Impact of Exodus, continued:

• Joshua 24:6; Judges 2:1; I Samuel 12:8; I Chronicles 17:21

God’s purpose for the Exodus:

• Exodus 5:1
• More given in Exodus 6:1-13
• Ultimate reason in Exodus 19
  • Exodus 19:3-6 – Central theme of the entire Bible
  • John 12:32 – God wants all of us to be with Him.
  • John 14:3
  • Matthew 23:37

The increase of Israel

• Exodus 1:1-7
• Sons of Israel who came to Egypt during the famine:
  • Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher
  • Note: These are not the twelve tribes. You see only eleven names. Joseph was already there and was one of the tribes. Also not the same as the twelve territories of Israel – Joseph’s two sons (Manasseh and Ephraim) got territory and Levi did not.
• Total of 70 descendants of Israel
  • 75 people total
  • Plus Joseph’s family
  • Exodus 1:5; Acts 7:14
• Joseph died
• So many Israelites that “the land was filled with them”
  • Numbers 1:46 – 603,550 men capable of fighting, plus many more women and children
  • Another promise fulfilled – Genesis 46:3. God made them a great nation.

Pharaoh’s solution – deal “wisely”

• Exodus 1:8-14
• Did previous Pharaohs know Joseph?
  • Joseph was 110 years old his death
  • Probably overlapped the lives of most of the Pharaohs
  • New Pharaoh beyond the conversation
  • OR king by conquest of usurpation
    • Not a descendant of the court
    • Not privy to the conversation
• Wise solution?
  • Early signs of conspiracy
  • An opposition leader is born
  • That leader goes into exile
  • Exiled leader gains significant ally
    • Acts 7:25
  • Pharaoh loses
    • Cattle
    • First born, heir to his throne
    • Army
    • Face, prestige
  • So how wise was Pharaoh?
    • His hardness of heart was up front and with him to the end. Remember the wisdom of Gamaliel – Acts 5:38-39.
• Result of Pharaoh’s harsh treatment of Israel
  • God continued to keep His promise to Jacob
  • Israel continued to increase
  • Pharaoh’s will is thwarted by God
    • Pharaoh was already losing the fight – he just wasn’t wise enough to know it.

Pharaoh and the midwives

• Exodus 1:15-22
• The command from Pharaoh
• The actions of the midwives
  • Motivation
  • Principal
    • Genesis 9:6
• Their reply to Pharaoh
• God blesses the midwives
• Pharaoh’s new edict

God brings a deliverer

• Exodus 2:1-10
• God brings Moses to Israel
  • But he goes into the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter
  • Still, God provides

Flight to Midian

• Exodus 2:11-15
• Moses tries to reconnect with his people
  • Seeks to deliver – looks this way and that
  • His people don’t appreciate his action
  • Pharaoh seeks to avenge
  • Moses flees to Midian