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Every head of a family would like to do everything possible to make life better for the next generation: the children of the family and also the grandchildren. For example, a lot of time and money goes into the writing up of a will or a trust agreement whereby one generation's financial assets, property, and personal belongings will be passed along to the next generation in a manner designed to reduce estate taxes and to guarantee that the next generation receives the maximum financial benefit. Joseph, son of Jacob, wanted to guarantee a secure future for his family. He had become one of ancient Egypt's most powerful government officials. He had saved his family from starvation and had used his influence to give them refuge in Egypt. There was nothing more he could do to make things better for his family and their offspring. And as long as Joseph was alive (and the Bible says he lived to be 110 years old!), life was very good for the people of Israel who were living in a foreign land. But in spite of the best plans and preparations, there is no way the head of a family can guarantee complete safety and security for the next generation of children and grandchildren. This becomes extremely obvious after this person's death, especially if there is absolutely nobody around in a position of influence who knew the head of the family very well and who, for the sake of a longtime friendship, would try to assist the surviving family in critical, important matters not covered by any will or trust agreement or legal rights. After Joseph died, a new king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph and who felt he was in no way obligated to honor whatever agreements Joseph had made to give the people of Israel a new lease on life as alien residents in a foreign land. Under the new king the Israelites were now referred to as "Hebrews" or hapiru, a term in the ancient Near East that refers to any group of marginal people who have no social standing, own no land, and are considered "low class folks" who are excluded and despised.

Down in Egypt Jacob's descendants, the Hebrews, had Pharoah, the new king of Egypt, really worried. The numbers of the Hebrew people had increased so rapidly that Pharoah was afraid they would soon have enough numbers and strength to rise up and leave the country, depriving the king of available cheap labor. So he tried to reduce their vigor and their numbers by submitting the Hebrews to hard labor in extremely harsh conditions, but this just didn't work at all. The Egyptians kept piling on the workload and making working conditions as mean and miserable as possible. But the Hebrews kept increasing in numbers and vitality. Pharoah in frantic desperation then told the Hebrew midwives to kill all the newborn Hebrew boys but to let the girls live. But the midwives let the boys live, and when Pharoah asked "How come you let this happen?" Pharoah was dumb enough to believe the midwives' shrewd explanation that the boy babies were being born faster than the midwives could arrive on the scene. Anyway, the people of Israel under God's blessing continued to multiply in numbers and in strength, while working conditions under the Egyptians continued to get worse. Working with mortar and bricks out in the hot sun was really awful.

How often it is that regardless of how carefully one generation tries to make things better for the next generation, it still remains for someone in a later generation to rise up and save the day. Joseph was dead. His influence had come to an end. Life on Easy Street for the Israelites had now become a living hell on earth. Things got so bad that there was nothing left to hope for, nothing left but a baby in a basket floating among the reeds along the river bank, nothing left for the people of Israel except years and years of sweat and suffering until this baby Moses could grow up and become the leader appointed by God to rise up and save the day for the people of Israel. So what happens to a people in captivity when there is nothing left but a baby in a basket? How does God provide for God's chosen people during the many years that must pass by until this baby is the grown man who will rise up and save the day for God's chosen people?

Our scripture lesson today shows us at least three ways in which God enables faithful people to hang tough, hang on, and hang in there when life is at its very worst. First of all, in spite of the Egyptians' efforts to reduce the numbers of the Hebrew people through hard labor, the chosen people through the grace of God continued to multiply in numbers. It has been true throughout history that persecution of God's chosen people only leads to an increase in their numbers. The Romans persecuted the Christians, often forcing them to die for their faith in the arena where wild beasts and a bloodthirsty crowd had the upper hand, but the Christians increased in numbers and eventually Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire. The church continues to hang tough and survive today in China, Guatamela, and other areas of the world where church leaders and church members have been imprisoned or tortured or murdered because of their faith. Again and again God enables God's chosen people to increase in physical numbers and spiritual strength, to hang tough, hang on, and hang in there throughout the very worst that can happen.

Secondly, God gives God's chosen people shrewd instincts for how to cope with the forces of evil in order to survive within an evil system. Pharaoh asks the Hebrew midwives, Shiprah and Puah, why the Hebrew boy babies were allowed to live, in spite of his strict orders to have all Hebrew boy babies put to death. And the midwives reply, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them" (Exodus 1:19). Because the midwives feared God and kept the faith, God gave them shrewd instincts for how to respond to Pharoah's orders. The arrogant Pharoah was dumb enough to believe what the midwives told him. Those who are at the top of the heap sometimes end up completely underestimating the resourcefulness of those who are considered to be at the bottom of the barrel. Many white American plantation owners promoted the teaching of the Christian religion to their black slaves, because the plantation owners thought that sound religious instruction would produce slaves who were more docile and obedient. However, black slaves found increased inner strength through their Christian faith, and the white slave owners had absolutely no idea how the singing of spirituals gave expression and encouragement to the slaves' longing for freedom. James Cone, black theologian, tells us that just as God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery by drowning Pharoah's army in the sea, black slaves believed God also would deliver them from American slavery, as expressed in the spiritual: "Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you moan, Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you moan, Pharoah's army got drownded, Oh, Mary, don't you weep."1 The religion that was supposed to transform black slaves into docile, obedient servants of their white masters ended up transforming black slaves into shrewd, faithful servants of God. Spirituals often contained secret messages. Singing "Steal away to Jesus" could be a special signal to tell the congregation that a secret slave meeting would be held in the woods.2

A third way in which God acted in behalf of God's chosen people was to make the oppressive system yield unexpected benefits for those who were oppressed by this system. Pharoah's daughter obviously disagreed with her father's decree to have all the Hebrew boy babies killed. Moses' sister, Miriam, was shrewd enough to obtain Moses' mother to care for him in behalf of the Egyptian princess who adopted the baby Moses, made him a "prince of Egypt,"3 and gave him as a child all the advantages of Egyptian culture. As a result Moses acquired the education and the leadership capabilities that would enable him someday to rise up and save the day for God's chosen people. In a similar way, Mahatma Gandhi's study of law in London and Nelson Mandela's study of law in Johannesburg strengthened their capabilities to be leaders in their struggles against oppression in India and South Africa. The rescue of the baby in the basket from the waters of the river by the Egyptian princess is ironically a sign pointing toward something greater that lies ahead, the rescue of the people of Israel through the waters of the sea led by Moses, the well educated, highly capable "prince of Egypt." In our Old Testament story about the baby Moses the Hebrew word for basket, teba, is the same word used for Noah's ark in the Old Testament story of the great flood that covered the earth. The baby's basket, his teba, is his "ark" floating safely on the waters of the river. This tiny, waterproof basket becomes eventually for Israel an encouraging reminder of the ark that saved Noah and his family from the great flood. The baby's basket floating on the water becomes a symbol of God's power to save the chosen people from the deepest waters of death and despair.

At one time or another just about everyone is up against some form of oppression in which someone is deliberately trying to make us as miserable as possible. Family life can become a state of oppression where women, children, and even elderly relatives are at the mercy of cruel and violent forms of abuse. Sexual harassment in the workplace is extremely humiliating and can be very difficult to stop. Migrant workers may have no choice but to work in fruit orchards or vegetable harvest fields where pesticides and filthy living conditions endanger workers' health. Expensive garments may be made in sweatshop conditions for a miserable level of pay and a threat of reprisal if the worker wants to quit the job. There are high pressure work environments where the supervisor exercises rigid control allowing no negotiation at all regarding "the way we get things done around here."

But there are valuable lessons to be learned from the three ways shown in our scripture lesson how God enables faithful people to hang tough, hang on, and hang in there when life is at its very worst. First of all, if situations in our own lives become truly oppressive and very discouraging, we need to remember that oppression actually can increase the numbers and the determination of those who want to resist oppression. Instead of going it alone in a terribly oppressive situation we need to join hands with those who are in the same boat. Secret hide--away shelters for bruised and battered women enable these women to regain strength and self--esteem by joining hands and sharing their hurts and their hopes with one another. Secondly, when someone exercises control over us in an arrogant way, God can show us shrewd ways to thrive and survive, if we, like the Hebrew midwives, are willing to keep our hearts and our ears open to God. When a work environment is under the authority of an incompetent, domineering supervisor or administrator, a dedicated, competent employee who has managed to survive is very apt to be an employee who has learned shrewd and perhaps justifiable techniques to keep the arrogant boss at a safe distance so that the employee can do the job in a more efficient, effective manner.

Thirdly, whenever it seems "you can't beat the system," we can learn how to make some of the systems of the world work for us in a way that increases our own strength and capability. For example, we all have had our gripes and complaints about computers and computer systems. A sign in an office said, "To err is human. To really foul things up takes a computer." We truly have reason to be concerned how computer systems can violate our privacy by giving others ample access to what is supposed to be confidential, personal information. We don't want the Internet to expose our children to obscene online material. It is alarming how the computer operations essential for military defense, air traffic controllers, hospitals, libraries, or business management can be so extremely vulnerable to computer hackers or computer viruses. But our best defense against the "evils of the computer age" is to learn how to operate a computer, especially if we are going to take advantage of the Internet's most valuable resources. Are we ever too old to learn how to get the many benefits that a home computer can give us? In some communities senior citizens are now getting lessons in computer techniques from teenagers who are eager to help and very proud that they, for once, can show their elders a thing or two. Here is a definite reminder that in our complex world where many problems may never be resolved within our own lifetime, we definitely need to be preparing the younger generation for roles of leadership. Who knows? A baby boy or baby girl we now see in a laundry basket or a crib or a stroller could be a future Moses or a future Miriam who will grow up to play a vital leadership role some day as one of God's chosen people.

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1. Cf., James Cone, The Spirituals And The Blues: An Interpretation (New York: The Seabury Press, 1972), pp. 23--35.

2. Cf., ibid., p. 90.

3. Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells, directors, Prince Of Egypt, animated motion picture, Dreamworks, 1998.