#1 – Exodus 1:1-14
A Reversal of Fortune
The setting (Exodus 1:1-7):
Moses begins by reminding his readers how the previous Book of Genesis ended. Jacob with his 11 sons and their families, 70 persons in all, had gone down to Egypt because of famine in Canaan. Joseph was already in Egypt, and in fact had been elevated to a seat of authority second only to Pharaoh himself. The Hebrews were preserved, given pleasant dwelling space in Goshen, and prospered.
Genesis 49 records the death of Jacob, whose remains are brought by his sons back to the family burial ground which Abraham had purchased in Machpelah.
Genesis 50 ends with Joseph 1) forgiving his brothers for selling him into slavery; 2) promising that G-d would continue to care for the family and eventually return them to Canaan; then 3) dying at age 110.
The Book of Exodus picks up the story with all of Joseph’s brothers having died. “But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.”[1]
Fear factor/Misery index:
So far, everything looks great!
The shift (Exodus 1:8-14):
A new king has arisen in Egypt – one who has no memory of the substantial blessing Joseph was to the Egyptians. This Pharaoh views the prospering sons of Israel as “more and mightier than we.” He fears they might become allies of invading enemies or move from Egypt and no longer contribute to the economy. Pharaoh sets taskmasters over the Israelites, afflicting them with hard labor as they build his storage cities of Pithom and Ramses.
“But the more [the Egyptians] afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.”[2] The Egyptian’s fear causes them to deal even more harshly with Jacob’s offspring, embittering their lives with hard labor both in construction and agriculture.
The needle has shifted – big time! The children of Israel have gone from blossoming to bondage, in relatively short order.
Where is G-d?
As Exodus begins we have plummeted from the pinnacle of Joseph in power, and his extended family privileged, to a generation of Israelites who are in bondage and servitude – a very drastic change of fortunes. To this point in the story, G-d’s name is not mentioned – though the “Joseph story” brings to mind the power of G-d in preserving and providing for the Jewish people in the Patriarchal period.
1] Exodus 1:7. All Scripture quotes are from New American Standard Bible or English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
[2] Exodus 1:12.
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