Exodus Extracts 01 – When Fear Runs Wild

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” (Exodus 1:8-10 ESV)

70 people turned up initially, but there’s a lot more than 70 people here now.

Not only are there significantly more than the 70 but they are multiplying and filling the land and that could cause problems. They come in here, they could take over, they’re swamping the place. What if we get under attack? Whose side will they be on? What if they go with the opposition?

Even writing that makes me think of arguments not too dissimilar to that taking place in different parts of the world.

The responses by Pharaoh in Exodus 1 are fascinating. First oppressive slavery should stop the multiplication. When that doesn’t work, maybe getting midwives to kill male babies will do the job. And when that doesn’t work, perhaps general male infanticide as a military policy will sort the problem.

Fear leads to lies and lies lead to murder all in the name of preservation. It’s a sad context to read. As I mentioned, though, it’s one thing to read about that in ancient history, it’s a scary thing to witness events and perspectives promoted that are not all that different even when they are clothed in concerns for ‘liberty’ or ‘civilisation’.

In the midst of such tragedy, it’s reassuring to see in the behaviour of the midwives a fear of God that leads to a respect for life. I hope similar reverence for God will allow us today to respect all life – young, old, male, female, atheist, Muslim, whatever the background.

For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden