When the Darkness Closes In...

With a new book comes a new name. The book of Exodus is called Shemot. Shemot means names, but Exodus is Greek for departure. Shemot took its name from the second word of the book, while Exodus took its name from the general idea of the entire book, which we'll be studying in the coming weeks. Actually, if I can stick to one chapter per week, we'll be studying it for the coming year. Keep the suspense up with those chapter ending cliffhangers!

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

Now this is all just fine, I mean, Abraham was promised a nation decades ago and it looks like they're finally growing big enough to start at least a city if not a country. Why then, are they still living in Egypt? I know they had the good life, but shouldn't they have moved out when the famine ended?

Shemot 1:8-14 "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, 'Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 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.' Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. An 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."

Ok... I have some problems with this paragraph. First off, how in the world did the Pharaoh not know Joseph?? I totally understand if Joseph was old and/or dead when Pharaoh was born, but they wrote their history all over their walls. Walls upon walls are covered in hieroglyphs, telling their story. You would think some scribe would write about the man who saved the entire known world. And you would think that Pharaoh would have at least heard of the man who worked with his great grandfather to save the world, from family myths and tales to simply reading the stories on the walls, how could he have missed out on that huge piece of history?? Second. I totally understand he's uneasy about the huge population of people living in Egypt who are not, in fact, Egyptian. So the thing to do would be to get on their good side so they wouldn't even think of rebellion. Why rebel against someone who is treating you well? But no. He turned them into slaves. Not just any slaves, but slaves who were forced to do their work with pep in their step. No slowing down, no breaks, just work. That is not how you get on someone's good side.

Shemot 1:15-19 "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; 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.' But the midwives feared Elohim, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 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?' 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.'"

From a cold, calculating, hard-hearted, strictly political/scientific point of view, I can understand where the Pharaoh is coming from. Get rid of the boys and you end the Hebrew line as the girls grow up and marry the Egyptians. This by no means is me saying he was right in doing this. No. Not at all. I hate what he did. I can't imagine all the boys I know being stolen away and murdered because of their family lines. I understand that genocide has happened before and will sadly probably happen again, but that does NOT make it alright. On a separate note, kudos to the midwives! Let it be known that Egyptian and Hebrew women were likely about the same level on the liveliness scale while giving birth. The midwives were saving the boys that they helped birth. They were there, they helped the women give birth to their children, they knew whether the children were boys or girls, and they told a baldfaced lie to the Pharaoh because they knew that Yahuah is greater than he could ever be. That is so fantastic, it makes me smile in spite of what is coming. Also, you notice that you know their names; Shiphrah and Puah. As far as names go, a lot of times it is the men who are named, not the women. They are named in the Bible as recognition for their great act. How awesome is that?

Shemot 1:20-22 "Therefore Elohim dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. And so it was, because the midwives feared Elohim, that He provided households for them. 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.'"

See, Yahuah recognized the bravery of the midwives and provided for them! But can't you just see in your minds eye the Nile running red with the blood of every baby boy? Their little bodies being eaten by crocodiles and snakes? The screaming mothers as their children are stolen from them? The tears of the fathers knowing that they'll never see their boys again? While the Shiphrah and Puah did a fantastic service, it wasn't enough to keep the Pharaoh from committing genocide.

The world of Exodus is an ugly place. In many ways, it is much uglier than Genesis ever was. Our heroes have been stamped underfoot, reduced to slaves, and were having their children stolen from them and murdered. Also, you'll notice that our focus is much larger. Rather than one family, you now have twelve families all being trampled by the laws made specifically to bring them down. Pharaoh was right, they are a force to be reckoned with, but honestly, the bloodthirsty king did not have to resort to killing all the baby boys to get the people to submit to him. He could have been a kind and patient king, loving his subjects and admired by all. But no. He was feared and with good reason. Thankfully, the midwives were right, Yahuah is greater than any Pharaoh could ever be.

Song for the day: "Blessed be Your Name" by Newsboys. It's about how sometimes life is good, and sometimes it's bad (or downright horrible), but the faithful bless His Name either way.

Another note: Shiphrah and Puah mean Beautiful and Splendid, respectively. They truly were beautiful and splendid, and you don't even have to see them to know it.

Source for names: Dictionary.com