GOD IS KEEPING HIS PROMISES
IN THE MOST UNEXPECTED WAYS
Exodus 1:15—2:10
INTRODUCTION
One of the things that most of us enjoy in the books we read or the movies we watch is suspense. We love it when it appears that the good guys are going to be destroyed and then at the last minute, when all hope is gone, they are saved. Last week Jaimee watched “The Sound of Music”. If you’ll remember, the climax of the movie is the escape of the Van Trapp family from the Nazi’s. For a long time we are unsure if they are going to make it out of Austria safely. The suspense keeps us on the edge of our seat until finally, when they are safely through the mountain pass into Switzerland we can give a sigh of relief. It’s the same in the Lord of the Ring series.
What we love watching in movies or reading in books we hate experiencing in our own lives. None of us enjoys the suspense of wondering if there will be enough money in the checking account to pay the bills at the end of the month. No one likes sitting in the hospital waiting room to find out if a loved one survived the surgery. We like it when the bank account is full, everyone is healthy, and there are no risks in front of us. We don’t like suspense in our lives. We want assurances that everything is going according to plan and there are no uncertainties. Unfortunately, that is not how life goes. While we hate to admit it and work like mad to keep reality from forcing its way into our lives, the fact is that we live in a very uncertain world. None of us knows what the next day holds. Accidents, illness, financial calamity, other people’s sinfulness, our own sinfulness all conspire to keep us from living a secure life.
The Bible is written for people who are living on the edge of their seats, fearing the uncertainties that face us all. In today’s passage we will see how God works to save his people when they have absolutely no control over any part of their lives. They are slaves in Egypt. Their slave masters fear them and so they make Israel’s life intolerable by oppression. However, God has made astonishing promises to these people. He has promised to make them into a great nation and to give them the land of Canaan as their home. He has promised that kings will come from them and they will be a blessing to all the nations of the world. He has promised that he will guard and protect them. Nevertheless, here they are in slavery, with no hope for the future and as we are about to see, things go from bad to worse. Yet in this passage we discover how it is that…
MAIN POINT
God keeps his promise to save his people…
I. Against all odds (vv. 15 & 22)
There is little reason for optimism in any part of this story. The plan of God to save the world is hanging by a thread. The king, who has absolute power over the people of Israel, is full of racist hatred toward Israel. He is intent upon their destruction as a people. He holds all the power to perform what he intends. What he intends is too barbaric to describe. In vv. 8-14 we saw how this king, observing the blessing of God upon the nation Israel as seen in their becoming an exceedingly numerous people, develops an all consuming fear of and hatred for the descendants of Abraham. He enslaves the entire nation and uses them to profit himself and the rest of the nation of Egypt. Yet no matter how much he oppresses the people of Israel, they continue to flourish and multiply. He and his people, seeing this unnatural proliferation, live in fear of the Israelites rising up in rebellion.
In v. 15 we see that the Pharaoh has developed a plan that is so brutal that he cannot announce it publicly, or it may provoke an uprising. Rather, in secret he calls for the two women who are in charge of the midwives of the Hebrews, Shiphrah and Puah. He summons these two women whose job it is to bring new life into the world into his throne room. With only his closest advisors present he commands these women to kill all the baby boys of the Hebrews as they are born into the world. The command carries with it the threat of death if they do not obey the vicious king. In secret he devises the worlds first pogrom of genocide. He wants the baby girls to live so that their childbearing capabilities and work can be used to create a permanent slave class that will have no racial identity of its own. Here is a plan to eliminate an unwanted race of people while continuing to benefit from their work. It is the ultimate breeding program for a permanent slave class. It is a cunning plan worthy of the greatest tyrants the world has ever produced. How can the nation Israel survive with an opponent as powerful and as wicked as this Pharaoh?
Then notice in v. 22, when the midwives refuse to cooperate with his genocidal mania he goes public with his plan. He turns the entire population of Egypt into executioners. His fury knows no bounds. He is determined to eliminate the seed of Abraham, to eliminate the chosen people. It is his intention to destroy the nation through whom God has promised to bless all the nations of the world. We see here the fury of Satan himself, set out to destroy the people of God and thus remove the blessing of God from the human race. The hatred of the world for the people of God is here clearly portrayed. All the power of the world and of the devil is arrayed against the church to destroy every vestige of God’s grace from the universe. It certainly does not appear that the people of God have much hope of surviving this onslaught. The enemies of the church have all the power. The people of God are powerless slaves. The heirs of the promises have no way to defend themselves. The survival of God’s people and therefore of God’s plan to save the world, hangs by a thread.
It would be hard to imagine a more hopeless situation than the one facing the nation Israel and the parents of Moses we see described in this passage. It is an accurate picture of the condition of God’s people in every generation. The church is always one generation away from annihilation. The threats against us corporately and individually cannot be overstated. The church around the world is under attack by those who hate us. More Christians have died as martyrs in the last 100 years than died as martyrs in the previous 1900 years of church history combined. The pressures of secular, western culture are exacting an enormous toll upon us. More and more professing Christians are abandoning the clear teaching of the Bible and adopting the “tolerant” views of secular culture. Last week’s issue of US News and World Report had an article on the evangelical church in America. The conclusion of the article was that the church was becoming just like the rest of the culture. Just this last week there was a forum on homosexuality at UW-Rock County. Two pastors, ordained to the Christian ministry, told a group of about 30 students that God approves of homosexual desire and behavior. They said that homosexual and lesbian couples have a divine right to marry and have children. When my oldest son was attending one of the most prestigious Christian colleges in the U.S. he regularly debated other professing Christian students who said that Jesus is not the only way to go to heaven. These views are growing within the professing Christian church and are a greater threat to the existence of the Christian church than the persecution that is taking place in places like China, Indonesia and Vietnam. We is the US are being devoured by the popular, entertainment saturated culture. Christians give less and less of their money to the cause of Christ and spend more and more money on leisure activities and the good life. Churches are destroyed by the sexual immorality of their leaders. All around the world Satan rages against us and marshals the forces of this dark world to oppose God’s people for the purpose of destroying us.
Not just corporately, but personally and privately he seeks to devour individual Christians through false teaching and the pleasures of sin. He seeks to entrap us and to destroy us so that Christ’s church is bereft of her children. We live, as the church has always lived, in perilous times. Our adversary the devil really is a prowling lion who is seeking to devour churches and those who profess Christ. All of us are hanging by a thread. The survival of our church hangs by a thread. After 30 years of living with myself and of counseling others, it is more than apparent to me that it will be a miracle if any of us makes it to heaven. The pressures we face from our own sin, the devil and the world we live in are enormous. Our existence and salvation is truly a miracle. It is in what follows in this passage that we begin to see something of how it is that God saves his people against all odds.
God keeps his promise to save his people…
II. Through weak sinners who fear him (vv. 15-22)
We are told in v. 17 that the midwives did not do what the king of Egypt commanded them to do. They did not kill the Hebrew boys when they were born but rather preserved their lives. They worked to preserve the descendants of Abraham rather than to destroy them. We are told that they did this because they feared God. What does this mean that they feared God and how did their fear of God result in their courageous refusal to obey the king of Egypt?
Fearing God, throughout the Bible is shown to be the most basic and rational of human responses to God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, we are repeatedly told in the Proverbs. God told Abraham that what his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac revealed was that he feared God. Several things are true of those who fear God. First, they are chiefly aware of the fact that they are dependent upon God for all things. They know that they live in God’s world and that all they have has come from him. Second, they know that they are always living in God’s presence. He knows everything they think, say and do. There is nothing hidden from his eyes. There are no secrets in the universe for God knows all. Third, they know that this God to whom they owe everything and who sees everything is a God of justice. He does not let the guilty go unpunished. They know that there is a day of accounting, a day of judgment in store for all humanity and they will have to answer for what they have done and what they have left undone. They know that “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.”
How is it that these women came to fear God? It’s unclear from the passage whether the women are Egyptian or Hebrew women. I think they are probably Egyptian women. Regardless of their ethnicity, it is clear that they have come to know God as a result of hearing of the true God through the people of Israel. They have heard the stories of creation and of the history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They know that God has determined to bless this people and that God will destroy all who destroy the people of Israel. They believe the promises that have been made to Israel. They know that even though Israel is currently in a condition of slavery that God is going to deliver them and punish those who have harmed them. They want no part of the plan to destroy Israel because they believe that God is going to devastate those who seek to annihilate Israel. They fear God because they believe the promises of God.
Notice that their fear of God enables them to not fear the king of Egypt. There can be no doubt that a king who has devised such a barbaric plan to kill innocent babies will not think twice about killing those who resist his will. However, they do not think twice about obeying the king. They fear God and therefore they are not afraid of the king. They would rather be killed by the king than have to stand before God with the blood of the babies of God’s chosen people on their hands. The end of v. 17 is actually stronger than the NIV makes it to be. They didn’t simply let the boys live. They preserved their lives. Knowing the furious hatred of the king motivated them to not only not kill the boys but to work to fulfill their duties as midwives to deliver the boys safely into the world. They worked to benefit the people of God they didn’t simply do nothing to harm the people of God.
In Luke 12:4-5 Jesus says, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will tell you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes I tell you, fear him.” If you fear God, then you will not fear men. If you fear men, then you will not fear God. These two fears are mutually exclusive. The fear of God will not only restrain your doing evil but will also motivate you to do right. Fearing God is the most rational of responses to God. The fear of God restrains the women from evil and motivates them to do good and the lack of fear for God is what drives the fury of the king. All of the evil done by men is due to the fact that men do not fear God.
Verses 18-19 are two of those verses sprinkled throughout the Bible that let you know that the Bible is God’s word, not man’s word. The religious writings of men do not include verses like these. The heroes of manmade religion never do wrong. You will not find this kind of criticism leveled at the religious heroes of manmade religion. The king of Egypt eventually discovers that the women are not obeying him. He calls them into his throne room and demands to know why they are allowing the Hebrew boys to live. The women, who have acted so courageously, in their preserving alive the Hebrew boys, now waffle. They lie in order to preserve their lives. Rather than use the opportunity to bear witness to the power of God and rebuke the king for his lack of fear of God, they mix a truth with a lie in order to save their own skins. It is true that the Hebrew women are more vigorous than the Egyptian women but it is a plain falsehood that the midwives are never present when the Hebrew babies are born.
In v. 20 we are told that God is kind to the midwives. The word for “was kind” is literally, “did good to.” It is frequently used in Genesis and throughout the OT for God’s kindness or goodness to his chosen people. God promised Jacob that he would “do good” to him. In Deuteronomy, God regularly tells Israel that it is his intention to “do good” to them. The psalmists regularly ask God to “do good” to them, according to his word. In other words, God treats the midwives as one of his own people. He counts them among the people of God and recipients of all his promises. Now, what is so important to notice here is that God’s kindness isn’t earned by their behavior. Verse 19 immediately proceeds v. 20. While the midwives do the right thing in preserving the lives of the babies, they do the wrong thing in lying. In the act of lying, we discover that these women are sinners. God is kind to them in spite of their sin. Christians fear God and this motivates them to do the right thing but even when we do the right thing sin is mixed in, thus showing that the source of our goodness does not lie in us but in God. These women fear God as a work of grace, not due to some natural ability in themselves.
Notice the results of these women fearing God in vv. 20-21. First, God preserves their lives. The “wise” king believes their silly lie and does not kill them. Second, the wise and powerful king of Egypt is not only duped by the lie but his desire to destroy the nation of Israel is thwarted by the foolish and weak women. The nation Israel multiplies and becomes even more numerous. Their “house” is more firmly established by God through these women who fear God. God’s plan to save the world goes forward through the work of lying women who fear God. Third, notice that the fury of the king increases and he turns the entire Egyptian population into executioners. He commands that every Egyptian seize and throw into the Nile River every Hebrew baby boy while permitting the baby girls to live. So it is with the wicked when their plans for a secure future are thwarted, their anger increases and they resort to even more violent methods.
God keeps his promise to save his people…
- Against all odds
- Through weak sinners who fear him
- And…
III. Through weak sinners who trust him (vv. 2:1-10)
We are not directly told if the people of Egypt comply with the command of their king. Moses spares us the brutal details. However, the birth of the unnamed baby boy to the two descendants of Levi that is reported in 2:1-10 clearly implies that the genocide is going on. The baby is born, presumably with the help of midwives, and is then hidden, by his mother, for three months. Each day as they go about their tasks as slaves, under the watchful eyes of their taskmasters, who are under orders to kill every baby boy, the mother disguises either the existence of the child or his gender. Daily she witnesses other babies torn from the arms of their mothers to be thrown into the river to drown. We are not told how she does this, but we are told why she does this.
Verse 2 literally says, “The woman conceived and she gave birth to a son. She saw him, that he was good and she hid him for three months.” Seven times in Genesis 1 God saw what he had made, that it was good. In short, the woman, when she saw this child new, in some way, that he was no ordinary child. Somehow, she knew that the blessing of God lay upon this child in a special way and so she worked to preserve his life. She saw that he was good in the same way that God saw his creation was good. The writer to the Hebrews in 11:23 says this, “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.” Here again we see a woman acting courageously to preserve the life of a Hebrew baby because of her faith in the promises of God.
After three months, the mother cannot hide the child any longer and so she comes up with a plan to preserve the baby’s life. It is difficult to know exactly what the woman was doing by placing her three month old son in a water tight basket among the reeds at the edge of the Nile River. Could the danger to him be greater in her home than lying in the waters of the crocodile infested river? Every Egyptian was under orders to throw every Hebrew baby boy into the river and so what hope did she have of the child being saved by an Egyptian rather than being thrown into the river? That she believed that he would be saved by her actions is clear in that she posted the boy’s older sister to keep watch in order to know “what would be done for him.” She expected that God would do something to save the boy. Did she know that this is where the princess came often to bath? Did she know something about the character of this princess? We are not told. The woman acts in faith to preserve her son and God does immeasurably more than she could ever have hoped for. The Egyptian princess discovers the crying baby boy in the basket. She immediately realizes it is one of the Hebrew babies. When she utters those words in v. 7, we are completely on the edge of our seats. What will she do? She is the daughter of the king. Does her father’s vicious blood flow in her veins? Will she toss the baby into the river as he has ordered? But no, we are told that she has compassion upon the crying baby.
At that moment, the baby’s older sister steps up to the princess and asks Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” Again, we are unsure if this girl is acting on the spur of the moment or if this was the plan. Whichever, the result is astonishing. Pharaoh’s daughter tells her to go get a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. The girl runs and gets her mother. Pharaoh’s daughter gently returns the baby to its mother and tells her she will pay the woman to care for the baby. So the baby is returned to her mother, now under the protection of Pharaoh himself. Pharaoh pays to have the baby cared for by its very own mother! When the baby is weaned, probably at around age 3-4, he is returned to Pharaoh’s daughter and he becomes the grandson of Pharaoh. This child who has been specially favored by God grows up in Pharaoh’s own home and plays with his other grandchildren and enjoys all the rights and privileges of belonging to the royal family. This is one of the most amazing reversals of fortune every seen. It happens through a woman who believes the promises of God and so acts to preserve the life of her child. This child is none other than Moses, the great leader and Savior of the Hebrew people. As his name means, he was drawn out of the waters of death and thus became the agent of salvation for God’s people.
God keeps his promise to save his people…
- Against all odds
- Through weak sinners who fear him
- Through weak sinners who trust him
- And…
IV. Through the weakness of the cross (Deuteronomy 18:17-19 & John 5:45-47)
In Deut. 18 God tells Moses, when he is about 100 years old, that he is going to send another prophet just like him to deliver his people. This is a reference to the coming Messiah. Therefore, the Messiah’s career is going to look like the career of Moses. In John 5, Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that they are going to be condemned by Moses at the judgment because they say they believe what Moses says and yet Moses wrote about Jesus. If they really believed in Moses, they would believe in Jesus. In other words, as we study the first five books of the OT, written by Moses and a record of Moses life, we are going to see Jesus. I want to end this morning by pointing out some of the ways that the life and work of Jesus are foreshadowed in this remarkable story of the birth of Moses.
First, the similarities between the birth of Moses and the birth of Jesus are clear. Just as Moses’ mother recognized this was no ordinary child, so did Mary knew that this child in her womb was no ordinary child. Just as the tyrannical Pharaoh decreed the murder of baby Hebrew boys, so the tyrannical King Herod ordered the murder of all the baby Hebrew boys in Bethlehem. Moses was saved while numerous other babies perished in the same way Jesus was saved while the boys of Bethlehem were destroyed. Moses was hidden from the ferocious king just as Jesus was hidden from the violent king.
Just as Moses leaves the bosom of his mother and father to live among a sinful foreign people, so Jesus leaves the bosom of his Father to live among sinners. Just as Moses’ name reflects both his origin and his destiny: he was drawn out of the water and he will draw Israel out of Egypt; so Jesus’ name reflects his origin, he is “God with us” and his destiny, “he will save his people from their sins.”
Perhaps the greatest foreshadowing of the crucified Savior is to be seen in the fact that the work of God in this story is effected through women. Egyptian and Jewish culture was very patriarchal. Much like the Arabic world of today, women had no rights and no power. Yet, all of the main actors in this passage are women. The “wise and powerful” king is overcome by “foolish and weak” women. The original readers of this story would have been howling with laughter as they observed the way in which the Pharaoh’s plot to destroy the people of God was thwarted by the courage and actions of women and girls. Moses, the deliverer of Israel, is kept safe by women. This surely points to the weakness of the cross, which is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. Despised women are the agents of salvation pointing to the despised son of Man being murdered upon a cross as a criminal being the agent of eternal salvation for all who believe. At the moment that all seems lost, when the baby is in the river waiting to be eaten by crocodiles or thrown away by an Egyptian, is the moment of salvation. At the moment that all seems to be lost, when the Messiah cries out and dies, is the moment of salvation. God brings salvation to his people in the midst of and through events that appear to be hopeless. It is in the midst of weakness and hopelessness that God is working out his salvation. God doesn’t save us because we are strong but because we are weak. He is not like the US Army, looking for a few good men. He saves the weak through the weakness of the cross. He saves the powerless through the power of the cross.
Finally, after three months of hiding, Moses is brought into the glorious life of a prince in Egypt. Does not his being saved from death point to the glory of the resurrection? The great reversal that takes place surely points ahead to the greatest reversal of fortune in the universe, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. So the story points us to our ultimate and great hope, our resurrection with Jesus. No matter how bad our lives get, this is the ultimate hope for all who belong to Christ. Resurrection and salvation are just around the corner so we can be confident and not afraid.
God keeps his promise to save his people…
- Against all odds
- Through weak sinners who fear him
- Through weak sinners who trust him
- Through the weakness of the cross
© Copyright
2004 John Swanson.
You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute
this material in any format provided that:
(1) you credit the author,
(2) any modifications are clearly marked,
(3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction,
and
(4) you do not make more than 1,000 copies.
If you would like to post this material to the web, or if
your intended use is other than outlined above, please contact
River Hills Community Church, 2843 West Court Street,
Janesville, WI 53545. (608) 758-0943. mail@riverhillsonline.org
|