Divine Deceptions
There is one thing that is often ignored in the story of Moses, and that is the lies that he repeated to the Children of Israel on YHVH's behalf.
Remember, YHVH told Moses his plan to take the Jews out of Egypt and relocate them in another land "flowing with milk and honey". (3:18). And later, Moses and Aaron tell the Children of Israel (Aaron did the talking), as their first act as prophets, that this was God's plan. (4:30).
And yet, rather than, as the Charlton Heston version of the story depicted, be honest with Pharaoh and say "Let my people go!", Moses (through Aaron) said:
5:1 - "Send out My people so that they may celebrate Me in the wilderness", followed by a declaration that they would only need three days off to worship their God who lived, as we learned in 3:1, on a mountain outside of Egypt. He then further lies and adlibs with, "If we don't go, YHVH will kill us with sword and pestilence."
At that point, Pharaoh might have chuckled as the bizarre claim and sent them off packing. And Pharaoh knew it was all a lie, and says, "let them not engage in words of lies" (5:9).
in 7:16 - "Send My people out into the wilderness that they may serve me." And again in 7:26, 8:16, 9:1, 9:13, and so on.
At no point is Moses told to tell Pharaoh the truth, and at no point does Aaron tell the truth to the Pharaoh.
When Pharaoh is fed up and willing to send them, Moses almost lets the cat out of the bag when Pharaoh asks him (10:8), "Which ones will go [worship YHVH]?" and the response is "Everyone! Young, old, adult, child, and all of our cattle and flocks. Pharaoh's response in 10:10-11 indicates that he knows that this 3-day festival is a ruse and tells Moses to take the men and go worship, since that is what he asked for! He called Moses' bluff. And, of course, there's another plague in response.
After being fed up again, Pharaoh is willing (10:24) to even let the children go, but still wants the cattle and flocks to remain to ensure that they will return. But Moses won't have that. "Not a hoof will be left here!" (10:26).
Righteous Theft?
In verse 11:2, we have YHVH telling Moses to tell the people, who will be leaving Egypt (as far as the Egyptians were concerned, it was for a 3-day holiday), to borrow silver and gold vessels from the locals. The next verse tells us that the people were impressed with what YHVH had done, and were also impressed with Moses, and did so.
Now let's go back for a moment to verse 3:22 - "But every woman will ask/borrow from [Egyptian] neighbor, and of her that dwells in her house, vessels of silver and gold...and you will exploit/despoil Egypt."
While שאל can mean "borrow" as well as "ask", is it clear that this asking is for the intent of taking from others and not returning them, to benefit from another's loss.
So YHVH's intent was clear, and in the later text when they "borrow" the items, the intent is to keep them. And this "requesting" was a ruse, since the intent was to take all of the wealth of the Egyptians and leave Egypt, just as YHVH had promised Moses, and earlier, Abraham (Genesis 15:14).
While this is just a myth, some people take these types of stories seriously, or, at least, more seriously than others.
Here is a fun article about a prominent legal scholar, several years ago, had prepared a lawsuit "against Jews around the world over gold allegedly stolen in biblical times during the Jewish exodus from Egypt".
Conclusion
The idea of a God telling His prophet to lie, or to have him tell others to lie, seems a bit contradictory to the modern view of how we hold our Gods, but in ancient days, lying and taking what you wanted was part of the theology of the Gods of the times.
The idea of a Divine Deception, while contrary to modern theists, is quite compatible with ancient beliefs, which is expressed in this week's parashah.
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