Israel's Rapid Multiplication — Chuck Smith

Welcome to the Word for Today, a broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse study through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of the Word for Today, we'll begin our journey through the book of Exodus, as Pastor Chuck gives us a brief account of Israel's rapid multiplication. So let's follow along as we turn in our Bibles to Exodus, chapter 1, verse 1.

The Continuity of Exodus with Genesis

The first word of the book of Exodus is now. That word can also be translated and. When Moses originally wrote the first five books, there weren't five books, it was just one book, one continuous book, it's been divided into five.

But it's just a continuous story. Up until this point, Moses had gathered together the collection of the stories in writing Genesis. But now he begins to give the history as he personally experienced it and related to it.

And so the book of Exodus written by Moses. There are some men who would like to challenge the authorship of Moses, but no greater scholar than Jesus affirmed that Moses was the one that wrote the book of Exodus.

And I'll take the word of Jesus over any of these kooks that might come along and think differently. But Jesus made reference to Moses in the book of Moses, and then he quoted from Exodus, calling it the book of Moses.

That's good enough for me. It has been some 300 years since Joseph has died. And so from the end of the book of Genesis to the beginning of the book of Exodus, you have a period of about 300 years. And during that period of time, the household of Jacob, which is named here, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Ishgar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, and those who were already there, Joseph and his family, were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty.

Israel's Multiplication in Egypt

So as he describes the growth of the nation in Egypt, he uses the terms fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied, grew exceedingly mighty. The 70 who went to Egypt had indeed multiplied to 600 ,000 men above the age of 20, which means a possible population of as many as 3 million people.

So indeed, they were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied as they were in Egypt. Now, the Lord had prophesied to Abraham that his descendants would go down to Egypt, and God would make of them a great nation there, but he would bring them up out of Egypt in 400 years.

So the 400 years of that sojourn in Egypt are about over. When Jacob prayed at Beersheba, God said, Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt. I will make of thee there a great nation. And so God has kept his word.

The prophecies that he made to Abraham and to Jacob have now been fulfilled. A great nation has formed during this period in Egypt. Now there arose a new king, we are told, over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

It is thought that Joseph reigned during what was called the Hyksos dynasties, but now they have been overthrown. It was that northern and southern Egypt were divided into two kingdoms, but they have been reunified, and they no longer are indebted to Joseph, nor are they really caring about Joseph.

It's been almost 300 years since he died. The new pharaoh, the new king, said to his people, Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.

Egyptian Oppression and Israelite Growth

Now the fear of the pharaoh was that they would go out of the land. They have provided a tremendous slave labor force for Egypt, and so many of the great monuments in Egypt were built by the slave labor of the children of Israel.

They were fearful of losing this labor core. They were fearful that when a enemy would invade them, that the Israelis would turn against them themselves, and Egypt could be overthrown. Their presence now in Egypt posed a threat.

However, he was fearful of their leaving because of the loss of the tremendous labor force. So therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for pharaohs supply cities, Pithom and Ramesses.

But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, and they were in dread of the children of Israel. They began to really fear the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor, harshness literally, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field.

All their service in which they made them serve was with harshness, rigor. Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shephra and the other was Pua, and he said, when you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and you see them on the birth stools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him.

If it is a daughter, then save her alive. But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but save the male children alive. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, why have you done this thing and save the male children alive?

And the midwives said to the Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are very active and lively and they give birth before we can get there. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.

And so it was because of the midwives feared God that he provided households for them. So Pharaoh commanded all of his people saying, every son who is born, you shall cast into the river and every daughter you shall save alive.

So the first chapter of Exodus is setting now the scene. As the children of Israel are multiplying, the Egyptians see them as a threat. They begin to afflict them. They make their labor more rigorous.

There are pictures from ancient Egypt of the Egyptians standing over these men who are laying bricks, holding a rod in their hand. The task masters, who if a fellow started to slow down, would get a stripe across his back.

If he wasn't moving fast enough, a lash across his back with these rods. And so the children of Israel were now being oppressed. They were being pushed beyond measure. And yet in all of the obstacles, they continued to multiply exceedingly.

Moses Protected by His Family

They continued to grow stronger. They continued to be a real threat to Egypt. Thus, the first chapter lays the picture. Now we come to a particular family. A man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi, Amram and Jacob, his wife.

So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months. Now the final order of the Pharaoh was to the people themselves. If you have a male son, you've got to throw him in the Nile River.

You got to get rid of him. If it's a girl, then she can live. But the boys were to be put to death. However, here is a mother who sees that her little boy is such a beautiful little boy, she can't bring herself to throw him in the river and so she hides him.

And for three months, she keeps him here. But when she could no longer hide him, she took a little arc of bulrushes for him and daubed it with asphalt and pitch and put the child in it and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.

And his sister, whose name was Miriam, stood afar off to know what would be done to him. Now, in a sense, she was fulfilling the commandment of the Pharaoh. He said to put the boy babies in the river, so she did.

However, she had made a little basket and waterproofed it with the pitch. And so he was there floating in the reeds by the river's bank. And his sister was standing back to watch the basket to find out what would become of her little brother.

Must have been quite a traumatic experience for both mother and the sister of Moses. It must have been extremely difficult to live in those conditions where if you have a baby boy, it's just automatic death.

Pharaoh's Daughter Adopts Moses

He's consigned to death. And I can picture little Miriam hiding back, watching to see what would happen to that little basket where her beautiful little brother is there floating on the river. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along the riverside, and she saw the ark among the reeds, and she sent her maid to get it.

And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him and said, this must be one of the Hebrew's children. Then his sister came running up, and she said to Pharaoh's daughter, would you like me to get a nurse from one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?

And the Pharaoh's daughter said to her, go. And so Miriam, the little sister of, bigger sister of Moses, went and called Moses' mother. Said, hey, I've got a job for you. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay you wages.

So the woman took the child and nursed him. Isn't it interesting how God is able to work even in adverse circumstances? How God is able to work his will, to work his purposes. All things work together for good to those who love God.

And I can imagine that as Jochebed put that little ark in the river, there was a prayer went up from her heart, that somehow this little child might be found and may be adopted by someone of the Egyptians, and perhaps his life be spared.

She could not bring herself to drown her baby. But God had other plans. So Jochebed was actually paid for raising her own child by the Pharaoh's daughter. And the child grew, and she brought him to the Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son.

She adopted him. So she called his name Moses, saying, because I drew him out of the water. The name Moses means drawn out. I drew him out of the water. So he picked up the name Moses, Moshe actually.

Moses Acts in His Own Strength

Now it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren, and he looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way.

And when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, there were two Hebrew men fighting. And he said to the one who did the wrong, why are you striking your companion?

And he said to him, who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? So Moses feared and said, surely this thing is known. Now Moses at this point was 40 years old.

He had been schooled and trained there in the court of Egypt, possibly being groomed for the throne. And yet, Jochebed must have imbued in his heart during that time of early childhood such a spirit of nationalism that when he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he couldn't stand it.

He killed the Egyptian, buried him in the sand. Now as we turn to the New Testament for a commentary on this particular passage, as Stephen is making his defense in the book of Acts, Stephen declares that Moses thought that the children of Israel would realize that God had chosen him to deliver them.

He had in his heart the concept, the idea that God had divinely ordained him to be the deliverer of his people. How this came to him, we do not know. But it was a conviction that he had, and he thought that they would just understand it.

Whereas they were probably saying, ah, that lucky guy living in the pharaoh's house, he doesn't know what it is, you know, to live like we do. And they were probably envious and jealous and figuring that he didn't care about them at all.

But in reality, he had it in his heart that God had chosen him to be their deliverer. Now Moses is a type of Christ. And herein he becomes a very interesting type of Christ in that he was rejected by them the first time he came.

He came to act in their defense. He came thinking that they would know that God had ordained that he should deliver them. But they rejected him. And during the time of his rejection, he married a Gentile bride.

But when he came back again with his Gentile bride, they received him, and he became the deliverer of God's people. So beautiful type of Christ here in Moses. And as we go through, we will find other places where he becomes a very fitting type of Christ.

That's what makes the Bible so interesting. There are all of these beautiful little types and shadows and foreshadowing of future things, prophecies and all. And it all makes for just fascinating, fascinating reading, showing that man could not have been the author.

Man could not have devised or schemed something this clever beyond the capacity of man. Now it is interesting that Moses at this point was probably sort of impetuous and hot-tempered. The fact that he killed the Egyptian who was beating up the Hebrew slave.

It is true that God had ordained that Moses should be the deliverer. That is true. Moses seemed to have this consciousness, but he is premature. He's acting in his own. He's doing it in the power of his flesh.

And it is interesting to me that Moses in the power of his flesh is not capable of successfully burying one Egyptian. You see, God wanted him to bury the whole army. And later he did in the Red Sea. But that was under the guidance of the Spirit.

Serving God in the Power of the Spirit

Oh, how important that any service we offer to God be offered in the Spirit and in the power of the Spirit and through the anointing of the Spirit and being guided by the Spirit. So much of our effort for God is futile, because we're doing it out of a heart that has a desire for God.

True. But we're doing it in the energy of our flesh, in our own ability, in our own way, rather than waiting upon the Lord and being led of the Spirit. And we see how unsuccessful our efforts are, the energy of our flesh.

And yet we see how dynamic it is when God begins to work. And so Moses was premature. And the next day when he saw the two Hebrews fighting, he said, you guys are brothers. You ought not to be fighting.

And the one of them said, are you going to kill me like you did the fellow yesterday, like you did the Egyptian?

And Moses realized that he had been seen. Once again, be returning to our study here in the book of Exodus in our next lesson, as Pastor Chuck Smith continues to follow the life of Moses as he flees from the wrath of Pharaoh.

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That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. Now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

May God now take the Word and hide it in our hearts as we again studied and meditated upon His truth. And may it come back in our time of need to guide and to direct us in our walk and in our relationship with God.

In Jesus' name.

Biblical Principles for Marriage and Family

Undoubtedly, one of the most glaring signs that our society is in trouble is the breakdown of the family unit. Marriages just aren't making it today, and kids are suffering as they watch the breakup of their homes.

Those marriages still holding together are often plagued by conflict and turmoil, making the home a battleground instead of a refuge. That's why The Word for Today would like to present Pastor Chuck Smith's Marriage and Family MP3, where Pastor Chuck discusses basic biblical principles to keep a family's love alive.

Each member of the family has a different set of needs and responsibilities, and when you know and apply God's principles, everyone in the family can experience real peace, real joy, and an agape love.

To order your copy of The Marriage and Family MP3 by Chuck Smith, call The Word for Today at 800 -272-WORD or visit us online at thewordfortoday .org.

This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today in Costa Mesa, California.