BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW

BOOK OF EXODUS

CHAPTER 5

            Daily Bread welcomes you back to study with us further in the book of Exodus.  Moses and Aaron have arrived in Egypt and have spoken to the elders of the children of Israel telling them of God’s plan to deliver them from the bondage of Pharaoh.  The people believed and worshipped God for having compassion on them.

            Moses and Aaron, then went to Pharaoh and told him that the God of Israel said, Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.  Pharaoh answered, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?  I don’t know the Lord, and I won’t let Israel go.  They repeated God’s command and the king of Egypt refused again, then asked them, Why do you take the people away from their work? 

            The same day, Pharaoh ordered the taskmasters to stop giving the people straw to make brick and make them get the straw themselves, but the quota of bricks remained the same.  Pharaoh said, If the people don’t have anything better to do than cry, Let us go and sacrifice to our God, then make them do more work to keep them busy and they won’t have time for empty promises.

            The people were scattered throughout Egypt to find grass instead of straw and the taskmasters drove them to produce as much as they had before when there was straw.  So their daily workload was much harder.

            The Israelite officers, that the taskmasters put in charge over the people, were beaten and asked, Why haven’t you done your job in making brick yesterday and today like before?  The officers of the children of Israel went to Pharaoh and pleaded, Why are you treating us this way?  There is no straw given to us and the taskmasters demand brick, then they beat us, but it is the fault of your own people.

            But Pharaoh insisted that the people didn’t have enough to do if they had time to ask to go sacrifice to their Lord.  He sent them back to work and didn’t give them straw, but required the same amount of bricks.

            The officers of the children of Israel knew that there was trouble coming because their task was impossible now.  They met Moses and Aaron as they left talking to Pharaoh and they said, May the Lord look on you and judge because you have made us to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants to put a sword in their hand to kill us.

            Moses felt bad for them and he said to the Lord, Why have you done this to these people?  Why have you sent me?  Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has treated them badly and you haven’t saved your people at all.

            So, just as God had warned Moses, Pharaoh didn’t listen and his heart was hardened.  Moses had to expect Pharaoh’s resistance but making bricks without straw was something Moses knew simply couldn’t be done and he didn’t understand why God would let such evil befall them when it was His plan to deliver them. 

            Find out how God replies to Moses and the next part of God’s plan to make Pharaoh let His people go.  That’s our next story in Daily Bread.

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