The Battle for Freedom and Justice Revealed

Today’s passage depicts a crucial moment in the narrative of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Moses and Aaron, acting as messengers of the Lord, approach Pharaoh to convey God’s command.

Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.”

But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5.1-2).

When Moses approaches Pharaoh with God’s command, he uses the name God gave him at the burning bush (Exodus 3.13-15).

Egypt had many gods and Pharaoh was considered one of them. He didn’t know God as Jehovah.

If he believed in Jehovah, he didn’t respect him because he considered him to be weak. Pharaoh must have reasoned that Jehevoh was powerless since God’s people had been slaves for 430 years.

All of us resemble Pharaoh to some degree. We resist following Jesus because we prefer to be the god of our own lives.

Rudy Ross and I had the pleasure of having Whispering Danny, one of Kansas City’s premier tattoo artists, join our YouTube presentation this week. There was a time when Danny, like Rudy and me, didn’t know God in a personal way.

I asked Danny to relate how he came to know the Lord. He told us about praying for our friend Shane Kampe, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury in a motorcycle accident.

If you are not familiar with Danny and Shane, I recommend that you go to http://www.iamsecond.com and hear the full story.

The short version is that Danny believed if he was going to ask God for the favor of healing his friend, then he needed to get acquainted with him. Danny prayed a simple prayer and got acquainted with the Savior.

For years now, Danny not only knows God but is best friends with him.

Pharaoh and all of us have an opportunity to personally know the God of the Universe. We should take every opportunity to respond to his offer of friendship.

The Request and Response

Moses and Aaron proposed a journey into the wilderness to worship God.

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.”

But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!”

Pharaoh continued, “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop laboring!” (Exodus 5.3-5).

Pharaoh was an autocrat and like his modern-day counterpart, he resisted their request.

Autocrats find religious leaders to be a “thorn in their side.” Belief in justice, equality, and human rights often clashes with the autocrat’s oppressive policies or authoritarian rule.

Religious leaders challenge the autocrat’s control over the people because they represent the True God as opposed to the god of the state.

Autocrats of all ages use threats and force to control their people. Pharaoh was a prime example of this behavior.

That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors,

“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will pay attention to it and not to deceptive words” (Exodus 5.6-9).

A woman whose husband is a political prisoner in Russia asked, “If there is so much support for the war in Ukraine, why does our government resort to jailing people who oppose it?”

Tyrants, autocrats, and dictators may have clever excuses for their behavior, like calling slaves “lazy.”

Slaves may lose hope that there will be any change in their situation.

As we have seen in earlier chapters, God sees the pain, hears the cries, and acts to set the captives free.

Whether it is someone who works at sub-standard wages in America or an oppressed people group in China, God rules over all humans who live as though they are gods.

We can pray for God’s justice to be expressed in the world. We can help people we know to experience the reality of our Lord and Savior. We can act for God as he gives us the opportunity.

YouTube Video

Today, Whispering Danny joins Rudy Ross and me to discuss this passage on YouTube. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.