Exodus 5:1 – 5 “After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.” “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your work!” Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.”
At the time of Moses, Egypt was a world power and Pharaoh was one of the most important rulers in the world. Egypt was a center of learning, of culture, and of , education. Ever since the time of Joseph, the Israelites had occupied the land of Goshen, continuing to herd their animals. As far as the Egyptians were concerned, the Israelites were little better than their animals. And now that Pharaoh had enslaved the Israelites, the Egyptians had even less regard for them.
When Moses and Aaron turn up at the Egyptian royal court with their announcement, Pharaoh is not impressed. After all, the Egyptians have a whole host of gods and everybody knows how to propitiate them; why should the God of the Hebrews be any different? None of the Egyptian gods has ever threatened to strike the country with plagues or with the sword. The Egyptians have been living peacefully for a long time; the eventual overthrow of Egypt by Assyria is far in the future at this point. Pharaoh figures all he has to do is give these people more work and they will forget this ridiculous idea!
Exodus 5:6 – 14 “That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen: “You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw. But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder on the men so they will be occupied and pay no attention to these lies.”
So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am no longer giving you straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.’” So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.” Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?”
Whew! Things are getting difficult! Just about now, those Israelite elders who were so excited to hear what Moses and Aaron had to say are beginning to question their own sanity. A perfectly reasonable request to carry out a small act of worship has resulted in major persecution. At this point, Moses and Aaron are probably wondering if they heard God rightly as well.
APPLICATION: Many times, doing the right and just thing can bring you nothing but trouble. During our first mission assignment, there came a point where someone who had supposedly donated land and a building for a new mission hospital suddenly was demanding a large amount of financial “appreciation.” While raising funding in America, I was confronted by a family friend knowledgeable in missions. This honest Midwestern farmer had asked me point blank if this project was going to benefit any private individual and I had told him “Absolutely not!” In addition, the mission in which we were serving belonged to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, ECFA. ECFA asserted that funds raised for one purpose could not be diverted to any other purpose without the express written consent of the donors. Failure to secure such consent would constitute a breach of contract between donors and the mission agency.
At one point I had to hand out ECFA brochures at a hospital board meeting and point out the clause in the ECFA statement covering this problem. Blessedly, the board agreed and we were able to keep faith with our donors and our mission, but it was a very difficult time.
Sometimes we must take a stand for righteousness and not back down. While we may suffer for such a position, it is far better to be able to stand before the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart than to have to admit that we have compromised. God will be merciful in encouraging and comforting us, but sometimes the only way out of a bad situation is to go through it.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving us and caring for us so much that you arrange every bit of our lives, even the tough stuff. Thank you that when we encounter opposition, we only have to be sure that you are with us and then to hang on. And thank you that you do bring your children through, giving us the courage to suffer if necessary. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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