This Is Our Story / Exodus 1:1-22

Welcome to the Story of Redemption

Well, welcome! For those of you here live this evening, welcome to you. And for those of you joining us via video this weekend, we are thrilled that you guys are here. My name is Mike Sladen, and I have the incredible privilege of leading us off—batting number one—in a new series through the book of Exodus. If you are anything like me, you know this is a fun book. I invite you to turn to Exodus chapter 1.

Our goal this evening will be twofold: I want to start us off in the text of chapter 1, but I also want to lay out our roadmap. We are going to spend the next several months walking through this incredible Exodus story. Most of us are pretty familiar with the concepts of this book. If you’re old school, maybe you remember Charlton Heston as Moses back in the 1950s when The Ten Commandments came out. Or maybe you’re a Prince of Egypt fan from DreamWorks in the late nineties. Or maybe you saw that disaster of a movie, Ridley Scott’s Gods and Kings. If you haven’t seen it, don’t waste your money! I took all of our church residents there thinking it would be a great spiritual experience, and I realized I had just wasted a lot of people’s hard-earned money. If you missed it, good for you; if you saw it, I apologize! But we are familiar with this narrative. Some of us might even have Bob Marley’s “Exodus” humming in our heads.

Many of you here probably don’t know who I am. I’ve actually been on staff here since 2004, if you can believe that. I moved here from the great nation of Texas to join my buddy Brad Bell. By the way, this weekend marks our church’s fifteen-year anniversary! We started the Sunday after Super Bowl Sunday fifteen years ago. I remember Brad telling stories about holding back vomit on that first Sunday, wondering, What in the world am I doing? Fifteen years later, seeing what God has done in this place is truly amazing. We are praying for another fifteen-year run, if not more, by God’s grace.

Over the years, I’ve held several roles here—campus pastor, community director, equipping director, Fig Garden campus pastor. I’ve done a little bit of everything. Now they mostly keep me in the basement and let me out every now and again to preach, and I love getting to be with you. My primary role now is directing and teaching our residency program. Those are the crazy fools who meet at 6:00 AM five days a week to walk through the Old and New Testaments for nine months. They’re nuts, and I absolutely love it. Of all the things I’ve had the chance to do, it is by far my favorite. This is about my thirteenth or fourteenth time teaching through Exodus with them, and I am thrilled to walk through it now with you.

The 30,000-Foot View

One of the things I tell our residents when studying a biblical book is that I want you to be able to palm it like a basketball. I want you to be able to hold it and see it from every angle. To do that, you have to start at 30,000 feet. You need to see the whole landscape from chapter 1 all the way to chapter 40.

If I had to give you one word to summarize what Exodus is about, it is this: Redemption. At the top of my Bible, right under the title of Exodus, I have written in big, bold blue letters: Redemption. This book is the story of God redeeming a people trapped in slavery and bondage in Egypt.

Let me give you a quick flyover of where Brad, Shay, and the rest of our teaching team will be taking us over the coming weeks:

• Chapter 1: We find the Israelites in brutal bondage in Egypt, where they have been for some 430 years.
• Chapter 2: God introduces a deliverer named Moses.
• Chapters 3–4: We watch the development of Moses from an infant in a basket to an eighty-year-old shepherd called by God at a burning bush to lead a nation.
• Chapters 5–7: Moses stands before the most powerful man in the known world, Pharaoh, demanding, “Let my people go.” Pharaoh says no, choosing to hold on to his free slave labor.
• Chapters 7–11: God unleashes the ten plagues. We see the miraculous hand of God at work like no other generation in history. God systematically steps into the ring with Egypt’s pantheon of false deities—the god of the Nile, the sun god, and Pharaoh himself—and defeats them all.
• Chapters 12–14: The plagues culminate in the Passover and the death of the firstborn. Israel slays an innocent lamb and places its blood on the doorposts of their homes, and God passes over them in mercy. Then comes the Red Sea. Israel is caught between a wall of water and Pharaoh’s charging chariots, and God miraculously parts the sea, leads them across on dry ground, and destroys their oppressors.
• Chapter 15: Israel pauses to sing a song of praise to memorialize God’s mighty deliverance.
• Chapters 15–18: God leads them into the wilderness. He demonstrates His care by providing daily manna and water, teaching them that He is their provider even in hard places.
• Chapters 19–24: God brings them to Mount Sinai, gives them the Law, and makes a covenant with them: I will be your God, and you will be My people.
• Chapters 25–40: The final third of the book provides the blueprints for and construction of the Tabernacle. God isn’t a distant deity dwelling on a remote mountaintop; He wants to dwell right in the center of their camp, intimately near to His people.

Yet alongside all of this, we will also see a fickle people who complain, despise the wilderness, grumble about God’s provision, and constantly want to turn back to Egypt.

The Mirror Image of Our Story

One of my seminary professors used to say that the Exodus is the single most significant historical and theological event in the entire Old Testament. While the historical facts of the Exodus are completely reliable and true, there is a deeper layer underneath. The book of Exodus is not just an ancient historical chronicle—the book of Exodus is the mirror image of our story.

The entire Old Testament is written in story form to show us shadows of something greater to come.

Let me illustrate. If I were to ask you, “Describe God to me,” what would you say? You might shout out words like love, comforter, forgiveness. Most Western minds tend to think in bullet points: God is omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign. But the ancient Hebrew mind thought in concrete pictures and narratives: God is my rock. God is my shelter. God is my fortress.

When Jesus taught, He didn’t hand out bullet-point outlines. When a lawyer asked Him how to inherit eternal life, Jesus answered by telling a story about a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho who fell among robbers. When asked about the kingdom of God, Jesus said it is like a mustard seed.

Jesus saw the entire Old Testament pointing directly to Himself. Consider what happened on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection, when He walked alongside two downcast disciples:

Luke 24:25-27 (NASB)

And He said to them, ’O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ‘Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Can you imagine being on that walk? Jesus opened the Scriptures and explained, “When you read about Moses, that story isn’t ultimate—it’s pointing to Me! I am the Deliverer. I am the true Passover Lamb. I am the bread from heaven.”

This isn’t an ancient, dusty, four-thousand-year-old relic that has nothing to do with us. The Exodus journey is your journey and my journey.

Before Christ, we were in bondage, enslaved to sin. We desperately needed a Deliverer to rescue us from a captivity we could never escape on our own. The Red Sea is a vivid picture of salvation: God puts us in a place where, apart from His intervention, we are completely dead. He calls us to stand still and watch His salvation. When Christ saves us, He brings us through the waters, washes away our past, and brings us into new life. Then we find ourselves walking through the wilderness of this world, learning to depend on daily bread, grumbling when life gets uncomfortable, and battling the temptation to construct our own golden calves and run back to our former enslavement. Exodus is our story.

A Dysfunctional Family

With that foundation, let’s look at how Exodus chapter 1 unfolds. The chapter breaks down into three basic movements:

• Verses 1–7: How Israel arrived and grew in Egypt
• Verses 8–14: The rise of oppression and slavery
• Verses 15–22: The decree of infanticide and genocide

Let’s begin with verses 1 through 4.

Exodus 1:1-4 (NASB)

Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Exodus opens as a direct continuation of Genesis. It lists the sons of Jacob—names like Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Genesis 25 through 50 tells the backstory of Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel, meaning “he strives with God.” Jacob ended up having thirteen children with four different women—two wives and two concubines. It reads like a complete soap opera and a total train wreck of a family.

Jacob fell in love with Rachel and agreed to work seven years for her father, Laban. At the end of seven years, Laban threw a massive wedding feast. After a night of heavy celebration, Jacob woke up the next morning, looked over, and behold—it was Leah, Rachel’s older sister! Laban tricked him. Jacob had to agree to work another seven years to marry Rachel as well.

Both Leah and Rachel were accompanied by handmaids, Zilpah and Bilhah, who were also given to Jacob to bear children when jealousy and rivalry flared up. It was a chaotic mess of competition, mandrakes, and family dysfunction.

If you ever harbored the mistaken idea that God only chooses polished, perfect, spiritual superstars to accomplish His purposes, the opening of Exodus completely destroys that myth. God works His redemptive plans through deeply broken, messy people.

Exodus 1:5-7 (NASB)

All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was [already] in Egypt. Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

All the descendants of Jacob who came to Egypt numbered seventy people, with Joseph already residing there.

Joseph, as you remember, was Jacob’s favorite son. His jealous brothers threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery in Egypt. Yet through God’s sovereign providence, Joseph rose from an Egyptian dungeon to become second-in-command over the entire empire. When a catastrophic seven-year famine hit the ancient world, God used Joseph to preserve both Egypt and his own family. Jacob brought his seventy family members into Egypt, settling in the fertile region of Goshen.

Now, roughly a century passes. Joseph dies, and his generation passes away, but God’s blessing remains on the people. Verse 7 uses five different words to describe their exponential growth: they were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, grew exceedingly mighty, and filled the land.

Fear and Oppression

That brings us to the turning point in verse 8.

Exodus 1:8-10 (NASB)

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, ’Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. ‘Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.’

A new king comes to power who did not know Joseph. It wasn’t that he was ignorant of history, but he felt no relational obligation or gratitude toward Joseph’s legacy. He looks out at the burgeoning Hebrew population and panics. He fears that in the event of an invasion, Israel might ally with Egypt’s enemies and overthrow the nation.

What is fascinating is that historical records suggest Egypt had previously experienced an invasion by foreign rulers known as the Hyksos, who oppressed the native Egyptians for about a century. Having once been the oppressed, the Egyptians now allow their fears of the worst-case scenario to turn them into the oppressors.

Exodus 1:11-14 (NASB)

So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all [kinds] of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.

Pharaoh appoints ruthless taskmasters over Israel, subjecting them to grueling forced labor to build the storage cities of Pithom and Raamses. Later, in Deuteronomy, God looks back and describes Israel’s slavery in Egypt as being pulled out of an “iron furnace”—a picture of smelting metal under unbearable heat.

Pharaoh’s strategy was simple: crush their spirits through hard labor and slow down their population growth. But look at verse 12: “The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out.” The schemes of earthly rulers cannot overturn the promises of God.

The Courage to Disobey

When harsh slave labor fails to curb Israel’s growth, Pharaoh resorts to outright genocide.

Exodus 1:15-16 (NASB)

Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; and he said, ‘When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see [them] upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.’

Pharaoh commands two prominent Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to execute newborn Hebrew boys on the birthstool while letting the baby girls live.

These women were placed in an impossible, terrifying dilemma. Do you obey the absolute monarch of the known world and preserve your own skin, or do you stand against him to protect innocent life?

Exodus 1:17-19 (NASB)

But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, ‘Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?’ The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.’

Verse 17 contains one of the most powerful phrases in the chapter: “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them.” They recognized that the authority of the Almighty far surpassed the authority of Pharaoh. They chose civil disobedience because God’s law transcends human decrees.

When Pharaoh confronts them, they offer an answer laced with Hebrew humor: “Pharaoh, Hebrew women aren’t like frail Egyptian women. They are vigorous! Before we can even arrive, they’ve already delivered the babies!”

Exodus 1:20-22 (NASB)

So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ‘Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.’

God blessed the midwives and established households for them because they honored Him.

Infuriated, Pharaoh removes all subtlety. He issues a blanket decree to all his citizens: every newborn Hebrew boy is to be thrown into the Nile River to drown. That is the dark, desperate backdrop into which Moses is born in chapter 2.

Where Are You in the Story?

As we look at this narrative, we need to ask ourselves a searching question: Where do you find yourself in this story today?

Perhaps you find yourself in a season of bondage. Your life feels like a train wreck, you are carrying the heavy weight of sin, and you realize you are powerless to fix yourself. You are running on empty, spiritually enslaved, and desperately in need of a Deliverer. You need Christ to step into your life and do what you cannot do for yourself.

Perhaps you are seeing the mighty hand of God at work. Maybe you’ve started reading the Scriptures, or you’re beginning to see God’s providence breaking into your daily routine—at work, in your marriage, or in your circumstances. He is showing you that He is real, that He is sovereign, and that He is drawing you to Himself.

Perhaps you’ve experienced a Red Sea moment. You were backed against a wall, facing an impossible crisis with no way out, and God showed up. He made a way through the sea, delivered you, brought you across to salvation, and placed your feet on solid ground.

Or perhaps you are in the wilderness. You know the Lord, but life is hard. You are learning what it means to pray daily, “Give us this day our daily bread.” You are learning to rely on His manna, even when you’d prefer something else.

To be completely honest, I know many in our church family who find themselves right in the middle of Exodus chapter 1. You are walking through intense pain and affliction.

I have close friends right now battling aggressive cancer. They are young, they have young children, and their families are carrying an unimaginable burden. I have another friend facing round two of cancer; having beaten it once, she is now having to think through what memories she wants to leave behind for her little kids.

When you are in the furnace of suffering, it is easy to wonder, Where is God? Does He see? Does He care?

Let me remind you of what God said to Israel about His love for them in the wilderness:

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 (NASB)

’You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. ’He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

In our Western culture, we often assume that pain and suffering must be avoided at all costs. But in God’s economy, the furnace of affliction is often where He does His deepest work.

During the winter months when it rains, I really dislike riding my road bike. I know I need to do it to stay in shape, but because I dread the cold, I might only ride once a month. Whenever I get back on that bike, my legs burn and my lungs ache. But that pain is physical proof that conditioning is taking place. In the same way, hardships in our lives are often the very tools God uses to conform us to the image of His Son.

Recently, my wife had major back surgery. In the recovery room afterward, we ran into an issue we’ve seen before during her previous C-sections: her body reacts poorly to anesthesia and pain medications, and she periodically stops breathing.

I sat right by her bedside for an hour and a half. I had one eye locked on the monitors tracking her oxygen levels and heart rate, and my other eye locked on my wife. Every few moments, as her breathing slowed, I would reach out, place my hand on her shoulder, and whisper, “Sweetheart, breathe. Breathe.” And she would take a breath. I kept thinking, Where are the nurses? Why am I the one doing this? But I sat there vigilantly watching her every breath because I love her deeply.

That is a picture of how our Heavenly Father watches over you.

He has not abandoned you in the furnace. He is at your bedside. He is monitoring your every breath. He knows every hair on your head, He knows the afflictions of your life, and He loves you with an everlasting love.

As we embark on this journey through Exodus, anchor your heart in the God who sees, the God who hears, and the God who redeems.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You that You are near. Thank You that You do not stand far off from our pain, but You dwell in our midst. Lord, for those in our church family who are in the middle of deep difficulty tonight—those facing disease, grief, anxiety, and brokenness—remind them that You are monitoring their every breath and holding them in Your hands. As we see Your faithfulness to Israel thousands of years ago, would You bolster our faith today? Give us the strength to trust You and take the next faithful step tomorrow. In Jesus’ name, Amen.