Exodus 1:11 | Pastor Burns' Study Notes

So Israel became enslaved. The people who had once been honoured because of Joseph were now reduced to forced labourers under a new regime that neither remembered nor respected their history.

Taskmasters were appointed over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They were driven into hard labor, building treasure cities for Pharaoh and carrying out difficult, exhausting work. The goal was not merely productivity-it was oppression. Egypt sought to break their spirit through pressure and pain. Yet even in their affliction, God’s covenant purposes had not been cancelled.