But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
Pharaoh spoke to the Hebrew officers when they appealed to him over withheld straw, the enforced brick quota, the beating of their servants and cruel treatment by the taskmasters, exposing their mistake in thinking their oppression came from the taskmasters rather than from the king himself. With a hardened, unfeeling and hateful heart he dismissed their distress with derision and mockery. He called the people idle and treated their request to go and sacrifice to and worship the Lord as proof of idleness and an excuse to avoid labor. He sent them back to work without easing their burdens, still demanding the full daily number of bricks while withholding straw, which worsened their oppression and brought harsh punishment for failure to meet the quota. The demand pictures the hardship of being ordered to do impossible work without the means needed to do it, like requiring missionaries and workers to labor and go forward without facilities and help, even as they make desperate efforts despite lacking what the work requires. It shows how those in authority can use a false charge of laziness to justify oppression, blame workers for seeking to serve God, and deny them their rightful service to Him.
Pharaoh's Charge of Idleness
The verse is Pharaoh's reply to the Hebrew officers when they appealed to him over withheld straw, the enforced brick quota, beatings of their servants, and cruel treatment by taskmasters. He answered with a hardened heart that was unfeeling and full of hatred, dismissing their distress with derision and mockery. Their appeal exposed their mistake in thinking their oppression came from the taskmasters rather than from the king himself.
Pharaoh called the people idle and treated their request to go and sacrifice to and worship the Lord as proof of idleness and as an excuse to avoid labor. Their desire to go into the wilderness and sacrifice was taken as the evidence for that taunt. The same charge is seen where seeking to serve and worship God is blamed as laziness.
He used that accusation to send them back to work without easing their burdens, withholding straw while still demanding the full daily number of bricks. That course worsened their oppression and brought harsh punishment for failure to meet the quota.
Making Bricks Without Straw
The setting is a demand to keep up the full quota of bricks while the straw needed to make them is withheld, so the verse belongs to a picture of being ordered to do work without the means required to do it. It illustrates impossible work, work made harder by lack of necessary resources, and the hardship of being expected to perform while deprived of what the work requires. The same image describes being directed to begin and enlarge a work while lacking the necessary resources. Pharaoh's charge that the request to worship God proved idleness was made in that context of denied straw yet undiminished quota.
To require missionaries to labor without the facilities and means they need is like requiring Israel to make bricks without straw. Likewise, telling workers to go forward while leaving them to make brick without straw illustrates directing a work and demanding effort but failing to provide the help and facilities needed. The image also applies to workers who made desperate efforts to advance their work despite lacking the resources they needed.
The verse shows how those in authority can blame workers for seeking to serve God while imposing burdens that make their work harder. It shows how those in power can use a false charge of laziness to justify oppression and deny people their rightful service to God.
Pharaoh spoke to the Hebrew officers when they appealed to him over withheld straw, the enforced brick quota, the beating of their servants and cruel treatment by the taskmasters, exposing their mistake in thinking their oppression came from the taskmasters rather than from the king himself. With a hardened, unfeeling and hateful heart he dismissed their distress with derision and mockery. He called the people idle and treated their request to go and sacrifice to and worship the Lord as proof of idleness and an excuse to avoid labor. He sent them back to work without easing their burdens, still demanding the full daily number of bricks while withholding straw, which worsened their oppression and brought harsh punishment for failure to meet the quota. The demand pictures the hardship of being ordered to do impossible work without the means needed to do it, like requiring missionaries and workers to labor and go forward without facilities and help, even as they make desperate efforts despite lacking what the work requires. It shows how those in authority can use a false charge of laziness to justify oppression, blame workers for seeking to serve God, and deny them their rightful service to Him.
Pharaoh's Charge of Idleness
The verse is Pharaoh's reply to the Hebrew officers when they appealed to him over withheld straw, the enforced brick quota, beatings of their servants, and cruel treatment by taskmasters. He answered with a hardened heart that was unfeeling and full of hatred, dismissing their distress with derision and mockery. Their appeal exposed their mistake in thinking their oppression came from the taskmasters rather than from the king himself.
Pharaoh called the people idle and treated their request to go and sacrifice to and worship the Lord as proof of idleness and as an excuse to avoid labor. Their desire to go into the wilderness and sacrifice was taken as the evidence for that taunt. The same charge is seen where seeking to serve and worship God is blamed as laziness.
He used that accusation to send them back to work without easing their burdens, withholding straw while still demanding the full daily number of bricks. That course worsened their oppression and brought harsh punishment for failure to meet the quota.
Making Bricks Without Straw
The setting is a demand to keep up the full quota of bricks while the straw needed to make them is withheld, so the verse belongs to a picture of being ordered to do work without the means required to do it. It illustrates impossible work, work made harder by lack of necessary resources, and the hardship of being expected to perform while deprived of what the work requires. The same image describes being directed to begin and enlarge a work while lacking the necessary resources. Pharaoh's charge that the request to worship God proved idleness was made in that context of denied straw yet undiminished quota.
To require missionaries to labor without the facilities and means they need is like requiring Israel to make bricks without straw. Likewise, telling workers to go forward while leaving them to make brick without straw illustrates directing a work and demanding effort but failing to provide the help and facilities needed. The image also applies to workers who made desperate efforts to advance their work despite lacking the resources they needed.
The verse shows how those in authority can blame workers for seeking to serve God while imposing burdens that make their work harder. It shows how those in power can use a false charge of laziness to justify oppression and deny people their rightful service to God.