And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. (Exodus 5:1)
In an age-old picture of Satan, Pharaoh and his magicians resisted the deliverance of the people of God. Pharaoh defied God’s order to “let my people go.” Battling God, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to copy the first two plagues, they turned water into blood, and they also made frogs come out of the Nile. “Whatever God can do we can do!” But the devil and Pharaoh cannot create life, so when magicians tried to create lice out of the sand during plague three, they were sunk. Pharaoh’s Conjurers cried out, “This is the finger of God!” God demonstrated to Pharaoh that He was Omnipotent. When Pharaoh realized he could not overpower God’s deliverance, he tried to keep his Hebrew slaves by getting them to compromise their faith. Pharaoh says, “Let’s make a deal!”
Beware of Satan’s deals!
Deal 1# WORSHIP GOD RIGHT HERE IN EGYPT
And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. (Exodus 8:25)
Pharaoh says, “Just add Jesus to the life you already live.” This is an offer for “salvation” without repentance, change of life, or promise-land living. Salvation without leaving Egypt is no salvation at all. God saves his people to be separated unto Him. Christ breaks the chains that bind us in Egypt.
The Bible tells us that genuine faith in Christ will inevitably produce transformation in a person’s life (II Cor. 5:17). The false “dead faith” that Pharaoh offers will not save you from destruction (James 2:14-26). Salvation in scripture is not evidenced by a “sinner’s prayer” or by a spiritual experience alone. Rather the new birth is accompanied by a life change. The Apostle John tells us in his epistle those who “have the Son” delightfully follow Christ’s commandments (I John 2:3-6), love the brethren (I John 3:14), and have the witness of the Holy Spirit within (I John 4:13).
Deal 2# GO WORSHIP GOD, BUT DON’T GO VERY FAR OUT OF EGYPT
And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. (Exodus 8:28)
Pharaoh says, “If you are going out of Egypt just go a little way, don’t take your religion too far, don’t go over the top.” In other words, have a “well-balanced” approach to your Christianity. Be equally distanced somewhere between Egypt and the Promise land.
If the church listens to Pharaoh, it will keep an arms distance away from Egypt, but it will also stay away from the victorious, abundant living of the promise land. Instead of enjoying God’s best, she drifts; and as the world waxes worse and worse, the sins that were once rare even by the world’s standards will now be prevalent even in God’s house. We must resist the urge to be just a little better than the world and go full speed ahead into God’s best in the promise land.
The false and dead faith that Pharaoh offers you will not change you inside or out (James 2:14-26). You will remain in Egypt untransformed (II Cor. 5:17), unseparated (II Cor. 6:14-18), and be left unsanctified (Eph. 5:27). The church’s behaviour in the Book of Acts is in direct opposition to the mandates of Pharaoh. Prayer meetings, preaching events, and continuation of assembly were the norms for the first century believers (Acts 2:41-47). They went “way out” of Egypt to worship the Lord.
When Jesus walked this earth, it was said of Him, “the zeal of God’s house hath eaten me up.” (John 2:17) His was so zealous that his family accused him of being crazy (“he is beside himself.”) (Mark 3:21) This same thing was said of the Apostle Paul (Acts 26:24). Apathy never won a soul to Christ or earned any crowns in heaven. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (Rev. 3:19). “Salt” and “light” Christians leave Egypt and worship God in the promise land.
Pharaoh is against God’s people congregating together “way outside of Egypt” to worship.
Deal 3# GO WORSHIP GOD, BUT DON’T TAKE YOUR CHILDREN
“And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters… Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.” (Exodus 10:9a,11)
Pharaoh wants your children! He says, “Don’t push religion on your children; let them choose for themselves.”
We make our kids go to school, eat vegetables, brush their teeth, and get a good night’s sleep. However, when it comes to our children’s eternal souls the devil tempts parents to slack off, “let the kids make their own spiritual decisions.”
This philosophy is directly opposed to God’s precepts on parenting. Parents are to be “diligent” at all the times in instructing their children.
Deuteronomy 6:7-9 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
God commended Father Abraham because he would “command” all of his house in God’s ways:
Genesis 18:19 For I know him (Abraham), that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Deal 4# GO WORSHIP GOD BUT LEAVE YOUR POSSESSIONS IN EGYPT
“And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.” (Exodus 10:24)
“Keep God out of your personal finances!” says Pharaoh. He must have understood Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” The disciple Demas lost his testimony by forsaking his ministry for his worldly treasure back in Thessalonica. Ananias and Sapphira fell into the same temptation and lost their lives.
God taught Israel that all possessions were ultimately His. How could they offer a sacrifice to the Lord without their earthly possessions?
The Mosaic law taught the Sabbath day, the Sabbath year, the seven feasts during the year, and all the tithes. God wanted to ensure that the children of Israel’s possession did not possess them. These commands also taught Israel this important lesson: “your possessions are safer in the hands of the Lord than in the hands of Pharaoh.”