5

Moses and Aaron now go into Pharaoh and tell him what The LORD had told them (v1-3). Understandably Pharaoh’s reaction was, ‘’Who is The LORD that I should take notice of Him?” They had asked him to let the people go into the wilderness and hold a feast. Pharaoh said, “I don’t know the LORD and I will not let the people go.” It was a natural response from someone who didn’t know God. Perhaps they should have explained better about who the LORD was, so 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.”

Pharaoh was considered to be god to the Egyptians and it took courage for Moses and Aaron to go and ask and it is little wonder that he is affronted that there could be another god. Moses would have known his position having been brought up as a son of Pharaoh’s daughter in the palace. This time, Moses went on the authority of The Living God and asked, “Let my people go”.

It wasn’t going to be easy as Pharaoh didn’t recognise the True God. As a result of this, he made it more difficult for the Israelites and suggested that Moses and Aaron were trying to take the people from their work as slaves. (v4-9)

Pharaoh acknowledged that the Israelites had become a large number, and it was important that they should get on with their work. He instructed the taskmasters to make it even more difficult for the workers in that they would not be provided with straw for their bricks, they would have to go and collect their own but insist that they still make the same number of bricks as before. He suggested that they were idle and just wanted time off to sacrifice to their God and that their request was just a ruse and not true. “Make them work harder”.

He may have remembered from history that previous attempts to cut the number of the Israelites had failed by the midwives failing to obey in killing the babies. He wasn’t going to let this latest attempt succeed.

Historians, commentators, archaeologists have found evidence of bricks made with straw and some without straw. Straw contains a form of acid and was used to bind the clay to make the bricks stronger.

The taskmasters carried out Pharaoh’s orders (v10-14) and told the Israelites that they would not be provided with straw and would have to get straw wherever they could find it, but there was to be no reduction in the number of bricks made. They gathered stubble instead of straw and they were forced to work faster. They were beaten and treated harshly made to fulfil their quota and even more. Things were going worse and I’m sure the people would be blaming Moses and Aaron and God for all this. This was a great test for them.

Verses 15-19 relates that the officers of the Israelites. Complained to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said that they were idle layabouts, and they realised they were in trouble. They should have cried out to God, or at least to Moses. Maybe they blamed God and Moses. Not long ago they cried out to God and God heard their cry because of their bondage and He sent Moses to their aid, but things seem to have got worse. The saddest thing of all was that they thought Pharaoh could help rather than God.

Having failed in their plea to Pharaoh they then went to Moses and Aaron. The blame was squarely placed at their feet. In their pride they thought they were right in the sight of God, and it was all the fault of Moses and Aaron that Pharaoh was treating them so badly and that God would judge them (v20,21). Their excitement in the previous chapter, that God was with them had soon waned when the going got tough.

Sometimes things need to get worse before they get better to make us trust in God more.

Moses was concerned about this and was beginning to doubt but he did the right thing, he went before The LORD and poured out his heart saying, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? 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.”  (v22,23) It is well that we do this in our circumstances.

Notice he asked God why had ‘He brought trouble on the people’. Moses was courageous in asking God this question. However, he had forgotten what God had said (3:19,20) to him, ‘I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go’. I am sure that Moses was thinking – I told You I was not the man for this.

Often when we seek God’s will, things don’t go smoothly, but that Is usually God testing us and making us more able to fulfil His will. It is essential that we come to God and open our hearts to Him.

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About this site

I am not a qualified theologian; I am an ordinary guy who just loves reading and studying the Bible. I recognise the importance of preaching and teaching what the Bible says because it is God’s inspired message to our world. In my lifetime of around seven decades, I have listened to the some of the finest Bible teachers and preachers and learned a lot from them. I have used the New King James Version of the Bible. Please pray that God will help you to understand it. Make your own notes if that helps you. This is not meant to be a commentary or a paraphrase. I simply want to share a few thoughts which I hope will be a help to you. Make sure that you have a bible open alongside. You may not agree with my comments. If you don’t, please read the Bible and study it for yourself and ask The LORD to guide you into all truth.

One thing has come home to me that the more I read the Bible is how it all fits together. There may be up to forty different writers/speakers but there is only ONE AUTHOR, God Himself.

A bit about me –

I was born into a Christian home but my father had a mining accident and died three months before I was born. I was brought up by a godly mother and grandparents with a largely wider Christian family around us.

I have been a member of only two churches in my lifetime, both of which faithfully teach the Bible, the Word of God. I was raised at Cave Browne Evangelical Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield near Wigan (Now Hope Church, Ashton). I realised at a young age that I was a sinner and received Jesus Christ as my Saviour at the age of eight.

I was a member there until 1970 by which time I had married Dorothy, my wonderful wife, and we had two sons. We moved to Warrington, Lancashire (now Cheshire since 1974) and quickly became members of Bethesda Evangelical Church, Stockton Heath, where we remain. (See below for our Statement of Faith)

I held leadership positions in both churches and was an elder for twenty-eight years at my present church, as well as musical director, organist, pianist at each church for over fifty years in total.

Over the last sixty years I have served the Lord in one way or another. I started work at the age of sixteen and was employed in the Magistrates’ Courts for the next forty-three years, taking early retirement in 2005. After meeting a former alcoholic who had become a Christian, and whose life had been changed by The Lord Jesus Christ beyond recognition, we wrote a book, published in 2007, which we entitled Alcohol Thriller or Killer. Having gathered sponsorship we supplied copies to every prison in the UK and some elsewhere.

As a result, we were invited to tell our story at around twenty prisons throughout the UK. We completed this ministry in 2010 after which I became involved with Christian Prison Resourcing going to prisons leading Bible Studies, which I continue to do. Our passion is to see prisoners’ lives transformed, their relationships restored and their communities rebuilt as they understand the good news of Jesus Christ. I have seen many prisoners find a personal faith in Jesus Christ and witnessed the change this brings in their lives.

During all this I have had the ever-present support of my wife, Dorothy. Our sons are both married, and we have six grandchildren.

JOHN HAYES

Bethesda’s Statement of Faith

We Believe:

 In the Divine inspiration, authority and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 

 That God exists eternally in three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit to whom equal honour is due.

 That Jesus Christ, unique Son of God, became man, being begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. 

 That He died for our sins, was buried and rose again for our justification. 

 That He ascended to the right hand of God and is now the all-sufficient High Priest of His people.

 That He will return personally to receive His people and judge the world in righteousness.

 That humanity has fallen and needs the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration and sanctification.

 That fellowship with God may be restored by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 That at death a person’s soul does not cease to exist or become unconscious.

 That the dead will be raised either to life or condemnation and that the blessedness of the forgiven and the    punishment of the unforgiven will be alike eternal.  

Our practices:

We baptise believers by immersion on their personal confession of faith, and we commemorate the Lord’s death in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Communion) every Sunday.  

Our Goal – Is to honour and worship the Lord Jesus Christ by: 

  • Proclaiming God’s good news of forgiveness and new life through the Lord Jesus.
  • Promoting faithful Christian living.
  • Preserving pure Christian truth through the teaching of the Bible.
  • Providing for God’s people.

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