Pharaoh said: I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me. The second compromise: go, but not very far. Pharaoh is unwilling to release Israel completely — he wants a short leash, the ability to call them back, a worship that doesn't amount to genuine freedom. The phrase not very far is a metaphor for every attempt to allow a partial obedience that retains the essential control. Luke 9:62 records Jesus saying that no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God — half-departures from Egypt are not departures at all. Moses hears the concession and the demand for prayer. He will pray. But he will not accept the not very far.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse