I have been
doing a Bible reading plan for a little while. I have even been doing it in a
version of the Bible that I do not normally read to get a different
perspective. I love it and highly
recommend beginning one if you aren't on one. Today when I read Exodus 5 in my daily reading, the heading
of the chapter really stuck out to me.
The heading was "Making Bricks Without Straw." I knew I would
be reading about the Israelites when Pharaoh made their work even harder after
Moses and Aaron initially asked him to let the Israelites leave. The heading jumped off the page to me
though. I think many people can
relate to it. Ever feel like you
are having to make bricks... and not just your normal make bricks... Having to
make bricks without straw provided?
Just when you think life couldn't get any harder or more difficult... it
does. A lot harder.
Before we
get to the bricks without straw, I want to highlight something that I found
very cool.
During those many days the king of Egypt
died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out
for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their
groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob. God saw the people of Israel--and God knew.
-Exodus 2:23-25
The
Israelites were longing for help.
They were in slavery and cried out to the Lord. God heard their groaning and He thought
of the covenant made with their forefathers. And here's my favorite part: God saw -- and God knew. In that moment, the Israelites remained in slavery a while
longer. But something had changed
about the situation after they cried out to the Lord. God enacted a plan for a deliverer to rescue His
people. Even though deliverance
was not instantaneous in that exact moment, God saw. God knew. Even
when it felt like He wasn't listening to them, seeing them, or knowing what
they were going through. God
knew.
So God
raised up a deliverer named Moses.
And He told the deliverer...
Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen
the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because
of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to
a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the
Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and
I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I
will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel,
out of Egypt."
-Exodus 3:7-10
I love the
progression in the above passage.
God says, "I have surely seen... I have heard their cry... I know
their suffering... I have come down to deliver..."
God
saw. God heard. God knew. God was coming to deliver.
So fast
forward just a bit to Exodus 5.
Moses went to Egypt to go before Pharaoh with Aaron and ask for him to
let the Israelites go. Now keep in
mind... God saw, God heard, God knew, and God was coming to deliver. If I were hearing this story for the
first time, I would assume that God made Pharaoh release them immediately and
that they all walked away happy.
However that isn't what happened.
Instead, Pharaoh made the work of the Israelites even MORE difficult!! Instead
of just having to make bricks having the straw provided, they had to make the
same number of bricks while going out to get their own straw. The very burden that they had been
crying out to God about just got worse!! Even though God saw, heard, and knew
their trouble! And God was coming to deliver them! What kind of deliverance
doubles the problem?!
As Moses and
Aaron came out of their meeting, the people met them and basically accused them
of being the problem, not the solution, and said they would be the death of
them. Moses did what all
faith-filled deliverers would do and did some serious questioning of the
Lord.
Then Moses turned to the LORD and said,
"O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For
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."
-Exodus 5:22-23
The man who
had a heart to see God's people delivered instead saw his negotiations bring
worse enslavement and labor. I can
only imagine the confusion Moses must have felt. God reiterates the message. He tells Moses what to tell the Israelites, confirming His
plan for deliverance. Moses told
the people, but the people wouldn't listen because "of their broken spirit
and harsh slavery" (Exodus 6:9). God told Moses to go before Pharaoh
again, and when Moses pushed back to God, God gave Moses the plan. God would harden Pharaoh's heart and
God would perform signs and wonders and make His Name known (Exodus 7).
Have you
ever cried out to the Lord for deliverance? Have you ever felt like your cries
for help have been met with harsher circumstances? Have you had a broken spirit
because of the seeming lack of action on God's part?
It is often
in those moments that we find it hard to believe that God hears our cries, sees
our situation and knows we need help.
It is in those moments that a plan of deliverance feels farther away
than from before we asked Him for help.
God has one
plan, goal, objective: To make His name known.
He will
deliver you. But He will do it HIS
WAY. His way may be longer than
you expect or want. Your life may
even get more difficult before it gets easier.
But imagine
how boring the story would have been if in an instant on the first try, Pharaoh
had released the Israelites.
Instead, there is the story of Moses saying "Let My people
go," and plagues of flies and frogs and darkness. There is the amazing description of the
Passover Lamb and the Angel of Death.
Imagine the story without the Red Sea splitting and the Israelites
walking through it on dry ground!
You want an
easy, boring story of deliverance because you don't want to deal with the mess. God however, is way more interested
about His name being known among the nations and generations to come! He wants
to demonstrate His power so YOU know His greatness and never forget the
incredible story of deliverance. Not to mention, pass it on to your children and
their children.
The end time
saints come to mind. They will be
overcome by the devil (Rev. 11:7). Life will be hard! Martyrdom will ensue.
Just when the saints hope for life to get easier, it will keep getting harder!
But for an end goal! Jesus will be glorified! And His name will be made great!
And in the end, the devil is the one that will be overcome by the blood of the
Lamb and the word of the saints' testimonies because they will not love their
lives unto death (Rev. 12:11). The
devil is overcome because the saints are overcome!
It is all
unto an end! Even when it feels like God does not see or hear or know. He does! And even when the pressure
cooker feels like it has been cranked on high heat. God sees! He hears! He knows! Even when we have to make
bricks without straw. Keep praying
for deliverance. Keep trusting Him
to deliver you.
Don't give
up. He sees you. He hears you. He knows. And
He will send deliverance.
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