Exodus 5:1-23
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
22 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.
Exodus 5:1. Moses and Aaron, accompanied by the elders, as in Exodus 6:26, went to Pharaoh.
Exodus 5:2. Who is Jehovah? I know not JEHOVAH. The mythology of the gentiles supposed every city, and every country or nation to have its own god, or rather goddess, mothers being supposed to be more tender-hearted than fathers. Thus Minerva was supposed to be the presiding divinity over Athens; and Diana to be the goddess of the Ephesians. Thus we find Moses accommodating himself to the ideas of the Egyptians in saying, “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us.” Exodus 3:6.
Exodus 5:3. Three days' journey, the distance to Horeb. Pharaoh was a wicked man, and therefore God proposed the emancipation of his people in the easiest form. The request was not unreasonable, for God had rights as well as the king.
Exodus 5:6. Taskmasters, or exacters. They were Egyptians; but the officers or overlookers were Israelites, as appears from the fourteenth verse.
Exodus 5:7. Ye shall no more give the people straw. In Egypt the people use straw and chaff for their ovens; the straw was here used to burn the bricks, and to preserve the mass of clay from drying too fast. Hence the tasks, by the refusal of straw, were almost doubled. The clay was mixed with straw, and often only dried in the sun; but all the bricks exposed to the weather were burned.
REFLECTIONS.
The grand links of the chain which led to Israel's redemption, appear more and more in sight. In the first place, St. Paul seems to have classed Moses among those, who out of weakness waxed strong. At first he feared greatly, but now he feared not the wrath of the king. They most assuredly make the best ministers and servants of God, who enter on his ways and work with a proper degree of scrupulosity and diffidence.
In Pharaoh, who despised the Lord and rejected his servants, we have the genuine portrait of a wicked man. When addressed by ministers to abandon his unlawful gains, and reform his wicked courses; all the pride of his heart rises into high revolt. He exalts his own will above the divine law, and says, by his conduct, Who is the Lord that I should obey him? Thus he goes on, hardened the more by impunity, and setting the thunderbolts of Jehovah at defiance, till the vengeance which overtook Pharaoh falls on his head.
In Israel, groaning beneath the accumulated bondage of Egypt, we have a figure of the awakened sinner, with a law-work on his mind, groaning for deliverance. The more he sees his bondage, the more he sighs for redemption; and the more he wishes to reform, the more is the carnal mind irritated against the work of grace on his heart; and the bondage of sin is worse than the Egyptian servitude. So the arduous conflict is described in the seventh chapter of the epistle to the Romans. But let the man persevere, let him call in the aids of grace, and Jesus Christ will surely deliver him from the body of that death.
The petition, in God's name, to let Israel go for the divine service, not only failed of effect, but it excited the anger of Pharaoh, and induced him to augment the afflictions of the people. Hence we learn, that mild measures having failed with very wicked men, there is no way to keep them in awe, but by the terrors of justice. It is just the same with regard to the corruptions of the flesh; the old man must be crucified with his deeds. The strong man armed and keeping the heart must be vanquished and bound by a stronger than himself, and all his goods or works destroyed. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth and crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts.
In the reproachful complaints which the Hebrew officers made against Moses, we see that unregenerate men will never bear the reproach of Christ. The carnal heart ever revolts against the cross; no man will bear persecution for his sake who has not first seen his glory, and received salvation in his name.
Let not the ministers of religion be too much discouraged, though their efforts may hitherto have proved unsuccessful; let them cry again to God like Moses, and return with vigour to the charge; for the proudest sinner shall surely bow the knee to Jesus, either for mercy or judgment. The strong and mighty arm of the Lord shall clothe itself with salvation and strength.