Today's reading is in Exodus chapter 1. As I read it, I was trying to grab some wisdom from it. It is a short chapter. (I use the Holman Christian Standard Bible)
1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.s6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.s13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
So during the famine, Joseph moved his family to Egypt and they prospered. Then the old pharaoh died and a new one came on and he didn't know of Joseph. Which I don't understand how he could not have heard of Joseph. I would think he would have been mentioned in the scrolls.
There arose up a new king—Who this was it is difficult to say. It was probably Ramesses Miamun, or his son Amenophis, who succeeded him in the government of Egypt about A. M. 2400, before Christ 1604.
Which knew not Joseph—The verb ידע yada, which we translate to know, often signifies to acknowledge or approve. See Judges 2:10; Psalm 1:6; 31:7; Hosea 2:8; Amos 3:2. The Greek verbs ειδω and γινωσκω are used precisely in the same sense in the New Testament. See Matthew 25:12, and 1 John 3:1. We may therefore understand by the new king's not knowing Joseph, his disapproving of that system of government which Joseph had established, as well as his haughtily refusing to acknowledge the obligations under which the whole land of Egypt was laid to this eminent prime minister of one of his predecessors.
A Commentary and Critical Notes. Adam Clarke's Commentary
So now you have this new pharaoh who is afraid of the number of Israelites in Egypt. So he tells the midwives to kill all new born baby boys. They disobey that order, why? Because they feared God. So they spared all the new born boys, and God prospered them gave them husbands. The children of Israel grew.
So what is the moral? I guess to me it is that when someone, even someone in power, tells us to do something that we know is wrong, we need to do what is right and trust that God will protect us and provide. These women were not Israelites they were Egyptians, Gentiles! So as in the New Testament, we as Gentiles when doing what we know is right in God's eyes, He will protect and provide.
I find comfort that there are so many examples of that in the Old Testament as well as the new!
May God provide for you today, as you chose to do what is right.
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