In this lesson, we examine Exodus 1 and the account of enslavement of the children of Israel. This account raises a number of questions: where was God during the suffering of the Israelites? When and for how long were the Israelites enslaved? Did God condone the lying of the Hebrew midwives to pharaoh? We investigate these questions together as we seek to apply the truths of this passage to our lives today.
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of God is in control as we’re moving now moving on from the book of Genesis to the book of Exodus title today’s lesson is bondage in Egypt in a way what we’re about to see today is what we’ve already seen it’s another instance of what we’ve already seen with Joseph God’s covenant a blessing and provision seemingly contradicted by long lasting painful circumstances this time it’s on a national scale rather than just personal Israel’s experience in Egypt however as many of you know is one of the most important moments in biblical history again and again in the Old Testament and even the New Testament God makes reference to what Israel experience in Egypt and how God delivered Israel out of Egypt so it’s extremely important moment in redemptive history we want to get a better handle on Israel’s time in Egypt and as we do so will also address two minor apologetic questions how long exactly did is you’ll spend in Egypt in bondage and when it comes to the Hebrew midwives the god-fearing midwives did they lie to Pharaoh in order to protect Israelite children will also of course consider how we can apply what we read about in the scripture to our lives I’m sure many of you have felt or maybe do feel that you’re going through your own experience of bondage of painful long-lasting suffering well god recorded this history for our instruction in our encouragement so we’ll be mindful of that as we proceed as well let’s pray a father I pray I praise you for being the God that you are there is no one like you about what you’ve done in history is amazing and it is so wise I ought to pray that we would appreciate more of your greatness goodness wisdom and leftover d today’s we read about what you did with Israel and Egypt Jesus name Amen one of the final words we hear from the book of Genesis is a charge from Joseph to the children of Israel before we actually start looking at Exodus let’s look at that final charge from Joseph turn to Genesis 50 Genesis 50 we’re looking at verses 24 to 26 Genesis 50 vs 20 verses 24 to 26 i will read those verses joseph said to his brothers i am about to die but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which he promised on oath to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear saying God will surely take care of you and you shall carry my bones up from here so Joseph died at the age of 110 years and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt ok short section but we want to make some observations Joseph is about to die 110 years old and of what promised is Joseph remind the children of Israel it was a promise given to Abraham to do what well he does mention the Lord taking care of them but specifically Eric that’s right he says you will inherit the land you will go back to that land and you will receive it but Craig as you noted there’s a phrase that’s repeated here twice by Joseph he says God will surely take care of you and that of course was also part of the Abrahamic covenant because of josephs belief in this promise what charge does he give to Israelites to bring his bones to the promised land when God leads them there now isn’t this interesting because Joseph could have instructed the Israelites to take his bones immediately de Canaan after his death because this is exactly what the Israelites did when Jacob died when Jacob died just a couple chapters earlier they immediately took him after a period of mourning they took him and buried him and Canaan so what stopped them from doing that for to Joseph they weren’t enslaved at this point they were still free and prosperous but Joseph chooses not to do that I think it’s for this reason Joseph is so sure that God will bring the descendants of Israel to the promise land that he tells them don’t take my bones now wait until God takes all of you to Canaan because it will happen this is an expression of faith from Joseph and that’s why it’s no surprise Hebrews 11 22 says this by faith Joseph when he was dying made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones it’s his vibrant faith from Joseph on display Joseph had faith in the covenant promise of God that promise that was first given to Abraham then to Isaac then to Jacob he trusted that God would keep his covenant and he wanted Israel to also trust in that covenant therefore he gives them this charge Joseph dies he is embalmed that says jacob was and Israel continues to prosper in the land of Goshen after Joseph’s death however the children of Israel were about to go through a dramatic change of circumstances and the promises of God would be put to the test now let’s look at Exodus Exodus chapter 1 we’re going to look at verses 1 to 14 verse 1 of Exodus now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob they came each one with this household Reuben Simeon Levi and Judah Issachar Zebulun and Benjamin Dan and Naphtali GAD and Asher all the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were 70 in number but Joseph was already in Egypt Joseph died and all his brothers and all that generation but the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly and multiplied and became exceedingly mighty that the land was filled with them now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph he said to his people behold the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we come let us deal wisely with them or else they will multiply and in the event of war they will also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and depart from the land so they appointed task masters over them to afflict them with hard labor and they built for pharaoh storage cities Pithom and Rameses but the more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and the more they spread out so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel the Egyptians compelled the sons visual to labor rigorously and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field all their labors which they rigorously impose on them right let’s start analysis this passage once again by making observations the passage begins with a recap of how the children of Israel came to Egypt lists the 12 brothers and then mentions that all that generation died minor note it says here that 70 people came down and we’re in Egypt but in acts 7 verse 14 when Stephen talks about this instance he says 75 people were in Egypt oh we have an error in the Bible no you know by now that there’s always explanation for God’s inerrant word Septuagint translation of X just one the verses that we just read says that 75 people were in Egypt apparently and the translation the translators included some of josephs other descendants in the number of 75 the original Hebrew text however appears to have read 70 which is why we have it translated that way so it’s actually correct as we haven’t in Exodus but Stephen was quoting from the translation of the Bible so he was correct to say 75 anyways all the patriarchs died and then in verse 7 we get a contrast presented what’s the contrast and contrast all those people dying what do we now get that’s right many more become alive they are born and what literary device appears in verse 7 that emphasizes the multiplication of Israel’s descendants yeah what literary devices that that’s kind of a fancy term but what we’re seeing here is repetition repetition not the same words but the same idea just expressed in multiple ways five different descriptions all saying the same thing or similar things and says they were fruitful and increase greatly and multiply they became exceedingly mighty and the land was filled with them I think the author really wants to get the want us to get the point that they increased a lot they became they dramatically increased in population and became a strong people verse 8 presents the turn in the narrative a new king a new Pharaoh arises in Egypt who did not know about Joseph he looks at the situation with Israel and becomes afraid of what exactly is he afraid he is afraid of their their number their great number because he thinks they might do what yeah eric that’s right he’s afraid that if Egypt gets into a war that the enemies will ally with the Israelites and overthrow Egypt now notice when the King compares Israel size and strength with Egypt’s what does Pharaoh observe he says that they are more and mightier now that might be a bit of hyperbole but still that’s astounding because as we just noticed the people of Israel were 70 when they came down to Egypt there are a whole bunch of Egyptians who are already living there and now in the course of just a couple generations there are almost as many or perhaps even more Israelites in Egypt than there are Egyptians that’s amazing a small group of immigrants now arrivals the native population and this group of foreigners did not necessarily have any loyalty to Egypt so you can understand why this would be a strategic concern for the Pharaoh welfare solution is to enslave the Israelites take away their wealth and independence and keep strict controls on them force them to work hard so they don’t have time to think about rebellion and so they don’t multiply as much people have more children when they prosper and flip them and they should have less children and shorter lifespans that’s the thinking text mentions that fair use the Israelites to build the storage cities of Pithom and Rameses but what was the unexpected result of Israel’s enslavement yes Steve that’s a that’s a good point a good observation he wasn’t just afraid that they would ally with an enemy but as you noted the verse says they would depart from the land so that would lose them lose the labor force lose that resource for Egypt see I didn’t want the people of Israel to leave I’m very good thanks for mentioning that let me see what was my question oh yeah what was the unexpected result of Israel’s enslavement yeah Eric yeah they increased even more and this caused the Egyptians to feel notice dread dread at the sons of Israel text mentions that more mentions a couple details about the labor inflicted on Israel it was hard labor but not just in building projects what other kind of labor yes d yeah that’s a good point it doesn’t say specifically here though it could be included because of what is mentioned here that they part of their work may have been continuing to do what they had done which is managing livestock and shepherding and things like that the one other type of work that is mentioned here specifically is well they did build the cities yeah Agriculture says they they were given labor in the field farm work but then it says all um all kinds let’s see yet made their lives better with labor and mortar and bricks and in all kinds of labor in the field all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them that’s first 14 like there’s another one that was more general yeah but all kinds of labor not just building projects because that’s the ones we often see in the pictures but they’re being used in lots of different ways but the labor made the lives of the Israelites bidder now imagine imagine you are there with the Israelites perhaps you’re one of the older Israelites and you remember the good old days of prosperity in the land of Goshen and then this inexplicable enslavement by this new Pharaoh and now unending days of toil and hardship every day you go to sleep you know you have to get up the next day and do hard work under taskmasters and every day you wake up that’s what awaits you or maybe you’re one of the young ones you’re born into slavery you’re not you don’t know why your life is one of pain and hard work and you don’t see any visible hope of change where is God in all of this how could he let this happen why isn’t he keeping his covenant but we know and perhaps some of them knew and trusted that God was indeed keeping his covenant and one way that they could have seen this was with the miracle or near miracle that was happening all around them what was the miracle yeah boy yeah they’re multiplication unless you said God was preserving them and actually growing their name their nation they had a population boom even in harsh circumstances and this should not happen normally I looked up some information about population growth and it’s kind of interesting harsh living conditions do tend to increase the birth rate of the people but it also increases the death rate so people have more children in harsh conditions than in proximate times prosperous times on average but people and their children tend to live shorter lives so population growth in harsh conditions is usually harsh living conditions is usually slow or non-existent but somehow here God providentially or miraculously arranged Hebrew biology genetics and circumstances so that not only did the strong Hebrew population growth continue but it actually improved in harsh circumstances so he was visible evidence of God keeping covenant in spite of their hard circumstances Abraham’s descendants were indeed becoming like the sand of the sea and the stars of the sky so we see that but there’s something else God had already promised Abraham that this enslavement in a foreign land what happened let’s look back at Genesis 15 for a moment because this is where we see this Genesis 15 verses 12 to 16 Genesis 15 verses 12 to 16 I’ll read those verses there we go Genesis 15 now when the Sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram and behold terror and great darkness fell upon him God said to Abram know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in the land that is not theirs where they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years but i will also judge in the nation whom they will serve and afterward they will come out with many possessions as for you you shall go to your father in peace you will be buried at a good old age then in the fourth generation they will return here for the iniquity of the amorite is not yet complete okay kind of interesting little text here a couple observations how long did God say the Israelites would be strangers enslaved and oppressed 400 years but notice we also have a description at the end of this little section that says I will bring them back in the fourth generation what three promises does God say would come to pass at the end of their enslavement what’s one of them they’ll come out with many possessions what’s another 10 judge in the nation and then not mention with those other two but God is going to bring them back to the land God will bring them to Canaan so those promises were given along with this notice of future enslavement like in Joseph’s life while circumstances look like the opposite of God keeping covenant received from this promise that what is happening to the pupil visio was actually precisely arranged by God as part of his covenant keeping in order to bring about his good covenant purposes notice though that many of the Israelites maybe even most of the Israelites would not see these good purposes come to pass 400 years of being a stranger being oppressed and being enslaved that means that some Israelites were likely enslaved for their entire lives they never saw God’s ultimate purposes come to pass their whole lives were filled with unending hardship to God failed to keep covenant with those persons of course not in a transcendent way God was able to minister his goodness perfectly to them even in their hard circumstances while at the same time accomplishing a long-term plan of goodness for the descendants that came after them remember what the psalmist says God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly so God was still doing good to them even in their lifetime of hardship now it may be that not all the children of Israel were actually God viewers they’re not actually believers but for those that were the goodness and joy of God must have been still provided to them in their hard lives on the basis of faith they couldn’t tell God all you haven’t given me enough you haven’t I can’t be joyful I can’t be satisfied God says no you can on the basis of faith we may find ourselves or some of our brethren in a similar situation today long-term trials perhaps lifelong trials due to health problems persecution governmental oppression war whatever it is do these circumstances mean that God has stopped being good to a certain person no for those that believe in God joy and hope are always there an abundant measure because the treasure that God gives is not dependent on circumstances God gives himself and that’s what God said to Abraham right as part of his promises he says I will be your God that was the greatest of all the promises I give myself to you God says I unilaterally choose to bring you into a special covenant with me because we have Christ can see with the eyes of faith beyond the oppressions of this life because they will be here and we can look to the reward in heaven we can look to the glory that awaits us we can look to our promised inheritance and therefore be satisfied be content be joy filled the same treasure was available to all Israelites so no God never stopped being good he never stopped being attentive he never stopped being faithful to them he was doing all of those good things for them even through their life dominating hardships and he will do the same for us side note just how long was Israel enslaved this is actually a difficult question to answer Genesis 15 13 passes we’ve just looked at it makes it sound like the Israelites were enslaved for 400 years but notice that it says that they will be strangers in the land that is not theirs where they will be enslaved and oppressed are they strangers for 400 years are they oppressed 400 years are they enslaved 400 years as we also noted Genesis 15 16 says that the fourth generation will return to the promised land which generation is the fourth generation certainly could not mean the 4th gen the fourth descendant after Abraham because that would mean that God is referring to the 12 sons of Israel or their immediate descendants and those people did not return to settle in Canaan it could then this fourth generation could refer to the fourth descendant of Joseph or Jacob since both of those men actually lived in Egypt and they could fit with the prophecy or perhaps it could refer to the fourth descendant of the Israelites after they were first enslaved in Egypt but how does four generations interact with 400 years how long is a generation that’s another hard question a generation is usually defined as the amount of time between the birth of a child and the birth of that child’s descendant though it’s possible generations could be used in a different way that term that’s the normal definition for example generation in America today be about 25 years though in past centuries the generation was closer to 20 years people had children earlier that’s just today’s average in the Bible we see marriages and the age at which a couple first gives birth fluctuates a lot so calculating the length of time for generations depends on the specific people in a lineage matters when they actually got married and had children under this definition of generation however it would not take 400 years from for generations to go by it would happen a lot more quickly therefore the 400 year prophecy would need to if we’re connecting those two descriptions encompass both time and slaves and time not enslaved 400 years would have to encompass both of those times if the fourth generation was if it’s the fourth generation after enslavement or something like that because for generations is not going to equal 400 years then there’s one additional complication listen to Exodus 12 verses 42 41 you don’t have to turn there but X is 12 40 to 41 Moses rights now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years and at the end of 430 years to the very day all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt hmm these verses say clearly that Israel descendants lived in Egypt for 430 years at least the nasb does an NIV and esv also translate that verse in a similar way they lived in Egypt 430 years the King James Version says something a little different though here’s the king james version of extras 12 42 41 now the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was 430 years and it came to pass the end of 430 years even the self same day came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt no is that if the King James Version translation is correct Israel’s sojourning was 430 years not necessarily all of those days of sojourning were in Egypt it just mentions they lived in Egypt for a time quickly though why does exes say 430 years when Genesis says 400 years I’m not sure that this is the biggest deal God may have simply been giving an approximation Abraham while Moses records the more exact figure though some see that perhaps some of the 30 years had gone by during Abraham’s lifetime and therefore there are only 400 years left why am i bringing all this up or you can see a little bit into my slide it’s because there’s some disagreement among trusted interpreters on the date and length of Israel’s time in Egypt when they first got there how long they were there how long they were enslaved etc Answers in Genesis hopefully you can read that Answers in Genesis sees that the 400 year prophecy to Abraham began during Abraham’s lifetime specifically at Isaac’s weaning because that’s when Ishmael began to laugh at and mock Isaac so they would say the oppression began their the oppression of a Abraham’s descendants and their timeline Isaac is born in 1896 PC Joseph dies at 1635 exodus begins in 1491 so I six-point 1896 who’d be weaned a couple years after that so about four hundred years from Isaac’s weaning to the exodus they would see the actual time of enslaved meant to be shorter than 400 years john macarthur in his study bible and contrast places Isaac’s birth much earlier 2065 bc Joseph’s death at 1804 bc and the exodus around 1445 bc so the exodus is still not too far from each other but the other dates vary a lot this means are in MacArthur’s view and at least the view that’s presented in this study bible the 430 years mentioned in Exodus has to do with when Jacob first arrived in Egypt so 430 years after Jacob arrived in Egypt that’s when we have the Exodus but again enslavement would not encompass all of those years now I’m sure there are other perspectives on this but which view do I feel like is more accurate I’m will inclined to take MacArthur’s view since I think it treats the prophecies of Genesis 15 in Exodus 12 in a more natural way but notice that most interpreters don’t see the 400 years with the 430 years to encompass art to mean time and slaved that just meant time in Egypt or in Answers in Genesis view time sojourning now I’m not going to be dogmatic about these dates just want you to know a little bit of basis of what what trusted interpreters are thinking and how these prophecies connect or might connect with the chronology of Israel’s time in Egypt there is an additional layer to this timing puzzle and that is how do these asserted dates fit with the archeology and history of Egypt boy we’ll talk about that question today we’ll come back to it next week and a special lesson on chronology conundrums but if you’re part of the summer sunday school series you actually have a little bit of background on that already but this is kind of a side issue back to the main point if the Israelites new and/or we’re paying attention to what had been prophesied to Abraham then they would know that God was indeed keeping covenant he promised that sojourning oppression and enslavement would come to pass and now that promise was being fulfilled so the other promises must be must have been then not that far off questions so far yeah yeah well we are going to see that answers in genesis takes a slightly different view than what was presented by david roll and tim mahoney in the documentary so it’s not gonna line up perfectly but they do think some similar things that’s a good question other questions yeah I don’t think so either right yeah just to repeat your observation don’t believe there’s any where in the bible or says that the Israelites were enslaved because they did something wrong or because they were they did sin because they were they were evil it was just the yeah just something that happened and it was part of what God had actually foreordained other questions okay so Pharaoh’s first stratagem for limiting Israelite growth population growth with enslavement did not work so now he’s going to try to new approaches which we read about in the second half of Exodus chapter 1 so turn back to Exodus and let’s read verses 15 to 20 2 Xtras 1 verses 15 to 22 then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives one of whom was named Chiffre and the other was named puah and he said when you were helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birth stool if it is a son and you shall put him to death but if it is a daughter then she shall live but the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them but let the boys live it’s the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them why have you done this thing and let the boys live the Midwife said to Pharaoh because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women for they are vigorous and give birth before the Midwife can get to that so God was good to the midwives and the people multiplied and became very mighty because the midwives feared God he established households for them then Pharaoh commanded all his people saying every son who was born you are to cast into the Nile and every daughter you were to keep alive ok let’s make some observations Pharaoh’s new approach is to act through to Hebrew midwives Chiffre and puah they were directed to whenever they were helping a Hebrew woman give earth to kill any boys and let the girls live however these midwives do not obey Pharaohs command why according to the text if you’re good that’s the reason the King confronts them though as to why they disobeyed and women respond by telling fair that human women are more vigorous than Egyptian women Hebrews always give birth quickly without the help of Midwife and Midwife can’t even get there in time God blesses the midwives giving them what households families they give families of their own the help Israelites with their families and now they have families meanwhile the Israelites continue to multiply Pharaoh seeing that his segment plan has failed it was on a plan 3 this time all Hebrew boys are to be killed whether they survive birth or not while the daughters are to be allowed to live who’s responsible to carry out this command yeah the Egyptians everyone it says you committed all his people you Hebrews you better do this and if you don’t my people will do it for you they’ll kill your boys whenever we see a little Hebrew boy running around will know that you disobeyed and we’re going to kill him alright let’s have some interpretive questions now there are a number of liquoring lingering questions for this section why does Pharaoh want to kill just the Hebrew boys yeah Roy hmm yeah I think that’s part of it ruling just to repeat what you’re saying the men they’re going to be the ones who are fighting in battle and that’s one of his particular concerns if Hebrew men are the ones allowed to live Hebrew boys become the men they could be the ones that could potentially overthrow Egypt so that’s that’s part of it though I think there’s something else it’s worth noting that women and slaves women we’re good for labor as well I mean I’m sure they were being used in certain different different ways so it wasn’t like oh if we get rid of the men will will lose all our slave labor now they were going to use the women too but it just through men is through the Mail’s that descendants was going to be reckoned the bloodline was going to continue through the mails if you get rid of the males then the women if they’re going to marry whom are they going to marry Egyptians they will become concubines to Egyptians which would work out pretty well for Pharaoh because you continue to have a slave population but you get rid of the Hebrew bloodline and therefore the chance of rebellion is greatly diminished so this was a cunning stratagem the sentence would only be passed on to the males if only the Hebrew women survived they would only marry or become concubines to Egyptians reserving the slave population but destroying the Hebrew nation another question who exactly are these midwives only to meet with Pharaoh but surely a burgeoning Hebrew population needed more than two midwives so why would fare meet with only two what do you think yeah really nice yeah I think that’s a good inference to make your noting with the MacArthur Study Bible notes these are probably superintendents of some kind or they were whenever they got the command from Pharaoh they were to spread it to the other Hebrew midwives notice the phrase though Hebrew midwives someone suggested that these women are not actually Hebrews but they are Egyptian women who were serving the Hebrews as midwives and also may be serving the Egyptians why I say that well it would be odd for Pharaoh to expect ethnic Hebrew midwives to betray their own people and murder the boy infants though Egyptian midwives might just be loyal and trusting enough to do Pharaohs will moreover Pharaoh likely intended for these murders to be secret that is the midwives were to pass them off as accidents or a stillbirths and therefore lessen the chance of provoking a hebrew rebellion native Egyptians would be more likely to keep that secret Hebrews even if they even if they committed the murders they not necessarily going to keep quiet about it however others contend that the name Chiffre and pula are Semitic not Egyptian and that these women would therefore have to be ethnic Hebrews and either case God used these women sovereignly to preserve his people when confronted with when confronted by Pharaoh as to why they did not do as he asked they present an excuse we read it are they lying to Pharaoh and if they are are they justified in their lie in order to preserve life and oppose evil it’s worth noting that the passage does not actually say that they lied it’s possible that they were telling fair of the truth God may have actually caused Hebrew women to bear so easily and so quickly that these god-fearing midwives never faced the choice of murdering are not murdering infant that they had already set themselves up to not do that after all we’ve already seen that God was providing an astounding population growth to the Hebrews and perhaps easy births were part of that the tradition of the ancient rabbis was that the midwives instructed pregnant Hebrew women to pray to God whenever they were going into labor pray that God would provide the birth before Midwife could get to them I don’t know if that’s true but that was the rabbinical tradition Answers in Genesis and noted period ten commentator Matthew Henry they both agreed that we should not say that the mid wise lied we should take the words at face value they say however while the passage does not directly mention lying other interpreters maintain that the midwives are clearly trying to deceive Farah verse 17 says they did not do as the king commanded them which means they chose to disobey the king why as we noted they feared God this means they had some opportunities some opportunity to obey and they did not take it which is why God blessed them it’s not like God simply didn’t give them a choice where he made it impossible for them to even choose whether to obey or not and they had some sort of choice they had some sort of ability to obey therefore their excuse to Pharaoh does not tell the whole truth if it’s if it’s truthful at all the reason for their disobedience is not because the Hebrews are giving birth quickly it’s because the king’s command is evil and because they feared God more than him so many interpreters argue that this is in fact deception but does that make it wrong with the midwives obligated to tell the truth to Pharaoh this is kind of like the question of whether it’s wrong to lie to the Nazis when you’re trying to hide use in your house and it’s not a question that we can fully explore right now just to give you a little bit more of the basis for this argument on the one hand God is a God of truth he cannot lie to lie is to be totally unlike God and to be very much like Satan so how can God ever approve lying or deception over and over the Bible condemns those acts on the other hand aren’t deception sometimes permitted in special circumstances government governments use deception for crime fighting national security will undercover cops federal agents spies even Israel you spies sets in in war moreover one actively tries to deceive the enemy you want him to think you are stronger than you actually are that you’re attacking him where you actually aren’t that there is no ambush when there actually is Israel again uses some of these things this sin what about lying to one’s own government could one argue that in extreme cases that it’s similar to a war that one in effect declares war against one’s own government and is therefore no longer obligated to submit to or tell the truth to that government yes we know the Bible says that you were to submits the government and honor its leaders but then why is Rahab apart from her lie commended by God for her faith when she hid the Israelites pies and betrayed her city was that honoring the government so those are some questions on the flip side though if flying to one’s government were permitted in circumcircle stances then where’s the line between permitted lying and sinful line how do we even know what what it means to honor and submit to the government anymore this line of reasoning for acceptable lying to one’s government has a very slippery slope or potentially a slippery slope worth noting that when I looked at some commentaries on this passage the ones that I looked at none of them said that the midwives were justified in lying that it was a righteous lie tactical faint that was excusable though John Piper did say he was not ready to condemn them wouldn’t say that they were right but he wouldn’t say that they were wrong one final group of interpreters maintain that the midwives were wrong to lie but God like he does with Rahab does not commend the midwives for their lie but for their faith demonstrated in their other actions this is the position of John Calvin John MacArthur and many others God does bless the midwives but that was not in approval or in condoning their lie he was approving their more basic fear of him and disobeying the command to murder the Hebrew infants one rabina cool tradition by the way was that the midwives were Egyptian and that they later married Hebrews and that’s where they got their households from anyways I presented to you there’s three different viewpoints yeah yeah CheY correct right yeah yeah let me repeat your comment just a little bit you first make a parallel with some of what we see today with abortion and what’s going on right here because that’s basically what they’re being asked to do these Egyptian midwives are asked to abort keep your children you’re asked to murder them and clearly when a government commands us to do something that’s evil we see many examples in the scriptures of some saying it’s we’re going to obey God rather than you obey God rather than men the issue comes with will they were they also right to lie to their government or to deceive the King deceive the government that’s the more difficult question but clearly they’re not going to obey the command to kill yeah Rob hmm i will repeat your comment I won’t I don’t know if I necessarily agree but I think it it is an argument worth considering which is that as you stated that direct lying is always wrong but that concealing some of the truth is not wrong and that’s what we see in these war situations and that’s what we’re seeing here that they were actually telling the truth and they were not obligated to give the whole truth but they weren’t lying by only giving some of the truth I don’t the reason I say don’t I don’t necessarily agree is because I guess a little bit difficult when you say I’m telling the truth but not the whole truth because if you know that you’re giving the wrong impression to somebody so they believe something that’s false think it’s the same as deception though it does get a little bit hard to discern because you’re not completely responsible for what people think I mean Jesus I was thinking about this a little bit too he says things like destroy this temple in three days I’ll raise it up again and they thought he was talking about the actual temple but he was referring to the temple of his body he did not clarify his statement he let them think what they want it was he deceiving them clearly not because Jesus can’t do that does get a little bit tricky are you gonna say Steve yeah yeah very important is that we’re gonna find as Christians particularly in our day and age that we’re going to have to make decision where we’re going to disobey the government yeah I’m just rip you a comment and then to add a little example to that you mentioned that it could have actually been the scheme of these midwives to delay their coming to the Hebrews and then they were they would be totally right to say oh they gave birth before we got there but that still might be a little bit deceptive but you also mention that it is going to be it is it has been and is going to be an ongoing issue for us those Christians that we will sometimes have to disobey the government because the government’s going to tell us to do or it’s going to promote things that are evil I know maybe the greatest example the old testament of that is I always feel bad not knowing the Hebrew names but Shadrach Meshach and Abednego right they totally disobey and they’re totally upfront with why they say look man we’re not going to obey anybody that rather than God and if you go against God we’re gonna do this Bay you and if we’re gonna die well we know God can deliver you or deliver us from your hand then God showed that you could actually could do that miraculously and so we in the same way we entrust ourselves to God we say I’m going to display the government I know there are consequences potentially legal with fines and jail time and in some places you’re deaf but we say on our God instead because there’s a better reward there so there’s a lot going around this issue but the let me say just a couple other things over these midwives what position do I lean toward what do I think is really happening here I don’t know if I’m super confident I am not comfortable saying that their lives were justified I’d be willing to listen to more arguments about that I do think that they were deceiving Pharaoh that it was an intentional deception but I think that so I guess I lean more to Calvin and MacArthur that God was commending their faith in disobeying the Pharaoh rather than in lying to him but again let’s remember that remember the main point of this passage it’s not to provide moral instruction about truthfulness or truthfulness the ones government what is the point of this passage there God was what exactly it’s about how God protects and preserves and its faithful to his people whether these my these midwives were Egyptian or Hebrew truthful or false justified in lying or unjustified lying God arranged that the very people that Pharaoh commissioned with undercover murder would refuse to carry it out why because God was going to remain faithful to his covenant with Israel that’s the point it’s like bale acts attempt to curse Israel which we’ll see you later on Yeah right right yes yeah let me make one quick comment about that bill you mentioned that in the patterns of evidence film they talked about how a divorce which would be where the some Israelites were in the land of Goshen there was evidence of high infant mortality at a certain period and so clearly some Hebrew infants if that indeed is correctly linked up to this section of history some Hebrew infants were killed though that may be part of not the Midwife covert operation but with the next phase which is the more public murder all the Hebrew boys that you see but clearly some of them were killed and yet God still caused the Hebrew population to grow what I was going to say though balak you remember he tries to curse Israel but every time Balaam opens his mouth he utters a blessing instead it’s like no matter what you do balak all your efforts are just going to come back and gods going to show him Simon felt himself faithful to his covenant and your efforts to destroy that covenant are actually going to make the Covenant happen although fares intends to weaken and destroy Israel would prove useless even counterproductive God wanted to remind Israel that he has always been in control and will always keep his promises even when there are people in other nations who directly oppose God as I just mentioned at the end of chapter 1 Pharos shifts from covert ops to a public decree to murder Hebrew boys but God’s didn’t use that also for God’s own purposes that’s how Moses was going to get into egyptian royalty and that would lead to the overthrow of Egypt before we finished today let’s look at one more passage Exodus chapter 2 we’re going to skip over the section about Moses for now the look at verses 23 and 25 X is 2 verses 23 and 25 describing a little bit more of the Israelite experience 23 now Cain about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died and the sons of Israel side because of the bondage and they cried out and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God so God heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob God saw the sons of Israel and God took notice of them smaller section quick observations here notice the Pharaoh that enslaved the Israelites dies his successor though as we’ll see continues the brutal policies meanwhile the Israelites sigh and cry out now doesn’t say they specifically that they cry out to God here though first time you’ll 12-8 does say that they were indeed crying out to God notice the four verbs that describe God’s response what does God do that’s right so it might be a little bit different depending a new translation but heard remembered saw it took notice here again we’re seeing repetition various descriptions all saying the same thing for emphasis God was listening to the pleading prayers of his people he was intimately aware of their suffering for ordained suffering but he heard and he cared he was attentive to their cry and now God is going to act as you know whenever we hear the phrase God remembered in the Pentateuch and I think throughout the Old Testament it’s always a sign that God is about to act in a powerful compassionate way God was keeping covenant with Israel all along as we’ve seen but now in response they’re suffering and their cries for deliverance now that the time is right God is going to act powerfully on behalf of his children and there’s a principle for us to God does hear our cries during our times of suffering he hears our prayers and the calls for provision and deliverance he listens to the prayers of faith he will act he’s already active you will not act before the time is right but he always vindicates those who entrust themselves to him even if it is through years or decades of suffering he knows he cares and he will act at the right time in his might and in this compassion we’re going to stop there for today but any final comments or questions all right we’re not going to look at the application question since we covered most of them during the lesson I think we covered all of them next week as i mentioned we’re going to pause in the narrative of Exodus to consider how history and archaeology connect to the history that’s given to us in the Bible about the Israelites in Egypt we have I think one more week with a memory verse so continuing to memorize that this this principle that we see especially here at the end of Genesis but that God is in control and even the evil that people mean against us is being used for good because God is king let’s pray now as we close father you are wonderful there are some things Lord that I still don’t ultimately understand about this passage but the main point is so clear that you cannot be opposed no one can go against you and win those who try and destroy your works end up fulfilling your works and Lord those who mean evil against your people are actually doing good to them because you cannot help but do good to your people you’re too good you’re too compassionate you are such a great God your purposes are beyond us Lord we cannot completely understand them but we know what you’ve told us in your scripture which is we can trust you you were taking care of the people of Israel it was evident even in their suffering but it was going to be even more evident in their deliverance in the same way Lord you will take care of us God as we go through long-term trials or even trials aren’t that long term just remember I’ll just remember God what you were teaching the Israelites here that you are always faithful to your covenant and that there’s no treasure on this earth that they need more than they need you well there’s no treasure under that I need that we need more than we need you God forgive us Lord where we have taken harsh circumstances with trials and we’ve used them as opportunities to doubt you to speak against you to complain in our hearts about your sovereignty well we submit we admit God we confess that you are so great in your purposes and you’re always doing good it would help us to remember the principles here and the rest of the scriptures so that when we encounter our next trial we say I will believe the Lord I know he keeps covenant what would you do father you do I pray that you bless the rest of the service today amen