Êxodo 5
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Êxodo 5
Wiersbe comments that "If Moses and Aaron had been privileged to listen to Jonathan Edwards preach his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," they probably would have shouted "Amen!" when Edwards said: All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. (Bible Exposition Commentary – Pentateuch) Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh - Keep in mind this is not the Pharaoh who had killed all the Hebrew male infants in Exodus 1. We know that is the case because God had told him "all the men who are seeking your life are dead." (Ex 4:19). The elders are not described as present but may have been in light of God's specific promise in Exodus 3:18 where God says "you with the elders of Israel will come tot he king of Egypt...". Here we surely see God behind the scenes making the paths of Moses and Aaron (and probably the elders) straight. Why? Because the Hebrews were shepherds and considered an abomination by the Egyptians! And yet they gain entree to most powerful man on the planet. This is something only God would orchestrate! And here we also see the faith of both men in action (faith is an "action" word), because in ancient times it was dangerous to go into the presence of a monarch, much less to go with a demand/command! This took courage! And remember that presumably Aaron is speaking for Moses the Words God gives Moses. We see Moses opt out of speaking in Ex 4:13 which caused the LORD's anger to burn, but in mercy and grace He allowed Aaron to substitute for Moses. Then in Ex 4:15 God tells Moses he is to speak the words to Aaron which God speaks to Moses. In Ex 4:16 God says Aaron "shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him."
Êxodo 5
Wiersbe notes that Moses and Aaron "were sent by God to inform Pharaoh that if he didn't release the Jewish people, Jehovah would declare war on him and his gods and wouldn't stop attacking Egypt until the people of Israel were set free. God's two ambassadors had one message from the Lord: "Let My people go—or else!" Let My people go is found seven times in the pre-Exodus narrative: Ex 5:1, 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1,13; 10:3. (Ibid) Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel - So these are the Words from Jehovah to Moses which presumably are actually vocalized by Aaron. In either event these are not men's words but God's very words to Pharaoh! First they emphasize that Jehovah says He is God and specifically the God of Israel. The conflict begins to "fire up" for Pharaoh actually considered himself to be a god and expected to be treated like one! Here God's men are commanding Pharaoh to obey someone else, something he has likely never heard in his adult life! He was the one who gave orders and here we see lowly shepherds giving him orders! This is a direct assault on Pharaoh's pride. ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRICE OF PRIDE AND A "GOD" COMPLEX - Captain James Cook was an English explorer and navigator (1728-1779). He is the man credited with discovering Hawaii. When he first landed on those Pacific islands the natives thought he was a god and gave him divine treatment. He did nothing to discourage their perception; he embraced the role of god. All worked well for Cook until he left the isles. A storm forced him to sail back to the island for shelter. The natives believed no god would be hindered by a storm, so they felt betrayed and killed Captain Cook for pretending to be a god. When we assume the role of deity, our destiny is death. Pride causes us to assume that kind of thinking (Pr 11:2). Exodus 5:1-5 is the first of two occasions that God through Moses demanded the release of His firstborn son, Israel, the second occasion being in Ex 7:10-13. The result on each occasion was exactly what God had promised in Ex 4:21 "I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go." Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness - The fact that Jehovah claimed the sons of Israel were "My people" would be especially irksome to Pharaoh who considered them as HIS slaves, HIS property to do with as he saw fit. This is essentially the Word Moses had received from Jehovah in Ex 3:18 "‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’" So without apology, God's men begin with a clear command from God. Notice the first person pronouns My and Me. This parallels the words from Jehovah in Ex 4:22+ that "Israel is My son, My firstborn." The sons of Israel were God's possession, not Pharaoh's possession. This is straight from the Throne Room of Heaven to the Throne Room of Pharaoh on earth. This is like Light meeting darkness. Good going against evil. God against Satan (who surely empowered the evil anti-Semitic pharaoh). This is not a power struggle, because the final victory by the omnipotent God is certain. But this victory will involve several scenes and supernatural manifestations from God. Apparently from historical records Egyptian laborers were also granted time off for the performance of religious duties (see Constable's note below). Let My people go, that they may serve Me - This command is repeated some 9 times (Ex 5:1+; Ex 7:16+; Ex 8:1+; Ex 8:20+; Ex 8:21+; Ex 9:1+; Ex 9:13+; Ex 10:3+; Ex 10:4+) NET Note - The form שַׁלַּח (shallakh), the Piel imperative, has been traditionally translated “let [my people] go.” The Qal would be “send”; so the Piel “send away, release, dismiss, discharge.” B. Jacob observes, “If a person was dismissed through the use of this verb, then he ceased to be within the power or sphere of influence of the individual who had dismissed him. He was completely free and subsequently acted entirely on his own responsibility” (Exodus, 115). NET Note on celebrate a feast - The verb חָגַג (khagag) means to hold a feast or to go on a pilgrim feast. The Arabic cognate of the noun form is haj, best known for the pilgrim flight of Mohammed, the hajira. Mattoon - The word "feast" is a pilgrimage festival. It was not an unreasonable request. Pharaoh's temper toward Israel is known. Yet courageously, and by faith, Moses and Aaron walk into the cobra pit. God has already warned them that Pharaoh would not let them go! They did what the Lord commanded any way. God help us to have this same kind of courage.
Êxodo 5
Wiersbe adds "If Pharaoh obeyed the edict, he would be acknowledging a deity greater than himself, and he wasn't about to do that. In his pride and false security, Pharaoh wouldn't listen to the words of the living God." (Ibid) Shepherd's Notes - The title Pharaoh means “great house.” Egyptians applied the title to their kings from about 1500 B.C. on. An ancient pharaoh was an absolute monarch and considered to be a god himself. An example of his divine power was his daily performing of an early morning ritual in which he broke the seal to the statue of the sun god, waking the deity up with a prayer.
Êxodo 5
Wiersbe - It's unusual that slaves would have access to the king, but Pharaoh knew what he was doing. He told them what Moses and Aaron had demanded of him, and this turned the Jewish foremen against the leaders God had given them. The foremen told Moses and Aaron what they thought of them and then slandered them among the Jews. This wouldn't be the last time Moses would be opposed by his own people who didn't understand what the Lord was doing. Instead of going to Pharaoh to complain, the foremen should have gone to Moses and Aaron and suggested that they summon the elders and have a prayer meeting. They should have reminded themselves of the promises God had given Israel and claimed them by faith. What a difference that would have made for them and for their leaders! Alas, during the next forty years, complaining about God's will and criticizing God's leaders would be characteristic of the people of Israel; but are God's people much different today? (Ibid) David Thompson - This is typically what the people of God do when things don’t work out in a seemingly good way- they blame management who may or may not be responsible for the problem. They blame the God ordained leadership. Instead of the Hebrew leadership saying, we need to get our people to cry out to God for His help; they just start blaming Moses and Aaron for the trouble. This was not Moses and Aaron’s fault.” (Sermon) J Ligon Duncan - Remember the foremen were something like middlemen. They were Hebrews themselves, but they had apparently been handpicked by the Egyptians to serve as sub-taskmasters over their own people. And so they had a vested interest in the system working as it did. They got certain rewards as certain quotas were met. And so having realized that that little neat and tidy system was now wrecked because of Moses and Aaron’s audience with Pharaoh, now they encounter Moses and Aaron, and they hurl verbal abuse at them. In verse 21, you can see that they basically blame Moses and Aaron for all their problems. In verse 19, they recognize that they are in trouble, but in verse 21, they say, "And you know who the source of this trouble is?" Not the taskmasters, it’s not Pharaoh, it’s Moses, Aaron. Then they’re the problem. Can you hear the words of the King of Israel? Who are you? You troubler of Israel. And here again the foremen are accusing Moses and Aaron of being the troublers of Israel. They do it with a very hard word, because the prayer or the words that they use actually reflect the language of the traditional prayer of an innocent suffer. You will find language like this in the Psalms where David, having been wrongly dealt with, prays that God would judge those who had wrongly dealt with him. And now here is Moses, who has given up much for his people, being told that he has wronged the people of God, and hearing his own people say, "We call for God to judge you for what you’ve done." That must have hurt. The phrase for you have made us odious means “you have made our aroma stink.” This is the very word in Ex 7:21 of "fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul. " The Septuagint translate the Hebrew (baash) with the verb bdelusso (from bdéo = stink or reek) which means literally to emit a foul odor or to render foul and figuratively means to strongly detest something on the basis that it is abominable (as used in Rev 21:8) (abominable = quite disagreeable, worthy of disgust, whatever is odious to the mind or offensive to the senses). In Secular Greek usage bdelusso meant to feel a nausea or loathing for food and so came to be used of disgust in general. And so the verb bdelusso pictures one turning away from a stench as in disgust. Duncan - It’s also interesting, isn’t it, that the foremen say that Moses and Aaron have caused them literally to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh. Isn’t it interesting that in just a few verses, Moses will cause the Nile to stink before the Lord. Once again we see God sovereignly responding to the strategies of Satan and trumping it. For the Nile was divine, and God by His servant Moses will cause it to be odorous in the eyes of the Egyptians and before Him, showing again that He is the Almighty One, the powerful One. Moses and Aaron are faithful, and yet they meet with the immediate rejection and with the opposition of the people of God. Does that refrain sound familiar to you? Odious (0887)(baash) means to have a bad smell or to stink. To be repulsive. It denotes a bad physical smell (blood in the Nile - Ex 7:21) or odor of spoiled manna (Ex 16:20). In a figurative sense, it speaks of a person who becomes strongly revolting to another, a metaphorical "stench in the nostrils." Louis Goldberg - When Moses struck the water of the Nile, the fish died and the river became foul (Ex 7:18, 21). After the plague of the frogs, the land was foul (stank). When some tried to save their allotted share of manna, it bred worms and emitted a stink (Ex 16:20). But the double portion gathered on the sixth day did not become foul (Exodus 16:24). This term, stink, is also used by the Hebrew foremen of the Israelite slave force who complained to Moses and Aaron that they had made Israel's savour odious in Pharoah's presence (Ex 5:21). Other usages for stink or foul: David cried out because his wounds were foul and festering on account of his folly (Ps 38:5). Jacob exclaimed to Levi and Simeon that their actions caused him to be odious to the people of Canaan with drastic consequences (Ge 34:30). Qohelet says that dead flies ferment and make perfumed oil stink (Eccl 10:1). The idea of abhorrence is seen in David's decision to fight for the Philistines. They thought that David had made himself odious to the Israelites (1 Sa 27:12). The affair of Absalom and his father's concubines was calculated to make Absalom abhorrent to David and to bring about misunderstanding between father and son (2 Sa 16:21). Other shades of meaning are seen in the actions of wicked men who are loathsome (or act disgustingly, Pr 13:5). Thus this word either describes objects that have a foul odor, bad relationships between people creating abhorrence, and the general principle that evil deeds are so rotten that they have a bad smell in God's nostrils. (See Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament) Baash - acts disgustingly(1), became foul(3), become foul(2), become odious(2), grow foul(1), made(1), made themselves odious(1), made yourself odious(1), making me odious(1), odious*(1), stink(2), surely made(1), surely made himself odious(1). Ge 34:30; Ex 5:21; Ex 7:18; Ex 7:21; Ex 8:14; Ex 16:20; Ex 16:24; 1 Sa 13:4; 1 Sa 27:12; 2 Sa 10:6; 2 Sa 16:21; 1 Chr. 19:6; Ps 38:5; Pr 13:5; Eccl 10:1; Isa 50:2 To put a sword in their hand to kill us" - Their reputation is now so bad that Pharaoh might gladly put them to death. They are saying that Moses and Aaron had only provided Pharaoh with a sword to kill them, it appeared that the prophet Moses was not going to be honored in his own land. F B
Êxodo 5
Wiersbe - God's chosen servants must expect opposition and misunderstanding, because that's part of what it means to be a leader; and leaders must know how to get alone with God, pour out their hearts, and seek His strength and wisdom. Spiritual leaders must be bold before people but broken before God and must claim God's promises and do His will even when everything seems to be against them. (Ibid) Mattoon - Moses had God on a time table. We tend to rush God too, and be impatient with Him. It's in times like these we need to learn to trust in Him and wait. (Pr 3:5-6, Ps 27:14) When her husband, Edmund Gravely, died at the controls of his small plane while on the way to Statesboro, GA, from the Rocky Mount-Wilson airport, NC, his wife Janice kept the plane aloft for two hours until it ran out of fuel. During this time she sang hymns and prayed for help. As the plane crossed the South Carolina-North Carolina border, she radioed for help: "Help, help, won't someone help me? My pilot is unconscious. Won't somebody help me?" Authorities who picked up her distress signal were not able to reach her by radio during the flight because she kept changing channels. Mrs. Gravely finally made a rough landing and crawled for 45 minutes to a farmhouse for help. How often God's people cry out for help to God, but switch channels before God's message comes through. They turn to other sources for help, looking for human help. When you cry out to God for His intervention, don't switch channels! Be still and wait for His direction and guidance. Moses seems to have forgotten that God had forewarned him that Pharaoh would not let the people go unless he was compelled (Ex 3:19+) "But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion (ESV = "unless compelled by a mighty hand.")." So Moses should not have been totally surprised by Pharaoh's refusal when they quoted Jehovah's command to "Let My people go!" THOUGHT - I think we are all at least at times like Moses. We forget the truth of the Word of God and we misinterpret circumstances and fail to interpret them based on the truth (and promises) of God. J Ligon Duncan - The protest of Moses is one of the most amazing passages in all of the Bible. In this passage, Moses says three things to God. Look at verse 23. First, he says, "Lord, You are responsible for this evil." Now I know that you are looking for those words. But he says it in a question. He says, "Oh Lord, why have you brought harm to this people, but don’t be fooled by the form of the question. You see what Moses is saying. "Lord, you are responsible for this." The very question assumes that God must answer for having done something wrong. Why have You done evil to this people, Moses says. Secondly, he says, "Lord, You shouldn’t have sent me." Again, he does it in the form of a question. "Why did you ever send me?" But behind that question is actually a charge. "Lord, You should never have sent me in the first place." And then it gets worse. Thirdly, he says, "Lord, You failed on the promise that You made, and you’ve made things worse than they were. And again, he forms that charge with a question, but here is the language. "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." Now this is a fascinating exchange. But I want you see two things that are happening simultaneously. One bad and one good. First, Moses is wrong to accuse the Lord. And in accusing the Lord wrongly, Moses is revealing what we often do when we don’t like God’s providence. Moses accuses God here of being unconcerned for His people. Wait a minute, time out. Who had had to convince Moses to go to Egypt to help his people? Had Moses done so willingly? I heard Your word. Send whomever You want. Not me. Now wait a second. Moses is acting as if he is the one with the heart of compassion. So often, when we face trials or worse, when we see those that we love with all our hearts face trials, our first reaction is to think, Lord God, how could You do this. Because for a moment Satan blinds us to the deviousness and the wickedness of our own hearts, and lets us believe that we are more compassionate than God. And that’s precisely what Moses is doing here. "Lord, if I were God, I wouldn’t do this. And yet only a few days before, Moses had to be coached to come to the aid of his people. Who cared more about the people of God? God or Moses? There’s no comparison. There’s no question. God had the heart for His People, and yet Moses thinks he’s more loving. Beware when you think that you are more loving than God..... But there’s something else here that just boggles my mind. It’s happening at the same time. Do you realize that even though Moses lashes out against God, do you realize that God, even in that, is building His heart in Moses? I mean, Moses just a few weeks before, had had to be coaxed into going to the children of Egypt. Now his heart is genuinely broken when he sees his people being treated in the way they are being treated. You see, it’s not that Moses is more compassionate than God. It’s that Moses is being brought up to speed, with the pre-existent, with the eternal compassion of God for His People. Moses is being molded into the image, into the heart of His God in compassion for His people; to the point that over and over in the book of Exodus, Moses, at crucial points, because of his heart for God’s people, worked in him by God’s Grace, will intercede for the people of God, and call on God to show them favor even though they don’t deserve it. Though Moses doesn’t know it here, as his heart is breaking for his people, he is merely emulating the eternal love and compassion of God for the children of Israel. The Lord responds mercifully. In mercy, he tell Moses, and you’ll see it in verse 1 of Exodus 6, then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for under compulsion he shall let them go. And under compulsion, he shall drive them out of this land." The Lord in His mercy tells Moses that Pharaoh will not only let Israel go, he’ll drive them out of the land. He will be delighted to be rid of them when the Lord is finished. God is in control, not Pharaoh. A W