Day 3

Scripture to Read: Exodus 1:15–21

The nation of Israel continued to multiply numerically, and the king of Egypt feared their numbers and potential power against him and his people. The king of Egypt came up with a plan to stop the nation of Israel from continuing to grow numerically. We read in Exodus 1:15–16, “Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; 16 and he said, 'When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.’” Pharaoh wanted every male child killed. The Good News is this, in Exodus 1:17, “But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.” Fearing God and honoring Him always takes precedence over following any earthly king. Many people struggle with the fact that in Exodus 1:19 the midwives lied to Pharaoh when he confronted them about why they let the boys live. The midwives had a greater obligation to protect the babies because God is clear that we shall not murder. In ethics, this is called “graded absolutism,” which means that when we are in a conflict, we have the greatest obligation to obey God’s command. Therefore, we are exempted from obeying the lesser command of an earthly authority. Also, we see in Exodus 1:20–21 that God blessed the midwives for their obedience to Him.

Challenge & Application

· What did God teach you today that has helped you understand that He and His Word are our greatest authority? · How are you choosing to obey God and His Word daily, and how is God growing you in Him because of your obedience?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

God had Moses end the book of Genesis with Joseph’s death at 110. God had Moses open Exodus 1 with a reminder of all of the sons of Israel (Jacob). Remember that Joseph had been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers when Joseph was just 17 years old. At age 30, Joseph had been made second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, as Joseph oversaw the ga...

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Day 2

In Exodus 1:8–14, we find that after Joseph and his brothers died, a new king came into power in Egypt and this king did not know Joseph. This new king was concerned about making sure the Israelites did not join another nation and wage war against Egypt. So, the new king put in place taskmasters over the Israelites and forced them into hard l...

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Day 3

The nation of Israel continued to multiply numerically, and the king of Egypt feared their numbers and potential power against him and his people. The king of Egypt came up with a plan to stop the nation of Israel from continuing to grow numerically. We read in Exodus 1:15–16, “Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ...

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Day 4

We ended Exodus 1 in yesterday’s devotion, but we did not get to touch on Exodus 1:22. We read this, “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ‘Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.’” We can see from this passage the hardness of Pharaoh's heart and that he wanted the Hebrew baby b...

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Day 5

Today, we examine Exodus 2:1–10 as God had Moses write about his parents and how they protected him from being murdered by the Egyptians. When God led Moses’s mother to put Moses in the wicker basket, she trusted that God would take care of her child, but she had no idea how God would work. God calls us to trust Him, even when the situation s...

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Day 6

Moses grew up in Egypt and was raised by “Pharaoh’s daughter who took him away and nurtured him as her own son” (Acts 7:21). We also read in Acts 7:22–23, “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. 23 But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his bre...

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Day 7

We read Exodus 2:15–25 today, and as we begin, we see that after Pharaoh found out about Moses killing one of the Egyptians, Pharaoh tried to kill Moses. Therefore, Moses fled to the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. The daughters of the priest of Midian came to that well to water their father’s flocks, as they had done several times...

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