Daily Direction Reading PlanSample

When relationships lack trust, people feel insecure and threatened. Here is one example from long ago. The Hebrews became a threat to Egypt. Even though Joseph had saved Egypt from starvation, a new pharaoh came to power that did not know or care what Joseph had done. According to Exodus 1, the new king said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us.” So they enslaved the people. They put brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to crush them with hard labor. Yet the more they oppressed them, the more the Hebrews multiplied, and the more alarmed the king became. He increased their burdens, made their lives bitter; he was ruthless in his demands. Finally, he said, “This is not working.” He gave this order to the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, if the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is girl, let her live.” But the midwives feared God, and they refused to obey the king’s orders; they allowed the boys to live too. Exasperated, the Pharaoh called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?” The midwives replied that the Hebrew women were more vigorous and have their babies too fast for the midwives to get there in time. So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful.