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“If you’re able, please stand.” Reading Exodus 1:1–15. “Thanks be to God.”
Yesterday, our son, Daniel, married Bethany McLeod. A happy day! A wonderful day!
But let’s think of the wedding from Bethany’s perspective. Decisions, actions, coordination, all invisible to her as she gets ready. When it’s time she turns to the left instead of the right. All has been prepared for her. People working in ways she can’t imagine. People who are happy to do it and eager to bless the families.
Our life with God is like that. We see so little. We detect his work so minimally. But in our pilgrim journey, occasionally we get glimpses of the fact God has been working in ways we can’t imagine. Smaller sightings of his providence on our behalf.
And over the years as we get to know our Bibles, we realize his providence is far greater, far more glorious, and even far more personal than we ever imagined.
This morning, we will see this aspect of God in Exodus 1.
This morning we begin a new series from the book of Exodus, “Yahweh Our Deliverer.” That word “Yahweh” might be unfamiliar to you. In Exodus, God identifies himself to his people using that proper name, “Yahweh.” It is in Exodus where something of the meaning of that name is revealed. Others in Genesis called God by this name. But beginning in Exodus, more of the deeper meaning behind it is given.[1]
In this book of Exodus, we read the history of the preeminent act of deliverance in the Old Testament. It is the one that defines who Israel is as a nation more than any other deliverance. In the first fifteen chapters of Exodus, we will read Moses’s detailed account of Egypt the superpower being crushed by the power of God as he saves his people. They are a slave nation with no possible way of redemption. Until the Lord does it!
The Exodus in the Old Testament is parallel to the cross of Christ in the New Testament. It is the act of redemption which defines the people of God.
The history books, the Wisdom Literature, the prophets all make reference to the Exodus. Once the prophecies about Babylon come into full flower, the prophets even begin to speak about a Second Exodus (e.g., Isa 40). That Second Exodus idea connects to Jesus Christ. In other words, what we read about echoes throughout the rest of the Bible. Yahweh is not just the Deliverer of Israel. He is “Yahweh Our Deliverer.”
Who? Moses (John 1:45; 5:46). When? We can place Moses’ life basically at 1500 BC. The Exodus occurs somewhere around 1446 BC. There is an early and a late date that scholars use, but the earlier date seems more convincing.
That date allows for the 400 years of slavery of the Israelites (Gen 15) and also the 480 years between the Exodus and the 4th year of Solomon’s reign over Israel (1 Kgs 6:1). Solomon’s reign can be dated to the early 900s BC (966/967 BC).
The sermon: Have faith in the God working in ways we can’t imagine: (1) The God at Work in History (1:1–7); (2) The God at Work in Oppression (1:8–14); (3) The God at Work in the Unsung (1:15–22).
Prayer
Have faith in the God working in ways we can’t imagine: (1) The God at Work in History (1:1–7); (2) The God at Work in Oppression (1:8–14); (3) The God at Work in the Unsung (1:15–22).
Moses opens the book of Exodus by connecting it to the first book of the Bible, Genesis. In fact, the first word in Hebrew is the word, “And these are the names….” The first four books open with that word, “And.” A not-so-subtle clue that Moses wrote these as a continuous history.
All these become reminders that our God is the God at work in history.
Genesis 3:15 – The devil’s “enmity” (opposition) to the “offspring” of God’s people:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen 3:15)
Genesis 15 – Enslavement for “four hundred years”:
13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (Gen 15:13-16)
Genesis 46 – A migration to Egypt but then returning to the promised land:
So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” (Gen 46:1-4)
There are even more connections:
Application: It’s good to remember sometimes that God’s field of vision is the whole world and all of history. We are part of the swirl of events that are bringing about God’s perfect plans. A plan that ends with a redeemed people living in a redeemed world. The plan is good beyond compare. Truly, all will be well for us.
Life on the ground can look confusing, chaotic, like a constant train wreck you can’t escape from. But that’s not what’s going on. The God at work in history is doing something, building something. You are part of that!
We might be living in a chapter of life like Exodus 1. There’s nothing pleasant about it. And yet, this chapter we’re living is only one chapter, part of a massive history with hundreds of chapters.
The chapter break is coming soon. Things will begin to change.
Have faith in the God at work in history.
Have faith in the God working in ways we can’t imagine: (1) The God at Work in History (1:1–7); (2) The God at Work in Oppression (1:8–14); (3) The God at Work in the Unsung (1:15–22).
Read Exod. 1:8–14.
The king did not “know” Joseph and the Israelites. But we’ll read at the end of chapter 2, that “God knew.”
These verses remind us of what we read about in Genesis 3:15: The people of God have enemies. The offspring of Satan continues to oppress the godly offspring of the woman.
The reality of oppression (Exod 1:11, 12). We should be careful not to overlook the harsh realities Israel is experiencing. The verb used in v. 12 means “oppress, humiliate, force to bend/bow” (HALOT, 853).
You can see the intensity of it in Exod. 1:13–14. Moses uses repetition to make his point: “ruthlessly….ruthlessly,” “made the people of Israel work as slaves….made them work as slaves.”
There is a modern-day version of this enslavement that feels straight out of the Bible. In Pakistan, there are people enslaved to brick makers.[2] People in desperate need of money become indentured slaves to brick makers. They are to make 1,000 bricks a day. They are given money based on their production. But any shortage for any reason—weather, sickness, a death in the family—becomes more debt. Working out of the debt can take decades for some people.
In November of last year a debate was held in the House of Commons in England’s Parliament to do something about it. In that debate, an MP Jim Shannon said,
“Estimates suggest that more than 1 million men, women and children work in approximately 10,000 brick kilns in the Punjab region alone, yet despite religious minorities making up around only 5% of the population, the percentage of religious minorities in brick kilns is often as high as 50%, particularly in Punjab and Sindh provinces. Across the brick kilns, marginalised and excluded groups, such as the scheduled caste Hindus, Christians and [Muslims], are working in horrific conditions, in bonded labour and without sufficient wages to afford necessities.”[3]
I say all that only to bring some reality to the oppression we’re reading about in Exodus. And also, as a reminder of some of the suffering of our world. Oppression on a large scale continues to happen in our very fallen world. It’s good to remember that, so we don’t lose perspective. And so we can pray.
And yet, God is not stopped by the realities on the ground. Our circumstances aren’t an obstacle to his blessings, they are the CONTEXT OF HIS BLESSINGS.
The King oppresses the people with slavery and hardship. Exod. 1:12 is the result: “they more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.”
Alec Motyer
They were where they were by divine command, under divine promise and awaiting divine intervention. In the meantime, they had no certificate of immunity to pain and hardship….They were exposed to the full blast of worldly opposition.
Alec Motyer, The Message of Exodus[4]
But our faith is in the God at work even in the oppression we might face.
See that in Exod. 1:7, 12, 20.
That language of “fruitful,” “multiply,” “filling the earth” is lifted straight out of Genesis 1 and the creation account. Moses is intentional. In this place of barbarism and oppression, God is working to create and bring life and flourishing.
Application: We think our circumstances need to change in order for us to be blessed. God reminds us here that often the blessings are found right there in the midst of your circumstances.
The devil is determined to make this a victory over the offspring of the woman. But God is bringing about another creation story—God’s people will be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth despite what the devil is doing.
Have faith in the God working in ways we can’t imagine: (1) The God at Work in History (1:1–7); (2) The God at Work in Oppression (1:8–14); (3) The God at Work in the Unsung (1:15–22).
Read Exod. 1:15–22. Now Pharaoh tries another tactic. Can’t just oppress them with “ruthless” slavery. They’re still flourishing! Tries something more sinister, more diabolical. He goes after the newborns, which is sick in itself. But he uses the midwives to do it, something even more twisted.
Two of the midwives are named (Shiphrah, Puah). Pharaoh is not even named! God is telling us something here. In the grand scheme of story there’s a sense in which these two Hebrew midwives are even more important than the nameless Pharaoh who ruled over Egypt.
Why does Pharaoh summon them? Seems likely that they had some kind of oversight over midwifery among the Israelites.
Pharaoh’s command is horrible (Exod 1:16). But especially horrible for a midwife. Her whole job is helping a mother bring babies into the world as safely as possible. But now Pharaoh is telling them to do the exact opposite.
Surely, they feared Pharaoh. He was a powerful man and a tyrant. But they feared God even more—Exod. 1:17.
Fears and anxieties are so normal and natural. The remedy for fear and anxiety is not denial. Not marijuana and alcohol. The remedy is an unexpected one. We need to fear something Greater and Stronger and More Wonderful: God himself.
Because of their fear of God, they give us a vivid example of civil disobedience.
Just as the apostles modeled in preaching Christ in the New Testament:
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:27–29)
Just like in many cases of civil disobedience, they were called to account. They had to make a defense for their actions: “Why have you done this?” (Exod 1:18).
The midwives give a great response: Exod. 1:19. Their response is open to various interpretations.
These women have been the subject of much discussion in Christian ethics. The ninth commandment says, “you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exod 20:16).
Reformed theologians over the centuries have asked whether the midwives were breaking the 9th commandment when they responded to Pharaoh the way they did.
In dealing with lying, three categories are often given. One category is the “malicious lie,” a lie spoken to hurt someone and especially hurt someone we ought to protect and help (J. Douma, The Ten Commandments, 324–325). That’s clearly wrong and always wrong.
A second category is the “jocular lie,” a lie you speak in a game or to tell a joke or in good fun (Douma, 325). How do you throw a surprise party? By a lot of lying. Jokes can go too far, for sure. But most theologians have said this is an acceptable lie: It’s not spoken to hurt but actually to bless another person. Or, at least, it should be!
The third lie is called "the lie of necessity.” It is actually “lying for my neighbor’s benefit,” not lying to harm them but for the exact opposite reason (Douma, 325).
The Hebrew midwives were guilty of this third category, lying for the benefit of their neighbors.
Some will say that all three categories are wrong and sinful. John Murray takes that position (Principles of Conduct, “The Sanctity of Truth”). He says, Yes, they lied. It was a sin. But they feared God, and their fear of God is why they were commended. God’s favor is for those who believe—not for our perfection.
But others have pointed out that this doesn’t seem to fit the passages that have such lies. Rahab hid the Hebrew spies in Jericho, and was commended for this act as a good work (James 2:25). These Hebrew midwives lied to Pharaoh and seem to be commended for it. Their faith is being expressed by their actions. This feels right to me.
Two things have been said about the “lie of necessity” that I think are helpful.
One is that you are protecting a neighbor against an enemy. There is a relational connection to the person you’re helping, and you have a hostile relationship with the person you’re lying to.
John Frame brings this out. And it’s right there in the 9th commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exod 20:16).
A second thing is brought out by Jochem (yōkum) Douma in his book on The Ten Commandments.[5] He brings out the “dire circumstances” involved (329). The lie isn’t over a trivial matter or even a matter of convenience.
A matter of convenience would be when you help a friend with his taxes. You know the family is having a hard time financially. With a few little changes on their taxes, they could get a lot of money back, which would really help them. Is it okay to lie to help your friend in this case? No, this is simply a matter of convenience. Yes, it’s a great difficulty. But it’s not life and death. The government in this case isn’t an enemy.
The Hebrew midwives were facing something far more than an inconvenience. Their lie is spoken to save the life of babies against a murderous tyrant. These babies are the babies of the mothers and sisters you’re personally connected to. The enemy in this case is acting with complete injustice and cruelty.
If the lie is spoken to protect the lie of someone you are personally connected to—and if it is spoken in dire circumstances—then it does not seem to be a violation of the 9th commandment.
As Jochem Douma says on “dire circumstances,” these are also extremely rare circumstances. Most of us will go our entire lives without being placed in such a situation where a lie is the right way to save a friend from great harm.
That feels reasonable to me. But it’s not a simplistic moral issue.
God’s blessing on these midwives continues the pattern we’ve seen already. As much as Egypt oppressed Israel, Israel flourished. Pharaoh attempted to wipe out Israel by turning midwives into murderers. The whole idea is barbaric.
The evil tyrant was thwarted massively: Exod. 1:20–21.
The final irony is in the last verse—Pharaoh’s plan. Now he recruits is entire nation to join him in his genocide. This verse is the perfect setup to what happens in the next chapter: his own daughter will save a Hebrew son from the Nile. And that son will be the downfall of Pharaoh and his people.
Evil tyrants opposing God’s people by going after their offspring. There’s a long history to this (Gen 3:15; Matt 2; Rev 12:1–17).
Have faith in the God working in ways we can’t imagine. People working behind the scenes at a wedding is a beautiful example of what we’re talking about. But God’s work behind the scenes for us is something far more glorious, far more eternal.
He is (1) The God at Work in History (1:1–7); (2) The God at Work in Oppression (1:8–14); (3) The God at Work in the Unsung (1:15–22).
Let your faith rest in him even in these hard days in a fallen world.
Alec Motyer describes this faith for us:
Our faith needs to mature if it is to survive the days of darkness that will inevitably come upon us. The first two chapters of Exodus teach us three qualities of such a faith. First, it is a trustful faith and rests in the knowledge that underpinning everything that happens to us there is a secret, undeclared providence always at work, always providing, always purposeful, always on the side of the people of God….Secondly, it is an expectant faith….Thirdly, it is a patient faith.
J. Alec Motyer, The Message of Exodus[6]
Whatever the chapter number is in the story of your life, trust that it’s part of a book with thousands of chapters. If you’re a Christian, then the ending is amazing!
But the place our faith needs to rest first is with the Lord Jesus Christ. All that Christ did for your salvation was behind the scenes to you, long before you took your first breath:
All of that to save us from our sins! He faced all of that for us! What we must do is put all our faith in him. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and eternal life will be yours.
Prayer – For Pakistanis and those in other nations suffering oppression in such a large scale and in such a prolonged manner. Especially for Christians we pray. Deliver them!
For all those who have made wedding vows—"to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death, according to God’s holy Word.” Give them grace to keep them!
Closing Song, “Sovereign Over Us.”
[1] Alec Motyer: “Now for the first time the essential significance of the name is to be made known. The patriarchs called God Yahweh, but knew Him as El Shaddai [“God Almighty” in ESV]; their descendants will both call Him and know Him by His name Yahweh” (The Revelation of the Divine Name (London: Tyndale, 1949), 16).
[2]https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/10/21/the-spiralling-debt-trapping-pakistans-brick-kiln-workers
[3]https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-11-13/debates/EED8C4DF-224D-41EF-BC61-ECCC77597949/ModernDaySlaveryPakistan
[4] Motyer, The Message of Exodus, BST (InterVarsity, 2005), 30–31.
[5] J. Douma was professor of Christian ethics at the Theological University in Kampen from 1970 to his retirement in 1997.
[6] Motyer, The Message of Exodus, BST (InterVarsity, 2005), 36.
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