The Soul Still Burns

Exodus 1

Joseph and all his generation died off but before they did, they multiplied and the Israelites grew exceedingly. Unfortunately for them, the Pharaoh's of old died off with Jospeh’s generation. The new Pharaoh’s did not know about Joseph.

The Israelites were growing great in numbers and it began to scare the Egyptians and the new Pharaohs. The Israelites were doing exactly what God wanted them to do--be fruitful and multiply--the Egyptians were scared of that however.

It’s so funny because as I am writing this, I realize that when we do what God wants us to do, we face opposition. Something will come that will try to oppose that thing that God has planned for us. In the case of the Egyptians, it was the Pharaoh’s fear of being outnumbered in war. That fear that Satan was planting into the rulers mind was the very thing that was used to try to halt the will of God for the Israelites and all people.

Eventually, the Israelites came to be under the bondage of the Egyptians. The Egyptians took them as slaves and put them to labor. They did this so they could decrease the numbers of people the Israelites were putting out and to make sure they had control over them. The worst part for the Egyptians was that the Israelites began to increase even more. I love how God can take a morbid situation and turn it around! But see, that does not stop the devil sometimes.

The Egyptians put the Israelites under harsher labor and greater burdens. The traditional King James bible says the Egyptians made the Israelites bitter with hard bondage. I am not sure what bitter translates to in the original Greek and Hebrew but even if it means what it means, that shows that the devil was certainly putting some pressure on the Israelites. The Pharaoh even talked to two Hebrew midwives, Shiphraph and Puah and told them that if they were to have any male children, they were to be killed but the female children could stay alive. The Pharaoh was trying to build a stagnant nation.

Here’s where the boldness and reverent fear of God come into play. Despite what the Pharaoh told them, the bible says that the midwives “feared God.” Because they feared God, they did not do what the Pharaoh said. That is the type of faith and boldness we all need. There is no problem standing up for God when we fear him.

On campus this past Wednesday (November 5th), the day after we received our new president, a man came out who was preaching hell, fire and brimstone in a condemning manner. There were several people listening to him, mocking him and making fun of his legitimate nonsense and at one point he said to everyone that we were all worthless. I am thinking to myself “If we are so worthless, then why did Jesus die on the cross for us? If we were so worthless, why would he do such a thing to himself?” At the moment, I was so appalled I did not even think to respond but I felt a deep, deep urge in me to be bold and to stand up for who Jesus truly is. He does not need me to defend Him but in the manner of making Jesus known to people, a sense of “defense” is needed at times. Either way, because I understand God, at least in some ways, and because I fear Him, I would have had no problem blurting back at him what was so wrong with his line of thought. That’s what happened with those midwives. They feared God so much and KNEW abortion or the killing of an innocent was wrong that they defied the highest authority.

Because the midwives did such a thing, God dealt well with the midwives according to verse 20. He multiplied them and they became very strong. I would like to see myself become very strong due to standing up and being bold for God. It even says that God made the midwives houses because they feared Him. Again, I’m not sure what “houses” translates into but in the Amplified it says “houses [of their own.” Back then at least, that was a big deal.

However, the devil still does not give in. Soon after, Pharaoh charged all the people to throw away every son in the river and let the daughters live. He did not give up his original decree but made sure that it was law instead.

See, when sin can get its way, it turns to the natural to get what it needs to get done. The homosexual agenda is the perfect parallel. They want their sin to be right; they want their lifestyle to be accepted and they do not want it to be questioned. What have they done? They have turn to the natural law to make sure that it must be accepted. It is the only type of power they can get. It still does not usurp the power of God but that is how sin thinks. The only way it can get to do what it wants is by turning to the only thing it can turn to which is natural circumstances. Just like how Pharaoh had to decree something that was clearly wrong as law to make sure it was justified and able to be done.