...be honest with God...

“1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation. 7 But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them” Exodus 1:1-14.

Hebrew names were known to be given to children according to events or concepts present at the time of their birth. There are 11 names presented to us at the opening of Exodus. These are real people meant to remind us that the tribes of Israel were named after the sons of Jacob, that is, that the organization of the people of Israel could be traced back to the original family of the patriarch Israel. This is Moses’ way of saying that the great nation of Israel that came out of Egypt numbering many tens of thousands had gone into Egypt numbering only seventy. The background of this great host, Israel, was traceable to a single man's family. The mention that “Joseph was already in Egypt” (verse 5) points to the special influence of Joseph that had made Jacob's family privileged guests in Egypt, all of which  was linked to Joseph's person and position and would not continue after his death (a point made clear in v. 8).

But it is clear that Exodus intentionally follows Genesis, especially the creation story, showing that Israel was in itself a fulfillment of the creation commands (“Be fruitful … increase (multiply) … fill” Genesis 1:22,28. Israel’s population growth was taking place in a land where the Israelites were resident aliens, and therefore what follows—the hostility of the Egyptians—is hardly a surprise. But it is a new king in Egypt that leads to a vast political and ideological shift in Egypt, especially because it is likely that Moses heard the king speak the words in verses 9 - 11.

We also hear in these verses pharaoh's proposal for actions against Israel.

That pharaoh was spouting ethnic hate propaganda was very similar to the still widely justified ethnic persecution and eventually genocide we have seen repeated in our lifetime. Pharaoh’s final words in verse 11 that Israel would “fight against us and escape from the land” justified Egypts campaign of oppression against the people previously accepted and treated decently.

Moses made sure that we, the reader, cannot miss Israel's desperate need for deliverance. “Lives bitter,” “hard labor,” “all kinds of work,” “hard labor,” and “used them ruthlessly” follow after “worked them ruthlessly” at the end of v. 13 to hammer home the point that the situation was intolerable. Remember, Moses witnessed this personally. Brickwork apparently was the main assignment of most Israelites to build Pithom and Rameses, but did not exclude excruciating hours in the fields.

So these opening words serve as Moses laying down the foundation for Exodus. You and I cannot call ourselves Christians while watching example after example of such oppression continue in the world in which you and I live. We must act and behave and live as Christians. We cannot separate our political views from the universal calling of God. There is no acceptable position any Christian or follower of Christ can embrace that is satisfied with  permitting people to live “bitter lives,” or suffocate under “hard labor” and “all kinds of work,” nor can we expect the poor to succumb to “hard labor” and insufficient income and health care, nor can we applaud leaders to use the poor “ruthlessly” and “work them ruthlessly.” And pushing the poor out of our country, as the Egyptians did to the Israelites, serves as an example for us all who portend to follow Christ.

Take time, then, in prayer today and take stock of the things you tolerate — and should not tolerate. Be honest before God and pray for God’s grace to hear His voice among all that we are witnessing take place all around us.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.