Exodus 1:1-14

1These are the sons of Jacob who went with their father to Egypt, each with his family: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5Joseph was already down in Egypt. In all, Jacob had seventy direct descendants.
6In time, Joseph and each of his brothers died, ending that generation. 7But their descendants had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so quickly that they soon filled the land. 8Then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. 9He told his people, "These Israelites are becoming a threat to us because there are so many of them. 10We must find a way to put an end to this. If we don't and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country."
11So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves and put brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down under heavy burdens. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. 12But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more quickly the Israelites multiplied! The Egyptians soon became alarmed 13and decided to make their slavery more bitter still. 14They were ruthless with the Israelites, forcing them to make bricks and mortar and to work long hours in the fields.


Points of Interest:

• This first passage sets the historical context into which Moses is born, explaining who his family is and what the political situation in Egypt is.

• ‘these are the sons of Jacob who went with their father to Egypt’—Jacob, also known as Israel, is the grandson of Abraham. Abraham and his wife Sarah were given some amazing promises from God: they would be the ancestors of a great nation; that nation would possess the land of Canaan (present day Israel and Palestine); and through their descendants all the nations of the world would be blessed. Jacob inherits these huge promises from his grandparents, but the reality of his life is much more modest. Jacob’s twelve sons would eventually be the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel, but during their own lifetimes they are simply a small band of nomadic herders who eventually leave Canaan to escape a famine and settle in Egypt.

• ‘a new king came to the throne’—we don’t know exactly who this Pharaoh is, but we have strong reason to believe that what is being described here is a change of dynasty, not just the succession of a father by a son. Around the 16th century B.C. (which is generally thought to be when Moses lived), Egypt was temporarily ruled by a group of foreigners known as the Hyksos. This ‘new king’ is probably either the first of the Hyksos kings or the first of the native Egyptian ruling class after they regained control (Bible Background Commentary 77). Apparently, the Israelites were considered too loyal to the previous rulers to be trusted by the new regime.

• ‘who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done’—Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, had become, through an amazing set of circumstances, prime minister of Egypt; it was his wise policies that saved Egypt from the devastating effects of the famine that drove the rest of Jacob’s family out of Canaan. In reward for Joseph’s success, when Jacob’s family first arrived in Egypt, they were welcomed as honored guests and even given their own land, a region called Goshen (Goshen, rather than the entire land of Egypt, is probably what is meant when v. 7 says that the Israelites soon filled ‘the land’). But the passage of time (it’s been about 400 years since Joseph) and the changing political situation (see above) see their status changed from privileged guests to dangerous foreigners.

• ‘They forced them to build’—as is still apparent today from the incredible, massive pyramids, the Egyptian rulers liked to engage in huge building projects. They generally provided labor by using prisoners of war or by placing a tax on the time of their citizens; but when that proved insufficient, they would conscript the labor of unprotected minorities (Bible Background Commentary 77)

Taking it home:

• For you: God’s promises to Abraham were a long time in coming; in fact, in this passage it seems like they are moving even farther away from ever being fulfilled. Have you received a promise of God that’s been a long time in coming? Maybe it’s been so long that you’ve forgotten it, or that you don’t dare to believe it anymore. Or maybe it seems to be getting farther and farther out of reach. Take a moment to remind God of his promise, and to ask him to fulfill it.

• For your six: We see from this passage that Moses’ story doesn’t start with him. He is born into a heritage. It’s a heritage of promise from God, and one of barriers in the way of receiving those promises. This is true of your six as well: almost certainly, they have some heritage of relationship with God and blessing from him in their family histories; and just as certainly, there are circumstances and people in their family histories that have kept them away from God. Bring the family histories of your six to God’s attention. Ask him to make any blessing from God that runs in the family bear fruit in the lives of your six; and ask him to remove anything that has historically kept their families away from the good things he has for them.

• For our church: As we share our space with another congregation, it could be tempting to our neighbors to view us with suspicion, or at least as a nuisance. Pray that God would make us instead a source of blessing for our neighbors—like Joseph was to the Egyptians. And pray for harmonious relationships between us and our neighbors.