Exodus 5--Making Bricks Without Straw

Making Bricks Without Straw
5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

​22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

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Moses and Aaron are obedient and appear before Pharaoh and give the message to him that the LORD commanded, and just like the LORD, the God of Israel, said, Pharaoh did not listen.  In fact he mocked God saying that he didn't know who he was or why he should listen to Him--all he'd need to do is read the annuals of the kings of Egypt to find the story of Joseph and how the God of the Hebrews had provided the interpretation to Pharaoh's dream and given a plan to Joseph to save the nation from famine.


Pharaoh's response to the request for the people to have three days to go into the desert to have a religious holiday of sorts to worship the LORD and make sacrifices to Him was to say that there was no way he would give them all a vacation and that they just needed to work harder, so he ordered his taskmasters to increase their workload and make their work more difficult by making them make their bricks without straw.

How would the people of God respond to this?  They did everything that God asked of them and now they are being punished and persecuted for it.  Well, we have the answer in verse 21--they grumbled and complained to Moses and Aaron and about Moses and Aaron--a pattern we will see continue throughout the books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  Honestly though, I wouldn't see myself reacting differently if I were one of the foremen responsible for the health and well-being of millions of my brothers and sisters that hand been forced into slavery and the words of a prophet had made the king angry so that he and his taskmasters took it out on us.

What does Moses do?  He mediates for the people and cries out to the LORD for help.  He is brutally honest with God about what is going on and how he feels--he tells God that it looks like the Hebrews would have been better off if God had never sent him.  Moses asks lots of questions but doesn't get any answers (at least not yet), because God is not obligated to answer to man and his objections or accusations.  God's plan is working out exactly to His plan even if that is uncomfortable for His people.  Just because God promises to work things out for our good doesn't mean that we're going to like everything that happens before that good that God is preparing for us.  We are promised that we will have trials and tribulations and that we will be mistreated, but that God will never leave us or forsake us and will be with us every step of the way.