But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a powerful hand.
God tells Moses in advance how his mission will begin: with a refusal. Before Moses says a word to Pharaoh, God announces the outcome: the king will hold on until a mighty hand forces his grip open.
The words "I know" are the heart of the verse. God saw the whole outcome before Moses set out.
Jehovah shows from the very first that every result of His raising up Moses and sending him to Pharaoh was already before His own mind. He was surprised by nothing.
God does not send His servant into Egypt with an optimistic forecast. He tells him how the king will react, and what will follow.
At the same time, Moses was to be under no illusion about the way the king would react to this request. So the last four verses of the chapter predict what would happen. As to Pharaoh, he would powerfully and stubbornly resist. But Jehovah would stretch out His hand in wonders and strike in judgment. Then the king's "mighty hand" would lose its might, and he would let them go.
Commentators differ over whose hand is meant. Hole takes it as Pharaoh's own strong hand, which God breaks. Others take it as the hand of God that compels him to let Israel go. An older translation reads "no, not by a powerful hand," where the ESV has "unless compelled by a mighty hand."
The signs came one at a time. One writer explains why God held back His full power at first.
Yet God had forewarned Moses that the king of Egypt would not let them go unless a mighty hand compelled him. For this reason God would increase the pressure on Pharaoh step by step. He would not show the power of His might at first. Instead He brought miraculous signs to bear on Egypt in a way that ought to awaken their conscience to listen seriously and obey the living God.
Pharaoh's resistance did not wreck the plan. It became the stage where God showed His power and made His name known across the earth.
Moses is then warned that "the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, unless it be by a powerful hand." God then assures Moses that He will show this clearly. Paul says the same thing: "For this very thing I have raised you (Pharaoh) up from among men, that I might show in you My power, and that My name should be declared in all the earth. So then He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills" (Rom. 9:17-18).
Did Pharaoh ever have a real chance? The order of events in Exodus answers that.
Mercy had been within his reach, but he refused it again and again. Six times over God solemnly warned him, through terrible plagues, about the folly of resisting Him, but each time he hardened his heart. (Exodus 7:13 should read, "And Pharaoh's heart was hardened (or strong) so that he did not listen." The Lord did not harden him in judgment until chapter 9.) Then came that terrible word, "In very deed, for this cause have I raised you up, to show in you My power." If people despise privilege and mercy, God hardens their hearts, and uses them as warning beacons of His power and wrath.
This is more than ancient politics. Pharaoh's refusal pictures how Satan holds people.
Then He sent Moses to Pharaoh to get His people out. Read the chapters from Exodus 3 onwards, and you will see all the difficulties that Pharaoh put in the way. Pharaoh gives us the illustration of Satan's power. "I will not let them go," he boldly says. And do you think the devil is going to let you go? Not if he can help it. You try to get away from him, and you will find he has a firm grip of you.
And the answer to that grip is the same as Israel's — a hand mightier than the one holding them.
Our blessed Lord has come and broken that strong man's power. One stronger than Satan has come and taken away the armour he trusted in. Man is set free.
- Known — "I know" is the key word: nothing Pharaoh would do took God by surprise.
- Told — God left Moses under no illusion. He predicted the king's resistance before Moses set out.
- Measured — the pressure rose step by step, so that conscience had every chance to hear and obey.
- Just — the hardening came after Pharaoh had refused mercy again and again, not before he had any responsibility.
- Broken — the mighty hand that opened Pharaoh's grip is the same Stronger One who sets Satan's captives free.
And I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go.
Before Moses ever reaches Egypt, God tells him how it will end. The king will refuse, and God Himself will act. Pharaoh's resistance stands against God's own hand, and the wonders end in release.
God gives Moses these instructions before a single plague falls. They show how much He already knew.
These instructions are important for all time, because they put the exact foreknowledge of God beyond doubt. He knew who He was dealing with, the resistance He would meet, and how it would be overcome.
The verse before this one also speaks of a mighty hand. Older translations read that hand as Pharaoh's own strength, and the writer below follows that reading. Here God stretches out His hand, and the contrast is the point.
Pharaoh would resist powerfully and stubbornly. But the Lord would stretch out His hand in wonders, striking in judgment, so that the king's "mighty hand" would lose its might and he would release them. So these four verses give a prophecy that we see fulfilled as we read the next ten or eleven chapters.
God does not crush Egypt in one blow. The plagues come in order, and the pacing has a purpose.
God warned Moses that the king of Egypt would not let them go unless a mighty hand forced him. For this reason God would increase the pressure on Pharaoh step by step. He did not show the full power of His might at first. He brought miraculous signs to bear on Egypt in such a way that their conscience should be awakened to listen carefully and obey the living God. In the end the affliction from God's hand would be so dreadful that Pharaoh had to let them go.
Pharaoh had already declared that he did not know the Lord. The wonders answer that boast.
Pharaoh said he did not know the Lord, but Pharaoh must know Him. If Pharaoh would disown Him in His goodness, he must know Him in His righteousness. His judgments were now to be made plain, and the Lord makes Himself known by the judgment He carries out. God would be known in grace. But if Egypt refuses that lesson, she must know Him in the raised hand of power. And so she does know Him, until the strength and flower of her people lie on the banks of the Red Sea.
The verse ends with a promise: he will let you go. That is what happened, and no more than that.
There was nothing the people of Egypt, and at last even the king, would refuse to give. Later on they had every interest in keeping the children of Israel. Yet they were willing and eager for them to go, and not to go away empty. Their proud will was broken, although their hearts were by no means with God.
The chapters this verse predicts are full of God's power. Yet something more was needed before anyone went free.
It may seem strange that the Lord made so great a display of His power in Egypt, and yet not one soul was delivered... We have seen the tender compassion of God. We have heard His sweetest promises. We have witnessed His terrible power against the enemy. We have seen all this from chapters 3 to 11. But no soul is delivered from bondage until the blood of the Lamb is sprinkled. How very exact is the teaching of God in these types.
- Foretold — God announces the whole conflict with Pharaoh before it begins. He knew the resistance, and He knew how it would be overcome.
- Hand — Pharaoh's hand meets God's outstretched hand and loses its might. The ten chapters that follow are this verse coming true.
- Wonders — the signs come step by step. They press on Egypt's conscience before the last crushing blow.
- Known — Egypt refused to know God in His goodness, so she came to know Him in His righteousness, all the way to the Red Sea.
- Blood — the release comes, but a broken will is not a changed heart. No soul goes free until the blood of the Lamb is sprinkled.
And I will give this people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it shall come to pass, when ye go out, that ye shall not go out empty;
God gives this promise to Moses at the burning bush, long before the first plague falls. He settles two things in advance: how the Egyptians will treat Israel, and what Israel will carry out of Egypt.
The promise is not new. God had made it long before Moses was born, and one writer points to where.
Then comes the commission to Moses. Jehovah tells him beforehand that the king of Egypt would not let them go. He also promises Moses that He would strike Egypt, and that when the exodus takes place they were not to go empty-handed. This is in fulfillment of a previous promise (Genesis 15:14).
So what Moses hears at the bush is not a new plan. God is acting on a promise He had already bound Himself to.
Israel does not win this goodwill. God says He will give it. And the change in the Egyptians goes deeper than politeness: in the end they want Israel to go, and to go loaded.
In the end there was nothing the people, and even the king of Egypt, were unwilling to give up. Later on, keeping the children of Israel was in their own interest. Even so, they were willing and eager that Israel should go, and that they should not go away empty. Their proud will was broken, although their hearts were by no means with God.
Israel is told to ask the Egyptians for what they need. Older translations said "borrow," as if the goods were taken on loan. One writer explains what the word really means.
There is no idea of "borrowing" in it. It means simply "to ask." The context shows why. God stepped in so plainly that the children of Israel had "favour in the sight of the Egyptians." The Egyptians were made to feel that they had wronged Israel. So they gladly gave them whatever they asked, perhaps as a way of making peace, knowing full well that they would never see the Israelites again. What they gave was therefore an unconditional gift.
This was justice, not just kindness. Israel had worked for centuries without pay. One writer treats the demand as a bill at last presented.
The children of Israel had served the Egyptians for 400 years, building the storage cities for Pharaoh (Exodus 1:11). So God had already told Moses that they were to demand these things as payment for their labours (Exodus 3:21-22). It was no more than they had a right to. The Egyptians seem to have known this, and that is why they answered the demand so eagerly. It was "spoil," but spoil they had earned.
God announces the whole story — Pharaoh's refusal, and Israel's loaded departure — before any of it happens. One writer draws comfort from that.
These instructions are important for all time, because they place the exact foreknowledge of God beyond doubt. He knew who He was dealing with, the resistance He would meet, and how it was to be overcome. He saw all things from the beginning to the end. How comforting for our weak hearts! No difficulty or trial can come to us that our God has not foreseen, and for which in His grace He has not made provision.
The silver and gold had a purpose beyond the journey. One writer shows what God meant it for, and what Israel did with it instead.
God had set apart the wealth that Israel took out of Egypt for His service in the Tabernacle. It had a proper use. God's claim was on the wealth that came out of the land with them. The misuse of it shows up in chapter 32, where the golden calf came before the dancing.
There was one more thing God wanted Israel to learn: who really owned the silver and gold.
Of course, in their years of slavery they had earned every bit of this. And God would also impress on them that the silver and gold were His. So they could receive these things as from His own hand.
- Promised — "you shall not go empty" is God keeping a promise He made long before Moses was born.
- Given — God gives the favour; Israel does not win it. Egypt's proud will broke, though their hearts stayed far from Him.
- Asked — the word is "ask," not "borrow." The Egyptians gave gladly, with no strings, knowing they would never see Israel again.
- Owed — 400 years of unpaid work lay behind the demand. It was spoil, but spoil Israel had earned.
- Returned — the silver and gold were God's all along, set apart for the tabernacle. Israel used them for a golden calf instead.
but every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her that is the inmate of her house, utensils of silver, and utensils of gold, and clothing; and ye shall put [them] on your sons and on your daughters, and shall spoil the Egyptians.
God's last word from the burning bush is not about the escape itself, but about what Israel would carry out: silver, gold and clothing from the people who had crushed them. For centuries readers have asked whether that was theft by God's command, and what all that wealth was for.
Much of the difficulty comes from the older word "borrow." One writer notes who was to do the asking, and says the wages were owed already:
In truth their wages were long overdue, never having been paid. It is mere folly to suppose there was any, even the smallest, breach of what was right and proper. Every woman was simply to ask her neighbour for objects of silver and gold, along with clothing, and these were to be put on Israel's sons and daughters. It was to spoil their oppressors by divine authority, and no question whatever of deceit or dishonesty. The impression of "borrowing" given in the Authorized Version is by no means necessary, nor does the connection justify it.
The word "spoil" sounds like plunder taken by force. Read against Israel's work record, it reads instead as a bill finally settled:
The word translated "borrowed" really means to "ask," and the word translated "lent" means "gave." The concordance will show that it really means "demanded." The children of Israel had served the Egyptians for 400 years, building the treasure cities for Pharaoh (Ex. 1:11). So God had already told Moses that they were to demand these things as payment for their work (Ex. 3:21-22). It was not more than they had a right to, and it seems the Egyptians knew this. That explains the eager way in which they seemed to answer this demand. It was "spoil," but spoil they richly deserved.
Egypt handed the valuables over willingly. God had changed how the Egyptians saw Israel:
The context shows that God's clear intervention would put the children of Israel in "favour in the sight of the Egyptians." Feeling that Israel had suffered wrong at their hands, the Egyptians gladly gave them whatever they asked for — perhaps as a kind of appeasement — knowing full well that they would never see the Israelites again. What they gave was therefore an unconditional gift.
The promise reached beyond that one night. One writer traces it from the exodus to Israel's future:
God's promise included His judging the nation that oppressed Israel. He would not only set Israel free, but bless them with great substance. This was true at the exodus (Ex. 12:35-36). It also pictures the great blessing Israel will receive when the nation at last receives their Messiah. He will free them from the bondage to sin that has enslaved them for centuries.
The same gold later shows up in two very different places: the tabernacle and the golden calf. One writer faces that tension:
But why did God allow what later helped to produce the terrible sin of chapter 32? Chapter 25 throws much light on this question. God had set apart the wealth that Israel took out of Egypt for His service in the tabernacle. There was a proper use for it. God had a claim on the wealth that came out of the land with them. The abuse of it comes out clearly in the 32nd chapter, where the golden calf preceded the dancing.
Read as a picture, the transfer runs in one direction only. What is valuable does not stay behind with the oppressor:
But God does not intend His people to go out of Egypt empty. Instead, they are to leave it with the spoil of Egypt in their hands. Yet in taking this, they take only what is their own. Take out of the world today everything that comes from God's saving work. Take out of it all that Scripture has enriched it with. How poor it would be left!
- Ask — the older word "borrow" misleads. The command was to ask, and what Egypt handed over was an unconditional gift, not a loan.
- Owed — Israel built Pharaoh's treasure cities for four hundred years. They received no more than their right: spoil, but spoil they deserved.
- Given — God gave Israel favour in Egyptian eyes. Egypt gave gladly, feeling it had wronged them.
- Promised — God kept His word to judge Egypt and to send Israel out rich. The same promise pictures the blessing Israel will yet receive under their Messiah.
- Destined — the gold had a use already appointed: God's service in the tabernacle. Chapter 32 shows the alternative, when the same gold became a calf.