LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Protection
Out of Egypt
Exodus 1:1-14
The Message
"A New King . . . Who Didn't Know Joseph"
1-5 These are the names of
the Israelites who went to Egypt with Jacob, each bringing his family
members: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
Seventy persons in all generated by Jacob's seed. Joseph was already in Egypt.
6-7 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers—that whole generation. But the children of Israel kept on reproducing. They were very prolific—a population explosion in their own right—and the land was filled with them.8-10 A new king came to power in Egypt who didn't know Joseph. He spoke to his people in alarm, "There are way too many of these Israelites for us to handle. We've got to do something: Let's devise a plan to contain them, lest if there's a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us."
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
Seventy persons in all generated by Jacob's seed. Joseph was already in Egypt.
6-7 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers—that whole generation. But the children of Israel kept on reproducing. They were very prolific—a population explosion in their own right—and the land was filled with them.8-10 A new king came to power in Egypt who didn't know Joseph. He spoke to his people in alarm, "There are way too many of these Israelites for us to handle. We've got to do something: Let's devise a plan to contain them, lest if there's a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us."
11-14 So they organized
them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under gang-foremen. They
built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the harder
the Egyptians worked them the more children the Israelites had—children
everywhere! The Egyptians got so they couldn't stand the Israelites and
treated them worse than ever, crushing them with slave labor. They made
them miserable with hard labor—making bricks and mortar and
back-breaking work in the fields. They piled on the work, crushing them
under the cruel workload.
For Reflection
Life was good. Then the inevitable occurred. A new king changed everything. I suppose Jacob's descendants were fat, happy and complacent. But to stay in Egypt was not God's plan. They would never leave the land of comfort on their own. They had to have a compelling reason. What could be more compelling than to escape slavery?
Realizing the promise of God is not always easy. Faith is often challenged. What do you do when thing change for the worst?
Pray
for hope in an uncertain future. Pray that you maintain faith in your God even when His presence seems hidden. Pray that you will find comfort in God's faith in you.
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