The Call of Moses (Exodus 1-4)
(1) Bible Study Questions
Read Exodus 1.
God’s people have been slaves for a long time? Why did God allow them to be slaves? Why had God waited this long to rescue his people? Has God been faithful to his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? (Gen 15:13-16)
Note Genesis 15:13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. […] 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” (Genesis 15:13-16)
How does even the cruelty of the Egyptians serve God’s purposes? (1:8-13)
What does Pharaoh want to happen to the Israelites? Does Pharaoh want the Israelites deported as foreigners? Why or why not?4.
Why doesn’t Pharaoh want the boys to live? How is this a risk to God’s promises to Abraham?
In what way does Pharaoh’s plan backfire?
How might this cruel plan shed light on the later judgment of God on Egypt?
Read Exodus 2.
What does the birth of a baby boy remind us of?
What does the baby being saved by a boat remind us of?
Where is the irony in what Pharaoh’s daughter does?
How do all these events reflect on Pharaoh’s scheme?
What do you think about Moses' response to the injustice he sees? (2:11-14)
How does Moses' experience reflect that of the people he will be called to save? How is it similar to that of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph?
Had God forgotten about Israel prior to raising up Moses? Why or why not? (cf. 2:24)
Read Exodus 3.
What will be the first job that Moses does in his new role for God? (3:11-12)
What is the significance of God revealing his name to Moses? (3:13-16; cf. John 8:58, where Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”) What do you think is the significance of the name itself?
Note: Yahweh is his name. Whenever you see capital L O R D in your English bibles, that stands for God’s personal name, YHWH. This follows an ancient convention that Yahweh’s name be read out as ‘Lord’. Yahweh is the same God who spoke with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And he is who he is. In other words, God is saying, I determine who I am. No one else names me or determines who I am. And Moses, if you want to know me, you go and do what I say, and watch what I do. Then you will get to know me and understand who I am. So Yahweh’s very name is a challenge to Moses to trust in him.
Why might God want Pharaoh to resist his will? What will God show by having to make Pharaoh let Israel go?
What is the significance of the great plunder that Israel will receive?
Read Genesis 4.
What is the significance of the three signs God gives Moses?
What has been motivating all of Moses’ questions?
How would you describe God’s response to Moses?
What can we learn about God from Moses’ interaction with him?
Note: The strange story at the end of chapter 4 suggests that Moses hadn’t circumcised his Son, Gershom in obedience to Genesis 17. As Moses is about to come out of exile, God prepares to kill him. Zipporah quickly circumcises her firstborn Gershom, and the blood turns Yahweh’s anger for her husband. Moses is the reluctant hero, unwilling to be part of Yahweh’s rescue operation. But this incident also prefigures the Passover. For Moses is Israel in miniature. And just as Israel will leave Egypt only through the blood the lamb, so Moses will leave Midian only through the blood of circumcision. This also is the way God works now, for God presented Jesus Christ as a sacrifice of atonement to turn aside his own anger and pass over our sin.
(2) Sermon Script
Reading Exodus 3:1-14, Coverage Exodus 1-4, Children’s talk on the birth and infancy narrative, ch 2:1-10.
Introduction: hope is kindled
Recently the movie ‘Amazing Grace’ was played at cinemas. A number of people from church went and saw it, including our youth group. It is the story of William Wilberforce, and others such as John Newton. They were Christians who saw that the slave trade in 18th century England was evil, and should be ended. And with the coming of Wilberforce, hope was kindled in the sugar fields of the West Indies. There is a scene were Wilberforce is told that slaves have heard that King Wilberforce is coming to rescue them. But it was not an easy victory. It took 20 years of perseverance to bring the trade to an end. And in the end they had to do it cleverly and use political strategy.
Yahweh preserves his people as promised (Exodus 1)
Well, Exodus is the book the describes how Israel will be freed. And God is the great liberator. But God doesn’t just snap his fingers and disapparate his people into the promised land. There are years of preparation and even political struggle before YHWH liberates his people. For God will free his people in the way that most shows his glory and power. And that will most train his people to depend upon him.
We pick up the story with Israel in Egypt. But now they are no longer just 70. They are a seething mass spreading out over the whole land. Israel teems (verse 7[1]) We pick up the story in Chapter 1 verse 7:
[B]ut the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them[2].
Just as God at creation blessed his creatures and said ‘go forth and multiply’. And blessed Noah who increased over the earth. So now, the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have become a reality. It has been a long time coming. For at the end of Genesis, Jacob entered Egypt numbering only 70[3]. But now at the beginning of Exodus, God has fulfilled the promise he repeated again and again throughout Genesis[4]. Israel is not a man but a nation.
Way back in Genesis 15, YHWH made this promise to Abraham:
13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. (Genesis 15:13-14 NIV)
The threat to the promise (verses 8-16)
Israel have multiplied. But they are still in Egypt. And Egypt is no longer a haven for them. And the new King mistreats Abraham’s descendants, just as YHWH promised.
This new Pharaoh only knows is what he sees. Joseph, and everything he did for Pharaoh, is forgotten. The fact that Pharaoh owns the land of Egypt because of Joseph is forgotten.
All this Pharaoh thinks is, 'These Israelites have invaded us. They breed like rabbits and have taken over. We’re the outsiders in our own country.' And so he plays the ‘race card’. They speak a different language, eat different food, keep to their own ghetto’s, and don’t assimilate. They are fundamentalists of a weird religion. They are a threat.
Do you know that feeling? Surely you do? Why did we have the Cronulla riots? And the reprisals at Maroubra? Because people felt the same sorts of feelings as the Pharaoh. Fear. Xenophobia. A fear of the foreigner. When this fear grips most people, they think: ‘Let’s ship ‘em out. Get them on the next plane and send them back to where they came from.'
But that’s not Pharaoh. No, that’s exactly what he DOESN’T want. Notice chapter 1 verses 10 and 11:
Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country[5]." So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. (Exodus 1:10-11 NIV)[6]
Pharaoh actually wants to keep the Israelites right where they are. They are too useful to deport. We see here why he is so stubborn, humanly speaking, throughout the book of Exodus. The Israelites built Pharaoh two cities. They are good for the economy.
But by the same token, they are too dangerous. We don’t want too many of them. So Pharaoh says to himself, ‘I will be wise’ (Ex 1:10). He wants them, but not too many.
Growth through suffering (verses 12, 20-21)
So his policy is keep them but control their population. His first solution is to oppress them. I don’t know how he thought that would help, but it didn’t. Chapter 1 verse 12:
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites (Exodus 1:12 NIV)
So his second solution is selective infanticide. Get the Hebrews to do it themselves. Exodus chapter 1 verse 16. He called the Hebrew midwives and gave this command.
"When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." (Exodus 1:16 NIV)
It’s the opposite of the results of the one child policy in China. In China in 2005, 118 boys were born to every 100 girls. Why? Abort the girls because we need to have boys. So by 2020, China will have 30 million more men than women[7]. But Pharaoh is seeking the opposite. He wants more Hebrew women than men. Why? Because he wants them as slaves but not an army. But again, this policy failed. The midwives feared God rather than men. In fact, the midwives themselves had children, compounding Pharaoh’s problems.
Yahweh preserves Moses (Exodus 1:22-2:14)
Threatened by Pharaoh (chapter 1 verse 22)
So Pharaoh adopts a third, more direct strategy. Ethnic cleansing by his own people. Exodus chapter 1 verse 22.
‘Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.’ (Exodus 1:22 NIV)
Pharaoh here turns his own people into a nation of mass murderers.
Knowing this helps us understand God’s harsh judgment later in Exodus. Yahweh will kill the first born son in every family. YHWH will destroy Egypt’s army in the Red Sea. These harsh judgments are strict retributions for what Pharaoh did to the Israelites[8]. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. What Pharaoh did happened to him.
But at this stage of the account, it looks as if YHWH’s promises are again at risk. Will the nation of Israel survive and go up from Egypt into the promised land? Will YHWH preserve his people?
Of course. YHWH has given his word. He will preserve his people and bring them out of Egypt. So now YHWH acts. His action is, as he promised in Gen 3:15, to bring forth a child. For the son of the woman will bring salvation. The scene is set to introduce Moses.
Like other heroes, and of course the Lord Jesus, Moses had an unusual birth[9]. And just as God looked at creation and saw it was good, his mum looked at him and saw, ‘he is good!’. She hid him for as long as possible. But then she put him in a woven papyrus box covered in ashphalt and tar. It’s Noah’s ark in miniature. And she sets him afloat on the Nile, with his sister close by to see what would happen.
Spared by Pharaoh’s daughter (2:1-10)
Pharaoh’s own daughter comes down for a bath. She finds the baby crying, and has pity on him. In steps big sister Miriam, all of 6 years old. Quick as a flash, sharp as a tack. 'I’ll get a Hebrew woman to breast feed him for you.' And the princess readily agrees, offering to pay her. So here is irony upon irony. The King commands his people to drown the babies. But the command is so abhorent, not even his daughter obeys. Pharaoh can’t even get his own daughter to do his will.
Not only that, the princess pays the child’s mother to breast feed him. And where did she get that money from? One guess. 'Dad, can I have my pocket money?' When Pharaoh puts his hand in his pocket, he’s saving Moses’ life. Pharaoh seeks genocide, but the direct result is that Moses eats at the king’s table as his adopted grandson
Yahweh has made a fool out of Pharaoh. He claimed to be wise, but became a fool. God is completely in control here. Pharaoh looks absurd. And God shows he has a sense of humour.
Just like Yahweh preserved Israel and enabled her to grow. So Yahweh has preserved Moses, and will enable him to grow. For Moses is Israel in miniature.
Moses between two Kingdoms (2:11-14)[10]
But Moses also had a choice. Which kingdom will he serve? The Kingdom of this world? Or the Kingdom of God. And while the movie makers can fill out what it was like for Moses to be the 'Prince of Egypt', the bible doesn’t. Certainly Moses learnt the wisdom of the Egyptians[11]. And for the best part of 40 years, he had all the wealth and privilege of being the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. But at 40 years old, Moses made a decision. He would identify not with the oppressor but the oppressed. He was not the Son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He was the brother of the Hebrews[12]. And Moses the big brother saw an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew brother. And looking around to make sure no one was looking, he struck the Egyptian. It wasn’t an accident, as in the ‘Prince of Egypt’ movie. He meant to hit the Egyptian, and hit him hard. Perhaps Moses even meant to kill him.
But Moses will not be the one who works salvation for his people. Moses tried to liberate his brother his way. But Moses cannot save, even though he is a prince of Egypt. It is only Yahweh who would liberate his people. Only Yahweh can save, and only Yahweh will save. Moses at this stage has not been sent by Yahweh. So no matter what noble motives drove Moses, his actions do not rise above murder[13]. And now he must flee Egypt as a restless wanderer.
Moses wandering in the wilderness (Exodus 2:15-25)
For the next 40 years he must wander in the desert. Moses’ wilderness wanderings foreshadow what will happen to Israel. For Israel, too, will flee Egypt after Yahweh strikes the Egyptians. And Israel will wander 40 years in the same desert.
Moses in a foreign land (verse 22)
Moses in Midian is a story of 40 years of testing and training. Moses is cut off from his family, both natural and adopted. But he is learning important lessons. Yahweh is still providing for Moses in the wilderness. Yahweh provides him a wife – he met her at a well, of course. But also two sons, a loving father-in-law, food, clothing, a household. He becomes a shepherd, an important training ground for leadership. As it was for David after him, so it would be for Moses. It is no accident that leaders among God’s people are described as shepherds. That’s what a pastor is – a shepherd. Indeed, Moses first act in Midian is to defend the weak and vulnerable. He saves Jethro’s daughters from the male bullies at the well.
Well, Yahweh has been to Moses in the desert. But Moses knows that this land is not his land. So he names his first son Gershom, meaning ‘dwelling as a foreigner’.
Israel in a foreign land (verses 23-25)
But so too is Israel. Both Moses and Israel dwell in foreign lands. And the time has come for Yahweh to fulfil his promise. For 400 years, Israel has suffered. None of this has slipped under Yahweh’s radar. For Yahweh assured Abraham 500 years before that this would happen. Yahweh has allowed it, indeed, has decreed the sufferings of his people. But no more. For the sins of the people of Canaan cry out for vengeance (Genesis 15:16). The sins of Egypt cry out for retribution. And the people of Israel themselves cry out for salvation and rescue under the weight of their burdens (Exodus 2:23-25). So the time comes for Yahweh to act.
Yahweh meets Moses at the Mountain (Exodus 3)
And what does Yahweh do? Yahweh reveals himself. Yahweh calls the man who from birth he has been preparing for this moment.
The Revelation: The bush and its explanation (vv 1-9)
God’s revelation is a miraculous event with an explanatory word. The miraculous event is the bush. The bush is a paradox. It is burning. But it is not burning up. Flame rises from it. But it is not consumed. And the word of explanation is this. Chapter 3 Verses 6-8:
"I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. … I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-- the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. (Exodus 3:6-9 NIV)
The God of his people is speaking to Moses. This is Yahweh, the God who spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of Moses’ forefathers. This God is no stranger. But Moses cannot be too familiar with him. Moses must remove his shoes, and cannot look at him. For Yahweh is a holy God. Later, Israel will not be allowed to go up the burning mountain for the same reason (Exodus 19:18ff)[14]. Yahweh is holy, and cannot be approached, or gazed upon. And so this is the paradox. Yahweh draws near, but Moses cannot come near. Yahweh approaches Israel, but Israel cannot approach YHWH. Yahweh enters relationship with his people, but Yahweh sets the terms of the relationship, because he is holy.
The Commission: Go and get them (verse 10)
And Moses has a job to do. “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:10 NIV) Leave your new home. Return to Egypt. Confront Pharaoh. And bring Israel out. Be my agent. For I will fulfill my promise to your fathers. Yahweh invites Moses to become his co-worker. Moses tried to liberate his brothers his way, and it failed. Now Yahweh invites Moses to be part of a rescue mission that is sure to succeed.
The Sign: Back to the Mountain (verses 11-12)
And Yahweh gives Moses a sign. Something for Moses to hang on to if ever he should doubt God’s word. One day, in the not too distant future, Moses will bring another flock to the foot of Mount Sinai. And it won’t be his father-in-law’s sheep. It will be over 2 million of his own brothers and sisters. And they will stand where Moses stands And what Moses has experienced here, all of Israel will experience too.
The Rescuer’s Name (verses 13-18)
And what is this rescuer’s name? Well, God is not keeping it secret. Verses 14-15:
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, '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, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. (Exodus 3:14-15 NIV)
Yahweh is his name. Whenever you see capital L O R D in your English bibles, that stands for God’s personal name, YHWH. This follows an ancient convention that Yahweh’s name be read out as ‘Lord’. Yahweh is the same God who spoke with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And he is who he is. In other words, God is saying, I determine who I am. No one else names me or determines who I am. And Moses, if you want to know me, you go and do what I say, and watch what I do[15]. Then you will get to know me and understand who I am. So Yahweh’s very name is a challenge to Moses to trust in him.
Moses the Unwilling (Exodus 4)
Exodus Chapter 4 shows us that Moses still had to learn to trust Yahweh. Faith in God did not come easily. Moses had to learn to trust God. And in chapter 4 we see both Moses’ unwillingness to obey God, and God’s patient dealing with him. He had to move from ‘Send someone else’ to ‘Here I am, send me!’
I won’t be believed: 3 signs for Israel (verses 1-9, 17)
Moses first objection is ‘I won’t be believed’. The people of Israel won’t believe you sent me. And so God patiently gives Moses three signs. God transfigures Moses’ staff into a snake, and back again. God makes Moses hand leprous and white, then turns it back. And God turns cupfuls of Nile water into blood, when poured on the ground. These signs are for the people of Israel.
I can’t speak: Moses’ mouthpiece (verses 10-16, 27-31)
Then comes Moses’ second objection. I’m not a good speaker. And of course this is a cop-out, because God is the one who made the mouth and gave us the tongue. Indeed, Yahweh gets angry at Moses for his vexatious questioning. And he appoints Aaron as his spokesman. But Moses has shown his lack of faith by his backchat.
I won’t circumcise my son: saved by blood (vv 24-26)
Thirdly, there is the strange story at the end of chapter 4. It seems that Moses hadn’t circumcised his Son, Gershom. Moses hadn’t obeyed God’s command in Genesis 17. And so as Moses is about to come out of exile, God prepares to kill him. His life is at risk. So Zipporah circumcises her firstborn Gershom. And the blood turns Yahweh’s anger for her husband.
We see two things in this story. First, Moses is the reluctant hero. Moses is unwilling to be part of Yahweh’s rescue operation.
But, second, it also prefigures the Passover. For Moses is Israel in miniature. And just as Israel will leave Egypt only through the blood the lamb. So Moses will leave Midian only through the blood of circumcision. For the blood propitiates God. He sees the blood. And so turns away his fierce anger, and spares his people. That is the way God worked in Exodus.
And it is the way God works now. For God presented Jesus Christ as a sacrifice of atonement. God offered his own blood, the sacrificial death of God the Son. And thus God turns aside his anger and passes over our sin. YHWH’s plan:
Salvation through Judgment brings Glory
But all this will be played out more fully later in Exodus. The blood over the pass over lamb lies in the future. But for now, in these first 4 chapters, YHWH makes it clear that he saves his way. And there are two short passages where God foreshadows the way he will save.
First, Exodus Chapter 3 verses 19 and 20:
19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. 21 (Exodus 3:19-20 NIV)
Yahweh recognizes that Pharaoh’s heart is hard. And so he will work mighty signs and wonders. Those signs will strike Egypt. In other words, they will be huge signs of judgment. So God will judge Egypt. And in judging Egypt he will save Israel. For God’s salvation comes through judgment. And God’s judgment is accompanied by salvation. For God saves Israel in a way that judges Egypt.
Second, let’s look at Exodus Chapter 4 verses 21 to 23.
21 The LORD said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'" (Exodus 4:21-23 NIV)
Pharaoh’s heart is already hard. But God will make it even harder. God will work signs and wonders. But Pharaoh won’t listen. So God will kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son. Salvation comes through harsh judgment. And God is control of it all. He is hardening Pharaoh’s heart with the express purpose that he will put Pharaoh’s son to death. This is the retribution of God. Pharaoh murdered the baby boys of Israel. So God will take away the life of Pharaoh’s own son.
And while this causes problems for us, we must remember this. That our salvation cost the life of God’s own Son. So God knows the cost of retribution. The Father knows the cost because he gave his Son up for our sins. And the Son knows the cost because he bore our punishment in our stead. For salvation always comes through costly judgment. For which we thank God.
Let’s pray.
Footnotes
[2] Exodus 1:7 NIV; cf Gen 47:27; Psalm 105:24-25
[3] The number 70 is given in the MT of Gen 46:27; Ex 1:5; Dt 10:22. However, the number given is 75 in Gen 46:27 LXX; Ex 1:5 LXX and Acts 7:14; also 4QGen-Exod 17-18:2, 4QEx. Note that Dt 10:22 LXX also has 70. Philo working from the Greek provides an Allegorical explanation for the differences between Ex and Dt. Bruce, Fitzmyer and Witherington account for the difference in calculation in that the figure of 70 includes Gen 46:26 of 66, plus Jacob himself, Joseph and his two sons, Mannaseh and Ephraim, while the 75 includes Joseph’s 9 sons. See further Fitzmyer, Barrett, Bruce on Acts 7:14. Stuart, Exodus, takes the 75 as a later desire to include Ephraim and Mannaseh’s later descendants.
[4] Gen 12:1-3; 17:2, 22:17, 26:3-4,24, 35:11, 46:3; 48:4,16; cf 28:3.
[5] The Hebrew phrases might be rendered literally, ‘and ascend from the land’. Stuart, Exodus, 65, takes the phrase idiomatically as ‘as rise up over the land’ in the sense of overwhelming or dominating it. See also the NJPS version, which translates it as ‘gain ascendancy over the land’. Stuart cites in support Genesis 2:6: ‘But a mist would ascend from the land and water the whole surface of the ground’ and Hosea 1:11/Heb,LXX 2:2, ‘And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will set for themselves one head, and they will come up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. However, I notice that Stuart himself (WBC 31, pp35-36) translates the Hosea clause as ‘come up from the land’ and takes it firstly as a reference as a return from the land of exile to the land of promise. Childs says the NJPS translation is ‘without adequate warrant from the text’ (15). I prefer Durham’s (WBC3, p8) reasoning, that the construction should be taken literally as ‘they might even go up from the land’ and that ‘This latter possibility became of course a reality, and when it did, it was reported in what is standard rhetoric for the exodus… ’ Durham cites Ex 13:18, ‘and in battle array the sons of Israel went up from the land of Egypt’. Note also Fretheim, 29, who points out the echo of Joseph himself (Gen 50:24) and the action of God in Exodus 3:8 and 3:17. ‘Pharaoh says more than he knows’ (Fretheim). Thus the speech is actually ironic and foreshadows the theme of exodus, the going up of the people from Egypt into the promised land.
[6] Of course, this way of thinking is still around today. We need to keep wages low, because that’s good for the economy. Except of course, for the executives and directors and CEOs. Better still, let’s keep the workers in another country. They’ve got lower wages and conditions and expectations. They put up with it, not like the workers here. We’ll move our call centre and factory over there. And we can still get our fat bonuses.
[7] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6254763.stm
[8] Stuart, 84
[9] Compare Samson, Samuel, and the Lord Jesus.
[10] Two NT passages appropriating and expanding this are Acts 7:21-25 and Hebrews 11:24-27. For discussion of these NT passages, see Childs. Importantly, Hebrews 11:27 stipulates that ‘By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.’ Against the modern commentators Bruce, Hughes and Ellingworth, who take the reference to Moses’ flight to Midian, I agree with Calvin that ‘I am inclined to regard this as his second departure, for it was then that he bravely disregarded the fierce wrath of the king’ Comm Heb, 297. The argument that the order must be chronological is not of great weight when we remember while the author generally adopts the biblical chronology, he does not do so strictly. Eg v13, which sums up Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then he returns to Abraham in v14, and verse 32, where the names are out of chronological order. Further, the portrayal of Moses and a man of faith fits more adequately with what we read of Moses in Exodus 11:8. And even if we insist on chronological order, the author to the Hebrews may well be adopting a chronological order, in that Hebrews 11:27 refers to Exodus 11:8 (referring to Moses leaving Pharaoh and not seeing his face again; proleptically this is Moses leaving Egypt), Hebrews 11:28 refers to the institution of the Passover in Exodus 12ff, and Hebrews 11:29 refers to the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus 14.
[11] Sees Acts 7
[12] Notice the twofold repetition in 2:11 of ‘his brothers/ his brother’
[13] Childs, Exodus, gives a good history of exegesis of this issue, 40-42. Luther, Calvin, and some fathers took the killing in a positive light and by implying a divine warrant that is not in the text. The killing in chapter 2 precedes Moses’ call in chapter 3. Augustine saw the slaying in a negative light. This interpretation emphasises that it is Yahweh who is the divine warrior and redeemer. Child’s observes, ‘the biblical text, without drawing explicit conclusions regarding the ethics of the matter, does make it fully clear that no deliverance occurred. Moses had to be sent back to Egypt with a different authority and with a new mission’: Childs, Exodus, 45
[14] Compare Childs, Exodus, ‘Then a typological relationship between the burning bush on the holy mountain and the devouring fire at Sinai was recognized. The sign of Moses was seen as a prefigurement of Israel’s experience’. (p60).
[15] Compare Durham’s (WBC3, 35,38) somewhat free and interpretative translation of verse 13, ‘What can he do?’ Also Childs, Exodus, 76, 88: ‘Rather God announces that his intentions will be revealed in his future acts, which he now refuses to explain.’ and ‘Who he is and what he does will emerge in the history which yet lies ahead’. Again, Fretheim, 63, ‘Israel’s own experience with God in its history will confirm the meaning of this name’.
(3) English Translation (Exodus 3:1-14)
3:1
WeXqatal And Moses was pasturing the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law priest of Midian,
Wayyiqtol and he drove the flock to the back of the wilderness,
Wayyiqtol and he came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
3:2
Wayyiqtol And a messenger of YHWH appeared to him in flame of fire from the midst of the bush,
WeSNC and he looked, and behold, the bush [was] burning in the fire,
WeSNC and the bush [was] not being consumed.
3:3
Wayyiqtol And Moses said,
Yiqtol ‘I will turn aside now
Weyiqtol and I will see this great sight,
Xyiqtol why the bush will not burn.’
3:4
Wayyiqtol And YHWH saw
Ki-qatal that he turned aside to see,
Wayyiqtol and God called to him from the midst of the bush,
Wayyiqtol and said, 'Moses, Moses.'
Wayyiqtol And he said, ‘Look, [it’s] me!’
3:5
Wayyiqtol And he said,
Yiqtol ‘You shall not draw near to here.
Impv Take your sandals off from your feet,
Ki-SNC for the place upon which you [are] standing is holy ground.’
3:6
Wayyiqtol And he said,
SNC ‘I [am] the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
Wayyiqtol And Moses hid his face,
Ki-qatal for he was afraid to look at God.
3:7
Wayyiqtol And YHWH said,
Infin abs + qatal ‘I have certainly seen the affliction of my people who [are] in Egypt,
WeXqatal and their outcry I have heard from before his oppressors,
Ki-qatal for I know his sorrows.
3:8
Wayyiqtol And I have come down
Infin cs to deliver him from the hand of Egypt
and to bring him up from that land to the good and wide land, to the land flowing with milk and honey,
to the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
3.9
WeXqatal And now, look, the outcry of the sons of Israel has come to me,
WeXqatal and moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
3:10
WeXImpv And now, go!
Weyiqtol I am sending you to Pharaoh
WeImpv And bring out my people, the sons of Israel, from Egypt!’
3:11
Wayiqqtol And Moses said to God,
SNC ‘Who [am] I,
Kiyiqtol that I should go to Pharaoh,
WeKiyiqtol and that I bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt?'
3:12
Wayyiqtol And he said,
Ki-yiqtol 'I will be with you(s),
WeSNC and this [will be] the sign for you
KiXqatal that I have sent you(s);
Infin cs… when you have brought out the people from Egypt,
yiqtol you will worship God upon this mountain.'
3:13
Wayyiqtol And Moses said to God,
X-qatal ‘Look, I come to the sons of Israel
Weqatal and I say to them,
X-qatal “The God of your(pl) fathers has sent me to you(pl)”,
Weqatal and they say to me,
IntrgSNC “What [is] his name?”,
IntrgYiqtol what shall I say to them?’
3:14
Wayyiqtol And God said to Moses,
‘I will be who I will be!’
And he said,
‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel,
“I will be has sent me to you(pl).”’
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