Getting all Israel to actually obey Moses and depart from Egypt, all of them on the same day, is something of a miracle in itself. In seeing how God engineered this, it is insightful to look at the extraction of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, from Sodom.[1] In Genesis 18, God informed Abraham that the wickedness of Sodom had moved Him to destroy the place. Abraham protested that there might be some righteous still in the city and that it would be unjust to destroy the righteous with the wicked. Thereupon God sent two angels to inquire. It quickly became apparent that Lot and his family were the only ones in the city worth saving. Having determined that, the angels decided simply to remove Lot and then destroy all the remainder.

This decision became a problem because Lot and his family did not want to leave. It was not the case that Lot was under any misconception about the nature of the Sodomites. In Genesis 13 when Lot and Abraham decided to separate, Lot chose to go to Sodom even though it was known that, “the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.” Lot and his family had put down roots in Sodom. Lot’s daughters were engaged to local men who also had no intention of going anywhere else.

Genesis 19 recounts the events. When the angels entered Sodom, they intended to spend the night in the town square. Lot, knowing how that would go, persuaded them to spend the night in his own house. There he bid them to remove their shoes and wash their feet; after which he made them a meal involving unleavened bread. Later that night, when the men of Sodom pounded on Lot’s door to get at his guests, Lot went outside to try and dissuade them. When the negotiation failed, the angels blinded the men in the mob and pulled Lot back into his house. The angels informed Lot of their intent to destroy the city and bade him to flee to the hills with his family. Lot, unable to persuade his future sons-in-law to leave, dithered. Finally, the angels had to grab his hand and drag him out of the city telling him to flee and not look back. Once outside, Lot, rather than fleeing to the hills asked to be allowed to go to the nearest town. On the way, his wife ignored the advice of the angels and looked back upon the destruction of her city and home. She did not survive, being turned into a pillar of salt. The whole sad incident culminated with Lot and his daughters (expelled from Zoar, the town near Sodom where they had fled) living in a cave in the hills. Since they had no dowery or prospects, the daughters got themselves pregnant by their father.

Consider now the Exodus. As the plagues progressed Pharaoh and his advisors knew that the destruction of Egypt was caused by their defiance of God and failure to allow Israel to leave. As the Egyptians became more and more desperate, their attitude toward Israel changed. At first it was derision that their slaves should demand anything at all, much less permission to leave the country for three days. As the power of God became more and more manifest, their attitude became more economic. They did not wish to lose their slaves with all that meant. Finally, they came to hate the Israelites and fear their God. They literally drove them from the country. (Ex 10:28 - 11:1) By the end of the plagues, Israel, unlike Lot, had no choice about whether to leave their homes. Egypt was no longer an accommodating place.

Moses’ instructions for the night of the Passover clearly mirror the extraction of Lot from Sodom. Both events involved unleavened bread. Whereas Lot had his guests remove their shoes and wash their feet, the Israelites were to eat the meal in haste, dressed to travel with their shoes on. When confronted by danger, Lot went out of his house to address the mob. The Israelites were instructed to stay in the house until morning. Lot asked to go to a town that was close to Sodom. God specifically avoided taking the Israelites by the shortest route. Finally, Lot’s wife looked back, perhaps nostalgically. Standing by the Red Sea, God informs Moses and Israel that they will never see the Egyptians again.

The net of all this is that God clearly knew the attractive power of stability and routine. For Lot, the obvious corruption and wickedness of the town where he lived was insufficient to make him leave. For a great many people, even the brutal hardships of slavery are insufficient to make them move. Time and again in the wilderness the Israelites complained about being away from Egypt and desired to return. This knowledge on God’s part caused Him to lead Israel into the wilderness beyond the limits of their food and water. Since both food and water depended upon God’s miraculous provision, it was not logistically possible for Israel to return to Egypt. That, perhaps is one of the reasons why manna could not be saved overnight. (Ex 16:19-21) There surely would have been some who would save up the excess each day and use that supply to leave the camp and return to Egypt.

[1] This insight was developed by Ari Levisohn, a scholar at AlephBeta.org. https://www.alephbeta.org/into-the-verse-podcast/bo-should-we-stay-or-should-we-go