I take a daily nap. I wake up quite early and so around 2pm-ish I tend to run out of steam. So I lay down on the floor in my office, set an alarm, and take 10-12 minute quick nap. It does much to refresh me to finish the day strong. The other day I did this, and I must have been in a deep nap, because I woke up and I didn’t know where I was, who I was, or what I was doing. Anyone ever done that? It was an eery feeling for sure, at least for 5 seconds or so when I came to and realized what was going on.
Now imagine this, imagine waking up one day to find that your government now sees you as a threat—just because of your ethnicity, your family size, and your background. Imagine this was no surreal dream but your new reality. What would you do with that?
Such is the state of Israel in the end of Exodus 1.
Meat:
Last week we began our trek through the book of Exodus, looking at the basics of the book and the beginning of the book. Today we carry on, looking at the rest of chapter 1:8-22. There is much in this passage that will disturb us. But much that will give us hope and peace and rest in the Lord. See first…
Pharaoh’s Fearful Distress (v8-10)
“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too might for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
Right away in v8 we’re told a new Pharaoh has taken over. This means a huge political shift has taken place in Egypt.[1] But though this new king is quite likely the most powerful person on the planet at this time, notice how Moses doesn’t tell us his name? In fact, all throughout this passage we don’t learn his name. Why is this? I think it’s because as powerful and threatening as this Pharaoh will be to Israel…in the grand scheme of things, he’s small news. Yes he’ll do immensely wicked things to God’s people, but compared to God, this king is nothing. We need to remember that. By not giving us his name, Moses is subtly reminding us of that.
Now, the first thing we learn about this new Pharaoh is that he, in v8, “…did not know Joseph.” Does this mean the new king wasn’t aware of Joseph? Or does it mean he once knew of him but has since forgotten about Joseph? No, I think this refers to something else. I think the phrase “did not know Joseph” refers to the new king’s refusal to acknowledge and honor the life and legacy of Joseph in Egypt.[2] The closing chapters of Genesis show us how crucial Joseph was to Egypt’s survival during the great famine. How Joseph was made the right hand of Pharaoh and ruled over all of Egypt. That is not a small deal, Joseph was a foreigner to Egypt and yet he is the one ruling over all Egypt such that only Pharaoh himself was over Joseph? By the time of Joseph’s death you can be sure that his life and legacy was honored and celebrated by Egypt. But what happened in v8? A new king had taken over. A new king comes with not only new policies and procedures, a new king comes with a new agenda. And I think this Pharaoh’s agenda is clear…out with the old and in with new.
What does this mean for Israel? It means they’re no longer a favored and loved people living in peace. They’re now foreigners in a country ruled by one who hates foreigners.[3] Only a Pharaoh bent on tearing down and destroying Joseph’s legacy would commit the wicked acts in the rest of this chapter.
Bottom line: Israel is in trouble. And that’s exactly what we see in v9-10 as the new Pharaoh makes a speech which contains a new kind of anti-Israel rhetoric. He says they’re too many and too mighty, so they now pose a threat to Egypt. And with words that sound all too similar to the builders of the tower of Babel, Pharaoh’s conclusion is “Come, let us deal shrewdly” with them, lest Israel keep growing and join our enemies if war breaks against us. Plain and simple, these are fear tactics.[4] The new king wants to get rid of numerous Israelites, so he changes the rhetoric about them from a peaceful group of foreigners dwelling in Goshen to a hostile nation of foreigners eager to destroy Egypt.
This isn’t all that surprising, is it? Most nations today tend to be afraid of losing power to outsiders, that’s what the new king is doing in Egypt. He’s sounding the alarm in v9-10, carefully crafted to win the hearts of the nation, and begin his campaign of oppression against Israel.[5]
Before we move on, notice the last phrase in v10. Pharaoh wants to deal shrewdly with Israel lest they keep growing, join with their enemies and fight against them, all in order to “…escape from the land”? That seems like a strange motive for Israel doesn’t it? Aren’t they content in Egypt? They’ve been there for years and years, growing slowly but surely under the blessing of God, and now all of the sudden they want to escape? On one hand this doesn’t need to make sense. The new Pharaoh is inventing motives in Israel, saying they’ll do all kind of things they won’t do here in v9-10.
But on the other hand, there’s an issue with the English translation here I want to make you aware of. Most translations say something like “escape from the land”, or “go up from the land” or something like that. The actual Hebrew phrasing here literally reads, “take possession of”, “overcome”, or “overwhelm.” In the other OT places where this same phrasing is used it’s translated like that, but for some reason here it isn’t. Now, if you re-read v10 with that literal meaning, I think we understand Pharaoh’s fear. “Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and…” overwhelm us, or take possession of the land. That is what the new king fears, that is why he sees Israel as a threat, and this is what inspires him to launch an all-out assault on the Israelites. Aiming not just to control their population but to exterminate them from the land.[6]
So we’ve seen Pharaoh’s fearful distress, turn now to v11-22 to see…
Pharaoh’s Cruel Plans (v11-22)
In this back half of our passage we see the cruelty of Pharaoh unfold. But be sure to recognize that it isn’t one grand plan he executes or puts in motion, no. It’s more like after one cruel plan fails, he engineers a crueler plan, followed by more failure, followed by more cruelty. He does this four times, ending with a plan of utter cruelty. This is sadly similar to the slow progression of the Nazi’s plans for the Jews from 1937-1945. They didn’t begin with the Holocaust, but progressively grew in their wickedness until the end.[7] So too is the case here.
Plan #1 in v11, “Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.”
This is Pharaoh’s first attempt to stop Israel from growing so numerous. Because they had grown so much and become such a threat this new king decides to put them to work, afflicting them with heavy burdens. Specifically building the store cities of Pithom and Raamses. How would this reduce the population of Israel? For these cities to be built the men would have to leave their families for long extended periods of times, which would in itself cut down on the conceiving of children. Also, if the men are away building cities for Pharaoh who is going to care for the fields and crops and herds of Israel? Perhaps Pharaoh is thinking by removing the men he’d also be creating something of a food problem also, resulting in the increase of poor health due to the lack of nutrition. Which in turn would create more problems. If the Israelites are getting weaker, they cannot function properly in an Egyptian labor camp, which was a setting where the weak and sick were tossed aside and left for dead. All of this, I think is in Pharaoh’s mind as he brings out the men to build these cities.
But what resulted from this first plan? See v12, “But the more they oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.” Ironic isn’t it? The more Pharaoh oppresses, despite the poor and vexing conditions Israel was enduring, the more they multiply. Pharaoh shows his blindness in this. There is simply no explanation for why Israel would thrive in such conditions. We the readers, on the other hand, know exactly why. God is caring for His people.
What did Pharaoh do in response? He makes plan 2 in v13-14, “So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.”
How hard these verses are to read. It’s as if a chorus of labor reverberates from these two verses, repeatedly emphasizing the increasing brutality of these trials.[8] Bitter slavery, hard service, mortar and brick, all kinds of work, ruthless slaves. These tactics would’ve made those already weak and sick, even more weak and sick, perhaps even causing them to die from the severity. Surely as the following years unfolded there would be a visible diminishing of Israel in Egypt, right? Well, we’re not told of this exactly but it must be implied because something must prompt Pharaoh go from slavery to slaughter.[9] So clearly this second plan was failing to stop Israel from growing, so we see Pharaoh engineer a far crueler plan next.
See plan #3 in v15-16, “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “Would you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”
Hard and bitter labor hasn’t produced Pharaoh’s desired results, so now he goes to murder. But not by his own hand, he asks the midwives to do it. Questions abound around these midwives.[10] One question concerns their own ethnicity. Were they Hebrew or Egyptian? v15 says ‘Hebrew midwives’, but this could also be translated ‘midwives of the Hebrews.’ Their names seem more Hebrew than Egyptian, but if they were Hebrew how could they kill their own people? If they were Egyptian, would they dare disobey their king? Whether they were Hebrew or Egyptian, it would’ve put the midwives in positions of dreadful difficulty.
Another question concerns their number. How could two midwives handle such a vast program of murder for such a vast people? The best explanation is that these two midwives functioned in roles like head nurses, in that they oversaw all the other midwives. Still, two seems like a small number to carry this message to all the others.
Still another question concerns the plan to kill only the boys and not the girls. Here we wonder, if the boys are going to be killed what happens to Pharaoh’s workforce from the next generation? Wouldn’t that undermine his plans? It would indeed. But it seems Pharaoh’s desire to exterminate is greater than his desire to build cities. All in all, if the boys are dead the Israelites cannot reproduce. And like so many other Pharaoh’s in history, it would’ve been likely that this Pharaoh simply would’ve taken all the women for himself.[11]
What resulted from this third plan? See v17-21, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.”
Yikes. As soon as we read that the midwives fear God we know trouble is coming for them. Because of this, they will not render to Pharaoh what belongs to God. Rather than taking life, they protect it. However long it takes for Pharaoh to realize this third plan isn’t working, He does, and calls them before him to explain themselves. And they…what do they do? Do they lie in v19 about the Hebrew women being able to give birth more vigorously than Egyptian women? Some say so. Others do not. There is a lot of debate throughout Church history here (small groups would be a great place to trace through that). All in all, they faced an impossible choice here. I think the text itself is clear on how to view this. In v20-21 God blesses them for their actions, for fearing Him rather than Pharaoh. Thus we learn it is always wise and good to obey God, even if that means disobeying earthly rulers. That’s what the midwives did. They weren’t just eager to defy an earthly king, or even trying to be loyal to the Hebrews, they did what they did because they feared God.[12] So the story of these midwives is not the story of liars but the story of heroic resistance.[13] They’re even named when the Pharaoh isn’t.[14] Again irony is present here. These midwives save families through disobeying Pharaoh, so God rewards them with families of their own.[15]
What does Pharaoh do next? He moves onto an even higher level of dark cruelty. See plan #4 in v22, “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
Here this slaughter of the innocents isn’t told to just two midwives, but to all his officials. Into the Nile all the boys must go, and here chapter 1 ends. Yet, how interesting is it that while Pharaoh tries to destroy Israel through water, later at the Red Sea Israel will be saved through water while Pharaoh and his army are destroyed.
Conclusion:
This chapter is hard to see isn’t it? The cruelty of Pharaoh is hard to stomach. Yet, as hard as it is, I’d like to draw out one grand lesson from it for us today.
Church, there is a gospel pattern to see here. Can you see it? As Moses the deliverer was born into this dark background, so too Jesus our Deliverer was born into a similarly dark background. The lives of both Moses and Jesus are threatened by a ruling king, at first secretly and then openly. Both children are rescued in the nick of time, while other children are slaughtered in a vain attempt to remove the perceived threat.[16]
Lesson? Into our darkness, the light of redemption comes.
This chapter ends with a river running red with the blood of innocent children. It ends with fear, cruelty, and silence from heaven, or so it seems. But what does chapter 2 begin with? A baby’s cry.
Church, this is often how God works. In the darkest moments, He plants the seed of deliverance. When evil shouts loudest, God whispers through faithful midwives, mothers, and ordinary acts of obedience rooted in fear of the Lord. He’s not absent. He’s preparing the way.
You may be in your own “Exodus 1” season—facing injustice, pressure, or suffering that seems unending. But take heart. The God who sees your oppression is the same God who raises up a deliverer.
Just as Moses was born against this dark background of Pharaoh’s making, so too Jesus came against the dark background of Herod’s making. And just as Moses would one day lead Israel out into freedom, so too, Jesus has come to free us…from our sin, our shame, our suffering, and from every Pharaoh this world can throw at us.
Perhaps what the Church needs every now and then is a new Pharaoh who ‘doesn’t know our Joseph’ to remind us where our hope truly is.
So don’t lose hope in the dark. The darker the night, the brighter His redemption will shine. Hold fast. Fear the Lord. And look to our great Deliverer, the Lord Jesus.
[1]Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus – NAC (Brentwood, TN: B&H Publishing, 2006) 62.
[2] Victor P. Hamilton, Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2023) 7.
[3] Stuart, 63.
[4] Hamilton, 8.
[5] Stuart, 64.
[6] Stuart, 65-66.
[7] Stuart, 66.
[8] John I. Durham, Exodus - WBC (Waco TX: Word Books, 1987) 8.
[9] Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory – Preaching the Word Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015) 34.
[10] Ryken, 34-35.
[11] Hamilton, 13.
[12] Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004) 17.
[13] Stuart, 73.
[14] Stuart, 74.
[15] John D. Currid, Genesis 1:1-25:18 - EP Study Commentary (Holywell, UK: Evangelical Press, 2015) 47.
[16] Childs, 21.
