And make no mistake, it was an escape. The people were in forced servitude. Back in the day, one of my kids brought home a book from a school book fair about ancient Egypt that poo-poo'ed the whole idea that the great building projects had been done with slave labor. The text assured the reader that the laborers had been paid in beer and bread. It may have been true that they were given some provision. But they were not free to leave. They were not free to choose their occupation. They were forced to do the labor they were doing. They were beaten if their work was not judged adequate. By anyone's standards...that is human trafficking. Otherwise known as slavery.
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.' " ...Then they said, 'The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword." Ex 5: 1, 3, NIV 84.
That 'three day's journey' is a key detail; it shows up again...
After 4 plagues had struck Egypt, Pharaoh attempted a compromise, telling Moses and Aaron that the people could have their worship festival and accompanying sacrifices in the land in which they dwelt. But that wasn't the request, as Pharaoh was reminded,
'We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God as he commands us.'
Miserable with the flies that were the 4th plague, Pharaoh seemed to relent:
Pharaoh said, 'I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.' Ex 8:27 -28
Of course, once the flies were gone, Pharaoh went back on his agreement and refused to let them go. Six soul-crushing plagues later, mourning the sudden death of his firstborn, Pharaoh basically told the Israelites to get out...and they left quickly, having eaten the Passover meal packed up and ready to bug out. But they did not go the way their forefathers had come.
So God led the people around by a desert road towards the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle....After leaving Succoth, they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.
Ex 13:18,20
The Israelites did not stay at Etham; they turned around and camped by the sea. All part of God's strategy.
"Pharaoh will think , 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.'" Ex 14:3
Pharaoh thought exactly that and sent his armies after them. Camped between the Egyptian army, the desert, and the sea, the people complained for the first of MANY times.
They said to Moses, 'Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have brought us to the desert to die? What have you done by bringing us out of Egypt?...It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than die in the desert!" Ex.14:11, 12b
And, for the first of many times, the Israelites saw themselves delivered by God's intervention. I've seen many depictions of the crossing of the Red Sea; none of them pictured the Israelites straining against a strong east wind, which I am sure they did; it was the wind that dried the ground and held the water back. A freak wind. A God wind. By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. - Ex. 15:8
When it was over, the Israelites stood on the eastern shore and the enemy that had pursued them was no more. They were not going back. See, in all the interactions Moses had with Pharaoh, there was no mention of them leaving and never returning; they were to go a 3-day's journey into the desert, hold their festival, and return. After the 9th plague, Pharaoh tried to get Moses to agree to go into the desert but leave their flocks and herds behind. Moses said, no, we need them all so we can make the required sacrifice. Pharaoh ordered Moses from his sight, stating 'The day you see my face you will die!' Moses agreed, 'I will never appear before you again.' Then he prophesied the tenth and final plague, death of the firstborn, and that Pharaoh's officials would come to him and tell them to leave. But there was no mention of a change of request; Moses had steadfastly maintained that they would travel for three days into the desert and hold their festival. IE, they were to travel TO the desert, travel three days INTO the desert, hold the festival (which did not have a fixed time) and then return. All in all, it could add up to as much as a month, give or take a few days. Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron -- Moses did not come before him seeking audience -- and told them 'Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.' (12:31b-32). This is still implying the '3-days-into-the-desert journey'. Pharaoh, by sending the army after them, broke the agreement and chased them to the other side of the sea. They couldn't return now. The sea was in the way. And it was Pharaoh's doing.
I'm not sure that fine point had ever occurred to me before this very moment; Pharaoh himself made sure the Hebrews could not return as they had implied. He chased them into their freedom.
He had chased them into the desert. Where, as only Moses and Aaron truly knew at this point, they would encounter God.
Out of slavery into the desert. Nobody said it is easy to leave a life of bondage; there's stuff to go through and lessons to be learned. The desert is often the first stop out of bondage...because, even though we would never know beforehand, God is found in the desert.
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