Making Bricks Without Straw
5:1 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.” (ESV)

Ex 5:19 The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.”
There is a cost to following Jesus. Everyone must pay, not to be saved, that is a free gift, but a cost none the less. Moses saw it and gave up the life of power and luxury as a son of Pharoah’s daughter: Heb 11:24-28
24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
Lord, thank You for the chance to live with purpose for You even though I will have trouble and difficulties. Keep me from complaining by a focus on Your promise and the future with You in Heaven! Help me to endure whatever You allow to come my way, even homework or obeying knuckleheads You’ve placed over me. Thank You for loving me while I was Your enemy.
21 and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
What Pharoah just did was not a good move at all. Now God is mad at him. That’s bad. Really, really, really, REALLY bad. As i was reading this, i didn’t even notice something, but i found it now. Moses and Aaron are not taking things into their own hands. They’re waiting for God to take His revenge on the Egyptians. They say “May the Lord look upon you and judge you!”, instead of saying “We’re going to kill you!” There’s a big differance. We need to be able to do this. We have to wait for God to take His revenge on people who wrong us. It’s not our place to take it into our own hands. God is a just God, and He will always punish those who deserve it. He may not punish someone right away, but He will punish them eventually, and when He does, it won’t be pretty.
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.”
Not a good response from the King of Egypt huh?! The Pharaoh know doubt knew who the Israelites God was but he was prideful and arrogant and completely rejects Him and His power. Boy is he in for a surprise! Much of the world responds to God like Pharaoh does because of their own selfish ambitions and pride…we as ambassadors of Christ need to share the good news with the Lost that they might fall to their knees in humility before Him.
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
As I read these verses I became frustrated with Moses and thought, “How can he accuse God of failing to resuce the Israelites?” But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I can act the same way toward God. When I ask Him for something in prayer and He does not answer in my timeline or in the way I imagined I can become frustrated and doubt God’s faithfulness. This is sin! Right now I am discouraged as I have been evangelizing to my grandpa over the past several months. He is very ill and could die any day, yet his stubborn heart is not understanding what it means to repent of his sins and put his faith in Christ. These verses encouraged me not to give up on my grandpa. God works in His way and in His timing, as He says in Isaiah 55:8-9…”For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Thanks for sharing that, Beth! That was great!
This passage reminded me that even though God promises to be with his people, that does not mean we will never face adversity! Moses gets rejected by Pharaoh, and then his own people complain that he is making their life harder. I think an important thing to remember is that God rarely works on our preferred time table. He often makes us wait and go through adversity in order to refine us and increase our faith. AND even though we may face trials, he is still with us!!! I’m excited to see what we continue learning through Exodus!
When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them,
21 and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
It looks like Moses got more than he bargained for. Yes, he knew part of Gods plan but he had no idea his own people would turn against him. The circumstances for the Israelites have gone from bad to worse. Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever moved forward in Gods will just to be sideswiped by some unforeseen problem? Have you ever found yourself crying out to the Lord and asking why? Do we let this kind of detour hinder us from moving forward? When Moses questions God it reminds me of when Job questions God. I love Gods response in Job 38:1-41, it silenced Job when God started asking the questions! In light of who God really is, knowing that His ways are above our ways, it is better to trust Him rather than question Him. We need to stop expecting to understand every difficult situation but rather rely on God, who has everything under His complete control!
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Moses shows no sign of faith here. The Lord tells him that he will use him to set his people free yet Moses doesn’t believe it will happen. We are not to question God. His timing is not always our timing and we need to remember that. When God says He will do something, HE WILL! I’m excited to see how God will work it all out!
Ecclesiastes 3:11
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Clearly this is evidence that doing the right thing and obeying God will not necessarily be easy. In fact as we obey God more we are more likely to get opposition from those around us. It is important for us not to be overly swayed by our circumstances. If circumstances are good in our life that does not necessarily mean that we have God’s favor or if circumstances are bad that does not necessarily mean that we don’t. We have God’s favor when we do what he says to do (John 14:23) regardless of circumstances.
Just like it is a lot right now, in this chapter, it’s not looking good for the Israelites. Moses and Aaron go talk to Pharaoh, telling him to let the Israelites go so they can follow where God wants them to go, but instead of releasing them, Pharaoh makes their work painfully harder. They’re probably all in despair right now, because instead of just making a ton of bricks each day, they have to travel abroad just to find some of the components they need. It would very easy for Moses to lose his faith right now, because it totally seems like God is accomplishing the opposite of what He sent Moses to do. But, Moses does not give up.
And neither should we! When the going gets tough and it looks very dismal, we should never despair, but always remember to persevere and press on toward the ultimate goal. God, help us to do this!
3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
Wow this is a really good example of FEARING The LORD. We should fear the LORD with such vehemence that we would do something like doing a three day pilgrimage.
Beth Lauder I will pray for your grandpa! oh and Hosfords nice comment!
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!”
Right when I read this I was just soooo into I was like, “Oh! pwnage! Pharaoh just showed them! And then I was like, “Oh wait, WRONG! Pharaoh and his people get totally owned by Aaron and Moses!” It reminded me of how sin at the time seems so right, but then God shows us otherwise later on. Something like, telling off your parents, or lying. We get punished for it later and God knows that it is wrong. We need to remember that every sin we commit makes God sad and we are going to be judged for every single one of them someday in Heaven. Let’s live our lives for Christ today!
20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them,
21 and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
The egyptians are getting kind of harsh now… i found this response kind of funny! haha it was interesting to see how in the last chapter in the last verse their response to Moses and Aaron was worship, but it quickly seemed to turn to anger and complaining! Their emotions and actions took the best of them. Instead of letting myself fall into a sinful response when things don’t go “my way”, I pray that God may give me self control that i may continue to worship and please him!
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.”
2 Thessalonians 1:8 “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” Wow so Pharaoh doesn’t know who the Lord is and 2 Thessalonias verse tells us that people that do not know God and do not obey the gospel, who do not hold on to it firmly and respond by repentance and faith will be punished with everlasting judgment as 2 Thessalonians 1:9 says! It sounds like Moses and Aaron might have evangelize to him. Pharoah doesnt know the Lord and will not Israel go, so God is going to reveal Himself to Pharoah through the plagues and miracles God does.
9 Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”
So after Pharoah heard the news from Moses and Aaron, Phoroah makes the Israelites work harder! That’s persecution!
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Moses is going to be patient with God here, God told him in yesterday’s chapter that He is going to harden Phoarah’s heart. Be patient Moses, Pharoah will not the Israelites go for a lot of more chapters.
21 and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Even though we are not living as slaves, sometimes we are treated unfairly like the Israelites were by Pharaoh. However, like the Hebrews in this chapter its very easy for us to complain when things get tough. Yet God has promised us eternal life like He promised the Israelites deliverance, and we should be looking forward to that instead. Even though we can’t see it now, Heaven is going to be way worth it, and instead of having a bitter heart here, we need to trust and rejoice in God because He is taking care of us.
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
As you can tell, God is using Moses for a big plan. Moses isnt quite sure on what God is trying to do at this point, but he keeps it up and though he questions it once in a while, Moses sticks with God and does what He says.
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.”
Pharaoh says “I do not know the Lord.” This is where the problem lies. He does not know the Lord as Moses does. How do you explain to a non-believer that something is right because God says so. This happens in everyday life. All we can do is pray for the right words and pray that God softens their hearts.
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
I really like Mechell’s comment. I totally agree Moses was obeying God and things were not going well for him or his people. This is called persecution. I have learned that when you are being persecuted you know that you have been making a differrence for Gods name and are also obeying what he has commanded. Moses may feel burdend like normal, but this does not mean give up. This is a great remnder and example to live for God even through the times it is not easy or there is persecution involved.
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.”
It defiantly takes guts to state that statement. Pharaoh obviously wasn’t walking near the LORD at all. He didn’t realize that it was because of the LORD that he woke up in the morning and that he had the ability to take his first breath of the new day. If Pharaoh had the slightest idea about who God is, he would of never treated God with such disrespect. God is the creator and destroyer of all things. We don’t deserve to live, God gives us the ability to live. God only gives us the ability to live so that we may glorify him while living here on this earth. When we get our mind caught up in this world we think that we DESERVE everything! God tells us in the Bible that we don’t deserve anything, it is by Gods grace alone that we have been saved and given the ability to live today. We are not supposed to live on this world to please ourselves, but instead we need to please the one who created us. We need to turn away from the ways of this world. We need to give up our self-centered thoughts and actions, we need to live our lives showing Glory to God.
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.”
This is a typical response many nonChristians have. The God of the Bible is not the God that they want to worship. He seems too harsh and demanding, and they refuse to believe that such a God could exist. Therefore, they seem to think that that means they dont have to obey Him. But Pharaoh found out the hard way that what you think God should be like does not change Who He is. Just because you don’t believe in Christianity doesn’t mean that you are not going to be subject to judgement one day; so we need to take every opportunity to tell people about the one True God and His plan for salvation through Jesus Christ!
3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
I’m really glad that the Israelites were responsive to Moses and Aaron’s message. They feared God and believed that He would free them from slavery. They know God’s almighty power and wanted to offer sacrifices to Him.
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Now in these verses, Moses is doubting the Lord even more. I think God has a great sense of humor knowing that Moses will be a great leader who will free his own people. We have to stay strong knowing that through our hard times and trials, we will eventually come to a place where we will question ourself and God. To prepare for this, we have to continually try to strengthen our faith by prayer and reading His Word. I remember when I wasn’t really a Christian and I went through some really hard times. Instead of falling back on God, I depended on myself which caused some really bad choices and consequences I made in my life. After, I still questioned God but I know He knows what’s best for me and that he understand suffering even more than I do and He gave me a peace. I think that we will watch Moses develop from this timid, nervous character to a man fearing the Lord eventually having the privelege to meet with God and get the 10 commandments. Somehow this reminds me of Joshua 1:8 “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” The first time I read it, the words that stuck out the most was meditate day and night. That’s 24/7! Too many times I’m constantly thinking about other things but not godly things and if we concentrate on the Word of God, we will have more of a lasting peace and fellowship with Him.
i think that God was seing how persistent they were in following Him. We should all be persistent at following Him. God work through me in sports because i am always around my team mates.GOD IS SO GOOD!!
This chapter reminds me a lot of how I was at the beggining of my walk with God. I had expected everything to be perfect and that I would no longer face struggles. I was impatient with God and wanted Him to deliver me from my hardships right away. I soon realized though that God’s plans are always what is best. Through out trials we learn the different morals that God wants us to learn. Patience, love for others, and forgiveness are a few I’ve learned lately and it is all thanks to the tirals that God has put in my life just for such a reason.
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.”
It seems that a lot of the people at my school respond in this same way. Just as pharaoh does they are in disbelief towards God. Their heart is hardened and beligerant towards the truth, and they refuse to believe. As we can see in the future Pharaoh is punished greatly for what he does. God is a just God.
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
These verses stuck out to me because I honestly was not expecting this from Moses right now! He has a huge responsibility and all of his people will be devestated if he were to give up. Also, Moses shows such impatience with God when he says “you have not rescued your people.” God has awesome promises for us, but He is going to do things His way. Duh… He’s GOD! Trust is all we can do! But that’s okay with me because I’d rather have no one else in charge than God!
21 and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Our response to oppression or hard times should not be complaining like the Israelites, but rather we should look to the Lord for his deliverance. 1 Peter 5:7 instructs us to cast all of our cares on the the Lord! Just like Bobby said in his sermon a few weeks ago, God answers prayer! We should be like the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. God will bring deliverance in his timing!
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Lets not forget that doing what God says is not going to be easy. Look at Jesus and he didn’t have it easy and he is God. We as Christians will be treated just like christ was.
21 and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Only God can judge us not man. Moses is obeying God’s commands but is being hated for it but he knows he is obeying God. It takes time sometimes to really get to people but if you keep working on it like Moses does maybe it will be successful maybe it wont. F
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
Like Beth, as I was reading this I started to get mad because I was like “Really Moses, you’re really going to start questioning the Lord?” After, I started to realize that I question Christ all the time, and its wrong! But God has his reason for EVERYTHING and it is all in his perfect plan! Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you”, I think this is such an encouraging verse and helps me trust the Lord in all! God is good and faithful, he knows what he is doing
Hope to see all of your girls and your friends at Girl’s Workshop on Saturday!
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
This is true that we don’t always see the end result. Just like heaven and Jesus’ return, we have to have FAITH to do it. When God asks of us we need to obey unconditionally. It may seem bad in the beginning, but iw will work out in the end for God.
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Moses is lacking faith in God. he was expecting faster results and fewer problems. but God works at his own pace and knows what is right for us.