Message Notes

YOUTH WORSHIP SERVICE 8 July 2023

Message: “You have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh” Exodus 5:21

Text: Exodus 5:1-21

INTRODUCTION

1. The Elders of the people were encouraged

a) By what they heard from Aaron and Moses

b) By the signs that Moses had performed for them to see

2. Moses and Aaron

a) They went to see Pharaoh

b) They went with confidence

PRESENTATION OF THE MESSAGE FROM GOD TO PHARAOH

Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

Exodus 5:1

1. “Thus says the LORD God of Israel”

2. “Let My people go”

3. “That they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.”

THE AUDIENCE WITH PHARAOH

2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.”

3 So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

Exodus 5:2-3

1. Outright rejection by Pharaoh

a) “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice?”

b) “I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go”

2. Explanation of Moses and Aaron

a) “The God of the Hebrews has met with us”

b) Request to go and offer a sacrifice to God

c) Fear of God expressed

i) Fear of pestilence

ii) Fear of the sword

PHARAOH REBUKES MOSES AND AARON AND ISSUES A HARSH ORDER

4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labour.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labour!”

6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labour in it, and let them not regard false words.”

Exodus 5:4-9

1. Moses and Aaron were rebuked by the Pharaoh

2. Pharaoh gave a harsh order to the taskmasters

a) No straw would be provided for making bricks

b) But the quota must still be fulfilled

c) This was a punishment for being idle

THE HARSH ORDER CARRIED OUT

10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfil your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” 14 Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? 16 There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

17 But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18 Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” 19 And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

Exodus 5:10-19

1. The Hebrew slaves were to find their own straw and fulfil their quota of bricks

2. The slaves were beaten when they failed to make enough bricks for the day

3. The explanations given by the Pharaoh

a) “The fault is your own people”

b) “You are idle! Idle!”

c) Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ Exodus 5:17

4. The officers of the children of Israel knew that they were in trouble

THE CONFRONTATION OF THE OFFICERS WITH MOSES AND AARON

20 Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Exodus 5:20-21

1. The officers met with Moses and Aaron

2. They were obviously angry with them

3. These words were hurled at them

a) “Let the LORD look on you and judge”

b) “Because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants”

c) “To put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

THE BELIEF IN MOSES AND AARON

1. That belief was short-lived

2. Anger and Despair overcame them

3. They even used the LORD’s name against Moses and Aaron

CONCLUSION

1. The people were naïve to think that Pharaoh would simply accept a message from God and comply

2. Their faith in God was tested and it was found to be lacking

a) In patience

b) In perseverance

c) In prayer

3. The children of Israel did not have a strong and resilient faith in the LORD

4. They would need to find this faith before they were ready to leave Egypt