The Book of Exodus – Chapters One and Two (Modern Reframe)
Chapter One: A New Pharaoh and the Oppression of Israel
After Joseph and his brothers died, their children—the sons of Jacob—remained in Egypt. They multiplied quickly, becoming a large and strong people spread throughout the land. Their presence was impossible to ignore.
In time, a new Pharaoh rose to power in Egypt, one who had no memory of Joseph or the enrichments he had brought to the nation. Looking at the sons of Jacob with suspicion, he said to his advisors:
“Look at them. The Israelites are too many and too powerful. If war breaks out, they might side with our enemies, fight against us, and escape from the land. We must act wisely before they become a threat.”
So the Egyptians enslaved the people of Israel. They forced them into harsh labor, building the store cities of Pithom and Raamses with sweat, tears, and broken bodies. But the more the sons of Jacob were oppressed, the more they multiplied. Fear spread through Egypt, and Pharaoh grew more ruthless.
He summoned the Eber (Hebrew/Ibri) midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, and gave them a cruel order:
“When you help the Ibri women give birth, if the child is a boy—kill him. If it is a girl, let her live.”
But the midwives feared the Almighty more than they feared Pharaoh. They refused to murder the children. When Pharaoh confronted them, demanding to know why the boys still lived, they replied, “The Ibri women are not like the Egyptian women. They give birth quickly, before we arrive.”
Pharaoh, though angry, let them go. And the Almighty enriched the midwives for their courage, giving them families of their own. Still, Pharaoh’s rage only grew. At last, he commanded all his people:
“Every Ibri son must be thrown into the Nile. Let every boy be drowned. Only the daughters may live.”
The Nile, once a river of life, became filled with death as Egyptian soldiers tore crying infants from their mothers’ arms and cast them into the water. The cries of the Ibri and Jacob rose to the heavens.
Chapter Two: The Birth of Moses
In those days, a Levite man took a Levite woman as his wife, and she gave birth to a son. Seeing that the child was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could no longer conceal him, she made a basket out of papyrus reeds, coating it with tar and pitch so it would float. She placed the baby inside and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
The child’s sister, Miriam, stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen.
Soon, Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe. When she noticed the basket among the reeds, she sent one of her attendants to fetch it. Opening the basket, she found the baby boy, weeping. Moved with compassion, she said, “This must be one of the Ibri children.”
At that moment, Miriam stepped forward with courage. “Shall I go and find an Ibri woman to nurse the child for you?” she asked.
“Yes, go,” Pharaoh’s daughter replied.
So Miriam brought the baby’s own mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay you for your work.” And so the boy was raised in safety by his own mother until he grew older, when she brought him back to the princess. Pharaoh’s daughter named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
Moses the Fugitive
When Moses grew into manhood, he went out to see the burdens of his people. He watched as an Egyptian struck an Ibri slave. Attempting to stop the Egyptian, the Egyptian attacked Moses, who looked around and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
The next day, Moses saw two Ibri men fighting. He tried to stop them, saying, “Why do you strike your brother?”
But the man sneered, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Fear gripped Moses. Word of the murder had spread. When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled Egypt and went to live in Midian, a stranger in a strange land.
Moses in Midian
One day, as Moses sat by a well, seven daughters of Reuel, the priest of Midian, came to draw water for their father’s flock. But shepherds drove them away. Moses stood up and defended them, driving off the shepherds, and then drew water for the women and their animals.
When they returned home early, their father asked, “How did you finish so quickly today?”
They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
“Where is he now?” Reuel asked. “Why did you leave him there? Invite him to come and eat with us.”
So Moses was welcomed into their home. Reuel gave him his daughter Zipporah as a wife, and in time she bore him a son. Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have been a foreigner in a strange land.”
The Cry of Israel
Meanwhile, back in Egypt, the king who sought Moses’ life had died. Yet the suffering of the house of Jacob only grew worse. Their cries under slavery rose to the heavens, and the Almighty heard them. He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He looked upon the children of Jacob, having respect for them for the sake of their forefathers.
And He knew.
BSM
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