Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me."'"
So, a few questions:
Why couldn't God's people serve Him from the comfort of Egypt? They could have... kinda. You can serve God anywhere: in your kitchen, on the moon, in your heart, with your hands, in a jail cell, or on vacation. Anyone can worship God anywhere. Whether they're eating or drinking or doing whatever, they can glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31). But one can quickly see how one's worship is limited when under compulsion or confined. Daniel could pray at his window until he was crammed into the lion's den. True, he could pray from there too, but he was no longer free to pray facing his window once he was down there. His ability to pray was not cut off, but his view was.
Why was Pharaoh so reluctant to let the Israelites have a worship service? Why did he care if they went to church?
"Every tyrant instinctively knows that if God’s people are set free to worship they will never return to slavery." -- Toby Sumpter
When citizens are set free to worship their God with their people, they don't easily go back to being the pawns of a tinpot dictator. Once you have stood confidently in the presence of God Almighty, you can no longer cower in the courts of Egypt. Once you've been a brick in the house of the Lord, you cannot go back to making bricks for Pharaoh's pyramid schemes.
1 Corinthians 7:23
You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.
Redeemed people cannot put themselves back on the open market. If you are redeemed, you belong to your Redeemer. Christ purchased us with His sinless life and sacrificial death. He bought us. We belong to Him and He takes property rights personally. In fact, He embedded His thoughts on the topic into His Top Ten List when He declared, "Thou Shalt Not Steal." If not from your neighbor, how much more so from Him?
John 10:28-30
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Christ does not forsake or mistreat what is His or allow anyone else to take or steal it from Him. Christians have been adopted into the house of God and with all due respect must wipe their feet at the front door. In other words, Christians should leave Egypt to the Egyptians. Christians should not act like they still live under Pharaoh, because... they don't. Leave the dead to bury their own dead and walk with those raised to life by grace through faith in Christ alone.
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