From guests to slaves
Week 1 - Monday 8 March
"Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labour."
Reading
Exodus 1.8-22
Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ‘Look,’ he said to his people, ‘the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.’
So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labour, 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 dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with harsh labour in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labour, the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ‘When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.’ The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’
The midwives answered Pharaoh, ‘Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.’
So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: ‘Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.’
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Reflection
The people of Israel, newly settled in Egypt, find that being Joseph’s protégés does not stand the test of time. They once were guests of a powerful man, but quickly they are seen as strangers and their life and vigour become threatening. People start talking about ‘them’. They are no longer friends, neighbours, partners. They are the ‘other’ – the ones to blame, the ones to fear, the ones who don’t belong. And once they are no longer seen as equals, sharing humanity, the door opens for them to be mistreated, enslaved, and, in the end, exterminated as all their boy babies are killed.
Injustice does not start with actions, it starts with words and thoughts. It starts with looking at another person and seeing them as less than equal, less worthy of life and love and dignity. And as words are shared, actions follow. Is there anyone you speak about as ‘other’?
Prayer
Loving God, challenge me when I talk of anyone as less than myself, and help me speak up when others speak in ways that diminish or disparage people who differ from them. Amen.
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Today's family challenge
Watch the news today
Notice anyone being treated unfairly, or anyone whose freedom has been taken away.
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