Read | Exodus 5:1–6:13
Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.”
But Pharaoh responded, “Who is the LORD that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”
They answered, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, or else he may strike us with plague or sword.”
The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your labor!” Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from their labor.”
That day Pharaoh commanded the overseers of the people as well as their foremen, “Don’t continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers—that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words.”
So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not giving you straw. Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’” So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The overseers insisted, “Finish your assigned work each day, just as you did when straw was provided.” Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “Why haven’t you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?”
So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way? No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault.”
But he said, “You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the LORD.’ Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks.”
The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You cannot reduce your daily quota of bricks.” When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.
“May the LORD take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek to Pharaoh and his officials—putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”
So Moses went back to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me? Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has caused trouble for this people, and you haven’t rescued your people at all.”
But the LORD replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.”
Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the LORD.’ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.” Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.”
But Moses said in the LORD’s presence, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?” Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
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After the plan to persuade Pharaoh to release the Israelites seems to backfire, Moses turns back to God in confusion and despair. How does this moment validate that genuine faith often coexists with profound doubt, disappointment, and even bold questioning of God's actions? How does God's response (in chapter 6) validate or correct Moses' feelings of failure?
Focus
We need regular reminders to turn our attention toward God as we meditate on his word and his presence. Choose two times today to set an alarm on your phone to remind yourself to stop, pray a short prayer, and ask yourself how you can practice being more attentive to God’s presence in that moment.
Pray
Ask God to help you consistently pay attention to his presence throughout the day.
God, remind me today to meditate on who you are by paying attention to you throughout this day. You are here, you are present, and you are working. In the quiet moments of waiting in traffic, in a line, for a meal, or in whatever waiting you have for me today, cause my mind to drift first to you. Bring to mind your love, bring to mind your truth, bring to mind your constant presence with me. For Jesus’ sake I pray. Amen.
Going Deeper
Throughout this year-long series in theFormed.life, the daily Scripture reading will take you through the whole story of Scripture in manageable chunks, allowing time for other study, reflection, and prayer, rather than including every verse and chapter in the Bible. If you would like to go deeper and read through the entire Bible, use this whole Bible reading plan from the BibleProject. Print it off and use it as a checklist to track your progress!
