CHAPTER 1

(1706 B.C.)

ISRAEL IN EGYPT

¹Now t hese are the names of the Children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. (We look at the 70 souls, Jacobs family, which, by the Hand of Lord, were brought from Canaan to Egypt, and brought there for safe-keeping, one might say. They were insignificant in the eyes of the world, but, if God be in it, we must never despise the day of small things.)

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

⁴Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

⁵And all the souls who came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. (The Book of Genesis is the story of the Fall of man. The Book of Exodus is the story of the Redemption of man. Hence, the work of Redemption by Christ is called His Exodus [decease, going out of the world, Lk. 9:31].)

⁶And Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. (If we are to notice, this Book begins with names, hence, Salvation is a personal matter. Joseph died about 80 years before Moses was born.)

⁷And the Children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them (the Blessings of the Lord were upon Israel).

OPPRESSION

⁸Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph (who had no regard for Joseph; this new king was probably either Rameses I, or his son, Seti I).

⁹And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the Children of Israel are more and mightier than we (it is believed they numbered approximately 2 million; it has been stated by some that in the Egyptian records there is no mention of the Hebrews, as the Bible claims; however, it is known that at about the time of the Hebrew sojourn, there was in Egypt a subject race, often employed in forced labors, called Aperu or Aperiu, and it seems impossible to deny that this word is a very fair Egyptian equivalent for the Biblical Hebrews; we are forced, therefore, either to suppose there were in Egypt, at one and the same time, two subject races with names almost identical, or to admit the identification of the Aperu with the descendants of Jacob):

¹⁰Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falls out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. (Pharaoh sets out to destroy Gods people. To be sure, his plans to do so were keen and far-reaching, at least as long as God was left out; but the entrance of God into these plans turned their wisdom to folly. All schemes which ignore God illustrate the same.)

¹¹Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. (The ruins of these two cities exist presently and, in fact, the latter was the residence of the Court. There is a good possibility that the miracles of Moses recorded in Exodus, Chapter 7 took place in this Court [Ps. 78:12, 43]. So, the great palaces built by the Children of God, who were used as slaves, would see the mighty Power of God made evident in them.)

¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the Children of Israel. (Concerning this, Mackintosh says, In reference to the king of Egypt, it may assuredly be said, he did greatly err not knowing God or His changeless counsels. He knew not that, hundreds of years back, before even he had breathed the breath of mortal life, Gods Word and Oath two immutable things had infallibly secured the full and glorious deliverance of that very people, in fact, a people which, at that time, the time of the Oath of God, didnt even exist, whom Pharaoh was going, in his earthly wisdom, to crush. All this was unknown to him and, therefore, all his thoughts and plans were founded upon ignorance of that great foundation truth of all truths, namely that God is. Pharaoh vainly imagined that he, by his management, could prevent the increase of those concerning whom God had said, They shall be as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. His wise dealings, therefore, were simply madness and folly.)

¹³And the Egyptians made the Children of Israel to serve with rigour (rigour is derived from a root which means to break in pieces, to crush):

¹⁴And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

¹⁵And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah (it is ironic that the names of the mighty Pharaohs of that day are all but lost to history, whereas the names of these two women who obeyed God are recognized by multiple millions in every generation; the two named here were evidently in charge of many, if not all, of the midwives among the people of Israel):

¹⁶And he said, When you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools (when the child is about to be born); if it be a son, then you shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. (This murderous scheme hatched up by Pharaoh, or someone in his court, was supposed to weaken Israel by denying further growth. Some may ask as to why the Lord allowed such to happen? The answer is quite simple! Had Israel not suffered greatly, they would not have wanted to leave Egypt.)

¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. (The midwives, as well, concocted a scheme, no doubt inspired by the Lord, that would bring about the desired results.)

¹⁸And the king of Egypt called for the midwives (Shiphrah and Puah), and said unto them, Why have you done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

¹⁹And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. (This scheme called for the midwives to be late, which brought about the desired results.)

²⁰Therefore God dealt well with the midwives (meaning that this is what the Lord told them to do, and He blessed them for their obedience): and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty (Pharaohs scheme was foiled).

²¹And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God (they feared God above Pharaoh), that He (God) made them houses (gave them large families).

THE CRUEL COMMAND

²²And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive. (While Pharaoh desired to weaken the Israelites by demanding that the boy babies be killed at birth, Satans plan was far more sinister. This is the serpents enmity against the Seed of the woman. If this could have been carried out concerning the male children being destroyed, there would have been no David, just to name one instance, and, if no David, no Davids Son. There is no record that the Israelites obeyed this injunction concerning the river. In fact, God used the river, even as we shall see, to bring about His Divine Will.)