EXODUS 5:1-10 “BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW”

EXODUS 5:1-10 “BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW”

We watch in wonder at the news from the Middle East. Many ask why these people have put up with things for so long? Why do they not rise up in protest sooner and how could some even support the dictators. It is called “The Normalcy Bias” It is the part of our brain that says “we have always done it this way.” “It cannot happen here” “it cannot happen to me.” It is a fear of the unknown that will keep you in a bad situation. The Israelites had a bad situation; they were used as forced labor. They kept gardens and were given food, but their community was forced to make a certain quota of bricks each day. There situation was not unlike Blacks in the south who thought they were free to leave the plantation yet just stayed there. “The Normalcy Bias” So how do you get over 700,000 oppressed people to leave what they know for the promise of something better?

1. BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW

A. BRICKS WITH STRAW

a. LIGHTER AND DRY QUICKER

b. LESS MUD IS NEEDED

c. GETTING THE STRAW WAS NOT PART OF THEIR WORK

B. MOSES AND AARON GO TO PHARAOH

a. 11 TIMES HE GOES

b. GOD HARDENS PHARAOH’S HEART

c. BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW

d. ARCHEOLOGIST CONFIRM THREE TYPE OF BRICKS FROM THAT ERA

e. THE ISRAELITES EXPERIENCE ALL BUT ONE OF THE PELAGES

C. GOD USES THEIR WORSENING TREATMENT TO OVERCOME THEIR “NORMALCY BIAS”

2. OUR OWN NORMALCY BIAS

A. WE CANNOT BELIEVE IT’S REAL

a. NOT HERE, NOT NOW

b. NOT ME AND NOT THE PEOPLE I LOVE

B. SOME EXAMPLES

a. JEWS WHO DID NOT RESIST IN GERMANY

b. NOW THEY RECOGNIZE THE HOLOCAUST

c. HURRICANE PARTIES, NO ONE WANTED TO LEAVE THE GHETTO

d. NO ONE WANTS TO GO BACK, YET SOME WANT TO RESTORE IT

e. OUR NATIONAL DEBT

f. WOMEN IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS

g. THE PAIN IN YOUR CHEST AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH

h. THE LUMP IN YOUR BREAST

i. THE NORMALCY BIAS

3. OVERCOMING THE NORMALCY BIAS

A. GOD BRINGS A WAKEUP CALL

a. MOVES US OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE

b. LOST JOB OR NEW JOB

c. FAMILY SITUATION

d. HEALTH SITUATION

B. WHAT TO DO

a. LIVE WITH YOUR EYES OPEN AND YOUR BRAIN ON

b. STRENGTHEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

c. KNOW HIS WORD AND FOLLOW IT

d. PRAY ABOUT ALL THINGS (DISCERNMENT)

e. LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

f. DON’T COMPROMISE THE ESSENTIALS OF FAITH TO

GET ALONG, FIT IN, AVOID TROUBLE, OR BE POLITICALLY CORRECT

Conclusion: For us today like the Israelites in Egypt the times they are a changing. They are changing in our world, they are changing in our nation, they are changing in our state, and even in our church. When outside forces come at us to force us to change, we should seek the Holy Spirit’s leading all the more, for God may be moving us to a new and better life.