We are in Exodus chapter five with our word for today used 4 time in our chapter. נָגַשׂ spur on, force to work, oppress, slave driver, exact, impel, urge, drive, to demand, beat, rouse up, despot, press. It is used 23 times in the Old Testament. We find it used in the sense of collecting taxes by force. 2 Kings 23:35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and נָגַ֞שׂ exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments. It is used to describe the one who drives a prisoner or a donkey by force to accomplish a task. Job 3:18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the נֹגֵֽשׂ slave driver’s shout. Job 39:7 It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a נ֝וֹגֵ֗שׂ driver’s shout. It is used in this same sense in our chapter today. Exodus 5:6-7, 10-14 The same day Pharaoh commanded the הַנֹּגְשִׂ֣ים taskmasters of the people and their foremen, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves…So the נֹגְשֵׂ֤י 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 וְהַנֹּגְשִׂ֖ים 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 נֹגְשֵׂ֥י 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?”
I’ll close with this passage that reminds us that Jesus was oppressed for us because of our sins. Isaiah 53:7 He was נִגַּ֨שׂ oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Acts 8:34-36 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?
