Exodus 5

How does the Lord work in the lives of the people He loves? Can we count on the fact that He will make our path easy once we start to acknowledge His presence and power? The elders and people of Israel had seen the signs that God was sending Moses and they believed. But afterward, when Moses and Aaron went to confront Pharaoh with the Word of the Lord, life did not become easier for God's people, but much harder.

God's Word to Pharaoh through Moses must have seemed like a great affront to that great man. Actually the specific words that the Lord had spoken in the prior chapter were even more direct. God had said, “Let my son (Israel) go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.” But here Moses and Aaron say, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.” Were God's messengers easing into their role as ambassadors? Pharaoh's response was clear: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”

Now what? Moses and Aaron sound like they are planning a worship experience in the wilderness. Are they leaving the impression that they will return to Egypt after they have completed their brief time away?

Whether they are leaning on their own understanding too much here, or are simply saying what God has told them to say in this first stage of engagement with Pharaoh, we can say this with confidence: They did not get the response that they wanted. Moses and Aaron went on to express concern for their own safety, rather than speaking about what would happen to Pharaoh's son. “Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

The king was not in a charitable mood. Moses and Aaron were getting in the way of his work plans for the Israelites. He blamed Moses and Aaron: “You make them rest from their burdens!” That same day he made the burdens of the Israelites much more severe. Where is the Lord in all this? Of course, He had warned Moses from the beginning that Pharaoh would not let the people go. But He had not told them the part about conditions getting worse before the Israelites received deliverance from their captors. Now they have to continue to produce the same number of bricks, but they have to gather the raw material, straw, themselves. They are also being accused of laziness. And why? Because of these men Moses and Aaron. That is the way that Pharaoh will deal with people that try to get in the way of his oppression of his slaves. He does not fear the God of the Hebrews. “Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” He will aim to make the people turn against the ambassadors of God.

Pharaoh did one other thing. He abused the foreman that had charge over the Israelites. He beat them and made unreasonable demands against them. This is the way an oppressor demoralizes those under his power. The goal is to move the foremen to turn against Moses and Aaron, leading all of the people with them in their attack. Pharaoh will not be their common enemy. God's ambassadors, Moses and Aaron, will be the ones that the Hebrews want to kill. Pharaoh will make it clear that the reason that these new demands are being pressed upon the people is the message that he received from Moses and Aaron. He will try to turn the people against the Word of God and against the messengers of that Word. If Moses and Aaron thought that they could ease into this role of speaking for God, it surely has not worked. Pharaoh spreads this madness: “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.”

The reaction of the foremen is just what Pharaoh would have wanted. They turn on Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Moses turns to God in great distress. The foremen blame Moses, and Moses blames God.

He questions the Lord. “Why have you done evil to this people?” That is a very complicated question. It is true that the madness of Pharaoh is evil. It is also true that God is sovereign over Pharaoh. But it is too early to decide that God has done evil to His people. God heard their cries, and He is delivering them out of bondage. The actions of the Lord will be clearer when Joshua leads them into The Promised Land. We must not judge the goodness of God to His church based on our present moment of trial.

The second question is more personal. “Why did you ever send me?” Moses is confused by the Lord's providence and distressed with the trouble and division that have come through His speech to Pharaoh.

The Redeemer of Jews and Gentiles has come. He faced great suffering. The first results of His great teaching and miracles were not particularly encouraging, The faithful church that follows Him can still expect tribulation even to this day. But one day our Joshua will bring us into The Promised Land above. That will be a good time to rightly assess the Lord's plans. Until that day, we follow the path of a crucified and risen King. What He tells us to preach, we proclaim before all men. We follow Him in the way of the cross. Our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that is ahead of us in heaven.