Let Us Go and Sacrifice to Our God: Exodus 5:1-23

Exodus 5:1-23: "1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness."' 2 And Pharaoh said, 'Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.' 3 So they said, 'The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.' 4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, 'Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.' 5 And Pharaoh said, 'Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!' 6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7 'You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, "Let us go and sacrifice to our God." 9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.' 10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, 'Thus says Pharaoh: "I will not give you straw. 11 Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced."' 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, 'Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.' 14 Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, 'Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?' 15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, 'Why are you dealing thus with your servants? 16 There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, "Make brick!" And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.' 17 But he said, 'You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, "Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD." 18 Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.' 19 And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, 'You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.' 20 Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, 'Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.' 22 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, 'Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.'"

In this pericope we see a glimpse of the oppression of the Israelite nation put upon them by Pharaoh, and the taskmasters placed over them. We also see that Moses' task is not going to be an easy one. As the saying goes, "Things are going to get a lot worse, before they get better." This is certainly the case with regard to the people of Israel. After the request of Moses and Aaron to go three days journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord God, Pharaoh becomes belligerent, and forces the Israelites to now not only make the same amount of bricks as before, but also to now gather the straw, which was before provided for them. Our Lord does this so that He might remove any desire of the Israelite nation to stay in Egypt, and so He makes their labor so harsh, that they will want to leave.

We see the reason for the Pharaoh's treatment of the Jews, and we can really see what is in his heart from the statement, "I do not know the Lord." It was not uncommon during this time period for people to offer sacrifices to their gods, and for people to do what their gods commanded them. So this was quite a reasonable request of Moses and Aaron. We see how faithless Pharaoh is, for even if there was a shred of the fear of God in him, he would have let them go. But we see here just how much of an enemy of God Pharaoh is. In a sense, he represents the devil himself, the great oppressor and accuser of the children of God. From this we can see how when our Lord desires to draw us closer to him, the devil, and the world and our sinful flesh, drive us into further and greater oppression, so that we might lose faith in our God.

This seems to be the case with the Israelites, for after learning of why they are being treated this way by Pharaoh, who do they blame? Moses and Aaron. But in reality they are really blaming God. So it would seem that our Lord's plan to use Pharaoh's oppression to drive them closer to Himself, is not working. However, our Lord God bears the reproach patiently, for He knows that in the end, He will win the battle.

In this we see a picture of our Lord's suffering and death. For He bears the suffering and pain and shame of the beating, and mockery and the crucifixion, because He knows that He will win the victory over sin and death by doing so. In this our Lord God shows that His ways are not the ways of the world. For the world would desire to do everything the easy way, and the quickest way, with the least amount of suffering. But our Lord God suffers reproach on our behalf, in order that He might draw us to Himself.

And this is just as true for us as is was for the Israelites, for when we suffer the onslaughts of the devil, the world and our flesh, we cry out to our God, and He hears us and delivers us, by preaching His holy Word into our ears, so that we are comforted in His Word of forgiveness, and through His constant preaching to us, and by the working of the Holy Ghost through the means of grace, and our participation in them, He strengthens our faith in Him, so that we learn to bear the reproaches of the world, and the devil, and our flesh, even as He did for us.

This of course is what we mean when we talk about faith tried and tested in fire. Holy Scripture uses this illustration of fire purging the impurities out of gold. Fire purifies. It burns away all that makes us impure. But being burned is not a pleasant experience. It certainly must not be for the gold which undergoes a metamorphasis. We through this purification by the fire of the Holy Ghost, undergo a transformation as well. We are made into stronger Christians. Our faith is strengthened, our resolve is increased, so that we learn to withstand greater and greater reproaches, for we know the reward that awaits us. And it is this reward which gives us great hope to endure trouble and trial in this life.

However, the question is always raised when one reads through this part of Exodus about Pharaoh. How come God "causes his heart to be hardened?" Is God sacrificing someone for the good of mankind? It is the same question asked about Judas. How come God couldn't save him, or Pharaoh? The simple answer is, they hardened their own hearts against God. We see this today often, there are those in the Church, who through hardship, are driven from the Church. Their faith is tried and tested, and it fails. What of these people? It is a difficult thing to say, but they have shut their ears to the Word of God, they have hardened their hearts against God.

Instead of rejoicing that their Lord and God is purifying them, that He loves them so much that He cares to make them pure and holy in His sight, they respond like Pharaoh, like Judas, and like the Israelites in this pericope. They blame God, and get angry at Him. Perhaps this makes our Lord God out to be a sadistic god, playing with us like a child plays with his toy action figures, treating them harshly for his own sick pleasures. This, however, is not the case at all. Instead, He desires to strengthen our faith, and draw us closer to Him.

Sadly, there are some people who will never see this. They will always consider our Lord God to be cruel and unforgiving. It is these who in actuality do not have shred of the fear of God in their hearts, just like Pharaoh. And although our Lord God continuously is correcting them, and trying desparately to drive them down the right path, they will only continue to harden their hearts.

However, there are those whose hard hearts, will be softened, and they will listen, and they will heed the Word of God, and learn to rejoice in the reproaches that come our way. The people of Israel, did just this. Not all of them listened, and some of them we left to die in the wilderness, but a whole generation of the people of Israel, did learn to love and trust in the Lord God as their only Lord and Savior, and they were brought into the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey.

This is the eternal reward that awaits you and I as we suffer the trials and tribulations of this life. And we have to confess, that our lives are not all that bad. Our Lord gives us of His very self, every Sunday and feast day, in His very Body and Blood given in bread and wine. He even shares with us His holy Gospel, whenever we gather together to worship Him, and hear His holy Word. This is why the Church traditionally has worshipped every day, morning and evening, so that as we are purified by the fire of trial and tribulation in this life, we might find comfort and hope in our Lord Jesus' holy Gospel.

Our Lord Jesus, our Savior, suffered the all the reproaches that the devil, the world, and sin could throw at Him. And He did it all for us, out of His great love for us. And although, He allows the devil to trouble us in this life, He does not allow him to trouble us beyond our capability, nor does He allow him to completely destroy us. Even and especially when we think we are completely ruined, our Lord has us in His holy arms. The arms that He extends to all of us on the holy cross of His tormenting and death. In His crucifixion we see how our Lord saves us, for even when He seems to be completely destroyed, that the battle has been lost, He is in reality the victor. And to prove it to us, He raises Himself from the dead. In this we see how when we face adversity, and even though it may seem like we are completely destroyed, in reality, we have really gained the victory, for our Lord Jesus reveals His love and grace and mercy for us, and strengthens and renews our faith, so that we trust Him completely unto life everlasting.

May the Lord God grant you grace, even in tribulation, to see His loving gracious hand, and may He hold and protect you in His loving arms.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

The Children of Israel were Fruitful and Increased Abundantly: Exodus 1:1-22

Exodus 1:1-22: "1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). 6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, 'Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.' 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage--in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. 15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, 'When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.' 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, 'Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?' 19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.' 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them. 22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.'"

God causes the descendants of Israel to increase and multiply so that they filled the whole land. This fulfills the promise that was made in the book of Moses, commonly called Genesis. A couple things should be pointed out, one, the names of the sons of Jacob are listed according to their mothers, from first born to last born. The sons of the two concubines are listed after these names. This is why Benjamin, even though the last overall born, is listed seventh in the list, and not twelfth. The second thing is that Joseph is not listed in the names of the twelve sons. There are a couple of reasons for this, one, he was already in Egypt and this list lists the names of the sons of Jacob who came with him into Egypt from Canaan. Second, Joseph's sons, as we learn from Genesis 47, supplanted Joseph as sons of Jacob. Therefore he is not listed among Jacob's sons.

It is from these sons, that Jacob, who was renamed Israel, is given by God an abundant family. The English doesn't quite capture the nuances of the Hebrew. To "increase abundantly" in the Hebrew means "swarmed." The idea portrayed in the word, is that the descendants of Israel were everywhere. This fruitful increase is a blessing of our Lord God. It is part of the blessing that God made upon all creation when He first created it, when He said, "Be fruitful and multiply." It should be pointed out, since the English language doesn't carry the full wait of what our Lord God is saying through Moses, that this increase of offspring was not just the normal increase that one would see from twelve families having children and their children having children and so forth. This increase was a super-abundant increase, meaning more offspring than was usual. This is why the word "swarm" is used in the Hebrew, for it brings to mind a swarm of bees or locusts or cockroaches. They had so many offspring they filled the whole land.

Well, this becomes a problem for a Pharaoh of a generation long after when Joseph lived. And so he enslaves them, so that they become too weary to fight back, or overthrow their oppression. But again we see our Lord God's abundant grace, for even in the midst of this slavery that basically works the Israelite nation to the bone, the people of Israel still increase abundantly in producing offspring. One has to wonder when they had the time or energy to produce this amount of offspring. It reminds one of the pastor who was a tireless work-aholic, but had a dozen children, and when asked when he found the time, he responded, "A little here, a little there."

Pharaoh it seems is at a loss, for he tries to slow down the producing of offspring by hard labor, but that doesn't work, so he tries another way. He goes to the midwives, who were in charge of assisting with labor of the Hebrew women, and tells them to kill the male children, so that they will eventually not be able to produce as many offspring. However, this also backfires on Pharaoh, for the midwives worshipped the One True God, and followed His commands rather than Pharaoh's and spared the male children. When this plan of Pharaoh's doesn't succeed, he puts the announcement out to all Egypt, that every male child shall be cast into the river. This sets us up for the birth of Moses and the Exodus of the people of God.

We see in this narrative, from a spiritual standpoint, the devil attacking the Church of God on earth. Pharaoh represents the devil, who seeks to destroy and kill the Church, however, our Lord God, despite the devil's best efforts, still increases His holy Christian Church on earth, giving it an abundant increase, so that it swarms over all the world. We can see this especially in the Church's history when it grew exponentially in the first few centuries despite the onslaught of the devil through martyrdom and persecution. The holy Christian Church grew into a great holy nation, through its twelve fathers, the holy Apostles.

We are a part of this family, this Church, and even though the devil still continues to make our lives burdensome and toilsome, so that we face the rigor of sin, death, and the devil, our Lord God still increases His holy Church on earth by granting us new sons and daughters through the birth of Holy Baptism. And someday, our Lord God, will lead us out of this world, this land of Egypt into the promised land of Canaan, that is, Heaven. A land flowing with the pure milk of His holy Word, and the honey of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the Lord God ever keep you in His grace.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas