Ep. 18 | I Am Pharaoh
Text: Exodus 5:1-12
Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, 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 burdens.”5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many,[a] and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. 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 in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
Five things to NOTICE:
(1) NOTICE the CLAIM of POSSESSION
THUS SAYS THE LORD, the God of Israel — Power
LET MY PEOPLE GO — Personal
THAT THEY MAY HOLD A FEAST TO ME — Purpose
RYKEN suggests: Such a request was not without precedent. An ancient manuscript at the Louvre, dating to the time of Rameses II, indicates that Egyptian slaves were sometimes given time off to worship their gods. There is also a limestone tablet from the same period listing the names of slaves, together with reasons for their absence from work, including the phrase, “has sacrificed to the god.” What this proves is that the Pharaohs sometimes honored the kind of request that Moses and Aaron were making. Asking for three days of religious freedom was a reasonable demand that God used to expose the unbelief in Pharaoh’s heart.
4. IN THE WILDERNESS — Place
(2) NOTICE the CONTRAST of the PRESENTATIONS
THUS SAYS THE LORD | THEN THEY SAID
THE GOD OF ISRAEL | THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS
LET MY PEOPLE GO | PLEASE LET US GO
MY PEOPLE | THE HEBREWS
TO FEAST | TO SACRIFICE
NO CONSEQUENCE SUGGESTED | PESTILENCE OR SWORD
NO TIME FRAME | THREE DAYS
(3) NOTICE the CONFRONTATION of the POTENTATES
THUS SAYS the LORD (1) | THUS SAYS PHAROAH (10)
God calls them to CELEBRATE and SACRIFICE | Pharaoh calls them to CONFUSION and SLAVERY
God invites them to REST | Pharaoh imposed on themregulations
Calls them LOVED | Calls them LAZY
RESPONDED ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN (6:1) | REACTED to the PROBLEM (5:6)
(When implored) PROMISED HIS FAITHFULNESS | (When implored) PROMISED HIS FURY
(4) NOTICE the CONCERNS of the PHAROAH
HIS POSITION—WHO is the LORD?
HIS PEACE—He has to be in control. IF the people are too many and NOT in HIS control, well, Pharaoh worries.
HIS PROGRESS—Bricks
HIS POWER (he might look weak)—No straw, beating
To be discussed in the next episode:
(5) NOTICE some CONSTRAINTS to our PROGRESS (Spiritual progress, that is)
