And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.
Pharaoh's offer came while he was under God's chastening hand in grievous affliction from swarms of flies upon Egypt. Pressed by that plague he summoned Moses and Aaron and proposed that they sacrifice to God without leaving Egypt. It was a first small compromise, permitting sacrifice inside the land instead of releasing the people for the three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice as God had commanded, and thus it still refused full obedience.
Moses rejected sacrifice in Egypt as unfit and unsafe, because Israel would offer what was an abomination in Egyptian eyes. The animals to be sacrificed were beasts the Egyptians worshiped and held sacred, and to slay such a beast in their sight was detestable to them. Even to kill one accidentally was counted an unpardonable offense to be answered with the offender's life. To sacrifice such animals openly before the Egyptians would therefore risk having the Israelites stoned, so they had to go three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice as commanded.
The offer exposes a proud and idolatrous king very slow to meet God's requirements. He yielded only a little while pressed by most grievous affliction, and took back what he granted when relief came. He conceded no more than dreadful judgments compelled, persisting in rebellion even after Egypt was ruined. The episode belongs to the series of plagues designed to destroy Egyptian confidence in idols and to show that the Lord alone has power to protect and deliver Israel.
Pharaoh's offer came while he was under God's chastening hand in grievous affliction from swarms of flies upon Egypt. Pressed by that plague he summoned Moses and Aaron and proposed that they sacrifice to God without leaving Egypt. It was a first small compromise, permitting sacrifice inside the land instead of releasing the people for the three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice as God had commanded, and thus it still refused full obedience.
Moses rejected sacrifice in Egypt as unfit and unsafe, because Israel would offer what was an abomination in Egyptian eyes. The animals to be sacrificed were beasts the Egyptians worshiped and held sacred, and to slay such a beast in their sight was detestable to them. Even to kill one accidentally was counted an unpardonable offense to be answered with the offender's life. To sacrifice such animals openly before the Egyptians would therefore risk having the Israelites stoned, so they had to go three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice as commanded.
The offer exposes a proud and idolatrous king very slow to meet God's requirements. He yielded only a little while pressed by most grievous affliction, and took back what he granted when relief came. He conceded no more than dreadful judgments compelled, persisting in rebellion even after Egypt was ruined. The episode belongs to the series of plagues designed to destroy Egyptian confidence in idols and to show that the Lord alone has power to protect and deliver Israel.