Work

DEVOTION

EXODUS

WORK

Ex 5:3-5

3 Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword." 4 But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" 5 Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."

NIV

Why would Aaron and Moses say that if they are not allowed to offer sacrifices to the LORD that he would strike them down with either a plague or the sword? Perhaps that would have influenced Pharaoh to think if they all are struck down he will no longer have a labor force to build his cities. If all the Israelites are killed by a plague he has no one to serve him. But we have not been told anything about God telling Moses to make that kind of threat. Was that part of the conversation we were not privy to? It certainly was not recorded for our information. Were Moses and Aaron acting on their own in this threat? Maybe that is why they received such a harsh response by Pharaoh. We do know that God said he would strengthen the resolve of Pharaoh regarding their leaving. But this is more than a strengthened resolve, this turns into punishment. After Moses and Aaron met with all the elders of Israel it appears they did all stop working to watch what happened when Moses and Aaron met with Pharaoh. That certainly would have been a bad witness for the LORD God. But at the same time it also demonstrated they believed they were going to get to leave, they believed their rescue was at hand. So why would they continue to labor? There have been groups of people who have done pretty much the same thing in our days. People who stopped their work and gathered someplace thinking Jesus was coming to get them on a certain day that the world was going to end. They were certainly a bad witness for God in the eyes of the unbelieving world. This should give us a lesson about our work ethic. As believers we should be the most industrious workers in the force. In our postmodern era, we assemble on Sunday morning to worship as a body, and if possible we should not work during that time. But again in our work force there are certain times in which we need to work, even on that morning. But again, this Sunday is not the Sabbath the Israelites had, it has been chosen to be that day we celebrate his resurrection. That then is not in keeping with the command to keep the Sabbath holy, which is the seventh day of the week, in which God rested from his creating. So we are all messed up as far as working on the Sabbath. But the point is as believer we should be working our very best for the benefit of our employer so to be an outstanding witness for God. We should not be standing around idol so our employer has to increase our work load thinking we do not have enough to keep us busy. This must have been the motivation of Pharaohs response. If the people had enough time to stand around while Moses and Aaron asked Pharaoh to let them go into the wilderness to worship their God, then they had time on their hands and thus he increased their labor. Our diligence in our employment should not be so we do not have an increase in labor, but because we want others to see how believers put their shoulder to the plow and work diligently, being the best at their given assignments. This is so they will praise our God, as we bring honor and glory to him in our work. That old saying, “No rest for the wicked” which has its roots in Isaiah may actually be used improperly.

Isa 57:20-21

20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. 21 "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."

NIV

This has a reference to the wicked not finding peace with God and thus being in torment in hell, no rest, and no rest in God. But we use it loosely in our society to mean something else. The fact is the wicked do rest, but we believers should not rest from our labor. We should not be lazy in our work. We should not lay hold to the philosophies of this world, always thinking how something will benefit us rather than God. Although God said that he would strengthen the resolve of Pharaoh so he could show his mighty hand against all the gods of Egypt, the children of Israel should have kept on working until the moment of their release, showing Pharaoh their trust in God. Let us be the best we can be in all we do, and keep doing so that God receives all the glory and honor.