February 23, 2025 - God's Sovereignty and Satan's Strategy (Exodus 1:13-22)

God's Sovereignty and Satan's Strategy (Exodus 1:13-22)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. 15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?” 19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.” 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them. 22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Introduction

In 1859, there were three famous books that were published. The first book was the book written by Charles Darwin, “Origin of Species.” You probably know very well that Darwin published that humans were made from evolution by monkeys not from Adam and Eve. Many people were inspired by this and people were saying that we should live like animals! The next book was by Karl Marx titled, “A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy.” Marx wrote that there is a problem with capitalism. He was saying that all people can become one nation and was promoting communism. The third book was written by Samuel Smiles which was a self help book and the book was about how the heavens help those who help themselves. The main content of this book was about how we should live focused on ourselves and we should not rely on God. These three books had immense influence on people and this world, and caused people to stray further from God. Ever since the existence of Satan, he has tried to destroy mankind and his plan is still devising to destroy mankind. We should not be deceived by Satan’s strategy and we should be victorious while holding onto God’s covenant. Last week we spoke about God's plan behind all of our sufferings and problems. If you look at today’s sermon, there is a great plan of God for us. During this time of the Biblical passage, Pharaoh at that time was a very powerful king. Egypt was a very powerful nation and every time he would go to war, he would always win and conquer many nations. When you are conquering nations and going to wars all the time, you are not able to take care of everything from economy to agriculture so the pharaoh decided to utilize the Hebrews as slaves. 

1. The Suffering of the Hebrews

1) Pharaoh's Persecution

Verses 13-14 - The Egyptians and the pharaoh would use Hebrews as slaves and made them work rigorously. The Hebrews were so oppressed and worked so much as slaves that their lives basically became nothing. Not only that but they would make the Hebrews’ lives bitter. They would give them severe mental stress. They would make them overwork and be treated like animals. They were not treated like humans but they were treated like cattle doing cattle work. These Hebrews were known as the chosen people of God but they worked like dogs and they were suffering immensely. 

God said in Exodus 3:7 “And the Lord said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.’ ” - When God saw the Israelites, He knew how much suffering and oppression they were receiving from the Egyptians. God knew, heard, and saw all of this. This was not the work of the Egyptians and human beings but this oppression and persecution came from Satan. Satan was using Pharaoh to oppress and persecute the Israelites, the people of God. What Satan was doing was to block the plan of God. Satan knew that the Israelites were going to come out of Egypt eventually so that is why Satan was trying to block God’s plan no matter what. Satan knew that Moses was going to be born and through the blood of the young lamb the Israelites will be freed. Satan was trying to block all of this. 

2) Satan's Strategy

Verses 16, 22 - Satan tried to block Moses from being born so he used Pharaoh to try to kill all male Hebrews. This was the same strategy that Satan used in the past and he will try this again in the future. Look at right now, Satan is always trying to kill and destroy the children and our young remnants. He wants to destroy the future generation. Satan even uses parents to destroy children. Satan uses the strategy of Genesis 3 and tries to make the parents think that they are god. Your parents try to raise their children to live for their own greed and success. This is Genesis 3, 6, and 11. Worship is not important, success is more important. This is what parents are teaching their children. The parents are killing their children and future generations. Satan will use culture to destroy children. He will use media, art, and music to destroy children. When you look at people and children of this age, you see many people corrupting their bodies with tattoos. They would tattoo Satan and say that they are children of the devil. Also, many people are dying due to their addiction to drugs, gambling, and games. Satan’s goal is to destroy children. 

Verse 22 - Pharaoh commanded that all Hebrews male babies be thrown into the river. But when Pharaoh commanded this, Moses was born at that time. Even despite Satan’s strategy, God protected Moses and fulfilled His plan. We can see God’s great plan and providence here. 

2. God's Providence

1) God uses the midwives

Verses 17-19 - Even though many Israelites and Hebrews were in the midst of suffering and hardships, God randomly mentioned Shiphrah and Puah. These midwives were so important that God recorded their nations in the Bible. Shiphrah means beautiful and Puah means the one who cries out. Pharaoh commanded the midwives to kill Hebrews male babies. But surprisingly, God recorded the faith of the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. This was an amazing message. Many people fear powerful figures and the world but these midwives feared God more. How could they have these kinds of faith? The midwives didn’t fear Pharaoh who could kill them but they feared God more. What do you think about this? Do you fear God more or Pharaoh more? Do you fear the world more or God more? This was a great faith of the midwives. These midwives truly knew who God was and had great faith. 

But Pharaoh says in verse 18 - It says “called” but actually Pharaoh was furious. The pharaoh was furious towards the midwives and asked why Hebrew male babies were spared? 

Verse 19 - There are people like that where they give birth really fast but you can’t say that all women give birth fast. But they were trying to give the Pharaoh an excuse that Hebrew women give birth fast and the Hebrew male babies were all gone by the time they got there to deliver the babies. But you can see that pharaoh did not kill the midwives when they gave this response. Why was that? It is because God is in charge of death and life. God was controlling Pharaoh and the midwives’ lives were in God’s hands. 

2) God blesses the midwives

Verse 20 - You can see that God protected the midwives and gave His grace upon them. Pharaoh couldn’t lay his hands on the midwives even though they were going against his command. How was that possible? It says that Hebrews multiplied and grew very mighty. The midwives made sure to make the Hebrew male babies make it out alive. The nation of Israel was getting stronger and stronger. This means that if you are in the covenant of God, nothing is a problem for you. No matter how evil a king or a ruler is, it doesn’t matter because God’s plan will be fulfilled no matter what. It doesn’t end there.

Verse 21 - God blessed Shiphrah and Puah immensely. Pharaoh couldn’t kill the midwives and God blessed them more. The midwives back then didn’t get married and usually couldn’t bear children but God blessed the midwives and provided them with households. This means that God granted them families and blessed them with children. This was a great blessing. These midwives staked their lives to fulfill God’s covenant and God blessed them immensely as a result. God’s covenant will be fulfilled. 

Verse 22 - Pharaoh commands all people that even if they are born and all Hebrew male babies you see, throw them into the river. Do you think Pharaoh’s tactic was successful? After 80 years and after Moses sent time in the wilderness, there were about 600 Hebrew males during Moses’ time. This means that God will protect His people for the sake of His covenant. We must hold onto something here. After Pharaoh’s command, we can see in Exodus 2, we can see the birth of Moses. Why was the transition from the midwives to Moses important? We can see that the midwives staked their lives to fulfill God’s covenant and there were people who were able to testify their great faith? It was Moses’ mother, Jochebed and Moses’ father. I am not sure if Shiphrah and Puah ever met Jochebed but what we can see is that God protects and blesses those who keep His covenant. 

Hold onto Psalm 25:12-13 “Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. 13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth.” - Hold onto this covenant. Those who fear God, you can go towards the way that God teaches and chooses. And you will live a life of peace and prosperity. Your children will inherit the land and earth. This was the life that the midwives lived. Moses’ parents were able to witness their faith and received the same blessings. May this same blessing come upon you. God will fulfill His covenant through us no matter what. If we live and if we die, we should live and die for God, and if we live like this, then God will bless us tremendously. This is because God’s covenant will be fulfilled. Hold onto God’s covenant.

3. The Covenant Must Be Fulfilled

1) When you are aligned with the covenant

Acts 13:3 “Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.” - If we hold onto the covenant and receive the Holy Spirit, we can see great works arising in our lives. We are powerless so we must receive the power of the heavenly throne. This is why God called you. To fulfill His covenant through you. 

2) When your plans are aligned with God's plan

Acts 16:10 “Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.” - God is giving us direction and telling us to hold onto His covenant. If God’s direction becomes your plan, then you will be victorious. Pray for Bible studies and blessings of meetings to open for you. Pray for Biblical evangelism movement to arise in your life. Then, great blessings will come upon your life. 

3) When your life is aligned with God

Acts 19:21 “When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’ ” - God’s goal of world evangelism needs to become our life. When God’s goal becomes your life, then you can stand before kings. 

Conclusion  

Hold onto Acts 27:24 “Saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ” -  If you are in God’s covenant, there is nothing for you to fear. There is nothing for you to fear. God said not to fear. Through God’s covenant, God will work and will be with you. May you receive great answers in the name of Jesus Christ.