Now, there were twelve sons of Israel, Israel being Jacob, brother of Esau, and the twelve sons being the one from the story of Joseph and the colorful jacket. When the twelve sons were fruitful and multiplied after the death of their father, we find ourselves in the book of Exodus. We discover the twelve sons, the heads of the twelve tribes, have died and a new pharaoh of Egypt stepped into power. The Pharaoh saw the Israelites and says that they must be dealt with.
Now, why did the Pharaoh want to attack them? The Israelites did not attack him first. The truth was, he was afraid that they would continue to grow in size and, if war broke out, would join his enemy. Instead of showing love and friendship or cutting covenant, the Pharaoh allowed his fear to take control and took the Israelites as slaves, all on the chance of an "if."
Exodus 1:11-13 tells us what Pharaoh did to the Israelites. "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 dear the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly."
Let us look at the situation from Pharaoh's point of view. You have just taken power in a land that you know little of. (You do not even know of Jacob or Joseph.) When you get into power, you know that anyone would want to kill you in order to take your place. Your life is never totally safe. Then, you hear of a people called the Israelites. They are growing in numbers, and quickly. You could have tried to make peace with them, but they are a threat, so you enslave them. As you try to work them out of reproducing and into fear of your name, they do not stop growing. In fact, the more work that you put on them, the more they seem to grow in numbers. Now, you either continue to force more labor on them and hope they stop multiplying, or you take away your slave masters and hope that the Israelites do not grow bitter against you.
Not a fun position to be in, is it? Well, that is the position that the Devil is in with Christians. The Devil is in power over the Earth and the people of God are multiplying. Whenever he puts pressure on a Christian, God blesses His child. Whenever he stays away from the Christian, the Christian has time to grow with God. What does the Devil have left to do? All he is doing now is trying to put so much pressure on us that we break; but just like the Israelites, we will be fruitful and blessed under pressure.
You must realize that you are a child of God, just like the Israelites. Exodus 1:12 says, "but the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread..." When we come under pressure from the enemy, we must remember that we will be blessed by God to handle the pressure; so do not be afraid of life's storms. Instead, take them as chances to be blessed and grow. When we look at storms from life as opportunities, the Devil will come to dread us, just as "the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites."
-D
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