Contemplative Bible Reading

Exodus 8:26 (New Living Translation)

But Moses replied, “That wouldn’t be right. The Egyptians detest the sacrifices that we offer to the LORD our God. Look, if we offer our sacrifices here where they Egyptians can see us, they will stone us…

Moses had been asking Pharaoh for permission to take the children of Israel off into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD. This is at a time before the LORD gave His people His law that included great details on sacrifices.

So what were these Israelite sacrifices? Why were they detestable to the Egyptians?

For the first question, my guess is that they were animal sacrifices. This goes back to the time of Abel and how he shed an animal’s blood.

For the second question, my guess is that the Egyptians detested everything the Israelites did in their religion. The  Egyptians were quite religious with many gods—one for everything important in their lives. These Israelites were a pathetic people; they were slaves that made bricks from mud and straw. No wonder the Egyptians detested the Israelites and everything they did. The pinnacle of detest was that the Israelites only had one god, and they worshipped that god by killing perfectly good animals.

Still, Moses and the Israelites understood how the Egyptians despised them and their worship of the LORD.