In Exodus chapter 1, I want to
draw your attention to the words that we find here at verse 12. Exodus chapter 1, verse 12. We read of the afflictions that the Egyptians
brought upon the children of Israel. But here in verse 12,
But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and
grew, and they were grieved because of the children of Israel. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew, and they were grieved because
of the children of Israel. Of course in the early chapters
of the book of Exodus we read of the early life of Moses, a
man who lives to the age of 120 and in many ways his life is
seen to divide into three parts. The first 40 years we find him
in Egypt treated as the grandson
of the Pharaoh and then in the next 40 years he is there having
fled from Egypt in the land of Midian caring for the sheep of
his father-in-law and then having been called of God in chapter
3 he is sent back to Egypt and the last 40 years really cover
the deliverance of the Hebrews out of Egypt and those 40 years
in which they wandered in the wilderness till they came to
the borders of the promised land, that land that Moses was not
favored to enter into, not permitted to enter into, but he views it
from Pisgah. Here then in the first part of
the book we read concerning his birth. That's what's covered
really in the second chapter. There went a man of the house
of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi and the woman conceived
and bear a son. And this is that man Moses, his
birth. But, previous to that, in the
opening chapter we might say that we have the scene set. We
see the background, we see the circumstances into which this
man, who was going to be instrumental in the deliverance of the children
of Israel, we see the circumstances into which he was born. And we read the chapter. We read
the chapter, we're told in verse 5, All the souls that came out
of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls, for Joseph was in Egypt
already. And Joseph died, and all his
brethren, and all that generation. Seventy souls then had entered
into that land. And then at verse seven, the
children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and
multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled
with them. And Pharaoh considers these people
now to be a great threat. They must be dealt with, as we
see at verse 10. Come on. He says to the Egyptians,
let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and come to
pass that when they fall without any war, they join also unto
our enemies and fight against us, and so get them up out of
the lands, their prosperity. In a sense that's what I want
us to consider today as we look at these words that I've read
at the 12th verse. The more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew, and they would grieve because
of the children of Israel. To consider then something of
the prosperity of the godly and in contrast the perversity of
the wicked, those who are against them. Prosperity of the godly. and the perversity of the wicked
who are there in the midst. Here we have God's ancient covenant
people in the midst of those Egyptians. Doesn't God say, I
will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor
people and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Well, here
is that poor and afflicted people in the midst of these cruel Egyptians. First of all then to say something
with regards to the prosperity of the godly. And how they did
prosper, how they greatly multiplied, as we have it here in the text. They multiplied it says, and
grew. And previously there in that
7th verse we see how graphic the account is of their prosperity. The children of Israel were fruitfully
since and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceedingly
mighty when the land was filled with them. What a description
we have here in this 7th verse how Moses, the penman under the
inspiration of God, simply piles the words together in order to
indicate the greatness of their increase in the midst of those
Egyptians. And what language he employs. this expression they increased
abundantly it says and it's a word that's really associated with
insects and with creatures inhabiting the waters it has the idea of
swarming and teeming there are so many of them they're so prospering
under the sovereign hand of God although They're there in a foreign
land, yet remember they were a distinct people. They were
kept quite separate from the Egyptians. It was where
they dwelt, as we're told back in Genesis chapter 46. They were
not to dwell really and mingle with the Egyptians, but they
were to dwell in the land of Goshen. This is what was arranged
in the days of Joseph. The end of chapter 46 in Genesis. He shall come to pass, says Joseph,
when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servant's
trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now,
both we and also our fathers, that ye may dwell in the land
of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. And so they are kept quite separate,
quite distinct. It must be so because they are
a people who are the Lord's peculiar possession. They are different
to all the other nations round about them. So there they are.
And even in Egypt, God so deals with them that they greatly increase. Now, we might say, what was the
real cause of their prosperity? And there are at least two reasons
that we can discern here. First of all, the primary reason,
of course, as we've already intimated, is the Lord God Himself. It's
that promise. It's the promise that God had
given to Abraham when God first called him out of Ur of the Chaldees
back in Genesis chapter 12 calls him away from his own family
from his father's house and sends him forth into a land that he
knows not and he goes there into the land of Canaan it's the land
that the Lord God will give unto him and to his descendants and
what is the promise of God there in Genesis 12 too? "'I will make
of thee a great nation,' says the Lord God." That was the promise
that God had given to Abraham. And now that promise is repeated,
it's renewed, several times in his subsequent history. We see
it there in Genesis 13 at verse 16, and again in chapter 15 at
verse 5, the renewal of the promise. And the promise is that his descendants
will be as the stars of heaven, as sand on the seashore, as the
dust of the earth. Oh, there are going to be a multitude,
millions of them, the descendants of Abraham, the friend of God. And of course that promise is
tried and is tested. Well, God does deal with His
servant Abraham in the matter of the promise that He has given
to him. because his seed is to be called in Sarah's son and
Sarah is barren but then there is that miracle that when she
is old and past the age of childbearing the promised seed is to be born,
Isaac is born And then how God so sorely tests Abraham with
regards to Isaac. He receives that command that
he must take his son, his only son, the son of promise, the
seed, and he must take him to the Mount Moriah and there he
is to sacrifice him unto the Lord. And we have the detail
recorded there in that 22nd chapter of the book of Genesis. And Abraham
is faithful to the commandment of God. He will do the bidding
of God, believing that God is able to restore his son should
he be sacrificed. Wonderful type, of course, of
the Lord Jesus Christ we see there in Isaac. And as a result of his obedience
there in verse 16 of Genesis 22 God
says, By myself have I sworn, for because thou hast done this
thing, and hast not without thy Son, thine only Son, that in
blessing I will bless them, and in multiplying I will multiply
thy seed. As the stars of the heaven, and
as the sand which is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice."
Here is the cause, you see. The reason why the descendants
of Abraham and of Isaac are to be so prosperous, the reason
why they are to increase, this is the promise of God. And that
promise that God gave to to Abraham, why, he renews the promise also
to Isaac. Isaac has exactly the same promise
as that that God had spoken to his father. We're told, Genesis
26-24, the Lord appeared unto him the same night and said,
I am the God of Abraham thy father, fear not. for I am with thee,
and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's
sake." God renews the promise. God speaks that promise time
and again. It comes also subsequently to
Jacob, Isaac's son, as he's fleeing from his brother Esau there in
Genesis 28, where he comes to Bethel. and he has nothing. And he lies down and he takes
a stone of that place for his pillow and he's favoured with
that remarkable vision. He sees a ladder come down from
heaven and the angels of God ascending and descending and
the Lord himself at the top of that ladder. And now the Lord
speaks to him. Verse 13, Behold the Lord stood
above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham my father and
the God of Isaac the land whereon thou liest to thee will I give
it unto thy seed and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth
and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and
to the north and to the south and in thee and in thy seed shall
all the families of the earth be blessed. Oh friends, here
is the reason, here is the cause of the increase of these Hebrews
their suffering in the land of Egypt. It is the Word of God. It is the promise of God. And
yes, how slowly all of this is accomplished when we go back
to the days of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. Between the birth of Abraham
and the death of Jacob is a period of about 400 years, four centuries,
between Abraham's birth and then his call to come out and the
promises. 400 years later, his grandson
Jacob will die. Now, in the majority of that
time, that family did know a measure of liberty as they wondered. They knew something of peace
and material prosperity. They were blessed with increase
in their possessions. Abraham had great flocks and
men's servants and maidservants. And yet when we come to the time
when God is going to actually fulfill that great promise, You
think about it, there's just 70 who enter into Egypt, as we
see here at the beginning of the chapter. But this is the
true seed. Yes, we know that Abraham has
had other sons, Isaac has two sons, but here is the promised
seed. The promised seed is to be traced
from Isaac to Jacob, and of course he comes down ultimately to the
Lord Jesus Christ. That is the seed in whom all
the nations of the earth are to be blessed. But these people
who are a typical people, typical of the true Israel of God, the
spiritual Israel, when they come into the land of Egypt, and at
that time Jacob is coming to the end of his days, there are
just 70 of them. All the souls that came out of
the loins of Jacob, it says, were seventy souls. For Joseph
was in Egypt already. Now, remember how in Acts chapter
7 we have Stephen at his martyrdom making that tremendous apology
for his faith, that remarkable testimony that he gives to the
truth. the truth of God, and he recounts something of the
history of the children of Israel. And there, in Acts 7.14, he speaks
of 75 souls. 75 souls in Egypt. And some might
say, well why? Isn't there a contradiction?
Here it says 70 souls, and of course 70 is a highly symbolic
number. How can it be 75? Well there's
no real contradiction. because they're speaking of different
things. Here in Exodus chapter 1, Moses
is speaking of Jacob's seed, all the souls that came out of
the loins of Jacob. But there in Acts chapter 7,
Stephen speaks of Jacob's kindred, and that would include the wives
of His sons. There's the reason why the number
is different. There are many who love to seize
on the Word of God and try to make something of these different
numbers and say, oh, the Bible's full of contradictions. It's
not. There's no erroneous word anywhere
to be found here in Holy Scripture. It is the Word of God. It is
all the truth. But the point I make is simply
this, that after 400 years, and that promise was given and repeated,
remember, they're going to be as a great multitude, after 400
years, when Jacob and his family come into Egypt, there's just
70 of them. Now they're in Egypt for 400
years. That's another 400 years. We know that that was the case,
because that was part of the word of promise that God had
given to Abraham. Back in Genesis 15, 13, He said
unto Abraham, Thou of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land which is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they
shall afflict them 400 years. 400 years. And now you see that promise
to Abraham is about to be fulfilled. That's the truth of it. That's
what we are witnessing here at the end of that period. God's
promise will now come to its glorious fruition. The children
of Israel were fruitful. Israel was also Jacob. and increased
abundantly and multiplied and whacked exceeding might and the
land was filled with them. So initially they came in, they
were strangers in the land. They were separated from the Egyptians, they were
there in Goshen. But not strangers, no, they're
slaves. They're slaves. And yet, Even
as they're being afflicted, God's promise is being fulfilled. The
more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew,
it says in the text. This is the Word of God, and
God's Word will and must always have its fulfillment. It will
be fulfilled, of course, not in our time. It will have its
fulfillment in God's own time. Remember the words that we find
in the book of Habakkuk, the prophets, there in Habakkuk 2,
3. The vision is yet for an appointed
time, and at the end it shall speak and not lie, though it
tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not
tarry. Or the Lord God says, your time
is now, it's always now. But God's time has not yet come.
But God's time will come. God's Word must have its fulfillment,
all He's promising. Are they not, yea, and are they
not, amen, in the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God by
us? They must be fulfilled in the lives of His people. Though
the psalmist in the midst of his trials, he clings and he
cleaves to this truth, truly my soul waiteth upon God, from
Him cometh my salvation. My soul waits though only upon
God, for my expectation is from Him. Or that we might know something
of that spirit of the psalmist, to patiently wait for the accomplishment
of the of the Word of God. We have the promises of God.
We feel so often in our day, it's such a difficult day, such
a depressing day, such a day of constant decrease. We hear
very little of any increase wherever we turn. And yet we know that
God is sovereign and God has given His solemn promise and
confirmed it with an oath. and sealed it in the blood of
Christ, it must all ultimately have its fulfillment. All the
cause of their increase and their prosperity, it is God, it is
the Word of God, it is the promise of God. But then also, how does
God accomplish His Word? It is, as we see here, in and
through the path of tribulations. That is the solemn truth that
we see. It says they are afflicted. The more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew, it says. All the time of
afflictions, that is the church's growing times. Many ways, you
see, for many years we've had life so easy. We wonder sometimes,
Are persecutions going to come before long? Are they not already
subtle persecutions? We're not to despair. It has
been observed by wise men that that time of affliction is the
growing time in the church. Christianity spreads as it's
persecuted. It was Tertullian, one of the
church fathers, who said that the blood of the martyrs was
the very seed of the church. And that's what we see here.
It's true in church history, but it's true here in the Word
of God with these Hebrews, these Israelites, these typical people,
a type of the true church of Jesus Christ. it's as they are
afflicted that they multiply and they grow and so let us not
despair let us be those who would look to God and wait upon God
and pray to God and pray with that spirit of expectation that
in His time His word will have its fulfillment when the fullness
of the time was come we're told God sent forth his son, and there's
that fullness of the time for the accomplishment of all the
promises that ever God has given in his word. But now we see here
something of the wisdom of God. You see, God's people are to
be kept a distinct and a separate people, and they were. We have
that That word, that word of exhortation in Hebrews 12, be
not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind that you may know what is that good and perfect
and acceptable will of God. Not conformed to this world.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust
of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but
is of the world, and the world passeth away. and the lost they
are and how God's people you see are a different people and
that are persecuted people who in the world He shall have tribulation
says the Lord Jesus but be of good cheer I have overcome the
world He is not one that we have to look to and trust in And here
we see how that this people, this poor, this afflicted people,
who are trusting in the name of the Lord, how they continually
grow and they prosper. And the cause of that prosperity,
oh, it is the purpose of God, it's the promise of God now having
its fulfillment. And how does God fulfill His
promise? why even the way in which their enemies, the wicked,
oppose them, is really the cause of great blessing to them, and
Godly increase amongst them. But let us turn in the second
place to consider something of the perversity of the wicked. We read, back in verse 10, Those
words that were spoken by Pharaoh to his people, come on, he says,
let us deal wisely with them. Let us deal wisely, but it's
a worldly wisdom. And it's a perverse sort of a
wisdom that we see here. And that's really how it's spoken
of elsewhere. There's some recounting of the
history of the children of Israel, remember, in the Psalms. In particular,
I think of the language that we have in the 105th Psalm. Verse 24, it says, "...he increased
his people greatly and made them stronger than their enemies."
This is when they're in the land of Egypt. Verse 23, Israel also
came into Egypt. And Jacob sojourned in the land
of Ham. And he increased his people greatly
and made them stronger than their enemies. He turned their hearts
to hate his people and to deal subtly with his servants. They were subtle. Oh, it's the craftiness of Satan.
It's a perverseness of Satan and Satan's ways and dealings. As the people of God are increasing,
oh, it grieves Pharaoh. As we see here at the end of
verse 12, they were grieved, it says, grieved because of the
children of Israel. Oh, to have these people in the
midst of his nation Pharaoh thought it was most dangerous,
and yet, though they're there, and he thinks that there could
be some danger to him, he doesn't want them out of his land. Look at what he says in verse
10. Let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply and it come
to pass that when they fall without any war they join also unto our
enemies and fight against us and so get them up out of the
land. He doesn't want them up out of the land. And yet, in
his perverse reasonings, he thinks that there's some sort of threat
to him. There were no wars, but If so, Israel might join to their
enemies. And yet, here we see that Israel
give no inkling that they're going to revolt. But what does he say? Lest. Lest they multiply, and it come
to pass, that when therefore let out any war. There's that little book, well
not such a little book but a wonderful book really, The Contemplations
of Bishop Hall, Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich. His contemplations
on the books of Moses and he makes some very striking comments
and he says here concerning Pharaoh He would make certain friends
slaves for fear of uncertain enemies. He would make certain
friends slaves for fear of uncertain enemies. That's how he's behaving
in such a perverse fashion. Have they not served the Egyptians
well? Have not Joseph the man who had
been so honored by the previous pharaoh who had made that provision
for not just Egypt but all the peoples around Egypt in those
years of terrible famine and so increased the riches of the
pharaoh all the Hebrews had served the Egyptians so very well they
were friends and yet here is this pharaoh behaving so perversely. Oh, this is that one you see,
this new king, it says at verse 8, which knew not Joseph. And
he is a foolish man. And observe here, something of
the progress. There's a certain progression
in the way in which Pharaoh and the Egyptians are treating the
children of Israel. There's burden, there's bondage,
There's blood. How it progresses from one thing
to another. How they seek to lay them with
such heavy burdens, here in verse 11. They did set over them taskmasters
to afflict them, it says, with their burdens. And they built
a Pharaoh treasure cities, Python and the Ramses. a burdened people, also sorely
afflicted as all this is loaded upon them. Verse 13, the Egyptians
made the children of Israel to serve with rigority. And as they
were burdened so, they were increasingly brought into a terrible bondage
here. As it says in verse 14, they
made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in
brick and in all manner of service in the field. All their service
wherein they made them serve was with rigor. It was cruel, it was slavery
really. And remember what happens later
when Moses is called And he gathers together the Hebrews and then
he goes into the Pharaoh and demands that he should let the
people go into the wilderness that they might have a feast
to the Lord. What is the reaction then of the Pharaoh? We see it
later in chapter 5. And verse 6, Pharaoh commanded
the same day the taskmasters of the people and their officers,
saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick,
as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw
for themselves. And the tail of the bricks which
they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them. Ye shall
not diminish or tear off, for they be idle. Therefore they
cried, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let more
work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein, and
let them not regard vain words." All we dismiss is what Moses
is saying as the servant of God, as that man who has come to deliver
the children of Israel. His words are vain words. Oh, how cruelly these people
are being treated. by their enemies. Burdens, bondage, but worse,
there's blood, there's infanticide. There's infanticide. How is he
going to stop them increasing? He's going to kill all the male
children. Verse 15, the king of Egypt spake
to the Hebrew midwives of which the name of the one was Shiphrop
and the name of the other Pua. And he said, when ye do the office
of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stores,
if it be a son, then ye shall kill him. But if it be a daughter,
then shall she live. And then, at the end of the chapter,
because the midwives don't do that wicked command, Pharaoh
charges all his people, every son that is born, ye shall cast
into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive. Oh, what a bloody man is this
Pharaoh. And yet, all this perverseness,
all this sinfulness, all this cruelty, it's all overruled by
God. That's the amazing thing. That
is the amazing thing. It's all overruled by God. God is in all of these things.
And what is God doing? God is revealing Himself. And
He is revealing Himself as a God who is gracious, a God who is
faithful to His Word. He's going to fulfill His promise
to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. There will be deliverance
for His people. Now that they have so greatly
increased, but there is also a revelation of His justice in
the way in which He is going to deal with this wicked man
Pharaoh. You know something of the subsequent
history and the ten plagues that have visited upon the Egyptians. And what does God say? in chapter 9, 16, "...in very
deed for this cause have I raised thee up," speaking to Pharaoh,
"...in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to
show in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout
all the earth." Or he will send judgments and
Pharaoh will harden his heart and God will harden his heart.
well God will deal with him you see you know how those words in chapter
9 are taken up in the New Testament in that remarkable 9th chapter
of the epistle to the Romans that speak to us so clearly of
God's absolute sovereignty and the very reason why the Pharaoh
was ever raised up says the Apostle, that God might show His power,
that God might reveal the discriminating nature of His grace. Look at
the language there in Romans 9, 15 following. He says to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God, that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, and then those words from chapter 9 in Exodus, Even
for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my
power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy. and whom He willed, He hardens."
All of these things, all the actions of men under the sovereign
hand of God and yet God is not the author of sin. God is revealing
Himself, God is revealing His mercy in the deliverance of the
Hebrews, God is revealing His justice in the dealings that
He has with the with the Egyptians and the terrible plagues that
he visits upon them. Did Pharaoh make the river Nile
a bloody river in destroying all those little boys? And he charged all his people,
every son that is born he shall cast into the river. And every
daughter you shall save alive when God sends the plagues. What
is the first plague? The first plague is when all
the waters throughout Egypt are turned into blood. There's blood
everywhere. And of course, the land was really
fed by the Nile Delta, all those little river lands. Blood everywhere. That's God's judgment, how God's
ways are equitable. And then the 10th plague, the
last of the plagues, in chapter 12, there we see how God sends
the destroying angel and all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians
are killed by that destroying angel. It's the justice of God. and thou God's ways are equitable
and right thou the punishment will fit the crime an eye for
an eye a tooth for a tooth a life for a life that's the word of
God that's justice but this God who is a just God who is also
a merciful God and all these things you see ultimately lead
to the deliverance of His people and their establishment. This
is God's promise now to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob coming into
fruition. They are a nation. They are a
great multitude of people. And God will take them now into
that land that He has promised and establish them in that land.
In spite of all the machinations of men, Or the wise man says
there are many devices in a man's heart, nevertheless the counsel
of the Lord thou shalt stand. What a comforting word that is
and I feel it in this day. What machinations, shenanigans,
all the wicked devices of the politicians to frustrate the
will of the people. They call themselves Democrats
and yet they won't recognize a democratic vote. Well, we look
beyond men, we look to God. And we cry to Him. And we trust
that the Lord might yet be pleased to appear for this poor nation,
this sinful nation. We are a wicked people. And God's
judgments are abroad. But God is a merciful God. And
there is yet a little spiritual Israel in the midst of the land.
Oh, that God would appear. We know, says Paul, that all
things work together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose. And this is what we
see God's purpose being unfolded. What does all of this do? All
the perversity of the wicked persecuting the righteous, it
moves them to prayer ultimately. That's what we see at the end
of chapter 2. It came to pass in the process
of time that the king of Egypt died and the children of Israel
sighed by reason of the bondage and they cried and their cry
came up unto God by reason of the bondage and God heard their
groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac
and with Jacob and God looked upon the children of Israel and
God had respect unto them or as the margin says God knew them
All God knew them. In the midst of all the troubles
that came upon them, God knew them. Maybe they couldn't discern
God. Maybe they felt themselves to
be in such a dark, dismal place. They couldn't really articulate
their prayers. They sighed. They groaned because
of the bondage. But God knew them. All the Lord
knoweth them that are His. What He's got doing is moving
His people to pride. He's moving His people to pride,
even in those groanings. All the Spirit does He not make
intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered? And God,
does He not remember His covenant? That's how confident He is, the
God of the covenant. He is that God who is faithful
and true to all His words and He will prosper us. It is sure,
it is certain. Christ is to see the travail
of His soul, He shall be satisfied. The earth is to be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover
the seas. Every knee is to bow, every tongue
ultimately must confess that He is Lord to the glory of God. O God grant then that we might
find some encouragement in the experience of these people, these
typical people, the Hebrews, the children of Israel. The more
they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, and
they were grieved because of the children of Israel. Amen.