Faithfulness Forgotten (Introduction)

One of the great ironies of a church building is the plaque that hangs on our walls, often to tell the story of some great effort in war or the local community; yet, as we read of it in the years that have passed, we know very little of the person or what they did! No one really remembers what you have done, do they? Plaques and memorials are put up to eternalise the actions of one and the story of another, and after a few generations have passed, all we have of that moment is whatever is written.

Yet, I don’t think there is one person among us who does not know the frustration of something done well that, with time, is forgotten. It does not matter where we live out the things that we have been called to; when the moment passes, the world moves on from what has been done, as more is done. It is a strange irony of this world that we must navigate not just as individuals but as communities, families and even churches, that the sacrifices we make to sustain things, build and serve become but a vapour, as the people who come along no longer remember. Faithfulness is soon forgotten as the world moves on.

Interestingly, that reality of faithfulness being forgotten is how the Story of God’s people begins to unfold. The greatest power the world has ever known had found itself facing one of the greatest crises the world had known. Yet, through God’s providence and the leadership of one of his servants, they survived years of famine and drought, as Joseph gathered grain and stored it; from that, the state grew, providing for its people and the wider known world at the time. The nation was saved through Joseph’s wisdom and guided by his faithfulness. Thus, his family were honoured in the better days with the best land and places of honour. Yet, as time passed, a pharaoh arose “who did not know Joseph.” Thus, with the passing of time, the Israelite’s were no longer the family of Joseph but ethnic strangers amid a foreign land. Faithfulness had been forgotten, and gratitude had been replaced by fear as the blessing of Growth that Israel was experiencing had become a threat to the nation they lived among.

Thus, a people who were once honoured are now feared, and they begin to question what their future might look like living in a place that despises them. Israel will ask in the chapters to come, and this passage gives us the hint as we join them in wondering: “Who will save us?” Our world is changing as the role of institutions shifts, and the world seems more unstable; the need for rescue feels even greater, as the faithfulness of previous generations in building our nations and cultures is long forgotten. We can begin to wonder where to look for hope; who will rescue us? Exodus begins with a story not about the strength of a people, but the faithfulness of their sovereign God, and even in these moments of things getting worse – that is what we see here.

1 The Promises of God Are Realised (1:1-7)

As Genesis comes to its conclusion, all seems well. The sons of Jacob have done as he commanded and returned his body to the land to which they had led. It is a moment of deep tension for the brothers as they begin to ponder their safety among a foreign people and under the rule of their brother – they have not forgotten what they did to him. As their father has died, they wonder whether the memory will return to Joseph. To make sure, they sent word back to their brother after Jacob’s passing with some instructions: “Forgive the sins of your brothers and the wrongs they have committed against you in treating you so badly.” I often wonder if it was another act of the brothers in desperation, rather than understanding.

They had enjoyed the peace and prosperity of Egypt during the most difficult days only because of the status of their brother, a kindness they considered perhaps only extended because of Joseph’s love for his father. Yet, when the word is received, and the message comes back to the brothers, they don’t just receive assurance of continued blessing; they receive a lesson in the work of God and the faith of their brother. As they come before and fall at his feet in both fear and hope, they realise that they have nothing to fear! Not simply because their brother has forgotten their transgression or even forgiven them – rather, through them he has seen the hand of God upon their life and in their living:

“Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

The message his brothers sent him made him weep, but the message they received back at his feet should have brought them to tears, not simply at the goodness of God, but because in the worst of their actions, God was working something out for the good of many, and Joseph had come to terms with that. The grace they receive is a lesson in the Grace of God, and the way God outworks it in the world; that they would be in this place is but for the Grace of God. Imagine the thought as their minds wandered back to the bit and then to the feet of their brother as he speaks kindness and blessing to them: “So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” By their sin, God had brought about their rescue, and the rescue of many through the leadership of Joseph. It is not just a reminder of what has been done for them; it is also a hint of what is to come! Yahweh is a God who knows the needs of his people and works to rescue long before we realise we need it.

1.1How We Got Here (1-5)

Yet, that is how the book of beginnings ends, with Joseph at the height of his power and rule, assuring his brothers that they will be well in Egypt because he will provide for them “and their children.” The brothers are reassured and content in the land of Egypt, and life goes on as Joseph seems to become the head of the family; together, they make their home in the place God had brought them. Indeed, he lived to such an age that he witnessed the birth of three generations of his brother Ephraim’s sons, and saw the son of Manasseh’s son, Joseph, recognised as his own blood. And then the chapter of beginnings comes with a prophecy about what is to come: “God will surely come to your aid and take you back to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.” They may have begun to feel at home, but where they where was not their home, and all that was to come was the fulfilment of what God had spoken to the father of their nation long ago – perhaps they did not even realise in those generations that they where in exile, and a people in need of rescue from beyond themselves to lead them to where they could not go themselves. Their story is still our story today as we live in exile trying to convince ourselves that we are home. This prophecy of Joseph on his deathbed rings throughout the beginning of the Exodus story; as the generations pass, they were to remember that God would come again and yet as Pharaoh forgets, the children of God seem to have forgotten the God of their fathers as they cry out: “Who will rescue us?”

Thus, the book of Exodus begins where Genesis ends, as the story of God’s people continues, and we get to witness what Joseph spoke of the first time. But while Genesis ended with relative peace, prosperity, and stability as the Israelites lived off the success and prestige of Joseph, the Exodus begins with life amid fog, as the writer reminds us just who all had entered into the land of Egypt:

These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventya in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

The writer wants to make clear that what we are reading now continues the story that began earlier, mirroring the “these are the names” moment in Genesis 46:8, when the Family first crossed the border into Egypt. Yet, here the focus is no longer on Jacob, but rather on the collective family as the covenant carries out God’s promise in the world. This is no longer Jacob’s story; rather, it is the Story of God turning his people because of the covenant he made with them all. Additionally, the list clarifies this young nation, as the twelve tribes are named: they are not anonymous enslaved people that Israel oppresses; they are the people of God, because God named them and promised the Patriarchs that he would be with them always. Additionally, the writer of the Exodus is seeking to highlight not just the power of God, but also his faithfulness in this great story – 70 may have entered into the land. Still, by verse seven they have grown into a distinct culture that is numerous and strong. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, and by verse seven of Exodus 1 we see that the names of 12 brothers and their children have become something far more powerful. Why? Because they had good genetics? Perhaps just luck? No, because Yahweh said it would be so, and thus it became so, and Pharaoh will soon treat them as nameless. Pharaoh might deny them; he may not want to know them, and he may not want them for anything other than their own purposes – But God knew the names of the father of a nation, and of every generation of the nation that would come out of the wilderness. God does not respond to the cries of strangers here; he draws close to those whom he loves and knows by name because they are his children.

1.2 The End of an Era (6)

Yet, everything always comes to an end, and as the tribes of Israel grew in strength, so did the threat they posed to the nation. They no longer had the security of Joseph’s legacy to protect them, because “Joseph, and all his brothers and all that generation had died. Think about that for a moment: those who had seen the famine and then the miracle of provision, both in Joseph’s position and how they were received into the land. Then those who heard the stories and still got to know all the people – one by one- as that generation passed, and their memories became stories of history. An era had ended, and yet even here there is a lesson for us – this is a reality of life: seasons come and go. Dare we even think it? It is a reality of faith and our walk with God in this world until the next. There are good seasons, fruitful seasons where growth and success are the norm and we think that it always has been the way; and it always will be the way. Then decline sets in, and we are left wondering if we will ever see better days again. We worship in churches built for crowds that have not been in the building for generations; we do our best to manage things while accepting that the end will come, and we wonder if God is still god. Yet, what was true for the children of God in their exile experience as the good times faded, and they wondered where the God of their fathers is – he is right there. Because while time moves on for us, it does not affect God’s covenant, his goodness, or the promises he makes to his children. “ I will be your God, and you will be my people” was still true regardless of the era. It was not spoken to one man; it was spoken to all who would inherit it; it was spoken to us who become children of Abraham by faith. God will be faithful to what he has spoken, and even as the circumstances change, we can see his faithfulness in the blessings Israel knows.

1.3 Blessings upon Blessings (7)

Thus, despite the passing of a generation and the changing of circumstances, there are clear signs of the providence of God and the blessing of his covenant – we need only look for them. Whether they are the small things of common Grace or the greater blessing upon our life. The blessing here is obvious as the writer tells us how Israel continued to grow – a blessing that remains even as the circumstances get more challenging – as they continue to grow despite the circumstances. Even more beautifully, the deliberate language draws us back to the command and blessing given to Abraham to “be fruitful and multiply,” because we are told that in Egypt “the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.” God is faithful to his promises regardless of where we find ourselves living or the valley we find ourselves wandering through – we can trust God because he is always faithful to his word. Yet, isn’t it interesting that the blessing we are speaking of here is the very thing Pharaoh considered a threat – the increasing number of the Israelites. The world will never understand the way God works or blesses his people – a truth we see so clearly in the cross of Christ. Yet God will still bless, and even as the world seeks to interrupt or stop it, God will use it for His glory. Seventy people wandering in from the wilderness have become an unexpected nation, as twelve brothers have become distinct tribes that will shape the world around them. Why? It is no accident nor a fluke of circumstance: God is doing what he said he would do. Blessing a nation to bless the world eventually, and it is indeed by the very means of blessing this people in exile that he will be called to visit them again, as Joseph told his brothers. The Lord is keeping his promise to Abraham, and even as Pharaoh and the state begin to act to slow their growth, the blessing only increases. Isn’t that the most interesting thing, that the means of blessing brings the means of suffering that brings about the process by which God himself moves to his people, as he said he would. For it is to their cries of suffering that the beginning of rescue begins, and the promise of what Joseph foretold: “ God will surely come to your aid and take you back to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.” God blesses because he has made a covenant with us by the blood of Christ, and he moves in rescue to us because he is a covenant keeper – the question then is: will we use his blessing for his purpose and glory or keep stumbling about in Egypt.

2Those Opposed to God (8-14)

The blessing of God has been obvious in the opening verses as the children of Israel become too numerous for the land that they have made home. Yet, the words of Joseph should be ringing in our ears as we read of this blessing, because he did not promise them an increase in their number; he told them that God would visit them to bring them back to the land promised to their fathers, and there fulfil the cause of his covenant – they might be being blessed in Egypt. Still, their blessing was not to be lived out in Egypt. Hence, the sudden shift in tone and image that occurs in verse 8 marks the rest of this section. The old stability was shifting slowly between the end of Genesis and the beginning of the Story of the Exodus as generations passed away. Still, now the author makes clear that a new era has begun with the enthronement of a new King/Pharaoh.

2.1 A New Power Arises (8-10)

The sense of change is stark because not only has a new King ascended to the throne, but he remembers nothing about Joseph. Thus, he has no idea who these growing people are among his own or what to do with them. Enough time has passed for Egypt to remember only its own greatness and to forget how the Lord used Joseph to save them and his own people in the face of a severe famine. The Era of Joseph has truly ended as a King takes the throne and looks upon his descendants with Alarm and fear. The Pharaohs of Egypt were royal rulers unlike any other in the known world at the time; they led the greatest regional power, one established for thousands of years. Their rule was absolute, and nothing could limit their influence or control. Add to that the cultic religious elements around their coronation; it was not just that a new King was on the throne, but a new incarnation of the god Horus had been given cosmic right to rule over his people. Thus, this was not the mere changing of a political leader that would bring about a bit of turbulence, nor a ceremonial king; before the people of Israel sat a new incarnation of the Egyptian god Horus on his throne, and he looked upon them with Alarm and said: “They have become far too numerous for us.” This culturally distinct people living amid a nation that was not their own had, in the eyes of the new god-king, become a security threat, and they needed to be dealt with, controlled, maintained. Yet he will not confront them head-on; rather, Pharaoh seeks to curtail them, then control them, and ultimately break their spirit and sense of identity through several extreme measures.

Isn’t that always sin’s way in our life? Is that not often how the forces that seek to work against the will of God work in the world? They never confront us directly; rather, they assault us slowly, so slowly we don’t often notice. We accept the comfort it brings and the offer of freedom and security, and then, when it becomes normal, what gave it to us slowly starts to take it away. The weeds begin to drain the life that we have lived off, and that is what happens here. The false freedom that Israel has enjoyed begins to entangle them and assault them, as Pharaoh seeks to deal with them shrewdly, not to destroy them but to break their spirits as a people so that if an enemy comes to attack Egypt, the Israelites will not rise among them. Thus, a distinct people become an enslaved people, and a broken people under the rule of a king who considers himself a god.

Your name is important before God, and in the scriptures, names are given because they mean something, and in a way they identify dignity and worth. Yet, isn’t it interesting at this point that the most powerful figure who appears in the story is not named? We are told that a new King has ascended to the throne – we are not told which Pharaoh; in fact, he is never named throughout the book of the Exodus and the story of the people of God. Why? Because despite his exalted and godlike status among his own people, he is a nonstarter here; this is a Story about the sovereignty of Yahweh, his love, rescue, and plan outworking in the world – thus, the false god-king is not even given a hint of respect before God because he has no authority before God. He is not named, but the fathers of the nation are, and as the passage ends, in contrast to Pharaoh, the example of the Hebrew midwives is named. Why? Because before God, they are our example in the face of evil, persecution, and sin.

2.2 Freedom Forgotten as Oppression becomes the Norm (111-14)

This nation, born amid their midst, has become a security threat to the greatest power in the known world. Thus, Pharaoh must do something about it, but he is no fool; that which is a threat is also an opportunity to do something with. Moments before we heard him talking about dealing with them shrewdly, or as Eugene Peterson puts it, “devise a plan to contain them,” and immediately we see what that looks like – enslavement. A strong people might be an army that can rise against us, yet their strength will also become their weakness, their very means of being contained. The people of God no longer enjoy the freedom of the generations that have gone before them, as Pharaoh organises them into working units and puts masters over each of the groups as they are put to work for the cause of the nation and the whim of Pharaoh. So great was the workload that, in their enslavement and because of their strength, the people of God built two cities for Pharaoh – Rameses and Pithom. These are cities built to house the treasures of the nation and the kind. This is not simply the choice of a King; it is the act of one who thinks himself a god over the nation and lord over these people, and thus his act is a direct challenge to the God of their ancestors, by the actions of Pharaohs.

It is not just that the people of God have been put to work in a sort of religious-cultic way; it is the means by which they have been put to work that causes such pain and devastation. Verses 13 and 14 describe this slavery as brutality, as the people of God are worked ruthlessly in their labour of brick and mortar. Yet even oppression could not stop God’s blessing; even though life was made more difficult and labour more intensive by forcing them to make the bricks needed for the very work, as well as labouring in the field. This is not employment; it is the loss of personhood and the full depravity of slavery. Indeed, these verses emphasise the depravity of the situation through the constant play on the Hebrew root word Abad, which literally means to serve, and can be translated as worked and labour. Thus, its constant use here suggests that the Israelites are slaves to Pharaoh; they are Abadim. Enslaved people having to make brick and mortar for the tasks they are being put to work on because the Nile Delta has no stone to build with. Slavery is not just about opposing the people of God; indeed, everything Pharaoh has done puts him in direct contrast with Yahweh himself because he was the one blessing the nation with growth, and Pharaoh wants to stop it! Pharaoh has given the Sovereign God the opportunity to act in his will and display his Glory by humbly the throne of Egypt, not because he has to but because he is God.

It’s interesting, isn’t it, because when we start to think about the grand truths of these moments and the big picture that this is not just about a people who are in a difficult situation; it is a battle between good and evil, we can, in fact, lose something of the humanity of the situation, of the normality of the moment. The good times have long ended, and the people of God find themselves living in the most hostile of situations through no fault of their own, simply because they exist; not only is life hard, it gets progressively worse every day because no matter what they do, their masters never seem to be happy, and so the work increases and the difficulty with it. It is the most awful of situations because they are trapped without hope or a plan among themselves – they are us. The moment Exodus one describes is, in fact, how many of us feel about life, and dare I say it, how many of us deal with the sin that so easily entangles us. We assume it will always be that way and accept the hostility of the world and the brokenness it leads us to feel; even when our hope is in Christ, we can lose sense of the hope we have because of Christ.

3 The Faith of a Few (15-21)

Things do not get any better for the children of God in this wilderness moment, as they seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place and in a suffering loop. The worse things get and the harder they work, the more they seem to be blessed by God, and the more, in turn, the King of Egypt seems bent on their destruction and demise. Whatever they have been doing has not been enough for the throne of Egypt; no longer is it about containing them – it is about ending them. How do you destroy a nation? By robbing it of its sons, for if there are no fathers then there can be no births, and the women are left to be married into the dominant culture of the time. Pharaoh sees the growing Israelite population as a military threat, which is ultimately a male threat, so he devises a new scheme to deal with it. As he summons the two Hebrew midwives (who are named, unlike the king who summons them), Shiphrah and Puah, and with them at his throne, he commands them to put to death any male-born Israelite in the land of Egypt. Here are two named Hebrew slaves, facing the greatest seat of power in the world, commanded to put their own brothers to death, and they chose that which is the meaning of their name – Beautiful and Splendid. Why? Because their fear of God was greater than the fear of man. Even in this dark moment, God was at work: Pharaoh, thinking he had control and power, is outmatched and outsmarted by two simple, faithful Hebrew midwives who would rather live lives that respond to God’s will than the whim of man.

3.1 Evil Reigns but God Rules (15-16)

There is no real way to soften the command that is given to these faithful women. They are asked to murder and put to death their own brothers. It is not a political decision; it is simply evil that Pharaoh asks of these two women because he wishes the destruction of innocent life. The youth of Israel are a threat to Pharaoh’s rule even before they are born, so he wants them dealt with. This is the nature of evil, isn’t it? Never content with what it has, the prince of this world will always seek more, and sin will seek to run deeper still; but in the midwives, we are reminded in every situation that God is at work, even when it might not seem plausible or possible. For the king of this earth did not realise that the two he had gathered to do his dirty work feared a greater King – the King of all kings. It is interesting, isn’t it, when you read these narratives and wonder what the faith of the nation is at this point, as things go from bad to worse: how are the people before God? Yet, in the faith of two, we see a glimpse that some know God’s goodness isn’t in a moment; it’s in a covenant and relationship. Isn’t it beautiful that two people would not participate in what God forbids, even when the most powerful person in the world demands it from them – this is faith lived and forged under fire, and being lived boldly even when there may be a cost. They know who God is and who is not!

Perhaps, there is our example and challenge – there will be moments in our own life when the world asks something of us; it might not be as drastic, but it will require a choice between the way of God and faith or compromise. Who knows what we might be asked to do or ignore in contrast to our faith and the ethic of the Kingdom: to be silent in the face of evil or sin, for the sake of comfort and security in our cultural moment. Yet, the example of these faithful two calls us back to the beginning before anything else – right knowledge, love, and fear of God; and by faith to trust him with the outcome. Why? Our faith and trust in God transcend any circumstance we will ever find ourselves in

3.2 Faith that Transcends Circumstances (17-19)

Faith is fear of God, and we see this turning point in verse 17, when the author makes clear the midwives’ faith: because of their fear of God, they “did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the boys live.” Their faith was not an abstract idea in their head – it was real and alive when it needed to be. It was courageous obedience in the face of evil, even when they faced the real possibility of personal cost – They would not participate in what God forbids! Even when it seemed like there was no other choice; think about it for a moment: the most powerful man in the land demanded it and they denied him. Is that not the example of real faith that transcends circumstance, faith strengthened when it should be weakened because the Grace of God is at work? In our own lives, there will be moments when the world asks us to compromise—to accept injustice, to be silent before evil, to surrender honesty, holiness, or love of neighbour for the sake of the idol of comfort or relevance. Yet again, the example of Shiphrah and Puah and their simple faith calls us to Trust, calls us to fear God above all else, and to leave the consequences of our faithful obedience with Him – because he can always be trusted.

3.3 The Gift of Grace (20-21)

The midwives show bold, quiet faith in the face of opposition, and what happens? In the most profound and simplest of ways, we are told: “So God dealt well with the midwives.” or, as Eugene Peterson puts it: God was pleased with the midwives.” God saw their faithfulness, and He blessed them and Israel through their faithfulness as the people continued to multiply and become strong because God was blessing them. Indeed, such is the goodness of God that he pleases these faithful servants with families of their own. It is not that they earned the blessing, but because God sees the faithfulness of his Children and bestows upon us Grace and more Grace. Yet even here, the passage does not allow us to reach a simple, easy ending, as God has dealt well with the midwives and the goodness of their example. Why? Because Israel is still enslaved and the people of God are still suffering, even despite the faith. Indeed, as the blessing of God increases and the numbers and strength of Israelite abound, Pharaoh’s final command becomes even more extreme and irrational, and in verse 22 he calls all his people to cast every Hebrew boy into the Nile. Thus, chapter one finishes with desperation, despair, and a deeper longing for the Lord to do what Joseph prophesied and promised: “God will surely come to your aid.”

4 Faith Is Forged (Conclusion)

How then do we apply this passage to our age and moment?n Are we simply called to the faith of the midwife as the model of perfect faith, because they refused to bow before the pressures of this world? Their faith protects life, resists evil, and obeys God when obedience is costly. Yet, despite their faithfulness, the situation remained the same: enslavement and hopelessness. Their faith is an example, but it is also an arrow pointing to what is to come – they could only rescue one at a time, but a greater rescue would come as the Lord himself would appear as rescuer and deliverer. A rescue that again points to the one who will lead all by faith out of enslavement to sin. But we must also recognise that the faithfulness of Shiphrah and Puah is not itself the ultimate point: Israel needs God to come and deliver them. This reality of the Christian life is indeed clear about Christ, and the New Testament helps us to understand; think about what Peter wrote: we are “foreigners and exiles” in this world, even as we belong to God; and by faith we have been rescued by Christ. Yet, we still live in a world where evil is normal, and darkness darkens still; a world where we wait amid suffering for the fullness of God’s salvation. We are not literally in Egypt, but we know the pains of Egypt, and we know that we are not at home in Egypt, nor should we make peace with its ways. Yet, even when Egypt seems all too real, we know we are never without hope, because we aren’t just exiles – we are “elect exiles!” What does that mean? We are a people chosen by God, held by His promises, and called to live holy and faithful lives among those who do not yet know Him because Christ has enacted and made possible our final and full rescue.

As the Story of the Exodus continues, we see that Israel would wait for God to raise Moses to save his people and bring down Pharaoh. But Moses himself would point to the greater Deliverer, Jesus Christ, he who entered a world under the tyranny of sin and death and took the tyranny of sin and curse of death upon himself in their full weight upon the nails of Calvary, and in his dying defeating the enemy, freeing the slave, and by his rising proving his victory and reign. In Him, God has come to the aid of us, the helpless and weary sinner and has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness, made us His people, and promised that He will return to bring us fully into his eternal Kingdom home. So, who shall save us? The Lord shall save us! And until that day, may we be a people who fear God, remain faithful in our exile, all while seeking to live out the Kingdom by the Spirit by doing good, speaking hope, and protecting the vulnerable as we fix our hope fully on the grace to come at the fulfilment of our redemption.