August 25, 2024
Reading: Exodus 5
Focus: Exodus 5:2 – Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”
Father God, open our eyes to Your word. Help us to see what You want us to learn. We will be sure to give You all the praise. In Jesus Name. Amen.
By this time, the Israelites have descended into abject slavery. They were forced to make bricks. Their newborn sons were being thrown to the crocodiles. Those that were fortunate enough not to be making bricks were household or field slaves with nothing of their own. Their whole lives were dedicated to making the lives of the Egyptians easy. It was into this that Moses arrived to bring the hope of freedom.
Moses was not alone. Aaron was his spokesman. Their first meeting was with the elders of the people. Notice that there were elders. These were the patriarchs of families, and they kept the people from mixing with the Egyptians. They were the ones who were responsible for the religious life of the Israelites. They faithfully told the history of the people, keeping it accurate and always before the people. These elders had to be convinced first. Moses wouldn’t approach Pharaoh unless the Israelites were on board. He had to have the prayer support.
The meeting went well. Moses and Aaron told of Moses meeting with God. Showed them the signs that God had ordained. And they believed. Now it was time to approach Pharaoh. Remember, Moses is persona non grata in Egypt. He ran after murdering an Egyptian. He had hidden in the desert for 40 years. Now he was back. God had told him that those who wanted him dead were dead themselves. (Exodus 3:19). I don’t know if the Pharaoh of the Exodus knew Moses or not. We are not told but we do know that he learned who he was and Who God was. Archaeology has many theories as to just who this Pharaoh was. Some think it was Ramesses II, others Ahmose I, and others have named Akhenaten or Tut. Regardless of who it was, he learned that God was more powerful than any Egyptian god.
The Egyptian pantheon has about 2000 different individuals. Many of which we have heard about. Most of which we haven’t. Each one had their own personality, mode of clothing, sacred objects and areas of expertise. There was a god for every facet of life. There were gods and goddesses of love and war, souls, earth, medicine, fertility, death and the underworld, cats, crafts and chaos. There were at least three sun gods. One for the day, a chief sun god and a supreme sun god. There was a different god for anything you could think of.
Pharaoh believed that he was a god. He believed he was a direct descendant of the god Ra. He knew all the gods of Egypt. The concept of a single god was foreign to him. Also, the concept of a god personally involving himself in the lives of slaves was inconceivable. But he soon learned that the God of the Israelites was truly God above all gods, and that no other god had any power against Him.
So here comes Moses and Aaron, saying, “This is what the Lord, The God of Israel says, ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” (Exodus 5:1) Pharaoh responds with “Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him, and let Israel go?” He continues that he did not know this God and would not let Israel go. It seemed like a simple request, didn’t it? But think about it. The Israelites were the slaves that made life easy for the Egyptians. They did all the labor, all the building, laundry, cooking, farming and probably even made the linen that the Egyptians favored for clothing. Why would he want to let them go? Later on, we will see just how many Israelites left Egypt. According to Exodus 12:37, the number of men alone is about six hundred thousand. Now that is just the men. We’ll talk more about that number when we get to chapter 12.
It’s no wonder Pharaoh didn’t want to let the people go. They told him that God had met with them and wanted them to take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to Him or “. . . He may strike them with plagues or with the sword.” (Exodus 5:3) That didn’t convince Pharaoh one bit. He scolded them. Told them to get back to work. All this talk of a journey to the wilderness was stopping them from working. Moses and Aaron left. Then Pharaoh ordered that more work be put on the slaves. Instead of straw being supplied for the making of bricks, the slaves had to find the straw for themselves, and their quota of brick would be the same. His excuse? They are lazy or they wouldn’t be thinking of sacrificing to their God or listening to the lies of Moses and Aaron. The people were informed of Pharaoh’s words. The Israelites scattered all over the land to find the straw needed to make the bricks.
Now making bricks with straw has been found on the walls of tombs at Thebes. It shows Israelites making bricks with straw. This was not known in Canaan prior to the Egyptian sojourn. This shows that the author of Exodus was familiar with Egyptian building practices.
This new directive of no straw being provided did not sit well with the Israelites. The Israelite overseers were beaten by the slave drivers because the quotas were not being met. The overseers appealed to Pharaoh. But he would not relent. He called them lazy. That was why they wanted to sacrifice to their God. He ordered them back to work with no reduction in the daily quota of bricks. The overseers went to Moses and Aaron and accused them of making them despicable in the eyes of the Pharaoh. Sadly, blaming Moses for their troubles would become a repetitive refrain for the Israelites.
Moses went to God, asking why He has brought such trouble to the people.
God had told Moses that Pharaoh would not easily let the Israelites go. It seems as though Moses thought this would be one and done. Moses did not realize that the struggle had barely begun. Moses, just as we do, needed to realize that sometimes the Lord permits hardship and suffering for His plan to unfold. But even though it looks like chaos, God is still in control. Moses was not seeing the whole picture. God was going to prove to Egypt that He was the only God. God was going to show His glory to Egypt and to the Israelites.
We leave Moses questioning God. Again. Moses just didn’t have the faith that God knew what He was doing. Yet. Moses believed in God. He believed what God promised But he did not yet trust God to do what He said he would.
Do you trust God?
Father God, Thank You for Your Word today. Help us to not just believe You but also to trust You. Help us rely on Your Word. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food for Thought
- Why did the Israelites initially blame Moses for their suffering?
- If you were in their place, how would you have responded? Really?
- Why do you think that Pharaoh refuse to let the Israelites go to the wilderness to sacrifice to God?
- Do you often blame someone else when God doesn’t respond to your prayers the way you want Him to? Why or why not?
- Being completely honest with yourself, do you expect God to answer your prayers quickly? Why or why not?
