Exodus - Part 2 - Chapter 1:1-2:10

Exodus 1 begins with the genealogy of Jacob’s family who are now living in Egypt. It describes the Israelites multiplying in the land and becoming a mighty people. It fulfills part of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Joseph’s reputation in the land of Egypt also afforded them some respect and protection for many generations. But then a new king rose that didn’t know Joseph. Now, he saw all these foreign people in his land as a threat, and so the Israelites were forced into slavery. That fulfilled what God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15:13.

But, the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more their population grew. So, Pharaoh ramped up his tactics to infanticide, ordering the midwives to kill the Hebrew male children when they were born. Exodus records two midwives that defied that order, and for that act of civil disobedience, God blessed them with families of their own. But Pharaoh wasn’t finished. He ordered his subjects if they found a Hebrew baby boy, they were to take him and throw him into the Nile River.

This is the environment that Moses is born into. His mother, knowing what would happen, hid him for as long as she could. When she could no longer do that, she put him in a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproof pitch. She set him in the reeds by the edge of the river. His sister Miriam waited to see what would happen. This suggests that Moses’ family lived close by to the palace. The Egyptian Princess found him when she came down to the river. She knew he was one of the Hebrew babies, but she was merciful and decided to raise him as her son. Better yet, his birth mother was allowed to nurse him.