Exodus-5

Exodus 5  –  Human’s view on Timing Vs God’s view on Timing….

Exodus 5:1-14(ESV)   –  Audience With Pharaoh:  Harsh Results
¹Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 
²But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 
³Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 
⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 
⁵And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many,^£ and you make them rest from their burdens!” 
⁶The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 
⁷“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 
⁸But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 
⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”
¹⁰So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 
¹¹Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 
¹²So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 
¹³The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 
¹⁴And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

V.1-3  –  take 3 day journey into the wilderness … or… he may strike you with plagues or the sword.

Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh.  At this time in history, kings & leaders granted all people of their realm the opportunity to have an audience with the Pharaoh on specific day(s). 

Yahweh’s request is to all His people to go and worship Him.  “My People”….   Instead Pharaoh would do the opposite and inflict harsher conditions.   Pharaoh was saying:  “Who is this God that I should listen to Him?”    This now became a confrontation between Yahweh and Egypt’s gods, the pharaoh being the then human focal point of the Egyptian gods. 

In the Near Eastern requesting favors, the initial request was purposefully stated in a modest way, a request of a 3-day journey into the wilderness – yet what was really sought was more, it was a full and permanent departure.   Pharaoh would have heard:  “Let my people go from Egypt into the wilderness to worship.”

Note:  Exod. 3:18 – “They will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

However the elders do not set foot in Pharaoh’s court, here or anywhere else in Exodus. 

V.2 – Pharaoh says:  “Who is the LORD?”  – He is namely saying that I aim “to take the LORD seriously”. 

Pharaoh is saying:  “I don’t know the God of the Hebrews so why should I respond to such a request?  He didn’t know who Yahweh really was.  He didn’t know the ‘all power’ (mighty hand) Yahweh had – the strength God had in a “cause to be”.  
By the time this is over he would come to full knowledge of who Yahweh.  This knowledge of who Yahweh is would ‘harden his heart’ as today when people hear about God they choose to respond or reject (harden) their heart against Him.  In essence one can say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart as He was the one who brought to his attention who He was.  It is this revealing truth that caused the reject (Hardening), not literally God reaching inside one’s heart.  Even today, the message today hardens people’s heart.  Knowledge of God can only bring two choices:  1. Obedience or  2.  Rejection of Him

V.3-5 – Moses added “or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword,”…  Moses was trying to convey Yahweh was deadly serious in the request made to let His people go.

Pharaoh’s response:  Why are you taking the people away from their labor?”  –    Suggesting to Moses and Aaron that since their presence and conversations with the Israelites their work was shirking.   “You are bringing a ‘resistance movement’ in my country.  He was taking their work stoppages and slowdowns (may have been related to their newfound worship of the true God as in 4:31).   Pharaoh asks:  “Why are you taking the people away?”  –  Away from their work. 

V.6-9 – the proposed remedy by the king was to keep the Israelites quiet and obedient, as in the past decades, was to give them more work.  The more work would restore quiet and obedience as in 1:14 of forced labor burden of making bricks.  Therefore, lets “up the work load” to keep them busy and not have time to grumble or think of leaving.  Show they who is in control.

Note in  5:2 Pharaoh uses the name of God “LORD” – “Yahweh”   –  (Pharaoh won’t use that name again until 8:8 in requesting relief from the plague of frogs.)  Exodus 8:8Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” 

To him Yahweh’s words were not valid; they were just lies.

This continues to be the view of the nonbeliever of today.  They consider God’s words as lies that keep you from conforming to the expectations of the world one lives in.  It keeps one from enjoying life on their own terms.  A concept that began with human history according to Gen. 3:4. 

V.11-14 – straw would not be provided and they were to find their own and still keep up the same brick production.  They sought after ‘stubble’ to make the bricks.  Stubble was the short remains of plants after harvesting.  It would be the bit between the root and where the reaping scythe or sickle cut the plant.  It would be a poor substitute for straw and would make the making of bricks most difficult.  To get this growth (“stubble”) they would have to carefully and   tediously pull these by hand.  In the off season it would be even a greater task.  All the family would have to be involved in the project. 

Pharaoh’s goal was to keep them busy and to tired to think of worshiping their God.  Thus, an issue:  “Whom will Israel serve?

Should Moses had expected that Pharaoh would just let them arch out the door?  He accuses them of bringing the problem of themselves saying; “You are lazy”!  He shows his true colors.  Pharaoh is not a neutral figure, but opposes the Israelites and their God.  He turns his back on them and tells them to get back to work.   In Hebrew :  (Iku ibdu) “God, work”.

Pharaoh’s strategy is of disparaging Moses’ reputation among the people has worked.  When Moses & Aaron comes out of the court the foremen turn on them and pronounce a curse on them:  “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! v.21)    The irony is that they have forgotten that Pharaoh is the one who enslaved them and who is responsible for this insane decree?  Did they also forget Moses’s display of power showing he was the LORD’s chosen one? 

Exodus 5:15-21(ESV)   –  Negative Reaction of the Israelite Foreman
¹⁵Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 
¹⁶No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 
¹⁷But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 
¹⁸Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 
¹⁹The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 
²⁰They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 
²¹and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

The situation was now changed from one of hopefulness and faith to resentment and doubt.  Why – it was  because Pharaoh was clearly being unyielding to God’s request. 

The Israelite supervisors went before the highest power possible to get relief from the situation and were refused by Pharaoh.  When they leave that audience Moses and Aaron was waiting to hear their results.   These foremen out of their frustration angrily blamed them.   It doesn’t say they blamed God, but they must have presented it wrong to the Pharaoh and had disobeyed Yahweh.  They said:  “May the LORD look upon you and judge you!”….  They were saying that YAHWEH would never let this happen to us, therefore, it must be in how you two handled it.

The Lesson:  Here the presumption that a good God never lets dangerous or harmful events happen to his people, false as it has always been, is a very old belief. 

By Pharaoh demanding their allegiance despite Yahweh’s claim on them pits him squarely against Israel’s God.  He is demonstrating to be an enemy of God.  He is an “anti-God” figure in this account.

God’s presence does not guarantee immediate results.  It is well to note Moses and Aaron convinced the people that God has directed His attention to them and their condition.  However, after the initial confrontation of Pharaoh, the people begin to ‘grumble’ and thus, resist Moses.

(Take a new convert into the Christian Faith.  They are informed that through the process of ‘accepting Jesus in your heart’ means that God is now with you.  If they are not carefully assisted in their knowledge of “not a quick fix” – as ridicule, opposition, and more comes against a new Christian.)

Abraham’s struggles with doubt over a son….Gen. 15:6 –    Yet, God assures him he will have a son in due time as an heir.  As we studies Abraham’s life we saw that with God ‘s increased presence in and involvement with Abraham’s life produces challenges he had not expected. 

When God involved himself in Joseph’s life did he not face challenges?   Why?  Sanctification!

Christ’s ministry was filled with resistance from within and outside his circle.

God is present with His people today.  Thus the same holds true for the church as a whole as struggles persist.  We struggle not despite our intimacy with God, but precisely because of it.