Exodus 5:1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
22 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.
In chapter 5 God began to record His confrontation with Pharaoh. The kings of Egypt assumed they were gods. They believed they had the right to demand anything they wanted. The people were gullible and willing to accept this corrupt leadership. Israel was moved into Egypt by the Lord, about four hundred years prior to this text. God brought a famine into that part of the world and He made Egypt the bread basket of that area. God also sent His servant, Joseph into Egypt to manage the food supply during the seven years prior to the famine and then during the seven years of the famine. The fledgling nation of Israel was given the land of Goshen by a very friendly Pharaoh. God was blessing Israel and they were growing in numbers, faster than the Egyptians were growing. God was building His nation. The next Pharaoh did not bother to read his history and he assumed this people, the Hebrews, were a threat to his nation. He did not bother to take note that they were a great asset to the entire nation of Egypt. The Hebrews were not trouble makers. The Pharaoh did not need to spend any resources to try to keep the Hebrews in line. The Hebrews kept very much to themselves. They were only in Egypt on a temporary basis. When God’s time was right, they would be leaving.
Pharaoh decided to force the Hebrews into slavery. God had warned Abraham this would happen. Israel was in a training camp. They did not like the training, but God saw it to be necessary. During Israel’s time in Egypt, He also gave the Egyptians the opportunity to see the benefit of knowing the true God, versus the disaster of following false gods. The Egyptians never learned that lesson.
Now, God was moving to the next phase of His plan to move the Hebrews out of Egypt and into their own land. Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh with the demand of God: “Let my people go …” Pharaoh needed to know he did not own the Hebrews. He did not own the Egyptians, but he thought he did. God was going to systematically break Pharaoh’s stranglehold on Israel.
Pharaoh was a stubborn man and not willing to learn, and he certainly was not willing to let this “free” labour go.
Thus Pharaoh began by mocking God. He rightly admitted that he did not know the LORD. That is okay to admit your spiritual ignorance. What is not okay is to dig in your heels and insist that you do not need to know the true LORD.
There is so much false religion in Canada today. It is a shameful thing to observe. There are programs out there that speak of the “church” as a universal body. In that body they include the Charismatics, the Catholics, and many other heretical groups. They talk of a god and of a Jesus, but they do not know the God of the Bible. Their music is sensual and devilish. Their immodesty is shameful. Their words are corrupt and powerless. Yet many people are consumed by these deceivers. Paul was directed to warn of this time we are living in.
II Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
People want to think they are right with God, but they want to keep their sinful nature. They think that because they are part of a big movement, it must be of God and they feel good about what they are doing. Meanwhile things are crashing all around them. They have a lot of noise, but no power.
In our text, God was going to show Himself strong through Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh and the Egyptians and indeed Israel would get an intense training in Who the LORD is.
Moses and Aaron began by asking Pharaoh to honour their request. They told Pharaoh that the LORD had the power to punish the Hebrews if they did not go and sacrifice to Him. God had that power, but God desired to bless the Hebrews. Pharaoh was keeping them from being able to spend quality time with their LORD.
Pharaoh listened to Moses and Aaron, but he came to the wrong conclusion. He concluded that they were interfering with the work that he demanded of the Hebrews. They were to be busy building his empire. They were to make bricks for his many building projects. He had big plans for his nation. He assumed that what was needed was to make life more difficult for the Hebrews and then they would stop thinking of serving the LORD. Pharaoh did not realize that the average Hebrew was not that concerned with worshipping the LORD. It was the LORD Who wanted to begin the greater training that His people needed.
Pharaoh’s solution to Moses’ and Aaron’s request, was to increase the workload for the Hebrews. He would force them to continue the same level of production, but they would need to go and find their own straw to make the bricks.
Of course this would hinder the productivity of the people. They would not be able to produce the same number of bricks because they now needed to scrounge for the raw materials needed for the task. Pharaoh was a ruthless man and his henchmen were equally cruel. They demanded the same production and they began to beat the Hebrews for not meeting the quota required of them.
When the Hebrew leaders complained to the taskmasters, they were informed that the problem was that they wanted time off to go and sacrifice to the LORD and Pharaoh was not going to allow that. Thus the Hebrews turned against Moses and Aaron. People that do not know the LORD will soon prove who they truly are. That is why the Charismatics and the rest of that N.E. crowd have to be entertained all the time. Their leaders have to concoct new heresies. The gullible followers are content to accept the lies for the time being. They see their finances increasing. They see the activities taking place and they assume that God is blessing. They cannot see they are being robbed of God’s blessings and have exchanged that for things that cannot help.
Pharaoh made life very difficult for the Hebrews for a short time. The majority of the Hebrews could not understand what was going on and they blamed God rather than seeking to understand what He was doing.
This was a very real test for Moses and Aaron as well. They cried to God and wanted to know why He was not delivering the Hebrews. Why was He allowing them to suffer so? God had a plan. He was going to prove to Pharaoh and his people as well as to the Hebrews, that He was the true LORD. He was the ONE to fear. Most of the Hebrews never learned that lesson. They were too focused on the present and on the material needs. They could not see the importance of a healthy spiritual life that was directed by the LORD.
God was not deterred by the crying of the Hebrews. He continued to do His Work. We can look at this account and we can see that God is still wanting the lost to know Him. He is still wanting the saved to exalt Him. His will is still for lost people to be saved. That will not happen through all the noise of the N.E. crowd. God is holy. He is still the only true God. Sadly, only a few people are willing to submit to His authority and His love. God will continue to prove Himself to be God.
Our country is one of many that are crumbling. Crime in increasing. A seventy one year old woman was stabbed and killed by a fourteen year old boy this week as she was putting her groceries in her car. What kind of a world is that? That is one of several murders that took place this week alone. Society has no answers to this. That boy obviously did not know the LORD.
Those who are saved are called to be a light in this dark world. The N.E. crowd has no answers to this wickedness. Cranking up the noise level in their social club will not fix the problem. The preaching of the Gospel will provide the only answer to the problem. Few will receive the help, but that does not make the help wrong. God is right, regardless of whether man wants to receive Him or not. Trust in Him and serve Him faithfully. Be focused on truth, not superficial results.
Pastor Bartel
