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We’re going to be primarily in Exodus 3, but I want to lay some of the background for you before we begin.  The Israelites have settled in Egypt because the famine drove them to seek food in Egypt, where God had established Joseph as second in command over all of Egypt, overseeing an enormous food distribution program.  And Pharaoh welcomes Joseph’s family to live in Egypt in peace.  But we find that over time, things begin to change in the relationship between the people of God and the Egyptians.

Exodus 1:6-11  Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,  ⁷ but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.  ⁸ Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.  ⁹ "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.  ¹⁰ 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."  ¹¹ So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

The new king arises and out of fear of the many Israelites, does two things to keep them from gaining power.  The first is that he enslaves the Israelites so that they will not rise up against them.  The second thing the king does is to decree a genocide, that all the newborn Hebrew boys are to be killed, while the girls are allowed to live.  And so the Israelites, the people of God, find themselves the victims of a horrendous injustice.