Verse for the Day, 11 June 2014.

Exodus 1:5-12  All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.  (6)  Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.  (7)  But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.  (8)  Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.  (9)  And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.  (10)  Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land."  (11)  Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.  (12)  But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.

The book of Exodus is a fascinating book, for it chronicles for us the formation and establishment of a nation in the most unlikely of circumstances. The book of Exodus begins by telling us this nation had no land, no law, no freedom, no religious systems, no identifiable human leader, yet they are still regarded as a nation! By the end of Exodus we will see how this nation will have a law, freedom, a formal religious system, a leader and will be on route to a land that will become their own. From slaves being held in cruel bondage, God will dramatically and powerfully save them from their oppressors, He will reveal Himself to these people in a way never seen before, or even after and He will personally lead them to the Promised Land.

With this to look forward to in our study of Exodus, we quickly see that Exodus does not start in the same manner that Genesis ended. Genesis finished on a high note with the reconciliation of Joseph to his family and preservation of the nation of Israel, but it is saddening to read that the prosperity Jacob and his sons enjoyed through Joseph was short lived. Within the first few verses of Exodus we see that only a generation or two later there is no prosperity to be found from the hands of their hosts, the Egyptians. Certainly God was prospering the Israelite families, for they have increased significantly in number. At the end of Genesis the nation of Israel comprises of less than 100 people, but by the time of the exodus from Egypt some 400 years later, it is believed they were close to 2 000 000 people! Such was the rate of population growth amongst the Israelites that the Egyptians became increasingly fearful, realising that if the Israelites were to unite themselves against the Egyptians, they may very well succeed and overthrow their rulers. The Egyptians sought to crush the Israelites spirit and weaken them through oppression, before they could rise up against them. Thus for several generations, the Israelites were severely oppressed, each generation oppressed more than the previous. They were enslaved and forced to build cities for the Egyptians to live in and boast about. It was a soul-destroying work, one which drove all the promises of God and the covenant of God far from their minds.

Yet in the midst of this severe oppression they were not abandoned altogether, God’s hand was still upon them. God thwarted the plans of the Egyptians against the Israelites, for the more they oppressed God’s people, the more God caused His people to grow in number and strength, which in turn served to increase the fear of the Egyptians.

When hardship and trial come, we are very quick to think that God has forsaken us; we question His goodness and faithfulness. What we fail to do is to observe the ways in which God is at work and revealing not only His presence, but also His goodness and faithfulness. The Egyptians wanted to cause the nation of Israel to diminish in number and in strength, yet in spite of the ever increasing severity of the oppression the opposite happened. The people of Israel grew more and more in number and they grew all the stronger, God was working against the Egyptians. The result of which is that it is not the Israelites who are filled with fear, as the Egyptians had hoped, rather the Egyptians are fear-filled. God never forsakes His people, He is always at work, we need to be wise to look for the ways and means that God is at work in the midst of our hardship and draw encouragement from that.

Father of mercy, we thank You for Your enduring love and faithfulness towards us. We seek Your forgiveness for doubting Your love and faithfulness in times of hardship and for thinking that You are not present, or not at work. Help us, by Your Spirit, to be able to look with wise and discerning eyes so as to see where You are at work and to give You the praise due to Your for that work. Amen.