Exodus 5
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “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.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. 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.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” 10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?” 15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” 22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”
Tony Evans once asked his congregation to imagine with him that a man calls his son in and asks his son to take the trash out.[1] “Oh, yes!” his son exclaims. “I will take the trash out. You are so wise and so wonderful. I love your commandments. I will take the trash out!”
The son finishes speaking and the father and son stare at each other. “Well,” the father says, “take the trash out!”
“Ah, yes!” the son responds. “Your words are so beautiful and so true. Who could doubt them? In fact that they are so beautiful that I believe they are worthy to be sung in praise!” Then the son begins to sing: “Take the trash out! Let us take the trash out! I must take the traaaaaash out! Amen!”
Again, the two stare at each other. “Son,” the father begins, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but I would like for you to take the trash out now.”
“Yes! Yes!” the boy proclaims. “Take the trash out! Only you could have asked such a thing! I love you so much and I love your word so much! I believe I will write that down and study it!” And here the boy writes down his father’s words in a little pad he produces from his back pocket: “Take…the…trash…out!” “Oh, father! I will read this every day! I will commit it to memory! I will hide this in my heart! Take the trash out!”
What an absurd scene, no? The father has issue a simple command, and the son, while claiming to love the father, does everything but obey. That may sound familiar to us. In fact, tragically, that little scene might be a pretty apt description of what we do in churches all the time.
Obedience can be a painful thing. Perhaps that’s why we are so hesitant to do it. Dallas Willard has written that, “the missing note in evangelical life today is not in the first instance spirituality but rather obedience.”[2] That’s a pretty good take on the current situation: spirituality without obedience. We do so love to talk spiritual talk. We even talk of having victory and a great walk with the Lord. But, as Jerry Bridges wisely said, “We pray for victory when we know we should be acting in obedience.”[3]
Moses has been charged with an amazing task: the task of walking into Egypt and demanding the freedom of the Hebrews. And, in fact, he obeys. This evening, however, we are going to consider the price of obedience and, with it, one of the reasons why we are so hesitant to do the Lord’s will.
I. The world does not understand God, the people of God, or the need for obeying God. (v.1-5)
I would like for us to begin with a very simple fact: the world does not understand God, the people of God, or the need for obeying God. That fact becomes abundantly evident in Moses’ initial clash with Pharaoh.
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”
It should be pointed out here that, at that time, religious minorities were granted some degree of freedom to worship in Egyptian society. So Moses and Aaron are simply asking Pharaoh to grant the same liberties to the Hebrews that he has granted to others. Of course, the Hebrews are no mere minority. They are, in fact, as we have already seen, a large group of people that Pharaoh believes He must subjugate lest they rise up against him.
What is more interesting is the fact that Moses, once again, is, at best, telling a half-truth and, at worst, lying. On the face of them, his words would seem to imply that they simply want some time for religious observance and that they will return. It is a half-truth because, of course, they will worship God and the exodus itself is an act of trust in God. But, as we know and as Moses knows, the Lord wants much more than this. He wants His people free.
Pharaoh, of course, will have none of it.
2 But Pharaoh said, “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.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. 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.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!”
Pharaoh’s question is crucial because it helps us understand not only his reaction but the reaction of the world to Christian obedience today as well. Simply put, Pharaoh doesn’t know God and, for that reason, is utterly disinterested in Moses’ desire to obey God. There is disdain in his voice. “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord.” Moses tries again, this time, once again, veiling the whole truth. He suggests that the Lord is an angry God who will strike Israel if they don’t do their religious duties. It would have been much more honest to say that God will strike Pharaoh if he doesn’t let Israel go.
Pharaoh is unmoved and clearly irritated: “Get back to your burdens.” This is the equivalent of, “Oh good grief! Enough of this religious nonsense! Get back to the real world and do your task.”
May I suggest to you that this has always been the posture of the world towards the people of God? Even at times in our country’s history when there was more of a cultural respect for Christianity, the lost heart has never understood the redeemed heart. And now we see this clearly as the last vestiges of the old Bible belt are slipping away. I do not meant to sound alarmist when I say that American culture is closer to Egypt today than it has ever been: it is a culture that does not understand or value the things of God.
We must understand this fact or we will continue the lamentable and silly tradition of Christian outrage at the incredulity of the lost. Brothers and sister in Christ, the world simply does not care that you are here. They do not understand your being here. All of our talk of “God’s Word” and “the cross” and “walking with Jesus” are just religious mumblings to the world, even though they are life to us. They are irritated by it because they have never experienced it. It is a foreign intrusion into the worldview of modernity. “Oh just stop that mumbo jumbo and get back to work.” That’s what Pharaoh said. That’s what the world says today.
I press this issue because it somehow seems to me that many believers still think that American culture should grant some legitimacy to Christian belief and practice. Yes, it was nice when that did happen, culturally speaking. But it likely only spoiled the church and deceived the lost into thinking they were actually saved. I think that unnerving feeling that many people are experiencing today is simply the result of seeing the world’s true feelings towards the gospel naked and unmasked. Many of you have grown up in situations when this was not the case.
In my own lifetime I remember when there was greater cultural respect for Christianity, but not now. We are in Egypt. We are in first century Rome. The lords of the world will grant no respect to the things or the people of God. As Pharaoh said, so says the world: “I do not know the Lord.” This absence of cultural concessions can either be seen as a great tragedy, or it can be seen as a great opportunity. At the very least, everybody is being more honest these days about what they think of God and His people. What will we do in the face of that fact?
II. Obedience in a hostile culture oftentimes brings greater suffering to God’s people. (v.6-19)
Moses and Aaron learn a hard lesson. It’s one we must learn too. Observe the result of their obedience.
6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” 10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?” 15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”
That is a legitimate question: “Why do you treat your servants like this?” To use an exhausted cliché, we feel the Hebrews pain! We would have said the same. What did they do to warrant such harsh and unreasonable treatment? Their minds must have reeled with confusion and guesses. Did somebody insult Pharaoh? Have we not worked hard enough?
In truth, the answer to their question is found at the end of Exodus 4 where we see their reaction to Moses’ and Aaron’s arrival and proclamation of deliverance. Do you remember?
29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
There is the answer as to why they were being treated such. They were being treated this way because they set their feet on the path of deliverance and, as we have seen, that is a path the world despises. They are suffering for their faith. They are suffering for obedience. They realize this when Pharaoh answers them thus:
17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.”
Ah! There it is! They are being treated in this way because they want to worship their God. And how does Pharaoh know this? Because Moses and Aaron went and proclaimed it to Pharaoh. And why did they proclaim this? Because God sent them and the people trusted them.
So here, initially, their obedience leads to suffering. It is a difficult truth to grasp. Teresa of Avila once famously said, “If this is how God treats his friends, no wonder he has so few of them!” If we’re honest, we have perhaps sometimes felt that way.
In truth, obedience in a hostile culture oftentimes brings greater suffering to God’s people. This is difficult for us to grasp because, in our country, there are whole Christian movements that seem dedicated to the exact opposite idea: that obedience and faith bring material blessings. You can see that in our Christian bookstores, where the titles often reflect self-help philosophies and “name-it-claim-it” heresies. You can see that in Christian movies where everything just seems to work out for those who trust in God.
But guess what? Sometimes, when you walk with God, things don’t get easier but harder. Sometimes the cancer isn’t miraculously healed. Sometimes the couple isn’t finally able to have a baby. Sometimes the kicker misses the game winning field goal. Sometimes the promotion doesn’t happen.
Sometimes you get fired for following Jesus. Sometimes you lose your spouse. Sometimes you get killed. Sometimes not, but sometimes so. Sometimes Pharaoh stops giving you straw for bricks and increases your workload.
Have we forgotten that the reward of obedience is in the act itself, in the privilege of simply following our King? Have we forgotten that present suffering does not negate the goodness of God or the promise of God or the offer of future glory? Have we reached the point where we will determine the goodness of God’s decrees on the basis of what they win for us here and now?
Our brother Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4, wrote this:
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
The Hebrews wanted deliverance, but what they wanted primarily was deliverance from suffering. But sometimes the path of deliverance goes through the gate of greater suffering.
III. To be obedient is to decide that the worldly price of obedience is worth the divine blessing of it. (v.20-23)
This whole chapter has been leading up to a very awkward encounter. Moses and Aaron must now stand before the Israelites to face their hurt and anger and confusion. It does not go well.
20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
As far as I can tell, this is the earliest example of “This stinks!” in human history. “You have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants!” And notice the irony of their rebuke: “The Lord look on you and judge!” What they did not realize, though, was that the Lord was looking upon Moses and Aaron and had judged their actions and had found them obedient. The Hebrews assumed that they had sinned and that God was judging their sin by bringing further pain on His people. But the exact opposite was the case: they had not sinned, they had obeyed, and the greater suffering they were enduring was the path they had to walk to be free.
It is, as we have said, a hard truth to see in the midst of the fire, and even Moses cannot see it.
22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”
In truth, this is a terrifying statement. Moses accuses the Lord of evil. He does so on two bases: (1) that God allowed greater suffering to fall on His people and (2) that God had not yet delivered His people as He said He would. He is, in other words, condemning God because He was not doing things in the manner that he, Moses, and the Hebrews thought and assumed He would.
It is a natural reaction and one we should not be too quick to condemn. Of course it is wrong, and accusing God of evil is a sin, but Moses is speaking out of the deepest depths of his own agony. The Lord can handle Moses’ honesty. The Lord knows that Moses does not see the full picture, but that he soon will. And the Lord knows that Moses too must be delivered from his own darkened understanding.
Obedience to God demands a hard decision on the front end. To be obedient is to decide that the worldly price of obedience is worth the divine blessing of it. Moses will have to reach the point where he decides whether or not the blessing of God is worth the pain we must sometimes go through to receive it. The Hebrews will have to reach the same point.
And so will we.
The question confronting the church in every age is precisely this question: will we obey God even in light of the costs of doing so? Were it to cost us our lives to follow, would we follow? Were it to cost us our families to obey, would we obey? Were it to mean a life of hardship and depravation, would we still bow before our King?
I pray the answer is yes. It should be. It must be. And for this reason: because despite all of our fears and doubts and anger, in point of fact God is good.
God is gracious.
God is kind.
God is faithful.
God has not forgotten us.
God is not playing games with us.
God is not sadistic.
God is not experimenting on us.
God is worthy of our praise.
God is worthy of our trust.
God is worthy of our obedience.
Let us follow our King.