Let My People Go? (Exodus 5:1-23)
*Verses in NKJV, one verse in ESV*
– Read Exodus 5:1-23
– God told Moses He has seen the hardship of his people and was going to set his people free from bondage and oppression and give them a land of milk and honey. Go tell the Israelite elders.
– He was to confront the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh would refuse. God would then get to show His mighty power. The King would relent, then the Israelites would come out as winners in the end.
– Moses was not confident in his mission but obeyed God anyway.
– Moses told the elders what God said, and they believed him. Moses confronted Pharaoh. Pharaoh didn’t believe Moses and doubled down on the oppression. Everyone began to complain and was ready to give up. (They knew he would say, no, but didn’t know he would try to crush them.)
– Now the people of Israel are suffering harsh and unfair treatment because they wanted to prioritize God over work. Instead of blaming Pharaoh for their oppression, now they blamed Moses for making things worse!
– It has only been ONE day! (“So the same day Pharaoh commanded…” and the taskmasters asked, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your task like yesterday and the day before?”)
#1. Walk in the authority you that are under.
– Moses is new to leadership and made a big leadership mistake. He knew his orders but lacked confidence in carrying them through. When Pharaoh pushed back, Moses immediately began to cave!
– Verse 1, Moses tells pharaoh, “The God of the Universe says, Let my people go!” Verse 2, the Pharaoh says, “I don’t know this god, why should I listen to you or him?”
– Pharaoh basically says, “What is in it for me? Why should I care?” What god could tell him what he can or can’t do, or make him go against his own self-interest? This is the core of humanity, right? Who will rule in your heart? Self or God?
– Then in Verse 3, Moses turns the statement into a question, “Oh please, will you let God’s people go? Just for a little while?” Then adds, “or else our God will kill us.” (…but God never said that.)
– He was supposed to tell the Pharaoh that trouble would come to HIM, but instead he backed down, made a play for sympathy, and left the room. He started strong but then lost heart.
– Moses knew who God was and His power. Moses knew the King was going to say “No”, and Moses knew the Israelites were going to win in the end. Why was he now asking instead of telling?!
– Example: I am teaching one of my firefighters how to be an officer. (He wants to promote.) Before we even talk about emergency tactics and tasks, we need to talk about philosophy and intent.
– Know where the line is drawn, what you will accept and what you won’t, before the challenge or emergency even comes. You are not “just an actor, or substitute teacher”. You ARE the officer for the day! You’ll have the same authority, responsibility, and above all, accountability.
– On the fire scene, you don’t ask people to do things, you tell them to do it. You aren’t looking for their approval. YOU make the call and accept the consequences if it fails. This takes practice.
– This isn’t arrogance (belief in self), it is confidence (belief in the mission, understanding what is right and wrong, and trusting the leadership above you).
– “Leadership” doesn’t mean you get your own way or your preferences. It only means that you are responsible and accountable for the team and the outcome. (Example, verse 14!)
– Verse 14, Also the officers of the children, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?” (They don’t make bricks, but they are punished for the outcome of their team.)
– Moses needed to prepare his heart before meeting with Pharaoh. God gave him orders. He needed to walk with that authority. The victory will come, he must simply and confidently endure, and lead the other leaders to do the same thing. There is no room for complaining.
– You have authority in Christ, because you are under the authority OF Christ. The authority is not about you, or from you. The believer’s authority rests on their mandate to serve the Lord.
– When we are in God’s will, we can move with confidence that we are doing what is right and that the Holy Spirit’s power is at work within us, and through us.
– You don’t need to be timid or afraid:
– Acts 5:27-29, And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” 29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.
– Psalm 28:7, The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
#2. Stay the course.
– God told Moses that Pharaoh would say, no, but the King did much worse than that. Pharaoh doubled down saying that if they have time to dream, then they must not be working hard enough.
– There were a lot of Hebrews, so no work for 3 days would have been a huge economic impact, but I think Pharaoh was just flexing, wanting to break their spirit before they could rise up.
– He called them lazy and idle, giving them more work than was humanly possible to do. “The beatings will continue until morale improves!”
– Yesterday, in Exodus 4:30-31, Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
– Now today, in Exodus 5:20-21, Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made [b]us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
– In chapter 4, they were in awe at the power of God, and believed in His plans. By chapter 5, things got painful, now the people are ready to bail. Moses was a hero, now they blame him for everything!
– Now under even more harsh persecution, the people seemed to forget what God had promised.
– What can WE learn from this?
– Stay the course and trust that God knows what he is doing. He is bigger than your situation.
– Pointing fingers and placing blame will never make the problem better.
– YOU are accountable to God for how YOU walk through your trials and tribulations.
– Col 3:23-24, And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
– Gal 6:9, And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
– 2 Tim 2:15a, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed…
– Example: When I have gone through a hard season, I always reflect back on how I walked through it. Am I proud of my thoughts and behavior in the struggle, or embarrassed? Did I represent Jesus well, or become another example of a Christian being a hypocrite?
– Then remind myself while going through the next thing, to think “How do I want to look back on this? What would make God proud? Will I complain, quit, pray, endure…? Choose now, not later!
– I often think about if I could go back and talk to the younger me, what advice would I give?
– You can’t “go back”, but now picture yourself 20 years in the future, and if you could go back and talk to your “present me”, what advice would you give?
– I would tell myself: “That piece of cake isn’t worth it!” Or, “Prioritize your family over work.”
– Example: I was talking with a BC recently who is close to retirement, and I reflecting on how I want to be remembered. “What kind of captain do I want people to remember I was?”
– He said to me bluntly, “You will be forgotten in less than 4 years.”
– It’s true. A former BC stopped by a fire station the other day. He worked for our fire department for 35 years. No one working there knew who he was.
– The honest truth is that I am easily replaced, and they can do it in one day. The department doesn’t stop just because I am there. I’m not that important.
– It sounds harsh, but I think it is meant to help the FF realign their priorities.
– But do you know who can’t replace me? My family. Do you know who will remember me when I’m gone? My kids. So why would I spend so much time worrying and complaining about work, when my legacy lies with my faith and family? They are watching. God is watching.
– I think we can see an opportunity for Moses and Israel to decide how they want to endure through their current trial. Will they honor God, and trust him? Or will they complain and quit?
– Focus on what is enduring and what really matters, not just what is in your face right now…
– YOU control YOU, and do your part, and let God worry about the big picture.
– Proverbs 21:31 (ESV), The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.
– Matt 6:34, Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
#3. Accept the consequences.
– Obedience to God can lead to resistance or persecution from the world. You know this, so accept it.
– 1 Peter 4:12-13, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
– James 1:2-3, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a]patience (endurance or perseverance).
– Sometimes people are urged to accept Christ because “he will solve your problems.” But Christ did not promise to solve all of your problems. He repeatedly warned people to consider the cost.
– Watching Moses and Aaron suffer under unjust oppression, and considering how I want to walk through my own struggles, it reminded me of something I read that really impacted me.
Example: Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from Birmingham jail: 1963, he and other civil rights leaders have been arrested and thrown in jail for participating in non-violent, direct-action demonstrations against segregation. This letter is a response to 8 white southern pastors who publicly rebuked his actions as “unwise and untimely.” (If you have forgotten your history, this letter is an EYE OPENER!)
– I wish I could read the whole thing to you, but here are some quotes: Here is the link to the whole letter: Letter from Birmingham Jail, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (letterfromjail.com)
– Criticized for being an outsider there: “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid… Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
– Like Moses, called to come from the outside to free his people. Moses took action, even though the culture and government would reject it. Even the religious leaders now complain about his actions.
– “Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self purification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: “Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?” “Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?””
– The question: Are you prepared to suffer the consequences for your decision to stand firm?
– “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see… that justice too long delayed is justice denied. We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.”
– Pharaoh cited economic and social reasons for the denial, but as we can see, he never intended on setting the Israelites free. It has been “the law” there for 400 years.
– “You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern… The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws…. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”
– “One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”
– MLK Jr. and his team are sitting in jail for breaking an unjust law, for doing the right thing, for honoring God in his words and actions. He accepted the consequences gracefully. (like Paul did??)
– SO MANY MORE CONNECTIONS between Moses’ situation now, and that of MLK Jr. in Birmingham. I just can’t spend the next two hours going through it all. GO READ IT FOR YOURSELF!
– I am inspired by MLK Jr. and his behavior. He has left a lasting legacy that honors God!
– As for Moses, he might regret some of his choices and attitude (up to this point).
– John 16:33, (Jesus said) These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you [f]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
– Don’t be surprised when hardship comes when you follow God’s calling. Just make sure you are behaving in a wait that honors God while you are waiting for the victory.
– prayer –
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