Not accepting a partially fulfilled promise
Exodus 10 (Selected verses)
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. 5 They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They shall devour the last remnant left you after the hail, and they shall devour every tree of yours that grows in the field.”…
7 Pharaoh’s officials said to him, ‘How long shall this fellow be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God; do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?’ 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, ‘Go, worship the Lord your God! But which ones are to go?’ 9 Moses said, ‘We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, because we have the Lord’s festival to celebrate.’ 10 He said to them, ‘The Lord indeed will be with you, if ever I let your little ones go with you! Plainly you have some evil purpose in mind. 11 No, never! Your men may go and worship the Lord, for that is what you are asking.’ And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence….
[The locusts came, destroying the land]
16 Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17 Do forgive my sin just this once, and pray to the Lord your God that at the least he remove this deadly thing from me.’…19 The Lord changed the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand towards heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.’… 23 People could not see one another, and for three days they could not move from where they were; but all the Israelites had light where they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses, and said, ‘Go, worship the Lord. Only your flocks and your herds shall remain behind. Even your children may go with you.’ 25 But Moses said, ‘You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt-offerings to sacrifice to the Lord our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must choose some of them for the worship of the Lord our God, and we will not know what to use to worship the Lord until we arrive there.’ 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
Pharaoh faced a challenge. He had said the words, “I will let you go,” even though he changed his mind. The words set a precedent – and his advisors heard him say the words. He was now under pressure to end the showdown with Moses (and God) because Pharaoh and Egypt were suffering because of the conflict. He needed to find a way to look generous but not like he was giving in. He needed to make a deal, and so he started bargaining. He asked, in vs. 8, who will go with you to worship God? Pharaoh will allow only the men to go. But that is not good enough, as Moses says.
(A side note: when the locusts were eating everything Pharaoh asked Moses to pray to God to get rid of them. Pharaoh said “forgive my sin just this once” – which is almost identical to Exodus 9:27 when Pharaoh admitted that he had done wrong and asked forgiveness. So that is two times, not once. Pharaoh, like a serial abuser, does something terrible, and when confronted with their sin apologizes and says “never again”, asking forgiveness. But in a few short days are doing the same things again.)
The land goes dark and Pharaoh summons Moses, “You can take the women and children along with the men, but you must leave the livestock.” Oh, this is so close, it would have been so easy to settle for this. To jump at the freedom but to have no way to make a living.
How frequently we settle for less than the promise because we are not willing to wait for God to complete the work God is doing? How tempting it is to take what is given rather than trusting that God will come through on the full promise made? It took courage for Moses to say, “No, all the people and all the animals must go when we leave.”
PRAYER:
Lord God, you have promised that your reign will be fully revealed on earth, the day when hunger and warfare and disease will be no more, the day when reconciliation will be made real. but we confess that we are frequently content with only a part of what you have promised Make us hungry for your whole reign, not just a part of it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.