Exodus 5 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Exodus 5

Making Bricks Without Straw

5:1 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,¹ 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. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

22 Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

Footnotes

[1] 5:5 Samaritan they are now more numerous than the people of the land

Commentary

v1-5: Moses and Aaron's first meeting with Pharaoh.

v1: Their message and authority from God, the God of Israel. God recognised His people, see 3.10.

v2: Pharaoh had no respect for God, "Who is the Lord?" Contrast 1 Cor 3.11, "Who am I?" Since Pharaoh did not know God, he did not obey Him; disobedience is a mark of unbelief. In contrast, the believer is characterised by obedience.

v3: The request repeated and extended, that the Lord had commanded His people to offer sacrifices to Him. The Lord is the God of the Hebrews; He chose this people as His own special people.

This was the first of repeated requests to Pharaoh, each time refused; 7.10, refused 7.13; 7.15-18, refused 7.22-23; 8.1-4, refused 8.15,19; 8.20-23, refused 8.32; 9.1-4, refused 9.7,12; 9.13-19, refused 9.34-35; 10.1-6, refused 10.11,20.27.

v4-5: Pharaoh responded by accusing the children of Israel of idleness.

v6-9: Pharaoh increased the people's work load, by insisting they find their own straw for making bricks, but not diminishing the quantity of bricks required. So Moses' first request was refused; when the Lord works, circumstances can become worse. Yet God's promises had not failed.

v10-13: Pharaoh's command was passed to the slaves.

v14: Not surprisingly, the children of Israel could not fulfil the target set, so their foremen, or officers, were beaten.

v15-16: The foremen grumbled about the treatment they had received.

v17: Pharaoh's response repeated his accusation of laziness. By referring to their request to go to sacrifice to the Lord God, Pharaoh set them against Moses and Aaron.

v18-19: The command was repeated, that the number of bricks had to be maintained.

v20-21: The foremen went to Moses and Aaron, whom they now blamed for their suffering. This was the first attack on the leadership of Moses and Aaron, a problem that recurred for many years. We must expect difficulties when we serve the Lord.

Note too that Pharaoh effectively created division amongst the Israelites.

v22-23: Moses did not stay to argue with the leaders of the children of Israel; instead he took his problem to the Lord. He did not understand why such things should have happened. See also Acts 7.25 about Moses' struggle earlier. Wherever the problem is, whether in ourselves or in others, we must turn to the Lord for His answers.