The Law · Chapter 5 of 40
Exodus 5
Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh that the LORD demands His people be let go to worship in the wilderness. Pharaoh scorns the LORD and refuses, then increases the labor, ordering the Israelites to gather their own straw while making the same quota of bricks. The overseers beat the foremen, who blame Moses and Aaron. Moses returns to God, troubled that his mission has only made things worse for the people.
What happens in Exodus 5
Moses and Aaron come to Pharaoh with God's word: let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness (Exodus 5:1). Pharaoh replies that he does not know the LORD and will not let Israel go. He accuses Moses and Aaron of distracting the people from their work and that same day commands the taskmasters to stop supplying straw for brickmaking. The Israelites must now gather their own straw yet meet the same daily quota of bricks.
Scattered across Egypt to find stubble, they fall behind, and the Hebrew foremen are beaten. The foremen appeal to Pharaoh, who dismisses them as idle. Meeting Moses and Aaron on the way out, the foremen bitterly blame them for putting a sword in Pharaoh's hand against them. Shaken, Moses returns to the LORD and complains that since he came in God's name, Pharaoh has only done more evil, and God has not delivered His people at all.
Exodus 5 in context
This is the first direct clash between the LORD and Pharaoh, and it goes badly by human measure. God had told Moses that Pharaoh would resist, yet the increased suffering still staggers Moses and turns the people against him.
The chapter sets up the long contest of the plagues, showing that deliverance will come only through God's mighty acts, and testing the faith of both Moses and Israel.
Main themes of Exodus 5
Exodus 5 (KJV)
1And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. 3And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 4And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. 6And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 7Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 9Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. 10And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 11Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 14And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore? 15Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 16There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 17But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. 18Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. 19And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. 20And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 22And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, LORD, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.
Verses to carry from Exodus 5
“And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.”Exodus 5:1
“And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.”Exodus 5:2
“And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, LORD, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?”Exodus 5:22
Thematic connection
How Exodus 5 points to Jesus
Pharaoh's contemptuous question, who is the LORD, sets up the revelation of God's power that the Exodus displays and that the New Testament sees supremely in Jesus, in whom God makes Himself known and before whom every knee will bow. The pattern here, that the work of deliverance first meets fierce resistance and deepened suffering before triumph, resonates with the way of the cross, where the darkest hour precedes the greatest rescue.
Moses's honest lament to God, asking why evil has increased, is answered not with rebuke but with renewed promise, much as Christ's own cry is met by resurrection. These are thematic connections rather than direct prophecies, yet the shape of deliverance through resistance points toward the gospel.
Questions about Exodus 5
Why did God let things get worse before getting better?
God had already warned Moses that Pharaoh would refuse until compelled by a mighty hand. The worsening exposes the true depth of Egypt's bondage and Pharaoh's hardness, so that the coming deliverance will be unmistakably God's work, not a favor Pharaoh grants. It also drives Israel to depend on God alone rather than on any easing of Pharaoh's terms.
Was Moses wrong to complain to God?
His complaint is raw, even accusing, yet Scripture records it without condemnation, and God answers with reassurance rather than rebuke. Moses brings his confusion to the right place, to God Himself. Faith does not always feel serene; sometimes it wrestles honestly with God, and God receives such prayer and responds with fresh promise and hope.
Reflection
Sometimes obeying God seems to make matters worse before they get better, and we wonder if we misheard. Moses did not quit; he took his bewilderment to God. When your first steps of obedience bring trouble rather than relief, will you turn away, or turn toward the Lord with honest prayer?
A prayer from Exodus 5
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