Exodus 5:1-23 - Resistance to Deliverance

Exodus 5:1-23

First Encounter with Pharaoh

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.”

3 So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”

10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’” 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” 14 Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? 16 There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

17 But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18 Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” 19 And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

20 Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Israel’s Deliverance Assured (Exodus 3:1—4:17)

22 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

Moses went to Pharaoh as commanded and told him straight to let God’s people go to worship Him outside of Egypt.  The king flatly refused the God he did not know or acknowledge and would not listen to.  How many people in this world have this same view of blinded eyes groping in the darkness while refusing to hear or acknowledge their sin and God’s grace of deliverance from its consequences!  When we tell them that the God of the Bible has met with us and called us to worship Him, they likewise tell themselves and all who hear to get back to their work in the world system instead of submitting to God’s work in His Son to be fruitful and free.  Like Pharaoh, many who hear the gospel and are opposed to the Lord will react with added burdens on themselves and demanded on others as religious or atheistic requirements.  Many struggle under the weights imposed to work their way to heaven and God  by efforts that always (Romans 3:23) fall ever short of God’s standards and requirements for deliverance from His wrath on their sin.  Pharaoh’s answer was to add more work on the children of God to add to their labor and keep them from the truth which he called false words.  How often we still hear this from those opposed to Christ and His gospel of deliverance and redemption!  The words of righteousness and truth are called evil while words of evil (Isaiah 5:20) against the Lord are mislabeled as good that others may reject God’s word and remain in bondage to sin.  Like the children of Israel in Egypt, many will complain to those bearing witness to the truth and blame them for their suffering at the hands of those keeping them from true liberty in Christ, not seeing the true motives of the adversary to stop them from knowing their sin and accountability to Him with the deliverance offered freely to them by receiving the Son of God by faith alone in His works for us.  May we who know the Lord understand these things and not question God as Moses did here, asking why He brings trouble on us when we bear witness to the truth of His deliverance.  We must understand these things as a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12, 1 Thessalonians 2:16) for men’s and women’s souls and faithfully carry on in bearing witness that some (1 Corinthians 10:33) may be saved.  May we not make our own bricks or be distracted from God’s work to build us as a holy temple (1 Peter 2:4-5) for Him to dwell and worship outside the world’s system of spiritual bondage to sin but in His kingdom instead forevermore.  We can expect resistance to deliverance when we bear witness to the truth but we also must keep our eyes on the Lord and His salvation as we endure and persevere to the end.