You can turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 1. Exodus chapter 1, God willing, we'll return to Ephesians chapter 1 next Sunday night. Tonight we're going to look at Exodus chapter 1. We have been concerning or considering the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20, their time at Sinai, the giving of the law.
It's good for us to remind ourselves what God delivered them from. The fact that they're at Sinai in chapter 20, out from underneath the tyranny of Pharaoh shows the graciousness and the kindness of our God in what the name of this book is, the Exodus, the departure, the leaving. They were able to leave that place of tyranny and oppression and find safe haven under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty. So I want to read Exodus chapter 1 and then we'll delve into this particular chapter.
Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt. Each man and his household came with Jacob. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin.
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All those who were descendants of Jacob were 70 persons. For Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.
But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty. And the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. And it happened in the event of war that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land. Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Ramses. But the more they afflicted them, 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, 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. Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives of whom the name of one was Shifra and the name of the other Pua. 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. But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but save the male children alive. 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? 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.
Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them. 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. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our God and Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the history of Israel and the great lessons that it teaches us in the New Covenant Church. God, help us to receive Your Word now with thankful hearts. Help us to glean things with wisdom concerning our own situation and grant us grace to glorify You And we stand again amazed at the thought of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, redemption in His blood, and the forgiveness of sins.
We give praise to You that You've not dealt with us according to our sin, nor rewarded us according to our transgression, but You have delivered us. You've delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt. You've delivered the Israel of God and the New Covenant out of the bondage of sin and depravity and slavery to it. We just praise you and thank you and pray now that the Spirit would guide us as we consider your word.
And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, the Exodus takes place, the Exodus proper takes place at 1445 BC. The children of Israel were in Egypt for 430 years according to chapter 12 at verse 40. So they went into Egypt around 1875 BC. Moses was born in 1525, so the children of Israel had been in Egypt for about 210 years as we find them in Exodus chapter 1.
Initially things were good, but obviously things took a turn for the worse. When there was a new pharaoh, a pharaoh who did not know Joseph, and a pharaoh who did not honor previous commitments, On the part of Pharaoh to Joseph, there was persecution, there was oppression, and we see it ultimately redound in genocide, or at least an attempted genocide of the male babies in Israel. So one of the things that leaps out at us is that tyrants hate babies. Tyrants don't like babies.
And it reminded me, sorry, of our own prime minister. After the announcement that Roe versus Wade might be overturned, our prime minister was very quick to tweet. I was kind of watching this. I think it was on Monday, my day off.
I kind of look at such things. And I saw that this drafted opinion from Chief Justice Alito was released. And not long after that, our prime minister tweeted, the right to choose is a woman's right and a woman's right alone. Again, except for vaccination, every woman in Canada has a right to a safe and legal abortion.
We'll never back down from protecting and promoting women's rights in Canada and around the world. In other words, it's not enough that we just murder Canadian babies in the womb. We want to be helpful to murder African babies in the womb. We want to spend money all over the earth in this tyranny and in this oppression of those in the womb.
This morning, I mentioned very gingerly and very cautiously about disciplining your children. Afterwards, after I was sitting home after church, one of the daughters sent a thing from the internet. It says, in America, you can go to jail for spanking your children, but not for killing them. In America, you can go, and Canada by extension, you can go to jail for spanking your children, but heralded as a pro-choice bastion of joy and goodness if you exercise your right as a woman to murder your baby.
Tyrants hate babies. They may have different reasons for why they hate babies, but they hate babies, and Pharaoh certainly was one of them.
Connection with Genesis
I want to look first at the connection with Genesis, verses 1 to 6, and then secondly, the oppression of Israel by Pharaoh. Notice the connection with Genesis, verse 1, starts off now or and. There is a conspicuous connection to Genesis, and everything we find in Genesis is appropriate to our interpretation of the book of Exodus. The beginning of the verse, now or and, and then the 12 sons of Jacob are rehearsed.
Joseph is not mentioned, Joseph was already there, and then we see that Joseph died. Notice as well in verse five, all those who were descendants of Jacob were 70 persons. In Acts chapter seven, Stephen says 75 persons. Some suggest that Stephen got his facts wrong.
Stephen did not get his facts wrong. There was a Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures called the Septuagint. And in the Septuagint, we read 75 persons in Genesis 46 and here in Exodus 1. The Masoretic text, it has 70 persons in both texts, as does Deuteronomy 10.
There are several ways to harmonize this. I would refer you to John Gill, because he does such things very well. But it is certain that Stephen did not make a mistake. It is likely the extra five that are mentioned hinges on Joseph's family.
So there's no discrepancy, there's no contradiction, there's no thought that Stephen messed up in his handling of the word in Acts chapter 7. So we're connected to Genesis, whatever Genesis said concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we see the narrative flows and it continues in the exodus of these same people out of Egypt.
Oppression of Israel by Pharaoh
Now notice, secondly, the oppression of Israel by Pharaoh. Two things particularly here. First, the origin of the oppression in verses 7 to 14, and then secondly, the gravity of the oppression in verses 15 to 22. This was no joke.
This was no walk in the park. This was tyranny. This was totalitarianism. This was government-enforced genocide.
Origin of the Oppression
Notice in the first place, in terms of the origin, the multiplication of Israel. Verse 7, the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled with them. This harkens back to the promise of God to Abraham. In Genesis chapter 12, God had promised Abram that there would be a multitude of descendants that would come from him.
As well, the Lord had promised Abram that his descendants would be imported. he would make Abraham a great name. As well, the Lord had promised Abram that there would be worldwide blessing through his descendants. So this hat tip to that promise in Exodus 1-7 indicates the beginning of the fulfillment of God's promise. There's going to be a lot of people.
They will be a prestigious people. And through this people, I will bless the nations of the world. That's the final leg. The Lord had promised Abram that there would be land given to them and that there would be blessing upon the nations of the earth as a result of this particular covenant. that God instituted with Abram.
Now it would be the seed of Abraham through which the nations of the earth would be blessed. That seed of Abraham, according to Paul in Galatians 3.16, is our Lord Jesus Christ. So you need to read Genesis 12 in that light. It's a promise concerning the coming of the Messiah and the blessing of the nations are associated with that coming of the Messiah.
So 1.7 gives us an indication of the fulfillment of God's promise. Now notice, secondly, the threat posed to Egypt, verses 8 to 10. The new pharaoh did not know Joseph, verse 8. Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph.
He didn't honor any previous agreement that had been made by the previous pharaoh. Joseph was favored very highly, second in command of all of Egypt. Well, obviously, that pharaoh is dead and gone, and the new pharaoh does not honor that prior commitment. Now notice that the new Pharaoh feared the prospect of Israel's rising up against them.
Notice in verses 9 and 10. He said to his people, look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. And it happened in the event of war that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.
Yes, they were certainly concerned that they would go up out of the land, But I think more concerning to them was allied or being an alliance with the enemies of Egypt and collectively them turning against the Egyptians. So the Pharaoh, as far as he is concerned, has a bit of a problem on his hands. He's got to clamp down on a potential rebellion. He's got to clamp down on a potential insurrection.
He's got to make sure that it doesn't happen, that these people gather together and using their wisdom, oppose him and his tyranny. Now
Beginning of Oppression
notice what we find, the beginning of oppression in verses 11 to 14. In the first place, there's a change of status according to 11a. Look at, therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. That's a change of status.
The text doesn't say, oh, by the way, Israel was now treated as slaves, but the text says, oh, by the way, Israel is now being treated as slaves. They had taskmasters appointed over them. There was a change of status. When you rebrand the enemy, it helps you to maintain your program.
It helps you to maintain your policy. And that is precisely what Pharaoh does. He changes their status from freemen onto slaves. Notice as well, the increase of labor, 11b.
It says, and over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh's supply cities, Pithom and Ramses. But notice the ignorance of the Lord. See, Pharaoh thought that if I just burden them with excessive labor and we, you know, lash them with the whip and we treat them as the slaves that they now are, that will definitely distinguish this population growth.
Well, he didn't know Yahweh. Yahweh made a promise that the descendants of Abraham would outnumber the stars in the sky. The descendants of Abraham would outnumber the sand on the seashore. God is not thwarted by a tyrant.
God is not stopped by an oppressor. God is not stopped by a man who tries to persecute and stop the growth of the covenant people of God. So verse 12 says, but the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, and they were in dread of the children of Israel. And then notice in verses 13 and 14, he doesn't turn back from that policy, but he doubles down.
Typically, brethren, this is what we've come to expect. Government doesn't usually back down. Government typically doubles down, and that is precisely what we see in verses 13 and 14. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor, 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. After Moses' first encounter with Pharaoh, he increases the oppression. He increases it by drying up the supplies. They now have to go out and forge for themselves to get the materials necessary so that they can engage in whatever it is they are commanded to do.
He is doubling down on the oppression of these particular people.
Gravity of the Oppression
And that brings us then to the gravity of the oppression in verses 15 to 22.
Pharaoh's Plan of Genocide
Notice in the first place his plan. Verse 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 Pua. We know what he says. He says, kill the boy babies and spare the girl babies.
The increased labor did not mitigate the Israelite population explosion. So he now turns to genocide, a policy of genocide to try to stem the tide of the population growth in Israel. No doubt he wanted to kill the boy babies because they would be warriors. They would be soldiers.
They would be those who find alliance with the other enemies of Egypt and enter into that particular task to oppose Pharaoh. So he wants them dead. He doesn't mind leaving the girl babies alive because they'll exploit them and assimilate them into Egyptian culture. So his program is one of stick.
You've heard that. Sometimes the government uses a carrot to try to entice you to do what you're supposed to do. But then there's the stick if you defy that. Well, he not only never offered a carrot, he's only increasing the size of the stick.
He moves from oppressing them with increased labor, with hardship and agony in that way. And when that doesn't act in the favor of bringing a slowing to that population growth, he turns to genocide. This is the inevitable end of totalitarianism. If you don't learn to love big brother, you're of no use whatsoever.
Either you comply or you are exterminated. This is what Pharaoh does. Now
The Midwives' Response
notice with reference to the midwives, the midwives are obviously the hero of the story or the heroines of the story, the ethnicity of them. Look at verse 15, then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives. These weren't Egyptian women that served Hebrews as midwives. They were rather ethnically Hebrews.
They were Hebrew midwives and they had the task of helping to deliver the babies. Now, the number of midwives. To have that kind of population explosion, they would need more than two midwives. These were probably the leaders of the midwifery guild.
These were probably the two most popular and the ones with the longest pedigree. So Shifra and Pua were representative of the midwives that would serve to help preserve the male babies there in Egypt. And then notice that the names of the Hebrew midwives are given. Why do you think that might be?
Because they were heroes, and we should celebrate such people who take their own lives and risk them for the preservation of the Kingdom of God Most High. When the Lord Christ says, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, how do you think he does that? He does it with the Shifras. He does it with the Puas.
He does it with the John Knoxes. He does it with the Charles Spurgeons. He does it with the Athanasiuses. or the Athanasiai. He does it with the various heroes of the Christian faith who do not love their life, but are willing to put at risk in order to preserve the kingdom of God Almighty.
Shephra and Puah would have been celebrated subsequent to this for what they did in terms of helping to spare these babies. So the Pharaoh's plan is to murder the baby boys and to spare the baby girls, get rid of the future soldiers, keep the girls so that we can exploit them, so that we can use them, so that we can assimilate them into our culture. Now notice the midwife's response in verse 17. Verse 17, but the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but served the male children alive.
But save the male children alive. So they feared God. That tips us in the right direction. However we understand their activity here, we have to understand they did it out of a fear for God.
And then we see Yahweh's response to them. Not only does he not rebuke them, not only does he chase, not chasten them, but he actually rewards them for what they have done in this particular instance. They spared life. They valued the sixth commandment.
They saw that this was murderous, that this was tyrannical, that this was oppressive, that this was satanic. How could they go along with this and willy-nilly just comply with the government if it meant death to male babies? These Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Puah, and all the others that were in that guild certainly ought to be heralded as heroes of the Christian church. They are blessed by God in this.
So the midwives feared God and spared the babies, the male babies specifically highlighted here. The midwives obeyed God rather than men. We have that principle in Acts chapter 4, and we have that principle in Acts chapter 5. When the civil government commands us something contrary to the Word of God, it is righteous to defy them.
To obey the tyrant is to disobey God. to obey the one who is commanding you to do something contrary to God is not right. We must obey God rather than men. That's biblical, that's godly, that's righteous, and that's commended. Now, intriguingly, in the history of the English-speaking world, there is an interesting historical note concerning the Geneva Bible and the King James Version here.
Look at verse 19. Verse 19 tells us, the midwives said to Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian... Oh, back up for just a moment. Verse 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?
Whenever Pharaoh was wandering around through the streets and the cities, he saw blue balloons heralding the birth of baby boys. And he wonders, what's happening here? I thought I gave you specific command to kill the baby boys. I'm seeing blue balloons, I'm getting blue bubble gum cigars, I'm getting inundated with more future soldiers, and this is a concern for me.
Notice their response in verse 19. The midwife 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." Listen to the Geneva Bible, the comment, the Geneva Bible, as you know, came out prior, it was an edition of the scriptures prior to the King James Version. And what you have in the Geneva Bible are study notes. It was one of the first study Bibles.
And you had notes down there that were sort of commentary on the text of scripture. Well, at Exodus 1.19, it says, their disobedience herein was lawful, but their dissembling evil. Dissembling simply means lying. So they exonerate the midwives for sparing the babies, but they condemn the midwives for having lied.
We'll deal with the lie in just a moment. But that first part of their comment on verse 19, their disobedience herein was lawful. Now think about that if you're a monarch in a particular country, and you're fearful that your people might get it in them that they can resist you, or that they can reject you, or that they can actually refuse you. In the modern edition or modern reprinting of the Geneva Bible, there's an interesting note.
From the preface of a modern reprint, it says, the marginal note in the Geneva Bible for Exodus 119 indicated that the Hebrew midwives were correct to disobey the Egyptian rulers. King James called such interpretations seditious. Why do you think that? Because he was just so committed to rightness and justice and lawfulness?
No, he didn't want sedition in his kingdom. He didn't want the Christians to think that they actually had the right to obey God rather than men. This is consistent with tyrants. They want to be God.
They want that authority. They want that power. They want your obedience and fealty. They don't want your good and health.
It goes on to say, the tyrant, King James, knew that if the people could hold him accountable to God's word, his days as a king ruling by divine right were numbered. But Calvin and the reformers defended the clear meaning of scripture against whims of kings or popes. Very good observation. Bit of a difference in terms of the Geneva Bible and the King James Version.
Now, in terms of Pharaoh's question, the midwives respond, and most people take it as a lie. Geneva Bible says they were right to spare the babies, but they were wrong in their dissembling. They were wrong in their lie. So, verse 19, the midwife 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.
I'm not sure that's actually a lie, brethren. I want to read from Matthew Poole, who found his way in the Puritan tradition in the 1600s, and his commentary is this. He says, this might not be a lie, as many suppose, but a truth concerning many of them, and they do not affirm it to be so with all. And so it might be either because their daily and excessive labors join with the fears of the execution of the king's command, whereof they seem to have gotten notice. did hasten their birth, as the same causes do commonly in other women.
Or because they, see what he's saying? Stress, the thought of your male baby being butchered, caused them to go into premature labor. They had their babies without midwives present. I know it's odd, but people have done that in the history of the world.
And then it goes on to say, or because they, understanding their danger, would not send for the midwives, but committed themselves to God's providence and the care of some of their neighbors present with them. So if you're a pregnant woman in Egypt at that particular time and you hear of Pharaoh's new campaign to exterminate male babies, are you going to pick up the phone and call the midwife? Probably not. You're going to say, honey, boil some water, we're going to have a baby.
So here was nothing but truth. Now listen to what he goes on to say. Though they did not speak the whole truth, which they were not obliged to do. I don't want to get into some big ethical discussion tonight, but brethren, we're not obliged to tell every jot and tittle about everything that we know.
There's an instance in Acts chapter 23. In Acts chapter 23, Paul is before the Sanhedrin. And Paul determines that half of them are Pharisees and half of them are Sadducees. Paul is a bright bulb.
Paul understands that if he can garner support from the Pharisees, that will be conducive to him in this particular dilemma. The Pharisees were along the line of Paul in affirming supernatural, in affirming the existence of angels, in affirming that sort of thing. Sadducees weren't. They were more of a rationalist.
They were more of those who denied that. They were the Sosinians of the Jewish leadership guild in the first century. But Paul stands up in the midst of the council, and it says, That's factually true. It is concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am being judged.
But he didn't mention, I affirm Jesus Christ is the Messiah promised by God in Genesis chapter 12 to Abraham. I affirm that Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, is the one who lived, who died, who was raised again for us men and for our salvation. See, he didn't tell every jot and tittle of everything he knew in that particular instance. I don't know of a Bible passage, and I'm hoping to be corrected on this, where we're always required to say every detail about every single matter.
I think Acts 23.6 tells us that's not necessarily the case. So I think that's definitely one way to understand their dissembling or their lie. But as well, the difference between the Egyptian and Hebrew women was not genetic, but rather cultural. If the Hebrew or the Egyptian women were coddled, and they live lives of luxury, and they weren't sturdy and strong because of the rigors of life, then they would have had to have more attention when it comes to birthing. versus a woman who has that rigor of life and that sturdiness of being and is able to engage in such things.
Listen to Gill. He makes this observation. He says, Now, that seems a bit odd, but I've seen it in my own life. When I was born, I was born in 1966.
I think I did a bit of a Google search. In 1970, for instance, typically a woman went to the hospital and she was hospitalized for four days when she had a baby. So for four days, she was in the hospital having had her baby. I'm not judging, I'm simply observing.
You may think, wow, we need that four days. In 2018, my daughter Katie had a baby on Saturday and was in church the next day. Now, that underscores the reality. The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women.
Why do we assume that they lied? Why do we assume that they engaged in dissembling? But on the other hand, even if they did, brethren, it was an act of war. There is subterfuge.
There is the matter of concealment and camouflage. There is the reality of Rahab the harlot in Joshua chapter 2. She lied to protect the spies. But the crime that she actually engaged in was treason.
She didn't mind risking her life in the commission of treason in order to protect those Hebrew spies. And when we come to later revelation, does the Bible, like Geneva Bible 119 and Exodus, condemn Rahab the harlot for her lie? It absolutely positively does not. She makes it into the hall of faith, according to Hebrews chapter 11.
No qualifier, no ethical discussion on what she did there. We really can't condone. So brethren, on the one hand, we're not absolutely convinced that they lied. But on the other hand, is it always wrong to say to the Nazis, no, I don't have any Jews hiding under my floor.
Brethren, there is that pecking order of the preservation of life and the Sixth Commandment. Now, I know ethicists disagree, I know biblical commentators disagree, I know theologians disagree, but I'd like to be able to have some discussion without freaking out and losing our minds. So I maintain that in this instance, that even if they did lie, they were just and legit in doing it. And as I say it, I know that there will be people that disagree with that particular interpretation.
God's Approval of the Midwives
Now notice, the Lord's approval in verses 20 and 21. So we know, like Rahab, again, not only is she in the hall of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, but when James is arguing for a faith that is demonstrable, or faith that is demonstrated by works, Where does he go? He goes to Abraham and he goes to Rahab. How do you know Rahab had genuine faith?
Because of what she did. His argument there is whether you're a patriarch or you're a prostitute, salvation is by grace through faith. That faith is alone, but it doesn't remain alone, but it's always accompanied by all other saving graces. So James commends Rahab the harlot.
The apostle Paul, writing Hebrews, commends Rahab the harlot in Hebrews chapter 11. They don't say, well, you know what they did wasn't right. They don't do that. They simply commend them.
Now notice Yahweh's response to the Hebrew midwives. Verse 20, therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. It doesn't seem like he had any commentary on their dissembling. It doesn't seem like he had to qualify this approval of this particular activity.
They saved babies. They saved little Hebrew boys. They saved them from genocide. Brethren, if that's not an instance of, we must obey God rather than men, I'm not sure I know what is.
The apostles took that mantra when they preached the gospel. They were forbade by the religious leaders of preaching Christ in the city of Jerusalem. That's when they said, we must obey God rather than men. If you go to Saudi Arabia and somebody asks you, tell me about Christianity, I think it's illegal for you to do that, but there's an instance where we must fear God and not men.
And we obey God, we tell them the gospel. Well, in this particular instance, God approves of what they've done. So verse 20, therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
Now if the chapter ended there, we'd say, praise God, He blessed that. The genocidal attempt of Pharaoh was thwarted and stopped. But as we see, that typically doesn't happen. Tyrants are going to tyrannize.
So look at verse 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. Robert Alter comments, he says, despairing of cooperation from the Hebrew midwives in his genocidal project, Pharaoh now enlists the entire Egyptian population in a search and destroy operation. The idea is presumably that the people would be eradicated by cutting off all male progeny while the girls could be raised for sexual exploitation and domestic service. of the Egyptians, by whom they would, of course, be rapidly assimilated.
So again, let's kill the future soldiers, but let's preserve the future prostitutes. Let's preserve the future slaves. Let's preserve the future cooks and bakers. Let's preserve the women.
Stuart says, at this point, the pogrom plan reached its final stage. There was no more subterfuge, no limitation on involvement. All Egyptians were expected to join in killing all Israelite newborn boys. The process of persecution that had begun modestly and had escalated in steps had reached its zenith, a full-blown, open, national policy of large-scale genocide against a particular ethnic group.
See, brethren, we look back in history and we ask the question, how could it have ever happened? How could Nazi Germany have ever happened? It's steps, steps, steps. It typically doesn't happen overnight.
Oh, give us your boy babies because we want to kill them. No, there are steps taken to achieve the particular plan. I'm not trying to alarm anyone. I'm not trying to say this is exactly what we're witnessing.
But we better have our minds in tune that it's not out of the realm of possibility that a government starts to target its own citizenry. And that's what happens here. Initially, they're assimilated in to Egyptian culture. As long as Joseph is around, as long as that pharaoh was around, everything was cool.
But when that pharaoh was gone and a new pharaoh was in place, what does the new pharaoh order? The new pharaoh orders that they now become slaves. The new pharaoh tries to dissuade their population growth by hard work, by more labor, by rigor. When that fails to produce, then he turns to genocide in order to stop the perceived threat that these Israelites present.
Application
In conclusion, Several lessons, and then we'll go.
Providence of God
In the first place, we see the providence of God. The providence of God. Brethren, this did not happen to them outside of the control of God. God was over not only Israel, but he's over Egypt.
God is over all things, and in his providence, from time to time, there is hardship. From time to time, there is affliction. From time to time, there is difficulty, and we see that in this particular instance. It doesn't mean that God is off the throne, that God has forgotten the people of Israel.
It means that God is using this. for His glory and for their well-being. This time of affliction in Egypt should have wrought in their hearts a couple of lessons, should have weaned them from their love of Egypt, and it should have prepared them with gusto to go to the promised land, such that when they're given instructions to flee and to go to that land of Canaan, they would go with great vigor and with great joy. So the providence of God is not always in terms of blessing, at least directly, it's always indirectly, but there is that providence of God when everything's going right, when our jobs are good, our families are good. I mean, typically it's not everything.
There's always a burr in the saddle somewhere in your world, right? There's always, you know, family's good, but this is bad. You know, once in a while the stars seem to align. But in terms of God's providence, this is a tough one. 430 years in this kind of a situation.
Again, initially it wasn't so bad, but then it got really bad. So if they had been 210 years in Exodus chapter one, and they had that additional 200 years left, there's a lot of suffering and a lot of pain and a lot of difficulty.
Wickedness of Godless Government
Secondly, I think something that jumps out from the passage is the wickedness of godless government. Calvin says, if he, Pharaoh, had not been transported with wrath and struck with blindness, he would have seen that the hand of God was against him. But when the reprobate are driven to madness by God, they persevere obstinately in their crimes. And not only so, but like the deranged or frantic, they dash themselves with greater audacity against every obstacle.
What is he saying? He's saying that they're too thick-headed, they're too proud, they're too arrogant, they're too committed to their policy to wake up and smell the coffee and to recognize, hey, maybe I shouldn't launch a full-scale attack upon Israel's God. Maybe I shouldn't try to destroy these little male babies. He doesn't learn that.
Rather, he doubles down in his tyranny, in his oppression, and in his persecution of the people of God.
Courage of the Faithful
Thirdly, the courage of the faithful. the courage of the faithful. Let us dare to be a Shifra and a Pua. I mean, I remember being a Christian and, you know, a young Christian and hearing. I wasn't brought up in a Protestant situation, so I never knew the song experientially as a little kid.
Dare to be a Daniel, I learned it as a, you know, as an older person who had been converted to Christ. But what happened to that? What happened to dare to be a Daniel? What happened to this courage that manifests in the people of God?
Where they don't shrink back, where they don't stop, where they continue to go forward in the fear of the Lord. Shephra and Puah are great models for the church today. Listen to Calvin again. He says, Antichrist, with all his murderous agents, leaves in peace those who by their treacherous silence deny Christ.
He's not going to mess with people who deny Christ, right? He says, "...and are prepared to embrace as slaves every kind of impiety. Neither does he exercise his cruelty, insatiable though it be, where he sees no manliness to exist." He's not going to mess with you if you deny Christ. He's not going to mess with you where there's no manliness.
He says, and he exalts and triumphs as if his end was gained when he perceives any who had some courage in professing their faith fallen into effeminacy and cowardice. You see that? It's another class of people. Initially, they stand tall, but then they fall away because of effeminacy and cowardice.
He's not going to mess with them either. Calvin's point. But how much better is it for us to die a hundred times, retaining our manly firmness in death, than to redeem our life for the base service of the devil? That is a message the church needs to hear today.
It would be better to die a hundred times than to betray our calling as Christ's people in this godless age. I am not suggesting we take up arms and march on Ottawa. I am suggesting, however, wherever we are, we're faithful. Wherever we are, we walk by faith in the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself for me.
That's what it is to be a Christian. And that's what it is to be a Christian in a non-Christian world.
End of Pharaoh's Tyranny
And then finally, with reference to the end of this particular tyranny, obviously the plan of Pharaoh was to exterminate all the male babies. So what happens in chapter 2? There's a male baby that's preserved. There's a male baby that's going to function as the deliverer.
There's a male baby that's going to save his people from their oppressors. There's a lot of parallel between what you see here and what you see in Matthew. You see problems and then you see God's answer. You see issue and then you see solution.
It is he who will save his people from their sins. Moses is God's means to deliver Israel from Egyptian oppression. The preservation by God of Moses to function as the deliverer, and then the promise by God to deal with the oppressors. Look at Exodus chapter four.
Typically, by the time people get to the 10th plague, they're shocked. I don't mean Christian people. I don't mean people that love God. I don't mean people that have the fear of the Lord in their hearts.
Those rightly connected to the Father through the Son in the Spirit. I'm not suggesting they have a problem, but pagans? or false professors or persons who've worked their way through the plagues. As far as the death of the firstborn goes, that's offensive. They don't like that.
The fact that God, Yahweh of Israel, would order the destruction, the execution, the outright devastation of the firstborn of Egypt. Brethren, it's the eye for an eye. It's the lex talionis. Where is that same outrage when Pharaoh is commanding Shiphrah and Puah to exterminate male baby boys?
Where is that outrage when Pharaoh tells his kingdom to go ahead and throw all Hebrew baby boys into the Nile River? Why is the outrage selective? Why is it upon Yahweh who brings justice to bear on a godless generation? What we have is a promise by God as to what he will do in Exodus chapter 4.
Look at verse 21. The Lord said to Moses, when you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart. so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn. So I say to you, let my son go, that he may serve me.
But if you refuse to let him go, indeed, I will kill your son, your firstborn. This wasn't arbitrary, it wasn't capricious, it wasn't on a whim. Yahweh doesn't decide, well, you know, I'll really break the back of their oppression by killing their firstborn. It was announced.
Who is ultimately responsible for continuing down this path of destruction? It is Pharaoh. He was warned. He was told.
He was advised. If you don't let my people go, then God will vindicate his firstborn by executing judgment on your firstborn. The lax talionis, or the law of retaliation, is in play. And then the destruction by God of the Egyptians.
You can turn to Exodus 14. And we'll end on this happy note. Just kidding. Exodus chapter 14, verses 21 to 31, but notice especially verses 30 and 31.
So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt. So the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses.
They saw him act in justice. They saw the demonstration of righteousness. They saw him make good on his promise. If Pharaoh doesn't let my firstborn go, then I will destroy his firstborn.
So they see that, they witness that. Now, what is their response to that? Oh boy, our God, he's capricious. Oh boy, our God, he's arbitrary.
Oh boy, our God, he's a bit vicious and unkind toward the pagans. No, they engage in the song of Moses. Look at chapter 15. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang the song to the Lord and spoke, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.
They don't respond like so many Christians today who are embarrassed by God. Oh, oh yeah, he did engage in that activity. But you know, in the new covenant, he's not like that. He doesn't destroy the firstborn in Egypt.
He's a much kinder and a gentler version of what he used to be. There are Christians that do not own and do not embrace the judgment of God. That, brethren, is unimaginable in my mind. Look at how these people rejoice at God's judgment over His people.
And in case you think it's just this sort of vague, nebulous, oh, we just generally beseech you or praise you for the fact that you triumph gloriously. It's sort of like what Paul does in Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father, and here's why. So they say, I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously.
Let's get the details. Let's get the specificity. How did He triumph gloriously in this affair? The horse and its rider.
He was thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him. My father's God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name." Again, an embarrassment to so many today that profess the name of Christ. Brethren, we want the Lord to be a man of war. We want 1 Corinthians 15.
We want to read that the foot of Christ or the reign of Christ must obtain until he makes all of his enemies his footstool. That doesn't shock the people of God. That doesn't make us cry. That doesn't trigger us.
It causes us to rejoice. You mean there's a day coming when God shall avenge His own elect who cry to Him day and night? There is a day coming when He's gonna vindicate? There is a day coming when He's gonna throw the vile reprobate into the lake of fire?
Yes. And instead of praising Him, and instead of rejoicing in Him, we oftentimes apologize for Him. We're sorry that our God gets his hands bloody. Notice what it says, verse 4.
Pharaoh's chariots and his army, he is cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them. They sank to the bottom like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power. Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of your excellence, you have overthrown those who rose against you. You sent forth your wrath.
It consumed them like stubble. And with the blast of your nostrils, the waters were gathered together. The floods stood upright like a heap. The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. Look at that.
Isn't that what they do? In their proud arrogance? In their haughtiness? In their wickedness?
Listen to that. I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil.
My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them. You blew with your wind.
The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Now look at the theology here. Look at them ponder.
Look at them speculate. Look at them muse and reflect upon this God, the God of Israel. Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them. You in your mercy have led forth the people whom you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.
The people will hear and be afraid. Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed. The mighty men of Moab, trembling, will take hold of them.
All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. Fear and dread will fall on them. By the greatness of your arm, they will be as still as a stone. Till your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, whom you have purchased, you will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which you have made for your own dwelling.
The sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established, the Lord shall reign forever and ever. For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. See, they weren't like the 21st century church.
We're sorry if our God offends you. We're sorry if our God does some things that are untoward as far as you're concerned. Brethren, we're never called to defend God. We're never called to apologize for God.
We're never called to vindicate God. God makes sure He does that on His own. We take His Word, we preach His Word, we live according to His Word, and we be faithful to His Word. Be a shifra, be a pua, be a person who walks by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and who gave Himself for us.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for the various lessons in this particular chapter of Holy Scripture. We ask God in heaven that you would encourage our hearts with the reality that you are sovereign, that you are over all things, and that your providence is all comprehensive. This is such an encouragement to the people of God.
As we sang before the preaching, the Lord will provide. We have that confidence in good times and in bad times. in times that we abound, and in times where we are afflicted, we know that nevertheless, you are with us, and you guide and direct us, and you have promised to keep and preserve us unto that new Jerusalem. We ask now that you would go with us, bless us in this coming week, and be glorified in the lives of your people in this local church. And we pray through Christ our Lord.
Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.