Saturday, March 19, 2011

Exodus 4:29-5:23


29So Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called the leaders of Israel to a meeting. 30Aaron told them everything the LORD had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched. 31The leaders were soon convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. And when they realized that the LORD had seen their misery and was deeply concerned for them, they all bowed their heads and worshiped.
 1After this presentation to Israel's leaders, Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `Let my people go, for they must go out into the wilderness to hold a religious festival in my honor.' "
 2"Is that so?" retorted Pharaoh. "And who is the LORD that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I don't know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go."
 3But Aaron and Moses persisted. "The God of the Hebrews has met with us," they declared. "Let us take a three-day trip into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD our God. If we don't, we will surely die by disease or the sword."
 4"Who do you think you are," Pharaoh shouted, "distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! 5Look, there are many people here in Egypt, and you are stopping them from doing their work."
 6That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the slave drivers and foremen he had set over the people of Israel: 7"Do not supply the people with any more straw for making bricks. Let them get it themselves! 8But don't reduce their production quotas by a single brick. They obviously don't have enough to do. If they did, they wouldn't be talking about going into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to their God. 9Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to these liars!"
 10So the slave drivers and foremen informed the people: "Pharaoh has ordered us not to provide straw for you. 11Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!" 12So the people scattered throughout the land in search of straw.
 13The slave drivers were brutal. "Meet your daily quota of bricks, just as you did before!" they demanded. 14Then they whipped the Israelite foremen in charge of the work crews. "Why haven't you met your quotas either yesterday or today?" they demanded.
 15So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. "Please don't treat us like this," they begged. 16"We are given no straw, but we are still told to make as many bricks as before. We are beaten for something that isn't our fault! It is the fault of your slave drivers for making such unreasonable demands."
 17But Pharaoh replied, "You're just lazy! You obviously don't have enough to do. If you did, you wouldn't be saying, `Let us go, so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD.' 18Now, get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you must still deliver the regular quota of bricks."
 19Since Pharaoh would not let up on his demands, the Israelite foremen could see that they were in serious trouble. 20As they left Pharaoh's court, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them. 21The foremen said to them, "May the LORD judge you for getting us into this terrible situation with Pharaoh and his officials. You have given them an excuse to kill us!"
 22So Moses went back to the LORD and protested, "Why have you mistreated your own people like this, Lord? Why did you send me? 23Since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has been even more brutal to your people. You have not even begun to rescue them!"

Points of Interest:
• ‘Let us take a three-day trip into the wilderness’—although they have bigger plans for the Israelites than just a 3-day festival, they don’t unveil it all to Pharaoh right away. They start with a more modest—one might even say reasonable—request.

• ‘And who is the LORD that I should listen to him and let Israel go?’—God says, ‘Let my people go,’ and Pharaoh essentially responds, ‘Why should I let my people go?’ Pharaoh sees no reason why God’s desire to send the people to a festival should take priority over his desire to have them build his building. Pharaoh himself raises the stakes, treating this 3-day festival as an all or nothing contest between himself and the LORD. Pharaoh will not share time or loyalty with God. According to God’s view of things, he is the god of both the Israelites and Pharaoh. According to Pharaoh’s point of view, God is no god at all, and Pharaoh is the god of the Hebrews.

• ‘May the LORD judge you for getting us into this terrible situation’—Moses experiences here what is called in the hero’s journey a ‘rough landing’ (The Writer’s Journey, 131). When the hero finally makes the decision to step out on the adventure, the first step can be sort of a shock; this first difficult experience serves as a test to see if the hero is really committed, and it serves as a reminder that the mission is not easy. Moses certainly finds that out here: he actually makes the situation worse, and the people quickly turn on him. Since Moses has already had a similar painful experience in his past—when he killed the Egyptian guard—it must have been all the more tempting for him to abandon the mission, and it is all the more important for him to stay the course.

Taking it home:
For you: In this passage, Moses seems to feel a bit betrayed by God. He does what God asks, but the initial results aren’t very promising: things get worse for the people, and he gets blamed. Have you ever stepped out in faith, responding to God’s call, only to feel like a fool? Moses boldly brings his disappointment to God. If you haven’t already done so, consider asking God your questions, and remind him of the promises he has made.

For your six: God wants to bring freedom and happiness to the lives of your six, just like he wanted for the Israelites. And just like in the case of the Israelites, he may have to fight for it. Pharaoh is a physical picture of something the Bible states as a spiritual reality: there are powerful negative spiritual forces that try to keep us and our friends trapped in their power through lies, threats and accusations. Pray that God would show himself stronger, bringing freedom and abundance to your six.

For our church: When the Israelites realize that their prayers have been heard, they respond in worship. It is indeed an amazing thing that the God of the universe hears and responds to the cries of his people. Praise God for all of the ways he has answered our prayers, and ask him to give us a greater spirit of worship in response to those answered prayers.