Pharaoh said, “The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil. No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord, since that’s what you have been asking for.” (v. 10-11)
The eighth plague was promised if Pharaoh did not let God’s people go. By this time, Egyptian officials were advising (begging) Pharaoh to let the people leave so they could go worship their God, because Egypt was being destroyed. So an attempt at compromise was made.
P: Who will go?
M: Everyone, plus our livestock
P: Ha! No. Only the men can go.
M: Cue the locusts!
(You have to read the chapter to get more than my fantastically detailed cliff notes.)
Twice Pharoah tried to compromise. But God was after all of His people, and their belongings, because He had no intention of letting them remain in slavery in Egypt.
I think we, you and me, make our own attempts at compromise, if we’re honest.
Always trying to hold back some control over something. Surrendering all, but not. Trusting Him with everything, but continuing to hold that one thing that helps us feel like we’re keeping a part of us that we just can’t imagine living without.
But God doesn’t compromise. We’re doing that dance all by ourselves. He bought the whole of us with blood and He won’t settle for just the parts we’re willing to hand over. The blood of Christ that paid for our freedom wasn’t a deal being made, it was a no-compromise takeover for the keys to death and the grave so that we could come out of slavery and worship our God.
Pharoah wanted to hold back the women and children, because he knew it would bring the men back to him.
So what might happen if we woke up and realized that our holding back parts of ourselves or our lives from God is being influenced by an enemy who thinks it will bring us back to him?
And what if we have a God who won’t compromise? What if He is ready and willing to bring in the locusts in order to set us fully free? (If your life has ever been hit by something that felt devastating, but resulted in setting you free from something, then you know that I’m talking about.)
The thing is, there is no Pharoah controlling our freedom now. It’s just us, holding the choice to give everything, to leave our bondage fully, or keep trying to compromise with an uncompromising God.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes, it feels like all of life is my very long Exodus story.
Karla Jo Wasion 