Exodus 1 — Sketch

A Threat to Power

Big Idea:

• Jacob’s descendants thrive in Egypt.

• A new Pharaoh comes to power who doesn’t know about Joseph.

• Afraid of being overpowered by the Israelites, this new Pharaoh enslaves them.

• But the more Egypt oppresses the Israelites, the more their numbers grow.

• Pharaoh instructs the Hebrew midwives — Shiphrah and Puah — to kill all the newborn Hebrew boys.

• The Midwives don’t do it. Instead, they tell Pharaoh that the Hebrew women are so strong that the boys are already born before the midwives arrive.

• Israel continues to grow.

• Pharaoh orders the Egyptians to kill all the Hebrew baby boys by throwing them into the Nile.

Jesus in This Chapter:

• Pharaoh orders the death of all the male babies. Later, King Herod will make a similar order when Jesus is born.

• The enslavement of Israel in Egypt can be seen as a symbol for our enslavement to sin and death — before the work of Jesus on the Cross. When we read about how God deals with Egypt and Israel in this book, we should think of how God deals with the sin in our own lives.

(Originally drawn September 6, 2010)