The Unsettling
Exodus 1
Part of Deliverance—Book of Exodus
February 3, 2020


Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”


Genesis 45:17-18 (NIV)
“’… bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’”


Exodus 1:6-8 (NIV)
Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.


Exodus 1 9-10 (NIV)
“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 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.”


Exodus 1:11 (NIV)
So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.


Exodus 1:12-14 (NIV)
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. 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.


Exodus 1:15-21 (NIV)
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “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.”

The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.


Exodus 1:22 (NIV)
Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Reflections …

  • It often takes adversity and difficulty to unsettle us when we’ve settled.


Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith … not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

  • There’s a difference between the provision and the provider.


How Do You Know When You’re Trusting In The Provision More Than The Provider?

  • Pay attention to your level of anxiety.
  • Pay attention to your choices.

Reflections …

  • Oppression will not go unnoticed by God.


Psalm 103:6 (NIV)
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Psalm 146:7 (NIV)
He upholds the cause of the oppressed … .


How Often Does God Call For Us To Join Him?

  • Psalm 82:3
    Defend the weak and fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
  • Isaiah 1:17a
    Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.


Luke 4:18 (NIV)
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me … to set the oppressed free … .”

Communion

  • What does it mean to you right now to trust more in the provider than the provision?
  • What’s your “exodus” right now?
  • What might it look like to walk in the steps of the midwives this week?