Read
Moses and Aaron Go
1Moses and Aaron went to the king of Egypt and told him, “The Lord God says, ‘Let my people go into the desert, so they can honor me with a celebration there.’ ”
2“Who is this Lord and why should I obey him?” the king replied. “I refuse to let you and your people go!”
3They answered, “The Lord God of the Hebrews has appeared to us. Please let us walk three days into the desert where we can offer sacrifices to him. If you don't, he may strike us down with terrible troubles or with war.”
4-5The king said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping these people from working? Look how many you are keeping from doing their work. Now everyone get back to work!”
6That same day the king gave orders to his Egyptian slave bosses and to the Israelite men directly in charge of the Israelite slaves. He told them:
7Don't give the slaves any more straw to put in their bricks. Force them to find their own straw wherever they can, 8but they must make the same number of bricks as before. They are lazy, or else they would not beg me to let them go and sacrifice to their God. 9Make them work so hard that they won't have time to listen to these lies.
10The slave bosses and the men in charge of the slaves went out and told them, “The king says he will not give you any more straw. 11Go and find your own straw wherever you can, but you must still make as many bricks as before.”
12The slaves went all over Egypt, looking for straw. 13But the slave bosses were hard on them and kept saying, “Each day you have to make as many bricks as you did when you were given straw.” 14The bosses beat the men in charge of the slaves and said, “Why didn't you force the slaves to make as many bricks yesterday and today as they did before?”
15Finally, the men in charge of the slaves went to the king and said, “Why are you treating us like this? 16No one brings us any straw, but we are still ordered to make the same number of bricks. We are beaten with whips, and your own people are to blame.”
17The king replied, “You are lazy—nothing but lazy! That's why you keep asking me to let you go and sacrifice to your Lord. 18Get back to work! You won't be given straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.”
19The men knew they were in deep trouble when they were ordered to make the same number of bricks each day. 20After they left the king, they went to see Moses and Aaron, who had been waiting for them. 21Then the men said, “We hope the Lord will punish both of you for making the king and his officials hate us. Now they even have an excuse to kill us.”
Reflect
I’m sure, like me, you’ve had experiences where you are asked to relay a message to someone that is not exactly what the person wants to hear. Not to mention that you’re simply the messenger.
Moses and Aaron experienced this firsthand. God had given them a message to deliver on his behalf that would affect the future of the entire tribe of Israel. However, Pharaoh was not too happy with Moses about losing his unpaid employees. Nor were the children of Israel happy about an increased workload – minus the resources they needed to perform as a result. It’s no lie that hurting people hurt people and oftentimes their target is none other than the messenger.
Moses had tried to convince God that he was the wrong guy for the job. Now it must have felt like an, “I told you so” moment as he stood in the crossfire.
It’s hard enough to stand for truth, let alone taking the brunt for communicating somebody else’s message. However, as Christ’s ambassadors we have a responsibility to share God’s truth. Some may not like it. Some may be offended by it. Some may even react unkindly to it. But while taking it seriously, we need not take it personally.
As much as it is our responsibility to share God’s truth, we are not responsible for the response. The ultimate responsibility is God’s. He simply asks us to stand on the frontlines to communicate his life-giving truth to those who need to be set free from the captivity of sin. He asks us to be faithful in our obedience to him to deliver the message; the life-giving truth of his Word that will set God’s children free from the captivity of sin. He still says today to those things that would hold us captive, “Let my people go!”
Respond
Almighty God, thank you for choosing to use your servants here on earth to accomplish your divine will. As you entrust us to reach a lost and hurting world in need of your salvation help us to be faithfully obedient to be your messengers.
Lisa Elliott
Lisa Elliott is a popular inspirational speaker and award-winning author of The Ben Ripple; Choosing to Live through Loss with Purpose and Dancing in the Rain. Born and raised in Toronto, ON, Lisa is a graduate of Ontario Bible College (Tyndale). She is a pastor’s wife of over 25 years and mother of four children (3 on earth, 1 in heaven). She has written for Just Between Us Magazine and writes a column for Word Alive Press’s website entitled, Straight from the Heart. Lisa’s passion is to share the life changing truths and principles from God’s Word straight from the heart. She and her husband, David are presently serving the Lord in London, Ontario.