Exodus 5:1-23
I. Introduction
There
is an advertisement for an office supply company that has an easy button. You press it and your problems are solved
quickly and easily.
II.
Moses encounters opposition and complains to God.
1. Out text begins a new section of our study. We have completed the call of Moses. We now turn to the execution of the call, and initially it does not go well. Moses encounters resistance the outcome of which will “rattle” him. We also will learn that Moses needs some convincing to prevent his retreat from the call of God (5:1-7:7). We are forever incomplete; yet, God is gracious.
2. By way of background, Moses has received the
promise of God detailing success. See
3:19-20. And God has schooled him to
expect resistance. See 4:21. Now, he encounters that resistance from
Pharaoh [1-14] (w/o) and from his own countrymen [15-23] (w/i). Moses is shaken; he should not be.
3. The encounter begins with Moses bringing a
divine word to Pharaoh. The phrase thus
says the Lord mark out his words as from God. It is followed by a demand or imperative
of one God upon another. Pharaoh
refuses. He is unshaken in his
confidence. I mean if your God is so
great why are you a shepherd and your people enslaved. This is how we judge is it not? We judge based on appearances! Be very careful about determining success or
blessing based upon appearances. Vs. 2: Who is the Lord that I should obey (literally
hear) him? There is a startling
application here. We only
know about God from his self-revelation.
See I Corinthians 2:10, 14. God has not revealed himself to Pharaoh;
nevertheless, he is accountable to God.
Secondly, he replies, I do not know the Lord (Yahweh). The Targum of
Jerusalem reads: I have not found the
name of the Lord in the Book of Angels.
I am not afraid of him . . . It
is arrogance, but it is the reminder that ignorance is culpable. Appl:
people do not want to know.
4. And guess what? Pharaoh refuses! It should not surprise us. But it does Moses! In vs. 3, he is rattled. He drops the name Yahweh and says please and
cites his own liability to judgment.
Incredible! Moses should have
expected the opposition. And he should
have stuck to his message that Pharaoh is under the sword and pestilence. It is the way of man. We are a bit embarrassed by our faith and the
God of our faith. We try to make him
palatable and less offensive. We make
him generic and accessible. My reminder
to you is to stay on message. We are
messengers. We should expect opposition.
And God never sanctions our changing of
the message. See I
Corinthians 1:18. Illus: our contemporary Christian culture is using
the secular to chase the sacred. It will
not work. See I
Corinthians 3:6-7 (God secures the results).
5. By way of application, when we share the
gospel or press obedience and loyalty on professing Christians, we will
encounter opposition. Diluting the
message or retreating as a messenger is not an option. See Daniel 7:25, John 16:33, and Acts
14:22. This is the abiding message of
the Scriptures. God calls us. We meet opposition. We are to be faithful to the call. Nehemiah was called to rebuild the
temple. The Persian emperor grants him
leave, safe passage, and resources. And
when he enters the land to begin his endeavors, is the red carpet rolled
out? Absolutely not! He meets fierce resistance. When Hudson Taylor (19th Century
British missionary) goes to
6. The result of Moses’ demand is that Pharaoh
oppresses the people more severely (4-14).
Read vs. 9. The Hebrew verb used
here is also used in 10:1. Pharaoh deals
harshly with the people making God deal harshly with him. And the people cry out for relief to
Pharaoh. See vs. 15. This verb is used later of their crying out
to God (14:10). In 4:31, they
believe. Now, they seek their
deliverance from Pharaoh. How fickle we
are! We want it easy and quick, and when
it is no so, we repair to our own devices.
I would remind you that God promises, but they are neither easy nor
quick.
7. Eventually, the people turn on the
messenger. Read vs. 21. Moses, thus, experiences opposition from
without and within. His own kind turn on him.
Once again, this is to be expected.
Illus: David and Ahithophel, Paul and Demas.
Charles Spurgeon (19th Century British preacher) fought his
greatest battles within the faith (hyper-Calvinists and the Down Grade
controversy). William Tyndale (15th Century) was betrayed by a man he
had befriended. The Church had him
strangled and burned at the stake for the crime a placing the Bible in the
hands of the common man. See 2 Corinthians
7:5. I would tell you that the greatest
battles we are waging today are from within.
8. In 22-23, Moses breaks and complains to
God. It is not a pretty picture. He charges God with not delivering on his
promise. He anticipated a quick and easy
time prosecuting the call of God. No!
God promises deliverance but never quick and never easy. Illus:
name it & claim it; word of faith.
9. Conversely, we must do what it right and wait
upon God. Our calling is to announce
deliverance and summons men to believe in Christ alone. We should expect opposition from within and
without. God will grant success in his
own time. In the interim, let us be
faithful. It was so with Christ (Judas,
religious community, set his face like a flint toward