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Exodus 5:

Reading #167   Increased workload

Aaron went forth to meet his brother, from whom he had been so long separated and they met in the desert near Mt. Sinai.  Here they discussed things, and Moses told Aaron “all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.” Exodus 4:28.

Together they journeyed back to Egypt; and having reached the land of Goshen, they proceeded to assemble the elders of Israel. Aaron took the lead (the pair were equal, but operated in different areas, Mark 6:7) and repeated to them all the dealings of God with Moses, and then the signs which God had given Moses were shown before the people. “The people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.” Verse 31. 

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Exodus 5:

1 And afterward [some time later] Moses and Aaron went in with the elders, and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Let My people go [a command], that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” [The Son of God did not ask for them to leave permanently at first.  That was finally decided by Pharaoh. Exodus 12:31-32.]

2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? [Is He my boss?] I know not the LORD [I don’t recognise His authority over me], neither will I let Israel go [He was a god himself in Egyptian eyes].”

3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us: let us go, we pray you [please], three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice to the LORD our God [compare Hosea 6:1-2]; lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword [something one of the false gods would be expected to do].”

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Moses had also been charged with a message for the king. The two brothers, with the elders, entered the palace of the Pharaoh as ambassadors from the King of kings, and they spoke in His name, but the monarch replied that he did not recognise that authority.  So they simply repeated the words of God as a request and left it at that and prepared to leave. 

But Pharaoh brought up another subject.

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Exodus 5:

4 And the king of Egypt said to them, “Wherefore do you, Moses and Aaron, let [hold back] the people from their works [already]?  Get you to your burdens. 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land now are many, and you make them rest from their burdens.” 

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Tidings of Moses and his brother and of the effect they were having among the people had reached the king. His anger was kindled before they had even requested an audience.  Already the kingdom had suffered loss of dignity by the interference of this stranger and at the thought of this he added, “Behold, the people of the land now are many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”  What did he mean by this?

During their time in Egypt the Israelites had to some extent lost the knowledge of God's law, and many had departed from keeping it strictly due to their constant mingling with heathenism. The Sabbath rest that Abraham had told them of had been generally disregarded, and then on top of that the workloads of their taskmasters had made its observance apparently impossible.  But their forefather had been very obedient, as we have already been told. It is written:

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Genesis 26:

1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines to Gerar.

2 And the LORD appeared to him, and said, “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell you of: 3 sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you, and to your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give to your seed all these countries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

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It was because of Abraham’s obedience that the Son of God was able to protect him and his descendants and carry out His promise to bless them.  It is NOT “keeping the law” that does it, it is NOT that we accumulate merit by works; it is our being obedient to “every word” that the Son of God speaks to us which allows Him to guide us out of a maze of difficulties. Deuteronomy 8:3.  He says, “This is the way, walk you in it”, and if we listen we can go out free.  Isaiah 30:21.

Moses had shown the captives in Egypt that obedience to all of God’s words was the first condition of deliverance in redemption (not salvation) as it is to us today; and the efforts made to restore the observance of the Sabbath as the physical sign of inward change had come to the notice of their oppressors. 

The Son of God says,

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Ezekiel 20:

12 Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them [make them holy].

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The Sabbath belongs to Christ.  Mark 2:28.  Since He made all things, He made the Sabbath.  Colossians 1:16.  By Him it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation.  Genesis 2:3.  It points to Him as both the Creator and the Sanctifier.  It declares that He who created all things in heaven and in earth, and by whom all things hold together, is the Head of the church, and that by His power we are reconciled to God.  Hebrews 1:3.

Then the Sabbath is a sign of Christ's power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom Christ makes holy.  It is as a sign of His sanctifying power that the Sabbath rest is given to all who through Christ become a part of the “Israel” of God.  Hebrews 4:10.

To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ's creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight.  Isaiah 58:13.  Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption.  Romans 1:20.  While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour. And every object in nature repeats His invitation, “Come to Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [the Sabbath]”. Matthew 11:28.

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Exodus 5:

6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the [Egyptian] taskmasters of the people, and their [senior Hebrew] officers [foremen], saying, 7 “You shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And the tale [tally] of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, you shall lay upon them; you shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God’. 9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words [of Moses].”

10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their [Hebrew] officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw [anymore]. 11 Go you, get you straw where you can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.” 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, “Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.”

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Up till that point there had been co-operation between the Egyptians and Hebrews in the making of the bricks, and all that was required was a daily tally of the finished article.  However, because the Sabbath was now being openly observed, a religious element had come into the workplace.  In anger at such an event the king decided to make their job harder.  His rage was simply the result of atheism’s hatred of God’s ways and its intent was to make them fall short of the number required (since the reintroduction of Sabbath-keeping, with God’s blessing they had made up the tally by working longer days, or by using more people etc.).

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Exodus 5:

14 And the [under]officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded [they were asked], “Wherefore have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as heretofore?” 15 Then the [under]officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Wherefore deal you thus with your servants? 16 There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick’: and, behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 

17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle: therefore you say, ‘Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall you deliver the tale of bricks.” 19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, “You shall not diminish ought from your bricks of your daily task.” [Complaints about unfair religious laws will always fall on deaf ears.]

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The most common building material of that country was sun-dried brick; the walls of the finest buildings were made of this, and then faced with stone.  The manufacture of the bricks employed great numbers of the Hebrews but it was Egyptians who had supplied the straw that was intermixed with the clay to hold it together.  Large quantities of straw were required for the work, and the king now directed that no more be furnished; the labourers must find it for themselves while the same amount of brick should be made, thus requiring more work from the Hebrews.  This necessitated some hard decisions from the Hebrew people regarding their rest day, for their baptism of fire was beginning.  Luke 3:16.

These lower ranked Hebrew taskmasters thought that this order had come from their immediate superiors, and not from the king himself and so they went to him with their grievances. Their complaint was met by Pharaoh with a taunt: “You are idle, you are idle: therefore you say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.” They were ordered back to their work, with the declaration that their burdens were in no case to be lightened.  (In normal circumstances there is no love between state and church.)

The world loves sin, and hates righteousness, and this is the cause of its hostility to Jesus. All who refuse His infinite love will find Christianity a disturbing element. The light of Christ sweeps away the darkness that covers their sins, and the need of reform is made clear.  Then, while those who yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit begin war with themselves, those who cling to sin war against the truth and its representatives. 

Thus the keeping of the Sabbath became the issue of the day.

It was the public physical thing which distinguished between loyal subjects and transgressors, and as such, was hated by the king of Egypt.  Hallowed by the Creator's rest and blessing, the Sabbath had been kept by Adam in his innocence in holy Eden; by Adam, fallen yet repentant, when he left his happy estate.  It had been observed by all the patriarchs, from Abel to righteous Noah, to Abraham, to Jacob, and now it was the turn of their descendants to stand up and be counted. 

Horrified by the turn of events, some Hebrews even suggested that if they worked on the Sabbath the LORD would “understand”, not realising that it was test of their sincerity and the pledge of His protection. 

Let’s see how they got on next week.

Bye for now,

Ron

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