After the death of Joseph, the family of Jacob multiplied miraculously. The climate of Egypt, the fertility of the land, the natural virility of the Hebrews, and the blessing of God together resulted in an extraordinary growth in population. The Hebrews held important roles in the political and economic life of the nation. And this caused the jealousy of the native Egyptians to rise against them.
So, when the Pharaoh that knew Joseph passed away and a new one replaced him. The contribution made by Joseph to the welfare of the people was forgotten, primarily because he was not Egyptian. The new Pharaoh had no respect for the children of Israel (Exodus 1:8-10).
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Hebrew Enslavement
The new Pharaoh undoubtedly conferring with his ministers and counselors took severe measures to eliminate the increasing influence and population of the Hebrews. So, he decided to enslave the Hebrews and subjugate them before they grew too powerful that they could not control.
The Pharaoh had a shrewd political plan to avoid the danger of revolution and the possibility that the Israelites might make common cause with his enemies, the Hyksos, and then leave Egypt. It perhaps was not so much the defeat of his kingdom which he feared as an alliance with his foes.
Among the Hebrews were many skilled workmen, and Pharaoh therefore planned to keep them as slaves that he might use them on his different construction developments. So, Pharaoh minimized the freedom of the Hebrews, put heavy taxes on them, and enlisted their men into compulsory labor under the supervision of cruel taskmasters.
“Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses“ (Exodus 1:11). Thus, the Israelites had to build cities, Egyptian shrines, work in the excavations, and hew stones or make bricks and tiles. But the more the Egyptians burdened them, the more the children of Israel increased and multiplied. “And they were in dread of the children of Israel“ (verse 12).
The Decree to Kill Hebrew Male Babies
Pharaoh’s initial plan did not achieve its purpose. The Hebrews increased in numbers equal to the degree of oppression, and the Egyptians were naturally intimidated at such extraordinary growth. It became apparent that persecution and trials could not stop the purpose of God, and actions intended to destroy His people proved to be a source of greater strength.
Finally, when the king realized that forcing the Hebrews to do hard labor did not prosper in defeating their swift growing numbers, he commanded that all newly born male infants of the Hebrews to be thrown into the Nile River. From cruel oppression, the Pharaoh went to open murder. Only female babies were allowed to live (Exodus 1:15-22). In this manner, the Egyptian Emperor thought he would put an end to the increase of the Hebrew population.
God’s Judgement on Pharaoh
But pharaoh’s plan again didn’t work. For the Lord heard the cry of the Hebrews and sent Moses, His prophet, to deliver the Hebrews from the land of Egypt saying: “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments” (Exodus 6:6). The Lord sent ten plagues upon the land of Egypt and its leader. The plagues were not merely “wonders” or “signs” in the ordinary sense, but also punishments inflicted on a proud and cruel nation by a divine Judge.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
by the way, there are lots of people who live in other communities in the world, who at one point in their lives, maybe for inconceivable amounts of time, were in the jewish community and experiencing abuse. people dont want to discuss this. but its true. there were german children being kidnapped before the rise of the nazis. by the jewish community. cannibalism happened. sxl abuse happened. countries dont want to discuss this. between 1929 and 1939, the jewish community in germany who on a somewhat general level had been peaceful for hundreds of years, took the opportunity of economic collapse after the german stock market crash in 1929, to, as a whole community (even jewish children were involved) to attack german families all over germany) as in there was a war between the jewish community of germany and regular germans in germany. streetfights. kidnapping attempts. germany doesnt discuss this, but thats what happened. for almost a decade. not all history is documented. humanity is not 200,000 years or the result of some kind of evolution. it goes back beyond hundreds of quillions of years. a very long, painful time. before the invention of agriculture in i guess 4,000 bc (probably 12,000 bc in egypt, but not occuring really anywhre else for thousands of years) there was no food. no seeds. no raising livestock (and again, raising animals on farms and slaughtering some doesnt involve harm to any animals, theres some biotechnology stuff going on where large groups of animals consume thousands of tons of food a year leading to dramatic increases in energy levels in these animals and a small “excess” amount of that energy is converted thru nifty technology into another form of an animal which can be slaughtered. but that animal is not a conscious lifeform, its a combination of excess energy from the real animals.) before agriculture and livestock, for beyond quillions of years of humanity existing in cold dark space (the earth was created by God – sunlight giving energy, water giving energy, seeds getting energy from sun and water and nutrients in soil and a small contribution from human energy in farming) FOR QUILLIONS OF YEARS BEFORE AGRICULTURE AND RAISING LIVESTOCK WAS INVENTED – PEOPLE ENGAGED IN CANNIBALISM, OR WERE BEING EATEN BY MASSIVE GROUPS OF SNAKES, RATS, APES, MONKEYS, PARTICULARLY WHITE PEOPLE. PARTICULARLY BABIES. AND CHILDREN. AND EXPERIENCED VARIOUS TECHNIQUE TO DRAIN THEIR ENERGY, EVEN THEIR SOULS WERE CONSUMED. AND TRADED. until about 4,000 years ago, thru the intervention of YHWH. most of this has been reversed over the last several thousand years. YHWH is the savior of humanity, he defeater of evil, all evil (evil dominated for well beyond quillions of hundreds of quillions of years) and YHWH will rule, manage you could say, forever. very powerful, the most high divine being ever. a few thousand years to reverse all that horror going back like forever? very good job. go to a catholic church. receive the communion bread. make an appointment to see a priest. if your parents never got you baptized or took you to church, go yourself.