Exodus 5:15
Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
The Hebrew officers set over the laborers under the Egyptian taskmasters were beaten for failing to force the full quota of bricks after straw was withheld, and supposing the cruelty came from the taskmasters alone they carried their grievance to Pharaoh himself. Pharaoh hardened his heart against their distress, mocked their complaint as idleness, and sent them back with no straw given yet the full daily tale of bricks still demanded. Finding themselves in evil case they laid the blame on Moses and Aaron for making them abhorred before Pharaoh, and Moses returned to the Lord that the people had only been evil entreated and not delivered since he spoke in His name. Their turning on God's messengers showed little faith and unpreparedness to be delivered, an unwillingness to suffer patiently and endure perseveringly until God wrought a glorious deliverance. The cry exposes the injustice of demanding work while withholding the means it requires, so that sending missionaries and workers forward without facilities, help, and adequate support repeats Pharaoh's demand for bricks without straw and leaders must provide for those doing God's work.
Officers Appeal to Pharaoh
The officers were Hebrews set under the Egyptian taskmasters to oversee the work and held responsible for the labor of the people under them. After the unjust requirement to gather stubble for brickmaking without lowering the quota, the people could not finish their tasks, and the officers were beaten and called to account for failing to force the full amount of work. They thought their oppression came from the taskmasters and not from the king himself, so they brought their grievances and cruel treatment directly to Pharaoh. His heart was hardened against their distress, and with hatred he derided and mocked their complaints, called them idle, ordered them to work with no straw given while still delivering the full daily quota of bricks, and sent them back without easing the demands.
Seeing they were in evil case, the officers charged all their suffering upon Moses and Aaron for making them abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants and putting a sword in their hand to slay them. Moses then returned to the Lord with the complaint that the people had been evil-entreated since he spoke in God's name and had not been delivered at all. Their response showed they had but little faith, were not yet prepared to be delivered, and were unwilling to patiently suffer and perseveringly endure affliction until God worked a glorious deliverance, and their blame left Moses greatly distressed and almost murmuring because God delayed to deliver.
Bricks Without Straw Today
The complaint in the verse arises from being required to make bricks without straw being given, and it illustrates the hardship of being held responsible for work while being denied the means to do it. Work cannot be done without the means it requires, so the imposed demand is unreasonable when essential materials are withheld. The appeal of the officers to Pharaoh shows Israel driven to work without the materials they needed, with the people held to a work demand while the straw for brickmaking was denied.
Sending missionaries to foreign fields without the facilities and means needed for their work is like requiring bricks to be made without straw. Telling workers to go forward while withholding the help and means they need repeats the same injustice, and leaders who send workers must provide adequate support rather than leave them unsupported. The appeal illustrates the oppression of workers expected to meet unreasonable demands, and the need to correct injustice toward those doing God's work.
The Nashville publishing-house workers struggling to meet their responsibilities amid debts and circumstances beyond their control parallels people required to make bricks without straw. The Melbourne mission field faced the same kind of difficulty when financial decisions left workers trying to carry forward and build the work without adequate support. Advancing mission work after resources had been lost through mismanagement is compared to that deprivation of being held to brickmaking without straw. Being expected to produce books without the resources needed to pay the workers is described by the same reference to making bricks without straw.