WHO SHALL GO?

EXODUS 10:8

A. PHARAOH'S QUESTION WAS A CHALLENGE TO MOSES AND AARON AND ANCIENT ISRAEL
  1. He challenged them to dare to leave Egypt: Ex. 8:25
  2. He sought to beguile Moses through compromise:
    1. "Go ye sacrifice to your God in the land" - Ex. 8:25
    2. "I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go far away" - Ex. 8:28
    3. "Your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you" - Ex. 10:10
    4. "Let your flock and your herds be stayed" - Ex. 10:24
B. WHO SHALL GO?
  1. This question is very thought provoking:
    1. It involved God's plan for His people; all Israelites were included in God's plan.
    2. Pharaoh sought to bring confusion among the leaders of Israel about the inclusiveness of the liberation movement.
  2. On the other hand, this question reveals the obligation of the leaders of the movement to make positive plans that included every soul in Israel:
    1. That would mean that the parents were placed on the alert that not one of their loved ones would be left behind.
    2. Here is where Lot failed; some of his family stayed in Sodom and were destroyed - Gen. 19:1-26
  3. Moses' answer indicates clearly:
    1. That he fully understood God's plan for his people.
    2. Every member in every family was included in the movement. "We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go" - Ex. 10:9
    3. That gave Pharaoh a good understanding of the plan of God for the Israelites, that had been slaves in Egypt for about four hundred years.
C. IMPLICATIONS OF MOSES' ANSWER AND THE LESSON FOR GOD'S PEOPLE TODAY
  1. The implication:
    1. The answer of Moses made it clear that God's program is complete, that He never does anything halfway.
    2. Moses wanted Pharaoh to understand that it was impossible to serve God under the yoke of bondage in Egypt - Ex. 8:26; Lev. 26:13; Ezek. 34:27
    3. It was paramount for Israel to be removed from Egypt as was possible; to do otherwise would have been fatal to God's plan.
    4. Our substance is a part of our service of the Lord; without it, it would be impossible for us to worship the Lord.
  2. A timely lesson for God's remnant people:
    1. The Bible speaks of two major movements -
      1. The coming out of Egypt of ancient Israel to take possession of the promised land.
      2. The great second Advent movement which will take God's people into the promised Canaan, the earth made new.
    2. If God had a positive program for his ancient covenant people, He certainly has an all-inclusive program for the last movement of which we are a part.
    3. That program provides that -
      1. All believers, including the whole family, shall participate in the movement.
      2. That all God-given means shall be a part of the movement that will take us into the kingdom of God.
    4. It is certain that we cannot serve God halfway - Matt. 6:24
    5. We must make a complete break with the world and with Babylon - Rev. 18:4; 2 Cor. 6:14-16, 17.
    6. There can be no halfhearted participation in the closing work of the Lord. We either are altogether for the movement or we are against it - 1 Ki. 18:21


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