Day 15: September 18, 2025: Exodus 1-6

We are introduced to Moses in the book of Exodus. It begins with a reminder that Joseph really set up his family for success by moving them to Egypt and that they had been given the best of the land and they certainly did prosper and multiply, but maybe a little too much. At least according to Pharaoh they now became a people that were a bit of a nuisance. They had become so strong and powerful that Pharaoh thought that maybe another nation might entice them to join sides again Egypt and to fight against Egypt and if that happened, well because of their number, Egypt would never be able to resist them.

When a people group becomes a threat the first thing a government does is oppress them. Or, in the case of slavery within the United States, when a people group becomes slaves and then are freed the next thing to do is to oppress them so that they will never, at least not for generations, have the same opportunities as those who were the slave owners. We still find ourselves in that situation where, like the Israelites, the nation and the leadership had been built up around the premise that only certain people, and only a certain color, is able or allowed to have the most beneficial opportunities.

When Moses leaves Egypt and is on the run, it surprised me this time when I read the story that he settled with the Midianites. Clearly as time when on the Midianites were the enemies of Israel. They were clearly pagan and worshipped other gods which I would imagine would have been a problem for Moses and the Israelites. Moses marries into this culture, and yet we read, and this was new to me as well, that he takes his wife and his family back into Egypt, back into slavery as a result of God’s command through the burning bush.

It would be like someone making their way out of slavery through the underground railroad and then deciding to go back and free others who were still in captivity and slavery. That is exactly what Moses did. As a free person he brought himself and his family back into slavery so that he could free all of the people of Israel. Well, needless to say it doesn’t start out great. Moses’ greatest fears and then some come true. Not only does Pharaoh disregard his words, but he actually makes life worse for the slaves blaming Moses and his words as being an instigation to more suffering. It does get worse before it gets better, but it does get better.