From Promise To Providence - The Beginning Of A Nation - Exodus 1:1-2:15 Series

2026.01.04.Sermon Notes. FROM PROMISE TO PROVIDENCE. Exodus 1.1-2.15

The Beginning of a Nation - Faith, Affliction, and Deliverance

Exodus 1:1-2:15

William Akehurst, HSWC

KEY WORD: Exodus, Covenant, Faith, Affliction, Deliverance, Providence, Obedience, Redemption, Faith, Humility, Sovereignty, Separation

SCRIPTURES: Genesis 50:24-26, Exodus 1:1-22, Exodus 2:1-15, Genesis 1:28, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:13-14, Genesis 50:24, Hebrews 11:23-26, Numbers 12:3, Acts 5:29, 1 Corinthians 10:11, 2 Corinthians 6:17

BIG IDEA

GOD fulfills His covenant promises by growing His people through fruitfulness, shaping them through affliction, preserving them through faith, and preparing a deliverer who points ultimately to JESUS Christ; teaching us that true freedom comes only through dependence upon Him.

INTRO

The book of Exodus answers a vital question:

How does GOD build a people for His glory?

• Genesis tells us who GOD chose.

• Exodus tells us how GOD forms them.

The title Exodus means “the way out,” but before there is ever a way out of Egypt, GOD must work deeply within His people.

Israel’s story mirrors the believer’s journey:

• GOD’s Salvation begins with promise

• Growth often includes hardship

• Deliverance requires faith

• Freedom comes through GOD’s power

Paul reminds the Church:

1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Exodus is not merely history - it is instruction, warning, and hope for God’s people today.

I. GOD’S PROMISE BEGINS WITH FRUITFULNESS (Exodus 1:1-7)

Exodus 1:1-7 Israel’s Suffering in Egypt

1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). 6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Notice the first word “NOW” as in “this continues from before.”

Genesis 50 left us in Egypt with Joseph and all his brother’s households, ending in the last words and death of Joseph

Genesis 50:24-26

24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

So, in “NOW” we continue with this family of Jacob who GOD called Israel.

Exodus opens not with miracles, but with names.

God reminds us that these are not statistics — they are people He knows personally. Real people, Real families, Real promises.

Vs.5 “All the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls”

What seems small to man is never small to GOD.

Verse 7 summarizes generations of GOD’s quiet covenant faithfulness:

Vs. 7 “The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty.”

This language deliberately echoes:

• Genesis 1:28 - be fruitful and multiply

• Genesis 12 - I will make of thee a great nation

KEY TRUTH

GOD’s promises often grow slowly and unseen before they are ever tested publicly.

Before there was bondage, there was blessing.

Before affliction, there was abundance.

THOUGHT:

GOD is often working quietly, long before HE works visibly

II. GOD USES SEPARATION TO PRESERVE IDENTITY

(Exodus 1:1–7 continued)

Israel lived in Goshen, separated from Egyptian culture.

Egyptians despised shepherds — and what looked like rejection was actually God’s protection.

Had Israel remained in Canaan:

• Intermarriage would have increased

• Pagan influence would have corrupted them

• The covenant line would have been endangered

God used isolation to preserve identity.

APPLICATION

When God allows His people to be marginalized, it may feel painful — but it may also be protective.

2 Corinthians 6:17 “Come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord”

POINT: Cultural pressures could be seen as boundaries set by God instead of indications that God is absent.

III. GROWTH PROVOKES OPPOSITION (Exodus 1:8-14)

Exodus 1:8-14

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.