And Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”
When I think of the story of the exodus from Egypt of the Hebrew people the 10 plagues come immediately to mind. Upon reading the story I can’t help but wonder why it took so many plagues.
Then I read Exodus 8:28 above. Pharaoh was a great one to “hedge his bet”. On more than one occasion he tried to negotiate his answer to Moses on letting them go.
You see the problem? Pharaoh was willing to compromise with Moses as long as he could be sure to hold on to his slaves. While the bible doesn’t say so I am sure some was willing to take what the most powerful man on earth wanted. Maybe they said, “WOW what a great accomplishment to get him to allow us to go a little ways”. Or perhaps they said “surely God won’t mind if we take this bargain after all if we only go a day that should be enough.”
Fact is God had in mind a certain outcome and expected a certain compliance. Our world today is so adjusted to compromise we have told ourselves it is the reasonable way to live. After all if God is really God he won’t mind if we are only “Half-Hearted” in our following His word.
Yet the fact remained if the Hebrews had taken the deal they would have remained slaves in Egypt. If we take the same deal of Satan we will remain slaves to evil and never taste the heavenly rewards.
No, only whole-hearted service is what God requires otherwise it is just lip service. Matthew 15:8.
