Exodus 1:6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
Joseph and all his generation have died, and gratitude doesn’t carry over from one generation to another, particularly with Egyptians who firmly believe they are superior to everybody else anyway. The Israelites have been prospering and multiplying. Although estimates of ancient populations are tough to ascertain, the Egyptian population might have numbered between 3-5 million while the Hebrew population might have numbered between 2-3 million with at least 600,000 males. Recognizing the Hebrews as a potential threat, the Egyptians enslave them, working them ruthlessly; however, this plan backfires when God allows the Hebrews to multiply even more.
If you were to ask a Hebrew slave if God was giving him any peace, he would vehemently respond “Are you kidding? My life is miserable!” But God knows what He is doing, for while the Egyptians are becoming physically softer and more self-indulgent, the Hebrews are toughening up, something that will become necessary when God releases them from bondage and they find themselves in the desert near Mount Sinai. Something else is also going on. The Hebrews have been in Egypt nearly 400 years and have become accustomed to Egyptian ways, Egyptian food, and the Egyptian religion with its pantheon of deities. Until the push toward enslavement arrived, the Hebrews were comfortable; now they are anything but comfortable. But God knows His people and He knows that the Hebrews will never choose to leave Egypt unless things become so difficult that they have no alternative.
Sometimes God’s peace doesn’t meet any of our expectations. We anticipate that peace will mean an absence of conflict and a comfortable settled feeling; meanwhile, God wants us to be satisfied with Him even when things are not easy. We would prefer that God coddle us while God is doing the exact opposite. And things are about to get much worse.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
The Egyptians assume that if the male Hebrew babies are destroyed, the girls will have to marry Egyptians, thus diluting and ultimately erasing the Hebrews as a separate ethnic group. But again, God has other plans and the two God-fearing midwives manage to appease Pharaoh while saving the baby boys as well. We read these few verses and rush right through them, but think what it must have been like for these brave women to confront one of the most powerful rulers in the Middle East. These two midwives are considered slaves by the Egyptians, people of little value and no status. For such individuals to have the courage to answer Pharaoh diplomatically while not lying borders on the miraculous. And God repays the midwives by giving them families as well, presumably families that include boys as well as girls.
It’s tempting to assume that we will never have peace as long as we are in dangerous or threatening situations; however, God works far differently than we do. God can give peace even in the midst of conflict and danger. God also can protect His people until the time is ripe for His plans to unfold.
“But,” you argue, “if that’s the case, why are Christians being slaughtered in Nigeria and Sudan and other places?” Good question, and a tough one to answer. The thing we fail to realize about God is that the day each of us is born, He also knows the day on which we will die and the circumstances of our deaths. When John was given the visions he recorded that we know as the Book of Revelation, he saw martyrs near the throne of God. Until the end of time, there will be martyrs who are killed for their faith. Although we cannot interview these people post-mortem, we must trust that God can give those people peace even as they are dying.
How can we get the peace of God in our situations? Pray for peace, asking God to reveal Himself to you and teach you how to recognize His peace and His timing. God is a good Father who knows how to give good gifts to His children, and one of the best gifts God can give is His everlasting peace. Yesterday, I described some of the trials we are enduring, and there are other problems that must remain private. But we are assured that God is working in our lives and that God will give His perfect answers if we will continue to search for them.
Until those problems are resolved, we continue to read God’s Word and encourage ourselves with it. We know that God is working, even when we cannot see or understand, and that is enough. We can trust in the One who has created us and who has sustained us until now and who will continue to sustain us to the end of our lives.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help all who read these words to trust in Your goodness and Your mercy and grant them Your peace. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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