Messianic Education Trust
		Always Being Ready     Bo   (Ex 10:1 - 13:16)

Shemot/Exodus 10:11   And he drove them out from the presence of Pharaoh.

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

Although Moshe and Aharon have certainly been given fairly short shrift by Pharaoh on each of the previous occasions when they have been in before him to bring The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem's demand to "Let My people go!" (Shemot 5:1) to him, or to announce the next plague in the sequence that will eventually lead to Israelite freedom from Egypt, this is the first time that they have actually been driven out, forcibly ejected from Pharaoh's presence. They have been treated with varying degrees of distaste, displeasure, scorn, disbelief and ridicule and, even when called back to hear an admittance on sin against HaShem and receive a promise of release, it has never actually been kept. Were it not for the steady authority of HaShem, sending Moshe and Aharon back to see Pharaoh again and again, lesser mortals might have given up and stopped taking the risk of Pharaoh turning really nasty and deciding to shoot the messengers!

On this occasion, HaShem's words - "If you refuse to let My people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts on your territory" (Shemot 10:4, NJPS) - together with the usual demand for release of the Israelites, include the threat of a plague of locusts to eat and devour everything that had survived the hailstorms in the last plague. There will be so many locusts that they will fill all the houses and palaces throughout the land of Egypt as they search for something to eat: "They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They shall devour the surviving remnant that was left to you after the hail; and they shall eat away all your trees that grow in the field" (v. 5, NJPS). After delivering HaShem's message, Moshe turns on his heels and leaves Pharaoh to consider his position.

We are not told exactly how Pharaoh receives this ultimatum or what he thinks about the matter; perhaps he is taking a few moments to do a quick risk assessment and consider what he might be able to manage in the way of damage limitation - just how many locusts would it take to fill up the palace anyway and would that be to head height or all the way to the ceiling? But he is interrupted by his courtiers who are, by now, more than fed up with the plagues and seem to be able to see the writing on the wall much more clearly than Pharaoh: "How long shall this one be a snare to us? Let the men go to worship the L-RD their G-d! Are you not yet aware that Egypt is lost?" (v. 7, NJPS). Strong words to address to an absolute monarch who considers himself to be divine! So Pharaoh calls Moshe and Aharon back and tells them that they may go out into the desert to worship HaShem. Then, almost as an afterthought, he asks who exactly is going? "Why everyone, of course," Moshe replies, "We will all go, young and old: we will go with our sons and daughters, our flocks and herds; for we must observe the L-RD's festival" (v. 9, NJPS).

At this point, Pharaoh - who had presumably been trying to sound magnanimous rather than brow-beaten - almost chokes. "Not a chance," he rasps, "that just proves you are up to something fishy. The men may go, but the children stay behind to make sure that you come back" (vv. 10-11, paraphrase). Leaving that on the table - permission for the men only to go - Pharaoh then drives Moshe and Aharon out of his presence; we don't know whether he gave an order for that to be done by his staff or whether - in his anger - he actually got up from his throne and pushed them away himself, "as if to demonstrate his resolve."¹ Robert Alter comments that "some critics, in an effort to serve logic, emend the Hebrew text to read 'they were driven out'. But it is not out of keeping with biblical usage to have the place from which they are driven even though Pharaoh is also the antecedent of the 'he' who does the driving. Moshe and Aharon were brought back into the court in a passive construction, but now Pharaoh actively and unambiguously drives them out."²

Thomas Dozeman records that "the scene ends when [Pharaoh] drives out Moshe from his presence. The motif of 'driving out' Moshe foreshadows the exodus event when the Egyptian people will 'drive out' the Israelites from their midst (12:39)."³ Arguing that Pharaoh is only acting within character, Peter Enns suggests that "Pharaoh's reaction, then, is not only understandable, but perfectly expected because it is ordained by G-d. Thus, when Moshe and Aharon leave Pharaoh's presence they are not humiliated but triumphant in the knowledge that G-d's plan is working itself out."⁴ According to that, even though they have been driven out, Moshe and Aharon rejoice because that very action ensures that the plague of locusts will go ahead and so moves the eventual release of the Israelites forward. Perhaps they personally had been given a foresight of what Rav Sha'ul would later write: "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because G-d's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Romans 5:3-5, ESV).

Yeshua makes it clear to the disciples, when He sends them out ahead of Him to prepare the way for Him in the towns and villages of the Galil, that not everyone, not every village, would respond favourably to their message: "And He said to them, 'Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them'" (Mark 6:10-11, ESV). Luke reports exactly that situation happening during Rav Sha'ul's first journey with Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia: "But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Sha'ul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:50-52, ESV). The disciples were able to rejoice, knowing that HaShem was at work with the message they had shared there and were able to return there on their way home: "they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of G-d" (14:21-22, ESV).

It seems, as it was with Moshe and Aharon before Pharaoh, that re-engagement after rejection is a key characteristic of the disciples of Yeshua. Are we always ready to re-engage in a conversation or relationship even in the face of previous rejection? Do we have what it takes to turn the other cheek and continue to share the love and good news of Yeshua, when it has already been refused? Yeshua told His disciples, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:44-45, ESV). While prayer for our enemies can often be done at a distance, loving them will usually require presence - actually seeing them or being beside them - in order to show practical acts of love. Sha'ul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of Yeshua or the story of His life, instead to "share in suffering for the gospel by the power of G-d" (2 Timothy 1:8, ESV).

We should always be ready to speak about or show the signs of the kingdom as the Spirit leads us. If that witness is rejected, then we have two options: to disengage, hoping to re-engage on another occasion, or to continue the conversation where we are. Like Moshe and Aharon, we may find ourselves driven away or out of the context, so have to disengage. But, just like them, we may be called to re-engage; Moshe and Aharon were summoned by Pharaoh three more times: to end the plague of locusts, at the end of the plague of darkness and, in the middle of the night, to be told to leave Egypt. But if they hadn't persisted through the entire set of plagues, ignoring Pharaoh's displeasure and scorn, always returning and re-engaging, persisting on delivering the next message in spite of the potential risks, then HaShem would have had to have found someone else. It may take many contacts for someone to finally show interest in an introduction to Yeshua and the relationship may be a little bumpy along the way. We must endure, develop character and maintain hope to reach everyone - even our enemy - with HaShem's invitation to be reconciled with Him and enter the kingdom of G-d.

1. - Terence E. Fretheim, Exodus, Interpretation, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), page 127.

2. - Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses, (New York, Norton, 2004), page 254.

3. - Thomas B. Dozeman, Exodus, Eerdmans Critical Commentaries, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmanns, 2009), page 242.

4. - Peter Enns, Exodus, The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), page 227.

Further Study: Matthew 5:12, 10:11-14

Application: Are you estranged from someone because of Yeshua and hurting because of their rejection? Ask Yeshua what He wants to do about that and what His strategy might be for closing up the gap and getting back on speaking terms so that the conversation about life can resume and a way be found to bring them into the kingdom.

Comment - 08:50 18Jan26 PR: Consistency, endurance, love and obedience always pays off. Even though misunderstood or dispised, truth affects those who have eyes to see. Even if the original intent and person to whom the message is given is rejected, others who observe will be blessed and come to the light. Eventually, all will bow before the King of kings. The journey differs for each of us. How we present G-Ds message is critical. The invitation must be conveyed with authority but also with conern for the one to whom it is being delivered. The message is a warning that will hopefully be taken seriously so as to avoid continued destruction. Human pride fights against the obvious because we desire to hold onto our power

Buy your own copy of the Drash Book for Exodus/Shemot now at Amazon US or Amazon UK.

© Jonathan Allen, 2026

Messianic Trust Home Page	Join Weekly Email	More Weekly Drashot
Last Week	Support the work of producing this weekly commentary	Next Week
Last Year - 5785	Scripture Index