Exodus 1-­‐2 I.
Inro Exodus is the 2nd book of a 5-­‐part work written by Moses including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and is often called the “Pentateuch.” Exodus tells the story of God delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt and establishing them as His own special people. Exodus is a Greek word meaning: departure, outgoing or way out. o
The title is derived from the main event the book records; Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Exodus picks up the narrative where Genesis left off. • Israel has been dwelling in Egypt for 400 years. Exodus is a book of fulfilled promises. Many of the promises given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob find their fulfillment in Exodus In Exodus we will encounter Moses, the plagues, Passover, Red Sea, the 10 commandments, and the tabernacle. The abiding lesson of Exodus is that man is in need of a savior. This truth is illustrated in the bondage, the Passover, the law, and the tabernacle. Outline of Exodus The book covers a period of 82 years. Chapters 1-­‐3 cover the first 80 years, chapters 4-­‐40 the final 2 First half of Exodus concentrates on plagues resulting in deliverance. Second half on precepts, which govern the people of God. The book naturally divides into 3 sections. o Chapters 1-­‐13 -­‐ Israel in Egypt o Chapters 14-­‐18 -­‐ Israel in route to Sinai o Chapters 19-­‐40 -­‐ Israel at Sinai II. Expostion Chapter 1 serves as a link between Genesis and Exodus In this chapter we are given the setting in which the events of the book will unfold. A good understanding of chapter 1 will help us to grasp the events that follow. Exodus 1:1-­‐ 7 Israel has grown extensively from the 70 that arrived to a massive multitude. Stephen's sermon in Acts 7 refers to the tribe of Jacob as being 75 people. Here in Exodus 1 the number is recorded as 70 §
The Septuagint and the writings known commonly as the Dead Sea scrolls site the number as 75 §
It is likely that this is a scribal error and is a good example of the actual changes that have happened to the Bible over the years. These changes are insignificant and do not affect the understanding any serious doctrines Some suggest their numbers could have swelled above 2 million Ex. 38:26 reports that there were over 600,000 men of fighting age (20–50 yrs.) If we add conservative estimates for women, children and old men, the number of 1.5 to 2.5 million is possible. This is the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham Genesis 15:5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” This promise was also given to: Isaac -­‐ Genesis 26:4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; Jacob -­‐ Genesis 28:14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Other references to this promise are found in Gen. 12:2; 13:16; 17:2, 6; 22:17; 35:11; 46:3; 48:4 and serve as clear evidence of God’s blessing upon the Israelites. Exodus is very much a book of fulfilled prophecy. Here in the opening chapters we will see numerous prophecies fulfilled By the end of Moses life many other aspects of this promise will be fulfilled Genesis 12:2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. This will be fulfilled in Exodus By the end of Joshua's life another aspects will be fulfilled Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. This will be fulfilled in Joshua But it will not be until the birth of Christ that the final installment of these promises will be accomplished Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” We know this is a reference to the coming Messiah because Paul refers to this the Gospel Galatians 3:8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” Exodus 1:8-­‐14 Because of the growing number of Israelites, Egypt soon grew nervous of having such a large population that did not assimilate into Egyptian culture. They began a policy of enslaving the Hebrews. As time went on they increased the intensity of their labor and the force in which it was controlled The Israelite became the work force used to build supply cites for Egypt. Exodus 1:11 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. Exodus 1:13-­‐14 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. Their physical condition is an illustration of our spiritual condition. •
The lived in bondage •
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Under harsh to taskmasters With the threat of death And had no way of escape Their deliverance will serve as a prophetic picture of the work of Christ. Passover looked forward to the cross much in the same way that communion looks back upon it We must guard against having the same attitude of that of the Pharisees John 8:33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Exodus 1:15-­‐ 22 Slavery did not slow the growth of the Hebrew people so a new policy of genocide was introduced. All male children were to be killed at birth or if infants were found they would be drowned. This is the first in a long history of anti-­‐Semitic actions that teetered on genocide. All of which are clearly satanic in origin and an attempt to thwart the covenants of God Later we will read of • Balak • Haman In more modern times we read of • Hitler • Stalin • A basic tenant of radical Islam Sadly the church historically has been a driving force behind anti-­‐Semitism This too is a fulfillment of prophecy found in the dark dream of Abraham Genesis 15:12-­‐16 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 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. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Most of this will be fulfilled in the opening chapters of Exodus; all will be accomplished through the end of Joshua In the midst of all this tragedy we read of the heroic actions of the Hebrew midwives Exodus 1:15-­‐17 15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. The mention these two women does not mean that a population of 2 million had only two midwives but that these women were the chief administrators of midwives. Faced with the continued growth of the Israelite population, Pharaoh looked for another method of birth control: under his orders the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, were to kill all newborn boys It certainly seems barbaric to use death as a means to deal with unwanted children. We might keep in mind that we are not a civilized as we may think. According to operation rescue • There are approximately 1.21 million abortions in America each year. That is over 3,200 children per day. We are not only calling divine judgment on our nation but we are also exterminating our future. How many teachers, mothers, doctors, scientist, artist etc. are we losing by putting to death an unborn population? If you have had an abortion, there is grace to cover that, but you must come to the cross and be washed The secret to their heroic actions is recorded -­‐ They feared God This is a good illustration of what it means to fear God. They chose to please Him rather than submit to the demands placed upon them This same mentality will guard us • In private when facing temptation • In public when pressed to conform • In worldview when indoctrination and propaganda floods us from every direction Interestingly we also read that they lied -­‐ This passage in no way implies the Bible teaches situational ethics. Instead we have two woman who have expressed great faith in hiding children although they faith stumbled when it came to being face to face with the authorities Chapter 2 introduces us to the main character of the next 4 books of the bible Moses This was not the name given at birth but the one he received from Pharaoh's daughter -­‐ name means "drawn out" because he was drawn from the waters of the Nile Exodus 2:1-­‐11 Moses is born and hidden as long as possible. In order to ensure his survival his parents make a rudimentary boat of papyrus leaves and pitch and set him a drift in the river. With his sister watching Moses is rescued by pharaoh's daughter and taken into her home. The New Testament comments on this passage Hebrews 11:23 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. This is one of the most important principles in parenting. Moses parents had to realize that their child was in he hands of The Lord. We love our kids and want to provide for them, care for them and protect them. We must however keep in mind that they belong to The Lord who loves them more and has a plan for their lives. We immediately see the hand of God blessing their faith and caring for their child. Pharaohs daughter rescues him from the water and takes him as her own Moses' mother is hired to nurse her son and instill in him the godly principles that will later govern his choices Solomon commented on his when he wrote Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. As parents one of our primary responsibilities is to affect the spiritual development of our kids. Our homes should be theology schools where our children are learning the word and ways of God. In many Islamic homes parents exalt the Koran and that honor for it is transmitted to their kids. It is the first book they receive and they read and discuss it daily. It is not uncommon for a child to have read through the Koran with his parents before they are 8 years old. Parents discuss theology with their children as they make their way to the mosque. It is no wonder that Islam is spreading. We as parents and grandparents must do the same. This is best accomplished when we fall in love with the word ourselves. Exodus 2:11-­‐15 The scene shifts immediately to a time 40 years in the future. Moses is grown and has been grieved by the treatment of the Jews. In what is clearly a rash reaction he kills an Egyptian. When his actions become known he is forced to flee Egypt The New Testament comments on his actions Hebrews 11:24-­‐26 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. Moses made a conscious decision to follow The Lord. He saw the worse part of following Christ as superior to the best the world could offer. Reward influenced his decision. Reward for sin is passing pleasure Reward for suffering is -­‐ Matthew 5:10-­‐12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. In the company of the prophets Isaiah -­‐ According to tradition the prophet was martyred at the time of King Manasseh. According to a 2nd century AD apocryphal work called Ascension of Isaiah, he was sawn in two. This comes from the reference in the book of Hebrews We do know that during his life he Jeremiah – Daniel – Abducted as a teenager, thrown to the lions David – Forced to live in caves Acts 5:41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. In the company of Christ What is that reward -­‐ Revelation 2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Exodus 2:16-­‐22 Moses settles in Horeb, marries, has children and settles into life as a shepherd. This will continue for 40 years Exodus 2:23 is a key verse to understanding the transition of the book Exodus 2:23 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 they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. The process of time refers to the 40 years Moses spent in the wilderness. This time would prove to prepare Moses for the work God was calling him to. Keep in mind Moses' pride was so great he thought he could single-­‐handedly deliver the nation. He would walk in the wilderness to learn humility and obedience to The Lord The process of time also brought Israel to their knees where they would cry out to God. When they cried, He delivered. This is always the way of God. We cry out He raise up an unlikely deliverer He delivers This principle is true when we are facing trials Paul wrote of deliverance when writing to the Philippians Philippians 1:19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Imprisoned in Rome and facing the threat of death, Paul had confidence that when God's people prayed He would provide deliverance This principle is true even when we are bound by the consequences of sin and disobedience The book of judges records a repeated cycle Israel sinned They are taken into bondage They cry out to God God raises up a deliverer The fact that this cycle is repeated 7 times speaks to both the wickedness of man and he amazing grace of God This principle is true in the ministry When the desciples met the demon possessed child and were unable to deliver Him, Jesus elained that certain things cannot be accomplished without prayer and fasting. in other words we must cry out to God for aid