Key Verses: Exodus 1:8, 1:12, 1:17
The book opens by naming the sons of Israel who came into Egypt with Jacob, seventy persons in all, while Joseph was already there. That generation dies, but the people of Israel are fruitful, multiply greatly, and fill the land, fulfilling the covenant promises given to the patriarchs. Then a new king arises “who did not know Joseph,” and he perceives the Israelites as a threat, fearing they might join Egypt’s enemies in war. He sets taskmasters over them and afflicts them with heavy burdens, forcing them to build the store cities of Pithom and Raamses. Yet the more they are oppressed, the more they multiply and spread, so that the Egyptians dread them and impose ruthless slavery. Pharaoh then commands the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill every newborn son at birth. But the midwives fear God and let the boys live, and when questioned they explain that the Hebrew women deliver before they arrive. God deals well with the midwives and gives them families, and Pharaoh escalates, commanding all his people to cast every Hebrew son into the Nile.
This opening chapter frames the entire book as a conflict between the purposes of God and the tyranny of human powers arrayed against His people. The fruitfulness of Israel deliberately echoes the creation mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28) and the covenant promise to Abraham, showing that no earthly king can thwart God’s word. The midwives’ quiet, God-fearing defiance stands as an early testimony that obedience to God outranks obedience to unjust human commands, a principle later voiced by the apostles (Acts 5:29). Pharaoh’s murderous decree against Hebrew sons foreshadows Herod’s slaughter of the innocents at Christ’s birth (Matthew 2:16), revealing a recurring satanic pattern to destroy the seed through which redemption comes. Even in this dark hour, the survival and multiplication of God’s people testify that the LORD is preparing a great deliverance.
Key Terms & Words:
- וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ (vayyishretzu) - Exodus 1:7 - “They swarmed/teemed”; the same root used for creatures in Genesis 1, showing Israel’s growth as a fulfillment of the creation and covenant blessing
- וַיָּקָם (vayyaqom) - Exodus 1:8 - “There arose”; marks the ominous turning point as a new king ignorant of Joseph takes power
- וַיֵּרְאוּ (vayyir’u) - Exodus 1:17 - “They feared”; the midwives’ fear of God that overrides their fear of Pharaoh
Cross-References:
- Genesis 15:13 - God foretold to Abraham that his offspring would be afflicted in a land not their own
- Genesis 1:28 - The creation blessing to be fruitful and multiply, fulfilled in Israel
- Matthew 2:16 - Herod’s slaughter of the infants parallels Pharaoh’s decree against the sons
- Acts 5:29 - “We must obey God rather than men,” embodied by the midwives
- Hebrews 11:23 - Faith in the face of the king’s edict commended among the heroes of faith
Discussion Questions:
- How does Israel’s multiplication despite oppression demonstrate the faithfulness of God to His covenant promises?
- When have you faced pressure to obey human authority in a way that conflicts with obeying God, and how did the midwives’ example speak to you?
- How does Pharaoh’s attempt to destroy the Hebrew sons foreshadow the threats against the coming Redeemer, and what does this reveal about the spiritual conflict behind redemptive history?