Multiplication | Knowable Word

Exodus 1: Though This World, With Devils Filled, Should Threaten to Undo Us

September 9, 2016 By Peter Krol

If I am correct that the main point of Exodus is to ask, and then answer, the question, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?” (Ex 5:2)—we should expect chapter 1 to somehow set up this main idea. And in fact, it does so, by establishing the characters and creating the conditions under which the question must be posed.

Observation of Exodus 1

Of course, there are many, many observations to be made. For the sake of space, my list will have to be selective. But in these sample Bible studies, I plan to mention what appears to be most important.

Significant repeated words in ESV: Egypt (7 times), Israel (7x), people (7x), all (6x), midwives (6x), live/lives (5x), Hebrews (4x), multiply (4x), sons (3x).

This passage has much to say about the “people” and their experience in Egypt.
And the “people” are closely connected to the “sons.” They are called “sons of Israel” in Ex 1:1, but “people of Israel” in Ex 1:7 (though a quick look at an original language reference tool will reveal that the identical Hebrew phrase is used in both verses).
The passage ends with multiple attacks on the “sons” of Israel. God blesses the midwives with “families,” which presumably include sons.
In addition, the thread of “multiplication” carries through every paragraph.

Names and titles:

The most repeated words (see above) are specific names of the two primary nations.
The opening line highlights the names of characters: “These are the names of the sons of Israel…”
The narrator goes out of his way to name the two Hebrew midwives in Ex 1:15 – Shiphrah and Puah.
But he never bothers to name the hostile king. He’s referred to only as “king of Egypt” (4x) or “Pharaoh” (3x).

Grammar/Structure:

Paragraph 1 (Ex 1:1-7): Joseph, his brothers, and all his generation died in Egypt. But death could not prevent them from multiplying.
- The language of these verses remind us of Genesis (sons of Israel, 70 persons, generation), especially Genesis 1: fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, land was filled with them.
Paragraph 2 (Ex 1:8-10): A new king over Egypt wants to deal shrewdly in order to prevent further multiplication, and to keep the people of Israel in one place.
- The language of these verses remind us of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9): unnamed figures hostile to God, “come, let us,” prevent multiplication and scattering.
Paragraph 3 (Ex 1:11-14): Shrewd dealing #1: Afflict them with heavy burdens. But they keep multiplying (Ex 1:12).
Paragraph 4 (Ex 1:15-21): Shrewd dealing #2: Murder the sons. But they keep multiplying (Ex 1:20), and the midwives get families (Ex 1:21).
Paragraph 5 (Ex 1:22): Shrewd dealing #3: Drown the sons.
- This final dealing leaves us with a lingering question: Will they keep multiplying?

Crossett Library (2011), Creative Commons

Interpretation of Exodus 1

A few possible questions:

Why are the names such an important part of the chapter?
Why does it matter so much that the sons of Israel keep multiplying?
Why does the king of Egypt want to prevent them from multiplying?
Are the midwives lying to Pharaoh, and is it okay for us to lie to evil dictators?
Will the king of Egypt succeed in his shrewd dealing?
So what should God’s people expect as they live in God’s world and trust in God’s promises to the saints of old?

Answers (numbers correspond to the preceding questions):

The new king of Egypt didn’t know Joseph (Ex 1:8). If we read Genesis—and this chapter seriously suggests we should read Genesis to understand what’s going on here—we can know Joseph. And God knows Joseph. And his father Jacob, and Isaac, Abraham, Noah, and Adam. God knows, and God remembers. But the king of Egypt? He’s nobody. He’s a no-name. We can’t remember him (scholars still debate over which Pharaoh this was). He can’t take God’s place or stand in God’s way.
God’s people will complete God’s original mission to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28). If death can’t stop them (Ex 1:1-7), a devilish king of Egypt certainly won’t have any better success (Ex 1:8-22).
Ex 1:8-10 portray him like one of the Babelites from Gen 11:1-9. He wants to take God’s place. He wants to have power over life and death, creation and recreation, justice and injustice. He wants the knowledge of good and evil (the authority to make his own decisions). He will work against God’s stated purposes, and keep these people in his land, in so far as it suits him if war breaks out.
I have an opinion here. But, honestly, the question is so far removed from the author’s intention that it’s not worth as much time as we usually spend on it. Suffice it to say that one who deals shrewdly against God’s purposes will have shrewd dealings done against him. Such divine irony carries through the book of Exodus.
You’ll have to keep reading Exodus, but (SPOILER ALERT) no. Pharaoh’s 3 shrewd dealings turn against him, as the Lord afflicts him with heavy burdens (Ex 7-10), murders his sons (Ex 11-13), and drowns his sons (Ex 14-15).
There exist forces hostile to God’s promises and plans. But they will not succeed. Death cannot win. And devils (such as Pharaoh) run rampant and must rise up against us. Only in the context of such hostility will we truly find out who the LORD is, and why we should obey his voice!

Train of thought:

We pick up right where Genesis left off. Everyone dies, but God’s plans for fruitful multiplication prevail.
A new devil arises to claim God’s place.
- He makes 3 attempts to bring an end to God’s plans for fruitful multiplication.
- We’re waiting to discover what follows the decree to drown the sons

Main Point: The sons of God have many enemies, but none can prevent God’s promises from being fulfilled.

Connection to Christ: The Son of God himself had many enemies. None could prevent him from winning many brothers. If they had known what they were doing, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8). Their own tactics (persecution and murder) have turned against them to bring about the Lord’s greatest triumph.

Application of Exodus 1

Here is my application. You’re a different person in a different context, so you may have to come up with your own. And if yours look very different from mine, that’s okay!

Inward: When I face trials of many kinds, do I allow them to shake my confidence in the Lord?

Head: Don’t be surprised when hostile forces (the world, the flesh, or the devil) work against my attempts to honor the Lord. Expect this to happen.
Heart: Fear the Lord God more than I fear any this-worldly powers.
Hands: Memorize Scripture, remind myself of the truth, and keep living the Christian life. Don’t stop doing what I know to do as a Christian, just because it becomes hard to do them.

Outward: When others face trials of many kinds, encourage them not to lose confidence in the Lord.

Head: Encourage my children and others I disciple to expect many trials. Help them learn to interpret these trials as having no power against God’s promises.
Heart: Train others to fear the Lord more than they fear this-worldly powers.
Hands: Keep preaching the gospel and making more disciples. It’s worth it to fight for traditional marriage, religious freedom, and the uniqueness of Christ. Political nations will rise and fall, but none can stop the gospel’s advance to all tribes and peoples

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

The Glory of Multiplication

June 3, 2016 By Peter Krol

A year ago, I had an assistant Bible study leader. Then he moved to another state. Now I have a new assistant, whom I expect to leave our group soon and start another one. Then I’ll be back on my own, bearing the full load of small group leadership once again. But I’ll pray and look for another assistant to help shoulder the labor and develop the skills.

Bible study is not glamorous. Training apprentices, one at a time, is even less so. We plod our way through it, week in and week out. Sometimes we see clear fruit; sometimes we don’t. But this mustard seed will grow to become the largest of all garden plants. And this leaven will penetrate the entire lump. The promises of Christ ensure it will be so.

Rich Bamford (2015), Creative Commons

Be Fruitful and Multiply

Having created man and woman in his image, God expected them to mass produce this image in the earth (Gen 1:28). After he undid everything and started over, he clarified that nothing really had changed (Gen 9:1). Not long after, as my friend Brian Seay put it, “God said ‘go,’ and we said ‘no'” (Gen 11:4). But who can stop the Lord? Let no men assemble whom God has called to disperse (Gen 11:9).

And so Abram’s people were to bless all nations (Gen 12:3). God’s people were always to be a kingdom of priests (Ex 19:6), so the prophets longed for the day when God would collect his scattered people (Zech 8:7-8) and draw in citizens from every nation on earth (Zech 8:20-23). This house would be a house of prayer for all peoples (Is 56:7).

When Jesus arrives to fulfill what was written, we see the same goals at work. The lingo shifts from “being fruitful” to “making disciples,” but the mission stays the same. God wants to fill the earth with image-bearers. And now they can see and smell and touch that image in the person of Christ. His people become like him and move out from Jerusalem to help more people become like him. And when outsiders don’t know what else to call them, they coin the term “little Christs”—Christians (Acts 11:26).

But notice how God works among his people. He adds to their number so they can multiply his influence. His people gather so they can disperse. They draw people in so they can send people out. This community has always been a growing community. Sometimes you see it; sometimes you don’t. But the growth will happen one disciple at a time.

See the Unseen Glory

As I wrote, training apprentices will not be glamorous. But that can’t stop it from being glorious. I’ve done it one at a time over the years. And I can’t take all the credit, as most apprentices have multiple trainers. I’m never—by God’s grace—the sole influence in someone’s life.

But that guy who moved to another state? His wife already leads the women’s ministry at their new church. Together, they’re teaching more people to study the Bible for themselves.

And I could tell you of others. There’s one in Japan, working with missionaries and church leaders to put the Scriptures into the hands of the people. There’s another one in Texas, who just emailed me to say that his church asked him to teach more people good Bible study skills. I know some women who have infiltrated the leadership of a popular women’s conference, because they shine like stars when it comes to faithful handling of the word.

It’s worth it to teach people OIA Bible study. And it’s worth it to teach people how to teach people OIA Bible study in small groups. May the Lord strengthen us by his grace to press on.

The Best Way to Grow Your Bible Study Group

March 6, 2015 By Peter Krol

I don’t lead Bible studies just to make myself feel better; if that were the case, I could find many other ways to spend my time. No, I do it to help grow the kingdom of God. I want God to use me to influence others and draw them closer to him. If you’re leading a Bible study, I imagine you have similar motives.

So if we want to influence others to know God through Christ, we’ll want to have this influence on as many people as possible, right? That means we’ll want the group to grow. If we’re content with the group and never want it to change, perhaps we should reconsider our motives for having the group in the first place.

Grisel D’An (2015), Creative Commons

But this leads us to ask a valuable question: How do we grow the Bible study?

I could answer this question in many ways, depending on your cultural background, environment, unique strengths and weaknesses, and the makeup of your current group. But this post will highlight what is certainly the most important technique you must master if you want to expand your reach for the Lord’s sake.

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim 2:1-2)

Before you can master this technique, you must be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:1). You will always feel unworthy for what you’re about to do. Except for those times when you feel eminently worthy for this task, at which times it’s even more urgent that you be strengthened by the grace of Jesus. Draw your sustenance and power from the lavish mercy and free forgiveness of your Master and King. You are approved to study the Bible. And you are approved to lead others to study the Bible.

And what is this most important technique for growing your Bible study? “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2). Take what you’ve learned and teach it to someone else.

Pick someone with godly character in your group to be your assistant leader. Give that person some responsibility in the group. Follow a plan for progressively entrusting both the good deposit of the gospel and the skills of leadership to your assistant. Your plan could look like this:

Come and see (John 1:39), aka “I do, you watch.” Invite this person to become your official assistant leader. Meet with your assistant before the group meeting to go over the passage. Teach that person how to do OIA Bible study. Practice it with that person over the course of a few months.
Come and follow me (Mark 1:17), aka “I do, you help.” Ask your assistant to evaluate your leadership and make suggestions for improvement. Give your assistant particular assignments to carry out during the meeting. “Please help me to draw out the silent person.” “Please feel free to ask a key question if you think the discussion is lagging.” “Please come early and be ready to help welcome people.” “Please let me know what you hear that will enable me to make the next study more relevant to them.”
Go out and come back (Luke 10:1-24), aka “You do, I help.” Let your assistant lead one of the meetings, and then meet to give that person feedback on how it went. You now play the support role during the meeting, helping with difficult situations or participants. Encourage your assistant with what went well and offer suggestions for improvement. Avoid correcting every minor mistake; focus on broad patterns that might hold back this person’s leadership ability.
Go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), aka “You do, I watch.” Right when your assistant starts being truly effective, you’ll need to send that person out to start a new group without you. This is painful, because it will feel like your own group is moving backwards. You’ll lose the momentum and excitement of forward movement. But where there had been one group, now there are two. This is worth it.

After your assistant starts a new group, you’ll probably want to continue meeting for a time. You’ll want to discuss how the meeting goes as it gets off the ground. You’ll discuss the new challenges and opportunities faced by this fledgling leader. But most of all, you’ll want to make sure the new leader wastes no time in looking for a new assistant to train. And you’ll be looking for another assistant yourself. And before you know it, you’ll have four groups going.

I didn’t invent this model for growth. Jesus instituted it from the start of his ministry, and it has been changing the world ever since. It’s not flashy, and you’ll rarely be able to wow people with your dramatic growth figures. (“I trained one new person this year!”) But the power of multiplication is like a silent infection, wreaking havoc on the forces of darkness. Don’t neglect this best way to grow your Bible study group.