Exit Instructions for Moses

Exodus 3

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Sinai) , the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. 

God came to meet Moses while Moses was at work, on the job.

It's interesting to me that Horeb was already identified as the mountain of God.  Is Moses foreshadowing the Hebrew flight into the desert, toward the mountain - and naming it accordingly?

He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 

Whenever I read this section of Exodus, my minds-eye sees Charlton Heston as Moses, and the voice of God coming from the cartoon fire swirling around the desert bush.

I wonder about that burning bush.  It's a somewhat lowly item to become a representation of the glory of God.  Maybe that's the key -- God's glory enveloping the ordinary to make it fit for his work.

It also mentions that God called from the bush (or from the midst of the bush). Whenever God is in the midst of something, it's important.  God later describes himself as jealous, and a consuming fire of judgement.  But in this case, the bush was not consumed -- a fire of mercy.

Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 

It's never mentioned that God asked Abraham, Isaac, or Israel to remove their shoes in His presence. There is something going on here.  At a surface level - it's a way to get Moses's attention.  I've seen pictures of Muslims removing their shoes as they enter a mosque.  And removing shoes is customary when entering a Japanese household.  And I always had to take off my shoes when I went into my Aunt Clara's house.

In this case, I think God is asking Moses to show respect, and also to remove barriers between them.

And as we read through the Bible, we'll see instances of Moses symbolically representing the Law.  In this case, the Law is shown as giving honor to God.

And, in an echo of Jesus's life - we see here that this patch of ground is not holy itself; it's due to the presence of God.  In a similar way, Jesus made the unclean clean by the power of His touch.  The touch of God made plain ground into Holy Ground.  The touch of Jesus upon the unclean: a dead child, a woman with an issue of blood, a demoniac in a graveyard - made them healed and whole and clean; and did not taint Jesus at all.

And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 

The Lord lists six enemies that must be conquered in the land.  (We will later see a list of seven enemies when Joshua is called to lead Israel).

• The first enemy were the Canaanites and their name means humiliation, embarrassment, and or shame.
• The second was the Hittites. Hitti means fear or terror
• The third was the Amorites. Amori means Pride and the need for public approval (rebellion is the behavior exhibited)
• The fourth one was the Perrizites. Periz means to separate, become fragmented and have no boundaries
• The fifth were the Hivites. Hivi means smallness and too much rest (depression)
• The sixth was the Jebusites meaning oppression

The sequence of these enemies will change, and the Girgashites will be added to the roll, as Israel picks up additional bad habits.

And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”  

The tense of the verbs in this translation makes it sounds like the cry of the people sure took it's sweet time making it's way to heaven.

In any case, God has called to Moses and He has given Moses a test to complete.  We've already seen the picture in Jacob's life of the hardship that comes from ignoring God's directions.  I'm sure Moses won't try to make excuses.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 

Moses, Moses, Moses.  It's NOT about who you are, is it?

 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

God sets him straight.  Now Moses will certainly knock off with the excuse-making.

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 

When Jacob asked the Angel of the Lord His name, Jacob was rebuffed.  It looks like God is going to be more personal with Moses.

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”

This name God gives Himself stretches beyond space and time.  It can also be translated as I am what I am, or I will be what I will be.  And the Who's and What's and the Am and Will Be are all equally correct versions of His name.

Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה) is the first of three responses given to Moses when he asks for God's name 

Ehyeh is the first-person singular imperfect form of hayah, "to be". Ehyeh is usually translated "I will be", since the imperfect tense in Hebrew denotes actions that are not yet completed. Asher is an ambiguous pronoun which can mean, depending on context, "that", "who", "which", or "where".

Although Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh is generally rendered in English "I am that I am", better renderings might be "I will be what I will be" or "I will be who I will be", or "I shall prove to be whatsoever I shall prove to be" or even "I will be because I will be".

Other renderings include: "I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE"; "I Will Become whatsoever I please." "I am The Being" or, "I am The Existing One"

And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” 

God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 

Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,  and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

Are you getting all this, Moses?

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 

That sounds simple enough.

And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Plundering the Egyptians.  God told Abram that would occur.  But why?  Isn't plundering wrong?

In an earthly sense, it could be considered as back wages for the Israelites kept in slavery for over 400 years.

Note: God promised Abram that his descendants would be sojourners for 400 years, but Moses delayed God's plan by 30 additional years.  We await a good explanation from the predestination camp on how this is even possible.