Exodus 5:4

Get you unto your burdens.

Wrong judgment

Good men are often wrongly judged:--

1. In respect to their motives.

2. Actions.

3. Writings. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The claims of religion

You will observe that God gave a command, and Pharaoh refused either to obey the command, or to pay anything like respect unto it,

I. Let us consider what it is that God requires. In the case of Israel we see that He requires what I may sum up in three particulars.

1. He requires that they should acknowledge Him publicly as their God; that is the first principle. “Let My people go, that they may hold,” etc.

2. He requires of Israel that there should be a marked acceptance of His way of reconciliation. “Let us go and sacrifice unto the Lord our God.” From the very first when man sinned, there was God’s revealed way by which the sinner must come near to Him; and, therefore, the feast that was to be held unto Jehovah, was a feast that was to be founded upon sacrifice.

3. God requires that everything else should give way and yield to the discharge of these required duties. They were to go at once to Pharaoh, and ask his permission to go and obey God’s commands, and to sacrifice unto Him as their Lord. They were not to be withheld from doing this by their knowledge of Pharaoh’s tyrannical disposition. They were not to be withheld by the remembrance of their worldly duties, or of the hardships and the toils connected with these duties. Now is there anything peculiar to Israel and to God’s requirements of Israel in all this? Do we not see, underlying this narrative, a principle which is universally applicable to all those to whom God’s message comes? What doth the Lord require of us, to whom the word of this salvation is sent? Does He not demand of us acknowledgment, acceptance of His salvation, and immediate decision?

II. But now what does man think of the requirements of God? Let us answer this question by referring to the case of Pharaoh. Pharaoh said, “Ye be idle; therefore ye say, let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord. Therefore now go and work.” And then again, “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.” And again, “Let more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein, and let them not regard vain words.” What is the meaning of this language? May I not render it truly, but simply, when I say that in Pharaoh’s mind there was an opinion that there was no need of so much religion? “Let them go and work”; there was no need of going to sacrifice to the Lord their God. And then when he heard God’s threatenings to those who neglected His commands, how did Pharaoh feel then? He maintains that there is no danger in neglecting the supposed commands of God in this matter. He thinks them vain words, all about God’s threatenings to those who do not acknowledge Him, and who do not accept His terms of reconciliation. “All these are vain words, pay no attention to them, go and work.” That was Pharaoh’s way of thinking. And then, further, he thought that there was no sincerity in those who professed to want to worship God. “Ye are idle; therefore ye cry, Let us go and sacrifice. You do not mean to go and sacrifice; you do not want to go and sacrifice; it is your idleness, your hypocrisy.” So that you will observe Pharaoh thought thus of God’s requirements; first, that there was no need of them; secondly, that there was no danger in neglecting them; and thirdly, that those who professed did not intend to worship, they did not mean what they said. Now is Pharaoh at all singular in the ideas which are thus attributed to him? Is it not still the case that an unconverted man acts in the same way as Pharaoh acted? And then when Pharaoh is reminded of the awful language in which God speaks to those who neglect His requirements, and His judgments against those who know not the Lord, and who obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, what does Pharaoh, and what do unconverted men now say, but that in their opinion all these are vain words? Pharaoh thought they were vain words; and so do men now. (W. Cadman, M. A.)

Egyptian bondage in the metropolis

I. Now, dark as this picture is, I do not hesitate to say that it is faithfully reproduced at the present time. You may see the same thing any day in this metropolis. The bondsmen, whose lives are now made bitter with hard bondage, are the artizans who make the garments you now have on; the men, the women, the children, who minister to your fashions and your luxuries; the shopmen and shopwomen who wait on your convenience, the industrial classes in general, by whose toil this country is rich and luxurious, who are forced to spend the marrow of their strength, and make their lives short and bitter, in providing superfluities for others. The Pharaoh at whose bidding all this is done is the spirit of commerce, that lust of filthy lucre, that morbid and unbridled zeal of competition, which reigns supreme over so large a portion of the world of business.

II. Let us therefore inquire whether any remedy can be applied to these great and sore evils? Can we individually or collectively do anything towards delivering our brethren from these oppressions and wrongs? Now, it appears to me that there is but one perfect and thorough remedy, and that is the dethronement of the Pharaoh who tyrannizes so cruelly over his subjects; I mean the overthrow of that vicious commercial spirit which has enslaved the great mass of the public. If this were done, if every one traded in a fair and legitimate manner, if every one dealt by others as he would wish to be dealt by himself, if no one entered into the arena of dishonest and ruinous competition, if every employer were as determined to give fair wages to his workpeople, as to secure a fair profit to himself; if these principles were universal, then oppressions would cease in our midst, and our courts and alleys would be the abodes of happiness. But this is not to be yet. The evil and the good will be mingled together until the harvest, which is the end of the world. We can only hope at present for improvements and palliatives. Now--

1. With respect to shopkeepers, much evil might be remedied if all the members of each several trade would meet together and bind themselves by a mutual covenant not to keep their shops open beyond a certain reasonable hour.

2. To shop-assistants and operatives, I would suggest that the members of each trade or establishment might with great]propriety express their opinions on the subject in a manly and temperate spirit to their employers.

3. And now to the large class of persons who are ordinary purchasers--the public in general--I would say, it is in supplying your wants or conveniences, that all this competition, and oppression, and cruelty is engendered. Much good might be effected by a determination on the part of purchasers never to buy after a certain reasonable hour.

III. The restricting of the hours of labour. Within just and reasonable limits would be the cause of immense benefit not only to the labouring man, but to all classes. I believe that the employers would be gainers even in a money point of view by the improvements now advocated. The men would work with more spirit and energy, because they would feel that they were men, because they would be in a much higher physical condition than when they were overtasked; they would labour with more cheerfulness and good will; the work would be done more skilfully, because with more sustained attention. There would be less drunkenness amongst the men, because in the intervals of labour they would feel less exhausted and have less craving for stimulus. Then, again, the public would be gainers. They would be better served; articles of commerce would not be cheaper possibly, but they would be better in quality, and therefore really cheaper in the end. Moreover, the country would be a gainer, by having a strong, energetic, and numerous race of labouring men, in the stead of thy present pale, jaded, and dyspeptic race. Lastly, the Church of Christ would gain many members. There is scarcely any greater hindrance to the progress of religion amongst our industrial classes than this Egyptian system of overtasking the strength. How can that man give due attention to his religious duties on Sunday who is exhausted and prostrate by a week of excessive toil? (J. Tagg, M. A.)

Folly of unwise exaction

The llama, or guanaco (Auchenia llama), is found among the recesses of the Andes. In the silver mines his utility is very great, as he frequently carries the metal from the mines in places where the declivities are so steep that neither asses nor mules can keep their footing. The burden carried by this useful animal, the camel of the New World, should not exceed from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five pounds. If the load be too heavy he lies down, and no force or persuasion will induce him to resume his journey until the excess be removed. Thus he teaches us the uuwisdom of endeavouring to exact too much from those who are willing to serve us well. (Scientific Illustrations.)

Pharaoh’s complaint

That complaint has been made by a good many interested employers since the days of Pharaoh. “How these evangelists do hinder trade”! “What a clog on business this revival is!” “How much money these missionary causes do divert from the shopkeepers!” “This Sunday-go-to-meeting notion takes the profits off of the menagerie; or of the agricultural fair!” “These thanksgivings and fast-days interfere wretchedly with steady work!” “Why can’t things go on regular, week in and week out, without any bother about religion?” This is the way the Pharaoh class looks at attention to God’s service. But is it the right way? (S. S. Times.)