The Israelites were strangers in a strange land. The land to which they fled to escape the famine had become their prison. Instead of being treated royally as the relatives of Joseph who had saved Egypt, they have become the slaves. And when Moses tries to rescue them, he makes matters worse; they are forced to find their own straw to make the daily quota of bricks. So Moses returned to the LORD with their complaints
God's response to Moses is, 'You and your ancestors have not seen how mighty I am, but I'm about to show you and Pharaoh who I am. I am going to lead you out of this land where you are imprisoned back to the land that was promised to your fathers. The one that is rightly yours because I gave it to your forefather Abraham.'
This makes Moses brave enough to go to Pharaoh, but what does he ask for? He doesn't rear up like Charleton Heston and say 'Let my people go'. No, instead, he says, 'Pharaoh, if you please, would you let us go into the desert three days journey from here and worship God?' Pharaoh is not about to let the Israelites have a three day weekend. They are his prisoners, they have to keep producing bricks.
Gradually, Moses gets a little bolder with demonstrating the power of God. The ante is upped from bloody rivers, to frogs, to gnats. All are irritants to Pharaoh, but not enough for him to let go. God's power is at work, but the heart of Pharaoh is not yet changed, and the hearts of the Israelites are not yet longing for a promised land.
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