Pharaoh was ambivalent about the Hebrews. They were great cheap labor, but their phenomenal population growth posed a threat if they were to join invaders. Pharaoh made three attempts to limit male Hebrew increase: work them to death; have the midwives kill the boys, have all Egyptians throw baby boys into the Nile. All failed. The last attempt actually provided the Hebrews with a liberator. Modern China and India have struggled with over-population issues, this time with the opposite gender as the target. The methods are condemnable and self defeating. In a one-child-per-family scheme, the effect of creating a large excess of men over women (40,000 in China, I've read). If a couple can have only one, they prefer boy to girl, and they abort the girls. A large excess of men will decrease the birth rate, but it will not improve national life. Whether throwing a baby boy into the Nile or throwing female fetuses into the trash, judgment is coming.
This time, please God, send us, not a Moses, but your Son, the Lord Jesus.
