It’s no secret that the structures in Egypt are some of the most magnificent of the ancient world. Contrary to popular opinion though, there’s zero evidence that the Israelites were responsible for building these behemoths. Archaeological evidence suggests that the pyramids were built several hundred years before the Israelites.
But that doesn’t mean that the Israelites didn’t contribute to the glory of the ancient kingdom. Far from it. Exodus 1:11 reveals that the hard labor of the Israelites was responsible for the cities of Pithom and Ramses – or at least the enormous storage facilities that were inside of those cities.
All of that construction took time, but most importantly, it took bricks. That’s where the Israelites came in. According to the early chapters of Exodus, brick-making was the task given to the Hebrews. But it was by no means an easy task. For a great illustration of just how labor intensive it was to make bricks, check out this video from Appian Media.
This just shows that Pharaoh’s accusation of the Israelites being “lazy” in Exodus 5:8 was far from the truth. When Moses met Pharaoh and asked for a three day pass to take the Israelites into the wilderness, Pharaoh responded with an accusation that Moses was trying to keep the people from their work (Exodus 5:4-5). And, because they were lazy, Pharaoh needed to increase their labors.
To be fair, the Hebrews did have time to themselves. Later passages in the Old Testament show how they were able to farm (Deuteronomy 11:10) and grow various types of crops (Numbers 11:5). They even had time to meet with Moses and discuss God’s deliverance (Exodus 4:30-31).
But the “laziness” that Pharaoh charged them with was a sort of evil that produced from idleness. It’s roughly the same thing that Paul warned against when he discussed the relationship between widows and gossip (1 Timothy 5:13).
What was Pharoah concerned about then, and why does he dodge the question? In my opinion, it’s because it was so reasonable. Taking three days to go off into the wilderness was nothing in the grand scheme of thing. Even multi-billion dollar companies allow their workers vacation time.
Pharaoh didn’t like the idea of them worshipping another God, so he fabricated an accusation to put the Israelites on the defensive. Ironically, had he simply granted their request, it probably would’ve made him extremely popular. Rehoboam made a similar mistake by increasing labor when people requested leniency, and it resulted in the division of his empire (1 Kings 12).
At this point, everyone’s cards were on the table. The Israelites wanted something completely reasonable, and Pharaoh refused. If this type of response warrants this type of response from Pharaoh, the logical next step is rebellion.