Thursday Night Bible Study

Exodus 5 – Exodus 6:13 

“Moses, Meet Pharaoh” • 9.30.10 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Thursday Night Bible Study

Intro.

- The people of Israel are ecstatic! Their deliverer has been revealed. God has heard their cry.

- Moses has shown them the signs that God had given to him in the far reaches of Midian. His passionate concern towards them was as a Father to a firstborn son.

- Chapter 4 ends with a celebration and a revival of spirit. Chapter 5 will become a test of their endurance and resolve.

- Deliverance was the promise of God. Patient endurance is the purpose for His people!

Text

• Exodus 5:1-3 : " Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ And Pharaoh said, 'Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.' So they said, 'The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.'" : The disparity has to be understood here. Moses and Aaron coming to Pharaoh, would be akin to two undocumented landscapers coming to the President!

- How did they come into his presence? Were appointments made? Moses says that they went in and had access to the Pharaoh.

- The scene would be fairly ridiculous to our eyes. They are relaying the message of the Lord to the Pharaoh and the initial message is “Let my people go to worship me.”

- As predicted, Pharaoh is unimpressed. "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?" One needs to see this from Pharaoh’s point of view.

- These men are representatives of a race of slaves. They have been slaves for many years. Now, their God wants to meet with them? Who does He send? These two old guys?

- It would be a stretch to say the least. Ignorant and arrogant, Pharaoh will soon become an expert in who God is.

- Moses asks for a three day weekend, a small reasonable request, with the desire that no harm would come to them.

• Exodus 5:4-9 : "Then the king of Egypt said to them, 'Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.' And Pharaoh said, Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!' So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 'You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.'" : Pharaoh can't beieve it: They have had time to cry out to God? Maybe they need more to do?

- To the Pharaoh, worship of this God was a waste of time. He measured the value of these people in what they could produce for him.

- Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters to require the same amount of bricks, but did not provide the straw as they had been doing. Straw acts as a sort of glue for the mud.

- If they are busy, then they won't consider their God again. They won’t regard false words.

- There is an interesting principle here. In order to keep the people of Israel's attention away from the Lord, he ordered that they be busier than before.

- How many have been so busied in the world that they have not had time to consider the word of the Lord?

- How often have we foregone worship for the sake of work, buying into worldly philosophy?

- How many are occupied with worldly requirements that the voice of God has been shut off?

- The more work that they had, the more that they would not heed the word of the Lord, which is true, but is regarded as false by the Pharaoh.

- The Kings of this world do not find any value in God's Word. It is falsehood to them. On the contrary, to you and I, it is the very bread of life!

• Exodus 5:10-19 : "And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, 'Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, 'Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.' Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, 'Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?' Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, 'Why are you dealing thus with your servants? There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.' But he said, 'You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.' And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, 'You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.'" : The people of Israel had had their meeting with Moses and then went to work. While they were there, Moses and Aaron had had their meeting with Pharaoh.

- I wonder if the people of Israel were readying themselves to leave. I wonder how much information they had at all. The suffering intensified and they did not know why.

- They also had access to the Pharaoh, likely through labor representation.

- They were beaten and treated worse than normal and they wondered why this was happening? In their thinking, the problem was with the Egyptians.

- They had stopped giving straw, which forced the people to find what they could find. The fact that they had only stubble points to this being after the harvest.

- They had to gather whatever they could find and at this point there was not much of anything left to find!

- Interesting side note here, but as archeologists unearthed some of the ruins of Raamses and Pithom, as they got closer to the higher levels, bricks were discovered with this very issue.

- Bricks on the lower levels have evenly cut straw, while the upper levels are lacking. In fact, at the highest levels, most of the bricks were only made of mud.

- This was a horribly difficult task for the Hebrews.

- Their persecution was now due to their belief in the Lord and His deliverance. Things were bad when they were treated poorly just for being Jews. Now, they were mistreated because of God!

- It has gone from bad to worse! They have committed to this idea and come to believe it. Now, they have this setback. It’s more difficult than they had imagined.

- That is often the case with anyone who makes any commitment to Christ. All of sudden there are difficulties that test our resolve, causing us to ask, “How much do I really want this?

- The Hebrews knew that they were in serious trouble!

• Exodus 5:20,21 : "Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. And they said to them, 'Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.'" : This had to be one tense meeting! Those who had represented the slaves had come to meet with the Pharaoh. After what they had heard, their shock and awe turned into out right anger.

- As they walked out, Moses and Aaron stood there to meet them. I am not sure who I would have rather faced: The angry people that I had been called to lead or the Pharaoh!

- The people confronted Moses and Aaron with this charge: "You have made them hate us! May God judge you for doing that! Your deliverance is one that will kill us!"

- They are saying in effect, may you bear the evil that has come upon us!

- Why is God allowing this? What is it that He is waiting for? He is progressively allowing the increase of tensions, which will move His people to more eagerly desire redemption.

- It's not that it had been easy in any way, but they had become used to it. They were learning to survive and even do "well" under the conditions.

- The text seems to indicate that they had even organized to a certain degree. This added tension would cause them to be eager for redemption.

- Do you find that to be the case in your life? That tension is meant to remind us that this is no place to settle down in!

- The pull of the world and the pull of Christ will gradually increase as you walk with Him! It does not get easier with time or experience!

• Exodus 5:22,23 : "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.'" : Moses also was unprepared for how things would be. He imagined a quicker fix, but that was not happening. He is frustrated as well.

- In fact, the Lord’s presence seemed to produce the opposite effect. Moses needs some strength conditioning as well. As with every leader, Moses has to trust the Lord when it’s darkest!

˚ “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.” F.B. Meyer

• Exodus 6:1 : “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.’” : God assures Moses that everything is going to plan. Pharoah will drive them out, in spite of his posturing now.

- Moses was a little too impressed by Pharaoh and not impressed enough with God!

- He is telling Moses that Pharaoh will eventually open the doors and push them out!

• Exodus 6:2-5 : “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.” : What does God say to Moses? Does He give him new information in order to settle his anxious heart?

- No. God gives him the same information that He had already given him! He reminds him of His history. He appeared to the forefathers and were with them before they were fathers!

- His care and concern for them kept them long before Israel was a nation. They knew who He was but were not given the privilege of knowing His name. That was for this people to know!

- He reiterates that He had made them promises that He was now to keep by bringing this people out. It’s not because of them. It’s because of His promise!

- He wants Moses to understand something: He was not immune to their suffering.

- I’ll have you note two things: First, God has not changed and the circumstances that we face will not change that fact!

- Second, before we cared, He created and concerned Himself with the cause of His people!

- Sometimes, we let our passions get the best of us and we yell at God like petulant teenagers, who need the slap of reality applied to our faces to shock us out of our tirade!

- That’s essentially what God has done for Moses here. Notice also that He gives no new information. Why? Because, like Moses, we only need to know that which we already know!

- Often, in the case of ministry, we don’t require new information, simply a reminder of old information applied to this new opportunity to trust!

- Moses, remember who I am, what I have done and what I have promised to do! He says the same thing to you and I!

• Exodus 6:6-8 : “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’” : Now that God has calmed Moses down, it was time to give the people a message.

- He makes personal promises to them, all of which are based on who He is! That is always important when we consider anyone’s promise? Can they do this?

- God says, “I am the Lord!” He says that to you and I today. He is the Lord! Keep that in mind!

- The first part of His answer to you will be “I am the Lord!” But this is too big for me! “I am the Lord!” This doesn’t make sense! “I am the Lord!”

- Because He is the Lord, He can make the promises that He does. He will bring out the people from under their burdens.

- That is such an appropriate picture. The people were afflicted, living under the bondage of Egypt. They walked with it on their backs, oppressed continually with the weight of it!

- He promised to rescue and redeem them. Literally, God says the He will snatch away the burdens from the people. He will rescue and redeem, that is, He will act as their avenger!

- He is powerful enough to do this with His arm and great judgments or acts. Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, the arm of the Lord would be a symbol of His strength.

- Interesting, one commentator mentioned that the symbol for might in Egyptian Hieroglyphs was a stick figure with an outstretched arm!

- He promises to take them as His people. The theme of commitment is strong here, as one would take a bride. God is saying, “I am marrying myself to you and will be your God.”

- God would show Himself to be their deliverer, their husband and their God. Interesting when you take the picture of the Bridegroom, but God has prepared a place for Israel.

- He was now coming to take them to that place, to give it to them as a heritage or as a possession. It would be their home and the place where they could be free to know one another.

- Israel’s history is not only factual, but typical. God will also rescue us from the bondage of this world. He has redeemed us with Christ’s outstretched arms. He will one day deliver us to our home!

- These 7 statements can be seen in our future as well.

• Exodus 6:9-13 : “So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.’ And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, ‘The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?’ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.” : This beautiful message from the Lord was delivered to the people, but the people wouldn’t listen to the word!

- How was it that they would not listen? Because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. Here is this beautiful series of promises and this wonderful picture for them to understand.

- Their hearts were too discouraged! Listen to the ESV on this verse: “they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.”

- You and I may not think that it’s important to keep our hearts in the right place, but here Moses lets us in on what was happening at that time.

- The people could not hear God’s Word or cling on to His promises because of their own hearts! We will be wise to consider that, that we might keep our hearts in the proper place.

- At the same time, their response caused Moses to feel discouraged. God called Moses to begin again with the Pharaoh, but heart was discouraged.

- “If they won’t listen to me, how will Pharaoh!?” God gave His command anyway. They were to go in and watch God do His work.

- Just like you and I, theirs was to obey the command of the Lord and leave the results up to Him!

Conclusion

- There are many warnings in this passage. There is a warning against easy expectations, discouragement and despair.

- What is the answer to these issues? God remains the same. He has not changed, nor will He! He calls us to trust Him and to move forward in obedience to His mighty word.

- When we do, He will never disappoint!