Exodus 10

Moses’ life is saved and he grows up as Egyptian royalty. However, after he killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating a Hebrew slave, Moses escaped to Midian to avoid a death sentence from Pharaoh. Out in Midian, he served as a shepherd for 40 years, married his wife, Zipporah, and most importantly, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and commanded him, “Go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10). At first, Moses was scared and doubted his abilities to fulfill God’s commandment of freeing God’s people from slavery. The Lord comforted and reminded him, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). God told Moses that he must go to His people, all of the Israelites, and tell them that the Lord has “promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:17). Exodus 4 shows us signs of God’s power and glory, that helped convince Moses of God’s power. Moses then returned to Egypt. Exodus 5-10 begins with Moses’ (and his brother Aaron’s) first attempt at following God’s command and asking Pharaoh to “Let my people go” (Exodus 5:1). Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and first began to restrict the materials given to the Hebrew slaves, making their enslavement even more difficult than it already was.

Exodus 7 introduces the first of the Ten Plagues that show God’s mighty and great power: The Plague of Blood. The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone” (Exodus 7:19). Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded and the Nile river turned to blood. Following this plague were the Plague of Frogs, Plague of Gnats, Plague of Flies, Plague on Livestock, Plague of Boils, Plague of Hail, and The Plague of Locusts. It was right before the Plague of Locusts that Pharaoh tried to negotiate with God, through Moses: “‘Go, worship the Lord your God,’ he said. ‘But tell me who will be going.’Moses answered, ‘We will go with our young and our old, with our sons AND our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.’ Pharaoh said, ‘The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil. No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord, since that’s what you have been asking for’” (Exodus 10:8-11). When Pharaoh questions who Moses will be taking, Moses does not leave anyone out. In fact, he specifically mentions the women and the old. No matter how old you are, whether or not you are a woman, or even if you are an animal, everyone is to be rescued from slavery and able to celebrate the Lord. Pharaoh is immediately upset and is in shock that Moses would ask to take the women and children.

Throughout history, women have been used as pawns in systems of bondage. We see Pharaoh’s attempt at this. Pharaoh’s goal in doing so is to hold the women and children as hostages to ensure the return of the men. However, the Lord does not show any partiality in His Kingdom. Some leaders may have seen Pharaoh’s openness to letting the men go as a “temporary win” and would have accepted this negotiation and hoped to figure out a plan to get the women and children later. Yet, God sees women and children as both a nonnegotiable and vital part of His congregation and of the festival to the Lord. Women are not minor characters in the story of redemption but are included right in the center. God does not settle for partial liberation for He is God! He seeks liberation for all his people and that includes women!