Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
Pharaoh met the Hebrew officers' appeal for relief with mockery and contempt, accused them of idleness and of seeking to leave work to sacrifice, and sent them back to labor with no straw supplied yet with the full daily quota of bricks still demanded without easing. The people were therefore scattered throughout Egypt gathering stubble instead of straw, many could not meet the impossible task, the laborers and the officers answerable for them were cruelly beaten, and the officers blamed Moses and Aaron for making them hated and putting a sword in Pharaoh's hand, so that Moses in distress asked the Lord why evil had increased and deliverance had not come. It reveals a people who expected deliverance without any trial of faith or suffering, who had little faith and were not yet prepared to patiently endure affliction until God wrought a glorious deliverance, while Moses himself was greatly distressed by the delay and almost ready to complain. The command has become the image of requiring the same heavy output after withholding the resources needed to produce it, where the missing straw is the lack of needed means and the undiminished tale is the insistence that the work must still advance. Applied to God's work, it condemns holding back money, facilities, and help while expecting missionaries and workers to go forward, and teaches that leaders must regard the needs of fellow workers and supply means rather than crowd and oppress them with impossible demands.
Pharaoh's Harsh Command
The Hebrew officers came to Pharaoh only after they had been cruelly beaten by the Egyptian taskmasters for failing to force the people to keep up the usual amount of brick labor without straw, because they thought the oppression came from the taskmasters rather than from the king himself. Pharaoh hardened his heart against their distress and showed himself unfeeling and hateful, ridiculing and mocking their complaints instead of giving them relief. He accused them of being idle and of wanting to leave work to go and sacrifice, and he ordered them back to work with no straw supplied while still demanding the full daily quota of bricks without any easing or reduction.
As a result the people were scattered throughout all Egypt gathering stubble instead of straw, and they could not perform their usual labor. The quota proved impossible to meet for many, so the workers and the Hebrew officers responsible for them were cruelly beaten when it was not met. The officers saw they were in a bad situation, in evil case, with no lessening of the daily task.
The officers then blamed Moses and Aaron for their suffering, charging that they had made them hated by Pharaoh and his servants and had put a deadly weapon, a sword to slay them, into their hands. Moses in distress returned to the Lord asking why the people had been so mistreated and why he had been sent, since evil had increased since he spoke in God's name and no deliverance had come at all. The episode shows that Israel expected deliverance without any trial of faith or suffering, had only little faith, was not yet prepared to be delivered, and was unwilling to patiently suffer and perseveringly endure affliction until God worked a glorious deliverance for them. It also shows Moses as greatly distressed by the delay in deliverance and feeling almost ready to murmur and complain.
Bricks Without Resources
The command to keep turning out the full quota of bricks after straw was cut off has become the standing picture of being required to do heavy work without the resources and support needed to do it. The same demand is seen wherever workers must go forward without facilities, means, money, or help, whether in foreign mission fields, in publishing houses laboring under severe burdens, or in fields held back for want of means to begin and expand. In that picture the withheld straw stands for deprivation of needed resources, while the unreduced tale of bricks stands for the expectation that the work must still advance.
To send missionaries to labor in foreign fields without the facilities and means they need is to lay Pharaoh's demand upon them, expecting the work from them while denying what is essential to it. Making bricks without straw also describes the burden of having much to accomplish with too little money. It describes work carried on under severe burdens and without needed support, as in the desperate efforts of the Nashville publishing-house workers in their difficult circumstances.
Shortsighted ambition expects work to be done while withholding the means to do it, so those in charge must not crowd or oppress fellow workers but must carefully regard one another's needs and feelings. The same lesson rebukes leaders who tell workers to go forward with their work yet provide no facilities or help. It was illustrated when the mission in Australia was held back for lack of means and facilities to begin and expand, even while abundant resources remained at Battle Creek.
The image also describes the perplexities of carrying forward missionary work when resources and support have been withheld through the actions of others. Brick cannot be made without straw, and the full amount of work cannot be delivered when materials and means are withheld. Withholding money handicaps workers and causes loss, while supplying book royalties, funds for translating, medical facilities, and a printing press for notices, small pamphlets, and leaflets enables a new field to go forward.
Pharaoh met the Hebrew officers' appeal for relief with mockery and contempt, accused them of idleness and of seeking to leave work to sacrifice, and sent them back to labor with no straw supplied yet with the full daily quota of bricks still demanded without easing. The people were therefore scattered throughout Egypt gathering stubble instead of straw, many could not meet the impossible task, the laborers and the officers answerable for them were cruelly beaten, and the officers blamed Moses and Aaron for making them hated and putting a sword in Pharaoh's hand, so that Moses in distress asked the Lord why evil had increased and deliverance had not come. It reveals a people who expected deliverance without any trial of faith or suffering, who had little faith and were not yet prepared to patiently endure affliction until God wrought a glorious deliverance, while Moses himself was greatly distressed by the delay and almost ready to complain. The command has become the image of requiring the same heavy output after withholding the resources needed to produce it, where the missing straw is the lack of needed means and the undiminished tale is the insistence that the work must still advance. Applied to God's work, it condemns holding back money, facilities, and help while expecting missionaries and workers to go forward, and teaches that leaders must regard the needs of fellow workers and supply means rather than crowd and oppress them with impossible demands.
Pharaoh's Harsh Command
The Hebrew officers came to Pharaoh only after they had been cruelly beaten by the Egyptian taskmasters for failing to force the people to keep up the usual amount of brick labor without straw, because they thought the oppression came from the taskmasters rather than from the king himself. Pharaoh hardened his heart against their distress and showed himself unfeeling and hateful, ridiculing and mocking their complaints instead of giving them relief. He accused them of being idle and of wanting to leave work to go and sacrifice, and he ordered them back to work with no straw supplied while still demanding the full daily quota of bricks without any easing or reduction.
As a result the people were scattered throughout all Egypt gathering stubble instead of straw, and they could not perform their usual labor. The quota proved impossible to meet for many, so the workers and the Hebrew officers responsible for them were cruelly beaten when it was not met. The officers saw they were in a bad situation, in evil case, with no lessening of the daily task.
The officers then blamed Moses and Aaron for their suffering, charging that they had made them hated by Pharaoh and his servants and had put a deadly weapon, a sword to slay them, into their hands. Moses in distress returned to the Lord asking why the people had been so mistreated and why he had been sent, since evil had increased since he spoke in God's name and no deliverance had come at all. The episode shows that Israel expected deliverance without any trial of faith or suffering, had only little faith, was not yet prepared to be delivered, and was unwilling to patiently suffer and perseveringly endure affliction until God worked a glorious deliverance for them. It also shows Moses as greatly distressed by the delay in deliverance and feeling almost ready to murmur and complain.
Bricks Without Resources
The command to keep turning out the full quota of bricks after straw was cut off has become the standing picture of being required to do heavy work without the resources and support needed to do it. The same demand is seen wherever workers must go forward without facilities, means, money, or help, whether in foreign mission fields, in publishing houses laboring under severe burdens, or in fields held back for want of means to begin and expand. In that picture the withheld straw stands for deprivation of needed resources, while the unreduced tale of bricks stands for the expectation that the work must still advance.
To send missionaries to labor in foreign fields without the facilities and means they need is to lay Pharaoh's demand upon them, expecting the work from them while denying what is essential to it. Making bricks without straw also describes the burden of having much to accomplish with too little money. It describes work carried on under severe burdens and without needed support, as in the desperate efforts of the Nashville publishing-house workers in their difficult circumstances.
Shortsighted ambition expects work to be done while withholding the means to do it, so those in charge must not crowd or oppress fellow workers but must carefully regard one another's needs and feelings. The same lesson rebukes leaders who tell workers to go forward with their work yet provide no facilities or help. It was illustrated when the mission in Australia was held back for lack of means and facilities to begin and expand, even while abundant resources remained at Battle Creek.
The image also describes the perplexities of carrying forward missionary work when resources and support have been withheld through the actions of others. Brick cannot be made without straw, and the full amount of work cannot be delivered when materials and means are withheld. Withholding money handicaps workers and causes loss, while supplying book royalties, funds for translating, medical facilities, and a printing press for notices, small pamphlets, and leaflets enables a new field to go forward.