(Moses and Aaron speak to Pharaoh)
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.
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.
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.
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.
5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
6
And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and
their officers, saying, 7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make
brick, as heretofore:let them go and gather straw for themselves. 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. 9 Let
there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
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. 11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it:yet not ought of
your work shall be diminished.
12 So
the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to
gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters hasted them,
saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 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?
15 Then the officers of the
children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore
dealest thou thus with thy servants? 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.
17
But he (Pharaoh) said, Ye are idle, ye are idle:therefore ye say, Let
us go and do sacrifice to the Lord. 18 Go therefore now, and work; for
there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of
bricks. 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.
20 And they met
Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from
Pharaoh: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.
(They blamed Moses and Aaron for their trouble with Pharaoh but they forgot they had been crying out to God before Moses and Aaron were sent by God asking God to deal with Pharaoh and this is exactly what God was doing through Moses and Aaron, answering their prayers which were the will of God. People often wrongly blame others for their trouble rather than turning to God and asking HIM to help them to understand and to give them wisdom as they are tempted. God calls this "murmuring".)
I Cor. 10 ... 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
There are many examples in the coming chapters of Exodus where the people complained about Moses being the source of their problem. They also blamed Moses (over and over) for bringing them out of Egypt forgetting how terrible things were in Egypt. They convinced themselves that life was better in Egypt than in the wilderness. They seem to have forgotten how Pharaoh commanded that they kill their new born babies when the baby was male. It is hard to imagine anything worse to have to do than that.
As we read through the OT, there are so many examples of wrong things people did and how such brought judgment from God upon themselves. These are warning to us. These examples should correct us in many ways currently experienced so that we not sin as they sinned. So beware as you read these chapters and be warned about yourself. It is greatly for our benefit to be warned and to make corrections to ourselves when needed.
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? 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.