What does Exodus 5:1 mean?
Moses (Exodus 3:4–6, 10) and Aaron (Exodus 4:14–16) have their first encounter with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Their ultimate goal is to free Israel from slavery (Exodus 1:13–14). Yet, according to God's instructions, they begin by making a much less dramatic request (Exodus 3:18). For now, they ask that Israel be given leave to travel three days away, in order to worship the Lord. This is very specifically given as a command from YHWH 'elōhe' yisrāēl': "the Lord, the God of Israel." From the very start, this conflict is presented as a question of obedience to God.Readers may wonder why Moses and Aaron are requesting a temporary break, rather than complete freedom. It's possible that this is one way the Lord demonstrates how hardened Pharaoh is. If he refuses to allow them several days, there is no chance he will allow them to go entirely free. God knew that Pharaoh would refuse, no matter what (Exodus 3:20).
At this point, it seems Moses and Aaron have not performed any of the miraculous signs they were given (Exodus 4:2–9). Those will be used in their next meeting with the Egyptian king (Exodus 7:10–13). The book of Exodus uses the expression "let my people go" repeatedly (Exodus 7:16; 8:1, 20, 21; 9:1, 13; 10:3, 4).