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.
A new Pharaoh arose - one who did not know Joseph.
This was not ignorance of history alone; it was rejection of legacy.
• New leadership
• New values
• New fears
Pharaoh did not ask, “How did we get here?”
He asked, “How do we stay in control?”
So he enslaved Israel.
• Pharaoh feared what God was blessing.
• Israel was enslaved, afflicted, and oppressed.
Yet Scripture says:
Vs. 12 “The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.”
SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE
Affliction often becomes the instrument GOD uses to mature His people.
• Ease weakens faith
• Pressure refines trust
• Trials strip away self-reliance
Had Israel remained comfortable, they may never have wanted to leave Egypt.
GOD sometimes allows hardship not to punish - but to prevent complacency.
REFLECT: Why does blessing often attract resistance?
APPLICATION: Expect resistance when God is growing something healthy
IV. AFFLICTION AS GOD’S TOOL FOR GROWTH
(Exodus 1:8–14 continued)
Affliction awakens spiritual hunger.
“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psalm 119:67).
God uses hardship to:
• Strip self-reliance
• Produce humility
• Prepare hearts for deliverance
APPLICATION
Hard seasons loosen our grip on this world and strengthen our hope for heaven.
GOD uses hardship to create readiness for deliverance
REFLECT: ASK: What is GOD producing through this pressure?
V. FAITH THAT OBEYS GOD ABOVE MEN (Exodus 1:15–21)
Exodus 1:15-21
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”
19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
When slavery failed, Pharaoh escalated to infanticide.
The Hebrew midwives - Shiphrah and Puah - faced an impossible choice.
They feared GOD more than Pharaoh.
Vs. 17 “But the midwives feared GOD, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them.”
Acts 5:29 Peter said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.
RIGHTEOUS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
• Fear of God outweighs fear of authority
• Obedience has limits when commands contradict God
BIBLICAL PRINCIPLE
We obey human authority until obedience to man requires disobedience to God.
Examples:
• Daniel
• The Hebrew children
• Peter and John
God honored these women and built them households.
APPLICATION: Faithfulness may be costly, but God never forgets obedience.
REFLECT: Where might believers face obedience tensions today?
VI. SATAN’S STRATEGY AGAINST GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PLAN (Exodus 1:22)
Exodus 1:22
22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
Pharaoh commanded every Hebrew boy to be cast into the Nile.
This was not merely political, it was spiritual warfare.
• Pharaoh’s decree reflects Satan’s strategy
• Attack the seed and destroy the promise
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
From Genesis 3:15 onward, Satan has sought to destroy:
• The promised Seed
• The covenant people
• God’s redemptive plan
GOD’s plan advances despite human cruelty and satanic intent.
Yet what Satan intends for destruction, God uses for deliverance.
This is a repeated biblical pattern:
• Pharaoh
• Haman
• Herod
POINT: Intensity of opposition often reveals importance of calling
VII. GOD PRESERVES HIS DELIVERER (Exodus 2:1–10)
Exodus 2:1-10 Moses Is Born (Heb. 11:23)
1 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?”
8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
A Levite couple - Amram and Jochebed – acted by faith.
Hebrews 11:23 “By faith Moses… was hid three months”
When they could no longer hide him, they placed him in an ark.
They placed him in an ark - the same word used of Noah.
This is no accident - it is theology.
GOSPEL TYPOLOGY CHARACTERISTICS
• Noah was saved from the waters by the ark
• Moses was preserved in the waters by the ark
• Believers are saved in Christ (our ARK OF THE COVENANT
GOD’s providence unfolds beautifully:
• Pharaoh’s daughter finds the child
• Compassion overrides command
• Moses’ mother is paid to raise him
FAITH, PROVIDENCE, AND PARENTING
FOCUS
• Faith acts, even without guarantees
• God works through ordinary obedience
KEY INSIGHT
• The “ark” points to salvation in Christ
APPLICATION – Parenting Matters
Parents shape destinies. Early years are formative.
Truth planted early endures and survives hostile environments
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go…”
REFLECT and APPLILCATION: What spiritual seeds are we planting today?
VIII. GOD PREPARES HIS SERVANT THROUGH HUMBLING (Exodus 2:11–15)
Exodus 2:11-15 Moses Flees to Midian
11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”
14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!”
15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.
FAILURE AS PREPARATION, NOT DISQUALIFICATION
Moses’ life unfolds in three forty-year chapters:
1. 40 years as Somebody - prince of Egypt
2. 40 years as Nobody - shepherd in Midian
3. 40 years as GOD’s instrument/servant - leader of Israel
Moses acted prematurely before GOD sent him.
• He had passion
• BUT He lacked patience
• He had zeal
• BUT He lacked timing and submission
Failure was not GOD’s rejection — it was GOD’s refinement.
Numbers 12:3 “Now the man Moses was very meek”
Moses had Calling before Character was ready.
POINT: GOD often breaks self-confidence before releasing divine authority.
Wating seasons are preparation, not punishment.
Moses failed when acting in his own strength but was later transformed through humility, affliction, and intimacy with God. Ultimately, Moses serves as a type of Christ; a rejected deliverer who returns to rescue God’s people.
LESSON: GOD uses affliction to prepare, humility to empower, and faith to accomplish HIS redemptive purposes.
IX. MOSES AS A TYPE OF CHRIST – Key Parallels
Moses points us to JESUS:
• Rejected by his own people
• Sent by GOD as a Deliverer
• Takes a Gentile bride during rejection
• Future return to deliver Israel
So CHRIST JESUS:
• Was rejected at HIS first coming
• Is Building HIS Church now
• Returning in glory to deliver Israel
Exodus is not only history, it is PROPHECY.
The Old Testament does not merely point forward - it preaches CHRIST!
CONCLUSION
• GOD uses affliction to prepare hearts
• GOD honors obedience over convenience
• GOD values humility over ability
• GOD fulfills promises in His time
KEY POINT: GOD does HIS greatest work through those who have learned they cannot do it themselves.
REFLECT – ASK YOURSELF
• How do I respond when GOD allows affliction?
• Am I obeying GOD even when obedience costs me?
• What spiritual legacy am I leaving?
• Am I trusting GOD’s timing or forcing my own?
PRAYER
FATHER,
We thank YOU for YOUR faithfulness across generations. Teach us to trust YOU in affliction, to obey YOU without fear, and to depend upon YOUR strength rather than our own. Shape us, humble us, and use us for YOUR glory until YOU complete YOUR redemptive work. In JESUS’ name, Amen.
Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,
Bill
HYMNS
11 Great Is Thy Faithfulness
8 O GOD, Our Help in Ages Past
291 Be Still, My Soul
169 Faith of Our Fathers
