The demand that Moses made when he entered
into the presence of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh’s refusal and attempts at compromise,
form a type of the age-abiding feud between the “Church and the World”:--
“Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my
people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness” (Exod. v. 1).
No feast to the Lord could be held in
Egypt, the type of the world. The
wilderness was the place chosen by the Lord for worship. Pilgrims and strangers may worship acceptably; slaves to the world and the flesh cannot
worship in spirit. In
Exod. v. 3 two terms are added
that are typically suggestive. God is
called “The God of the Hebrews”, suggesting the separate character of His
people. The journey that the Israelites
must take in order to worship God was to be a “three days’ journey”. From the Creation week onwards the third day
sets forth resurrection. True worship is
not of the world (Egypt), it is offered by a free people (Let My
people go), and a separate people (Hebrews), and is upon
resurrection ground (three days).
One sacrifice only was offered in Egypt, the Passover; all else was reserved for the Tabernacle in
the wilderness.
Pharaoh’s answers, “Who is the Lord?”; “i
know not the Lord, neither will i let Israel go”; “get
you to your burdens”, are, in their turn, typical of the world’s attitude
towards spiritual service. The “burdens
of Egypt” are far more important than the service of the Lord, and even among
the Lord’s people Martha finds more imitators than Mary, so much of Egypt do we
all carry with us.
The Judgments of God begin after Pharaoh’s
refusal, and in chapter viii. Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and suggests
the first compromise, “Go ye, sacrifice to your God IN THE LAND” (25). God had said “in the wilderness” and a “three
days’ journey”. Pharaoh’s says, in
effect, “You can worship your God, i do not ask you to bow down to any
of mine, you can offer your sacrifice, but there is no necessity for making
yourselves so peculiar, sacrifice to your God in the land.”
The first great snare set by the god of
this age is that of mixing the world with the church. Moses repudiated the compromise, the first
reason being that the very center and basis of their worship was an abomination
to the Egyptians.
The world is quite willing to speak of
“Jesus”, and especially so if they can refer to him as the “Galilean” or the
“Carpenter”, but the center of the faith, the cross, “Christ crucified”, is an
“offence”. The cross reveals the hopeless
and helpless condition of the flesh, and this is an “abomination to the
Egyptians”.
The second reason for repudiating the
suggestion is just as strong as the first, but one that we are apt to
forget. The suggestion ran counter to
God’s express statement, and that is enough to condemn it. When He says “wilderness” and “three days’
journey”, to debate the question of “in the land” is sin. Upon this resolute stand being taken by Moses
Pharaoh appears willing to lengthen the chain, but it is still a chain:--
“I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice
to the Lord your God in the wilderness” (Exod. viii. 28).
So far, that is good. Pharaoh, moreover, does not speak
irreverently of God; he uses the full
title of the Lord. The snare, however,
is still set. “Only” — Ah yes! the world
will give a good length of chain. “Only
ye shall not go VERY FAR AWAY”. The
contested point is the clear-cut division between the Church and the World. While many would hesitate to offer the
abomination of the Egyptians IN THE LAND, they are ensnared at the HALF-WAY
HOUSE. Let the Church have its separate
gatherings, its ecclesiastical laws, its ordained priests, its ritual, its
“form of godliness”, but let it deny “the power thereof” by leaving out the
“three days’ journey”. Once more the
demand is made, and once again the chain is lengthened:--
“Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and
with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with
our herds; for we must hold a feast unto
the Lord” (Exod. x. 8, 9).
True Scriptural unity has ever been the target of Satan. If the attractions of the world from without
do not avail, distractions from within may prove more effectual.
“And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so
with you, as i will let you go, AND YOUR LITTLE ONES: look to it;
for evil is before you. Not so,
go now YE THAT ARE MEN, and serve the Lord” (Exod. x. 10, 11).
The distraction of divided heart, the
serving of two masters, the miserable failure of the attempt to make the best
of both worlds, are suggested here.
After further judgments, a yet further concession is made:--
“Go ye, serve the Lord: only . . . . .” (Exod. x. 34).
The
presence of that “only” is deadly.
Shakespeare puts it — “but me no but’s”, and it were well that we met
all attempts to evade the full truth as peremptorily.
“Only let your flocks and herds be
stayed, let your little ones go with you” (Exod. x. 34).
That is, bind the saint of God down to
earth by the shackles of worldly possessions.
The love of riches, the cares and riches of this age, the things that so
easily entangle us. Moses replied:--
“Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt
offerings that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God, our cattle also shall go
with us; there shall not an hoof be left
behind; for thereof must we take to
serve the Lord our God; and we know not
with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither” (Exod. x. 25, 26).
Demas was caught in this snare, so also
were Ananias and Sapphira. The parable
of the Sower speaks of the thorns as representing the cares, riches and
pleasures of this life. The evil is
two-fold. While our possessions remain
in Egypt, our hearts are likely to turn back there too. On the other hand we must be prepared to
offer whatever the Lord shall demand. We
may be prepared to offer money, but hold back time. We may be pleased to pray, but not to
labour. That is a spirited expression
that it would do us good to repeat occasionally — not an hoof. Separateness must ever be offensive to the
world, and will never be understood or tolerated.
Moses demanded that Israel should serve
God:--
In the wilderness.
A three days’ journey.
All should go.
Not an hoof left behind.
Pharaoh suggested that they could serve
their God just as well and with far less inconvenience if they either
remained:--
In the land.
Not very far off.
Only men went.
Flocks and herds left behind.
These four items teach us that true
worship is connected with a pilgrim walk, is on resurrection ground, that it
comprehends all saints, and embraces all we have and are. These four items fill out the word “Saint”; anything less “comes short of the glory of
God”.
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