#13 – Exodus 5:1-21
When the Going Gets Harder
Success! Moses and Aaron have performed the signs to authenticate the message of the G-d of Israel to His people. The children of Israel believed! They bowed and worshiped the G-d of their fathers. But a tougher audience awaits.
Before Pharaoh
The next stop for Moses and Aaron: Pharaoh’s office. We don’t have details about how long they waited for an audience with the king of Egypt or if they gave a reason for seeking an appointment.
Think of this. Moses and Aaron are representing a foreign deity (and one identified with a subjugated people, at that). In His name they will demand Pharaoh’s labor force be granted a religious holiday. In starkest terms they make their pronouncement to a powerful ruler: “Thus says the L-RD, the G-d of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness’” (Exodus 5:1.)
“I do not know the L-RD”
The warm reception the Jewish people had given to this message from the L-RD is not mirrored in the palace. Pharaoh’s scornful response: “Who is the L-RD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the L-RD, and besides, I will not let Israel go”[1] (Exodus 5:2).
A command from the G-d of the Hebrews hasn’t worked. Moses and Aaron explain further, this time in the form of a request. “Please let us go . . . .”
They reason with the king that it’s only a trip of three days into the desert for a worship service. (They’ll be back within a week; what would that hurt?) And, after all, they don’t want to make G-d angry – or pestilence and sword may result. (Exodus 5:3.)
But Pharaoh’s not buying it. “Get back to work!” (Exodus 5:4.)
As did his predecessor 80 years prior, this Egyptian potentate has taken note of how large the Hebrew population is. Losing even a day’s work from this labor force is not something he’s likely to consider. (Exodus 5:5.)
From bad to worse
The lives of the slaves already had been bitter enough to cause sighing, crying and groaning. (Exodus 2:24-25.) Conditions were about to get much worse.
Was it the insult of being ordered around by the G-d of a slave people that set off Egypt’s king? Pharaoh calls together his taskmasters and the Hebrew foremen they had appointed to supervise the work. The decree is handed down that henceforth the Hebrews need to gather the straw to make the bricks used for construction. Oh, and no dip in the production output will be tolerated. (Exodus 5:6-9.)
Word gets passed down to the Jewish people, who now spread out over Egypt in search of straw. The taskmasters bear down on them, berating them for failing to meet the fixed production quotas. (Exodus 5:10-14.)
No rescue in sight
The Hebrew foremen plead their case before Pharaoh who will hear none of it. “You are lazy, very lazy; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the L-RD.’” (Exodus 5:15-18.)
No lessening of pressure, no relief in sight. The foremen know they are in deep difficulty. And they are being blamed for the request for time off for a religious observance. (Exodus 5:19.)
What comes next is a very human response to hardship: pushback against leadership. The foremen’s appeals to Pharaoh were futile. Now Moses and Aaron are the targets of their anger. “May the L-RD look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (Exodus 5:20-21).
Fear factor/Misery Index
Exodus 4 ended with the Hebrews holding a praise and worship service to the L-RD, with the expectation of a quick delivery from what has been generations of bondage. We end this portion of Scripture with the Jewish people enduring greater misery than before Moses and Aaron showed up to declare G-d’s love and purpose. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Proverbs 13:12).
Where is G-d?
Pharaoh’s response to Moses and Aaron’s “Thus says the L-RD” is a snorted, “Who is the L-RD that I should obey His voice?” (Exodus 5:2a.)
Lightning doesn’t fall from the sky. The earth doesn’t open up and swallow Pharaoh. But take note: the king’s sneering dismissal of the G-d of Israel will not go unanswered.
A number of conversations are recorded in Exodus 5 – but G-d is silent here. He has already stated to Moses that the road ahead will be rough.[2] (Exodus 3:19; 4:21.)
For the L-RD everything is on schedule. The assumptions, desires, and expectations of the children of Israel don’t align with the divine timetable. Suffering humanity wants deliverance yesterday!
We measure life with a stopwatch; G-d uses a calendar to mark time. “For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4).
[1] At this point, had we been granted a quick scene change to the halls of heaven, we might hear G-d saying with a smile, “It’s true, Pharaoh; you don’t know Me. But you will . . . !”
[2] And God had told Abraham that his descendants would be oppressed in a land not their own for 400 years (Genesis 15:13).
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