Hollywood created the “Let My People Go” idea, but, in reality, all Moses asked for was a three-day furlough to worship God. A statement to that effect is made at least three times in the exodus story. Nowhere is there an indication that he intends for the Israelites not to return. This apparent lie of purpose therefore seems to come from God Himself, forcing one to ask, “Could God not have found a more moral upright way of taking His Chosen People out of Egypt, without resorting to deceptions and untruths?” Does God lack power that He need resort to deceit?
The simplest approach is to suggest that this was not a real lie but one of omission: the Israelites said they were leaving for the three days. They never once said that they were not coming back. If that is what Pharaoh assumes, well, then that’s his problem. Moses says that they would go and sacrifice to God for three days, and leaves out that they would then continue on to freedom, let the Egyptians think whatever they want.
This answer is unsatisfactory; it is still dishonest. Yet many commentators opine that sometimes deception is necessary and therefore justified. Moreover, in this case, would such an attept to deceive be believed? What dictator would allow a whole work force to leave overnight? In addition, God had promised Abraham that the Israelites would leave Egypt with “riches” — which could only happen by means of the Israelites’ “borrowing” gold and silver from their Egyptian neighbors. And who would have given up their wealth had they believed the Israelites were gone for good? Finally, had Pharaoh and his nation known that Moses’ people were leaving for good, they would not have chased them, as they did upon the realization that they had fundamentally moved on. But wasn’t the Egyptian army’s demise at the bottom of the sea part of the goal?
