Exodus 5:15-23: a reflection

15Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? 16No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17But Pharaoh said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!” 19The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!” 20They met Moses and Aaron, who stood along the way, as they came out from Pharaoh. 21They said to them, “May the LORD look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!” 22Moses returned to the LORD, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? 23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people. You have not rescued your people at all!”

When Moses first obeys God and confronts Pharaoh, the immediate result is not deliverance but a heavier burden: Pharaoh, angered, increases the Israelites' workload, demanding the same bricks with no straw provided. Things get worse, not better, after Moses obeys; and the people turn on Moses, and Moses turns to God in bewildered complaint: Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? You have not rescued your people at all. Here obedience to God seemed, at first, to make things worse; and Moses, confused and discouraged, brings his honest bewilderment to God. This is a real and puzzling experience: that obeying God can, at first, seem to make things harder, not easier, before deliverance comes. And Moses' response is instructive: he brings his confusion honestly to God rather than abandoning the task. When obeying God seems to make things worse, we can bring our honest confusion to him, as Moses did. Obedience can at first seem to backfire; the honest response is to bring our bewilderment to God. Things can get worse before deliverance; honest complaint to God is not faithless.

Notice the sequence, and Moses' response. Moses obeyed God, confronting Pharaoh; and the immediate result was that things got worse, the people's burden increased, and they blamed Moses. This is a hard and puzzling experience: that obeying God can seem, at first, to make things worse rather than better, to backfire, before any deliverance comes. And Moses, bewildered and discouraged, does not simply abandon the task or hide his confusion; he brings it honestly to God, asking why obedience seemed only to bring more trouble. This is instructive on both counts. First, that the path of obedience does not always lead immediately to better circumstances; sometimes things get harder before God's deliverance comes. And second, that when this happens, the faithful response is not to abandon God or pretend we understand, but to bring our honest confusion and even complaint to him, as Moses did. God did not rebuke Moses for this honest questioning; and deliverance did come, in time. When obeying God seems to make things worse, we can bring our honest bewilderment to him, trusting him even when we do not understand. Honest confusion brought to God is not faithlessness. Obedience may bring hardship before deliverance; we can bring our bewilderment honestly to God.

That is worth taking to heart, for obeying God can at first seem to make things worse, and we can bring our honest confusion to him rather than abandoning the task. We can expect that obeying God will make things better at once, and be shaken and discouraged when instead things seem to get worse, as they did after Moses obeyed; but this does not mean we have failed or that God has abandoned us. And when obedience seems to backfire, we can bring our honest bewilderment to God, as Moses did, rather than abandoning the task or hiding our confusion. Do not be shaken when obeying God seems to make things worse, nor hide your confusion; bring your honest bewilderment to God, as Moses did, and trust him even when you do not understand. When obeying God seems at first to make things worse rather than better, do not abandon the task or hide your confusion, but bring your honest bewilderment to God, as Moses, after obeying and seeing the people's burden increase, asked God why he had sent him and why the people were not yet rescued; for the path of obedience does not always lead immediately to better circumstances, and sometimes things get harder before deliverance comes, but this does not mean we have failed or God has abandoned us, and the faithful response is not to abandon God or pretend to understand but to bring our honest confusion and even complaint to him, trusting him even when we cannot see, as Moses did before deliverance came in God's time.

Lord, when Moses first obeys you and confronts Pharaoh, the immediate result is not deliverance but a heavier burden: Pharaoh, angered, increases the Israelites' workload, demanding the same bricks with no straw provided. Things get worse, not better, after Moses obeys; and the people turn on Moses, and Moses turns to you in bewildered complaint: Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? You have not rescued your people at all. Here obedience to you seemed, at first, to make things worse; and Moses brings his honest bewilderment to you. Show me the sequence, and Moses' response. Moses obeyed you, confronting Pharaoh; and the immediate result was that things got worse, and the people blamed Moses. This is a hard and puzzling experience: that obeying you can seem, at first, to make things worse rather than better, before any deliverance comes. And Moses does not simply abandon the task or hide his confusion; he brings it honestly to you. First, the path of obedience does not always lead immediately to better circumstances; sometimes things get harder before your deliverance comes. And second, the faithful response is not to abandon you or pretend to understand, but to bring my honest confusion and even complaint to you, as Moses did. You did not rebuke Moses for this honest questioning; and deliverance did come, in time. Take that to my heart, for obeying you can at first seem to make things worse, and I can bring my honest confusion to you rather than abandoning the task. I can expect that obeying you will make things better at once, and be shaken when instead things seem to get worse; but this does not mean I have failed or that you have abandoned me. When obeying you seems to make things worse, keep me from being shaken or hiding my confusion; help me bring my honest bewilderment to you, Lord, as Moses did, and trust you even when I do not understand, for deliverance came in your time.