Tag: Ten Commandments

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More Bricks, Less Straw?

Exodus 5

1After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, for they must go out into the wilderness to hold a religious festival in my honor.’”

2“Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the LORD that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”

3But Aaron and Moses persisted. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they declared. “Let us take a three-day trip into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD our God. If we don’t, we will surely die by disease or the sword.”

4“Who do you think you are,” Pharaoh shouted, “distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! 5Look, there are many people here in Egypt, and you are stopping them from doing their work.”

6That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the slave drivers and foremen he had set over the people of Israel: 7“Do not supply the people with any more straw for making bricks. Let them get it themselves! 8But don’t reduce their production quotas by a single brick. They obviously don’t have enough to do. If they did, they wouldn’t be talking about going into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to their God. 9Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to these liars!”

10So the slave drivers and foremen informed the people: “Pharaoh has ordered us not to provide straw for you. 11Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!” 12So the people scattered throughout the land in search of straw.

13The slave drivers were brutal. “Meet your daily quota of bricks, just as you did before!” they demanded. 14Then they whipped the Israelite foremen in charge of the work crews. “Why haven’t you met your quotas either yesterday or today?” they demanded.

15So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. “Please don’t treat us like this,” they begged. 16“We are given no straw, but we are still told to make as many bricks as before. We are beaten for something that isn’t our fault! It is the fault of your slave drivers for making such unreasonable demands.”

17But Pharaoh replied, “You’re just lazy! You obviously don’t have enough to do. If you did, you wouldn’t be saying, ‘Let us go, so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD.’ 18Now, get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you must still deliver the regular quota of bricks.”

19Since Pharaoh would not let up on his demands, the Israelite foremen could see that they were in serious trouble. 20As they left Pharaoh’s court, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them. 21The foremen said to them, “May the LORD judge you for getting us into this terrible situation with Pharaoh and his officials. You have given them an excuse to kill us!”

22So Moses went back to the LORD and protested, “Why have you mistreated your own people like this, Lord? Why did you send me? 23Since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has been even more brutal to your people. You have not even begun to rescue them!” (Exodus 5:1-23, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

If you’re a Christian you’re certainly familiar with the Exodus story which was popularized by the 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments.

The story chronicles the interaction between Pharaoh and Moses, whom God commissioned to act as His representative in an appeal to Pharaoh to let God’s people go.

This chapter highlights the initial volley between Pharaoh and Moses.

Moses has just met with the Jewish leaders and announced to them that God has indeed heard their cries and intends to rescue them from their Egyptian overlords.

In the ensuing interchange, Moses submits his request to Pharaoh who promptly tightens the screws on his Israelite subjects. Pharaoh doesn’t know the Lord and he doesn’t know Moses, and he’s certainly not going to take orders from some nomadic recluse who has just arrived on the scene.

Pharaoh responds as all tyrants do – he exerts his power in a cruel and forceful way. He demands that the Israelites meet their daily quota of bricks but without the provision of straw that is needed in order to make said bricks.

This tactic of retribution is as old as time – if you get out of line in any way, you are made to suffer even worse conditions. It’s an effective deterrent to keep people from organizing any kind of coordinated resistance.

The conditions for the Israelites are now even worse than before Moses showed up. They’re expected to make bricks but they’re given no straw. When they cannot meet their quotas, verbal and physical punishment follow.

To say that the Israelite foreman aren’t happy would be a gross understatement. They’ve been put in an impossible situation. There is no denying it. When they see Moses, the lay into him. Wouldn’t you? If someone promised to rescue you but then their initial efforts made your life even worse, wouldn’t you be upset?

Click here to see a A Comprehensive List of Blog Posts Based on Bible Passage Reference

Moses then goes back to the Lord and protests:

Why have you mistreated your own people like this, Lord? Why did you send me? Since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has been even more brutal to your people. You have not even begun to rescue them!”

I’ve probably read this story a hundred times and yet missed the impact of Moses’ response.

You see, for most of us, we know how the story ends. We’ve seen the movie and we’ve read the chapters that follow. We know that this is just an opening scene in a larger story. This isn’t the climax and this is not how the story ends.

But Moses doesn’t know that. He didn’t have the benefit of a movie and he was seeing these events play out in real time. From his perspective, God seemed to be reneging or possibly unable to follow through on His promise to rescue His people.

Everything Moses said was 100% true. Pharaoh WAS more brutal to God’s people after Moses’ initial interaction and the people WERE worse off.

So what’s the point?

The point is that we have limited perspective on God, His motives and His plans.

God promised to rescue His people and He sent Moses as His representative to Pharaoh to coordinate the rescue effort.

When things don’t go well initially, Moses barks back at God. But if Moses knew the rest of the story, he would understand that God’s purposes and His plan to rescue His people was much more complicated and complex than any plan Moses would create. That’s because God’s purposes include elements that we haven’t considered.

God’s rescue plan is multi-faceted and includes a spiritual component. It’s not just about moving a large group of people from one zip code to another.

Moses didn’t see that and so he complained.

And we often don’t see it in our own circumstances either. How often have I complained to God when He failed to do what I wanted in the way I wanted or in the time frame I expected?

When God fails to act, do I attack His character or question His motives?

The question then is this: for God to be a deliverer (rescuer) must he deliver in the way I expect or in the time frame I expect?

The answer is obviously no. My perspective is limited. God’s perspective is not. God’s purposes will not be thwarted, but He does not execute His plans to fulfill His purposes on my timetable. God doesn’t operate by committee.

The next time you’re tempted to question God or His motives or wonder why He’s not acting, remember Moses’ protest to God that He had not even begun to rescue His people. The truth is that God was laying the foundation for a rescue that was far beyond anything Moses could have dreamed.

God is always at work, even when we don’t realize it.

 

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Reflection

When have you questioned God’s work in your life? When have you thought to yourself that maybe God was not doing something that He promised to do?

What is an example of how you’ve seen God work in a way that was different than what you expected?

Why do you think we so easily doubt God or question Him even when we have mounds of evidence that He is powerful, true and able to accomplish all that He desires?

What is a current situation in your life where you are tempted to respond as Moses did? How can you adopt a big picture approach, recognizing that God’s perspective is greater than ours?

 

Photo by Esteban Castle on Unsplash

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A Psalm about the Nature of God

Psalm 90

1Lord, you have been our dwelling place

throughout all generations.

2Before the mountains were born

or you brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3You turn men back to dust,

saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”

4For a thousand years in your sight

are like a day that has just gone by,

or like a watch in the night.

(Psalm 90:1-4, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

A.W. Tozer is famously quoted as saying, “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

What do you think about when you think about God? What do you think God is like? How would you describe Him? What are some of his attributes?

How we think about God is extremely important. In fact, the second of the ten commandments says that we are not to fashion an idol in the form of an animal and worship it (see Exodus 20). This is because God is not an animal. Since God created all the animals, God is GREATER than any animal. Hence, it is demeaning to think of God as an animal – something that he actually created.

So what is God like?

The psalmist paints a partial picture of God with some incredible attributes, including the following:

    • “Before the creation of the world, you are God”. In other words, God existed before the world did, which means that He is distinct from His creation.
    • “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by.” What this means is that God is not subject to the same laws of time as we are. God is outside of time. Hence, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day.

The psalmist is accurately describing the eternal first cause.

Philosophers understand that when thinking about the origin of the universe, there must be an eternal first cause or else you run into the problem of infinite regression.

What is infinite regression?

Infinite regression is when you find yourself caught in an infinite series of questions and responses concerning the creation. For example, suppose a 5-year old asks, “where did I come from?”

You answer, “from your parents.” He follows up by asking, “but where did they come from?”

You reply, “from their parents.”

He replies to your reply with the same question, “but where did they come from?” And you reply each time with the same response, “from their parents.”

This chain of questions and responses regarding origins could go on forever – to infinity, UNLESS you arrive at a first cause that was itself eternal and uncaused.

For years, scientists and philosophers assumed that the universe itself was eternal, that it has ALWAYS existed. In that case, when one asks, “but where did the universe come from?” the answer is that it didn’t come from anyone or anywhere. It has always existed. It has always been there. Since it has always existed, we do not need to answer the question, “where did it come from?”

The problem is that we now know scientifically that the universe is NOT eternal. We know that it had a beginning. In fact, the Big Bang states that all matter, energy, space AND TIME came into existence at a point about 13.7 billion years ago. This demonstrates that the universe itself is NOT eternal.

So we are back to the question, “where did the universe come from?”

According to the psalmist, the universe came from God, who existed BEFORE the universe was created and BEFORE the concept of time. Hence, two major attributes of God are that 1) He is outside of space (creation) and  2) He is outside of time.

There is much more that could be said about God and his attributes but these two characteristics of God are foundational to understanding who He is. If he is outside of creation (space) and outside of time, then God must be eternally self-existent and He must be infinitely greater than any of us can even imagine. This is why any attempt to depict him in a way that is finite, such as a created animal, is demeaning to God. It is an offense to His very nature.

Reflection

What is your concept of God? What words and phrases would you use to describe Him?

Tozer says that what we think about God is the most important thing about us. Do you agree? Why or why not?

What reasons would you give someone when explaining why it is wrong to worship a created image?

The Big Bang states that the universe came into existence about 13.7 billion years ago. How does this scientific fact provide evidence for God’s existence?

 

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash