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Despite the cruel treatment the Israelites were blessed by God and continued to multiply rapidly. So, the Pharaoh takes extreme steps in his treatment of them.

The Israelites Oppressed 1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy[a] in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 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.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 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.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “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.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 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.”


    By this time Joseph has died. However, the Israelites remain in Egypt and are increasing greatly in number. While this may seem a blessing, there is a new Pharaoh and he feels threatened by the great number of Israelites overwhelming his land.
    He is so alarmed that hate grows in his heart for the people of Israel.   He puts them into slavery and works them tirelessly. What once was a place of refuge for the Israelites has now turned into a place of bondage.
    Despite the cruel treatment the Israelites were blessed by God and continued to multiply rapidly. So, the Pharaoh takes extreme steps in his treatment of them. He orders the midwives to kill any Hebrew boy. They do not comply, but God has mercy on them. When the Pharaoh confronts the midwives they give an excuse that he believes, and then orders the Hebrew boys to be thrown in the Nile River.
    What is God’s plan here? Must the Israelites be subjected to such harsh bondage and even partial genocide for them to come into their promised land? It is certain that God will always fulfill his or her word, but what about the generations of Hebrew people who would lived as slaves? Do they not matter in the big picture?




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