Henry Blackaby outlines God’s activity in his Experiencing God material.
- God is at work in the world.
- He forms a relationship with people.
- He calls people to join him in his work.
- Humans suffer a crisis of faith, wondering if the God-sized vision can be accomplished.
- Once unbelief and fear are overcome, God is free to act.
We are now at the action stage of Moses and Aaron as they join God to free Hebrew slaves from Egyptian rule.
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).
Moses and Aaron act as agents for God, and they relate to Pharaoh God’s command. He is to let them go so that they can have a festival to God in the wilderness.
Pharaoh is revered as a god himself, one of the many gods in the Egyptian pantheon. Holding this position, he arrogantly declares his own lordship. His statement, “Who is the Lord,” is a combination of defiance and ignorance.
The words, “I do not know the Lord,” will be a central theme until the Hebrew slaves are freed from Egypt. The Pharaoh and Egyptians will experience 10 plagues, where God will help them “know” who He is.
The Nature of Oppression
The nature of immigration throughout the world is reflected in Pharaoh’s statement to Moses: “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop laboring!” (Exodus 5:5).
In every country where there is an influx of immigrants, there is a fear among some groups of being overwhelmed or displaced by them.
The strongest expression of this that I can recall, was the chant “Jews will not replace us” by the white supremacists at their rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
While some people fear the influx of immigrants, they also accept their labor for jobs that are either low-paying or dangerous.
Google Fiber is currently installing cables in our neighborhood. As I watched the laborers digging and working throughout the day, I noticed that the crew appeared to be composed entirely of Spanish-speaking individuals.
This is just one example, and I expect I would encounter a very similar situation if I were to visit a meatpacking plant or observe farm workers.
Exodus chapter 5 illustrates this phenomenon with Pharaoh and the Hebrew immigrant laborers in his country. Pharaoh was aware of their large numbers and relied on their labor, but when they asked for time to sacrifice to their gods, he viewed this as laziness.
His response was to increase their hardship to prevent them from stopping work. He ordered the taskmasters to require the people to gather their own straw for bricks while still demanding the same quantity.
This approach, making their work harder due to perceived laziness, is typical of oppressive regimes.
Complaint Department
We can only imagine the terrible suffering of being beaten and enslaved by Pharaoh. When the laborers met Moses, they complained to him.
They said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Exodus 5:21).
Moses’ response was to go straight to God and complain about his assignment.
Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O my Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me?
Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people” (Exodus 5:22-23).
I like many things about the Bible, and this section has one that I really appreciate. God lets us talk to Him and tell Him what we think.
God, who made everything and chose Moses, is willing to let Moses complain, just like the Hebrew slaves complained to Moses.
The good news is, we can tell God what’s bothering us. He knows what’s in our hearts anyway, so we might as well talk to Him about it.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 