AN ATTEMPTED GENOCIDE AND MOSES DRAWN OUT.
Exodus 1:8-22, Exodus 2:1-10.
1. An Attempted Genocide (Exodus 1:8-22).
When the children of Israel settled in Egypt, they numbered just seventy people (cf. Exodus 1:1-5). But ‘the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them’ (cf. Exodus 1:6-7). So much so that the Egyptians began to fear them (Exodus 1:9).
“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). This sounds ominous: but it is not surprising that a change of dynasty in Egypt should leave the incoming incumbents to the throne somewhat threatened by this vast foreign presence in their midst. World history is littered with true stories of the oppression of large minorities within many nations.
Pharaoh felt that it was the wise thing to enslave the children of Israel. He set taskmasters over them “to afflict them with their burdens.” This was an attempt to ‘oppress’ them, to bring them low, to beat them down. And they built “treasure cities,” or perhaps ‘storage cities’ for Pharaoh (Exodus 1:10-11).
“But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew” (Exodus 1:12). Much to the annoyance of the Egyptians who were “grieved” because of the children of Israel.
That policy having failed, rather than replacing it with a more humane policy, the Egyptians became even more ruthless. They made the Israelites’ lives “bitter” with “hard” bondage. They made them serve with “rigour” (Exodus 1:13-14).
The next ploy was to try to destroy the Israelites’ sons at birth. Pharaoh approached the two Hebrew midwives and ordered them to “kill” the Israelites’ sons. These brave women feared God, and defied Pharaoh. They “saved the men children alive” (Exodus 1:15-17).
When quizzed by Pharaoh, the Hebrew midwives told him that the Hebrew women had all given birth before ever the midwives could get to them. Consequently “God dealt well with the midwives.” Because they feared God, He gave them families (Exodus 1:18-21).
Meantime, the people continued to multiply and “waxed very mighty” (Exodus 1:20b). So Pharaoh charged his own people that “every son that is born ye shall cast into the river” (Exodus 1:22). The narrative is set for the entrance of Moses.
2. Moses Drawn Out (Exodus 2:1-10).
We all know, used to know, or should have known, the story of baby Moses drifting in an ark of bulrushes, placed by his mother in amongst the reeds by the banks of the River Nile (Exodus 2:3). In ancient maps, uncharted waters used to be indicated with an artistic flourish which stated, ‘Beyond here there be dragons’. Be that as it may, we can certainly say of the River Nile, ‘Here there be crocodiles’!
As adults, perhaps, we might pronounce our considered opinion that this was a foolish, rash, and dangerous thing to do. Or perhaps that it was a calculated risk since the wicked Pharaoh was murdering all the Hebrew baby boys anyway?
It certainly did pay off, because the child was discovered by none other than Pharaoh’s daughter, who, having a compassion unknown to her father, brought the child home to the palace and raised him as her own. In an ironic twist typical of the true and living God, the child’s mother was employed to nurse him, and was paid for the privilege! Pharaoh’s daughter called the boy “Moses” (which means ‘drawn out’) because, she said, “I drew him out of the water” (Exodus 2:10).
Ultimately, though, it was God who was doing the drawing. It may not have seemed so when the young ‘prince’ fled Egypt as a fugitive to the land of Midian and took refuge as a member of a shepherd’s household. However, in due course of time God showed His hand, and revealed His Name, and sent Moses back to Egypt to ‘draw out’ the children of Israel.
Interestingly - unlike in His dealings with Abram/ Abraham, and Jacob/ Israel - the LORD saw no reason to change the name of Moses from that which Pharaoh’s daughter had given him. ‘Drawn out’ he was, and ‘drawing out’ he was doing.
This concept of being ‘drawn out’ is also seen in the Christian faith. Jesus says, 'No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day' (cf. John 6:44). This fact is full of consolations for the believer: Jesus re-emphasises, 'No-one can come to Me, except it was given to him by my Father' (cf. John 6:65).
