The promise in Genesis 3:15 of the offspring of the serpent's living in enmity with the offspring of the woman stands directly behind Exodus 1. Although the Egyptians may have thought this miraculous growth was just a local political situation, the devil knew that God had promised to bring a Saviour from the line of the woman who would crush his head and destroy him forever. In a desperate attempt to foil God’s plans, the devil was working tirelessly to prevent the growth of the church through children and to make it impossible for the sons of Israel to remain distinct from the world. Like King Herod, who killed all the boys two years old and younger in Bethlehem to prevent the birth of God’s anointed king so many years later (Matthew 2:16), the new king of Egypt is really nothing more than a slave of the evil one who was being used to hinder God’s work of salvation. We can see the devil’s handiwork in the nationalism, racism, fear-mongering, and shameful cruelty of the new king of Egypt. The battle in our text is really between the Lord, who is working to bring salvation to a condemned and cursed world, and his enemies, who are blinded by their selfishness and hatred of the coming Saviour who would punish them eternally. Every Christian must understand this antithesis because it stands behind the entire Old Testament. Not only does it explain all the different attacks on the people of God in the history of Israel before Jesus was born, but also because Revelation 12 says that these attacks will continue until Christ returns in glory. Since God was using families to bring salvation to the world, families would always be the centre of the most intense spiritual attacks. This knowledge gives Christians a sense of the urgency and importance of Christian education in the home and schools, for those who fear God are called upon to protect the children.
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: