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TL;DR: Exodus 5:1-14 shows that obedience to God does not always produce immediate success. When Pharaoh increased the Israelites' suffering, Moses faced opposition and misunderstanding. Nevertheless, he continued seeking God's guidance. His experience encourages Christian leaders to trust God's timing and remain faithful when obedience brings hardship rather than quick results.
1 Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.'"
2 Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey 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 met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword."
4 But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" 5 Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."
6 That same day, Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."
10 Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.'" 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, "Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw." 14 And Pharaoh's slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, "Why haven't you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?"
Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
"Let my people go" was Moses' impassioned plea before Pharaoh. However, the hardened monarch not only rejected Moses' request but also accused the Hebrews of being lazy and trying to use their religion to evade their responsibilities.
Pharaoh responded by ordering an increase in the workload of the children of Israel. As the cruelty of their Egyptian taskmasters mounted, the Israelites concluded that Moses' attempt to free them had only made their situation worse.
They began to blame him for their problems, wondering how Moses could be following the leadership of the Lord. How could the God of Abraham be at work in a situation where matters worsened rather than getting better?
When Moses lost the confidence of his own people, he began to question whether Pharaoh would ever let them go. However, even under pressure from both sides, Moses didn't walk away from what he believed to be the will of the Lord.
He took his doubts to the Lord in prayer. Instead of taking the situation into his own hands, he sought divine guidance for each step. By remaining faithful under pressure, he continued fulfilling the mission God had given him.
I had several opportunities to watch my father fulfill his divine calling while under heavy pressure. Once, for instance, a Nazarene general superintendent asked him to accept an appointment as pastor of a church in severe difficulty. The congregation had defied its district superintendent while attempting to call a pastor.
In their appeal to the general superintendent, these people had insisted on calling a man the district superintendent would not approve. They threatened not to pay the moving expenses or one penny of salary to any person other than the man they wanted.
It was into that situation that my father was asked to go. (Note: He was not the man they wanted.) But he prayed earnestly about accepting that appointment. Though he had not had a burning bush experience like Moses, my father was convinced that it was the voice of the Lord asking him to change pastorates.
So he and my mother made the move, and they began prayerfully searching for ways to revitalize that church. It was not easy. There was pressure from people as well as intense spiritual opposition. His term of service even took a toll on my father's physical health. But through it all, he remained God's man.
Some years later, I walked around that congregation's property with my dad's successor. They had just finished a multistage building program and were growing in every way. My heart warmed with a son's pride when I heard this pastor say that the church was where it was because my father, even under great pressure, had remained God's man.
Perhaps God is leading you into a new spiritual adventure. Your obedience to Him may cost you something. As Paul and Barnabas reminded the first-century Christians, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22, 2011 NIV). But whatever the pressures, you can rest assured that the Lord will give you the strength and wisdom to accomplish His will for your life.
— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
I wrote this devotional blog post when Barbara and I were serving as missionaries in Italy. It is one of a series of 52 brief devotionals written for The Standard, a weekly Faith Connections take-home curriculum piece for adult Sunday school classes published by the Church of the Nazarene.
Moses' encounter with Pharaoh in Exodus 5 offers four lessons for Christian life and leadership:
Big Picture: The Exodus 5 story provides insights into leadership, faith, perseverance, justice, and the human experience. These insights can help us handle the challenges we face as we seek to be the people of God.
