When Pharaoh says 'Let the men go but leave the women and children,' I always wonder what was actually happening in his mind. Some commentators say it was a hostage situation - keep the families to ensure the men return. Others say it was ancient economic logic: older men were less productive, so let them worship their God while keeping the valuable workers and breeding population.
My grandfather was a hostage negotiator for the FBI for twenty-three years. He once told me something that came back when reading this: 'Most of the time when someone makes a partial concession, they're not trying to be generous. They're establishing which pieces they still control.' Pharaoh's half-offer was a power play - he was saying 'You can have the elderly and the children, but I keep what matters.'
That's so much about how we resist God too. We'll give ground on the public stuff, the things we're tired of defending anyway. But the things that represent real power in our lives? Those we negotiate hard to keep.
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