In the third stage of his subtle bargaining, Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away” (8:28, Heb.). If the children of Israel had agreed not to go very far away, Pharaoh could have reached them whenever he wanted them. Sometimes today’s Pharaohs will allow us to believe in the Lord Jesus, just as long as we do not go to what they regard as an extreme. They encourage us to be balanced and not to go too far. For example, parents may say to their children, “When I was young, I also believed in Jesus. But you are too extreme in following the Lord. You don’t need to go to meetings several times a week. Isn’t an hour on Sunday morning enough? It’s all right to believe in Jesus, but don’t be fanatical about it.”
After Pharaoh reasoned with God in this way, the Lord sent still another plague. He does the same with today’s Pharaohs. When the natural man strives against God, God sends a plague upon him.
Unable to bear the plagues, Pharaoh became willing to let the men of Israel go to serve their God, but not with the young and the old (10:8-11). When Pharaoh asked who would go to serve the Lord, Moses said, “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” (10:9). Then Pharaoh began to reason once more, saying that evil was before them (v. 10). Pharaoh went on to say, “Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve Jehovah” (v. 11, Heb.). Pharaoh was claiming that he loved them, cared for them, and wanted no evil to befall them. How subtle!
Many are like this today. The parents of a young person may say to him, “As an older one, I know the trials of human life. You don’t know what evil lies before you in the future. Therefore, I counsel you to believe in the Lord Jesus and to follow Him, but not in a full way. If you follow wholeheartedly, you don’t know what will happen to you.” Here Pharaoh used love to keep people from the Lord. As long as Pharaoh could still hold the wives, the young ones, and the elderly, the men would not truly leave Egypt, for their hearts would still be in Egypt. Because Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go in a full way, a more severe plague, the plague of the locusts, came upon the Egyptians.
The plague of the locusts forced Pharaoh to bargain with the Lord once more. This time he said, “Go ye, serve Jehovah; only let your flocks and your herds remain: let your little ones also go with you” (10:24, Heb.). This suggestion was also subtle. Moses answered Pharaoh in an excellent way: “Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto Jehovah our God. Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve Jehovah our God” (10:25-26, Heb.). Moses did not say that the people needed cattle for their living; the cattle were needed to provide something to sacrifice to the Lord. This indicates that Moses was concerned not for the people’s living, but for having something to offer to God. They cared for God’s need, not for their own need. Therefore, they would not agree that their flocks and herds remain in Egypt. Angered by Moses’ reply, Pharaoh forbade them to come again.
Many of us have gone through these five steps of bargaining with the Lord. Firstly we denied the Lord, and then we believed but wanted to remain in Egypt. Then we were willing to leave Egypt, but not to go too far. After that followed the negotiation concerning what would be left in Egypt. Pharaoh knows that where one’s riches are, there his heart is also (Matt. 6:21). If Pharaoh can keep our wealth, our hearts will be in his hand.
Many Christians today believe in the Lord Jesus, but they do so without changing their position. They remain in Egypt, in the world. However, if we remain in Egypt after believing in the Lord, our sins may be forgiven, but we shall not be rescued from the tyranny of Satan. To remain in Egypt is to remain under Satan’s tyranny.
Other Christians are willing to move a short distance away from Egypt. In doing this, they may boast of their cleverness, thinking that they are wise and balanced. They are pleased to point out that they are not extremists.
Other Christians are in the third, fourth, or fifth stages of bargaining with God. Satan is willing to let them go, but not their young ones. A great many Christians still have their wealth and possessions in the world. This indicates that they have not yet made an exodus. Their baptism should have been the crossing of the Red Sea, but it was merely a ritual for them to become part of religion. We thank the Lord that the vast majority of those in the Lord’s recovery have made an exodus out of Egypt.
These five stages of bargaining are repeated whenever the gospel is preached. It is rare that someone is saved thoroughly the first time he hears the gospel. Most people struggle, hesitate, and bargain. Eventually the finger of God is exercised on their behalf. We may use our mind to bargain with the Lord and to reason with Him. But God pays no attention to our reasoning. When our bargaining is over, He once again exercises His power over our situation.