Find Your Own Straw

Exodus 5:1-23

¹Afterward 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.’ ” ²But 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.” ³Then 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.” ⁴But 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.” ⁵And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” ⁶The 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. ⁸But 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.’ ⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” ¹⁰So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’ ” ¹²So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?” ¹⁵Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” ¹⁷But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” ¹⁹The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” ²⁰They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; ²¹and 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.” ²²Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? ²³For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

The Children of Israel have met the Living God through the witness of Moses and their lives do not immediately become better; in fact they become much worse. Upon meeting their God the Children of Israel must have been shock and maybe a little dismayed to learn that their lives were not suddenly going to be all peaches and roses. In fact, things were about to become increasingly difficult. But there are greater concepts at work in this story.

The reader must not lose sight of the identity of the combatants. It is easy to assume that the contest for Israelite deliverance was between Moses and Pharaoh, or between Israel and Pharaoh, or between Israel and Egypt. It was none of these. Rather, it was between Yahweh and Egypt’s gods, the pharaoh being a devotee of, representative of, and human focal point for those gods.

Stuart, D. K. (2006). Exodus (Vol. 2, p. 159). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

When the story finally ends we will know that God is all-powerful and greater than any gods the Egyptians could imagine. But arriving at that truth is going to be a long and difficult road. It can be frustrating and difficult to live in struggle while God works out the details. That is precisely where Children of Israel stand. They have the promise of Moses that God is working on their behalf but now their work load has become intolerable. This newly introduced God has become a disappointment. And now Moses faces what he will face for the rest of his life; he is leading a people who don’t want to be led.

Are we a people who don’t want to be led by God? I think the answer to that is yes, sometimes. When everything is going well, I am definitely a willing follower. But when life becomes difficult – finding your own straw difficult – I might tend to look around for a better leader. We are quick to seek other alternatives when the road is uphill. But our magnificent God makes no apologies and continues to forge ahead despite our complaint because His ends always justify His means. When I’m sitting in the dentist chair getting my teeth drilled, I’m thinking there must be a better way. But I definitely like the lack of pain that comes with having no cavities. It seems like an oversimplification. But we need to be constantly reminded that God means us well. His plans may include having to work very hard at finding our own straw for a time. That is when we need to fill our hearts and minds with His triumphs and victories that we already own.

Jesus came into our lives with His perfect forgiveness but that came at a tremendous cost to Him. While the Roman soldiers were torturing Him, He didn’t say “Father, they’re not worth it.” Instead He said “Father, forgive them.” He endured the ultimate struggle so that we could live.