Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Exodus 6:1) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he shall let them go, and with a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.”
In the last chapter, Moses and Aaron had gone before Pharaoh the first time to ask that Pharaoh let the Israelite people go to worship and sacrifice to their God in the desert. He had refused just as God said he would, but he put unreasonable additional work on the Israelites claiming the only reason they wanted to go sacrifice to their Lord was because they were idle. It was too much work and the Israelite officers were beaten because the people could not possibly keep up with the task. The people complained to Moses and Aaron that it was their fault, and Moses took their complaints to God. God responded in a way that should have conveyed to Moses that this was part of His plan; NOW Moses would see what God would do to Pharaoh in response. When forced with God's strong hand, Pharaoh would not only let the people go, he would drive them out of the land. God was giving assurance to Moses, repeating His promise to him, that He would stretch out His hand and strike Egypt with all His wonders
and then Pharaoh would let them go. Interestingly, the word translated as "strong" above is "chazaq", and that was the same word used in Exodus 4:21, there translated as "harden" when God said He would harden Pharaoh's heart. It may be a slightly different form of the word, as Strong's listed it as a separate word; it is spelled the same, but appears to be pronounced a little differently, but definitely it's a form of the same word. With a strong hardened heart, Pharaoh would refuse God's people, but with a stronger mightier hand, God would deliver them from Pharaoh, to the point where he would actually drive them out of his land.
(2) And God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD; (3) And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name JEHOVAH I was not known to them."
God told Moses that He was the Lord, Jehovah. He told him He had appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and He was known to them as El Shaddai, God Almighty, but His name, Jehovah, or more properly Yehovah, was not known to them. Actually, Jehovah had been used as a title before this time, and it meant "self-existent or eternal", so the eternal God was known, but perhaps not as the true proper name of the one true God. Moses had been the one to ask what God's name was, so now it was personal. At least that is what I thought, but some Biblical scholars have said that it was translated a bit wrong, or in the wrong order, and should have read, "and by My name JEHOVAH was I not known to them?" The same almighty eternal God of his forefathers was here before him now. Maybe both interpretations are true--God had been called Jehovah, but the reality of the name may not have truly been known to them, as God was about to accomplish the promises He had made to them in a big way, in a way they could have only imagined, and could not have known from experience. Jehovah and His covenant were about to be made real!
(4) “And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of
Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. (5) And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the
Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant."
The Lord had established His covenant with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, to give them the land of Canaan; a land in which they had lived as strangers would be theirs. The Lord had now heard the groaning of the children of Israel who were living in oppression and bondage by the Egyptians, and He remembered the covenant He had made to their forefathers, not that God ever forgot, but now was the time to bring it to fruition.
(6) “Therefore say to the children of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. (7) And I will take you to Me as My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. (8) And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage; I am the LORD.’”
God told Moses to tell the people of Israel that He was Jehovah, the Lord, and that He would rescue them and bring them out of Egypt with His outstretched arm, which surely signified the exertion of His almighty power, and with great judgments upon the Egyptians. He would furthermore take this people as His people and He would be their God; they would no longer be subject to Pharaoh, but would have God as their ruler and protector and defender. They would surely know that He alone was Jehovah the Lord when He brought them out, and fulfilled the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, bringing them to the promised land. He would give the land to them as an inheritance for He was Jehovah, the Lord, and had the sovereign power to dispose of lands and kingdoms as He pleased.
(9) And Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.
It is hard to believe that after all these marvelous personal promises by God, the people would not even listen to Moses! It was Matthew Henry in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, who pointed out how many repetitions of His promises God gave to the people in what He told Moses to tell them above: "I will bring you out...I will rescue you...I will redeem you...I will bring you into...I will give you..." I'm paraphrasing his words, but in essence, he said it was shameful that man had such unbelief and needed such repetitions, and that glory be to God that He would give man such repeated assurances! Maybe they just didn't believe Moses because his actions seemed to make things so much worse. The people were so swallowed up by their troubles and misery, they probably felt helpless and hopeless and were either unable or unwilling to listen to Moses.
(10) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (11) “Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.”
Moses probably went right back to the Lord, not knowing what to do when the people would not listen to him. God just told Moses to go back to Pharaoh and repeat his demand. It did seem more like a demand this time to let the people go, rather than a request to allow them to go for a few days. However, I believe the point is that God was giving Pharaoh one more chance to let the people go before He brought judgment.
(12) And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, “Behold, the children of Israel have not heeded me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who is of uncircumcised lips?”
Moses told the Lord if his own people would not listen to him, he didn't see how Pharaoh would pay any attention to him, one of uncircumcised lips. An uncircumcised ear was one that did not hear clearly, an uncircumcised heart was slow to receive and understand, and uncircumcised lips could not speak fluently. Moses used the term to again complain that he could not speak well.
(13) And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
As God had answered Moses's objection about his speech before, He sent Aaron with Moses to give God's command both to the people and to Pharaoh, that they were to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. God had already told Moses that Pharaoh would refuse to let the people go at first, so any objection Moses would have would really be moot anyway, but God pretty much shut up all debate and gave Moses and Aaron His command to tell the people and Pharaoh to let the people go from Egypt.
(14) These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. (15) And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and
Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.
Inserted here is a genealogy of Moses and Aaron, probably intended to show that Moses and Aaron were Israelites who came in a direct line from Abraham. It begins with Reuben, Jacob's firstborn son, and names Reuben's sons. Next the sons of Simeon are named. Interestingly, Reuben and Simeon are not direct lines to Moses and Aaron, but are two of Levi's brothers, Levi being their direct line. None other of the brothers are listed, so why name just Reuben and Simeon? Perhaps it was as simple as naming the brothers in order until Levi was reached to prove the relationship with the sons of Israel. Some of the old Bible commentators wrote that there was more to it: these three were taken notice of to show that they were not rejected of God, although they were rather cursed by Jacob; and although they were guilty of great crimes, Reuben of incest, and Simeon and Levi of murder, they truly repented and obtained mercy of God, and were honored in their offspring, of whom an account was here given. It's a nice idea, but I don't see that there is any proof of that. Since they are named in order, I believe it is as simple as the first two being named only for the sake of the third that the order might be preserved, but then again Moses would not have had to mention Reuben and Simeon at all, so who knows...? One thing is for certain, though, this genealogy was used to prove that the deliverers of the Israelite people, Moses and Aaron, were indeed Israelites themselves. So on with that proof:
(16) And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. (17) The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. (18) And the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. (19) And the sons of Merari were Mahali and Mushi; these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
Levi and his sons and each of their sons were listed next.
(20) And Amram took for himself Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven.
Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, was the father of Moses and Aaron. Once again, as discussed before, it must not be ignored that Moses recorded the marriage of his father Amram with Jochebed his own aunt. This marriage would later be forbidden as incestuous, which might be looked upon as a blot upon Moses's family, but Moses did not hide it, "for he sought not his own praise, but wrote with a sincere regard to truth, whether it smiled or frowned upon him" (Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible).
(21) And the sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. (22) And the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri.
Two of Amram's brothers, two other sons of Kohath, were mentioned next, with their sons, perhaps to show the relationship of Moses to his cousins, some of whom will be mentioned later, although not so favorably. But, as generally the case with his impartial writing, Moses listed them in his genealogy.
(23) And Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Moses's brother, Aaron, is listed next, with his wife and his sons. Aaron's wife was from the line of Judah, and her brother Nahshon was considered a prince of Judah. I have read that while normally there was not a lot of intermarriage among the tribes, so as to keep the tribes and their inheritances distinct, the tribe of Levi often took wives of other tribes, because they had no inheritance and were to have none in the land of Canaan.
(24) And the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.
This scripture went back to name the sons of Korah, son of Izhar, Amram's brother; these would be sons of Moses's cousin.
(25) And Eleazar Aaron's son took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas; these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.
Next and finally, Aaron's son Eleazar is listed with his wife and son. This partial genealogy was intended to name the heads of the Levites. Interestingly, Moses wrote of Aaron's offspring, but not of his own. This was probably because the priesthood was successive in the family of Aaron, rather than Moses.
(26) These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” (27) These are they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt; these are that Moses and Aaron.
These verses confirm that the reason for the genealogy was to show that Aaron and Moses were also children of Israel and to prove their ancestry and their positions in the Abrahamic line. The verses reiterated that God had chosen Moses and Aaron to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, and that they indeed were the ones who went to Pharaoh to do just that. Bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt according to their armies might have been a description of the large numbers of them marching out of Egypt, not in a confused fearful flight, but as in military order with great composure and power.
(28) And it came to pass, on the day the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, (29) That the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the LORD; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” (30) And Moses said before the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken to me?”
The genealogy was included as a sort of parenthesis to explain just who this Moses and Aaron were who God was charging to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, and now the scriptures returned to a repeat of verses 10 and 11 after Moses had spoken to the children of Israel, but they did not heed him because of their anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. God told Moses to return to Pharaoh and tell him all God had told him to tell him. However, Moses objected, wondering why Pharaoh would ever listen to him, one with uncircumcised lips that could not speak well. Verses 28-30 are just a repeat of verses 10-12 in order to return to the story before the parenthetical verses about the genealogy of Moses and Aaron, and to set up what happened next in the following chapter.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Moses Delivers His First Message to Pharaoh, "Let My People Go"
Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Exodus 5:1) And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”
After being called by God from the burning bush, and after his many objections, Moses, with Aaron as his spokesman, approached Pharaoh for the first time and asked that he allow the Israelite people to go to the wilderness to hold a feast for Jehovah God. They began with "Thus says the Lord (Jehovah)", as they were instructed. They were Jehovah God's people, and therefore should be free from any bondage by Pharaoh, and He wanted them to be able to freely exercise service and sacrifice to Him away from the Egyptians.
(2) And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.”
The name Jehovah seemed to mean nothing to Pharaoh; either he had not heard or known of the name, or else he did not recognize Him as Lord God. Either way, he answered rather defiantly that he, king of all Egypt, did not have to obey the God of Israel, the God of a poor enslaved people within what he considered his jurisdiction, and he flatly refused to let them go.
(3) And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
Moses and Aaron asked again, this time making a modest request that seemed quite reasonable. Seeing that Pharaoh had no respect for Jehovah God, they explained He was their God, and they requested that they be allowed to take just a few days to go to the desert to sacrifice to their Lord. They appeared to seek a little compassion from Pharaoh by telling him they might suffer pestilence or death if they refused to sacrifice to their Lord, although it may have been more of a subtle suggestion to Pharaoh that he might lose his slaves if they were killed.
(4) And the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.” (5) And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land now are many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”
Pharaoh had no regard for their God and no sympathy for the Israelite people. As a matter of fact, he blamed Moses and Aaron for taking the people away from their work. Perhaps he knew that they had gathered all the people together to show their signs of God, or perhaps he referred to the elders who accompanied Moses and Aaron. Either way, he now commanded the people to go back to work. Pharaoh acknowledged the people were many. I'm not sure if he meant because they were so many that their not working would create all the more injury to him, or if because they were so many, he feared giving them too much time on their own might give them occasion to rebel and leave, which is what he had feared from the beginning.
(6) And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, (7) “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. (8) And the tally of bricks which they made before, you shall lay on them; you shall not diminish it; for they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ (9) Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard vain words.”
Not only did Pharaoh have no regard or compassion for the people or their God, but he decided to make more work for them. He told the Egyptian taskmasters to no longer give the people straw to make the bricks they used in their labor. I have read that the bricks were made of clay and straw kneaded together and dried thoroughly in the sun, so a great deal of straw must have been needed. The Hebrew people were now to gather their own straw, but they still were expected to produce the same number of bricks that they did before when the straw was provided for them. Pharaoh decided the people had too much time on their hands and that is why they thought they should be allowed to go and sacrifice to their Lord. He felt they needed more work so that they wouldn't have time to pay any attention to the vain words, or lies, as the original word actually denoted, of Moses and Aaron.
(10) And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. (11) Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work shall be diminished.’”
The Egyptian taskmasters relayed Pharaoh's command to the people that they must gather their own straw wherever they could get it, and that they must produce the same number of bricks they did before. Not only was the straw previously brought to them, but in having it provided to them, I am sure the people did not have to pay for it. Now that they had to get it for themselves wherever they could find it, it is possible they might have to pay for it, which would have created even greater hardship.
(12) So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. (13) And the taskmasters hurried them, saying, “Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.”
The people had to search throughout the land of Egypt to find straw, so that certainly took much time away from their task of making bricks. It appears they had to resort to stubble left in the fields which was surely smaller and therefore it took more to accomplish their work. All the while their taskmasters were hurrying and hounding them to get as much work done as when they had their straw provided for them.
(14) And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”
Apparently the taskmasters and the officers mentioned in verse 10 are two entirely different groups of people. The taskmasters were Egyptians appointed by Pharaoh, but the officers appear to be Israelites appointed by the taskmasters who were given the jobs of managing groups of their own people for the tasks at hand. These officers of the Israelite people were beaten because the Israelites were not fulfilling their tasks of making bricks at the same rate as they had done before.
(15) Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing 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.”
The Israelite officers who had been beaten by the Egyptian taskmasters then went to Pharaoh hoping to have their grievances redressed by him. They called themselves servants of Pharaoh, and explained that they were given no straw and yet were expected to make bricks as before. They were being beaten because they could not keep up with the impossible demands of Pharaoh's own taskmasters who would not give them what they needed to do the work. They told Pharaoh that the inability to keep up the quota of bricks was the fault of his Egyptian taskmasters.
(17) But he said, “You are idle, idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ (18) Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the tally of bricks.”
The Israelite officers quickly found out that Pharaoh had no sympathy at all for their situation, and in fact, insulted them, calling them idle, and insinuating that the only reason they wanted to sacrifice to their Lord was to have leisure time away from their work. He commanded that they get back to work with no straw given to them, and deliver the usual number of bricks.
(19) And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in evil condition after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily task.” (20) And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh. (21) And they said to them, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.”
When the officers of the people realized what a bad state they were in, seeing that Pharaoh was not going to relent from this impossible command, they unjustly blamed Moses and Aaron. They were a bit too quick and presumptuous to assume that God would judge Moses and Aaron as guilty, when they were only carrying out God's instructions, something the people had shortly before believed and something for which they had been thankful to God, after seeing the signs and miracles by Moses. How quickly the people turned on Moses and Aaron when things did not immediately turn out as they thought they should! It may be the reason the officers marched right up to Pharaoh was that they were expecting things to immediately turn around for them because God had come to deliver them from Egypt. Since it didn't happen immediately and now things were worse than they had been before Moses and Aaron talked to Pharaoh, they blamed them. Isn't that the way we are sometimes? We think we have faith, but then we think things ought to turn out a certain way, and then when they don't, we lose faith, or blame someone else for messing up, as if our God will only act on our behalf if we all do everything exactly right! When you think about it, that's a bit egotistical on our part; we think we have the power to make or break a situation. Our God is big enough to work through our messes and still work all things together for good, and when we are weak, He is strong.
(22) And Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? (23) For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”
When Moses "returned to the Lord", it may not be that he physically returned to a place, but that he went to the Lord in prayer; we aren't really told exactly. Had God not told Moses that Pharaoh would refuse and not let the people go at first? Had he forgotten that when he asked why the Lord had sent him and why the Lord had allowed such evil to the people, and when he declared the Lord had not delivered His people at all? I think the next chapter will prove that God didn't show any great displeasure at these questions and comments, so I believe Moses was just bringing it all to the Lord. After all, the people were indeed blaming him, so it must have seemed like he wasn't doing what he should be doing and that is what now made things worse. I believe he was just relaying to God what had happened and was asking for His guidance.
(Exodus 5:1) And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”
After being called by God from the burning bush, and after his many objections, Moses, with Aaron as his spokesman, approached Pharaoh for the first time and asked that he allow the Israelite people to go to the wilderness to hold a feast for Jehovah God. They began with "Thus says the Lord (Jehovah)", as they were instructed. They were Jehovah God's people, and therefore should be free from any bondage by Pharaoh, and He wanted them to be able to freely exercise service and sacrifice to Him away from the Egyptians.
(2) And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.”
The name Jehovah seemed to mean nothing to Pharaoh; either he had not heard or known of the name, or else he did not recognize Him as Lord God. Either way, he answered rather defiantly that he, king of all Egypt, did not have to obey the God of Israel, the God of a poor enslaved people within what he considered his jurisdiction, and he flatly refused to let them go.
(3) And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
Moses and Aaron asked again, this time making a modest request that seemed quite reasonable. Seeing that Pharaoh had no respect for Jehovah God, they explained He was their God, and they requested that they be allowed to take just a few days to go to the desert to sacrifice to their Lord. They appeared to seek a little compassion from Pharaoh by telling him they might suffer pestilence or death if they refused to sacrifice to their Lord, although it may have been more of a subtle suggestion to Pharaoh that he might lose his slaves if they were killed.
(4) And the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.” (5) And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land now are many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”
Pharaoh had no regard for their God and no sympathy for the Israelite people. As a matter of fact, he blamed Moses and Aaron for taking the people away from their work. Perhaps he knew that they had gathered all the people together to show their signs of God, or perhaps he referred to the elders who accompanied Moses and Aaron. Either way, he now commanded the people to go back to work. Pharaoh acknowledged the people were many. I'm not sure if he meant because they were so many that their not working would create all the more injury to him, or if because they were so many, he feared giving them too much time on their own might give them occasion to rebel and leave, which is what he had feared from the beginning.
(6) And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, (7) “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. (8) And the tally of bricks which they made before, you shall lay on them; you shall not diminish it; for they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ (9) Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard vain words.”
Not only did Pharaoh have no regard or compassion for the people or their God, but he decided to make more work for them. He told the Egyptian taskmasters to no longer give the people straw to make the bricks they used in their labor. I have read that the bricks were made of clay and straw kneaded together and dried thoroughly in the sun, so a great deal of straw must have been needed. The Hebrew people were now to gather their own straw, but they still were expected to produce the same number of bricks that they did before when the straw was provided for them. Pharaoh decided the people had too much time on their hands and that is why they thought they should be allowed to go and sacrifice to their Lord. He felt they needed more work so that they wouldn't have time to pay any attention to the vain words, or lies, as the original word actually denoted, of Moses and Aaron.
(10) And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. (11) Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work shall be diminished.’”
The Egyptian taskmasters relayed Pharaoh's command to the people that they must gather their own straw wherever they could get it, and that they must produce the same number of bricks they did before. Not only was the straw previously brought to them, but in having it provided to them, I am sure the people did not have to pay for it. Now that they had to get it for themselves wherever they could find it, it is possible they might have to pay for it, which would have created even greater hardship.
(12) So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. (13) And the taskmasters hurried them, saying, “Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.”
The people had to search throughout the land of Egypt to find straw, so that certainly took much time away from their task of making bricks. It appears they had to resort to stubble left in the fields which was surely smaller and therefore it took more to accomplish their work. All the while their taskmasters were hurrying and hounding them to get as much work done as when they had their straw provided for them.
(14) And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”
Apparently the taskmasters and the officers mentioned in verse 10 are two entirely different groups of people. The taskmasters were Egyptians appointed by Pharaoh, but the officers appear to be Israelites appointed by the taskmasters who were given the jobs of managing groups of their own people for the tasks at hand. These officers of the Israelite people were beaten because the Israelites were not fulfilling their tasks of making bricks at the same rate as they had done before.
(15) Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing 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.”
The Israelite officers who had been beaten by the Egyptian taskmasters then went to Pharaoh hoping to have their grievances redressed by him. They called themselves servants of Pharaoh, and explained that they were given no straw and yet were expected to make bricks as before. They were being beaten because they could not keep up with the impossible demands of Pharaoh's own taskmasters who would not give them what they needed to do the work. They told Pharaoh that the inability to keep up the quota of bricks was the fault of his Egyptian taskmasters.
(17) But he said, “You are idle, idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ (18) Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the tally of bricks.”
The Israelite officers quickly found out that Pharaoh had no sympathy at all for their situation, and in fact, insulted them, calling them idle, and insinuating that the only reason they wanted to sacrifice to their Lord was to have leisure time away from their work. He commanded that they get back to work with no straw given to them, and deliver the usual number of bricks.
(19) And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in evil condition after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily task.” (20) And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh. (21) And they said to them, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.”
When the officers of the people realized what a bad state they were in, seeing that Pharaoh was not going to relent from this impossible command, they unjustly blamed Moses and Aaron. They were a bit too quick and presumptuous to assume that God would judge Moses and Aaron as guilty, when they were only carrying out God's instructions, something the people had shortly before believed and something for which they had been thankful to God, after seeing the signs and miracles by Moses. How quickly the people turned on Moses and Aaron when things did not immediately turn out as they thought they should! It may be the reason the officers marched right up to Pharaoh was that they were expecting things to immediately turn around for them because God had come to deliver them from Egypt. Since it didn't happen immediately and now things were worse than they had been before Moses and Aaron talked to Pharaoh, they blamed them. Isn't that the way we are sometimes? We think we have faith, but then we think things ought to turn out a certain way, and then when they don't, we lose faith, or blame someone else for messing up, as if our God will only act on our behalf if we all do everything exactly right! When you think about it, that's a bit egotistical on our part; we think we have the power to make or break a situation. Our God is big enough to work through our messes and still work all things together for good, and when we are weak, He is strong.
(22) And Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? (23) For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”
When Moses "returned to the Lord", it may not be that he physically returned to a place, but that he went to the Lord in prayer; we aren't really told exactly. Had God not told Moses that Pharaoh would refuse and not let the people go at first? Had he forgotten that when he asked why the Lord had sent him and why the Lord had allowed such evil to the people, and when he declared the Lord had not delivered His people at all? I think the next chapter will prove that God didn't show any great displeasure at these questions and comments, so I believe Moses was just bringing it all to the Lord. After all, the people were indeed blaming him, so it must have seemed like he wasn't doing what he should be doing and that is what now made things worse. I believe he was just relaying to God what had happened and was asking for His guidance.
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