Exo 1:13 | KingComments | STEP | For the king of Egypt, this fast-growing people is a threat. He calls on his people to act “wisely” against the Israelites. This is the imagination of the world, which believes it is wise to define a strategy to nip impending danger in the bud. Pharaoh thinks that by affliction he can keep his grip on them. He starts by afflicting the adults and makes them slaves. Later on he attacks the children. Egypt is beginning to become the “smoking oven” of Abraham’s vision ( ; cf. ). But God begins to fulfill the promise He made in the same vision of Abraham. Man, who is subject to satan in slavery helps to build his kingdom, whether he is aware of it or not. He is dragged further and further along, deeper and deeper into satan’s realm. If someone hangs onto money, every additional dollar that he gets is an extra link in the chain around his neck. The love of money increases with the increase of money. Someone who wants to free himself from sin is increasingly caught in the grip of sin. That is the experience of the person in Romans 7, who is becoming increasingly desperate. Until he exclaims: “Wretched man that I am!” ( ). Then salvation is near. In what happened to Israel in Egypt, we see a picture of this. Pharaoh’s ‘wise’ actions do not have the effect intended by him. Quite the contrary, because the harder the affliction gets, the more the people expand. God works on His plan, using the evil plan of Pharaoh. It is not Pharaoh who has the power, but God. That God has the power is not yet visible, for the Egyptians made the lives of the Israelites “bitter with hard labor”. But faith looks beyond it to God and that He will eventually be glorified.

‏ Exodus 1:13

The Israelites Afflicted

For the king of Egypt, this fast-growing people is a threat. He calls on his people to act “wisely” against the Israelites. This is the imagination of the world, which believes it is wise to define a strategy to nip impending danger in the bud. Pharaoh thinks that by affliction he can keep his grip on them. He starts by afflicting the adults and makes them slaves. Later on he attacks the children. Egypt is beginning to become the “smoking oven” of Abraham’s vision (Gen 15:12-21; cf. Deu 4:20). But God begins to fulfill the promise He made in the same vision of Abraham.

Man, who is subject to satan in slavery helps to build his kingdom, whether he is aware of it or not. He is dragged further and further along, deeper and deeper into satan’s realm. If someone hangs onto money, every additional dollar that he gets is an extra link in the chain around his neck. The love of money increases with the increase of money.

Someone who wants to free himself from sin is increasingly caught in the grip of sin. That is the experience of the person in Romans 7, who is becoming increasingly desperate. Until he exclaims: “Wretched man that I am!” (Rom 7:24). Then salvation is near. In what happened to Israel in Egypt, we see a picture of this.

Pharaoh’s ‘wise’ actions do not have the effect intended by him. Quite the contrary, because the harder the affliction gets, the more the people expand. God works on His plan, using the evil plan of Pharaoh. It is not Pharaoh who has the power, but God. That God has the power is not yet visible, for the Egyptians made the lives of the Israelites “bitter with hard labor”. But faith looks beyond it to God and that He will eventually be glorified.