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speak of "Jesus", and especially so if they can refer to him as the `Galilean' or the
`Carpenter', but the centre of the faith, the cross, "Christ crucified", is an `offense'. The
cross reveals the hopeless and helpless condition of the flesh, and this is an `abomination
to the Egyptians'.
The second reason for repudiating the suggestion is just as strong as the first, but one
that we are apt to forget. The suggestion ran counter to God's express statement, and that
is enough to condemn it. When He says `wilderness' and "three days' journey", to
debate the question of `in the land' is sin. Upon this resolute stand being taken by
Moses, Pharaoh appears willing to lengthen the chain, but it is still a chain:--
"I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness"
(Exod. 8: 28).
So far, that is good. Pharaoh, moreover, does not speak irreverently of God; he uses
the full title of the Lord. The snare, however, is still set. "Only"--ah yes! the world will
give a good length of chain. "Only ye shall not go VERY FAR AWAY." The contested
point is the clear-cut division between the Church and the World. While many would
hesitate to offer the abominations of the Egyptians IN THE LAND, they are ensnared at
the HALF-WAY HOUSE. Let the Church have its separate gathering, its ecclesiastical
laws, its ordained priests, its ritual, its `form of godliness', but let it deny `the power
thereof' by leaving out the "three days' journey". Once more the demand is made, and
once again the chain is lengthened:
"Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? And 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; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord"
(Exod. 10: 8, 9).
True Scriptural unity has ever been the target of Satan. If the attractions of the world
from without do not avail, distractions from within may prove more effectual.
"And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, AND
YOUR LITTLE ONES; look to it; for evil is before you. Not so, go now YE THAT
ARE MEN, and serve the Lord" (Exod. 10: 10, 11).
The distraction of a divided heart, the serving of two masters, the miserable failure of
the attempt to make the best of both worlds, are suggested here. After further judgments,
a yet further concession is made:
"Go ye, serve the Lord: only . . . . ." (Exod. 10: 24).
The presence of that `only' is deadly. Shakespeare puts it--"but me no but's", and it
were well that we met all attempts to evade the full truth as peremptorily.
"Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed, let your little ones also go with you"
(Exod. 10: 24).