Not a Hoof Left Behind
Sunday Study: “Not a Hoof Left Behind”
Old Testament: Exodus 10:24–26
New Testament: Philippians 3:10–16
“God does not demand perfection before movement,
but He does demand that we stop negotiating what stays behind.”
New Testament
Philippians 3:10-16
Keep on Growing
10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
Pressing toward the Goal
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
Chiastic Structure
Philippians 3:10–16
A — Resurrection participation (vv.10–11)
B — Not yet perfected (v.12a)
C — Pressing because Christ seized us (v.12b)
D — One thing: forward focus (v.13)
C′ — Pressing toward the call (v.14)
B′ — Maturity with difference (v.15)
A′ — Hold fast to attained progress (v.16)
Old Testament
Shemot (Exodus) Chapter 10
24 Pharaoh called for Moses and said, “Go, serve God—only your flocks and cattle must remain behind. Even your children may go with you.”
25 Moses replied, “You will even provide us with animals for feast-offerings and ascent-offerings so that we may offer them up to God, our God.
26 Our livestock will also go along with us: not a hoof will remain. For we will take from them to serve God, our God, and we will not know with what we will serve God until we arrive there.”
27 Yet God made Pharaoh stubborn, and he was not willing to send forth the people.
28 Pharaoh then said to him, “Leave my presence! Take care never to see my face again, for the day you see my face you will die!”
29 Moses replied, “You have spoken rightly; I will never see your face again.”
Chiastic Structure
Exodus 10:24–13:16
A — Conditional freedom offered
B — Partial obedience refused
C — Relationship severed
D — Midnight judgment (decisive act of God)
C′ — Authority reversed
B′ — Full departure accomplished
A′ — Total ownership reclaimed by God
Discussion Questions
“Not a Hoof Left Behind” — Philippians 3:10–16 / Exodus 10:24–26
1. When you hear Pharaoh say, “Go—but leave something behind,” what does that sound like in real life today?
2. Paul says he’s forgetting what’s behind—but he clearly remembers his story. What do you think he’s actually letting go of?
3. Paul warns, “Hold fast to what you’ve already attained.” Why do you think regression is sometimes more tempting than stagnation?
4. Israel leaves Egypt with a mixed multitude, and Paul allows disagreement among the mature. What does that tell us about growing together as a community?
Follow-up
How do communities protect direction without demanding perfection?
What does patience look like when people are growing at different speeds?
Reflection Question
What would it look like this week to keep moving forward without giving anything back?
Pardes - Reflection
Peshat (Plain):
Israel leaves fully; Paul presses forward.
Remez (Hint):
Partial obedience is the real enemy.
Drash (Interpretive):
God advances people who are unfinished but uncompromising.
Sod (Deep):
Redemption begins when identity outruns instruction.
RESPONSE
Leader: When freedom is offered halfway—
People: Not a hoof will remain.
Leader: When clarity comes later—
People: We still move forward.
Leader: When growth feels unfinished—
People: We hold what we’ve attained.
Word Study
1. כָּבֵד — Kāvēd
Meaning: heavy, weighty, stubborn
Where it lives: Pharaoh’s heart (Exod. 10:1; throughout the plagues)
Why it matters:
Pharaoh is not confused—he is weighted down by control.
Stubbornness here is not rebellion; it’s refusal to release leverage.
Sunday takeaway:
What we refuse to release becomes too heavy to carry forward.
2. עָבַד — ‘Āvad
Meaning: to serve, to work, to worship
Where it lives: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me” (Exod. 10:3)
Why it matters:
Same word for:
slave labor in Egypt
worship in freedom
The question is never whether we will serve—
only whom.
Sunday takeaway:
Freedom is not the absence of service, but the right direction of it.
3. זָכַר — Zākar
Meaning: to remember, to mark, to rehearse
Where it lives: Passover memory commands (Exod. 12–13)
Why it matters:
Biblical remembering is active, not nostalgic.
To remember is to order your life around a truth.
Sunday takeaway:
What God delivers, memory protects.
4. חָזַק — Ḥāzaq
Meaning: to be strong, to seize, to hold fast
Where it lives: Throughout Exodus (God “strengthens,” people “take hold”)
Why it matters:
This word bridges perfectly to Philippians 3:16
(“hold fast to what you have attained”).
Sunday takeaway:
Faith is not fragile optimism—it is disciplined grip.
