The Echoes of Pain: Moses' Fight for Freedom

Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating Scripture Through the Eyes of Family, where I share with you biblical stories like a family member would share a story around the dinner table. As children of God, we are a part of God's family and His family story has a lot of history. Each week we will take one story and talk about it the cultural, historical, geographical and sociological impacts. We will be looking at these stories from the perspective of our ancestors, through the lens of ancient times, in hopes of learning more about our family. This is our ancient future story. Welcome back to our ancient future story. I'm Vek and I am so excited to share the story of Moses with you today. When we left of Dolf last time, moses had met with God at the burning bush and received His mission to go back to Egypt and free the Israelites from slavery. But Moses had many questions, but Yahweh was right there to answer all of them with yeah, but I will. So in today's episode we are going to dive back into the story and find out what happened when Moses returned to Egypt. So grab your cup of coffee or something to drink and let's get ready to dive into the story of Moses.

Our story opens with Moses and Aaron going to see Pharaoh. They had just told the leaders of Israel all that God had told them to say and did all the signs and wonders that God told them to do. And the people of Israel believed Yahweh. But now Moses and Aaron are standing in front of Pharaoh Thus says Yahweh, let my people go that they may hold a feast for me in the wilderness. But Pharaoh responds who is this Yahweh that I should obey what he says? I don't know Yahweh. Therefore, I will not let Israel go. Moses and Aaron retort the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go worship and sacrifice so that he will not be angry with us and send plagues upon us or kill us. But Pharaoh still does not relent. He says why do you take the people from their work? There are many Israelites and you are making them rest from their work.

That same day, pharaoh ordered the taskmasters to no longer provide straw for the Hebrews. Instead, he declared they must find straw for themselves, but their quota must remain the same, for they are idle and that is why they cry out to let us go in the wilderness and worship our God. Therefore, let's put heavier work on them so that they will not have time to think about such things. So the taskmasters went out and told the Hebrews we will no longer be providing the straw needed for bricks, yet your daily quota will remain the same. So the people scattered all across Egypt to find straw. But day after day, the Israelites continued to come up short of their daily quota. So the taskmasters pulled the foremen whom Pharaoh had set over the Israelites. And the taskmasters beat them and asking them why have you not done your task of making bricks today, yesterday or any day? The foremen of Israel cried out to Pharaoh why do you treat your servants like this? You no longer provide straw, yet you beat us for the actions of your people. Pharaoh responded you are idle. That's why you beg to go out to the wilderness and worship and sacrifice to your God. Now get back to work. You will not have any straw given to you, but the daily quota remains the same.

Then the foremen of Israel met with Moses and Aaron and they said may the Lord look upon you and judge, because you have made a stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants. You have all but put a sword in their hands to kill us. Then Moses turned to Yahweh and said oh Lord, why have you done evil to these people? Why did you send me? For ever since I have returned and spoken to Pharaoh, he has only done more evil and you haven't delivered your people at all. But the Lord responded to Moses and said now you see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand, he will send them out.

I am the Lord. I have made myself known to Abraham Isaac and Jacob as El Shaddai, but my name, yahweh, I did not make known to them. I established my covenant with them that they will possess the land of Canaan. I have heard the groanings of the Israelites enslaved in Egypt and I have remembered my covenant with their ancestors. Say therefore to the people of Israel I am Yahweh and I will bring you out from Egypt. I will deliver you from slavery. I will redeem you with an outstretched hand. I will take you to be my people and I will be your God. And you shall know that I am Yahweh, your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens in Egypt. I will bring you into the land I promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob. I will give it to you, for I am Yahweh". So Moses said to all the words to the people of Israel. But the people did not listen to Moses, for their burdens were great and their spirits were broken because of their slavery. Then Yahweh said to Moses go back to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people of Israel go. But Moses said the people of Israel don't listen to me. How will Pharaoh listen to me? But Yahweh gave Moses and Aaron a charge about the people of Israel and Pharaoh, and that is where our story ends for today. Yahweh working to get his people out of Egypt, but their spirits are so broken because of their harsh labor that they cannot see the hope that Yahweh is offering them. With that, we'll see you next time. We'll see you in the next video. Subscribe to the Extraordinary YouTube channel. Send us your comments.

If you grew up in church, you have probably heard this story many, many times. It's basically part of the yearly VBS stories, but I think there are a few things that are important for us to know that will help shape the context of the story for us. And first is location. Our story takes place in Egypt, roughly around 1446 BC if you take the early date, or 1275 BC if you take the late date. Moses has been gone 40 years at this point and the leadership in Egypt has changed. By how much depends on the timeline. So let's take the early date first.

When Moses flees, in roughly 1486 BC, tupmus I is on the throne. This was Moses' adopted grandfather. Remember, tupmus I's daughter was Queen Hatshepsut, one of the potential daughters of Pharaoh who could have found Moses in the Nile. Now let me tell you about Queen Hetshepsut. We said in the previous episode she was. She likely found Moses in the Nile around the age of six or seven. She then married her half-brother, tupmost II, when she was 12. This was to legitimize the succession of Tupmost II because he was the male heir, but from a secondary wife, because technically it should have been Hetshepsut who would have taken over had she been male. Nevertheless, she was made queen, though, through her marriage, and they had a daughter, neferuwe. But they did not have any sons. So Tupmost II died at a fairly early age in 1479 BC. His son, tupmost III, became the legitimate heir as an infant. So Hetshepsut stepped up as the regent for Tupmost III until he was of age. But she was not satisfied with just being his regent, so when Tupmost III was of age she sent him out on military campaigns and she ran Egypt from the throne. It wasn't until her death in 1458 BC that Tupmost III fully gained control of the throne, and it was only 12 years later that Moses confronts Tupmost III asking to let the people of Israel go to worship Yahweh.

We will talk a little bit more about Tupmost III in a little bit, but for now let's go back to the late date and see who would have been in charge in 1275 BC. This is the famous Ramses II. But how he came to be Pharaoh is an interesting story. Let's go back to the beginning of Moses' life In this timeline.

The daughter of Pharaoh was Siddharth Moon, remember. She was the daughter wife of King Amenhotep III, but she did not have any biological children because of this union. So Akhenaten took over for his father, amenhotep III, as Pharaoh. When he died, akhenaten was the father of King Tut, the boy king, who suspiciously died. And since there was no biological children, I, the nephew of Amenhotep III, took over the crown. But he also had no sons. But he chose Hornhebb, the commander of King Tut's army, to be his successor. But guess what? He also didn't have sons. So he chose Ramses I, who was one of the most trusted advisors and thus began the Ramses dynasty.

Ramses I had a son, settie I, and his son, ramses II, is the Pharaoh Moses confronted. Now, it is interesting that these are the two pharaohs that could have been the ones Moses confronted, because they were both not people to mess with. They were ruthless and built a reputation throughout the known world. Tut, most of the third was a warrior as soon as he came of age and then most of the expansion campaigns out of Egypt. And Ramses II was no picnic either. Also a warrior, but an unpredictable one. His famous battle was in the battle of Kadesh against the Hittai empire. He is said to have struck down the entire army by himself in a surprise attack. Needless to say, these men were not crossed without severe punishment. But if you're like me and you're asking, did they know Moses? The answer is yes. Well, maybe. Tut, most of the third very likely grew up with Moses in the palace, especially if Queen Hetshepsut was Moses's adopted mom, though by the time Tut most of the third was born, moses would have been older and serving in the advisor role, but they very well could have known each other. They were half brothers through the adoption, whereas Ramses II and Moses probably did not know each other at all by the time Moses returned, so many Pharaoh lineages had changed and it was very it's very unlikely that Ramses would have known anything about Moses or his time at the palace. He may have heard stories, but it's very unlikely that they lived in the palace at the same time.

The next thing I want to point out is Moses's plea to Pharaoh. Moses pleas with Pharaoh and says please let them go and worship the god of the Hebrews. Least he be angry and send plagues on us or kill us. So why did Moses use this language? Remember, moses grew up in the palace, acutely aware proceedings of approaching and pleading with the king. He knew what the Egyptians did about gods and if you disobey it will not go well for you. Plagues, disease and death are often chalked up to someone angering the gods. So Moses pleads with Pharaoh in a way that he would understand. Yet Pharaoh refuses. He says who is this Yahweh? I don't know, yahweh. Remember no one had heard the name of God except Moses. The burning bush is the first time God shares his name with humanity. So of course Pharaoh doesn't know who he is, but he will. It's also interesting about Pharaoh's response to Moses.

Moses pleads with Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to go and worship, but instead of letting them go, pharaoh takes away the straw for making bricks. But where did the straw come from? Some scholars have suggested that Egypt, specifically around the Nile, was very fertile ground for farming, and when the farmers would thresh the wheat stalks to get the grain, they would leave the stalks that would be used for making bricks, while others suggested that they use the reeds from the Nile and cut them up and use that as straw for bricks. In either case, it is imperative that bricks have straw in them. Brick making is an ancient practice and many remote communities in the modern world will still use this practice to make bricks.

For centuries, the ancients would have made mud bricks, but there were some difficulties with this, the main one in Egypt being that they would get their mud from the Nile, and the Nile water runoff was mostly sand, as you would expect in the desert, unlike other parts of the world where the mud was mostly clay, and unlike clay that sticks to itself easily, sand does not hold together as well. We know this. If we collect a bucket of sand and put water in it and make a mixture, then we build something with it and let it sit in the hot sun. As it begins to dry, it starts to crumble, but the ancients discovered that by putting straw into the mix the bricks would hold together more easily. Now I think there is a fair argument for why the Israelites were upset when Pharaoh told them they had to find their own straw. Because it's possible that the Israelites did not have access to farmers, to the leftover stocks from the weeds, since slaves and farmers did not interact. Or it is equally as possible. They were upset because they had to go to the reeds of the Nile with the wildlife-infested waters to cut down the reeds to use for the straw.

I'm thinking about how much time it would have taken to go and find straw to make bricks, in addition to just making them, emphasizes the cruelty of Pharaoh's claim that the people were idle and therefore they needed more work. The next thing I want to point out is the idiom you have made a stink in the sight of Pharaoh. This one is a little more obvious than other idioms from this time. It's pretty clear that Jewish foremen had favor with Pharaoh in his court, and now they have lost that favor because they pushed back on the straw and bricks quota. But it's a little deeper than that. To say stink in the sight of was to put a target on their backs. These Jewish foremen were chosen to be in charge of the Israelites, but because of Moses and Aaron, the foremen were being accused of disloyalty to the throne. And when the Pharaoh, who was ruthless, wouldn't think twice about killing them, even the perception of treason wasn't easily a death sentence.

Now I'd want to take a minute and talk about Yahweh remembering his covenant. I love this because it reminds us that Yahweh has not forgotten. He tells Moses, who feels completely defeated after his meeting with Pharaoh and after the foremen come back, accusing him of giving them a death sentence. But God comes to him and says I am the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob. I have heard the groans of my people and I remember the covenant I made with Abraham To bring them into the land I told him his descendants would possess, and I love that. God tells Moses that he still remembered the covenant, even though Moses felt completely defeated. God was about to do something awesome. Moses just had to hold on for just a little bit longer.

The last thing I want to point out is the point of the entire Moses story Redemption. If you have taken Zander Richter's Bible study Epic of Eden, you know that redemption was a secular term that humanity used to describe their experience with God the Hebrew word ga'el, which literally means to redeem. This word has three main components to it. To redeem something or someone, you must put your own resources on the line, your own life on the line, and stake your claim on that person or thing. And next week we will see Yahweh display all three of these before Pharaoh. So how does this point to Yahweh? Each time we get together, we will talk about how this story points to Yahweh. In today's story we will see God setting up the deliverance. And when the people's spirit is so broken they have lost all hope, god tells them again what he will do. He will pull them out of Egypt with a mighty right hand and he will fulfill the covenant he made with their forefathers, abraham, isaac and Jacob. And God does the same with us. Even we who are broken into a million pieces, he still comes in and gives us hope. He pieces us back together. It may not be all at once, but he will fulfill His promises as we end our time together. I want to read the scripture from which our story comes from today, in Exodus 5 and 6. I hope that as we read this passage and reflect on all that we have learned, that the story would be illuminated for you. Let's read Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast for me in the wilderness.

But Pharaoh said who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and, moreover, I will not let Israel go. Then they said the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord, our God. At least he fall upon us with pestilence and the sword. But the king of Egypt said to them, moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens. And Pharaoh said Behold, the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens.

That same day, pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen you shall no longer get the people's straw to make bricks, as in the past. Let them. Go and gather straw for themselves, but the number of bricks that they made in the past shall impose on them. You shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God. Let heavier work be laid on the men. That they may labor at it and pay no regard to the lying words. So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people Thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go and get your own straw yourselves, wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.

So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent, saying Complete your work, your daily task, each day, as when there was straw. And the foremen of the people whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them were beaten and were asked why have you not done all your tasks in making bricks today, yesterday or in the past? Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants. Yet they say to us Make bricks. And behold, your servants are beaten, but the fault is on your own people. But he said you are idle. You are idle. That is why you say Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Go now and work. No straw will be given to you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.

The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said you shall by no means reduce the number of bricks in your daily task each day. They then met with Moses and Aaron who were waiting for them, and they came out from Pharaoh and they said to him the Lord, look on you and judge, because you have made a stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hand to kill us. Then Moses turned to the Lord and said oh Lord, why have you done this evil to these people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak your name, he has done evil to the people and you have not delivered your people at all. But the Lord said to Moses Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand he will send them out and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.

God spoke to Moses and said to him I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but my name the Lord. I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them I will give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they live as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel, whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord, your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of Egypt. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord. Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. So the Lord said to Moses Go in, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go from his land. But Moses said to the Lord Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips, but the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh, king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Thank you for listening to today's episode of our ancient future story. I hope that you really enjoyed it. This episode was written by me. Vic Harmon Music is embarking on an adventure by Evan McDonald. Please support the show by subscribing and rating us, and if you want to know more or grow deeper, check out our website at our ancientfuturestorycom. See you next time. Bye.