Exodus Chapter 1 Exo 1:1 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. Exodus begins as if Genesis never ended, but rather continued on. The names listed are ordered by their mothers. For example, the children from Leah are named first (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun). Then the children of Rachel (Benjamin), then Bilhah (Dan, Naphtali) and Zilpah (Gad, Asher). The main point illustrated here is that Israel is technically born into slavery in Egypt, just as we are born into the slavery of our sinful nature: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psa 51:5). The total number of Jacob’s descendants that entered Egypt was 70 according to verse five. The list of people are given in Genesis 46, however, it is not a passenger list since some were already in Egypt and others would be born there. From the list given we see that the total number of Jacob’s own seed who entered Egypt from Canaan was 66 people. Then when you count the sons of Joseph who were already in Egypt, there were 70 Israelites who would begin the nation of Israel in Egypt. The 66 plus Joseph, Manasseh, Ephraim and Jacob himself (verse 26 says “with” Joseph), equaled 70. Again we see how seventy seems to hold special significance in Scripture. In Deuteronomy we read, “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided all mankind, He set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel” (Deut 32:8). This may suggest that these 70 were representative of the 70 nations that came from Noah (See Gen 10:32). One problem for some comes from Stephen’s speech when he said, “After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all” (Acts 7:14). Why did Stephen record 75 rather than 70? Most commentators explain this by showing that Stephen used the Septuagint translation, which lists five of Joseph’s descendants coming from his sons Ephraim (two sons and one grandson) and Manasseh (one son and one grandson) in the Genesis 46 account. Exo 1:6 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. 1 The generation of Joseph all passed away and a new king took over Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph or the Israelites and their special relationship with the LORD. We see that the promise God had given Israel so many times in Genesis was, and is, being fulfilled as the Israelites became a great nation (see Gen 1:28; 8:17; 9:1-7; 17:2-6; 22:17; 26:4; 28:14; 35:11; and 48:4). When the Israelites leave Egypt there will be 600,000 men, not counting women and children (Ex 12:37). We know that God also told Abraham that this day was coming when the Israelites would become enslaved, “Then the LORD said to him, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years” (Gen 15:13). We cannot be certain of who this new king is, but there is good evidence to suggest it is not the commonly accepted dynasty. The secular world generally says that Ahmose, the ruler of the 18th dynasty, came to power at this time. He expelled the Hyksos dynasty. In Genesis we saw that Joseph (a non- Egyptian) was made second in power. Earlier in chapter 39 when Joseph first came to Egypt, he was made a slave in Potipher’s household. Over and over we were told that Potipher was Egyptian. This seems unnecessary to mention if in Egypt. However, the Hyksos dynasty was primarily of foreign Semitic origin and many non-Egyptian officials existed, therefore, possibly a need to mention that Potipher was Egyptian. Again, this is not fool proof evidence of the Hyksos ruling at this time, but makes it a possibility for some commentaries. I myelf do not believe that the Hysksos were ruling at this time. After all, when Joseph came to power in Egypt he was given an Egyptian name. We will discuss in later chapters further evidence that would suggest the Hyksos dynasty is not the one in power during the reign of Joseph. Exo 1:9 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. 13 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. This new king felt threatened by the Israelites and their increasing number only added to this problem. His first attempt to deal with his uneasiness was to oppress them in slavery. However, God made sure that Pharaoh’s mind was not at ease and they continued to grow in number at a faster rate. As a result, uneasiness turned into dread and the Israelites were treated all the more harshly. This was all part of God’s plan to make His Name known throughout the world. He needed to have Pharaoh’s pride and power built up so that God could show that even the most powerful nation in the world could not stand up 2 to even one of God’s humble servants. We read in Romans about Pharaoh, “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth” (Rom 9:17). It was also God’s plan to have the Israelites cry out to Him and recognize their need of a Savior. God allows many of these storms in our lives today to “refine” our faith and help us to rely only upon Him. After all, “the LORD disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Prov 3:12). God wants the best for us and He will never leave us unattended in our hurt or affliction. At times it seems we are alone, but often this means we are growing and actually getting closer to our Father in heaven. Because there are glories in heaven, God wants us to be the most successful we can be, much like our earthly fathers want the best for their children. They discipline them hoping that when they grow up they will be able to make wise decisions with few consequences. Scripture supports the fact that there are different glories or degrees of heaven. This is a puzzling thing for many Christians but the Bible makes it clear. As an analogy, if one person is represented by a 16 ounce cup and another person is represented by a 32 ounce cup, both will be filled with as much glory as they can hold when they get to heaven. The sixteen ounce cup would not desire more because he cannot hold any more, he is as full as he knows how to be. Those who love God enough to stand firm in these last days will indeed be blessed because of their perseverance and love for God. One must be careful to realize this is not works righteousness. Good works will not get you to a higher glory in heaven but, your faith will. The more you love God the more you see Him in your daily life. The more faith you have, the more you will produce good fruit in keeping with repentance (Mat 3:8). James warns, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did” (James 2:18-22). Clearly we must be careful about having faith in faith. Believing in Jesus does not get you to heaven because even Satan believes in Jesus. Allowing Jesus to be your personal Savior whom you love, adore and follow daily because of your faith in Him; that is our free ticket to heaven.