Let them all go

DEVOTION

EXODUS

LET THEM ALL GO

Ex 10:1-20

10:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them 2 that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD." 3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5 They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. 6 They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians — something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.'" Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh. 7 Pharaoh's officials said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?" 8 Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the LORD your God," he said. "But just who will be going?" 9 Moses answered, "We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the LORD." 10 Pharaoh said, "The LORD be with you — if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.   11 No! Have only the men go; and worship the LORD, since that's what you have been asking for." Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence. 12 And the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail." 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; 14 they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. 15 They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail — everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt. 16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. 17 Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me." 18 Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 19 And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. 20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.

NIV

We are back to this point about the LORD hardening the heart of Pharaoh. Traditional thought is the LORD caused the heart of Pharaoh to be set against the requests of Moses and Aaron to let the people go for the exact purpose of showing his power. Yet we should also remember that it was the cries of the Israelites to the LORD about their misery and his promise, his covenant he made to Abraham about his descendants occupying the Land flowing with milk and honey. The verse actually says God remembered his covenant. Is this all about his punishing the Egyptians or showing his power, or fulfilling his promise?  Would it not have been much easier for God to soften the heart of Pharaoh the first time Moses stood before him asking to let the people go? Then all this destruction would not be needed, and the people would have been rescued. Why would God want to destroy an entire country just to prove he is God? Then the rescue of the Israelites is secondary to his real purpose. Would we then have to go back to him having Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt so he could later simple destroy it? Then we have to leap to this idea we have absolutely no say in our own lives, it is all predestined. But that is simply not the case, as we are told over and over again that we must accept his salvation. We must change our heart. We must turn from our wicked ways. It is about the heart of man, he refuses to accept and obey God. Pharaoh was a wicked man, a harsh ruler, a self-proclaimed deity. God did not have to make his heart hard as it already was. But we do accept the fact God strengthened that hardest, that resolve. But enough about this hardening or strengthening of his heart. Here in this plague of the locust, God finished off anything that was left green in all the land. He laid bare the entire land of Egypt because Pharaoh did not want to let them go. Once again we see his hypocrisy, saying he sinned, only to get God to make the locust go away. He does at least relent to let only the men go, but that is not the request. All the people, all their livestock, all their possessions must leave. This is where our lesson is. God made a request, or required a response by Pharaoh to let his people go, all his people, all their livestock, all their possessions and after enough of these plagues Pharaoh agrees to let just the men go. How much does God require of us? What kind of response does he require from us? We are reminded of the young rich man who went to Jesus and asked what he must do to be saved.

Luke 18:18-25

18 A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good — except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"  21 "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 

NIV

In this case, the rich young man felt he had done all God required of him, except Jesus told him there was one more thing. He could not do it, so he left sad. What do we hold back from doing which the LORD requires of us? We make our lists of the do’s and don’ts and think we are doing alright if we keep ourselves from the don’ts. But what about the list of the do’s? Are we doing everything on the list? Maybe on our list, but what about the list God made? Are we willing to let some things go, but not all the things? Pharaoh did not want to let them all go, just the men. Are we much different? If asked, are we willing to give it all, to let all of it go, whatever it is? That could be a different thing for each of us. Are we willing to let that impatience go? Are we willing to let that unforgiveness go? Are we willing to let that pride go? Are we willing to let the 401K go? Are we willing to let that selfishness go?  Are you willing to let your time go? The list is enormous. Perhaps each one of us only needs to let one more thing go, maybe some of us have to let more than one thing go. Surely God will not bring pestilence upon us in order to prove he is God. Surely he will not harden our heart just to prove a point. But nevertheless Pharaoh was willing, at least to keep himself from the locust, to let some of them go.  In fact he accused them of being bent on doing evil if all of them went. If we refuse to respond to God, giving it all, letting all of our ways go, what will happen to us? Surely we will live a crippled lifestyle. God does not intend, nor does he rejoice in our crippled way of living in his kingdom. Yet if we refuse to let everything go, truly worship him as he requires, we may well live less then abundantly, not just in the physical but in the spiritual. We need to let them all go.