Verse for the Day, 20 June 2014.

Exodus 5:1-9, “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.”

Exodus 5 records for us Moses and Aaron’s first meeting before Pharaoh so as to request the release of the Israelites. The whole nation of Israel waited in eager anticipation for the outcome and the news of their release. They had joyfully received the news from Moses that God had appeared to him and spoke of how He would deliver them from the hands of the Egyptians and bring them into the Promised Land. Thus they were eagerly anticipating a positive outcome, surely Pharaoh would have to bow to the command and instruction of God.

However, Pharaoh not only refused to release the Israelites, he denied the authority of their God and he increased their labour, oppressing them all the more. Exodus 5 ends with the people in even greater distress than before Moses came along, and as a result they come against Moses and God. What the Israelites failed to consider is, firstly, the sovereignty of God and the wisdom of God’s timing. They needed only to remind themselves of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph, who endured great hardship and waited many years for God’s promise to come to pass, but when it did, they could not fault the process, nor the timing. Secondly, they underestimated the hardness and sinfulness of a pagan, idolatrous Pharaoh. Pharaoh did not believe in the God of the Hebrews, why should he believe in the God of a nation of slaves? Thirdly, and most importantly, they needed to learn to trust in God, and Pharaoh needed to learn that the God of Israel, is a God not to be trifled with and is in fact the only true God. None of these lessons would have been learnt if success had come at the very first attempt. The Israelites needed to understand that this denial of their release and increase of their burdens did not constitute a failure on God’s part, rather they needed to continue to trust in God’s plan and promise.

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we need to learn the very same lessons. We may pray to God in the midst of a certain situation and yet the answer that we desire doesn’t come, or an answer may come, but be the opposite of what we desired. This doesn’t constitute failure on God’s part, nor does it mean that God does not love us, we need to learn to trust in the answer He has given whether it be yes, wait or no. Secondly, we cannot expect to receive a favourable response for those who do not believe in God, or despise Him. As Christians we struggle with rejection, we are greatly confused and disheartened when people turn away from the Gospel we proclaim, or walk away from God. Yet we need to understand that we live in a sinful world, where the evil one has blinded the eyes, blocked the ears and hardened the hearts of all those who have not been saved by God. To them the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a foolishness, and thus they will reject it until God intervenes and open their eyes, unblocks their ears and softens their hearts. We need to learn the same lesson that the Israelites and Moses needed to learn, in Pharaoh’s denial of God and rejection of their request, in the denial and rejection of others to the Gospel, we are not the ones being rejected, it is God that is being rejected. Thus our grief should not be for ourselves, that we have been rejected, we should grieve for those who reject God and His Gospel. The Israelites grieved for themselves, when they should have grieved for Pharaoh, praying the God would soften his heart, for in reacting in such a manner Pharaoh was storing up greater and greater wrath that would come against him. When in our sharing of the Gospel, we are rejected, we should not grieve for ourselves but for those who have rejected Christ, for that day will stand in condemnation of them.

Merciful Father, we praise You that You are an unfailing God, the purposes that You decree come to pass, but do so in accordance to Your sovereign will. We pray that You would keep us from become so self-centred that we accuse You of failing or being slow to act. We pray also that You would help us to understand the world in which we live, the urgency of the task You have given us, and to grieve, not for ourselves, but for those who reject the message of salvation through Christ. Amen.