Faves of Dave - Bible Study

Ex. 1:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 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.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 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.

Do you remember how the book of Genesis opens? God, who was present at the beginning of time, created everything. It’s simple and direct, but it creates the setting for the story of Creation, and the lone character in the story at this point is God. Then, verse 2 reveals a conflict; the earth was formless and void, and it was dark. What makes a story a story is the plot, which reveals how that conflict will be resolved.

Exodus is also a story within a greater story setup in Genesis. The book of Genesis has the reader looking for the “Seed of the woman” who will resolve the problem of sin and death by crushing the serpent's head. (Gen 3:15) As Genesis unfolds, we find that God chooses a man named Abram (later Abraham) and makes a covenant promise to him and his descendants to bless them, give them land and innumerable descendants, and they will be a blessing to the nations. God promised that he would bless those who blessed Abraham and curse those who cursed Abraham. Oddly, God also told Abraham that his descendants would someday be in a foreign land and oppressed for four hundred years, but that God would remember his covenant, deliver them out of bondage, and bring them back to the land which God had promised to them.

At the end of Genesis, we read about how God used Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph to be a blessing to the nation of Egypt as well as his family by managing the grain stored up in preparation for seven years of great famine that God had revealed in a dream to Pharaoh, which Joseph interpreted. Up to this point, and through the introduction to Exodus, the covenant promise is working out positively. Abraham’s grandson Jacob (Israel) and his family are in a foreign land. But there is a mutual blessing happening. Egypt has been blessed because the Israelites were welcomed, and God has caused the Israelites to thrive.

But we are soon introduced to a conflict. Joseph had died, and the Pharaoh who knew the history had died, and a new Pharaoh who “did not know Joseph” came to power. (Ex 1:8) The conflict develops quickly. Ignorance led to fear. Fear developed into paranoia. The paranoia led to the bias against and oppression of the Israelites. Now, we see how God’s warning to Abraham is coming to reality. Soon, we will see exactly how far removed this new Pharaoh is from the one who trusted God’s revelation as interpreted by Joseph. As a result, we will read how faithful God is to his word.

So, what might we gain from this brief introduction to the conflict of the Exodus story? I don’t think one has to try too hard to recognize that what occurred in the mind of this new Pharaoh happens in individuals today. Ignorance of what God has done in the past can lead to fear and bias against God and other people. Perhaps it doesn’t lead to such extreme actions in every case. But when we live in ignorance, fear, and some measure of paranoia, we may alienate ourselves from others to whom God may want us to be a blessing. As the story of the Bible continues, the Israelites will be instructed to set up memorials that will evoke questions from later generations and create opportunities to pass on the stories of God’s faithfulness to his promises. The God of the Bible makes Himself known, and we must remember that He is a God who keeps the promises He makes and wants to bless those who follow Him.

Exodus 1:1–7

[1] These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: [2] Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, [3] Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, [4] Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. [5] All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. [6] Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. [7] But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. (ESV)

Prior to our study through the four-chapter letter from the apostle Paul to the Christians at Philippi, we walked through Genesis, the first book of the Bible. I believe that while we can be served by studying any book of the Bible, it is valuable not to bounce around too much so as not to forget that the rest of the Bible is heavily dependent upon the context set by the book of Genesis.

Yes. Genesis has many stories and personalities that are interesting in and of themselves. These stories tell us about God and humanity alike. However, unless we read the rest of the Scriptures with a healthy understanding of Genesis, we’ll miss a lot. The opening verses of Exodus remind us of important things revealed in Genesis and prepare us for what is about to be revealed.

If I were to summarize key points of Genesis, it would look as follows:

The God of the Bible is eternal, good, powerful, and loves both justice and mercy. We see the eternal existence, power, and goodness in the first few chapters of the Bible. God created humanity for a relationship with him and with others. God provided an abundance of provisions for his creatures. God is the authority of right and wrong. There are consequences of violating God’s commands. Yet we find God consistently showing mercy and hope. This is most evident in the promise of a “Seed” of the woman who would someday crush the head of the serpent and death itself. As Genesis unfolds, we read about different people who make us wonder for a little bit if they are that “Seed.”

God chose and called a man named Abram (Abraham), who did not know Him, to trust Him and follow a command to leave his home with his family and go to a land that God would show him. Abram did. God made a covenant promise to bless him, give him a great land, and innumerable descendants. That covenant promise was passed down to his miracle son, Isaac, and then to his grandson, Jacob (later named Israel). The covenant included a revelation by God to Abraham that his descendants would someday be enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years. However, God promised that He would remember His covenant and deliver the people from that bondage back to the land of promise. Genesis concludes with all of Jacob’s family in Egypt, a foreign land.

So, the first seven verses of Exodus connect what is about to happen with what has been revealed before. We believe that Moses is the human author of the first five books of the Bible. So, Exodus is not so much the second book as it is the second volume of what Moses has to write. We also believe that Moses wrote this five-volume work at the end of his life. Who is Moses? We’re about to find out. For the time being, we are told the names of each of Jacob’s sons who represent the twelve tribes. Everyone of Jacob’s family is in Egypt.

The next thing we’re told is that each of those children died. This is a reminder that the effects of sin, which began in Genesis 3, are still at play. People die because of the sin of humanity. The Seed has not yet come and crushed the head of the serpent, who was chiefly responsible for the deceit and temptation that led the first people to disobey God.

Then, verse 7 reports that their descendants had multiplied greatly and were strong. Why does Moses write this? To show us that God had been faithful to His covenant promise to greatly increase Abraham’s descendants and bless them. This is a central theme throughout the Scriptures: God is faithful to His word.

Let’s keep this in our minds this week. Even as we hear, see, or read about injustices in the world, let us be reminded that God wants what is good for us, that God is both just and merciful, and that God is faithful and will be faithful to those who, like Abraham, hear his call and trust Him.

Episode 343 - "The New King Did Not Know Joseph" - Exodus 1:8-14

Episode 342 - God is faithful to his covenant promises - Exodus 1:1-7