Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
Pharaoh commanded heavier labor to be laid on Israel so that, weighed down with work, they would not listen to the call to go and worship God, which he dismissed as empty talk. He cut off their straw for brickmaking while still demanding the full quota of bricks, turning their plea for worship into a charge of idleness and deepening their oppression to test their faith before deliverance. By again and again making their labor harder and more exacting, his taskmasters pressed them even toward labor on the Sabbath, so that Sabbath observance was brought sharply before God's people in bondage until their deliverance brought them where they could keep all His precepts unhindered. Making bricks without straw thus stands for demanding hard work while withholding the means needed to do it, an unjust and needless burden that hampers the work, whether laid on missionaries, publishing workers, or others called to advance God's work with too few resources.
Pharaoh's Command in Egypt
Pharaoh ordered more work to be laid upon the Israelites so that, burdened and occupied with labor, they would not heed or regard the appeal of Moses and Aaron to go and worship God, which he dismissed as vain and empty words. The same command is understood to have increased their hardship in order to keep them from heeding Moses' words. He withheld the supply of straw for brickmaking while still demanding the same number and quota of bricks, turning their request for worship into an accusation of idleness. His command deepened their oppression and tested their faith before their deliverance.
By laying more work upon them each week, again and again making the conditions of labor harder and more exacting, the taskmasters attempted to force Israel to labor on the Sabbath, and this was an attack on Sabbath-keeping. The Sabbath institution was thus brought prominently before God's people while they were still in bondage at the time of the exodus. Their deliverance from bondage brought them to a place where they might observe unmolested all the precepts of Jehovah.
Working Without Needed Resources
To make bricks without straw is to try to carry on demanding work while being denied the resources needed to do it. Pharaoh's order to lay more work on the men so they would labor in it and not regard vain words finds its picture here, in Israel required to keep up brickmaking when straw was withheld and the burden of labor was increased to keep them from heeding their plea.
It is requiring missionaries to do their work without the facilities and means they need. It is oppressive, unreasonable expectation, and it exposes the injustice of burdening workers while failing to recognize or fairly judge their labor. To withhold the resources needed for work while still requiring the work to proceed lays on a needless burden and hampers its completion.
The same image fits the Nashville publishing workers, who struggled to keep the work going under heavy burdens and without adequate means. Having much work to do with too few resources feels like making bricks without straw, a task made harder because needed materials are lacking. It is being told to go forward without the facilities or help needed. So it shows how people advancing new work for God can be left without needed means yet still face demands to accomplish the work. To be deprived of straw for making bricks is to be denied necessary resources, yet despite such deprivation the work must continue.
Pharaoh commanded heavier labor to be laid on Israel so that, weighed down with work, they would not listen to the call to go and worship God, which he dismissed as empty talk. He cut off their straw for brickmaking while still demanding the full quota of bricks, turning their plea for worship into a charge of idleness and deepening their oppression to test their faith before deliverance. By again and again making their labor harder and more exacting, his taskmasters pressed them even toward labor on the Sabbath, so that Sabbath observance was brought sharply before God's people in bondage until their deliverance brought them where they could keep all His precepts unhindered. Making bricks without straw thus stands for demanding hard work while withholding the means needed to do it, an unjust and needless burden that hampers the work, whether laid on missionaries, publishing workers, or others called to advance God's work with too few resources.
Pharaoh's Command in Egypt
Pharaoh ordered more work to be laid upon the Israelites so that, burdened and occupied with labor, they would not heed or regard the appeal of Moses and Aaron to go and worship God, which he dismissed as vain and empty words. The same command is understood to have increased their hardship in order to keep them from heeding Moses' words. He withheld the supply of straw for brickmaking while still demanding the same number and quota of bricks, turning their request for worship into an accusation of idleness. His command deepened their oppression and tested their faith before their deliverance.
By laying more work upon them each week, again and again making the conditions of labor harder and more exacting, the taskmasters attempted to force Israel to labor on the Sabbath, and this was an attack on Sabbath-keeping. The Sabbath institution was thus brought prominently before God's people while they were still in bondage at the time of the exodus. Their deliverance from bondage brought them to a place where they might observe unmolested all the precepts of Jehovah.
Working Without Needed Resources
To make bricks without straw is to try to carry on demanding work while being denied the resources needed to do it. Pharaoh's order to lay more work on the men so they would labor in it and not regard vain words finds its picture here, in Israel required to keep up brickmaking when straw was withheld and the burden of labor was increased to keep them from heeding their plea.
It is requiring missionaries to do their work without the facilities and means they need. It is oppressive, unreasonable expectation, and it exposes the injustice of burdening workers while failing to recognize or fairly judge their labor. To withhold the resources needed for work while still requiring the work to proceed lays on a needless burden and hampers its completion.
The same image fits the Nashville publishing workers, who struggled to keep the work going under heavy burdens and without adequate means. Having much work to do with too few resources feels like making bricks without straw, a task made harder because needed materials are lacking. It is being told to go forward without the facilities or help needed. So it shows how people advancing new work for God can be left without needed means yet still face demands to accomplish the work. To be deprived of straw for making bricks is to be denied necessary resources, yet despite such deprivation the work must continue.