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.

Phil Stone
Revised: 2007-08-02
Updated: 2008-10-18

7: Bricks without Straw

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

Associated Scripture:

2 Exodus 5:4-27
4And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
5And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
6And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
7Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
9Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words.


19 10And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
11Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it: for nought of your work shall be diminished.
12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13And the taskmasters were urgent saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
14And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task both yesterday and to-day, in making brick as heretofore?


20 15Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault it in thine own people.
17But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.
18Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks.
19And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, when it was said, Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily tasks.
20And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
21and they said unto them, Jehovah look upon you, and judge: because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.


22And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.


564214 1And Jehovah said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.


2And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah:
3and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them.
4And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned.
5And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
6Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:
7and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8And I will bring you in unto the land which I sware to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am Jehovah.
9And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.


22 10And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
11Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
12And Moses spake before Jehovah, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
13And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.