Exodus 1

Joseph and all his brothers eventually pass away but the Jewish presence remains in Egypt. A lot. Like a lot. Eventually a new king comes to power and he didn’t know Joseph. He’s afraid of the Jews number and power. What if they join sides with the Egyptian’s enemies and try to fight them? They’d take over Egypt! So, he decides to enslave them all and have them build the cities of Pithom and Raamses.

It doesn’t really work though because, even as slaves, the Jew population continues to rise! The Egyptians treat them harshly, forcing them to do work such as making brick and mortar, being in the field, etc

To stop this, the Pharaoh speaks to two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, He tells them that whenever overseeing a Hebrew’s birth, to kill the boys and save the girls. As without men, the Jews will lack enough power to possibly overtake Egypt.

But the two midwives chose to obey God rather than the Pharaoh and they saved the boys born. A prime example of following the Lord even if it goes against the law.

Upon seeing this, the Pharaoh asks the midwives why the boys are still alive. The midwives lie and say that the Hebrew women are so lively, that the boys are born before they get there. While lying is bad generally, lying in the name of obeying God’s will is okay.

God dealt favorably with the midwives as the Jewish population continued to grow. He made them full homes or families.

Sick and tired of this, the Pharaoh commanded his people to take all Hebrew boy born and throw them into the river to die.

Main Reason Pharoah takes over Egypt:

  1. Fear of Jews

  2. Joseph is forgotten

    1. Therefore, God is forgotten


Lessons Learned

  1. If the government calls to act against a command of God, always follow God

    1. Puah and Shiphrah saving the boys rather than killing them as Pharaoh commanded

  2. Lying, while generally bad, is alright as long as it is in God’s name righteously

    1. Puah and Shiphrah saying the boys were born before they could get there.


Puah can mean a variety of things in Hebrew

  1. A little girl or young woman

  2. A mouth or utterance from the mouth

  3. A cooing sound


Shiphrah has meaning as well

  1. To be fair, beautiful, or pleasing