Daily Devotions
Exodus
"And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered." Genesis 13:16
Text: Exodus 1:12
AN INEXPLICABLE PHENOMENON
In the reasoning of Pharaoh and his court, the new policy should have caused a number of things to happen. At least three desired effects of the new policy of enslaving the children of Israel were anticipated.
1. There would be more people who would die under harsh working conditions.
2. There would be total despair among the children of Israel.
3. There would be falling birth-rate.
To their great surprise, none of the above took place. Instead, they experienced an inexplicable phenomenon.
“But the more they afflicted them, the more
they multiplied and grew. And they were in
dread of the children of Israel.”
EXODUS 1:12
The Pharaoh had not factored in God’s hand upon the children of Israel! He had decreed that the descendants of Abraham would be as the dust of the earth! His word would be fulfilled, no matter how wicked men may plot and scheme!
THE INVISIBLE BUT REAL POWER OF GOD AT WORK
Were there deaths due to the oppression of the Egyptian taskmasters? Presumably, yes! But the Egyptians needed the children of Israel as a labour force, and thus genocide was not contemplated!
Was life particularly hard for the children of Israel? Yes, of course! To be forced to work as labourers to build the cities of the Pharaoh must have been difficult, but the children of Israel somehow managed to survive all the hardship inflicted on them!
God’s hand was on them. Whether the children of Israel fully comprehended or appreciated the mighty hand of God in their lives, they found the strength and the spirit to carry on with their miserable lives! More than that, they continued to create new family units and along the way, many more children were born to swell the number of people who made up Israel!
THE ALARM OF THE EGYPTIANS
Pharaoh had never seen anything like that before! He reviewed his policies. Perhaps, the present policy was not strong enough! Perhaps the answer lay in making even stronger policies! In next to no time, an even more stringent policy was announced and implemented. Pharaoh was never short of ideas when it came to the matter of controlling the foreigners who dwelt in his land!