Exodus 5:1-5 "And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens."
Many times in life, things do not seem to go as planned. If we pulled this event out of context, we would conclude that Moses and Aaron must have been extremely disappointed. However, I would think the reality is that they were rather strengthened by Pharaoh’s position. Remember that God told Moses that the king of Egypt definitely would not let the children of Israel go (Exodus 3:19). Everything to this point had progressed exactly as God told Moses it would.
There is another simple truth here. Those who do not know the LORD have no concern for the welfare of His people. They will see no need for the LORD to be worshipped. That does not mean that He will not be. Without even knowing it, Pharaoh was doing exactly as God intended.
Aaron, according to God’s purpose, spoke the words that God had given to Moses. Since there were many gods worshipped in Egypt, Moses made certain that the God of the Hebrews we singled out. By God’s instruction, Moses made the argument that God was capable of sending death upon them for failing to worship. While this would not matter to Pharaoh from the standpoint of concern for the Hebrews, it would definitely affect the socioeconomic balance of the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh was aware that Moses and Aaron had interfered with the work of his slaves as evidenced by his question in verse five. With this question, he was saying that Moses and Aaron were costing him by their action of calling all the elders of Israel together and telling them God’s words and showing them God’s signs. As far as the king of Egypt was concerned, Moses and Aaron were just two more slaves who were shirking their duty to Egypt.
Dear child of God, just because things do not always go our way does not mean that they are not unfolding exactly as God intends. Be steadfast in declaring His word. Do not be ashamed to confess that God meets with you in prayer and in worship. He will do everything that He has promised both in this world and the world to come!