SLAVERY

The new king of Egypt learned that the children of Israel were very important to his kingdom. Many of the Israelites were wise and skillful workmen. The king did not want to lose their skills and good work, so the King put the Israelites in the same class with the slaves who had sold their animals, their lands, and themselves to the kingdom.SRme 1.397

The Egyptians treated the Israelites as slaves. The Egyptians put supervisors over the Israelites to crush their spirits and make them work. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply centers for the king. But the more the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, the more they increased in number and the farther they spread through the land. The Egyptians came to fear the Israelites and made their lives miserable by forcing them into cruel slavery. They made them work on their building projects and in their fields, and they had no pity on them" (Ex. 1:11-14, TEV).SRme 1.398

The Egyptians also made the Israelite women work in the fields, as though they were slaves. But the numbers of Israelites increased. When the king and his rulers saw the Israelites continued to increase, they demanded that the Israelites finish a certain amount of work each day. The Egyptians thought they could reduce the number of Israelites by making them work hard, but the Egyptians became angry when the Israelites continued to increase in number and maintained an independent spirit.SRme 1.399

The Egyptians' plan did not work, so they decided to be more cruel. The king commanded that all Israelite boy babies should be killed as soon as they were born. Satan was behind this plan. He knew a deliverer was to be born among the Israelites to rescue them from slavery. Satan thought if he could get the king to destroy the male children, God's purpose would be defeated.SRme 1.400

The women who helped the Israelite women give birth to their babies feared God. They did not dare kill the boy babies as the king had ordered. Because the women did not obey the king and kill the babies, the Lord blessed them.SRme 1.401

When the king was told that his command was not being obeyed, he became very angry. He then commanded that all his people watch closely and "'Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live'" (Ex. 1:22).SRme 1.402