We are in the book of Exodus for the first time today, so please turn your Bibles to
the book of Exodus, the second book in the Old Testament, right after Genesis and right
before Leviticus.
And let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.
Heavenly Father, we tremble before your Word.
For your Word is truth.
For your Word is power of God for salvation.
Because your Word is living and active.
Because your Word is breathed out from your own mouth.
And Lord, we want to hear you address us.
Lord, we look forward to, we eagerly anticipate what you have in store for us in this book.
So Lord, do the work that only you can do.
Exalt the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, in our hearts.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Help us to live in our identity as servants of God.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Exodus chapter 1.
I'm going to read the whole chapter.
Verses 1 to 22.
It says,
These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob.
Each with his household.
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin.
Dan, and Naphtali.
Gad, and Asher.
All the descendants of Jacob were 70 persons.
Joseph was already in Egypt.
Then Joseph died.
And all his brothers.
And all that generation.
But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly.
They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong so that the land was filled with them.
Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph.
And he said to his people,
Behold, the peoples of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
Come, let us deal surely with them lest they multiply.
And if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.
Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens.
They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Ramses.
And 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.
So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 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.
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,
When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew woman and see them on the birthstool,
if it is a son, you shall kill him.
But if it is a daughter, she shall live.
But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them.
But let the male children live.
So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them,
Why have you done this?
And let the male children live.
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.
So God dealt well with the midwives,
and the people multiplied and grew very strong.
And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
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.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
Just some introductory stuff since we're in the new book.
Exodus is a loan word from the Greek word that means going out,
or leaving, or departure.
It comes from the Greek translation of Exodus 19, verse 1,
which says,
On the third new moon,
after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt,
on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
So it refers to Israel's deliverance from Egypt,
which was, in the Old Testament,
the single greatest act of salvation that God had worked.
But the original Hebrew title for the book is actually not Exodus.
It's,
And These Are the Names.
It's not a creative title,
because it's the first words of the book.
The first words of the book are,
And these are the names of the sons of Israel
who came to Egypt with Jacob,
each with his household.
So in the original, it begins with the conjunction,
And,
And These Are the Names,
to show that it's a sequel to the book of Genesis.
It's continuing the story that we have seen in the book of Genesis.
And we were in the book of Genesis not that long ago,
though I guess maybe it's been a couple years now.
And that's why Exodus assumes a number of details
that we can only learn from the book of Genesis.
For example,
Who are the sons of Israel?
Why is Israel also called Jacob?
How did they end up in Egypt?
And where did they come from?
Who is this person named Joseph?
In verses 6 to 8.
And why is it significant that a new king arose over Egypt
who did not know Joseph?
So all that to say,
Exodus is continuing the story of the sons of Israel
that began in Genesis.
And if you were with us through that sermon series in Genesis,
you might recall that settling in a land
that is not the promised land of Canaan
is frowned upon all throughout the book of Genesis.
It's always the people who are outside of the covenant promises of God
that settle in places outside of Canaan.
So throughout the book,
God's chosen line of people,
there are always sojourners in Canaan,
the promised land,
while those who are outside of that chosen line
settle in various other places.
So for example,
Cain settles in the land of Nod.
The inhabitants of Babel settled in Shinar.
Genesis 13.12 tells us that
while Abram settled in the land of Canaan,
Lot settled in Sodom.
And we know what happens to Sodom.
It's destroyed.
Later, Ishmael settles in the wilderness of Paran.
And then in Genesis 36,
it says that while Jacob remained in the land
of his father's sojourning in the land of Canaan,
Esau settled in the hill country of Seir.
Why am I mentioning this?
Because the only time in the book of Genesis
when the people of God is said to have settled in a land
other than the land of Canaan,
the promised land,
and it is okay,
it is the book of Genesis.
Sorry, it's in Egypt.
And that's because it's a temporary arrangement.
Given in chapter,
it says in 47.27 that Israel settled in the land of Egypt.
And that's because God had already predicted this,
said that it would happen in Genesis 15.
13 to 14.
He told Abram that his descendants will be sojourners
in a land that is not theirs,
and that they will be servants there,
and that they will be afflicted for 400 years.
But then God promised that he will bring judgment upon that nation
that they serve,
and afterward that they would come out with great possessions.
And so Joseph at the end of his life,
at the very last paragraph,
Genesis in chapter 50,
he reminds his brothers of this promise of God
and tells them,
hey, when you are delivered from here,
take my bones up with you from Egypt.
So then Exodus is the fulfillment of that prophecy and promise from Genesis.
And Exodus, like Genesis, is written by Moses.
Throughout the New Testament,
the first five books of the Old Testament,
called collectively the Pentateuch,
are mentioned frequently,
and they're attributed to Moses.
In Mark 12, 26 to 27,
when Jesus answers the Sadducees
who denied the reality of the resurrection of the dead,
he said to them,
as for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush,
how God spoke to him,
saying, I am the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead,
but of the living.
So he is there citing Exodus 3,
and he calls it a book of Moses.
And four times throughout the book of Exodus,
it self-notes,
that the book itself notes
that Moses was writing down what God was doing
and what was happening throughout the book of Exodus.
And so Moses is the author,
the principal author,
though I'm sure there have been other editors of the book.
The dating is also clearly indicated by Scripture,
when it was written,
and at what time period the events in Exodus take place.
So 1 Kings 6.1 gives us a very specific date.
In the 480th year,
after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt,
in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel,
in the month of Ziv,
which is the second month,
he began to build a house of the Lord.
So according to that clue,
the Exodus from Egypt was 480 years
before Solomon's fourth year of reign over Israel,
and we know that was 967 B.C.
And so that puts the date of Exodus right around 1447 B.C.
That's the time period when this was taking place.
Now the book can be outlined in three parts.
First chapters 1 to 18 speak of the salvation of the Lord.
It's the retelling of the Exodus.
Chapters 19 to 24 tell us about the law of the Lord.
And then chapters 25 to 40 tell us about the presence of the Lord
when the Israelites are instructed to build a tabernacle,
the tent where God will come to dwell with them, among them.
And so it's a story of how God delivers the Israelites
and gives them the law to govern them,
and then he dwells with them,
with his presence in the tabernacle.
And that basic outline of Exodus is taken up in the New Testament,
fulfilled ultimately in Jesus and in the people of God,
because Jesus accomplishes God's salvation through his life
and through his death as the Passover lamb
and through his resurrection.
And then after his ascension,
he sends the Spirit of God to set his people apart as holy,
and then he writes the law of God upon the people's hearts.
So there's the salvation and there's the law,
and then finally when Jesus returns to judge the world,
there will be a new heaven and a new earth,
and he will dwell forever with us.
God's dwelling place will be with man.
That's the presence of the Lord.
And so that outline captures the main theme of the book of Exodus,
namely that the Lord is present with his people as their Savior and King.
That's what we're going to see over and over again throughout the book.
And with that emphasis on the presence of God,
we're seeing a partial and initial reversal of what happened at the fall,
because God's people, Adam and Eve,
were exiled from the Garden of Eden,
removed from the presence of God,
and now in Exodus they're starting to make their way back,
though it's not fully there until Christ comes
and then until Christ returns.
And in this particular chapter,
the first chapter that we fear God and not man,
trusting that God's sovereign purposes will always prevail.
So that was the outline of the book before,
and then this is the outline of this chapter.
And we're going to first look at the spread of Israel
and the dread of Israel that falls upon Egyptians,
and then finally the fear of the Lord.
Let's first look at the spread of Israel in verses 1 to 7.
Verse 1 says,
And these are the names of the sons of Israel
who came to Egypt with Jacob,
each with his household.
Then verses 2 to 5 list the 12 sons of Jacob
with the accession of Joseph who was already in Egypt,
and then they tell us that all the descendants of Jacob
were 70 persons.
But there's something interesting going on here
because the phrase,
all the descendants of Jacob,
is literally all the persons coming out of Jacob's hip.
That's a very interesting way to refer to someone's descendants.
And that's intentional.
Because if you recall from Genesis 32,
while Jacob is wrestling with God,
asking for his blessing,
God in order to make Jacob stop,
what does he do?
He touches Jacob's hip,
puts it out of joint.
It's so that Jacob can't continue.
But Jacob persists and asks God continually to bless him.
And then that's when God gives Jacob a new name.
And he says to him,
your name shall no longer be called Jacob,
but Israel,
for you have striven with God and with men
and have prevailed.
It is then that Jacob receives that new name
and becomes the father of the nation of Israel.
It's now the people of God are finally becoming,
kind of coming together
and having its own identity as a people
and as a nation.
So Moses is alluding to that incident
when he says that all the persons
coming out of Jacob's hip were 70 persons.
And that's why he also,
in verse one,
calls the sons of Jacob,
the sons of Israel,
to remind us of that promise that God had made.
And that promise is now being fulfilled.
70 is not that many people,
but it is a number that represents perfection in scripture.
And here comes the nation of Israel.
Now we get to watch them grow.
Even though,
as verse six tells us,
Joseph died and all that generation with him,
verse seven assures us,
but the people of Israel were fruitful
and increased greatly.
They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong
so that the land was filled with them.
Look at how many words Moses uses
to tell us of Israel's population explosion.
They were fruitful,
increased greatly,
multiplied,
grew exceedingly strong
and the land was filled.
With them.
And that's no exaggeration.
According to Numbers chapter one,
verse 46,
around the time of the Exodus,
shortly afterward in the wilderness,
there were 603,550 men
over the age of 20.
So that means the total population,
you count the woman and the children,
is likely in the millions,
counting them all.
And so from 70 to millions.
And there's something else
that Moses is telling us here also,
besides the fact that the nation of Israel
grew very numerous.
Do these words ring a bell,
kind of remind you of any verses from scripture?
Fruitful,
increased,
greatly,
multiply,
filled.
They're echoing God's creation mandate
to Adam and Eve
in Genesis 128
and his mandate to Noah
after the flood
in Genesis 9,
1-2.
Be fruitful
and multiply
and fill the earth
and subdue it.
So then,
the chosen people of God
are fulfilling God's command to humanity
what the rest of the world
was not fulfilling.
God's initial blessing to humanity
is now continuing
through the nation of Israel.
So this is also a fulfillment
of a promise.
It's also a fulfillment
of the specific promises
that God had given to the patriarchs,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
because he said to them
numerous times
throughout the book of Genesis
that I will bless you
and make you a nation
and your offspring
will be as numerous
as the stars of the heavens,
as the dust of the earth,
and as the sand of the seashore.
And that's now being fulfilled.
That's all great,
but here comes
the conflict of the story.
Verse 8 says,
Now there arose
a new king over Egypt
who did not know Joseph.
The word know in Hebrew
has a range of meaning.
It could refer merely
to kind of surface knowledge
about a person,
but it can also refer
to intimate relational knowledge
of a person.
So this doesn't necessarily mean
that this Pharaoh
knew nothing of Joseph,
though it can mean that.
But even if Pharaoh
knew something of Joseph,
he didn't care about him.
In the same way,
people might say to someone,
Who are you?
Not because the identity
of that person is unknown,
but as a way of dismissing them
or ignoring them.
So this new king over Egypt
did not know Joseph.
The way that Joseph,
as a powerful ruler,
second only to Pharaoh,
had delivered Egypt
and its surrounding nations
from the seven years
of severe famine
with the guidance of God
and wise stewardship,
that memory is now distant.
This king feels no obligation
whatsoever to Joseph
and his progeny,
his people,
the Israelites.
So this prepares the way
for verses 9 to 10.
And he said to his people,
Behold,
the people of Israel
are too many
and too mighty for us.
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.
Notice how Pharaoh
shrewdly uses this
us versus them mentality,
that contrast.
He says to his people
that those people,
the people of Israel,
are too many
and too mighty for us.
The descendants of Jacob,
think about this,
the descendants of Jacob
have been living in Egypt
for almost 400 years.
It's longer than our country
has been around.
And still,
the king of Egypt
does not consider
the Israelites his people.
Instead,
he sees them
as a security risk,
a potential threat
to his rule,
so he stirs up xenophobia
among his own people.
He stokes their fear
of losing power,
and then he turns them
against the people of God.
This is a common tactic
used by rulers
to this day.
Look at how numerous
they have become.
Look at how powerful
they have become.
They are not one of us.
We must contain them.
We must control them.
We must send them
to concentration camps
to re-educate them.
That's how the Holocaust
was justified.
Six million Jews
killed in Nazi Germany
throughout Europe.
That's how the Armenian
genocide was justified,
where 1.2 million
Armenians,
many of them Christians,
were killed
in the Ottoman Empire.
That's how the Rwandan
genocide was justified,
where 800,000 Tutsis
were killed by Hutus.
That's how the Rohingya
genocide was justified,
with 25,000 Muslim Rohingya
were killed
when they were killed
by the Burmese military.
It goes without saying,
but eliminating people
who are unlike us
is never the way
to try to preserve
our cultural influence
or societal power.
even if wicked rulers
go to Zahn.
In setting himself
and his people
against the people of Israel,
Pharaoh puts himself
in direct opposition
to God himself.
Because as I mentioned earlier,
in Genesis 15,
God had promised to Abram
that his descendants
will come out
of the land of affliction
after 400 years
of sojourning.
And anticipating this,
remember Joseph said
to take my bones
out with you,
but that's precisely
what Pharaoh is trying
to prevent.
He doesn't want
the Israelites
to leave the land.
It's interesting, right?
On the one hand,
he feels threatened by them,
but on the other hand,
he doesn't want them
to leave.
So what's going on
is he wants them
to be just big enough
for him to be able
to abuse them
and use them for labor,
but he wants them
to be just small enough
that they'll never be
a real threat
to his rule.
So he wants
to control them.
So Pharaoh reduces Israel
to back-breaking
slave labor
as a way of subjugating them
and controlling the population.
He says in verses 11 to 12,
therefore they set taskmasters
over them
to afflict them
with heavy burdens.
They built for Pharaoh
store cities,
Pithom and Ramses,
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.
The Israelites are sent
to forced labor camps
to build store cities
for Pharaoh
and by reducing the Israelites
to slave labor,
the Egyptians are trying
to break their spirit
and strength.
They're treating them
like cattle,
thinking perhaps
that they can tame
and control them
like livestock,
hoping perhaps
that if they exhaust them
with work
that they would
stop having
so many children.
But ironically,
the more they were oppressed,
the more they multiplied
because it's the promise
of God.
The Egyptians learned
very quickly
that God cannot
be thwarted.
God's plans
always prevail.
And in Genesis 9,
I mentioned this earlier,
of God's command
to Noah
to be fruitful
and multiply
and fill the earth.
God also said
to Noah
in that same passage,
the fear of you
and the dread of you
shall be upon
every beast of the earth
and upon every
birds of the heavens
and upon everything
that creeps on the ground
and all the fish
of the sea.
Into your hand
they are delivered.
So it's ironic.
Here the Egyptians
are treating the Israelites
like cattle,
like slaves,
but instead
it's the Egyptians
that become
like the beasts
of the earth
who stand now
in dread of them.
If we fear God
and fear no man,
those who oppose God
and his purposes
will stand in dread of us.
The Egyptians
are spooked
because the Israelites
continue to grow
so they redouble
their efforts
to oppress them.
It says in verses 13 to 14,
they ruthlessly
made the people of Israel
work as slaves
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.
Notice the repetition,
the verses,
verses 13 and 14,
they begin and end
with the statement
that the Egyptians
ruthlessly
made the people of Israel
work as slaves.
And that frames
the middle section
in that they made
their lives bitter
with hard service
in mortar and brick
in all kinds of work
in the field.
Many of us
having grown up
with much freedom
and much comfort,
we don't know
what it's like
to be made bitter
with hard service.
To do work
that is so intensive
and unrelenting
that it literally
breaks our back,
drives us to despair.
Brick making
was that kind of labor.
There's ancient literature
that mock brick makers
because they were
always muddy
and always miserable.
That's what the Egyptians
forced the Israelites
to do.
And in this short span
of two verses,
there are five words
that contain
the Hebrew root
for serve.
The word slave,
the word service,
the word work,
they're all variations
of the same Hebrew word
for serve.
And this is significant
because the book of Exodus
poses this question
again and again.
Will the Israelites
be servants of Pharaoh
or will they be servants
of the Lord?
And that's why
in his confrontation
with Pharaoh,
God says over and over again,
let my people go
that they may
serve me.
And here again then,
we see Pharaoh
standing in direct opposition
to God's purposes.
He wants Israel
to serve him
rather than God.
He forces Israel
to make store cities
but later,
God will liberate Israel
to commission them
to build his tabernacle.
The word tabernacle
and store city
in the Hebrew
sound almost exactly
the same
and are spelled
almost exactly the same.
So there's a contrast
there also.
The Israelites
should not be reduced
to slave labor
serving Pharaoh
and building his store cities
because they belong
to the Lord
and should be serving
the Lord
and building
his tabernacle.
who are you serving?
Who are you working for?
Are you merely
building
storehouses of man?
Or are you building
God's house?
You might be
working hard
to build
a company
or a career
but what are you doing
to build up
God's people?
His church?
His temple?
Is your life
dominated by
your work
to the neglect
of the worship
of God?
Even when you work
you are not
ultimately
to work
for man
or for yourself
but you are
to work
for God
as an act
of worship.
Colossians 3
23
24
says
whatever you do
work heartily
ask for the Lord
and not for man
knowing that
from the Lord
you will receive
the inheritance
as your reward.
If you work
only for men
you will not work
as you ought to.
You might cut corners
and slack off
and no one's looking
or you might
overwork
and enslave
yourself to man
because you're
expecting to receive
your reward
from man
and not
from God.
Are you living
as a servant
of man
or as a servant
of God?
Pharaoh is
thwarted again
in his efforts
to control Israel
so he resorts
to even greater
atrocities
he says in
verses 15
to 16
then the king
of Egypt
said to the
Hebrew midwives
one of whom
was named
Shiphrah
and the other
Puah
when you serve
as midwife
to the Hebrew
woman
and see them
on the birthstool
if it is a son
you shall kill him
but if it is
a daughter
she shall live.
After enslaving
God's people
and exploiting them
the wicked king
resorts to infanticide
and then he tries
to hide it.
He commands
the Jewish midwives
Shiphrah and Puah
to kill the male babies
when they are born.
If they are
probably not
the only Hebrew
midwives
because if that
was the case
they would have
been really
really busy.
But Pharaoh
doesn't need
to command
all the midwives
to do that
right?
Because his goal
is not
the extermination
of the Jews
it's control
population control
so he wants
enough Jews
to press into service
but not so many
to risk rebellion
so even if only
two midwives
cooperate
he could kill
a significant
number of male
babies
Hebrew babies
over time
limiting
and he could
in doing so
also limit
the number
of people
who are in
the know
and keep
himself
from being
exposed
in his
sinister plot.
And why
male babies?
Because the
line
the family
tradition
passes on
through the
men
in this
culture
Egyptian
men can
take the
Hebrew
woman
but if
the Hebrew
men
continue
to marry
Hebrew
woman
then that
line
that
family
that
identity
continues
presumably
he expected
the midwives
to kill
the babies
without being
detected
coming to
acting like
they're helping
with the birth
and then
the unthinkable
act
I'm sorry
the baby
didn't make
it.
which was
common
neonatal
deaths
were more
common
back in
those days
it's a
wicked
plan
and he's
turning the
Hebrew
midwives
against their
own people
and violating
the king's
command of
course would
have dire
circumstances
and so these
Hebrew
midwives have
to decide for
themselves whether
they will
preserve their
own careers
their own
livelihoods
perhaps their
own lives
or save
the male
babies
that they
have in
order to
kill
and verse
17 to 21
tell us what
happens next
but the
midwives
feared
God
and did
not do
as the
king of
Egypt
commanded
them
but let
the male
children
live
so the
king of
Egypt
called
the
midwives
and said
to them
why have
you done
this
and let
the male
children
live
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
that's a
way to rub
it in his
face
so God
dealt well
with the
midwives
and the
people
multiplied
and grew
very strong
and because
the midwives
feared
God
he gave
them
families
Shiphrah
and Pua's
defiance
of Pharaoh
is a display
of remarkable
courage
because remember
that Pharaohs
were treated
like gods
in those
days
had absolute
power
in their
nation
Rachmire
who served
as prime
minister
under
Pharaohs
Thutmose
the third
and Amenhotep
the second
in the
15th century
BC
describes the
Pharaoh
this way
quote
what is
the king
of upper
and lower
Egypt
he is a
god
by whose
dealings
one lives
the father
and mother
of all
men
alone
by himself
without
an
equal
that's
what
Shiphrah
and Pua
are up
against
David
and Goliath
situation
certainly
except
a lot
worse
since
verse 21
tells us
that God
gave
Shiphrah
and Pua
families
in response
to their
obedience
to him
at the
time
of
the
Pharaoh's
command
they did
not have
families
so they
didn't have
husbands
to protect
them
or look
after them
maybe
they were
young
women
or single
girls
or maybe
widows
Shiphrah
is a
Hebrew
name
that
means
fair
or
beautiful
and
Pua
is a
Canaanite
name
that
means
little
girl
here
are
Shiphrah
and Pua
the
fair
girl
and the
little
girl
defying
one of
the most
powerful
man
most
powerful
ruler
in the
ancient
world
and how
were they
able to
stand up
to
Pharaoh
twice
this
passage
tells us
because
in
verse
17
verse
21
they
feared
God
they
were
not
controlled
by the
fear
of
Pharaoh
because
they
feared
God
if
you
grew
up
by
the
ocean
swimming
in
its
waves
you're
not
going
to
be
afraid
to
swim
among
the
ripples
in
the
pond
this
doesn't
mean
that
Shiphrah
and
Pua
were
terrified
of
God
it's
referring
to
their
reverence
their
acknowledgement
of
God's
authority
and
power
it's
the
fear
that
constrains
them
to
live
with
integrity
knowing
that
all
that
they
do
ultimately
is
accountable
to
God
to
fear
the
Lord
is
to
live
in
humility
before
the
presence
of
under
the
authority
of
and
then
for
the glory
of
God
Proverbs
29
25
to 26
says
this
the fear
of man
lays a
snare
but whoever
trusts in
the Lord
is safe
many seek
the face
of a ruler
but it is
from the Lord
that a man
gets justice
so Shiphrah
and Pua
knew that
they did not
seek the face
of Pharaoh
they sought
the face
of the Lord
God
and sought
his protection
and his
justice
instead of
fearing man
they feared
God and trusted
in him
if we
want to
stand up
to crooked
bosses
and rulers
we too
need to
cultivate
the fear
of the
Lord
if we
want to
serve
the
Lord
we must
fear him
and not
men
and Shiphrah
and Pua
are rewarded
for their
fear of
God
verse 21
says
and because
the midwives
feared God
he gave
them
families
in Hebrew
the phrase
is literally
he gave
them houses
because house
can represent
the household
and the word
also sets up
a wonderful
contrast
because
the term
Pharaoh
literally means
the great
house
it originally
referred to
the palatial
estate of
Pharaoh
of the
Egyptian king
and then
eventually
it came to
refer to
the king
himself
so here
Shiphrah
and Pua
defy
the great
house
and receive
houses
from the
Lord
themselves
if you
guys are
into history
maybe some
of you are
wondering
at this
point
who this
infamous
Pharaoh
is
because
Egyptians
kept a
pretty good
record
of their
kings
and it
is possible
by corroborating
historical
and architectural
data with
what scripture
tells us
to identify
the most
likely
candidate
but I'm
not going
to tell
you the
name
because
scripture
doesn't
tell us
you'll
search
in vain
through the
chapters of
Exodus
for any
name
of
Pharaoh
none
of the
Egyptian kings
are named
in the
book of
Exodus
but God
is named
Yehovah
the Pharaoh
is not
named
but guess
who else
is named
Shiphrah
and Pua
the Hebrew
midwives
are named
in Exodus
chapter 1
surely
Moses
if he knew
the name
of those
two midwives
would have
known
who the
Egyptian king
was
but he
doesn't name
him to make
a theological
point
because from
God's
eternal
point of
view
this Pharaoh
however powerful
he may have
been
is an
anonymous
non-entity
but these
Hebrew
midwives
they are
his
precious
daughters
the heroes
of the story
from God's
point of
view
so that
children
can be
named
after them
so their
names
are here
your name
might never
be found
among the
who's who
lists
of the
world
you might
not make
it to
any kind
of hall
of fame
but I
can assure
you that
almighty
God
creator
of the
universe
is not
impressed
with those
lists
what
ultimately
counts
is not
whether or
not
you are
known
by
man
but
whether or
not
you are
known
by
God
whether
or not
he has
called
you
by
name
Isaiah
43
verse 1
says
now
thus says
the
Lord
he who
created
you
old
Jacob
he who
formed
you
oh
Israel
fear
not
for I
have
redeemed
you
I
have
called
you
by
name
you
are
mine
the
book of
revelation
mentions
again and
again a
book called
book of
life
on which
is written
the name
of God's
chosen
people
the names
that the
Lord Jesus
will confess
before his
father
and before
his angels
saying
these
belong
to the
kingdom
they
belong
to me
I
have
saved
them
but
anyone
whose
name
is not
written
in the
book
of life
will be
thrown
into the
lake
of fire
is your
name
written
in that
book
if you
want
your
name
in the
book
of life
of the
lamb
who was
slain
you
must
confess
the
name
of that
lamb
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
Pharaoh
is even
more upset
and so
at the
end
of this
chapter
one
he
resorts
to even
greater
atrocity
he says
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
now
he's
indiscriminate
not just
the ones
that the
midwives
happened
to find
all the
male
babies
take
them
down
1500
years
or so
later
another
king
would
try
to do
the
same
to try
to wipe
out
the
seed
of
Israel
to try
to kill
the
Messiah
who was
born
King
Herod
tries
to kill
the male
babies
but
Jesus
like
Moses
his
forerunner
the one
who
foreshadowed
him
Jesus
survives
by
God's
to fulfill
God's
sovereign
purposes
and this
Jesus
lives
the life
of perfect
obedience
and then
he dies
on the
cross
for our
sins
to pay
the penalty
for our
rebellion
against
God
we are
described
in scripture
as enemies
of God
but Romans
5
10 says
while we
were enemies
like Pharaoh
we were
reconciled to
God by the
death of
his son
Jesus
the son
of God
became a
son of
man
and died
for our
sins
on the
cross
as our
representative
as our
substitute
and it's
by his
death
and by his
resurrection
that he
reconciles
us to
God
even though
we've been
rebelling
against him
as every
bit as much
as the
Egyptians
as Pharaoh
himself
if you're
here today
and you
have not
confessed
the name
of Jesus
I urge you
to confess
the name
of the
Lord
Jesus
he promises
us in
Matthew
10
verse 32
everyone
who
acknowledges
me
before
men
I
also
will
acknowledge
before
my
father
who
is
in
heaven
acknowledge
the name
of Christ
confess him
as your
Lord and
Savior
and our
good Lord
will call
you by
name
and you
will find
your name
indelibly
written
in the
book of
life
forevermore
let's
pray
God we
rejoice
this evening
that our
names
are written
in the
book of
life
ours
are the
names
that should
have been
blotted out
from history
never
remembered
because we
are rebels
guilty of
treason
sinners
against the
most high
God who
has done
nothing but
good for
us
and yet
Lord you
have been
so gracious
and merciful
to us
thank you
for sending
Jesus to
save us
thank you
for engraving
our name
in your
book
through our
faith in
Jesus
thank you
for knowing
us intimately
calling us
by name
and leading
us every
day of
our lives
so that
we need
not fear
any man
help us
to live
in the
fear of
the Lord
always
in Jesus
name we
pray
amen