...live not by words, but by deeds...

“1 Afterwards Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.”’ 2 But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.’ 3 Then they said, ‘The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.’ 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, ‘Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!’ 5 Pharaoh continued, ‘Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!’ 6 That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, 7 ‘You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, “Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.” 9 Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labour at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.’

10 So the taskmasters and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people, ‘Thus says Pharaoh, “I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.”’ 12 So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, ‘Complete your work, the same daily assignment as when you were given straw.’ 14 And the supervisors of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, ‘Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks yesterday and today, as you did before’” Exodus 5:1-14?

Here in Chapter 5 the encounters with Pharaoh begin.  I see three key themes in these verses (5:1–14): 

1. The demand made by Yahweh, and quoted prophetically by Moses and Aaron, that “my people” be allowed to leave Egypt to worship “me” in the wilderness (vv. 1,3); 

2. Pharaoh's resistance, showing no real fear of Yahweh (vv. 2,4); 

3. Pharaoh's stubbornness, shown in either doing nothing or doing the opposite of what Yahweh demanded (vv. 4–14. Whenever Pharaoh does the opposite of what Yahweh demands, we  in even harsher see that this results in much harsher conditions for the Israelites. 

We will see these three themes surface in the next seven chapters, through chapter 11.

What is important to keep in mind is that we must not lose sight of the identity of those who resisted Yahweh. It is easy to assume that the contest for Israel’s deliverance was between Moses and Pharaoh, or between Israel and Pharaoh, or between Israel and Egypt. But it really wasn’t any of these. Rather, it was between Yahweh and Egypt's gods, the pharaoh being a devotee of, representative of, and human focal point for those gods.

It was not at all unusual that Moses and Aaron would have the right to see the great king personally. While Israelites were members of a hated and suppressed group of people, they were a small group, and just workers for Pharaoh, the King. Moses had a right to have an audience with a monarch in the traditional legal system of much of the ancient world. Kings were  expected to be available to the lowliest and greatest alike, a requirement that Israel's prophets used regularly, often in highly critical, confrontational ways and sometimes even with the purpose of denouncing the king's own personal behavior. In verse 1, the phrase “Thus says the Lord” was a formula that prophets used to address the Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron were taught to use this formula, and you can see it in verse 1.

I am struck, however, by verse 2: “2 But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.’” Moses and Aaron were dealing with people who just did not know Yahweh. I worry about that in our own lives, that we increasingly interact with people who simply do not know the Lord. Many ask the same question that Pharaoh asked; “Who is the Lord, and why should I follow Him?” To me, this is call, an invitation, from the Lord to teach others about the Lord by how we live our lives, much more so than by what we say. If other people, especially those who do not know who God is, see our faith in the way we live, that is a very powerful witness. But much is lost when they cannot see it, but instead, must rely on our explaining to them that we are Christin followers of Christ.

So let us bring to our prayer today a desire in God’s presence to live more and more as He wishes us to live, rather than live like everybody else except for an hour of worship on Sunday. Take this to prayer and consider how you live your life.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.