Exodus 5

1-5 Moses and Aaron have their first audience with Pharaoh In the message they delivered, they made slight modifications in the script they were given – it was reasonable for Pharaoh to ask, Who is Yahweh? • if Moses had just learned God’s name, we cannot expect Pharaoh to have known it ◦ Egypt had its own plethora of deities ◦ the Pharaoh himself was considered a deity • I imagine Pharaoh thinking: “Now these Israelites are inventing new gods just to get a few days off.” – why should Pharaoh concern himself with Israel’s God? • if the best he could produce was a slave people, ◦ then he must be a weak god – a minor deity • Pharaoh felt no threat in defying Yahweh