“…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.” Exodus 5:2
Early
in the story of Moses, we see conversation take place that could easily take
place today. Moses had left the safety
of home. He and Aaron had traveled to
meet the leader of the land of Egypt. In
the presence of the absolute ruler of the land, these mean declared God message. What happen next in this exchange … the Pharaoh
relented and the people of Israel lived happily-ever-after, right? Wrong.
Like the here and now, the real world collided with Moses. The Pharaoh retorted, “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.” The Pharaoh does not stop at words,
but responds to suppress Moses message by requiring the Hebrew people continue
to provide the slave labor to make bricks but to do so without being given the
straw need to make the bricks.
Does
the account not remind you of the culture in which we live? We who are Christian are all called to take
the Good News message to the world around us… but when we do their response is
akin to that of the Pharaoh. Those who
are unbelievers ask, “who is this outdated, old-fashioned, obsolete God of who
you speak and how do you expect me to overcome rational thought to believe in
such a being.” The skeptics and
self-proclaimed atheists do not stop there… but they socially marginalize those
who believe in Jesus Christ. They criticize
and ridicule the Christian belief system.
The nonbelievers treat those who believe as drones, as slaves to an antiquated
religious system dispensing worthless knowledge. The unbelieving crowd regards those who
proclaim God as unintelligent, brainless individuals no better than the
brick-making slaves in ancient Egypt.
My
friends… if professing Jesus Christ relegates me to the status of a brick-making
slave… then I want to known as one who makes bricks without straws.