Beside refusing to dismiss the children of Israel, he ordered, on the
very day of Moses and Aaron's audience with him, that the people be
required to deliver the prescribed tale of bricks, though the
taskmasters were not as heretofore to give them straw to make brick.
Another decree was, that the children of Israel were not to be
permitted to rest on the Sabbath, for Pharaoh knew that they used the
leisure for reading the rolls that described their redemption. All this
was a part of God's plan, the oppression of Israel was to be increased
the closer the end approached. As they wandered up and down the land of
Egypt gathering the straw they needed for the due tale of bricks, they
were maltreated by the Egyptians if they caught them on their fields.
Such unkind acts perpetrated by the whole people made it impossible for
them to cast the entire blame for the bondage of Israel upon Pharaoh.
All the Egyptians showed cruelty to the Israelites on their straw
foraging expeditions, and therefore the Divine punishment descended
upon all alike.
This frightful time of Israel's extreme suffering lasted six months.
Meantime Moses went to Midian, leaving Aaron alone in Egypt. When Moses
returned at the end of the reign of terror, two of the Israelitish
officers accosted him and Aaron, and heaped abuse upon them for having
increased the woes of their people rather than diminished them. They
spake, saying, "If ye are truly the ambassadors of God, then may He
judge between us and Pharaoh. But if you are seeking to bring about the
redemption of Israel on your own account, then may God judge between
you and Israel. You are responsible for the widespread stench now
issuing from the Israelitish corpses used as bricks for building when
our tale was not complete. The Egyptians had but a faint suspicion that
we were waiting for our redemption. It is your fault if they are fully
conscious of it now. We are in the quandary of the poor sheep that has
been dragged away by a wolf. The shepherd pursues the robber, catches
up with him, and tries to snatch the sheep from his jaws, and the
wretched victim, pulled this way by the wolf and that way by the
shepherd, is torn to pieces. Thus Israel fares between you and
Pharaoh."
The two officers that spake these stinging words were Dathan and
Abiram, and it was neither the first nor the last time they inflicted
an injury upon Moses. The other Israelitish officers were gentle and
kind; they permitted themselves to be beaten by the taskmasters rather
than prod the laborers of their own people put under their
surveillance.
The cruel suffering to which his people was exposed caused Moses to
speak to God thus: "I have read the book of Genesis through, and I
found the doom in it pronounced upon the generation of the deluge. It
was a just judgment. I found also the punishments decreed against the
generation of the confusion of tongues, and against the inhabitants of
Sodom. These, too, were just. But what hath this nation of Israel done
unto Thee, that it is oppressed more than any other nation in history?
Is it because Abraham said, 'Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit
the land?' and Thou didst rebuke him for his small faith, saying, 'Know
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not
theirs'? Why, then, are not the descendants of Esau and Ishmael held in
bondage, too? Are they not likewise of the seed of Abraham? But if Thou
wilt say, 'What concern is it of mine?' then I ask Thee, Why didst Thou
send me hither as Thy messenger? Thy great, exalted, and terrible Name
is feared in all the earth, yet Pharaoh heard me pronounce it, and he
refuses obedience. I know Thou wilt redeem Israel in Thine own good
time, and it is of little moment to Thee that now they are immuring
living Israelites in these buildings."
Were He a God of justice only, the Lord would have slain Moses for the
audacity of his last words, but in view of his having spoken as he had
only out of compassion with Israel, the Lord dealt graciously with him.
He answered Moses, saying, "Thou shalt see what I will do to Pharaoh,"
words conveying to Moses, that although he would be witness to the
chastisement of Pharaoh, he would not be present at that of the
thirty-one kings of Canaan. Thus he was rebuked for the unbecoming
language he had used in addressing God.[164] At the same time God's
words were a rejoinder to another speech by Moses. He had said: "O Lord
of the world, I know well that Thou wilt bring Thy children forth from
Egypt. O that Thou wouldst make use of another instrument, for I am not
worthy of being the redeemer of Thy children." God made answer thereto:
"Yes, Moses, thou art worthy thereof. Through thee My children will be
brought forth out of Egypt. Thou shalt see what I will do to
Pharaoh."[165]
At the same time God called him to account for having so little faith.
He said: "O for the departed, their like cannot be found any more! I
appeared unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as El Shaddai, God Almighty,
but I was not known to them by My name Adonai, God All-Merciful, as I
appeared unto thee. Nevertheless they did not cast aspersions upon My
acts. I spake to Abraham, 'Unto thee will I give the land,' but when he
was about to bury Sarah, he had to pay out silver and buy a
resting-place for her body; and yet he did not find fault with Me. I
spake to Isaac, 'Unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these
lands,' but when he desired water to drink, he had to strive with the
herdsmen of Gerar; and yet he did not find fault with Me. I spake to
Jacob, 'The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed,' but when he wanted to spread his tent, he had to acquire a
parcel of ground for an hundred pieces of money; and yet he did not
find fault with Me. None of them asked to know My Name. But thou didst
demand to know it at the very first, when I desired to send thee down
into Egypt, and after I revealed it to thee, thou didst speak, saying,
'Thou didst tell me that Thou art called Compassionate and Gracious,
Longsuffering and Merciful, but as soon as I pronounced this Name
before Pharaoh, misfortune descended upon the people of Israel.' Now I
desire to fulfil My covenant with the three Patriarchs, and give their
posterity the promised land, as a reward for the unquestioning faith of
the Fathers, and also as a reward to the people, who, in spite of their
suffering, did not find fault with My deeds. For this will I give them
the land, which they do not deserve to possess for other reasons. I
swear that I will do thus!" God pronounced this oath, to banish all
fear from the mind of Moses, that He might act only in accordance with
His attribute of justice, and thus delay the redemption of Israel for a
time, on account of the sins of the people.[166]
Now the redemption of Israel was a settled fact. But before Moses and
Aaron could start on the work of delivering their people, God called
various points to their attention, which He bade them consider in their
undertaking. He spake to them, saying: "My children are perverse,
passionate, and troublesome. You must be prepared to stand their abuse,
to the length of being pelted with stones by them. I send you to
Pharaoh, and although I will punish him according to his deserts, yet
you must not fail in the respect due to him as a ruler. Furthermore, be
careful to take the elders of the people into your counsel,[167] and
let your first step toward redemption be to make the people give up the
worship of idols."
The last was a most difficult task, and the words of God concerning it
wrung the exclamation from Moses: "See, the children of Israel will not
hearken unto me. How, then, should Pharaoh hearken unto me?"[168] It
was the third time Moses declined to go on the errand of God. Now the
Divine patience was exhausted, and Moses was subjected to punishment.
At first God had revealed Himself only to Moses, and the original
intention had been that he alone was to perform all the miracles, but
henceforth the word of God was addressed to Aaron as well, and he was
given a share in doing the wonders.[169]