One-Year Bible Reading Plan  : Seekers & New Believers |  October 10 | Exodus Chapter 1: A New King, Afflicted Yet Multiplying, Courageous Midwives, and God's Blessing 

🦌 Opening Today’s Reading 

Dear brothers, sisters, and friends, peace be with you in the Lord!

Welcome to Day 23 of our Old Testament journey! Today, we bid farewell to Genesis and officially begin the second magnificent book of the Bible—Exodus!

If Genesis closed with a family enjoying royal honor and abundance in Egypt, Exodus opens in a dark valley of national oppression. Four centuries have passed, and the descendants of Israel, once honored guests, are now brutalized as slaves under a new Egyptian dynasty.

Yet amid this suffocating darkness, God is not silent. Two seemingly obscure midwives—Shiphrah and Puah—fear God rather than Pharaoh, courageously defying the king's royal decree to save newborn Hebrew boys.

This chapter sets up the ultimate clash between worldly tyranny and divine providence, launching the grand epic of God's redemption.

Let us enter Exodus Chapter 1 with expectant hearts.

📖 Context Snapshot : The Valley of Suffering, God-Fearing Women, and Divine Preservation  

1. What Happened Before: A Four-Century Historical Shift

Before reading Chapter 1, let us connect back to the end of Genesis. Jacob's family of seventy migrated to Egypt under Joseph's protection, settling in the fertile region of Goshen. Over four hundred years, that small family multiplied into a vast and mighty nation—fulfilling God's promise to Abraham ("I will make thy seed exceedingly fruitful").

However, political winds in Egypt shifted dramatically. As God foretold to Abraham in Genesis 15 ("Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years"), the prophesied season of trial arrived.

2. Today's Drama: Escalating Tyranny and the Courage of Midwives

As a new page of history turned, a new king ascended the Egyptian throne who remembered nothing of Joseph’s legendary salvation of the realm. Looking out over the land of Goshen, his eyes saw only the rapidly growing, vibrant multitude of Israelites. A deep suspicion and dread began to consume him, as he feared that if war ever broke out, this formidable foreign population would side with Egypt's enemies and march right out of the land. Driven by this anxiety, Pharaoh resolved to wield the full force of earthly power to suppress the rising nation.

He began with ruthless brute force, subjecting the Israelites to cruel enslavement. Harsh taskmasters were appointed over them, laying crushing burdens on their backs as they were forced to build the store-cities of Pithom and Raamses under the scorching sun. Yet history took an astounding turn right there: the harder Pharaoh pressed them down, the more resiliently the people of God multiplied and spread across the land, striking fear and frustration into the hearts of their Egyptian oppressors.

When forced labor failed to break their spirit, Pharaoh turned his malice toward a darker, quieter strategy. He summoned two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, and handed them a bloody secret decree: whenever they delivered a Hebrew baby, they were to quietly kill the child if it was a boy, leaving only the girls alive. Pharaoh assumed these humble women would tremble and obey before his throne, but he severely underestimated the power of faith. These women held a higher reverence in their hearts; risking their own lives, they disobeyed the king's command and secretly preserved the life of every newborn boy.

When a furious Pharaoh discovered that baby boys were still thriving and demanded an explanation, the midwives answered with remarkable wisdom, explaining that Hebrew women were far more vigorous than Egyptian women and gave birth before a midwife could even arrive. Because they guarded life and honored the Lord, God showed great mercy to these midwives and established households for them. Seeing his secret plot foiled, a desperate Pharaoh cast off all restraint and issued a public edict of genocide to his entire empire: every newborn Hebrew boy was to be cast into the Nile River to drown, while only the girls were allowed to live. Across that shadowed land, the darkness seemed complete, yet right at this darkest hour, God's hidden plan of deliverance was quietly springing to life.

💡 Questions to keep in mind while reading today:

• Afflicted Yet Multiplying: Why did persecution fail to destroy God's people, causing them to multiply instead? How does this encourage you when facing hardship?

• Fearing God Over Fearing Man: Where did Shiphrah and Puah find the supernatural courage to disobey the absolute ruler of Egypt out of reverence for God?

• God's Counter-Cultural Honor Roll: Why does Scripture record the names of two humble midwives while leaving the mighty Pharaoh nameless? What does this teach us about God's values?

💡 Today’s Scripture Verse - Exodus 1

1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

🌟Daily Heart-Check:  Multiplied in Trial, Reversing Worldly Power, and the Strength of Holy Fear 

Synchronized with the core questions from our reading guide:

• Hardship Cannot Overrule Divine Promise:
  Pharaoh tried to crush God's people with heavy burdens, but God's covenant promise proved far stronger than Egypt's empire. We often fear that adversity will destroy us, but under God's sovereign care, trials often become the very soil where faith and strength multiply most.

• Fearing God Liberates Us from the Fear of Man:
  Shiphrah and Puah faced mortal danger by disobeying Pharaoh, yet their reverence for God cast out their fear of earthly authority. True fear of God is not paralyzing dread, but a holy conviction that honors God's supreme authority above any human command.

• God Remembers the Humble Who Stand for Him:
  The powerful Pharaoh of Egypt remains nameless in this holy text, yet God eternally preserves the names of Shiphrah ("beautiful") and Puah ("splendid"). God values quiet faithfulness over worldly status, honoring those who stand up for life and righteousness in secret places.

🎵 Response Song :  

🙏 Closing Prayer

Sovereign Heavenly Father, Protector of the Oppressed and Rewarder of the Faithful,

As we open Exodus Chapter 1 today, our hearts reflect on the deep trials of Your people in Egypt, yet we marvel at Your sovereign hand—that "the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied."

Thank You for the inspiring example of Shiphrah and Puah, who chose the fear of God over the fear of Pharaoh. Grant us a similar holy fear, Lord, that when we face worldly pressure, fear, or temptation, we may stand unwaveringly on Your truth.

When life’s burdens feel heavy upon us, remind us that Your covenant promises can never fail. Be gracious to us, Lord, and establish the homes and lives of all who honor Your holy name.

In the matchless and saving name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!