Ellison, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The freedom Moses enjoyed is probably to be attributed to his having been adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter.’
Moses and Aaron are now fully equipped for the mission God has set them to deliver His people out of Egypt, but notice there are no elders with them, as God instructed, Exodus 5:1 / Exodus 3:18.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There is evident in this chapter a kind of schism in the ranks of Israel. Their appeal a little later to Pharaoh in their own persons, instead of with Moses and Aaron, confirms the suspicion that they might have been among the special ‘officers’ who enjoyed favours from the king, and who did not risk losing their petty positions by associating with Moses.’
When they meet with Pharaoh, they immediately tell him what God demands, ‘let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness,’ Exodus 5:1 / Exodus 7:16 / Exodus 8:1 / Exodus 9:1.
Remembering that the Israelites have now been in Egypt for four hundred years, it’s understandable that Pharaoh actually believed the Hebrews belonged to him. Pharaoh was well acquainted with all the gods of Egypt, but he didn’t have a clue about the God of Israel, Exodus 5:2 / 2 Kings 18:35. However, through a series of plagues, he is about to find exactly who the one true living God is.
After refusing to let them go, Exodus 5:2, Aaron tells Pharaoh that the LORD had met with them, so let His people take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to Him, or He may strike them with plagues or with the sword, Exodus 5:3.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It would have been impossible for the Hebrews to sacrifice to Jehovah in Egypt because they sacrificed the very animals that the Egyptians worshipped! All kinds of riots and commotions would have followed any such action.’
As far as Pharaoh is concerned, a request to go and sacrifice to God in the wilderness was just an excuse for the Hebrews to give up their work because of laziness, Exodus 5:4-5.
In an attempt to break the will of God’s people, it appears that Pharaoh’s first response to God’s demands was simply to make the Israelites work harder, Exodus 5:5-6. Also, he implied that Moses and Aaron were liars, Exodus 5:7.
Back in Genesis 11:3, we read that they ‘baked them thoroughly’, in other words, they must have known how to bake bricks in some kind of brick kiln. Now you might say, ‘Well, of course, that is how you have to make bricks!’
But let me ask you to remember how the Israelites made bricks for the Egyptians. They made them of sun-dried mud, into which chopped straw was mixed in order to give them strength, Exodus 5:7.
Exodus 5:6-9 tells how to make it harder for the Israelites in Egypt, Pharaoh refused to give them straw and made them find their own, thus making it harder for them to produce their daily quota.
Then, when there was no longer any straw to be found, they had to make bricks without straw and still produce their set quota, even when the dried mud crumbled away, it had no binding substance, Exodus 5:10-18.
And this was centuries after the period in Genesis 11. Indeed, it must have been about two hundred years before the time of Israel in Egypt. Yet these descendants of Ham know about baking bricks, so that they are so much stronger.
We can only imagine what the Israelite’s work was like, especially now, since they had to go throughout the land and find any straw for building the bricks, Exodus 5:10-13.
The slave drivers were Israelite foremen who were chosen by the Egyptians as taskmasters over their fellow Israelites. They didn’t have any choice in the matter because if the quota of bricks wasn’t met, they too were beaten, Exodus 5:14.
The Israelite foremen now go and appeal to Pharaoh and notice that three times they say, ‘your servants’, Exodus 5:15. If they were trying to appeal to Pharaoh on the basis of calling their fellow Israelites servants, they failed miserably, Exodus 5:16.
Robjohns, in his commentary, says the following concerning the Israelite overseers.
‘The treatment of the clerks brought them into sympathy with their enslaved brethren. Israel closed ranks!’
Earlier, Pharaoh said he wouldn’t let them go and sacrifice because it was just promoting their ‘laziness’, Exodus 5:8, but here, we see that this was only an excuse, Exodus 5:17. He actually hated God’s people and treated them as such, Exodus 5:18.
The Israelite overseers realised they were in big trouble because they weren’t permitted to reduce the number of bricks required each day, Exodus 5:19. The Israelite foremen found Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them, Exodus 5:20, and notice what the Israelite foremen said to them, ‘may the Lord look on you and judge you’, Exodus 5:21.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following concerning these words.
‘What perversity of the natural heart! They call upon God to judge, while by their very complaining they show that they have no confidence in God and his power to save.’
Rawlinson, in his commentary, summarises the following concerning their words.
‘You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh. Ye have made us to stink in the nostrils of Pharaoh!’
Moses is obviously deeply troubled, and the good news is that the first thing Moses did in times of despair was to stop and speak to God about it, Exodus 5:22. It appears that Moses didn’t know all the social struggles his people would have to go through before being delivered.
We can almost feel the despair in Moses’ words to the Lord; it appears that not only were the Israelites discouraged by what was happening, Exodus 5:22, but so was Moses himself, Exodus 5:23.
It’s important to remember that what was happening was exactly what God said would happen, Exodus 4:21. Even though Moses was made aware of what was to happen, this didn’t stop him from feeling the pain of his people.