Exodus 1:1–14

Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

Notice how there isn’t much difference between being residents of Egypt and being slaves. The people of Israel didn’t lose a war or something; they just woke up one morning to discover they were slaves.

Nice, eh? Welcome to life in a dictatorship.

This is why we put the Ten Commandments on courthouse walls in America. People object to this as some kind of violation of church and state, but they miss the point. We do this for perfectly good, historical reasons.

Prior to the Ten Commandments, the law was simply whatever this king says. So, when there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph, everything changed. Bang, you’re a slave.

But the Ten Commandments display the principle of permanent law—law above whoever’s in power right now. This is foundational to our justice system. Laws and court rulings can’t change with the whims of whoever’s in power this year or whoever’s the judge in a particular case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stare_decisis

Always pray for our nation and our nation’s leaders—especially those you disagree with. Open disagreement is one of our great strengths. Yes, some folks need to get a speck out of their eye—but you know the rest. God has blessed us massively.

Praise Him for that.

Also, please lift up our military. While our nation is far from perfect, we often find ourselves up against forces of genuine evil. We can’t win these battles on our own.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays' by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, are here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NASB stands for the New American Standard Bible. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.