From: allenroy (allenroy@peoplepc.com)
Date: Sat Sep 20 2003 - 18:17:20 EDT
John W Burgeson wrote:
> My claim is simple. What Ex 3:18 records is God telling Moses to ask
> Pharaoh for a 3 day vacation, and not a permanent escape. I see no other
> way to interpret that verse (cited below from the NIV).
>
Here is another take on this point. "The request for Pharaoh's permission to
leave the country is phrased so as to express Israel's precise relation to
him. He had no right to detain them, but his consent was needed for their
departure as was that of a former king for the settlement in the land of
Goshen. He had no valid reason for refusing their request to go three days'
journey into the wilderness, for their return at the close of that period was
implied in the request. Was this deception? By no means. God knew the
heart of Pharaoh and instructed Moses to ask no more at first that he must
either grant, or by refusing, display the hardness of his heart. Had pharaoh
consented, God would probably have then have made known to him His design in
its entirety and demanded the permanent release of His people. When Pharaoh
refused the first, and reasonable, request, Moses was to demonstrate the
power of the God of the Hebrews by miracles and judgments. Accordingly,
Moses persisted in demanding permission for the people to go and serve their
God. It was not until the king offered to permit them to sacrifice in Egypt
that Moses added to his request the significant phrase, "as he shall command
us", which implied that they might not return. Of course, that is what
Pharaoh feared."
Allen
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