt with Jacob. Now, a recapitulation of that is going to be made. This then is given to show a definite starting point for an entirely new narrative.

Like at other times, the Hebrew name of the book comes from the first words. And so it is called v’elleh shemot or simply shemot – “names.” The name we use in English, “Exodus,” is from the Greek which means “going out.” The going out of Egypt by the Israelites is one of the great highlights of the book and so it was given that name.

Here in the first verse, we can deduce that the book is going to center on the nation of Israel just as Genesis ended with them as well. God’s funnel of chosen people finally settled on this one family and it is through them that redemptive history will continue for the next 1570 +/- years, until the coming of the Messiah.

Genesis ended with the death of Joseph. He was born right around the year 2260 Anno Mundi. He lived 110 years and so his death came at approximately 2370AM. After the death of Joseph, not another word about the time which the Israelites remained in Egypt was given until now, sometime around the birth of Moses.

This was a period of about 64 years and so it is somewhere around the year 2434AM, but the date isn’t specific. However, the dating of the Bible will become specific again at key points during the book.

^1 (con’t) each man and his household came with Jacob:

The listing of Jacob and his descendants included 70 names who went to Egypt. However, this was not all who went to Egypt with him. The verse here says, ish ubetow – “man and his household.” This word for “household” includes everyone under the authority of the house – wives, children, grandchildren, servants, etc. It is an all-inclusive statement and was used this way in Genesis 14:14 –

“Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.” Genesis 14:14

Abraham’s household included many people, possibly in the thousands. If he had 318 fighting men, plus women, children, old people, etc., the final number was very large. Isaac inherited this and built upon it. Jacob had a large company even prior to inheriting Isaac’s household. And then the family would have continued to grow in number after that time.

In all, there were certainly many, many thousands of people who went to Egypt with Jacob. Though not literal descendants of Jacob, they are included under the umbrella of Israel and it easily explains the immense number of people who will depart at the Exodus, a number recorded at 603,550 men who are 20 and older. In all, the number will probably be well above 1.5 million people.

This is important to remember for several reasons. The time Israel is actually in Egypt is only 215 total years. If it were only the 70 recorded, it would seem incredulous to have such a large number going out. And many dismiss the record entirely because of this.

Secondly, it shows that the people of Israel, united at Mount Sinai, included a vast number of people who were not actually of natural descent. In fact, the vast majority of them probably aren’t. And yet, they will all be counted within the numbers of individual tribes and a part of the collective whole. We will see this validated in several ways during the next few books of the Bible.

² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

These four names begin the list of the sons of Israel who traveled to Egypt with him. The sons here are listed in birth order and are all sons of Leah who was Jacob’s first wife. In 1 Chronicles 5:1, 2 we read this –

“Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; ² yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler, although the birthright was Joseph’s.”

The birthright, instead of going to Reuben, was given to Joseph. However, from Judah will come the Ruler, the Messiah.

³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

These next three are still in birth order by Jacob’s wives Leah and Rachel. Issachar and Zebulun were born to Leah, and Benjamin was born to Rachel. Joseph is left out because he was already in Egypt at the time and is excluded from the list of those who travelled with Jacob.

⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

These four sons were born to the maidservants – Bilhah and Zilpah. The first two were born to Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah, and the second two were born to Leah’s maidservant Zilpah. And so there is an intentional order and harmony to the listing of these names. First, those born to the legitimate wives, in order by Leah and then Rachel, and then those born to the maidservants, in order of birth.

Only the males are listed here in Exodus, but at the counting in Genesis, two women were named, Dinah and Serah. Despite them being named in Genesis, Jacob could have, and certainly did have, many other daughters. However, only these two were counted at that time because only they were relevant to the account.

The family name travels through the male and so unless there is an additional reason for mentioning a female, they are simply not listed. This doesn’t diminish the role of women, but it keeps the records straight according to the line of descent.

⁵ All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons

It might seem arbitrary or unnecessary to begin the book with something that has already been said at the end of Genesis, but it isn’t. This listing of seventy persons was given with purpose. There is nothing random or illogical about it. Rather, it was given to again show us a snapshot of redemptive history.

The importance of the number 70 is to reveal that Israel is God’s instrument for His redemptive works among humanity leading up to the Messiah. All of humanity is derived from the 70 names which are listed in the Table of Nations recorded in Genesis 10.

Those 70 names in Genesis 10, which correspond to everyone on earth, are to be given the oracles of God through the 70 names recorded in this listing which comprises the covenant people of Israel. This is alluded to in Deuteronomy 32:8, which says –

“When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations,
When He separated the sons of Adam,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the children of Israel.” Deuteronomy 32:8

Seven is the number of spiritual perfection. It is the sum of 3, the divine number, and 4, the number for creation. Ten is the number for completeness. Thus, in those who are noted as Jacob’s descendants and who have gone to Egypt, God’s divine plans (3) are being worked out in His created world (4) in their fullness (10) through these 70 people.

The list in Genesis wasn’t an arbitrary list of names and numbers. Rather it was a prophetic plan and symbolic structure of what God would do in the history of man’s redemption. We are being reminded of this now at the beginning of Exodus, the book which will introduce the fourth dispensation of God’s redemptive plans.

God bestowed grace on Adam after the fall, and kept a select line of people through the years until Noah, who again received grace in the eyes of the Lord. After the flood, God gave an overall structure of redemption as laid out in the Bible in the account of Noah. This is an outline of humanity in the seventy named people-groups in the Table of Nations.

Following that, He called Abraham and made a covenant of grace to the world, declaring him righteous by faith. Through the chosen line of Abraham’s seed, He has refined what He will do in the future, giving us pictures of everything that is coming. This now continues in the second book of the Bible. This is one of the reasons for this recapitulation of the list now.

Another reason for reminding us of the number is to show that even though they started out small, there will be an immense change in the numbers. This will cause a sequence of events which will demonstrate God’s sovereignty, His ability to keep His promises, and the continuance of His redemptive plan for the people of the world. What seems arbitrary isn’t.

^{5 (con’t)} (for Joseph was in Egypt already).

This explains why Joseph’s name was left out of the record of the sons of Israel which were given in these first few verses.

Remember the days of old here in the new
Consider the generations long since past
Ask your father and he will tell you
Your elders, and they will explain how the plan was cast

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance
When he divided all mankind as His word does tell
He set up boundaries for the peoples, not by chance B
ut according to the number of the sons of Israel

For the Lord’s portion is His people, you see
Jacob his allotted inheritance throughout redemptive history

II. The Fruitfulness of Israel (verses 6 & 7)

⁶ And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.

Of the twelve sons of Israel, Joseph’s death is the only one with any full record in the Bible. The rest of them are merely mentioned in this cumulative statement here. We do know that from Exodus 6:16 that Levi lived to be 137 years old. That was 27 years longer than Joseph, but he was also a little bit older than him.

Regardless of this though, they were all dead by the time of the events we see here. And so, during this period of about 64 years, nothing else is recorded. Of the many weddings, births, family vacations, heartaches, joys, and other memorable times of the individual lives, God’s word remains silent.

His word is here to tell us details about history, not a complete detail of history. When the two line up, He uses them for His purposes. When they don’t, time eventually swallows up even the memories of what was once the news of the day.

⁷ But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Despite the deaths of the early generation that travelled to Egypt, the growth of Israel was immense. One could ask how this was possible if the statement from Genesis 46 was true. There it said this –

“So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” Genesis 46:33, 34

If the Egyptians deplored the Hebrews because they were shepherds, and if they were kept in Goshen, separately from the multitudes, then how could they multiply in this way? Again, this takes us back to the number of people who would have travelled with Jacob. Only seventy were mentioned, but that was for a reason.

Within each son’s household would have been a large number of people. They would have married and intermarried. The vast number of people who would have grown from them in that 215-year period from Jacob’s arrival to the Exodus, along with the mixed multitude who left with them, could easily reach the numbers the Bible mentions.

Just because it is a period of only 64 years from the death of Joseph until the time of the birth of Moses, it is a full 215-year period from Jacob’s arrival until the Exodus, which occurs when Moses is about 80 years old. During all this time, the Israelites multiplied.

And so the Bible gives us this verse to confirm this. The NKJV doesn’t really give the sense of how they are described. Young’s Literal Translation reads it in this manner –

“…and the sons of Israel have been fruitful, and they teem, and multiply, and are very very mighty, and the land is filled with them.” YLT

*They were fruitful. In Hebrew, paru, meaning that they brought forth children like a tree brings forth fruit. *They teemed – in Hebrew, yishretsu. This word gives the idea of teeming like fish, which is the sense that it is given in Genesis 1:20 when God said that the waters should abound with living creatures.

*They multiplied – in Hebrew yirbu. This is a separate term, not an adverb as so many translations make it. *And they grew exceedingly mighty. In Hebrew v’yaatsmu bimod meod. It is a way of saying that their numbers were truly astounding as indicated by the double superlative bimod meod.

With the Lord’s favor and His blessing great things occur
Even the weak can say “I am strong”
He is the Rock where our footing will be sure
In Him is safety and nothing goes wrong

As the people of Israel grew into a great multitude
So God will increase you when your trust in Him is sound
So keep your faith and remember your gratitude
When He blesses you with blessings which astound

He is great and has done all great things for us
He is our God, our Lord, our precious Jesus

III. Bitter Lives and Hard Bondage (verses 8-14)

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

Albert Barnes notes that –

“The expressions in this verse are special and emphatic. ‘A new king’ is a phrase not found elsewhere. It is understood by most commentators to imply that he did not succeed his predecessor in the natural order of descent and inheritance. He ‘arose up over Egypt,’ occupying the land, as it would seem, on different terms from the king whose place he took, either by usurpation or conquest.”

It needs to be remembered from Genesis, that Joseph pictured Christ and Pharaoh pictured God’s rule from heaven. The 430-year period from Abraham until the Exodus is divided into two equal parts of 215 years each. This time in Egypt is then reflective of the tribulation in the book of Revelation which is also divided into two equal parts.

If this is a “new king” who doesn’t know Joseph, then his dynasty is a picture of the coming anti-Christ. The pattern is given so that we can see in Israel’s redemption other pictures of history. We can see our own redemption from sin and being brought into the kingdom of Christ. But we can also see the end times where Christ will deliver Israel from the anti-Christ.

Who this king of Egypt is can’t be known for certain and scholars argue over the dating and the person. But if his name were important, it would have been given. It wasn’t and so it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is who he pictures and how he treats God’s chosen people, Israel.

For him to not know Joseph in such a short period isn’t at all unusual either. First, we don’t remember the great works of our past leaders even a generation later. Some ignore the great leaders within a few years after they’re gone.

Secondly, if he came in by conquest, then he would not be aware of the history of the previous rulers. This is not at all an improbable verse and it reflects what could be said about the anti-Christ quite well. A description of the coming anti-Christ from the book of Daniel reflects this idea perfectly –

“Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. ³⁷ He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.” Daniel 11:36, 37

⁹ And he said to his people,

The term “his people” is being used in an antithetical manner to the term “the children of Israel.” The king’s people doesn’t necessarily mean all of Egypt, but rather those who are aligned with him. As we will see, there will be people in Egypt who support Israel and are favorable to them.

We see this in our own government where the leader may despise a portion of the people and yet the general populace may not feel the same way about them.

^{9 (con’t)} “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;

The adjectives of this verse, “more” and “mightier”, are given as a parallel to the terms “multiply” and “mighty” in verse 7. First the Bible notes their great multiplication and then the new king of the land acknowledges it.

Whether his statement is true in the absolute sense or not, it is certainly true that Israel had flourished in an exceedingly great way. This is true in both numbers of people and in livestock and wealth as well. This was seen already being the case many years earlier while Joseph was still alive. In Genesis 47:27, it said –

“So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.”

God had promised Abraham that he would bless him and He did. This blessing passed on to Isaac and then to Jacob. From Jacob, that same blessing rested upon the entire family who came from him. There is no doubt that the wealth and power of Israel was great in the land by the time of this new king.

¹⁰ come, let us deal shrewdly with them,

The word “shrewdly” is khakam. Literally it means “wisely.” There was a problem which the king perceived as dangerous and it would require wisdom to handle it. What does one do with a group of people who are great in number, living on the borders of the land, and not allied with you?

The Israelites had retained their own identity and had not become a part of the greater Egyptian culture and now it seemed as though they were a threat to the empire. It is a scene which has been repeated countless times throughout Israel’s history. They are a people set apart and who inevitably find themselves to be considered a threat to the nation in which they dwell.

^{10 (con’t)} 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.”

Because they were between Canaan and Egypt, and because that is where the threat of invaders into Egypt was the most prevalent, it was more than a small concern that an invading army might benefit from the presence of Israel. If they hadn’t mingled with the Egyptians, then there may have been a reason he didn’t understand.

He may think that they were allied with people who already were opposed to him. If this were so, not only would they join them in any battle, but they may also retreat with them when they left. Again, this is the same mindset that has been seen throughout Israel’s history as people have interacted with them.

This is a people who are content where they live and in the surroundings they find themselves. In general they are productive members of the society, but their productivity benefits them and their people to the point that both loathing and jealousy result.

¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens.

Because of Pharaoh’s fears of the Israelites, he set taskmasters over them. The word taskmasters comes from two words, sa-re missim. A comparable translation would be “chief of tributes.” These taskmasters then would extract tribute from the people in labor, but most probably also in heavy collections that we might call taxes.

Like any oppressive government, they would steal both the people’s wealth and their health. In the case of the Israelites, they were afflicted with heavy burdens using a Hebrew word, siblah, which is only found six times in the Old Testament and all six are in the first six chapters of Exodus.

It comes from another word which indicates a heavy load. It is as if the burden is being highlighted as a more unusual affliction than any suffered elsewhere in their history. It is unique to the time of Israel’s bondage in Egypt.

^{11 (con’t)} And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Some translations call these “treasure cities.” But “supply cities” is certainly a better choice. In 1 Kings 9, Solomon built cities using the same Hebrew word which are described this way –

“And Solomon built Gezer, Lower Beth Horon, ¹⁸ Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, ¹⁹ all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for his chariots and cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.” 1 Kings 9:17-19

These cities, built with the effort of the Israelites, were in the general area of Goshen and would have been filled with supplies for any warfare that would be conducted there. The name Pithom means “House of Atum.” Atum is the sun-god, and thus “House of the Sun.” Raamses means “Child of the Sun”

¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.

This is how it works in the world. The more depressed and downtrodden a group becomes, the more they multiply. The more affluent and at ease a culture is, the less they multiply. The very affliction that was levied upon the Israelites is what caused them to multiply even more.

The word from which “grew” comes is sometimes translated as “spread out.” They simply expanded in all directions. The same word was used in Genesis 30 to describe the increase of Laban’s wealth after the arrival of Jacob. There it says –

“You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. ³⁰ For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming.” Genesis 30:29, 30

^{12 (con’t)} And they were in dread of the children of Israel.

The word “dread” is appropriate. One scholar, Kalisch, says that “They had a horror of the children of Israel.” It is an attitude which has been repeated again and again in history against Israel. It is the same attitude which is seen in the world today and which will result in the coming tribulation period which is being pictured by the very verses which we are looking at.

¹³ So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.

The word for “rigor” is a rare and unusual word – bepharek. It’s used just six times in the Old Testament and it is always used in connection with being unusually harsh to someone as they work under another.

The Aramaic root of the word indicates to break in pieces or to crush. This was the harshness of the taskmaster who ruled over the Israelites. One might ask though, “Why would God allow His own people to suffer in this way.” The answer, though not palatable to most, is that they had forgotten the Lord their God. Two passages from elsewhere in the Old Testament confirm this –

“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! Joshua 24:14

“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God.’ ⁶ On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands. ⁷ Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ ⁸ But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Ezekiel 20:5-8

In their move to Egypt, they may not have assimilated with the people, but they did assimilate into their pagan practices. If that doesn’t represent Israel of today, I’m not sure what does. Though they are a united and uniform group, their allegiances to one another do not necessarily follow through to Lord.

Again, the picture we are seeing here is a picture of the tribulation period. The people of Israel will suffer greatly until the time they call on the Lord as they should.

¹⁴ And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick,

In their desire to subjugate Israel, the hard service they demanded of them was the making of bricks and then using brick and mortar to build the store cities and whatever other edifices they mandated. The last time that these words, mortar and brick, were used in the Bible was at the building of the Tower of Babel.

Interestingly, they were also both used in the same verse, Genesis 11:3, just as they are here in Exodus 1:14. At the Tower of Babel, they were used to oppose God by defying His mandate to spread out and fill the earth. Instead, they attempted to unite and build a tower to heaven; a picture of works-based salvation.

They were also working in disbelief of His promise to never flood the world again by building a tower taller than the flood waters. It was an attempt by man to have control over creation; a perfect picture of those who profess to “global warming” and our need to solve the world’s flood problems, which actually don’t exist.

In this account, they are using the brick and mortar to oppose God by harming His chosen people and it is an attempt to thus thwart His purposes in the plan of redemption. If they can destroy the people of God, then God’s promises and His plans will have failed. This is also then a picture of the coming tribulation and the one world government and religion – Mystery Babylon.

It will be a complete opposition to God, just as both testaments of the Bible bear out. In both instances however, God’s plans will prevail because He is God.

The word for “brick” is levenah. It is used to indicate a brick which is made by man for man. It is temporary and without true substance. In contrast to this is stone or rock which is made by God and which indicates permanence and that which doesn’t yield. In both of these accounts, there is a contrast.

There is the using of bricks to work against God (Babel), and then there is the using of bricks to work against God’s people (Egypt). They contrast, and yet they confirm the thought that man’s efforts are futile against the works and plans of God. The Bible is showing us this.

^{14 (con’t)} and in all manner of service in the field.

Not only were the people subjected to the physical labors of brick work, but “to all manner of service in the field.” The Israelite’s started out as shepherds, but they also moved into agriculture. Deuteronomy 11:10 shows us that. But this is probably not the full extent of their work.

They were probably used to dig canals for irrigation. And so the mud they dug would have been used for the clay which made the brick and mortar. In all, the work would have been tedious, tiring, and oppressive in the heat of Egypt’s boiling sun. The life of the Israelites could surely have been described as misery.

*^14 (fin) All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

Again the term for rigor, bepharek, is used. The taskmaster would have been cruel and relentless. Like the treatment of the slaves of the south in America, the Israelites would have been beaten at will and treated as mere animals of burden. Again, it has to be remembered that the Lord’s people suffered because they had forsaken the Lord. Ezekiel makes this clear.

His people are not immune from His punishments when they are needed for correction, but God will never leave nor forsake those He has called. Despite all of their rejections, both in Egypt and many times afterward throughout their history, God has promised to keep and save Israel.

He told them in advance of all the horrors that would come upon them and He implied that they would be exiled twice as well. But He also showed them, in advance, when they would be returned and what He would do for them after they did. If nothing else, God’s faithfulness to unfaithful Israel should show us that His promises to us are true as well.

In Christ Jesus, we have the surest foundation of all. We have the greatest hope and the most wonderful future ahead of us. Whatever things we’re suffering through now may be our own fault or they may merely be His grace by allowing us to be in a valley before He takes us again to a high mountaintop.

So don’t be overly frustrated. Israel got through their hardships and you will as well. But this assumes that you belong to God. This can only be true if you have called on Jesus Christ as Lord. If you have, then you are God’s child through adoption. If not, you are still God’s enemy because of sin. Let me explain to you how you can be free from sin and be reckoned as a child of God…

Closing Verse: Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
¹¹ For My own sake, for My own sake,
I will do it;
For how should My name be profaned?
And I will not give My glory to another. Isaiah 48:10, 11

Next Week: Exodus 1:15-22 (Obeying God Rather Than Men) (2nd Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him, and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Bitterness and Bondage in the Land of Egypt

Now these are the names of the children of Israel
Who came to Egypt; each man and his household
Came with Jacob, as the Bible does tell

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah too
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher are who
The sons who are descended from him

All those who were descendants of Jacob we see
Were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already)

And Joseph died, all his brothers
And all that generation
All the fathers and mothers

But the children of Israel were fruitful
And increased abundantly, like ground properly tilled
And multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty
And the land with them was filled

Now there over Egypt a new king arose
Who did not know Joseph, and to his people he said
“Look how the people of the children of Israel quickly grows
They are more and mightier than we, look how they have bred

Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, alright?
Lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war
That they also join our enemies and against us fight
And so go up out of the land, and we have them no more

Therefore they set taskmasters over them
With their burdens to them afflict
And they built for Pharaoh supply cities
Pithom and Raamses, they were demanding and strict

But the more they afflicted them, it is true
As the word to us does tell
The more they multiplied and grew
And they were in dread of the children of Israel

So the Egyptians made the children of Israel
Serve with rigor, such painful toil
And they made their lives bitter
With hard bondage, there on Egypt’s soil

In mortar, in brick they worked we observe
And in all manner of service in the field
All their service in which they made them serve
Was with rigor, in order to make Israel yield

Israel suffered through long years of pain and toil
But eventually God sent them a deliverer
Because God is ever faithful and loyal
To His promises, they are certain and sure

And God has sent a Deliverer to us as well
He has brought us out of our life of sin-earned chains
By sending His Son to deliver us from the grasp of hell
And to be granted a heavenly seat where Jesus reigns

Such is the marvelous workings of God!
So let us praise Him all our days as in this life we trod

Hallelujah and Amen…