Mensa Otabil - Pharaoh's Cunning Offer
- Watch
- Donate
Exodus chapter 8, verses 25 and 26: Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, «Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.» And Moses said, «It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?»
This is the point where Pharaoh starts breaking. You remember that at the beginning, both he and his magicians were very strong. Then the magicians broke, and now Pharaoh is beginning to break. The reason is that this particular fourth plague touched him as a person; it touched his skin. He suffered directly from the plague and, as a result, he started a negotiation with Moses and began making some concessions-half-hearted, but he was making some concessions. So he makes an offer to Moses for the children of Israel. He says, «Go and worship, sacrifice to God, but do it in the land.» In other words, do it in Egypt. Remember, God says, «Let my people go and worship me outside of Egypt.» But Pharaoh says, «You can worship God here in Egypt; it’s still your land.»
So, it’s an effort to appease the people, but he wants them to be in a place where he can still control them. Moses makes a counteroffer and says, «It’s not right to do so; we cannot stay in Egypt and worship God. If we do that, what we worship will be an abomination to God, and not only will it be an abomination to God, but it will also be an abomination to the Egyptians. In other words, we will not please God, and we will not please you. The Egyptians will be angry with us, and they would think of stoning us.»
So, Moses is saying, «Mr. Pharaoh, we like your offer; we see you are coming closer, but what you offer cannot be accepted. We can’t even deal with it; you can’t put it on the table at all because it is not acceptable. It will be an abomination to God and an abomination to the Egyptians.» Now, God’s desire is that Israel worships Him freely, without their oppressors looking on and intimidating them. He wants them to have freedom of worship; He wants them to worship Him in the way He prescribes, not according to the way the Egyptians prescribe.
One of the things to learn about this is that, most of the time, those who oppress others in a system of negotiation start making concessions, but the first concessions they make are always half-hearted and always designed to continue their system of oppression. That is what Pharaoh is doing; he wants to control the people. He doesn’t want to lose them; losing them will mean an economic loss and a loss of prestige. Also, losing the Israelites could mean that they will join some ally or enemy of the Egyptians in battle. So all of these factors are in Pharaoh’s configuration. That’s why he wants to keep the people, but Moses says it’s not right.
Now remember this: you have to discern the will of God. When God tells you to do something, don’t be half-hearted about it, and don’t accept half-hearted concessions that do not allow you to do exactly what God wants you to do. That’s what we learn at this phase of the negotiation in this place. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, I choose to honor You with my worship. Help me not to compromise my faith. In Jesus' name, Amen.