Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said: go, sacrifice to your God here in the land. Pharaoh offers a compromise: sacrifice here, in Egypt, not in the wilderness. It is the first of three compromises Pharaoh will offer, each designed to retain some control over Israel while appearing to concede. The compromise sounds reasonable but misses the point entirely: God specified the wilderness, not Egypt. Worship in Egypt, under Pharaoh's sight, on Egyptian soil, would still be worship within the system of bondage. True worship requires the freedom to come out. Hebrews 13:13 says go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore — true worship of the true God has always required leaving the comfortable and the familiar. Pharaoh's compromise keeps Israel in the camp. God's call is always outside it.

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