Exodus 1:1-2:10

How it connects
1. Genesis takes us from 'in the beginning' to 'in Egypt'
2. Genesis predicted they'd arrive in Egypt (15:12-16, 46:2-3)

Why study Exodus
1. Interesting history
2. Moses a leader of great accomplishment
3. We learn of God's nature and laws
4. Foreshadows Christ (Luke 9:31, 1 Cor. 5:7, 10:1-11)

1:1-1:5 pick up where Genesis left off, with the 12 tribes in Egypt. The Israelites were extremely fruitful, just as predicted. They began with about 70 men, but left Egypt with about 600,000 men. This rate of growth is not necessarily miraculous, but certainly shows God's favor. This blessing, however, was a curse in another sense. A new Pharaoh, who didn't remember Joseph, was afraid of the increasing population of Jews. He went through 3 plans to eliminate their numbers:

1. Hard labor: But this had a reverse effect (11-14)
2. Kill the boys at birth: But the midwives wouldn't do it (15-21)
3. Throw boys in the river: Apparently successful (22)

In the beginning of chapter 2, we are told of an exception. One mother (later known to be Jochebed) hid her baby for 3 months before placing him carefully in the river with a floating basket of sorts. The baby was found by Pharaoh's daughter who knew the child was Hebrew, but wanted to keep it. By God's providence, she paid the baby's actual mother to nurse the child, probably for about 3 years, before finally taking him to be her own son. The child was named Moses which means "drawn out of the water." Moses spent the next 40 years of his life as the Pharaoh's daughter.