My friends involved with Alcoholics Anonymous have an expression that is very appropriate here: “Half measures avail us nothing.” In our lesson from Exodus today, we see Pharaoh attempting to persuade Moses to accept half measures to fulfill God’s will.
Just as those half measures would not have led the people to freedom, neither will we achieve true freedom in our lives if we fail to fully embrace God’s direction.
I’m sure Moses was tempted to take many detours during his numerous confrontations with Pharaoh. Our lesson today focuses on two of these instances.
Following a plague of locusts that descended upon the nation, Pharaoh offered Moses an opportunity to leave, but with certain conditions.
Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, because we have the Lord’s festival to celebrate.”
He said to them, “The Lord indeed will be with you, if ever I let your little ones go with you! Plainly, you have some evil purpose in mind.
No, never! Your men may go and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking” (Exodus 10:9-11).
The Israelites could not possibly be free if the adults left Egypt while their children remained behind. Moses understood this and therefore could not agree with Pharaoh’s demand.
After a plague of complete darkness covered the land, Pharaoh tried to make another deal with Moses. Again, this offer did not represent the kind of freedom God intended for the Israelites.
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord. Only your flocks and your herds shall remain behind. Even your little ones may go with you” (Exodus 10:24).
Jesus in the Wilderness
Matthew 4:1-11 tells us about the temptations Jesus faced from the devil in the wilderness. The first temptation was for Jesus to listen to Satan instead of God and turn stones into bread. Jesus answered by saying that people don’t live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from God.
Then the devil took him to the highest point of the temple and tempted him to do something amazing that would impress everyone and force God’s angels to rescue him. Jesus again used the Bible to tell him not to test the Lord.
Finally, the devil took him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, saying, “I’ll give you all this.” Jesus knew Satan couldn’t actually give it to him.
He said he needed to worship God and serve only him. And to do that, Jesus knew he had to go to the cross.
Much like Pharaoh’s attempts to sway Moses, the devil used these temptations to try and lead Jesus away from the path God had set for him.
Both Moses and Jesus understood they needed to walk closely with God and not take those detours, recognizing that an easier way would not be an effective one.
Half Measures
Had the Israelites taken Pharaoh’s detours, they would never have been free. To find the complete freedom God desired for them, they had to be fully obedient to Him.
The same applies to us. It’s easy to think, “I’ll give God a little of this, but not more of that.” But the truth is, when we hold back, we are never truly free.
A friend of mine has “All In” tattooed on his leg. He got it because he knew that taking half measures wouldn’t accomplish anything good in his life. He wanted to experience everything God had for him and understood that the only way was to be “all in” with God.
Jesus showed us how to do this. Moses did the same years before him. We should follow their lead and go “all in” with God’s plan on our road to freedom.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 