Exo 5:1-23 Let My People go, that They may Hold a Feast unto Me in the Wilderness

[Study Aired April 11, 2022]

Exo 5:1  And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 
Exo 5:2  And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. 
Exo 5:3  And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 
Exo 5:4  And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 
Exo 5:5  And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. 
Exo 5:6  And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 
Exo 5:7  Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 
Exo 5:8  And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 
Exo 5:9  Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. 
Exo 5:10  And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 
Exo 5:11  Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 
Exo 5:12  So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 
Exo 5:13  And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 
Exo 5:14  And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore? 
Exo 5:15  Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 
Exo 5:16  There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 
Exo 5:17  But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. 
Exo 5:18  Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. 
Exo 5:19  And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. 
Exo 5:20  And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 
Exo 5:21  And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 
Exo 5:22  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 
Exo 5:23  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. 

This chapter deals with the first encounter of Moses and Aaron with Pharaoh and the consequence of this encounter. It shows us our initial struggles with the man of sin or the old man in our lives and what happens to us as a result. The chapter also shows us how we are marred in the hands of our Lord, the potter.

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Exo 5:1  And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 

In this verse, an important title of God is mentioned: Jehovah, God of Israel. Jehovah is the unique self-existing one. He is the one who was, who is, and who will be. Only of Him can the verb “to be” be applied in an absolute sense. The title given to the Lord in this verse is the God of Israel. The title “the God of Israel” indicates that God is the God of a transformed people. Jacob was the name of a natural man, but when he was transformed, he became Israel. Israel, according to Strong, means “He will rule as God”. This name implies victory and kingship. In other words, the transformed people are victors and are also kings. Just imagine the situation that Israel endured in Egypt and the Lord calling them as a transformed people who will become victors over the flesh (Pharaoh) and will reign as kings with Christ. It is beyond comprehension!!

Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

The same principle applies to the way our Lord sees us today!! In the eyes of the Lord, we are victors and kings!! However, if our eyes are set on our spiritual condition, we may regard ourselves as being pitiful just like the Israelites in Egypt. Let’s not be short-sighted and limited in our vision by our present situation or predicament.

God does not regard you as one still in bondage under Pharaoh. Do you dare believe that you are such an Israelite, such a victor and king? Believe the word of the Lord, and if God says that you are an Israelite, then you are an Israelite, whether you feel this way about yourself or not.

When the Lord comes to us with His brightness, which is His words, that is when we begin to confront the beast or the old man within us, symbolized by Pharaoh. Here, Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go to hold a feast to the Lord in the wilderness. The word ‘feast’ also means to celebrate. It is during celebrations that we offer sacrifices and thanks to the Lord. So, what we are being told here is that in order to celebrate our Lord in this world (wilderness), or to offer a pleasing offering and sacrifice to the Lord, we must overcome or not be under the influence of the flesh or the old man within. Celebration also has to do with eating and drinking. As we are aware, eating and drinking has to do with the word of the Lord. This means that our understanding of the word of the Lord and the power to do according to word of the Lord increases as the power of the beast within diminishes as a result of the Lord’s judgment of the beast.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Exo 5:2  And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. 

What Pharaoh is saying in this verse is to let us know the nature of the beast within. That is, the beast or the old man resists or opposes Christ. This is the antichrist spoken of in the scriptures. Once we are under the dominion of the beast or the old man, then we become deceivers.

1Jn 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Exo 5:3  And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

Our exit from Egypt is to be accompanied by a three-day journey into the wilderness where we can offer sacrifices to the Lord. The wilderness here is the world. Our walk with Christ starts after leaving Egypt, and the three-day journey refers to all we go through in this life (desert or wilderness) as part of the spiritual maturity process destined for us. This spiritual maturity is accomplished through judgment. It is when we are maturing that we are able to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

In verse 3 above, we are also told that Pharaoh’s refusal to let the people go on this three-day journey means that the Lord will visit the people with pestilence or with the sword. There are therefore two categories of people – those who through the mighty acts of the Lord are able to break free from the shackles of Pharaoh (the old man) to offer a living sacrifice to the Lord in this life, and those who are not able to break free from Pharaoh’s dominion. Those who are able to break free from Pharaoh’s dominion are the elect, and those who are not able to do so represent Babylon and the people of the world. As we are aware, pestilence and the sword are part of the Lord’s four sore judgments. Those who break free from Pharaoh’s grip go through a three-day journey which means that they mature through judgment. Those who are not able to do so and remain under Pharaoh’s rule will also be judged through pestilence or the sword in the fullness of time.

Eze 14:21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

Exo 5:4  And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
Exo 5:5  And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

On a positive note, what the king of Egypt said about Moses and Aaron making the people of Israel rest from their burdens is true. It is only when we are free from the dominion of the beast within that we are free from the burden of sin. That is when we find rest. Without dealing with the source of sin in our lives (the old man), all our effort to stop sinning will be in vain.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

In other words, getting rest in the Lord is through the process of the death of our old man. With the old man still alive in us, finding rest becomes an illusion. The objective of the old man is to keep us busy with our own works, but Moses, representing Christ, has come into our lives so that we might have rest!!

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 
Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Exo 5:6  And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 
Exo 5:7  Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 
Exo 5:8  And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 
Exo 5:9  Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

It is when we desire to free ourselves of the influence of the beast within that we come to see how powerless we are before the beast. We become worse off, and in the process, we lose hope of becoming free from the beast’s influence. This is all the work of the Lord so that we do not think we have something to offer our Lord regarding His plan of deliverance (salvation) for us.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

In verse 9, Pharaoh did not want God’s people to regard vain words. These “vain words” however, were actually the word of God. The same is true today. Those who are dominated by the beast within (the people of the world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon) regard what we are learning of the word of the Lord as being nothing more than vain words. What we are doing in our gatherings may be idle in the eyes of worldly people including Babylon, but what they are doing is vanity in the eyes of the Lord. Egypt (the world) is filled with busyness. Everyone still under bondage in Egypt is very busy.

Exo 5:10  And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 
Exo 5:11  Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 
Exo 5:12  So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

The Egyptians, under the instructions of their king, increased the burden of the Israelites by asking them to get straw themselves as input to their daily work. The taskmasters here represent the beast or the old man within us from whose influence we desire to free ourselves. Verse 12 says that the Israelites were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather straw. The straw here represents our works or deeds which do not please the Lord. These must be burnt with unquenchable fire.

Luk 3:17  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

Straw also symbolizes us, as we are blown by every wind of doctrine in this world before our Lord comes to us to deliver us from the old man.

Job 21:18  They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

Psa 1:4  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Exo 5:13  And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 
Exo 5:14  And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore? 

At a certain point of our walk with the Lord, we are basically held captive by sin as the beast within or the old man (taskmasters) dominates us in fulfilling the things of the flesh. The prophet Joel spoke about our condition under the control of the beast within as follows:

Joe 1:2  Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 
Joe 1:3  Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 
Joe 1:4  That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. 
Joe 1:5  Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 
Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 
Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Exo 5:15  Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 
Exo 5:16  There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.

Pharaoh, or the taskmasters, can externally be likened to our leaders in Babylon. We must remember that Egypt can also represent Babylon. Our leaders themselves do not have the keys to the kingdom of heaven during our time in Babylon, but they require us to live a life that pleases the Lord. The burden they put on us is heavy because trying to please God with our effort or strength is such an onerous task that brings frustration. Our Lord Jesus talked about this as follows:

Mat 23:1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2  Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
Mat 23:3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 
Mat 23:4  For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Mat 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Exo 5:17  But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.

Our natural or worldly mentality powered by the beast within, or the flesh, is that anything in which we do not exert our energies we should regard as laziness or being idle. Right from the very onset of our walk with Christ, we were admonished that we are responsible for our actions and that we are supposed to work out our own salvation. This mentality was the basis of our walk while in Egypt and later in Babylon. It is therefore, no surprise that Pharaoh, representing the beast or the old man, should reprimand the Israelites (the elect) that they are idle and do not want to work. However, the truth about the words of the Lord is that He does everything for us. All we need to do is believe, and even this belief is of Christ. Therefore, we bring nothing to the table of our salvation!! All is of the Lord. To the natural man, this is laziness or idleness!!

Isa 59:16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him (us); and his righteousness, it sustained him (us).

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 
Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Exo 5:18  Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
Exo 5:19  And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.

Instead of letting Israel go, Pharaoh actually increased their labor with rigor by commanding that they be given no more straw. This is the same with our experience. When the Lord is about to rescue us from the world, the evil one is allowed to take away our “straw”, that is, he deprives us of the supply from the world. This forces us to work with more rigor to make a living and may become a trap to take us away from the Lord. The Lord’s salvation is to rescue us out of our busyness in this world and to bring us into ‘idleness’ (our gathering together and what every joint supplies). Many people today are too busy caring for the things of this life such that they have no time to feast with the Lord. We need to be delivered from this busyness in order to have more time for “idleness”.

Our living and our existence depend on the provision from the heavenly source, not on the supply from the world. We need this vision to be our guiding principle as we exercise our faith that He is able to take care of all our needs!! Moses was a man of great faith to lead two million people out of Egypt into the wilderness, where there was no earthly supply for their human existence. May the Lord help us, to walk by faith and not by sight!!

2Co 5:7  For we walk by faith, not by sight:

Exo 5:20  And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
Exo 5:21  And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

Moses and Aaron signify the elect and Israel under bondage in Egypt, and Egypt here represents Babylon. Our brothers and sisters in Babylon think that we are dead spiritually and that the message of salvation through judgment is not what they are hoping for but a doomsday message that puts a sword in the hand of their enemies to slay them. This is all of the Lord as their eyes have not been opened, and their ears are dull of hearing.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Exo 5:22  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
Exo 5:23  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Verses 22 and 23 indicate that Moses was bothered and discouraged. Moses even asked the Lord why He had sent him. Furthermore, Moses said to the Lord, “Neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” Many of us have had similar experiences. The more we think we are getting closer to the Lord through the enlightenment of His words, the more we go through certain circumstances of suffering that discourage us. This caused us to become troubled and discouraged just like Moses. Do not think, however, that increased suffering is a negative sign. Our suffering is a sign that God is in the process of delivering us from our enemy within – the old man or the beast.

Php 1:12  But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 

2Co 1:8  For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
2Co 1:9  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 
2Co 1:10  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 

2Co 4:16  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 
2Co 4:17  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 
2Co 4:18  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.