Enslavement or Freedom?
Which do you choose for yourself and others?
Exodus 5:15–6:1
July 17, 2016
M OSES HAS BEEN IN THE WILDERNESS for many years. God has come to him in a burning bush and called Moses into service for the Lord and for his people, the Hebrews, who are slaves in Egypt.
Moses is to lead the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt and into a promised land given by God. To do so he has to confront the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
Following orders from the Lord, Moses and his brother, Aaron, go to the Pharaoh and announce:
“Thus says the LORD, let my people go!”
Pharaoh responds with a question, “Who is this LORD you talk about and why I should obey him?” and a declaration, “I don’t know the LORD. I am the God of Egypt and I will not let the people go!”
Not only that, the Pharaoh says that if the slaves have enough free time to go into the desert to worship their God, they obviously aren’t working hard enough. Pharaoh labels the people as lazy and demands that they gather their own straw for making bricks. Up to this point they had been able to use Pharaoh-supplied straw.
Now they have to make the same amount of bricks but also gather their own straw — an impossible task. Adding straw allows bricks to dry sooner. And drying sooner means laying the brick sooner. Also, straw adds stability to the brick. It is a necessary ingredient.
† † †
PHARAOH ATTACKS THEM by labeling them as “lazy.” It is a control strategy. They were doing the back-breaking, brick-making labor that no respectable Egyptian wanted to do. It’s an interesting parallel that those we tend to call “lazy” in this country are often the ones doing the sun-beating, crop-harvesting toil of our nation.
In reality, the Pharaoh wants to work the slaves harder so that they have no time or energy for dreaming/imagining a day of freedom and justice, which would surely arise out of worship of the Lord.
The Hebrew supervisors complain to Pharaoh, but he merely repeats the charge that they are lazy and as supervisors it’s their job to keep production the same even with more labor involved. The leaders recognize that they are worse off than ever because of Moses’ bold speech to Pharaoh.
† † †
“WE’D RATHER MAKE BRICKS with straw than without straw,” they complain to Moses. “Why did you get us in this mess?”
That makes sense, right? Making bricks is hard enough, but having to gather the straw and make the same number of bricks is downright impossible. If you think their argument makes sense, then listen: The supervisors are shortsighted. They are slaves. They see what’s in front of them — bricks — but they fail to see what can be the future — freedom.
† † †
THE SUPERVISORS have incentive to keep things the same. After all, they are supervisors. Yes, they are slaves, but they are slaves with perks and privileges that the other slaves don’t get.
Moses and Aaron have messed things up. As the slaves strive for freedom, the supervisors have a harder life.
The supervisors are beaten. They are threatened. Their comfortable lives, relatively speaking, are threatened. The status quo has been good to them. In order to protect that, the supervisors have to hold down their own people from rebellion. Order takes priority over justice.
Uprisings, talk of freedom, service to God, all bring hardship. They can live with inequity because it benefits them. Calm the people. Blame others. Keep the people down and the supervisors can go on with their comfortable, privileged life. Follow the word of Pharaoh. Serve Pharaoh. And all will be well.
† † †
SOME OF US LIVE like supervisors. We have the perks, and benefits and we like that even if the status quo keeps our brother or sister down. We fear their being raised up will damage our status. We don’t want to do with less just so they can be raised up, set free. It’s in our best interest for others to be perceived as lazy, to spend all their time in work and labor so they don’t have time to think about protests or equality or freedom.
Moses is the messenger of the Lord and proclaims in 5:1, “Thus says the LORD.”
Pharaoh has his own messengers who proclaim Pharaoh’s decrees. They use the same “Thus says” formula.
It’s “Thus says the Lord” vs. “Thus says Pharaoh.”
Whose word has power and authority? Who will the supervisors listen to? Whose word shall create the future?
Pharaoh’s word has created slavery. God’s word calls for the creation of deliverance and a new future. The entire exodus story is framed within this struggle.
† † †
THIS IS A STORY about service. Pharaoh wants the supervisors to prove they are his servants — force your brothers and sisters to gather straw and make bricks. While at the same time God calls the Hebrews to be his servants — go to the wilderness and serve me.
When the “Pharaoh” comes down on us and life gets hard, it’s easier to give up than be faithful. God’s call to His people to serve is not always easy. It’s hard when we face affliction in response to our faithfulness, sacrifice or faithfulness.
† † †
OUR LIVES ARE FRAMED around this struggle. The choice is ours daily. Serve the Lord or serve the Pharaoh. Serve the Lord or serve our own interests. Serve the Lord or serve mammon. We can’t choose both. Jesus said so.
We cannot be faithful when we try to serve two masters. Do we long for the days of making bricks with straw provided or do we long for days of freedom for all God’s people?
— Keith Cardwell
— Keith Cardwell
