14 And 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?
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16 There 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.
17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
19 And 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.
20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
21 And 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.
In these verses from chapter five we see the Hebrew overseers being beaten and placed under an impossible burden. They first go to Pharaoh, seeking relief, but are severely rebuked and sent back out to the brick kilns. Immediately afterwards, they lay the blame for their increased oppression upon Moses and Aaron. This is quite short-sighted, since the real ‘blame,’ [so to speak], lies with God. It was God’s demand that set this entire process into motion.
Just a very short time before these overseers met with Pharaoh to complain about their unfair burdens, they (together with the elders and people) had been “worshipping” God because He was come among them to deliver them.[1] Now they are blaming the messengers of God, basically telling them that they ought not to have said anything to Pharaoh. But they could not have it both ways. Furthermore, it was necessary that this added burden come upon them so that their plight would become utterly intolerable.
In truth, God’s people are often short-sighted in this manner, blaming God’s messengers for the results in their own lives that arise from aligning with God’s Truth. Aligning with the God of Truth is costly. It always has been, and it always will be in this fallen world.
And it was costly for Moses and Aaron as they obeyed God in their commission. They are already encountering not only the mighty opposition of Pharaoh, but also the petulance and unbelief of the people. Whenever God’s Truth carries with it any form of costliness the messengers that bear that Truth to God’s people will be sorely abused by those unto whom the Truth is sent.
22 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?
23 For 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.
At this point in the grand plan to bring Israel out of Egypt, it seemed to Moses that he had somehow misunderstood God’s commission. He literally asks God, “Why is it that thou hast sent me?” Things have seemingly gone from “bad to worse.” Moses still had much to learn about the ways of God. As the LORD would later tell Isaiah, as it is recorded in Isaiah 55:8-9:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.