Israel was in a population explosion and was doubling their population about every 25 years in Egypt. This rate is about the same as current world population growth. Egyptians became worried that they would grow to big and even overtake the Egyptians. So Egyptians inflicted heavy slave labor on the children of Israel and set taskmasters over them. But they still continued to grow. Nations seem to grow well under persecution and adversity. It is same with the church that when it was under persecution it was strong but when prosperity came and it was an state accepted religion it became weak. Prosperity makes the church weak, but trials and tribulations make it strong. It was said that as soon as Jewish babies were born the mothers would whisper in their years: Jehovah is God . What a responsibility for godly women to raise children with scripture so that they will not go away from Gods ways. Teaching children to memorize scripture is very important, even before you think a child can understand begin his education.
