Exodus
CHAPTER 1 Jan. 30 
The Israelites Are Abused
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already. 6Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. 7The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph. 9He said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and mightier than we are. 10Come, let us deal prudently with them, in case they multiply yet more and it happens that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land. 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, 14and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field; they ruthlessly made them serve in all their service.
The Plan to Kill All Baby Boys
15The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, 16and he said, When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live. 17But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. 18The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive? 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them. 20God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. 21It happened, because the midwives feared God, that He made them families. 22Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.

Commentary

EXODUS
1:5 Souls- The Hebrew word nepheshtranslated “soul” means a person, a body. It carries no idea of immortality.
1:7 The promises to Abraham of having numerous descendants have their main fulfilment in Christ and those baptized into Him (Gal. 3:16,27-29), but as in our lives too, God’s Kingdom promises have an initial fulfilment even in this life.
1:19 This would be an example of lies being told as an act of faith, similar to Rahab’s lie. We must be careful on one hand not to justify our behaviour all the time by thinking that we had no option but to do things which in most contexts would be sinful; yet on the other hand, we need to understand that God calls us to live by principles rather than a literalistic obedience to a legal code. 
1:16 The plan to kill all the baby boys around the time of Moses’ birth is exactly what happened at the time of Christ (Mt. 2:16). This invites us to see Moses as a type of Christ.
1:21 It is God who gives and creates families; it is He who joins together husband and wife throughout the years of their relationship. These infertile women working as midwives must have longed for their own children more than many.