A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. (Exodus 1:8, NIV 1984).
My Musings – And no wonder. Nearly four hundred years had passed, with virtually nothing recorded about the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s (Israel’s) descendants.
Jacob had long since been “gathered to [his] people [and buried] with [his] fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.” (Genesis 49:29–30, NIV 1984). Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob’s wife Leah were also buried there. “Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. After they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.” (Genesis 50:22-23, 26, NIV 1984).
Since that time, after, “Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died… the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.” (Exodus 1:6–7, NIV 1984). Just as God had commanded. But they had not returned to the land that God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The new king of Egypt was alarmed about the size of this group that kept themselves separate. Alarmed that this “exceedingly numerous” people might rise up and fight against them. “So, they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so, the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.” (Exodus 1:11–14, NIV 1984).
My Advice – In this world, there will always be times of bitter oppression against God’s people. At times, it will be ruthless. But we need not despair. For, “in [Christ we] may have peace. In this world [we] will have trouble. But take heart! [He has] overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NIV 1984).
The Brew Is A Musing 