So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”
Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”
Exodus 5:10-23
It is better to take a larger portion of the Scripture at this point, and sweep through it so as to see the main theme in proper perspective, rather than concentrate on details and in so doing risk losing the thread of the story. This passage shows in sharp outline the marked reaction of Pharaoh in antagonism and opposition to the demand of God to let His people go, and the seeming collapse of Israel's hopes of deliverance. There is a simple explanation of this, from the spiritual point of view, and it is that the powers of darkness are real, not a pious fiction, and that when God purposes to work among men, the evil one immediately organises his forces to oppose and resist with all his might. We must not of course construe this to mean that God is caught out by this, or is hard- pressed to overcome it; rather, He permits the opposition to express itself to the full in His Own wise purposes. On the one hand, He does so to test the faith of His people, and make their graces grow, for does not tribulation work patience (Romans 5:3)? He knows, better than we do, what our breaking point is. There is more endurance in us than we think! On the other hand, He is intent on letting evil destroy itself, by allowing it its head, so drawing its fangs, He permits the devil to do his worst, thus spending his strength and finally reducing him to furious and frustrated impotence. If only we could discern all this at work when under pressure, we would be saved from dark despair and encouraged to trust on in the darkness that surrounds us. God is faithful, and He will not allow us to be tempted above that we are able (1 Corinthians 10:13).