God’s People Oppressed (Exodus 4:29-5:23)
Bible Passage: Exodus 4:29-5:23
Fresh from being commissioned by God, Moses and Aaron return from the wilderness to Egypt and tell the leaders about what had happened. As God promised, when Moses performed the signs they believed, and so Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and demanded the people be allowed to go and worship God. The response to this wasn’t good, and the people found themselves in an even tougher situation than they were at the start.
Worship Is the Point: Throughout the book of Exodus, it is clear that the journey the people are on is not just freedom from captivity (as good as that would be) but freedom to worship God (notice the people are released from Egypt before the halfway point in the book has been reached, and the end of the story is the glory cloud of God coming to dwell among them). This is why this preaching series is entitled ‘set free to draw near’. As we see in 4:31, the response of the leaders of the people to hearing God’s concern for them is to bow down and worship. Along similar lines, the demand made of Pharaoh in 5:1 is to allow the people to hold a festival of worship. Out hearts are made for relationship with God, and when we are caught in bondage often these things hold us back from being able to worship him truly. Our salvation should lead to devotion, and the freedom that we long to lead people into is the freedom of knowing the Lord.
Bricks Without Straw: Not only does Pharaoh reject the request made by Moses and Aaron, but he makes their oppression even worse. Before, they were required to make a quota of bricks each day and were provided the straw to do so. Now they are still expected to make the same amount of bricks, but they are not given any straw and have to find it themselves. When we see Exodus as a picture of our salvation in Christ, this image shows us something of the nature of sin. As we are in bondage to different habits or addictions, there is a diminishing effect, where the (fleeting) joy those things once offered diminishes but the toll they take increases. This oppression is cruel and is designed to squash the people down, even accusing them of laziness (5:17), simply because they have had the audacity to ask for the freedom to worship the Lord.
Old Wounds Reopened: When the people discovered the reason that their situation was now more difficult, they blamed Moses and Aaron (v21). Even though Pharaoh is ultimately blamed, the people looked on the intervention made by Moses and Aaron as the trigger for the change. For Moses, history is repeating itself. Forty years earlier, he had made an attempt to make life better for the people by breaking up a fight (2:13), but had been rejected by the people and blamed. On that occasion he was acting in his own strength, and had fled when things had not gone well. This time he is acting because God had sent him, and yet the result was just the same. This is a testing moment for Moses. It would be very easy for him to give up again. However, Moses has learnt and grown in the years that have passed, and he takes his frustration to God. His conversation with the Lord is direct, and he does not hold back from expressing what he is feeling, even when his frustration is directed at God. God is able to handle our raw and unfiltered prayers, and it is much better to bring them to him in the midst of our hurt and frustration than to run away and retreat from him.
Potential Applications:
- Some people will be facing difficult circumstances that feel like making bricks without straw. You could offer prayer for anyone who is feeling that way.
- There may be some present who have stepped out in leadership or ministry and carry wounds from things not going well. You could offer healing prayer for such people.
- The purpose of being set free is to worship God. Lead into a time of worship that focusses in on our salvation and responds with joyful praise.
