Exodus 1:8-14

"Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard service in the field, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field of their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor."

"A new king ... who knew not Joseph ..." The time at which this unhappy event took place is not given. We do not know whether or not the new king was of a different dynasty, or if he was merely some successor to the throne who did not regard the history or obligations of previous rulers. In any event, the accession of this unnamed ruler meant the end of all privileges for the Jews. Even their lands and their liberties were taken away, and they were reduced to slavery and pressed into service as forced-labor battalions employed in the ambitious building projects of a tyrannical and unscrupulous monarch. From the human viewpoint, Israel was doomed, their situation being absolutely hopeless.

"The children of Israel are more and mightier than we ..." This statement of Pharaoh confirms the fact of the numerical strength of Israel. Egypt at that time could hardly have had any less than two or three million citizens. Therefore, the figure of over 600,000 fighting men (Numbers 2:32), indicating a population in excess of 2,000,000, is perfectly reasonable in the light of what Pharaoh said here.

"Let us deal wisely with them ..." Pharaoh did not fear an armed uprising of Israel, for they were without weapons or military experience, but he did fear the fact that any invader would not fail to seek the aid of so vast a population of slaves who by this time already detested and hated the Egyptians. Thus, it was no imaginary danger that Pharaoh saw, but it was a danger that his own evil policies had caused and aggravated.

The word "wisely" here means "shrewdly," and in context it also identifies the contemplated action as wicked. The purpose of Pharaoh was that of cutting down on the fantastic growth of the Israelites, also that of breaking them in spirit, and producing in them a mind-set that would have made their escape impossible. However, in this action against God's people, Pharaoh positioned himself as an antagonist of Almighty God, making Pharaoh a type of Satan himself for all time to come! In this verse, Pharaoh "enters into conflict with the God of Israel,[5] whose purpose was to bring Israel up "out of the land," whereas the purpose of Pharaoh was that of preventing them from escaping "out of the land" (Exodus 1:10).

"To afflict them with their burdens ..." The very purpose of compelling the Israelites to "serve with rigor" (Exodus 1:14) was that of reducing their numbers. There can be no doubt that the kind of service they were forced into would have resulted in the death of many. Paintings from the tomb of Rekhmire at Thebes, 15th century B.C., show: "The full meaning of the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt ... back-breaking tasks performed in the field and construction work ... by forced labor."[6]

The significant thing about the paintings is that they show the Israelites working practically naked, clad only with small loin cloths; and when this is considered in the light of the daily temperature outdoors at certain seasons of more than 130 degrees it must be considered a marvel that they survived at all.

"They built ... store-cities Pithom and Raamses ..." It is upon this reference that many scholars base their principal arguments favoring a 13th century B.C. date for the Exodus, as opposed to the earlier date about the end of 15th century B.C. (For a fuller discussion of the date of the Exodus, see the introduction.) All Bible students should keep in mind the uncertainty of all dates assigned to Biblical books. There is a lot of guessing connected with dating most of the books of the Bible. As Robinson stated it with regard even to the books of the N.T.:

"The consensus of textbooks which inform the student within fairly agreed limits when any given book of the N.T. was written rests upon much slighter foundation than he probably supposes."[7]

What is true of the N.T. is doubly true with regard to the O.T. Despite the difficulties (and there are difficulties), we prefer a date for the Exodus of about 1440 B.C., as advocated by Unger,[8] and as brilliantly defended (and, as far as we are concerned, proved) by Archer who accepted approximately the same date, 1445 B.C.[9] For us, the insurmountable objection to the 13th-century date is that it requires setting aside a number of Scriptural passages, namely, 1 Kings 6:1ff; Acts 13:19,20; and Judges 11:26. It is characteristic of many who advocate the later date that they do not hesitate to contradict the Bible and arrogantly set aside texts from the Holy Bible, calling them "forgeries," and declaring them to be "untrustworthy,"[10] That type of exegesis is unacceptable.

It is only a gross ignorance which can deny Bible passages upon the basis of dates constructed from Egyptian history and founded upon the indefinite and uncertain "discoveries" of archaeology. "Egyptologists do not know under which dynasty, much less under which king, the Exodus took place."[12] As for ourselves, we accept 1 Kings 6:1ff as the Word of God, and from that, taking about 1000 B.C. as the date of Solomon's accession, we have an approximate date of about 1440 B.C. for the exodus.

"And they made their lives bitter ..." God's people, sooner or later, must reckon with the savage hatred of that whole portion of humanity who are not God's people. No matter how long the saints may dwell in peaceful coexistence with those who are of this world only, at last and finally the issue must be faced, and the inevitable result is stated here. "They made their lives bitter."

There was design in Pharaoh's oppression of Israel, his purpose having been, as is invariably the case with Satan and his followers, that of the extermination of Israel. The first phase of Pharaoh's oppression sought to break the spirit of Israel by forced labor under the greatest of hardships, and it was also thought that this would reduce their numbers. It failed. And then Pharaoh openly launched upon a course of genocide, ordering the murder of all the male children at the moment of their birth. Who can fail to see in that brutal edict the outcropping of the same satanic hatred that ordered the execution of all the male children of Bethlehem and vicinity who were two years and under in age (Matthew 2:16-18)?