Exodus is the continuing story of the fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham, and the journey to a brand-new covenant under Moses, in which the Chosen Family of the covenant with Abraham becomes the Chosen Tribe, with Moses as the leader. God is working once again to redefine and widen the scope of His covenant with humanity to include more people, more comprehensive ways of relating to Him. In bringing the Hebrew people out of bondage, chosen from birth for this purpose and preserved from harm, Moses previews for us what Jesus would do for all. Every time we renew Jesus' saving sacrifice at Mass, we experience the Passover, the shielding blood of the Lamb, keeping us from sure death no matter who we are or what we have done before.
God told Abraham back in Genesis that his descendants would be in oppression and exile for 400 years before He brought them home to the Promised Land. Like all of those promises, God has an unbelievable way of making this come to fruition, not just once in a literal fashion, but many times in ever wider and more meaningful ways. The story of Exodus 1 shows the development of the oppression and exile in the most narrow sense, but I am constantly reminded to look past this to the reverberations of this pattern ever since. The Hebrew people of 1400-1500 BC needed to experience slavery and deliverance by God's hand to form them as a people, to "test them like gold in a fire," and so do we. According to Agape Bible Study, this is also related to the fact that God's justice toward the Canaanite people already living in the Promised Land required that He not just arbitrarily hand over the land to the Israelites, but that He would only return the Promised Land when the Canaanites were maximally, unrepentantly sinful and as unlikely as possible to change. That would only come to its peak 400 years later.
The Israelites were doing exactly what God commanded, being fruitful and multiplying, becoming a true nation. Then a new Egyptian administration came to power, who "knew not" Joseph, a pharaoh who didn't just not remember Joseph, but one who had no treaty or covenant relationship (like the sexual bond of "knowing" between a husband and wife) with Israel. He made them slaves in a particularly cruel fashion, because slaves at the time were usually a person captured in war, sold into slavery for debt-related reasons, or born slaves, none of which were true of the legally protected, free Israelites. They had to be kept alive, as they knew how to herd sheep, and none of the Egyptians did, but God's promise of fertility might be held back through hard labor building cities.
I think it beautiful how God remained faithful to His promise of increase even through Pharaoh's stronger and stronger barriers. Through the faithfulness of two midwives who "fear God", who put Him above all else and strive never to offend Him or disobey Him, nonviolent resistance to tyranny kept some precious Hebrew baby boys alive. The beautiful work of the two midwives is carried on today by doctors and pharmacists who follow their consciences and refuse to perform abortions or give contraception out of honest "fear of God." It's carried on today by pro-life advocates who insist that women, particularly the vulnerable and preyed-upon urban poor African American women, should be given the truth about the "choice" they make. It is through people like this whose integrity matters to them that God's promise can be realized. "Lying for the Lord" is a sin, but God sees the heart, and a healthy conscience and integrity are still worthy of reward and praise.
The Israelite people who emerge from this slavery are toughened, tested, and prepared by God for the road back to the Promised Land. No matter what Pharaoh tries to do to negate their blessings, God continues to use his actions to bless them further. That's how I want to be...so sure of the Lord's promises that even my sufferings become blessings.
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