Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation,
but the Israelites were prolific and increased greatly; they multiplied and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them. Exo 1:6-7
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Nation Israel Delivered and Organized
ISRAEL IN EGYPT, Exodus 1:8-12:36
1. Oppression, Exodus 1:8-22
1.What was the first move in the new policy to repress Israel?
ISRAEL INCREASES GREATLY IN EGYPT
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
Dan and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
All the descendants of Jacob were seventy people; Joseph was [already] in Egypt.
Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation,
but the Israelites were prolific and increased greatly; they multiplied and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.
Pharaoh Oppresses Israel
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph [nor the history of his accomplishments].
He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us [they greatly outnumber us].
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they will not multiply and in the event of war, join our enemies, and fight against us and escape from the land.”
So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And the sons of Israel built Pithom and Raamses as storage cities for Pharaoh.
But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites.
And the Egyptians made the Israelites serve rigorously [forcing them into severe slavery].
They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar, brick, and all kinds of field work. All their labor was harsh and severe.
THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AFFLICTED
The buried seed began to bear an abundant harvest, notwithstanding the efforts of Pharaoh and his people. The kings of the earth take counsel together to thwart the divine purpose. They might as well seek to arrest the incoming tide. The days of persecution and opposition have always been the growing days of the Church.
The new king probably belonged to a great dynasty, intent on preventing the recurrence of shepherd domination. The first move of the new policy was to embitter Israel’s existence by cruel bondage. The pictured walls of the Pyramids bear witness to sufferings inflicted on slaves of a Hebrew cast of face by taskmasters armed with whips. Pharaoh and his counselors had to learn that they were not only dealing with a subject nation, but with the Eternal God.
Comments by
WILLIAM MACDONALD
Believers Bible Commentary
On
Exodus 1:1-14
I. ISRAEL’S BONDAGE IN EGYPT (Chap. 1)
1:1-8 The first words of the book, “Now these are the names” (Heb., we–lleh shemôth), constitute the title of Exodus in the Jewish tradition. How personal God is! Not numbers or notches in a computer card, but names. Jesus said of the Good Shepherd, “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (Joh 10:3). This is very fitting here. The Israelites came down to Egypt as shepherds—but now they are slaves. But God, the Good Shepherd, has plans “to lead them out.”
For explanations of the seventy persons who were descendants of Jacob, see the notes on Gen 46:8-27. The seventy people had multiplied to a few million, including 603,550 men of war, by the time the Jewish people were ready to leave Sinai for Canaan (Num 1:46). Verses 6 and 7 indicate that many years elapsed between the end of Genesis and the events of Exodus. The meaning of verse 8 is that a new king . . . arose who did not look with approval on the descendants of Joseph; Joseph himself was already dead, of course.
1:9-10 The Israelites had so increased in number and in power that the Pharaoh thought they would pose a threat in time of war, so he decided to make slaves of the people and to destroy every male child and thus eventually wipe out the Hebrew race. Three evil rulers in Scripture ordered the slaughter of innocent children: Pharaoh, Athaliah (2 Kgs. 11), and Herod (Matt. 2). These satanically inspired atrocities were aimed at the extinction of the Messianic line. Satan had never forgotten God’s promise in Gen 3:15.
1:11-14 Pharaoh used the enslaved Jews to build the supply cities of Pithom and Raamses. But instead of being wiped out by his repression, they multiplied all the more! Pharaoh meant the hard bondage for evil, but God meant it for good. It helped prepare the Jews for their arduous journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.
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