Exodus - Part 9 - Exodus 5:1-23

This week, we pick back up where we left off in Exodus. Moses and Aaron are before Pharaoh with a message from God: to let His people go so that they can worship God. Pharaoh has no concept of this “god” and so he refuses. In fact, he does more than refuse. He increases the workload by removing the straw required to make bricks. This forces the people to go out and gather their own straw.

When the people complain to Pharaoh about the treatment, Pharaoh responds by telling them that they were lazy and that’s why they want to leave. Pharaoh believes that more work will make them too busy to even think about going to worship God. When the people got this response, they complained to Moses. But was their complaint really against Moses and Aaron? They were really complaining about what God was doing. Perhaps they expected God to fix their situation right away and took out their frustration on the messengers God sent. However, Moses’ response to this attack was identical. Moses turns around and complains to God. This was a test of faith for both the Israelites and Moses.

Moses said yes to God’s call to go and deliver the people. He said yes to God and now he was starting to regret it. Perhaps he was expecting God to deliver His people right away. But God had a plan to display his full power so that the Israelites, the Egyptians and all the surrounding people would know that He is God and there is no other like Him. God still operates the same way today. We may not understand why we need to wait for something to happen in our lives, but God is orchestrating a plan for us that is far greater than anything we can see or comprehend. All we have to do is be obedient and trust Him for it.