Exodus: The Lord and His PilgrimsНамуна

Whose word will win? 

God keeps his promises – and God’s promises always come under threat. At first sight verses 1–7 say nothing that is not already in Genesis 46:1–27 – Israel’s arrival in Egypt; the tribes identified; and God’s reassurances to Jacob on facing such a risky move. But just comparing verse 7 with Genesis 46:3 will do here for our purposes: when God makes a promise, he keeps it! Did Israel in Egypt notice that this promise was being kept? Maybe not. Were they too preoccupied with the harshness of life to take into account what Pharaoh had noticed (Ex. 1:9) – the huge multiplication of the immigrant community? If so, they deprived themselves of the consolation of seeing the faithfulness of their God. A promise had been made and that promise was being magnificently kept. This truth – that God always keeps his promises – is actually a fair summary of the whole book of Exodus, but it is strikingly seen in the first chapter. 

But hot on the heels of this great truth comes its biblical counterpart: there is no such thing as an unchallenged word of God. When the word comes, counterattack is immediate (Mark 4:15) and tribulation looms (Mark 4:17). Egypt is a case in point. Pharaoh saw increasing numbers, sensed increasing danger (Ex: 1:10), and mounted a considered response. First, we read of ‘burdens’, affliction and taskmasters who ‘ruthlessly’ make them work (vv. 11–14, ESV). As the developing story indicates, this continues (see 5:5ff.) even when it is seen not to work (1:12). Secondly, there comes the secret attempt to conscript the midwives (vv. 15–21). Their motive for non-cooperation is spiritual (v. 17), but we can see that God was standing by his word. Finally, Pharaoh resorts to a public policy of genocide (v. 22), and the chapter ends with this question hanging in the air: will the enemy succeed at long last? 

No, the enemy will not succeed, but, simply staying with Exodus 1, we see first that the purposes of God cannot be halted (v. 12), and secondly, as Isaiah 59:19 puts it, ‘When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him’ (cf. Ex. 1:17).

Reflection

Trials are not ‘strange’ (1 Pet. 4:12); they are God’s intended way of spiritual progress (Jas. 1:2–4); and they accompany the outpouring of God’s love (Rom. 5:3–5).