No If's, And's, or But's

I remember standing in the kitchen, facing off with my youngest, trying not to smile at the mischievous spark in her eyes, because she was in trouble, so help me, and I needed to stand firm. I was the parent after all.

I don't even recall what the situation was, but I do know I had just gotten done laying out the guidelines for "how it was going to be." I had set forth strict parameters, I had given out boundaries left, right, and center, and there was no obscurity in the accountability I was demanding from her.

I was demanding actions from her that were right, and ethical, and true. There should be no discussion about it. There should be no if's, and's, or but's.

My girl side-eyed me. Oh yes, she did.

"Well... how about you give me $20, and I'll do it?" 

And then I did laugh. She -- without a centimeter of ground to stand on -- tried to take over the whole turf in her terms and conditions. I'll do it if you...

As soon as I laughed, she knew I was onto her game. There was a moment of dichotomy where she went from mischievous questioning to slumped shoulders and a mouth twisted in disappointment when she realized I wasn't going to give in. 

If is one of the first sight words I teach my kindergartners to read. It's two letters long and exactly follows phonics rules. It's one of the simplest words to sound out in the English language. And it's got one of the biggest meanings.

It denotes two sides to anything. It shows dark to light, it gives light to dark. If is the counterweight to the other side.

Exodus 10 introduces us to plagues #8 and #9: locusts and darkness respectively. At the beginning of the chapter, Moses and Aaron go back to Pharaoh according to the Lord's instructions. He and Aaron reiterate the same message the Lord has given them from Day 1: "Let My people go."

You know, they talk about this three-day festival in the desert where they need to go and worship the Lord. I wonder if that festival was truly ever a thing -- like, if Pharaoh had said, "Sure, go ahead, y'all. Have fun," if they would have skipped out for three days... and then come back. And maybe that's why the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart for so long... so that he comes to the point where he summons Moses and Aaron and tells them to leave... without conditions. "'Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.' The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. 'For otherwise,' they said, 'we will all die!'" (Exodus 12:31-33)

These words only come after the last plague, when the firstborn of every household in Egypt dies. They only come after Pharaoh is broken.

Back in plagues #8 and #9, Pharaoh is still trying to set terms and conditions. Moses says: "If you refuse to let them go, [God] will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians..." Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh (Exodus 10:4-6).

The Egyptians may be slow learners, but by plague #8, they've figured out that when Moses says something is coming... it's coming. And these officials, who just know that by the next day, are going to be killing locusts as fast as they can, turn to Pharaoh. "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?" (Exodus 10:7).

There's a bit of contrast here with Pharaoh's responses to Moses and Aaron. The very first time Moses and Aaron make their demand: "Let My people go," Pharaoh says: "Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go."

As plagues come and plagues go, Pharaoh-the-hard-of-heart gradually and incrementally learns Who the Lord is that He has denied over and over again. He goes from direct and arrogant refusals: No way! -- to bargaining. 

Terms and conditions. 

Just before plague #8 hits, Pharaoh says, "Wellllll... go worship the Lord your God..."

Wait... really? We can go?

The inevitable term/condition crops up. "But just who will be going?" Pharaoh asks.

Moses glances at Aaron. "Uh... we will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord."

And Pharaoh sees exactly what is happening: nothing left behind as collateral. Nothing that would make the Israelites return. His entire slave force walking out on him with no guarantee that he'll ever get his capital investment back again.

He snorts. "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."

Pharaoh answers God back: MY terms. MY conditions.

God will have none of it. Pharaoh hasn't an inch of ground to stand on, yet he's bent on taking the whole turf. So God tells Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail."

So Moses does. "[The locusts] invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail -- everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt" (Exodus 10:14-15).

And Pharaoh looks at the terms and conditions he's demanded of the Lord, and he realizes his oft-repeated mistake. "Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, 'I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me'" (Exodus 10:16-17)

Pharaoh goes from bartering to back-pedaling. He -- the one who arrogantly said: "I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go..." says: "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more..."

Consequences are painful things, but when we so blindly, stubbornly, repeatedly ram our heads against the wall over and over and over again, we can expect to come away with some bumps and bruises. Pharaoh's officials tell him: "Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?" 

Egypt is ruined by divine will. God is determined that Egypt will never again enslave and oppress His people. So He hardens Pharaoh's heart. 

I wonder if we have ever seen examples of this in our time? Don't you? Have we seen a nation so bent on ousting God from among us that we arrogantly proclaim: Who is the Lord that we should obey Him? Have we seen a nation so hard-hearted and stubborn that when "plagues" sweep across our land, we double-down in our unbelief? "The will of God is of no concern to this congress," say our politicians. I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go. 

Just what exactly is happening here? Given the plagues, disasters, and general stripping down of our nation, I wonder if the Lord isn't preparing us for the awesome event of freedom.

Freedom from terms and conditions. Freedom from if. If you worship God, then you're a racist. A xenophobe. A fill-in-the-blank -- I've heard a lot of terms applied to people who truly want to worship the Lord, no holds barred.

God demands wholeness. God demands all of us. We don't leave anything back. We don't leave our women and children. We don't leave our flocks and herds in Egypt. We worship God with everything that we have, everything we are.

No conditions. No ifs.

A God who loves us unconditionally shouldn't have conditions attached to our returned love for Him.