Lesson 1 Oppression: The Background and Birth of Moses
Lesson 1 Oppression: The Background and Birth of Moses
(Exodus 1-2)
Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
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Introduction: We recently studied the story of Ruth and
Naomi. Naomi left Judah because of a famine and moved to
Moab where her son married Ruth. The book of Exodus begins
with a similar story. Jacob and his family move to Egypt
because of a famine in their land, the land which God had
promised to Abraham and his descendants. They moved because
there was food in Egypt, and this food was the result of God
blessing Joseph, Jacob's son. (See Genesis 41.) The
questions are, "Why did they stay in Egypt?" After the
famine was over, "Why not return to the land promised to
them by God?" As we will see, staying turned out to be a
terrible mistake that plunged generations into slavery.
Let's dive into our study of Exodus and learn more!
I. The Move
A. Read Exodus 1:1-5. How large was Jacob's family
that moved to Egypt? (Seventy.)
B. Read Exodus 1:6. Why is Joseph mentioned so
prominently? (If you read Genesis chapters 41
through 50 you learn that Joseph, through his
close connection to God, saved the Egyptians from
the famine. As a result, he was elevated to be the
second most powerful person in Egypt.)
1. Was it the association with a powerful man
that kept Jacob's descendants in Egypt?
C. Read Exodus 1:7. What does this suggest was a
reason for staying in Egypt? (They were
prospering. They were making money.)
II. The Mistake
A. Read Exodus 1:8-10. How serious a problem was it
for Egypt to have Jacob's descendants living in
their land? (They had the potential to overwhelm
the Egyptian land and culture. They were "too many
and too mighty [for the Egyptians].")
1. How do you understand the phrase "and escape
from the land?" Didn't the Egyptians want the
people of Israel to leave? (This shows their
conflicted ideas. They were afraid of the
number of the Israelites, but they needed
their labors. They were shepherds, so they
were undoubtedly raising food for Egypt.)
B. Read Exodus 1:11-13. How do the Egyptians "deal
shrewdly" (verse 10) with the Israelites? (They
make them slaves.)
1. If these were God's people, why didn't God
reveal the danger to them and encourage them
to move back to the land promised to Abraham?
C. Read Genesis 37:25-28. Joseph's brothers sold him
into slavery. Is the slavery of the descendants of
the brothers payback? Is that why there is no
record of God trying to avoid their future
Egyptian slavery? (The United States was one of
many nations that made Africans slaves. The result
of that slavery was that between 620,000 and
750,000 Americans died in the war between the
states to end slavery. It was the greatest loss of
life for Americans in any war that they have
fought. This could be seen as one form of payback
for allowing slavery.)
III. The Evil
A. Read Exodus 1:15-16. What additional evil did
Pharaoh implement to limit the power of the
Israelites? (He instructed the leaders of the
Hebrew midwives to kill the baby if it was a boy.)
1. Is this a theme that we see repeated later in
history? (Germany sought to exterminate Jews.
Even in modern times, Margaret Sanger is a
hero to those who believe in eugenics, the
idea that we should promote the abortion of
"inferior" people. This reflects the views of
Pharaoh.)
B. Read Exodus 1:17-21. Are the midwives lying to
Pharaoh? (Their story to Pharaoh conflicts with
the statement in verse 17 that they did not do as
Pharaoh commanded.)
1. God rewards the midwives. Why? (They protected
the lives of the baby boys.)
C. Read Exodus 1:22. What is Pharaoh's next plan to
rid Egypt of the unwanted Hebrew boys?
IV. Moses
A. Read Exodus 2:1-3. Is this consistent with Pharaoh
commanding that Hebrew baby boys "shall be cast
into the Nile?" See Exodus 1:22.
1. Notice that this baby boy was a Levite. Is
there significance in that? (We will discuss
this later.)
B. Read Exodus 2:4-6. Is this the reaction you would
expect of the daughter of the man who ordered the
killing of Hebrew baby boys?
C. Read Exodus 2:7-8. Whose idea is it for Pharaoh's
daughter to adopt Moses?
D. Read Exodus 2:9-10. Whose son is Moses? (He is now
the grandson of Pharaoh!)
1. Notice that Moses' biological mother raised
him until "he grew older." How long do you
think this was? (Read Hebrews 11:24. This
tells us that when Moses "was grown up" he
refused to be called "the son of Pharaoh's
daughter." This reveals that Moses was with
his birth parents a long time, so long that he
identified with them and not with his adopted
mother.)
2. Consider how this would play out in Pharaoh's
court. Do you think the daughter revealed that
she rescued a Hebrew baby boy? Is this the
kind of rebellion you expect of young
daughters?
a. Does the Hebrews 11:24 text reveal that
Moses was also a rebel in the royal
court?
b. What has Pharaoh decided about this?
(Because Moses lived, we know he accepted
Moses to at least some degree.)
E. Read Exodus 6:20. This not only tells us the names
of Moses' birth parents, but it also tells us that
Aaron is his brother. How did Amram and Jochebed
manage to save Aaron from being killed? (He must
have been born before the death decree.)
F. Read Exodus 28:1-3. Recall that I earlier asked if
being born a Levite had any significance. What
does this tell us? (Aaron and his sons became the
priests of Israel.)
G. Let's step back a moment and discuss this. Has God
intervened to save Moses' life?
1. Has God intervened to make Moses the grandson
of Pharaoh?
2. What do you think is God's goal for Moses? (I
think God intended for him to become Pharaoh
and free God's people from Egyptian slavery.
The plan seems obvious.)
V. Another Mistake?
A. Read Exodus 2:11. What kind of training do you
think Moses received as he was growing up?
1. Would it be training that would aid him in
leading his people back to the land promised
to Abraham?
B. Read Exodus 2:12. Did Moses think what he was
doing was wrong? (Yes! He wanted to be sure no one
saw the killing. He buried the evidence.)
1. Moses was an important man. Could he have had
the Egyptian arrested? Could he have
threatened the Egyptian?
C. Read Exodus 2:13-14. Why is Moses involving
himself in this dispute? What does this tell us
about his personality?
D. Read Proverbs 26:17. What does this teach us about
meddling in a dispute that is not ours?
1. How do you think Moses got as old as he was
without previously intervening on behalf of
his people against Egyptian abuse?
E. Read Exodus 2:15. Why would Pharaoh decide to kill
his own grandson over a problem with one of his
Egyptian slave masters? (This must reflect either
a long-standing concern over the adoption of a
Hebrew or what I think was likely, Moses had
become unreliable when it came to the issue of the
Hebrews.)
1. Do you think Moses should have killed the
Egyptian? (It if were defensible, then Moses
would not have tried to hide the killing.)
2. Has Moses made a horrible mistake that not
only alters the course of his life, but
thwarts God's plan to have him assume
authority and work within the system to free
the Hebrews?
F. Read Genesis 50:14. Commentaries say the trip back
to Canaan was about 300 miles (480 kilometers).
Remember that Joseph's brothers had made this trip
at least two times to purchase grain. Imagine if
Moses became Pharaoh and made an arraignment for
the Hebrews to return to the land promised to
Abraham. Would that be the best way to return?
1. Do you think the Hebrews would have willingly
gone if they had not been enslaved?
G. Read Exodus 2:23-25. Why now? Have the people not
previously asked God to rescue them?
H. Friend, I see mistakes made by God's people and
Moses. I may be wrong, but if I'm not wrong, can
you see how they have made their lives much worse?
Will you pray that God will direct the steps of
your life so that your life will be better?
VI. Next week: The Burning Bush.