TM Mag

2007-07-15: Making Bricks Without Straw

This date is driven by the story of the Israelites having to make bricks, but with no straw because Pharaoh has taken the straw away.

Main Fulfillment

  • Syria ordered all students and laborers from Syria out of Lebanon by July 15, 2007. (This was first reported on Debka listing only students, later reports included laborers.)

    This fulfills the component of the story where the brick makers are scattered across the land in search of straw. The Hebrew word for "brick" in this story is LAMED-BET-NUN," "LBN" the root for both the place name "Lebanon" and for the word "brick." This aspect fulfilled correctly timed and in the named place.

  • On July 19, 2007, 4 days after theoretical, the US stock market began reacting to a crisis in the mortgage loan business. The markets would continue down for weeks.

    The main purpose for bricks in the Bible was to build buildings, primarily houses. Searching for straw (sub-prime borrowers) in order to keep making bricks (building and selling houses) was now a crisis across the US economy. Within 2 weeks from the peak in the market, over $900 billion in value was removed from the US stock markets. Markets around the world followed closely.

    This market trouble would continue with oil market related market patterns after the next prophetic date.

  • United Nations general secretary Ban Ki-moon announced July 12, 2007, that he would visit Washington DC on July 16, 2007. His schedule included visits with various congressional leaders, a formal dinner on Monday night, and then a meeting with President Bush on Tuesday, July 17, 2007.

    On all dates on this series so far Ban Ki-moon has been acting out the prophetic stories. In this case yet another visit by Moses to Pharaoh.

  • The US House voted to have US Troops out of Iraq by spring of 2008.

    This is fulfills the ongoing pattern on these dates where a request is made to US President Bush, prophetic Pharaoh, to let the people go.

Secondary Headlines

  • Range fires in Utah caused ranchers to search for food for their cattle as historic fires have burned up next winter’s hay (straw).

    This headline follows the part of the story where the straw has been taken away. Over 200 similar lightning started range fires were reported in Washington state a few days later.

Commentary

This is a mild date at the start of the plague series proper. The lending market problems were not visible for more than 10 days after the prophetic date itself. The fulfilling first plague comes "in the morning" which is stretched out through the standard 30 modern days to the textual day ratio, or 15 days up on the modern calendar. That date is the next in the series, or July 30, 2007, when the story expects a river to be struck.

Notes

There is a considerable amount of text skipped between this date and the next date. This is is a standard prophetic out take and it points ahead to dates further up the time line. In general the narrative of the Exodus account provides 2 correlated time lines across the entire story, this passage includes one of those 2nd time lines.

By Phil Stone
Revised 12998-08-02 (2007-08-02)

7: Bricks without Straw

Associated Scripture:

2 Exodus 5:4-6:27
4And the king of Egypt said to them, Why, Moses and Aaron, do you cause the people to stop from their work? Go back to your tasks.
5And pharaoh said to them, Look, the people of the land now are many, and you cause them to stop from their work.
6And the same day pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their scribes saying,
7You will not give the people straw to make bricks any longer; let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8But the number of bricks which they made previously, you will lay on them; you will not reduce the number; for they are idle; that is why they cry saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our god.
9Let more work be assigned to the men, that they may be occupied, so that they may not think to engage in vain conversations.


10And the taskmasters of the people and their scribes went out and said to the people, pharaoh says, I will not give you straw.
11Go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but your work will not be reduced.
12So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather the stubble.
13And the taskmasters pressed them saying, Complete your work as you have always done, as when straw was given to you.
14And the scribes of the sons of Israel, whom pharaoh's taskmasters had appointed over them, were beaten, and demanded, Why have you not completed your quota of bricks both yesterday and today, as previously?


15Then the scribes of the sons of Israel came and complained to pharaoh saying, Why are your servants treated in this manner?
16There is no straw given to your servants, yet they say to us, Make bricks; and look, your servants are beaten; and you sin against your people.
17But pharaoh said to them, You are surely idle; therefore you say, Let us go and sacrifice to Yahvah.
18Go now and work; and straw will not be given you, yet you will deliver the number of bricks.
19And the scribes of the sons of Israel saw that they were in a bad situation, for it was said to them, You must not reduce the number of your bricks, of your daily task.
20And they met Moses and Aaron standing opposite them, as they came out from the presence of pharaoh;
21and they said to them, May Yahvah look on you and judge; because you have made us to be in disfavor in the eyes of pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hands to kill us.


22And Moses returned to Yahvah and said, My master, Why have you caused this people to be ill-treated? And why did you send me here?
23For since the hour I came to pharaoh to speak in your name, he has ill-treated this people; and you have not delivered your people at all.


1Then Yahvah said to Moses, Now you will see what I will do to pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will let them go, and by a mighty arm he will drive them out of his land.


2And god spoke to Moses and said to him, I am Yahvah,
3who appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of god almighty; but my name Yahvah I did not make known to them.
4And I have also established my contract with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they lived.
5And I have also heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in servitude; and I have remembered my contract.
6Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I am Yahvah your god, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their servitude, and I will save you by a strong hand and by a mighty arm and with great judgments;
7and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a god; and you will know that I am Yahvah your god, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8And I will bring you into the land concerning which I swore to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for an inheritance; I am Yahvah.
9And Moses spoke this to the sons of Israel; but they did not listen to him, because of their misery and because of servitude.


10And Yahvah spoke to Moses saying,
11Go in, and speak to pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land.
12But Moses said to Yahvah, Look, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will pharaoh listen to me, for I am a stutterer?
13And Yahvah spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Theoretical Time:

  • 12998/7/15 1:1:1 AA
  • 2007-07-15 18:00:00 TMMT
  • 2007-07-15 15:39:06 GMT
  • 2007-07-15 11:39:06 EDT
  • 4741455 AAN