1, Freedom and Pharaoh as an Idol

It is not just that Israelites are to go and be free. It is about freedom from the Tyrant in order to serve a higher purpose. It will involve leaving Pharaoh behind, going through the desert to worship God. Pharoah wants the Israelites to just be a tool of his power. They are to be reduced to potential for his means. It is dangerous for him to let them go as it will consolidate them as a people and become a challenge to his authority over them.

Pharaoh does not want the people to pay attention to Moses and calls what he is saying as lies. He doesn’t want the people to transform their allegiance from him to God. He is not connected to their God and doesn’t care about that. He implies that he is their god and doesn’t want them to worship something else beside him.

2. Pharaoh rejects the request for a feast to the Lord in the wilderness(5:1-5)

Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh and asked him to let the Israelites go into the wilderness to hold a feast dedicated to the Lord. Pharaoh scoffed at their suggestion and mocked the God of the Hebrews. Pharaoh accused Moses of distracting the people from their work. They slaves and they don’t need three days rest to worship another “god” as Pharaoh sees himself as one!

3. Make Bricks without Straw (5:6-19)

As a result of Moses’ request, Pharaoh told the Israelites he would no longer provide them with straw for the brinks they were forced to make, instead they would need to source their own straw while maintaining their daily brick quotas.

For Pharaoh the tyrant is not sufficient to just say “No”. You want some freedom? Here’s a bit more slavery! He doubles down on the slavery as a punishment for asking for some freedom, The thing that holds you in slavery doesn’t want to let you go. E.g., Alcohol, drugs

Pharaoh said the Israelites dreamed of going into the wilderness to sacrifice because they were idle and didn’t have enough work to occupy their time, so he increased their workload. A feast is communal, and we share food with each other. When food didn’t last for long it was sensible to share and store it in the bodies of other people. It is a sacrifice to give it to others.

Is there an element of trickery in Moses asking to go out to the desert? Would they have come back? Pharaoh can’t understand it and wasn’t ready to give them even a few days off. Pharaoh wants to reduce them to slaves. The God of their ancestors is back, and Pharaoh doesn’t want them to recognise themselves as a nation. He needs the free workforce for his building projects.

In Genesis Abraham lied to Pharaoh in Egypt and Moses may be doing the same. Pharaoh is “god” in Egypt and the freest man in Egypt. Trickery is in the Bible and used against tyranny. It is acceptable in the land of the stranger. In the New Testament there appears that Satan thinks that death has taken Jesus, but it is a trick/deception that he hasn’t seen.

The Israelite foremen asked Pharaoh to ease his requirements, but he refused to hear them. There is only order in the system and no chaos. There is only work until you are dead. It is a popular theme of tyranny. Tyrants will double down to try and control the people to prevent a revolution.

4. Clay, Straw, and Bricks (5:10-19)

The Israelites bending over to gather clay to make bricks has something to do with death. We are made out of clay from earth and water. It is the stuff that makes us up. They are going back down into the lower things such as desires and passions. They are constantly putting clay and straw into the mould but never finished until you die. The straw (or chaff) will be burnt in the fire. These works that are based on base desires will end up being burnt up.

This image also has to do with the Tower of Babel. The idea of making bricks is also in this story. The excess of unity among mankind leads to bricks being built to the Tyrant Nimrod. Pharaoh is an image of Nimrod who also imposed his order on the people. Yu can have the extreme of licentiousness and breakdown due to chaos but also the extreme of tyranny leading to rigid order. These come together with the whore riding the Beast in the book of Revelation.

5. At the Bottom of the World (5:12)

They are at the bottom of the world gathering all this residue that’s unformed. It’s referred to as “stubble”. That’s their job and they are bringing it together in support of Pharaoh’s authority and kingdom. Not only did they have to make bricks, but they had to spend time traveling on foot looking for the stubble. They would have to bring it back and chop it to the right size for brickmaking. Then they would have to make the bricks at the full measure they previously made. The next day, they would get up and start again.

6. Excess Work (5:19)

This Pharaoh does as the Pharoah did when attempting to murder the Hebrew male babies 80 years ago. He doubles down on his oppression as he is a Tyrant. The Israelites are performing an excess of work, and they are asking Pharaoh to set aside a time to stop their work and worship their God. Pharaoh will not allow them to rest from their work. If they have time to rest, then he will actually increase their work. In relation to the six days of creation and the day of rest. The Sabbath will be reinforced in the Ten Commandments as an being important to the normal cycle of things.

7. The People turn on Moses and Aaron (5:20-23)

The people of Israel make the mistake of complaining to Pharaoh about their hardship rather than to the Lord. God would say, “Woe to the rebellious people who take counsel but not of me” (Isaiah 30:1). Don’t cry to your boss first if the workload is hard, cry to the Lord first.

When the Israelites’ realised Pharaoh wasn’t going to relent, they then turn on Moses and Aaron. They accused the brothers of souring their relationship with Pharaoh. Having made no progress with Pharaoh, Moses became irritated and asks God why He had sent him to Egypt in the first place! When Moses was yelled at, he didn’t retaliate but took it to the Lord. His time in the desert had made him a meeker and wiser man.

The demands to be released will get stronger. Let my people go! They want to enter a covenant with God in the desert. Moses will go back to Pharaoh but this time will come with miracles to show the power of the true God over the false gods of Egypt.

Categories: Exodus

Tags: bible, Exodus, god, moses, pharaoh