NOT ONE HOOF

Pharaoh learned another way
to say
No.

He learned to say,
How far?

First,
worship—
but stay.

Then,
go—
but not very far.

Then,
the men may go—
but leave the children.

Then,
all of you may go—
but leave the cattle.

You do not have to hold everything
to keep a claim on someone.

Sometimes
you only have to keep
something
behind.

I. WORSHIP—BUT STAY

You can sing if you want to.
You can pray if you want to.

Just do it here.

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron
and said,

“Go ye, sacrifice to your God
in the land.”
— Exodus 8:25 (KJV)

He was not afraid of the song.

He was not afraid of the prayer.

He was afraid of the walk.

He was afraid of the leaving.

He could live with a people who sang
as long as they stayed
where he put them.

He could let them bow their heads
as long as they never
lifted their feet.

But Moses said,

“It is not meet so to do.”
— Exodus 8:26 (KJV)

Because God had not sent Moses
to negotiate
for better conditions
inside Egypt.

The LORD had said,

“Let my people go,
that they may serve me.”
— Exodus 8:1 (KJV)

Not let them sing
a little louder.

Not let them feel
a little better.

Let them go.

Pharaoh was willing
to let them sacrifice

as long as Egypt
still kept the worshipers.

He was offering them
a place to worship.

God had commanded Pharaoh
to let His people go.

That is the difference.

Pharaoh had found
another way
to say
No.

A reasonable voice.

A compromise
that almost sounded
like permission.

You can worship.

Just stay.

The call was never
to make Egypt
more comfortable.

The word of the LORD was:

“Let my people go.”
— Exodus 8:1 (KJV)

II. GO—BUT NOT VERY FAR

Then Pharaoh moved the line.

He said,

“I will let you go,
that ye may sacrifice
to the LORD your God
in the wilderness;
only ye shall not go
very far away.”
— Exodus 8:28 (KJV)

Go.

But not very far.

Leave—

but stay close enough
to come back.

Walk—

but do not put
too much distance
between you
and Egypt.

Pharaoh moved the line
just enough
to sound reasonable.

Go.

Just not far.

Because there is something
about people
who almost leave.

The road back
looks shorter
when you are tired.

Hunger can make
the old place
look better
than it was.

So Pharaoh gave them
steps.

Not miles.

The feeling
of moving

without the truth
of being gone.

Go—

but keep Egypt
close.

Close enough
to remember the road.

Close enough
to turn around.

Close enough
for Pharaoh
to believe
he could still
get them back.

That was the compromise.

The first offer was:

Worship—
but stay.

Now it was:

Go—

but let me decide
how far.

A chain
does not become freedom
because it gets longer.

And permission
is not freedom

when the one
who held you

still believes
he can measure
the distance
you are allowed to go.

God had commanded Pharaoh:

“Let my people go,
that they may serve me.”
— Exodus 8:1 (KJV)

Not almost.

Not a little.

Let
My people
go.

III. GO—BUT LEAVE THEM

Then Pharaoh
changed the terms again.

Moses had already told him
who was going.

“We will go with our young
and with our old,
with our sons
and with our daughters,
with our flocks
and with our herds
will we go.”
— Exodus 10:9 (KJV)

Everyone.

The young.

The old.

The sons.

The daughters.

But Pharaoh answered,

“Go now ye that are men,
and serve the LORD.”
— Exodus 10:11 (KJV)

The men could go.

The children
would stay.

And now
the compromise
was no longer about
how far they could go.

It was about
who they would have
to leave behind.

Go worship.

Go serve the LORD.

Walk into the wilderness.

But leave your sons
in Egypt.

Leave your daughters
under Pharaoh.

You do not have to keep
the man

if you can keep
what the man
will come back for.

A father can walk
a long way from Egypt

and still spend
every step
looking back.

His feet may leave.

But if his children
are still there,

his heart knows
exactly
where they are.

Moses did not agree.

He had already answered:

“We will go with our young
and with our old,
with our sons
and with our daughters.”
— Exodus 10:9 (KJV)

Not only the men.

Not only the strong.

Not only those
old enough
to walk the road
for themselves.

The young
would go.

The old
would go.

The sons
would go.

The daughters
would go.

The LORD had said,

“Let my people go,
that they may serve me.”
— Exodus 8:1 (KJV)

And Pharaoh
did not get
to decide

which of God's people
he would let go

and which ones
he would keep.

They would not leave Egypt
in pieces.

They were going
together.

IV. GO—BUT LEAVE IT

Then Pharaoh
offered one more compromise.

“Go ye, serve the LORD;
only let your flocks
and your herds be stayed.”
— Exodus 10:24 (KJV)

Go.

All of you.

Take the men.

Take the women.

Take the young.

Take the old.

But leave
the flocks.

Leave
the herds.

Pharaoh had moved again.

First:

Worship—
but stay.

Then:

Go—
but not very far.

Then:

Go—
but leave the children.

Now:

Go—

but leave
what belongs to you.

But Moses answered,

“Our cattle also shall go with us;
there shall not an hoof
be left behind;
for thereof must we take
to serve the LORD our God.”
— Exodus 10:26 (KJV)

Not one hoof.

Simple.

Short.

Clear.

Moses did not
split the difference.

He did not offer
half the herd
for the door.

The cattle would go.

The flocks would go.

The herds would go.

Because they would need them
to serve the LORD.

This was not a trip
with a road back
in mind.

This was
a leaving.

And Pharaoh
would not decide

what part
of their departure
he was allowed
to keep.

The people would go.

The children would go.

The flocks would go.

The herds would go.

Nothing Pharaoh
had been told
to release

would remain
because he had found
one more compromise.

Pharaoh had learned
another way
to say
No.

But Moses
had already given
the answer.

“There shall not an hoof
be left behind.”
— Exodus 10:26 (KJV)

Not one hoof.

V. WHAT DID YOU LEAVE BEHIND?

First Corinthians,
chapter 10,
verse 11 says,

“Now all these things
happened unto them
for ensamples:
and they are written
for our admonition,
upon whom the ends
of the world are come.”
— 1 Corinthians 10:11 (KJV)

So this story
was written
for us too.

And perhaps
the question is not only,

Did I leave?

Perhaps the question is,

What did I leave behind?

What did you keep
close enough
to call it yours,

but far enough away
to call it gone?

What still gets called,

just in case?

What old road
still looks familiar
when the day gets hard?

What door
did you close—

but not quite?

Because the road back
can look shorter
when you are tired.

And what you left
can start looking different
when you miss it.

You can leave
with your feet

and still keep
looking back
with your heart.

So ask the question.

Not,

Did I leave?

But,

What did I leave behind?

What still gets
a small place
in your plans?

What still gets
one open door?

What still gets
one reason
to go back?

What still gets

one hoof?

Moses said,

“There shall not an hoof
be left behind.”
— Exodus 10:26 (KJV)

Not one hoof.

The story
was written
for our admonition.

So perhaps
it is worth asking:

What are you still
keeping close enough

to return to?

VI. AND GOD BROUGHT THEM OUT

Pharaoh had heard
the word of the LORD.

“Let my people go,
that they may serve me.”
— Exodus 8:1 (KJV)

And still
he held on.

But when Israel
finally walked out of Egypt,

they did not walk out
because Pharaoh
had become kind.

They walked out
because the LORD
had made a way.

The young went.

The old went.

The sons went.

The daughters went.

The flocks went.

The herds went.

The God
who had called them out

was the God
who brought them out.

Then Pharaoh
changed his mind.

He came after them

with his chariots,
his horsemen,
and his army.

The sea
stood before them.

Egypt
was behind them.

And the old master
was coming after
what he thought
still belonged to him.

But the LORD
made a way
through the sea.

Israel
walked through.

Pharaoh's army
followed.

And the waters
returned.

Exodus, chapter 14,
verse 28 says,

“And the waters returned,
and covered the chariots,
and the horsemen,
and all the host of Pharaoh
that came into the sea after them;
there remained not so much
as one of them.”
— Exodus 14:28 (KJV)

The people
kept going.

No Pharaoh
stood close enough now
to tell them

where they could worship,

how far
they could go,

who they had
to leave behind,

or what
they had to leave
in Egypt.

Every compromise
had been answered.

Worship—
but stay.

No.

Go—
but not very far.

No.

Go—
but leave the children.

No.

Go—
but leave the flocks
and the herds.

No.

The answer
had already been given:

“There shall not an hoof
be left behind.”
— Exodus 10:26 (KJV)

Not one hoof.

— YVN
LivingWord Creations Poetry

© ZoeYvonne · LivingWord Creations Poetry

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Romans 1:7