When people want to exploit, expel or expunge us...
The "ex"-words in the title describe the core attitudes of oppressors.They:
- exploit those they are threatened by.
- do what they can to expel them from their lives
- but, ultimately, they prefer to expunge (destroy without a trace) them so that they don't come back.
The sad thing is that, in almost all cases, oppression starts by ignorance. The new Pharaoh did not know about Joseph. Joseph had rescued Egypt and his family had been embraced by Egypt. But more importantly Pharaoh did not know about Joseph's God! If he had taken the time to find about about Joseph, he would have known that the destiny of Joseph's descendants was in Palestine and he would know that Almighty God had made incredible promises to Joseph's people. Pharoah's ignorance meant that he had to go to an expensive school which consisted of ten powerful plague lessons. Sadly even this was not enough.
Today bullies and oppressors are still motivated by the same ignorance. Strangely enough, they will often study their victims for weakness, but still not see the bigger picture. Their ignorance leads to fear and fear leads to senseless violence.
Before we point fingers at other bullies we would do well to examine ourselves. Are there people in our lives who we want to exploit or to expel or expunge? When we look carefully I am sure that we will see ignorance and fear in our hearts...
So, for society to flourish, we need to diminish ignorance and fear.
But what is there in today's passage to exult in and to exalt God for?
The answer is in v.12: "But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread."
God is with the oppressed. He blesses them in spite of their oppression. In the case of Israel their multiplication and fruitfulness were expressed in population growth, but I believe that this multiplication can occur in productivity, ability, talent, impact and influence. When we find ourselves oppressed God will be at work to multiply and grow us.
| Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country." So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labour in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labour the Egyptians used them ruthlessly. (Exodus1:8-14) |
