20250330 Exodus 5 God’s Will and Suffering
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Acts 2:42 (LSB)
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Call to Worship - Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Scripture Reading - Hebrews 11:23-26
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 regarding the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
Introduction: Exodus 5 God’s Will and Suffering
The Book of Exodus is the historical the deliverance of Israel from bondage and their journey to the promised land.
Those who have come to Christ may describe their journey in a similar way. We have been delivered from the bondage of sin and our journey will end with the retun of our king and our entry into the promised eternal kingdom.
But here’s the problem and here’s the reason for this morning’s message: While I’ve told you the truth, and I’ve told you the story, I haven’t told you the whole story.
Yes we are saved, yes we will spend eternity with Christ but but but but but…
If that’s all we say, all we promise, all we teach, all we preach we are not telling the WHOLE truth. We are leaving out one of the most important, most taught but most neglected truths in Scripture. And that is the presence and the role of suffering in the Christian life
(1) The unheard, unpreached, uncomfortable truth
In Mark 4 Jesus tells the parable of the sower who sows seed on different kinds of soil. It is a parable of the word of God and how it is received by different kinds of hearts. Lsten t tge words of Mark 4:16-17
16 “And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places: those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
When the Lord Jesus listed differing responses to the ‘seed’ which is the word of God, he included those who, when they hear the word ‘at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately, they quickly fall away’ (Mark 4:16–17).
The principle which our Lord enunciates here is that there is no such thing as an untested faith, and this concept runs throughout the Bible.
Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul notes two things which to him marked their conversion as genuine: they recognized the word which they had heard as God’s word, not man’s and their reception of that word was tested by suffering (1 Thess. 2:13–14).
13 And for this reason we also thank God without ceasing that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,
Peter instructs us not to think trials a ‘strange’ (‘foreign’, Gk. xenos) element in normal experience—our calling is to be made like our Saviour in his sufferings (1 Pet. 4:12–13; cf. 1 Pet. 2:20b–25).
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. 13 But to the degree you are sharing the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this finds favor with God. 21 For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps,
James goes even further, urging us to count trials ‘pure joy’ because they are part and parcel of the way forward to maturity (Jas 1:2–4);
2 Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. 4 And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
and Hebrews reminds us that educative discipline (Gk. paideia) is inseparable from being a beloved child of the Father (Heb. 12:7; cf. Deut. 8:5).
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Peter also points out that while we indeed ‘suffer grief’ (Gk. lypeō) as a result of ‘all kinds (Gk. poikilos) of trials’, they all have the purpose that our faith ‘may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed’. He compares this process of testing to that of gold being refined in the crucible (1 Pet. 1:6–7).
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The mocking voice of Satan poured scorn on Job’s faith, claiming that the Lord had made life all too easy for him and scoffing that if he were to lose all that made his life pleasant, he would ‘curse [God] to his face’ (Job 1:10–11). Job’s faith, however, was proved true, and he was confident that ‘when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold’ (Job 23:10).
10 “But He knows the way I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
(2) The danger of selective listening
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then 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 Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your hard labors!” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!” 6 So on that day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, 7 “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 “But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall set upon them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, therefore they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 “Let their slavery be hard on the men, and let them work at it so that they will have no regard for false words.” 10 So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. 11 ‘You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’” 12 So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 And the taskmasters were pressing them, saying, “Complete your work quota, the daily amount, just as when there was straw.” 14 Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?” 15 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your slaves? 16 “There is no straw given to your slaves, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your slaves are being beaten; but it is the sin of your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are lazy—lazy! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 “So now, go and labor; but straw will not be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” 19 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble because they were told, “You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they confronted Moses and Aaron, standing there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have made us a foul smell in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” 22 Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? 23 “Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”
2.1 A Distorted View of the Mission
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then 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 Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.”
The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage (e. Moses, Too!)
Moses, too, was surprised, almost traumatized, by his failure (5:22). He had really thought that now at last, forty years after his initial disaster (2:15), he was ‘on the victory side’. Plainly, from his whole approach to Pharaoh, bouncing into the royal presence (5:1), he too had not listened with close attention to what the Lord had said and had not taken the predicted heart-hardening seriously. In his mind it was ‘all over bar the shouting’! But that is not what the word of God said would be the case, and for Moses, failure to listen attentively led to failure to obey precisely in the following ways:
He took the wrong delegation. He had been commanded to take ‘the elders of Israel’ with him (3:18), but he took only Aaron. He adopted the wrong approach. There is nothing comparable in 3:18 to the This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says of 5:1. He used the wrong terminology. ‘Hebrews’ is used in 3:18, and this was the recognized name for the people (cf. 1:16; 2:6), whereas Moses spoke of Israel (5:1). He was told to say that God ‘met with’ him (3:18), which Cassuto suggests (with evidence) was a recognized way, in non-Israelite circles, of describing a theophany (cf. Num. 23:3). Moses had made no allowances for what may or may not have been acceptable to Pharaoh as the Lord had commanded him to do. He made the wrong request. Instead of the moderate request for three days leave of absence which the Lord had put into his mouth as his opening gambit (3:18), Moses made an absolute demand for national emancipation.
As if this catalogue of mishandling God’s word was not enough, Moses went on to add what the Lord had never said by threatening plagues and slaughter (5:3). The Lord commanded a corporate approach, couched in understandable terminology, making a moderate and limited request in courteous terms. Moses adopted an authoritarian approach, alienating Pharaoh with incomprehensible talk (5:2), and laying down an absolute demand. When we sit loose to the word of God, in matters small or great, when we subtract what it does say (cf. Gen. 3:4) and contribute what it does not (cf. Gen. 3:3), we doom ourselves to reap failure and disappointment.
2.2 A distorted view of the message
Exodus 5 is a hodgepodge of disgruntled people and disgraced leadership and ultimately, unhappiness with God
The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage (d. False Expectations: Selective Listening)
Israel’s complaint to Moses that he had only succeeded in making Pharaoh a worse overlord than he had been before is instructive (5:21). It accurately describes what had happened, of course, but it also describes what they should have expected to happen. According to 4:30, Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses, and this would have included at least the words recorded in 3:19 and 4:21. What did they think a harder heart would do to them? The answer would seem to be that they did not think, because they did not hear. They heard only the good news that the Lord was on the move, and, indeed, Moses and Aaron were themselves infected with the same spirit, as is evident from their bumptious and triumphalist presentation of the case to Pharaoh (5:1). They had no expectation of trouble ahead, yet the word of God was quite explicit. They believed (4:31), but they did not listen when God’s word warned that there is no such thing as an untested faith. It could be said that the root of all disaster in the Christian life is the failure to hear and believe what the word of God says and to act accordingly.
19 “But I know that the king of Egypt will not give you permission to go, except by a strong hand.
21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go to return to Egypt, see to it that all the miraculous wonders which I have put in your hand, that you do them before Pharaoh; but as for Me, I will harden his heart with strength so that he will not let the people go.
30 and Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses. He then did the signs in the sight of the people.
Did God really say?
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
21 And after they had proclaimed the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.”
The Lord be the shelter above you, the tower around you, and the rock beneath you all your days until Jesus comes. Amen.
