Exodus 5:1-23

5:1 After that, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the LORD – the God of Israel – says, ‘Let my people go, so 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 labor.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “See, the people of the land are now many, and you are making them rest from their labor!” ⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, ⁷ “You shall no longer provide straw for the people to make bricks, as you have in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But you shall impose on them the same number of bricks that they made in the past, you will not reduce it, because they are lazy. 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 at all.’” ¹² So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Finish your work, your daily task each day, just 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 lazy, you are lazy; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ ¹⁸ Go now and get to 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 will not reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” ²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who stood before 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 eyes 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 Because 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.”

resistance to the miracle

The LORD knew that the Israelites would encounter resistance from Pharaoh. He knew that the king’s stubborn heart would resist the freedom that he wanted for his people. Pharaoh’s excuse for mistreating them was that all this religious talk was just laziness. Pharaoh saw it as a threat to himself and his kingdom, so he pretended to brand it as irrelevant. But he did not really treat it as irrelevant. He took action against it, because he knew it was a challenge to the loyalty that he had always known.

When you decide that you have had enough of your bondage, and you declare that you want to go and serve the LORD, expect some resistance to that miracle. The king you have been serving (while you thought it was just yourself) is going to sit up and take notice. He’s going to make it tough on you.

LORD, give us the courage to brave the resistance we will find when we dare to seek freedom from Satan’s bondage in our lives.