Exodus 5:1 After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.”
2 “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”
3 But Aaron and Moses persisted. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they declared. “So let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t, he will kill us with a plague or with the sword.”
4 Pharaoh replied, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! 5 Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.”
Making Bricks without Straw
6 That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen: 7 “Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves! 8 But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.’ 9 Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!”
10 So the slave drivers and foremen went out and told the people: “This is what Pharaoh says: I will not provide any more straw for you. 11 Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!” 12 So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt in search of stubble to use as straw.
13 Meanwhile, the Egyptian slave drivers continued to push hard. “Meet your daily quota of bricks, just as you did when we provided you with straw!” they demanded. 14 Then they whipped the Israelite foremen they had put in charge of the work crews. “Why haven’t you met your quotas either yesterday or today?” they demanded.
15 So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. “Please don’t treat your servants like this,” they begged. 16 “We are given no straw, but the slave drivers still demand, ‘Make bricks!’ We are being beaten, but it isn’t our fault! Your own people are to blame!”
17 But Pharaoh shouted, “You’re just lazy! Lazy! That’s why you’re saying, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ 18 Now get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you must still produce the full quota of bricks.”
19 The Israelite foremen could see that they were in serious trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the number of bricks you make each day.” 20 As they left Pharaoh’s court, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them. 21 The foremen said to them, “May the Lord judge and punish you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his officials. You have put a sword into their hands, an excuse to kill us!”
22 Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!”
Well! This first approach to Pharaoh has really bombed! Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh everything God has ordered them to say, only for Pharaoh to blow them off and increase demands on the Hebrew slaves. So far, things are not going well at all. The Egyptians are making new demands. The Hebrew slaves are furious at the two brothers. Moses looks at Aaron and Aaron at Moses, and the two of them tug their beards and shrug their shoulders. What is God doing? Why isn’t God acting?
There’s nothing wrong, and God knows what He’s doing. If one scintilla of the experience of slavery remains tolerable, once the Hebrews are out in the middle of the wilderness, they’re going to be complaining bitterly. And God knows that it’s going to take a lot of divine attacks before the Egyptians will release the Hebrews, loading them with the treasures of Egypt. But right now, things look black. Where is God’s peace in the middle of this situation?
Many times, obedience does not mean success or popularity. Only today I listened as a Christian friend living in an assisted living facility described the resistance of some of her neighbors to the good news of Jesus Christ. Even though these people are teetering on the brink of eternity, they are still clinging to the belief that they will make it to heaven on the basis of the virtuous lives they have lived. But our friend is both diplomatic and persistent, and she feels the peace of God as she witnesses lovingly to her neighbors.
Blessedly, Moses and Aaron don’t realize that it will take ten plagues, each one worse than the last, before the Egyptian resistance will crumble. God kindly hides upcoming problems from us, allowing us to see only what we need to at the time. But God also knows that as one plague succeeds another, the faith of Moses and Aaron and all the Hebrews will be strengthened so that when the time comes for them to leave Egypt, they will not hesitate.
Sometimes, we long for huge amounts of perfect peace, not realizing that God gives us what we need when we need it. God is always interested in processes and development, even though most of us would like to shoot straight to a final conclusion, skipping the trials and suffering. But God is the One who can give us peace on the way, and He will do so when we trust Him.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to continue to trust You, even when our situations appear to be deteriorating. Thank You for Your peace that doesn’t need calm circumstances to operate. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesuss. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment