What to Do When You Face (Spiritual) Opposition – Exodus 4:27-6:13
4 (27) Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him. (28) Then Moses told Aaron everything Jehovah had sent him to say; he also told him about all the miraculous signs with which he had been given a charge. (29) Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. (30) Aaron spoke all the words that Jehovah had spoken to Moses and he performed the signs in the sight of the people—(31) and the people believed. When they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, This is what Jehovah, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a feast for me in the wilderness. (2) But Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should pay attention to his voice and let Israel go? I do not know Jehovah; and furthermore, I will not let Israel go.
(3) Then they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us. We request that you allow us to make a three-day journey into the wilderness and offer a sacrifice to Jehovah our God, or else he may strike us with pestilence or with the sword. (4) But the king of Egypt said to them, Why are you, Moses and Aaron, keeping the people from their work? Get back to your labors! (5) Then Pharaoh said, Look! The people of the land are now numerous, and you cause them to cease from their labors! (6) That same day Pharaoh gave this command to the taskmasters appointed over the people and to their foremen, (7) You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks as you have up until now. Let them go and gather straw for themselves! (8) But you shall still require them to make the same number of bricks as they have been making. You shall not reduce the quota, for they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, Let us go and offer a sacrifice to our God. (9) Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.
(10) So the taskmasters in charge of the people, together with the foremen, went out and spoke to the people. They told them, This is what Pharaoh says: I will no longer supply you with straw. (11) Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your quota will not at all be reduced. (12) So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use as straw. (13) And the taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, Supply the quote required of you for each day, just as when you had straw! (14) And the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had appointed over the people, were beaten and the demand was made of them, Why have you not met your quota of bricks either yesterday or today, as you had in the past?
(15) Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh, saying, Why are you treating your servants like this? (16) Your servants are given no straw, but yet they tell us, Make bricks! And look, your servants are beaten, but the fault lies with your own people. (17) But he said to them, You are lazy! You are lazy! That is why you say, Let us go and offer a sacrifice to Jehovah. (18) Now go and work! You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the same number of bricks! (19) Then the Israelite foremen realized that they were in a difficult position when they were told, You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day. (20) When they left Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who were standing there waiting for them. (21) The foremen said to them, May Jehovah look upon you and judge you! You have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, so as to put a sword in their hand to kill us!
(22) Then Moses returned to Jehovah and said, Lord, why have you dealt harshly with your people? Why have you sent me? (23) Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has been hostile towards this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.
6 Then Jehovah said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; because of my strong hand he will let them go; indeed, because of my strong hand he will drive them out of his land. (2) God spoke to Moses and told him, I am Jehovah. (3) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but I did not make myself known to them by my name Jehovah. (4) And I have also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as sojourners. (5) Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians are holding in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. (6) Therefore, say to the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. (7) And I will take you to be my people and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out from under the burden of the Egyptians. (8) I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as an inheritance. I am Jehovah. (9) So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses because of the anguish of their spirit and because of their cruel bondage.
(10) Then Jehovah said to Moses, (11) Go in and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel depart from his land. (12) But Moses spoke in the presence of Jehovah, saying, See, the children of Israel have not listened to me; why then will Pharaoh listen to me? I am a man with “uncircumcised lips!” (13) Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron and he gave them a charge concerning the children of Israel and concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt—a charge to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
