Pharaoh Defies The Lord And Oppresses Israel

[Walter and Deborah]

Friday 11-13-20 Cheshvan 26, 5781 6th. day of the weekly cycle,

53rd. Fall Day

 

Pharaoh Defies The Lord And Oppresses Israel: Exodus Five:1-23

 

◄ Exodus Five ►

King James Bible Par ▾

 

Pharaoh's First Refusal

 

1And 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. 2And 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. 3And 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. 4And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

 

Bricks and Straw

 

6And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 7Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8And 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. 9Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

 

10And 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. 11Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 14And 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?

 

The Israelites' Cry

 

15Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 16There 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. 17But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. 18Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. 19And 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. 20And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21And 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.

 

22And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23For 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 Six:1-30 The LORD Remembers His Covenant 1-13,

Moses And Aaron Sent To Pharaoh 14-30

 

Love always, Walter and Debbie

[Tzephanyahu]

Shalom @Walter and Deborah

Man, how I cringe for Pharaoh when he says...

18 hours ago, Walter and Deborah 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. 

My dear boy, how you will live to regret that sentiment and prideful response!  He would soon go on to say...

“Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship Yahweh, as you have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.” - Exodus 12:31-32

What a change in attitude.  

Israel's response goes from humility and worship (Exodus 4:31) to claiming Moses should be judged by Yahweh (Exodus 5:21) and even ignoring the Word of Yahweh (Exodus 6:9). Again, what a change in attitude.

With enemies against him from all sides, Moses done the wisest thing a man could do...

18 hours ago, Walter and Deborah said:

And Moses returned unto the LORD...

But I wonder if this meant he literally went back to Mount Horeb?  At this stage, Moses might have thought he needed to communicate with Yahweh at a specific location, which is an interesting insight into his journey of discovery of Yahweh.

Love & Shalom

[Walter and Deborah]

12 hours ago, Tzephanyahu said:

On 11/13/2020 at 8:31 AM, Walter and Deborah said:

And Moses returned unto the LORD...

But I wonder if this meant he literally went back to Mount Horeb?  At this stage, Moses might have thought he needed to communicate with Yahweh at a specific location, which is an interesting insight into his journey of discovery of Yahweh.

Love & Shalom

Adam Clarke Commentary

And Moses returned unto the Lord - This may imply, either that there was a particular place into which Moses ordinarily went to commune with Jehovah; or it may mean that kind of turning of heart and affection to God, which every pious mind feels itself disposed to practice in any time or place. The old adage will apply here: "A praying heart never lacks a praying place." Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? - It is certain that in this address Moses uses great plainness of speech. Whether the offspring of a testy impatience and undue familiarity, or of strong faith which gave him more than ordinary access to the throne of his gracious Sovereign, it would be difficult to say. The latter appears to be the most probable, as we do not find, from the succeeding chapter, that God was displeased with his freedom; we may therefore suppose that it was kept within due bounds, and that the principles and motives were all pure and good. However, it should be noted, that such freedom of speech with the Most High should never be used but on very special occasions, and then only by his extraordinary messengers.

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Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Exodus 5:22". "The Adam Clarke Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/exodus-5.html. 1832.

 

Love, Walter

[Hands On]

Of course there could be many interpretations with regard to vv 23 and 23 and after digging about a bit, I find this explanation by David Guzik quite acceptable in that it all seems to boil down to faith in God's promises no matter what comes our way .Guzik writes "3. (Exo_5:22-23) Moses complains about the problem to God.
So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”
a. Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Moses is good in his example of boldly pouring out his heart to God; but he fell short in remembering God’s promise.
b. Neither have You delivered Your people at all: Back at the burning bush, God said: But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. (Exo_3:19-20) As far as God is concerned, everything is moving according to plan.
i. Even though God warned Moses, it seems he hoped it would all come easy. Moses wished that he would ask, Pharaoh would say “yes” and God would be glorified. Why else would Moses say to God, neither have You delivered Your people at all?
c. Why is it You have sent me? In this tough time, the same old fears came crashing in on Moses: “I’m not the man God should send.” “God won’t come through.” “Pharaoh and the Egyptians are too strong.” There was still unbelief and lack of focus on God that had to be cleared out of Moses.
i. “The agony of soul through which Moses passed must have been as death to him. He died to his self-esteem, to his castle-building, to pride in his miracles, to the enthusiasm of his people, to everything that a popular leader loves. As he lay there on the ground alone before God, wishing himself back in Midian, and thinking himself hardly used, he was falling as a grain of wheat into the ground to die, no longer to abide alone, but to bear much fruit.” (Meyer)
ii. Moses probably thought that the dying to himself was finished after 40 years of tending sheep in Midian, but it wasn’t. It never is. God still will use adversity to train us to trust in Him until the day we go to be with Him in heaven."(Guzik.David.e-Sword.softonic.com2018.Web.