Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Exodus 5:10–21
“[The foremen of Israel] met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 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’ ” (vv. 20–21).
By telling the Israelites that they would no longer receive straw to make their daily allotment of bricks (Ex. 5:3–9), Pharaoh was not merely making their work more difficult. He was making it impossible. The idea was not that the Israelites had to harvest straw themselves, as if they could take their sickles to the fields as part of their routine. No, Pharaoh prohibited the Israelites from harvesting straw at all, even straw that they might try to grow themselves. As we see in today’s passage, the people were to gather straw wherever they could find it, and they were dispersed throughout the land to find it (vv. 10–12). Essentially, they were supposed to collect from the fields the little bits of plants still in the ground after a harvest. This stubble had to be pulled by hand, making the task more difficult, and it was a very poor replacement for harvested straw. Thus, they did not have enough time to make bricks, and the majority of the bricks they did make were not fit for use. The taskmasters rebuked and beat the Israelites for their decreased production (vv. 13–14).
Exodus 5:15–21 reports that the Israelites learned that their task had been made impossible because Moses and Aaron’s demand that they worship the Lord in the wilderness made Pharaoh think they were idle. This, in turn, led the people to complain to Moses and Aaron. Importantly, it does not seem that the people had lost faith that God was going to liberate them from slavery. They did not argue against the Lord; rather, they called the Lord to judge Moses and Aaron for interacting in such a way with the pharaoh that they made the Israelites’ job more onerous (v. 21). Essentially, they were accusing Moses and Aaron of ineptitude, of serving God and the people poorly.
The Israelites’ accusations are familiar to those in church leadership. We too readily think our leaders have fallen short in their labors when we face difficulties and opposition as we follow them. This is why Scripture calls us to be watchful lest we groan against pastors, elders, and other Christian leaders inappropriately (see Heb. 13:17). Moreover, those in such leadership positions should not be surprised when they face criticism. Matthew Henry comments, “Those that are called out to public service for God and their generation must expect to be tried, not only by the malicious threats of proud enemies, but by the unjust and unkind censures of unthinking friends, who judge only by outward appearance and look but a little way before them.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
When Christian leaders set out to accomplish a task and things seem to be slow going, not making much progress at all, or even arousing opposition, that is not necessarily a sign that the leaders have been doing a poor job. Without evidence to the contrary, let us give our leaders in the church the benefit of the doubt, and let us not be quick to grumble and complain against them.
For Further Study
- Numbers 14
- Hebrews 13:17