Let My People Go! The Decree and the Deliverance

Moses and Aaron must have thought to themselves, This will only take a couple of days. They were obeying God—moving in his grant of authority. They had received the favor of the elders of Israel. A couple of conversations with Pharaoh should do the trick. After all, they were doing the will of God, right?

“If God is for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8:31), right?

Short answer: Pharaoh and all his armies can be against us. Though God has won, it doesn’t mean there will not be a ton of opposition, struggle, hardship, and loss along the way. There is the war, and then there are the battles. And though the war is won, the battles must still be fought. 

There is an interpretive heading over chapter 5 in most of our Bibles. Three words tell the story: “Bricks without Straw.”

That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.” (Ex. 5:6–9)

In the matter of deliverance, the bricks-without-straw principle teaches us things will often get worse before they get better. I hate to say it, but I think this is par for the course. The will of God diametrically opposes the will of Satan. The forces of evil, the powers, principalities, rulers, and authorities of this present darkness, will not release their hold without a fight. Pharaoh will not willingly give up his slave labor force. They are building his kingdom.

Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (Ex. 5:22–23)

The minute Moses spoke the command of God to Pharaoh, the Israelites were freed from slavery. “Let my people go.” God decreed it. Moses declared it. It was done. This is the meaning of exodus. Freedom is a proclamation. Deliverance is a process. The rest of the story of exodus is the process of deliverance whereby the proclamation of freedom becomes a realized promise. 

I want to make sure we are aware of how this battle between Moses and Pharaoh translates into our lives. We are now squarely in the battle of deliverance. Though human slavery remains a vexing problem in the world, there is a much larger problem—one that underlies human slavery and every other wicked problem in the world. The originating problem is sin. Sin is the willful choice to forego God’s will and ways (Plan A) by choosing our own will and ways. Remember, sin created Plan B (see Genesis 3–11). 

Ever since Genesis 3, the human race has been hopelessly trapped in Egypt, which is another name for slavery to sin. Anything and everything we attach ourselves to other than the living God in order to create sustenance, security, provision, protection, prosperity, or survival increases the slavehold of sin over our lives. It has the effect of creating what the Bible calls a sin debt. We didn’t create the debt. We were born into it. We added to it, and the interest constantly accrues. The problem is we can’t pay it back. The Bible speaks of this condition as being “dead in our sins.” Here’s how I like to say it: He (Jesus) paid a debt he did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. 

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Eph. 2:4–5)

This is the decree. Now, here is the deliverance:

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Rom. 6:17–18)

In like fashion, the minute a human soul receives the finished work of Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection, they are free from sin. The freedom is decreed. The war is won. Now, the battles of deliverance must be fought. 

The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (Ex. 5:19–21)