Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt
1:1 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.
Pharaoh Oppresses Israel
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.
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When 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.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 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.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 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.” (ESV)
8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
Wow. That’s just sad. How could someone NOT know about him? You would think that Joseph would be remembered by the Egyptians, but apparently he wasn’t. Unfortunately for the Isrealites, this new king doesn’t like the fact that there are a ton of little baby Hebrews being born. So he tells the midwives to kill all the baby boys. But they don’t listen to him, because they know that God doesn’t want them to kill them. And God protects them, and blesses (<–is that spelled right?) them. So the king passes a new law. Now they have to throw all the baby boys into the Nile. Doesn’t seem like this is going to be good for the Isrealites. But, little do they know that one of their greatest leaders will be born during this time, and will lead them to the land promised to their forefathers. (if you couldn’t figure it out, i’m talking about Moses)
Nice summary M@x. Check these faithful widwives out in v21: And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. They were willing to risk their lives by defying Pharoah but feared God more and were rewarded! I want to live that way today!
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
Sweet, the start of exodus!!Important info in these three verses. Josephs generation died!!, however, fortunately, the Israelites were fruitful and became big in numbers. The a new king, who was unaware about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. Then vs. 11-13, the Israelites work ruthlessly because the new king was afraid they would revolt against him. Then, every new baby boy must be thrown into the Nile (vs.22) but all baby girls can live!!! Wow!
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
The Hebrew midwives showed that they feared God and not man. When the king issued them the order to kill the male babies they delivered they knew that they could be killed if they disobeyed. Despite this threat to their lives they chose to do the right thing and save the babies’ lives. In verse 21 we see that God rewarded these women by giving them families of their own. God is so good, He saved their lives and blessed them with children. These women had great faith and it is inspiring to me. My prayer today is that I would be reminded of the great faith of the Hebrew midwives and remember that it is God alone who I must fear! What can man do to me outside of God’s will…nothing!
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
It was sad that Egypt’s new ruler after Joseph and that generation died off that he didn’t know them and why so many Isrealites were there. So the Egyptians put the Israelites to slaves, and Israelites are trying to leave and that is why this book is called Exdous meaning “exit”
13 and worked them ruthlessly.
14 They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
kinda of reminds me of the Holocaust, about how both people were ruthless to them.
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Because the midwives feared God, God rewarded them, he gave these women a family of their own. We need to fear God, because fearing God makes us not sin as much.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
So this is how Noah gets thrown into the Nile!
5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
It’s so awesome to see how God is keeping His promises to Abraham and Jacob! Remember Genesis 35:11-12–”And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
I’m praising the Lord for how He was faithful to make this nation just as He said and also praising Him for being that same God today in keeping the promises He has made to me in His Word!
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
The Hebrew midwives knew that it would be sinful to kill the babies born to the Israelites. Therefore, they ignored the orders of the Pharoah because they feared the Lord more the the potential repercussion of man. These women chose to obey the Lord no matter what the cost to their own lives. Do we fear the Lord? Do we choose obedience when it can cost us our reputation or our comfort? I pray that I will always choose to obey the Lord and fear him rather than fearing man.
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
That choice could have cost these women their lives! But they knew that God was more powerful than any king. As Jim Elliot once said, “It is no great thing to lose what you cannot keep to gain what you cannot lose.” But God protected the midwives after all!
I can understand that the King of Egypt didn’t remember Joseph – hadn’t it been like 400 years? But that he would think he could tell the Israelite midwives to kill the babies they helped deliver is just dumb. Of course they wouldn’t do it! But it’s cool to see that they still feared God after being in slavery for so long and not really hearing from him all that time. All during that time, the Israelites were relying on God’s promise to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to make them into a great nation. They didn’t have the Bible yet, just a promise. I hope we will be faithful to God because of the many promises he’s given us.
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
Wow! The fear of God is what motivated these midwives to abide by the law of God (the Bible) and not do what they felt like doing or what the King was telling them to do!! Do we fear God that much to go against the grain and do what is right rather than what the culture tells us to do??
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8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.
10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
These are some tough times for the Israelites. The new king has no memory of Joseph and out of fear decides to bring God’s people into slavery. It will be around eighty years before Moses is called by God to bring relief to His people. Wow, that is a long time! It makes me feel a little convicted knowing that after experiencing a hard couple of weeks I can sometimes find myself in the middle of a major pity party. I love God’s faithfulness in verse twelve. The more the Israelites were oppressed the more they multiplied. God’s promise is still at work in the lives of His people, how awesome is that! I pray that when I find myself confused about my circumstances and my hope begins to fade that I will trust in God’s never-ending faithfulness to see me through the tough times.
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
This verse totally stuck out to me! These woman truly knew what it meant to fear God. They would rather go against the kings orders then suffer the consequences of God. It also was awesome, like Beth said, that GOd blessed them for their obedience and fear. I think that its crazy that these women went against the kings orders when they knew that they could easily be killed, but we wont talk to the ones we love about God. We need to fear God more then men like these women!!
5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
TADA!!! God kept his promise again when he said that they would be fruitful and that he would have many descendants. We ALWAYS need to remember that God is all powerful and will keep his promises without a doubt. I mean He created this world and everything in it and so keeping a promise for Him is probably really easy.
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
This verse and the verses following it is pretty amazing to see that women of God feared God more than Pharaoh and they knew that God would protect them. Like what Bre and Beth said we need to be God fearing and not be afraid of what man says or what man can do. :]
***REMEMBER: God is always there and He always will be and even in the scariest of times He will protect, guide, and love us! :]***
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
I love this it shows they feared and trusted God, even though they could have gotten killed doing so. This puts me to the test of fearing God more.
And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
The midwives truly had the fear of the Lord and knew who was above all. If we should fear anyone it should be God, he gives us life and can take our life, and our reverance and obedience to His commands should be above all. It is great to see that these midwives, who were faithful and loyal servants of the Lord, were rewarded with their own families. God appreciates when we don’t give into this world and stay loyal to Him.
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
The midwives were obedient to the Lord and he blessed them for it. It must have been hard in their situation to go against Pharaoh’s commands. But God was more important to them and obeying Him came first. This was so encouraging to me. I pray that I never fear man but fear God alone!
Psalm 25:12-14
12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
13 He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
14 The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM IT IS SO GOOD TO BE BACK ON HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I missed it dearly! And Genesis was AWESOME! The last days of Jacob and Joseph were uber intense! But now to get digging into Exodus!
One can take so much from this chapter! God gives us so many lessons and it’s totally awesome to grow through His Word! And like many of you have said, I love how God keeps His promises! He’s perfect, He’s not gunna lie to Abraham. This chapter is just proof that God is fulfilling what He had told Him many years back. And look at how the pharaoh reacts! He’s scared of the Israelites because they grew so much in number! Now I think of it this way. We, as in all other Christians out there, should be so on fire for God that people would fear the Lord! They would be afraid of us because we have God on our side! We should reanalyze our lives and see, Are people really afraid of us?
Oh! And this reminded me of Joseph! All these bad things are happening to the Israelites just as it did for Joseph. But God led all these horrible things turn out to be good. He takes them out of Egypt and rescues them from all their troubles, just as he did for Joseph. God is faithful and will NEVER leave us. This just brings me closer to God!
And the fear that the midwives have!!!!! I pray that I may have that same fear of the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (oh and Max, you spelled “blesses” right.)
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
As many have already said, this verse completely stood out to me as I was reading today. The midwives so such a great example of what it is like to fear the Lord. They showed so much fear that they were willing to disobey the Pharoah’s commands. We as Christians should also have an unednding and constant fear of the Lord like these women did.
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
I really liked this verse! This is uplifting to see how the midwives feared God more than Pharaoh and let the boys live! This is such a great reminder to fear the Lord more than man!
Wow…..the fact that God was feard by the midwives enough to let all the boys live is amazing……
Yes! EXODUS!!!
Already we’ve gone from the family of Israel to a nation. God is being faithful to his promises and multiplying Abraham’s descendants. Sorry Pharoah, but you can’t touch this!
Like many of you have pointed out the midwives are a great example of fearing God more than men. Here’s a verse from Jesus on that same subject:
Matthew 10:28 – Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.
These verses made me think of how God protected and blessed them during this time! If Pharaoh had found out that they were saving the boys against his command, they would have been killed! But the Lord protected and blessed them because they obeyed him! What can man do to us if we have God on our side?!? NADA! This should cause us to be fearless in the Lord and to obey his commands each day!
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Even when there are opressive times, God rewards those who are faithful. We need to keep Him in focus at all times, even when things are looking bleak
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Even though the midwives were afraid God gave them a family for them to raise on there own. It shows how gracious God is, those who feared and belived in him ended up with a family that was provided by God.
Matt Crane:
Wow I am sto excited to read this book with all of you on sotd! This chapter is a direct answer to the dream that Abraham I think had in Genesis! This just makes me think about all the things that God said he would do and he actually did it! And I look forward to the exodus with moses and the intire israelite nation!
Tyler Moore:
And now where in Exodus!! It’s awesome that God protsected them when the Egyptians wanted all the maidservants to kill the males. He also protected them from if the Pharoh would have have found out, he would have had them killed. It’s awesome how God could protect us from things like these (although something like this wouldn’t happen now a days).
Matt Lawler:
They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly
The Israelites, despite having to be in captivity, were still God’s people so no matter what the Egyptians tried to do to ruin them God still continued to bless them. When we are put to the test we should remember to keep our eyes on God and not stray in hard times.
Austin Payne:
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
God fufilled his promised to have the Israelites prospered even though it was after Joseph’s time. God always fufills His promises
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
This is one of those fear God, don’t fear men moments. The midwives new that it wasn’t God’s will for them to murder the babies so they obeyed God and didn’t fear what pharaoh could do to them. We need to have this same lack of fear for men and the same fear for God…
10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
We’ve all heard about the story of moses and the israelites , but this is why the whole thing actually happened! The horrible plauges and deaths happened because of fear and worry. Remember GOD tells us not to be anxious about anything! We don’t have to worry any more!
17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
I love this verse, it’s such a good reminder of how to fear God over men. I like how the midwives knew it wouldn’t be right to kill a baby for no reason, and even though that’s what they were told to do, they stuck to their faith and were making a good decision. No worldly decision will ever succeed the ones that we make to folow the right path of living for God.
12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
It’s no surprise, but this passage again shows that God is keeping his promise to Abraham. Nothing man does can stop God’s will. They thought they could stop the Israelites- even attempted to kill the baby boys! That seems pretty extreme and still didn’t work! I praise God that He is powerful and faithful!
shout out to shelby and angela for being on sotd!!
17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
The midwives faith in God gave them courage to take a stand for what they believed in.
like shelby said, we need to fear God NOT man!
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
God rewards those who have the right perspective and do the right thing. The midwives knew that killing the boys would be wrong and they took a great risk in defying Pharoh’s decree. However, it was the right thing to do and their actions demonstrated that they feared God more than man. Often the right thing to do is not the most convient thing or the path of least resistance, but it is what we are called to do. It is comforting to know that God is good and blesses the home of the righteous (Proverbs 3:33)
yeah..shout out to cristina brower and lauren stebbins!!!!!
I also cant agree more with cristina, I think it is great how the midwifes didnt kill the baby boys being born for they new the word of go’s was against it. 17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. They fear god and not men, like pasture Bobby said that we should not fear men for they can only take away our body yet God can take away our body and soul!
Second i wanted to comment on what angela said about how on verse, 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own, of how God gave them a family of there own because the feared him and believed in him.
God gave the midwifes a family to
God bleesed the midwifes with
sorry about the last two lines i dont know what happened.
Great comments everyone
The fear of the Lord is so cool! It inspired the midwives to do a glorifying deed for God and let the Hebrew boys live, even against the direct command of Pharoh! Hopefully, God in His infinite grace will give us that same fear and understanding of who He is so that He can use us to do great things for Him too! God is so Amazing!
Wow i do not like this Pharoah guy too much but its awesome how the people feared God so much that they were risking their lives in order to do whats right! Thats a prime example of how our daily lives should be
In this chapter of EXODUS we can find a great example of fearing God. The midwives knew that Pharoah had the power to kill their bodies, but God has the power to eternally kill their souls. I want to live like this. Fearless of what people will do to me, and trusting fully in God for all things.
Alright, onto a new book…Exodus!!
17.) The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
Mmmmm, what a great example to all Christians here, to be fearing God over man!!
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
Like many have said already…. its awesome how these midwives feared God rather than Pharaoh. Is amazing how God preserves His nation through these times! I am excited to read on to see what happens!!
God is too awsome, the Egyptians became dreadful and scared of the Israelites! no matter what happened, the Israelites grew and multiplied. In the same way, we should be like this! If we prayed for a Revival in the high schools of Orange County, non-Christians are going to become scared of us and like persecute us or something almost-lethal or other. Life in America is too sweet; we have the stuff we need, and there isnt really any persecution here because its “all good, hugs and hi-5s” and all that stuff. At smallgroups I remember Nick saying on how this girl got burned ALIVE in china, i think, because she talked about God. THAT right there is intense, isnt it? REVIVE Orange County!!
I also agree with what most of what you guys said on how this chapter is a great example on fearing God. We shouldn’t be afraid of what people will think of us once we evangelize and tell them about God.
wow! Christa, Julia, Angela, Shelby, Christina,Lauren. S, Savannah! Shoutout to Capo SM Girls!
7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
I thought that it was pretty amazing how Israel grew so quickly. It wasn’t like they were already a nation or group of people, Israel was only Jacob’s family descendants. But God had given a promise to make Abraham into a great nation, and here He fulfills it. We have no reason to ever doubt God, but must instead trust Him by obeying His commands.
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
as its been said before, God takes his glory seriously and appreciates it when we fear Him for who He is, what He’s done, and because he has everything under control. God’s plans cannot be thwarted so we can rest in the fact that God will take care of everything else if we seek Him above everything else (matthew 6:33)
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Wow, just trust in the lord and put your faith in him he can do amazing things. That’s what the midwives showed us in this passage. To not fear man but fear God and obey in him. So lets not be fearful towards man but be fearful towards God because he loves us too much and want’s us to do his will.
Im sooo happy to be on SOTD again! Yay! And im sooo excited for worship night 2morrow! Can’t wait!
Haha this no longer on Feb 20th but I wanted to get it in before bed.
Ah dang it, my mom’s telling me to get off! Gr! That’s what I get for procrastinating…
I love this chapter because the midwives showed that they feared God. Because of that, God blessed them. We all can take note of that for our own lives!
7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt
17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
I think it is amazaing how quickly Israel grew in size. And the midwives feared God not man and thats amazing for we sould all fear God and not man.
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
In order to fully obey God’s commandments all of the time, we must fear him. We must understand who he is and how great he is and fear his punishment if we do not obey. God will reward us for our obedience, so we should work for it.
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
so i didn’t get a chance to do this fri. but i think that it’s really great that the midwives disobeyed the king because they knew what was right. They didn’t fear the king but feared God. And that’s what really matters. Too many things we fear other people and what they say and think of us but we should really fear God. In the end, God blessed them for their obedience.
hi kelly
))
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
i like this verse because they feared God over Pharaoh. however they must have feared him a little because they lie to him and say the midwives were to late and they had had thier baby before they arrived.