Day 18 – Exodus: Israel in Egypt

Reading: Exodus 1:1 to Exodus 12:30

“So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.” Exodus 1:20-22 NLT

When thinking about Israel’s enslavement, it is far from any romanticised movie version. The Word says the Egyptians were “ruthless in all their demands” and I cannot imagine the suffering and hardship they endured under the whips of the slave masters.  If that wasn’t enough, the Pharaoh of the time (who did not know about Joseph and his family) ordered genocide. Right from the first pages of this book, we already see God’s hand through the midwives’ fear of the one true God.

Moses was born to a Hebrew family, rescued from the river and raised in the Egyptian palace. He fled as a fugitive for the crime of murder, was chosen to be Israel’s rescuer, and returned to his birthland as a deliverer and leader. God sends him a specific message: repentance for Israel and the release of His people to Pharoah. Due to Pharoah’s non-compliance, God sends 10 plaques showing His might and sovereignty over the Egyptian deities. Before the last of the plaques, (the death of all firstborn males,) God instructed His people to cover their doorposts with the blood of an unblemished lamb – establishing the first Passover.

Prayer: Father, how grateful we are to see Your hand in everything – from the big picture to the details of each person’s life. Your might and sovereignty are displayed in the plaques indicating that You are the true living God, and everything created answers to You in obedience. Thank You for the freedom of Israel and for the freedom I can live in daily through Jesus Christ. Amen.