AN ENCOUNTER WITH PHAROH Moses encountered with God through the burning bush and with Aaron on the mountain of God; and then the two together went to the elders and all the people. Now, it is time to go to Pharaoh, himself, to meet the lion in his den. 1- An encounter inside the palace 5:1-5 2- Making servitude more severe 5:6-15 3- A murmur among the people 5:16-23 4- God’s confirmations to Moses 6:1-13 5- The heads of their father’s houses 6:14-28 6- I am of uncircumcised lips 6:29-30 1- An encounter in the palace A- Moses and Aaron requested from Pharaoh to let the people go for a three days journey (through the power of resurrection of the Lord) to sacrifice to God. Pharaoh responded by saying, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice? I do not know the Lord” (Exod. 5.2). Is this not the same response of the Sanhedrin, when they called the two apostles, Peter and John, and “commanded them not to speak at all and nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4.18)? In writing to Emperors Orelius, Antony, and Comodus, Philosopher Athenagorus said that the true accusation against Christians is their ‘name’ for they carry the name of the Lord Christ of Whom the world cannot stand. B- We have previously seen that Pharaoh’s words: “I do not know the Lord”, reveals the darkness of ignorance in which the devil exists. C- The scholar Origen sees in Pharaoh’s complaint that Moses and Aaron are taking the people from their work (Exod. 5.4), the complaint of the devil in every age, as many people believe that by dedicating their life to worship and ministry, the youth are wasting their energy. Pharaoh is a materialistic person; he does not know except mud and straw and wishes to bury everyone in them. Therefore, according to him, whoever sets his thought free to the spiritual life is wasting his time and energy. 2- Making servitude more severe Instead of letting the people go to worship God, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters and officers of the people to oppress them more, and to increase their burden, accusing them of being idle. The scholar Origen comments on that saying that indeed, before preaching starts, no affliction or temptations are known. No war begins before the horn blows; but once the horn of preaching blows, that will be the start sign of the spiritual war and the start of afflictions. Before the battles between virtue and evil start, evil lives in inner peace within your soul. However, once every evil stands trial, there would be an intense action and a fierce war would develop within you for, “what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what Communion has light with darkness” (2 Cor. 6.14)? Therefore, do not be troubled if we become abhorrent before Pharaoh, as the smell of virtue is abhorrent before evil1. 3- A murmur among the people Before that harsh response of Pharaoh, the people of Israel said to Moses and Aaron, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us 1 In Exode. Hom. 3:3. 53 abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Exod. 5.21). As fear entered the hearts of the people, the sweet fragrance of the word of God through the mouths of Moses and Aaron turned from being “an aroma of life to life” to “an aroma of death to death” (2 Cor. 2.15- 16). Their complains were not due to Pharaoh’s severity or the heavy servitude; it is a distinct nature of that people that was apparent especially during their sojourning in the wilderness despite God’s great care for them. Therefore, in our murmur, we should not put the blame on the circumstances surrounding us; the blame must be set upon our hearts, being filled with fear, and not trusting in God.
Welcome