Exodus 5

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.

Exodus: Israel becomes a nation

The *Israelites leave Egypt

Exodus Chapter s 1 to 18

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 5 Moses and Aaron visit *Pharaoh – verses 1-5

v1 Afterwards Moses and Aaron went to see *Pharaoh. ‘This is what the *LORD, *Israel’s God, says’, they told him. ‘ “Let my people go into the *desert. They must *worship me there. They must have a *feast to give me honour.” ’

v2 But *Pharaoh replied to them. ‘Who is the *LORD? Why should I obey him? Why should I let the *Israelites go? I do not know the *LORD. And I will not let *Israel’s people go.’

v3 They told him, ‘The *Hebrews’ God has met with us. Now let us go on a journey that lasts about three days. We want to go into the *desert to give gifts to the *LORD our God. If we do not obey him, he may send upon us terrible diseases or war.’

v4 But Egypt’s king would not listen. ‘Moses and Aaron, you want to take the people away from their work. Get back to work!’ he said. v5 ‘There are large numbers of your people in my country. And you are preventing them, so that they are not working for me.’

Verse 1-2 Moses and Aaron went to see *Pharaoh. But God had told Moses to take *Israel’s leaders with him too (Exodus 3:18). Their first request to *Pharaoh was that they could go into the *desert. Later they spoke about a ‘three day journey’. *Pharaoh said that he did not know the *LORD. He was the *Hebrew God, and *Pharaoh showed angry surprise at their request. Those *Hebrews were expecting *Pharaoh to obey their God! Exodus 8:26-27 explains the reason why they wanted to go into the *desert. That *feast and *worship could not happen in Egypt because it would offend the *Egyptians. The *Israelites would kill cows and give them to God. But the cow was special and holy to the *Egyptian false god called Isis. So the *Egyptians would never kill a cow. Moses and Aaron said that their God could punish them. If they did not obey him, God would send terrible troubles. He would send dangerous diseases, or they would die in a war.

Verses 4-5 ‘Your people in the country’ meant the *Israelites who were working in *Pharaoh’s country. He said that there were many of them. The *Egyptians’ fear was that the *Israelites would increase even more. Then there would be more *Israelite slaves in Egypt than the *Egyptian people (Exodus 1:10; Exodus 1:12). That kind of fear exists in many places. It is responsible for many rules that governments make. They want to control the number of foreign people who enter their countries. *Pharaoh accused Moses and Aaron. They were preventing the *Israelites so that they could not work for him.

Bricks without straw – verses 6-14

v6 That same day *Pharaoh gave an order to the masters of the slaves. And he gave the order to the *Israelite officers who were responsible for their own people. v7 ‘Now you must not supply the workers with straw for their bricks. Force them to get their own straw. v8 But you should require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Do not reduce the number of bricks that they have to make. They are lazy. That is why they are crying out to me. “Let us go. We want to give gifts to our God.” v9 But you must make them work harder. Then they will be too busy to listen to such lies.’

v10 Then the masters of the slaves and the *Israelite officers spoke to the people. ‘This is what *Pharaoh says. “I will not continue to give you any straw. v11 Go and get your own straw. Get it anywhere that you can find it. But you must make the same number of bricks for me.” ’ v12 So the people scattered all over Egypt. They went to collect any kind of straw that they could find.

v13 The masters of the slaves continued to make the people work very hard. ‘You must complete your work’, they said. ‘Each day you must make the same number of bricks that you made before. But we will not give any more straw to you.’

v14 *Pharaoh’s masters of the slaves had made the *Israelite officers responsible for the workers. And *Pharaoh’s masters of the slaves hit the *Israelite officers. They asked the *Israelite officers this. ‘Why have your men not made the same number of bricks as before? You have not produced enough bricks either yesterday or today!’

Verses 6-9 The workers cut up straw and mixed it with the mud. It makes stronger bricks. People have found many examples of old bricks that people made out of mud. And they had pieces of straw in them. In some places, people continue to make bricks in this way. The *Israelites had to work much harder to find their own straw as well. It would take them a long time to find enough straw. But *Pharaoh said that they must produce the same number of bricks each day. He said that the *Israelites were lazy. So he wanted them to work much harder. They had no time to think. They would not remember what Moses and Aaron had promised (Exodus 4:30). *Pharaoh wanted them to think bad things about Moses and Aaron. *Pharaoh believed that their promises were lies.

Verses 10-14 The masters of the slaves and the *Israelites’ officers gave *Pharaoh’s message to the *Israelites. Now the people had to search everywhere for straw. They used even ‘stubble’. And ‘stubble’ is small pieces of stem. They remain in the ground after people have cut the corn. But the workers failed to make enough bricks. So the masters of the slaves hit the *Israelite officers.

The protest to *Pharaoh – verses 15-18

v15 Then the *Israelite officers went to see *Pharaoh. ‘Why have you acted like this towards us?’ they asked him. v16 ‘We are your servants, but we have not received any straw. However, you tell us, “Make bricks!” The masters of the slaves are hitting us with sticks. But the blame belongs to your own people.’

v17 ‘Lazy! You are lazy!’ *Pharaoh replied. ‘You do not want to work. That is why you say to me again and again, “Let us go into the *desert. We want to give gifts to the *LORD.” v18 Now return to work! We will not give you any straw. But you must produce the same number of bricks.’

Verses 15-16 ‘The blame belongs to your own people.’ The *Israelite officers protested to *Pharaoh. Their situation was not fair. The *Egyptians had not given them any straw, so now the job was impossible. It was not the *Israelite’s fault. But the *Egyptian masters of the slaves were hitting the *Israelite officers.

Verses 17-18 *Pharaoh repeated his demands. He said that the *Israelites did not want to work for him. He said that they were lazy. That was why they were asking for a holiday.

The men who were responsible for the workers complain – verses 19-21

v19 The *Israelite officers were in trouble. They realised that, because*Pharaoh expected them to produce the same number of bricks each day. v20 So when the officers left *Pharaoh, they went to see Moses and Aaron. And Moses and Aaron were waiting to meet them. v21 Then they spoke to Moses and Aaron. ‘The *LORD will see what you have done! We want him to punish you! You have made us become like a very bad smell to *Pharaoh and to his servants. You have given to them an excuse to kill us with their swords.’

Verse 20 The men had protested to *Pharaoh. Probably Moses and Aaron were waiting to know the result.

Verse 21 Those *Israelite officers had great difficulties. It was not their fault. They were innocent. So they wanted God to be their judge. They blamed Moses and Aaron as the cause of their awful situation. The *Israelite officers had become like a very bad smell that disgusted *Pharaoh and his officers. It was clear that worse things would happen.

Moses’ prayer and God’s answer 5:22 to 6:8

v22 Moses left the men and went to pray to the *LORD. ‘*Lord, why have you brought trouble to your people? Is this why you sent me here? v23 I went to speak to *Pharaoh and I spoke your name. Since that time, he has brought trouble on your people. And you have not rescued your people yet.’