Bricks without Straw
“You have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his
servants, and you have put a sword in his hand to kill us.” “Why, Lord, did you do evil to these
people? Why did you send me?” These are classic quotations that expose the human
mindset.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to judge Moses and his
fellow Hebrew people. The reality is
that when humans are confronted with problems we always begin our attempt to solve
the problem with complaining about how things aren’t working out. Granted, after that little pity-party we
usually get to a more productive end and discover God’s ultimate plan. But the reality is that as human beings we
have to work through the short-sightedness of our human mindset before we can
achieve the long-sightedness of God’s plan.
Pharaoh’s Answer
In that context, let’s take a little look at Pharaoh’s
response to Moses’ initial proclamation to allow the people to leave. Moses is only asking for a three day trip
into the wilderness. Yet Pharaoh can
only think about the work that they would miss out on if he capitulates. He cannot stand seeing the people missing
work, so he responds by denying the presence of “the Lord” – a God whom he does
not know.
The world has so very little respect for God and His Word in
comparison to their own agendas, tasks, and lives that they can see, feel,
touch, and experience. Pharaoh’s
circumstances that are known – needing bricks for his building campaign – is
much more important to him than anything a God whom he doesn’t know could
possibly be saying to him. Take notice
of this response, because it is very common in the world.
The Hebrew Response
Unfortunately, the Hebrew people turn to Pharaoh to solve
their problem before they turn to God.
The Hebrew people turn to Pharaoh and consult him as to how they can be
expected to make bricks without straw.
Now don’t get me wrong. I do
think that when we have a problem we should try to work it out and come to a
mutual understanding between those in conflict.
But we should turn to God first before going forth and trying to solve
the problem. There is a saying that God’s
grace goes before us whenever we are successful.
The Hebrew people seem to miss out on that fact. So do I, quite honestly. How many problems have I tried to solve
because I thought I knew the right course of action, but in truth I forgot to
pause and check with God’s will first? I
think that is just human habit, and a bad one at that. These Hebrew people go about trying to solve
a problem that God is planning on using to remove them from bondage
completely! They miss the boat this
time, and I am no better.
Moses Gets Grief for His Effort
When the people come to him with grief, notice that the
people don’t come to Moses for help but rather to give him grief. However, Moses does turn to God first. So Moses actually does what is right.
But if we look at Moses’ words we can still see the human
lack of confidence and foresight into God’s plan. Moses hears their grief and accuses God of
doing evil to the people. Moses hears
their grief and doubts his own ability to lead.
I think Moses is being very human here. As I asked with the Hebrew people, so I also
ask here. How many times have I done the
same thing? Even when I turn to God, how
many times do I turn to God because I am actually lacking faith in what God is
doing? How many times do I turn to God
and rather than asking God to reveal Himself instead I blame God for bringing
about a roadblock to what I thought should happen?
I’m no better than Moses in this chapter. The truth is that I find that I have a lot in
common with Moses. It’s fun to lead when
things are going well. It is frustrating
to lead and easy to complain when things are going poorly.
Yet – as we shall see in the next few chapters – God is
good. God sees Pharaoh’s unwillingness
to listen, the Hebrews’ unwillingness to come to Him, and Moses’ self doubt. He and He alone uses all of that to make a
wonderful thing. God will use all of
those negative human reactions to show us how great an emancipator He can
be.
The fact that God is interested in emancipation is
ultimately good news for those of us who are guilty of sin. The fact that we all have something from
which we can be freed means that we should be keenly interested in a God who
makes claims all throughout His Word that He is capable of freeing us from
whatever bondage we are in.
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