In this lengthy section, Moses recorded his attempts to gain the release of ADONAI’s people from Amenhotep II. On the one hand, the LORD’s deliverer not only faced the burning anger of Pharaoh, but also the dissatisfaction and distrust of his own people.75 On the other hand, the king of Egypt had to face the judgment of God and the ten plagues.
Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of Isra’el. DIG: As one of the elders of the Israelites hearing Moses and Aaron for the first time, how would you respond?
REFLECT: Do you believe that God is concerned about you and has seen your misery? How do you respond to that knowledge?
Then ADONAI said to Aaron who had been in Egypt for forty years while Moses was in Midian: Go into the desert to meet Moses. So he met Moses at the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, where Moses had the experience of the burning bush, and kissed him (4:27). This was and is a common greeting in the Near East. Here were two brothers, who had been separated for forty years, were brought together once again to do God’s will. Moses knew that Aaron was on his way and Aaron knew that Moses was coming to meet him. Then Moses told Aaron everything that ADONAI had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform (4:28). On his part, Aaron would tell of the old home, of the passing away of the generation to which they belonged, of their sister Miriam, of his own marriage and children, and especially of the gathering shadows and deep anguish of his people. Then the two brothers set off for Egypt.
Once Moses and Aaron arrived, they brought together all the elders of the Israelites and Aaron, as Moses’ spokesman, told them everything ADONAI had said to Moses (4:29-30a). There he told them of the strange story of his rescue from the Nile, of his adoption by Hatshepsut, and of his rejection of all that Egypt stood for. He told them of his murder of the Egyptian and his fleeing to Midian. Nothing had been heard of him for forty years. Even his own family was ignorant of what had become of him. That he had fled from the wrath of Thutmose III was well known, but his life in the desert was not. It was eerie to be face to face with one of whom they had heard so much.72 Then Moses and Aaron told the elders of the Israelites about the burning bush and the delivery of the nation of Isra’el, but the elders did not believe them. This lack of belief would be a motif that would repeat itself over and over again with the nation of Isra’el.
Therefore, Moses performed the three signs before the people (4:30b). First, he turned his staff into a snake. The fact that he had to perform all three miraculous signs (to see link click Au – Put Your Hand Inside Your Cloak) indicates that one was not enough for them to be convinced. The LORD had anticipated the people’s lack of belief, and therefore He gave Moses the second sign; he turned his own hand leprous and returned it to normal again. God then said: If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground (4:8). Apparently not even two signs were enough for these people who were living by sight, so Moses then turned water into blood. Lack of faith becomes a major theme of Exodus and their wilderness wanderings. They lived by sight and not by faith.73
Finally, after seeing all three miracles, they said they believed what Moses had said to them (4:29-31a). But we will see that their faith lasted only as long as they had no opposition. And when they heard that ADONAI was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped (4:31b). What a gathering that must have been! It was probably held under the shadow of night, at some secluded spot in the heart of Goshen. Quietly, probably by ones and twos, the gray beards of God’s oppressed people gathered with one whom they had probably heard of, but had never seen.
Here we are introduced to the true nature of the confrontation in Egypt. It was not merely a hostile engagement between the two earthly nations of Egypt and Isra’el. Neither was it a conflict between Moses and Pharaoh, or between Moses and the magicians of the court of Pharaoh. There was much more at stake. The conflict was between the God of Isra’el and the god of Egypt, or Pharaoh. Rabbi Sha’ul spoke of this in Ephesians 6:12 when he said: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, the book of Exodus shows us much more than a national struggle against oppression. It is really about spiritual warfare.74
God remembered His covenant with Abraham DIG: What is the big picture of these verses? Why did Moshe go back to Egypt? Had God forgotten the Israelites? What might have been the reason for their four hundred years of suffering? How did God’s remembering set the stage for the redemption of Isra’el?
REFLECT: When has God remembered you after a particularly difficult time in your life? Have you been able to serve Him afterward? When God looks upon you, He is concerned about you. Sometimes we believe that by experience, and other times we have to believe that merely by faith. Where are you with that right now?
These verses summarize the next forty years in which Thutmose III was ruling Egypt after Hatshepsut died, the same forty years that Moses was a shepherd in the land of Midian. Being a shepherd was looked down upon by the Egyptians, but esteemed by Jews. So Moses was eventually content to be a shepherd since he identified himself as a Jew and not an Egyptian.
For a moment, the scene shifts back to Egypt where the writer reminds us of the big picture. After forty years of ruling and reigning, Thutmose III, the king of Egypt, had died. That paved the way for Moses to return to his homeland. The Lord would later tell His prophet, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead” (4:19). But even though a new pharaoh, Amenhotep II, was ruling, the Hebrews remained under severe oppression. Amenhotep II’s mummy has been found and shows him to be a man of powerful physique. One of the inscriptions on his burial coffin also praises him for his physical strength. He proved his cruelty when, after a victory over Syria, he carried seven Syrian leaders upside-down from the bow of his ship on the trip up the Nile, after which he personally sacrificed them.30 It was under this pharaoh that the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for rescue from slavery went up to the ears of God (2:23). Only then did they turn to the LORD. But we should not forget that Isra’el served other gods while they were in Egypt (Joshua 24:14; Ezeki’el 20:5-10, 23:2-3, 8, 19, 21 and 27). This might have been the reason for the delay. Being involved in deliberate, active sin separates us from Him and can delay His acting on our behalf.
The chapter concludes with reflections upon God’s deep concern for His people. Nearing the conclusion of over four hundred years of subjugation, humiliation and frustration, ADONAI now begins to initiate the plan of redemption and freedom for His covenant people.31 But even though the LORD had been silent up to this point, He was not indifferent. Even amid the misery of their backbreaking labor, YHVH was there. Even though we do not read of God speaking in the first two chapters, He was, nevertheless, listening. Indeed, He was silent. But in His silence He was accomplishing four important things.
First, Ha’Shem was in the process of disciplining His children (see the commentary on Hebrews, to see link click Cz – God Disciplines His Children). When Jacob first went down to Egypt, he went with the intention of merely visiting there. It was supposed to be a temporary stay. But the temporary stay turned into a permanent dwelling. Isra’el began to be enticed by whatever attractions Egypt had to offer. In short, it began to assimilate into the Egyptian culture. But instead of settling down and building houses, the children of Isra’el should have been making plans to leave Egypt as soon as possible. In all fairness, they were living in some of the most fertile land in all of Egypt, just on the eastern edge of the Nile River delta. In a time famine, at least there was water and grazing land for their flocks. Nevertheless, Canaan was the Promised Land. The children of Isra’el should have left the land of temptation and come up to their Promised Land.
Instead, by remaining in Egypt, the people made themselves completely vulnerable to all of Egyptian culture, which, apparently, they began to participate in. Because of this God was in the painful process of disciplining His children. Throughout her history, every time Isra’el fell into the sin of assimilation, she always ended up in slavery, as she did in Egypt. The Jews of pre-World War II Germany were, perhaps, one of the most assimilated of all Jewish generations. All of us know the horrible outcome resulting in slavery in the death camps. Assimilation, therefore, invariably, leads to moaning and groaning.
Second, God’s apparent silence caused some deep spiritual growth in the people of Isra’el. This is the first time in the Torah since the story of Adam that a single individual is not at the center of the story. That changes later in Chapter Two where Moshe comes to the forefront. But in the beginning of Exodus, it is not an individual, but a people who are in the limelight – the descendants of Abraham. Exodus tells us how God prepared Isra’el for His redemption, and for His planned nationhood for them.
This process is described by Scripture as a refining process. It pictures the children of Isra’el as a piece of precious metal such as gold, and the harsh slavery as the metal refiner where impurities are burnt away and the pure precious metal is left. Other Scriptures also refer to the slavery story by these terms. For example: He brought you out of the iron furnace of Egypt to be His people (Deuteronomy 4:20). Isaiah also expressed it in a similar manner: Look, I have refined you, but not [as severely] as silver; [rather] I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:10). Hence, the had to be moaning and groaning on Isra’el’s part. It was God’s way of preparing them to be a nation. It was, as many would say today, “No pain, no gain!” James said it this way: Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4). Thus, in their terrible slavery, YHVH was using the refining process. He was perfecting a people in holiness and in the process, preparing a nation.
Third, there was an educational purpose. Through their slavery in Egypt, ADONAI was teaching Isra’el many “object lessons” which could be used to teach profound spiritual truth. There are many such lessons throughout the Torah. One such object lesson is found in the concept of being a stranger. For example, the LORD tells His people, “Do not wrong a stranger and do not oppress him, for strangers you were in the land of Egypt” (22:20). How was Isra’el to know how to treat a stranger? One very moving and assured way would be remembering what it was like when they were strangers in Egypt.
Fourth, ADONAI was preparing the children of Isra’el for redemption. They would never know the depth of God’s mercy if they did not experience the hopeless bondage of slavery. They could not fully understand the freedom of redemption if they had never experienced the shackles of servitude. In this servitude and the preparations for redemption, ADONAI was beginning to paint a carefully crafted portrait of the person and work of Yeshua, our Deliverer, our Redeemer, who set us free from the slavery of personal sin. It is for freedom that Messiah set us free- so stand firm and receive it. It’s your choice. And do not be burdened by a yoke of slavery to legalism again, or think that’s going to give you a right standing before God (Galatians 5:1). We are sinners by nature and sinners by choice. But now, because of His sacrifice on the cross, we have a choice. Now because of the indwelling of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh we can say no to sin. In the Egyptian slavery, God was busy painting the picture of the hopelessness, the horrors, the bondage, and the futility of slavery to self and sin. This is needed to convince sinners of their need for personal redemption found in the One who is greater than Moshe, Yeshua (see the commentary on Hebrews Ao – The Superiority of Messiah to Moshe). The Jewish groaning was made worse by ADONAI’s apparent silence. But even though it seemed like God was staying aloof during the Israelite slavery in Egypt . . . He was not inactive. He told us that He, indeed, heard the groaning of their suffering in slavery. Consequently, He was accomplishing significant redemptive things that most would not have noticed.
God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob (2:24). Of course, YHVH never forgot the covenant! Moshe was simply writing from a human perspective. The word remembered is not merely a matter of recall. The Hebrew word carries with it the additional idea of acting upon the remembrance. Therefore, the point here is that YHVH not only remembered His covenant promises to the patriarchs, but He was ready to act and fulfill those promises.32 There was not merit involved. Whatever ADONAI did for them was purely for two reasons. First, it was out of His grace and mercy. Secondly, as this verse points out, it was because of His promise to the patriarchs, not because of merit. The LORD had promised their forefathers that the Israelites would become a great nation (Genesis 12:2), and He had formalized that promise by making a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:18, 17:17), with Isaac (Genesis 17:19) and with Jacob (Genesis 35:11-12). On the basis of those solemn promises, God was about to demonstrate that He never forgets His covenant promises.33
So God saw the children of Isra’el (2:25a). Of course the LORD saw the physical things. It was a sad and messy sight of miserable beaten slaves in complete subjection to the Pharaohs. But these things anyone could see. What did God see that no one else could see? One thing He saw was the possible doubts in some of the minds of the older Israelites. They remembered the promises of the patriarchs. But they may have also been wondering if God remembered! Thus, conceivably, ADONAI’s faithfulness was at stake here in the minds of some people. Perhaps that is one reason why we are told that God remembered His covenant promises.
Something else God saw was the extent to which sin and unbelief had dominated the children of Isra’el. One example is in 2:13-14 where Moshe tried to intervene between two Israelites who were fighting. They would not accept any mediation and only mocked Moses when he tried to offer justice. To be sure, not all sense of right and wrong had disappeared from among the people (see Ah – So God Was Kind to the Midwives). But, Isra’el was sorely in need of judicial instruction. Hence, ADONAI began a process which would ultimately lead them to Mount Sinai and the reception of the Torah.
Most of all, God saw a real mess. He saw the cruelty of the Egyptian kings. He saw the hopelessness of the Hebrew slaves which caused them to cry out to Him. When the Bible says that God saw it means that He took notice of their miserable state and was moved with compassion to do something to correct it. Through this we learn that God is not a cold, harsh God who only acts to keep a promise. He is real, and He is moved to compassion, mercy, and love for His people.
And God knew (2:25b). The Hebrew word translated knew is from the root yada, which means to know. This hints at more than mere intellectual knowledge. It is a word, for example, which is used in connection with a marriage relationship, specifically a sexual relationship. Thus, it sometimes speaks of a deep intimate personal knowledge. When we read that God knew we are to understand that there were some things about the situation of which only God had intimate knowledge.34
It is comforting for us to realize that God does not forget us, or the promises He has made to us. He remembers us because He is near to us. He maintains a close personal relationship with, and attachment to us. He truly knows us and has an intimacy with what we endure, whether it be trials, suffering or temptations.
The book of Hebrews tells us that this is the work of Christ. For this reason He had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:17-18). And, again, the author to the Hebrews comments: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15-16). The God of the Bible is not distant, or far removed, from the righteous who believe in Him. He is close to His people, running the universe for their good and for His glory.35 Therefore, the stage is set. The next act of the drama of Isra’el’s redemption is about to be made known. How, then, will ADONAI buy back His people?
Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me DIG: What failure on the part of Moses almost kills him? Who does God hold responsible for this sin? Why?
REFLECT: The man is responsible for what goes on in the marriage (See the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Lv – I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach or Have Authority Over a Man, She Must Be Silent, for further detail). Men, how can you make sure you don’t get sidetracked from fulfilling God’s plans for you in your marriage?
The flow of the previous verses seems to be rudely interrupted by this incident. At a lodging place on the way, ADONAI met Moses and was about to kill him (4:24). This probably meant that Moshe was stricken with some type of fatal illness that would surely take his life. The death sentence was pronounced on any who would violate the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:14); therefore, Moses was held responsible and God sought to kill him because he had failed to circumcise his second son.
While the Midianites also practiced circumcision, it would have been a kind of puberty rite of passage for them (and other Semitic peoples as well). Thus, to the child’s mother, the practice of circumcising babies would have been unexpected at best and repulsive at worst. Moses had circumcised his first son, but not his second son. When the second child was born, Zipporah may have possibly resisted, by saying, “You have done this with the first boy, but, not again. Not with my son!”67
Apparently, she didn’t like the idea, and probably raised such a ruckus that Moses went along with her wishes. But, the result was that Moses was living in a state of disobedience, and because he was living in a state of disobedience, how could he be Isra’el’s deliverer? He needed to get his own house in order because he had forgotten the very foundation sign of Isra’el’s covenant relationship with ADONAI. Before delivering Isra’el, he was reminded that without circumcision, an Israelite would be cut off from the covenant (Joshua 5:3-9).68 If the child’s foreskin were not cut off, he would be cut off from the people of God. What we see here is the zeal with which ADONAI guards this most important rite. Moshe could argue, pout, whine and hold his breath about going to Egypt and God would deal patiently with him – but, circumcision was another matter. Failure to circumcise his second child met with swift punishment.69
Therefore, at the critical moment, when Moses’ life hung in the balance and was rendered helpless, she did what she had objected to before. She took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin even though she was surely repulsed by it. In her anger, she touched Moses’ feet with it, saying: Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me (4:25). She said this because Moses had been as good as taken from her by the deadly attack upon him. She purchased his life by the blood of her son; she received him back, as it were, from the dead and married him once more. He was in fact, a bridegroom of blood to her.70 But, once the problem of circumcision was taken care of, God let him alone (4:26).
At this point Zipporah disappears from the Biblical record until we get to 18:2, where we are told that she was being brought back to Moses after being sent away. In all likelihood, because of her objection to following the Abrahamic Covenant, Zipporah and her two sons had been sent back to Midian and had missed a first hand account of all the miracles that ADONAI would perform against the gods of Egypt.71 They would not see each other again until Moses and all the Israelites are gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai.
For both believers and unbelievers alike, sin has its consequences. Zipporah missed many of the miracles of God because of her objection to following His direction. Let that not be said of us. Let us embrace His Word in obedience and faith. Then we, like the righteous of the TaNaKh will be blessed. The righteous will live by faith (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).
Go back to Egypt, all who wanted to kill you are dead DIG: What promptings, promises and provisions does Moses receive to encourage him on his way home? In what way was Isra’el God’s firstborn son?
REFLECT: You cannot stay where you are and follow ADONAI. He requires change. Hearing the LORD’s voice, changing, and obeying is not a one time thing. It happens throughout our lives. How do you feel about that? Are you a child of God?
Then Moshe left the burning bush and went back to Jethro, his father-in-law. This was necessary because he had Jethro’s flock under his care and he couldn’t just leave them stranded without making some provisions. In addition, he needed to ask Jethro’s permission to leave because Jethro was the head of the household. Moses said to him, “Let me go back to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are alive.” Jethro replied: Go in peace; I wish you well (4:18).
Now back in Midian, evidently YHVH had to prod Moses to return to Egypt. He was lingering. Apparently he was afraid to go back and face Thutmose III, the Napoleon of Egypt, who had wanted to kill him forty years earlier. But ADONAI said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead” (4:19). There was an incident in the early life of Jesus that mirrored this event. In Matthew 2:19-20, Joseph and Mary took the baby Yeshua and fled to Egypt because Herod wanted the baby killed. But after Herod died, an angel of ADONAI appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said: Get up, take the child and His mother and go to the land of Isra’el, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead. Therefore, both deliverers were forced to flee from tyrannical rulers and they return only after they were dead.
So Moses took his wife and two sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. It is interesting that he took his family with him. He must have been thoroughly convinced that they would be protected by YHVH in Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. On his way to Egypt, ADONAI spoke to Moses again and said: When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh the three miracles that I have given you the power to do (4:20-21a).
But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go (4:21b). This concept of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart will be the leading motif in the conflict between God and Pharaoh in Chapters 4 to 14. The ancient Egyptian texts teach that the heart was the essence of the person, the inner spiritual center of the self. Pharaoh’s heart was particularly important because the Egyptians believed it was the all-controlling factor in both history and society. It was further held that the hearts of the gods Ra and Horus were sovereign over everything. Because the king of Egypt was the incarnation of those two gods, his heart was thought to be sovereign over all creation. The whole point was that ADONAI controlled the heart of Pharaoh.65
To understand this, we need to look at the book of Romans. Rabbi Sha’ul writes: What shall we say then? Is God unjust? Not at all! For He said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion,” It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the B’rit Chadashah says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore, God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy (Romans 9:14-18).
The main point of the Romans passage is this. God does not harden the hearts of men and women so that they can be lost; God hardens their hearts because they already are lost. When we are born, we inherit Adam’s sin nature and are lost, separated from God. But He does not leave us in this hopeless spiritual condition. He woos us so that we might believe in Him. He pursues us so that we might accept Him as our Savior. He does this in various ways through different people and circumstances because He does not control our decision. We can say no to God and make it stick. In the final analysis, He gives those who reject Him over to their sin (Romans 1:24-32). This breaks His heart. But our free will to choose or reject Him is too important to violate. Therefore, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart because he had already rejected Him.
Another factor in God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is that it was a reversal of an Egyptian belief. The Egyptians believed that when people died their heart was weighed in the hall of judgment. If one’s heart was heavy with sin, that person was judged. A stone beetle scarab was placed on the heart of their lifeless corpse to suppress their natural tendency to confess their sin, which would subject them to judgment. The Egyptians believed that the scarab would prevent a hardening of the heart, and would result in salvation for the deceased.
However, God reversed this process in Pharaoh’s case. Instead of his heart being suppressed so that he was silent about his sin and thus delivered, his heart became hardened, he confessed his sin (9:27 and 34, 10:16-17), and his sinfully heavy heart resulted in judgment. For the Egyptians, hardening of the heart resulted in silence (or the absence of confession of sin) and therefore salvation. But God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart resulted in acknowledgement of sin, and therefore, judgment.66
Then Moses was to say to Pharaoh, “This is what ADONAI says: Isra’el is my firstborn son, 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” (4:22-23). Just as Isra’el has a unique relationship with God, and is called His firstborn son (Jeremiah 3:19, 31:9; Hosea 11:1), the Egyptians had a unique relationship with their deity Pharaoh. Since Pharaoh wouldn’t let Isra’el go, God wouldn’t let Pharaoh’s firstborn son go in the tenth and final plague.
God the Father said of Jesus, “This is My Son, whom I love” (Matthew 3:17). This idea of sonship gets to the heart of the special relationship that YHVH has with His people Isra’el. But if you are a believer in Yeshua, God is your Father also. Yochanan wrote: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God (First John 3:1). If you have had a bad experience with your imperfect earthly father, I would encourage you to allow ADONAI to be your perfect heavenly Father.
So in Chapters 3 and 4 YHVH has appeared to Moses three different times with a similar commission. The first time at the foot of Mount Sinai at the burning bush. The second time in the land of Midian, and now a third time on his way to Egypt. The message from ADONAI has been consistent: Go to Pharaoh and tell him to let My people go.
This section covers the events between the burning bush experience and the first audience with Pharaoh in Egypt. It may be divided into three parts: first, the departure, secondly, the circumcision, and thirdly, the meeting with Aaron and the elders of Isra’el.
I know Aaron can speak well DIG: Why do you think Moshe was so reluctant? Why was the LORD so angry? Why do you think He dealt with Moses’ final objection the way He did?
REFLECT: Moshe and Aaron couldn’t do it alone and neither can we. God promised them that He would be with them every step of the way. Does He promise the same to you and me? How so?
Moses’ fifth and final objection summed up all the others. Still shying away from using God’s personal name, he used the less personal attribute of Adonai (lower case), meaning Master or Owner, and said: Please send someone else to do it (4:13). He was not enthusiastic at all and his earlier reasons were merely excuses, because he did not want YHVH to send him in the first place. ADONAI, though slow to anger (34:6), now became angry with Moshe – not because He had lost His temper but because Moses needed to be impressed with the seriousness of God’s call and to learn that He is not to be put off.61
Then ADONAI’s anger burned against Moses. The Hebrew is quite emphatic. It literally reads: The nostrils of ADONAI burned. Moshe was acting like a servant who seeks to evade his responsibility of carrying out the will of his rightful master. For Adonai, who is never an unjust Master, does not ask what cannot be performed, and never requires a task for which He does not equip His servants.62 Therefore, He provided Moshe with a helper and companion. He said: What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? (This is the first time Aaron is mentioned). I know he can speak well. He is already on his way from Egypt to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you (4:14). Here we see the LORD’s hand at work again. God knew what Moses would say, and had already sent Aaron to him. God was in control of the entire situation from beginning to end. He is the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8, 21:6 and 22:13).
Now Aaron was given his own commission, which was to speak on behalf of Moses. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you, and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him (4:15-16). Aaron would act like the high Egyptian official called the mouth of the king. His duty was to act as an intermediary between Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. His principle activity was to speak Pharaoh’s commands to the people, in his exact words. Because Pharaoh was considered a god, his words were not to be altered in any way.63 Therefore, the order of communication would be this: God would speak to Moses, Moses would speak to Aaron, and Aaron would speak to Pharaoh.
Finally, the LORD told Moses to take his staff in his hand so he could perform his newly acquired miraculous signs with it (4:17). His staff was to be his emblem of authority and although it consisted of common wood, it was consecrated for that purpose. Moshe was then ready for action. He was fully equipped and prepared to confront Pharaoh in Egypt. He knew the wilderness, he knew where Mount Sinai was located, he had his staff to perform miracles, his brother was to be with him as a mouthpiece, and ADONAI had commissioned him. As Moses left the burning bush, he knew what he had to do and prepared to leave Midian.
It is easy to be critical of Moses’ reluctance to return to Egypt. We ask, “Why didn’t he immediately obey and do what God commanded him to do?” We need to be careful here. Moshe was a man of flesh and blood and he had all the human emotions, including fear. The Scriptures are truthful in their portrayal of him as a man with faults and weaknesses. He had murdered an Egyptian and was forced to flee. Now Moshe was directed to go back and confront the warrior Pharaoh. Was there no room for fear?
In addition, if we look down deep in our own hearts we shall realize that we would have acted no differently. How easy it is to look at Moses’ life and say he should have done this or that! Let us be honest. Our own hearts would have weakened at such a frightening task. So let us be compassionate to a frail man who was just like us.64
I am slow of speech and tongue REFLECT: What excuses for not following ADONAI do you use? Who do you think you rely on the most? God or yourself? Why?
In his fourth objection, Moses addressed God by calling Him Adonai (lower case), the less personal form of the word translated ADONAI (upper case). He seems to have been deliberately avoiding the powerful implications of the names Ehyeh and ADONAI, which YHVH, or the Name, continually uses of Himself throughout this entire section.59 Moses acknowledged God’s right to his life and service when he said: Please Adonai, meaning Master or Owner, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. He had resorted to pleading his case. I am slow of speech and tongue, literally heavy in mouth and heavy in tongue (4:10). Moshe probably did not have a speech impediment, since Stephen later said that Moses was powerful in speech (Acts 7:22). He objected instead that he was not able to speak fluently enough to impress Pharaoh (also see 6:12). Similarly, someone said of the Rabbi Sha’ul: In person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing (Second Corinthians 10:10).
But God Himself would enable Moses to speak. God answered: Who makes him deaf or mute? Who give him sight or makes him blind? Is it not ADONAI (4:11)? The point is that YHVH was sovereign over mankind, whether a person sees or not, hears or not, or even speaks or not. The fact that the LORD was sending Moshe was enough. It would be by His power and not Moses’ speaking abilities that the mission would be accomplished.60 Christ had the same exact ministry in the B’rit Chadashah. When asked if He was the Messiah, Jesus responded by saying: Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor (Yochanan 11:4-5).
Now go. I Am will help you speak and will teach you what to say (4:12). The Hebrew literally reads: I, even I, will be with your mouth. God was in control of Moses’ mouth and whatever he would say to the Hebrews, to the Egyptians or to Pharaoh. Moses was not to rely on himself, but on the LORD. Now you would think that if ADONAI told you to go, that would have been enough. But not for Moses – he had a fifth objection.
Put your hand inside your cloak DIG: In light of his previous experience, why would Moses be skeptical that the Israelites would accept him and the message he would bring?
REFLECT: Do you worry about the future? Do you have anxious thoughts about tomorrow? God uses what we have. What do you have that He could use?
The chapter division here is artificial. In reality, the scene at the burning bush continues until 4:17. Moses now raises a third objection: What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say: ADONAI did not appear to you (4:1)? One can understand why Moses would be concerned about this. Forty years earlier, when he wanted to be Isra’el’s deliverer, he was rejected. At that time he was told: Who made you ruler and judge over us (2:14)? Therefore, Moses was not only concerned whether Pharaoh would recognize his authority, but whether Isra’el would.55 As a result, God graciously gave Moshe that ability to perform three miraculous signs.
The first sign was the turning of Moses’ staff into a snake. God could have used some mind-boggling trick, like making the sun stand still, but ADONAI merely said to him, “What is in your hand?” He replied: A staff (4:2). This is the first time we read of the staff by which Moses and his brother Aaron would later perform miraculous signs and wonders with in Egypt. With it they bring the ten plagues on the land and destroy the Egyptian army in the Sea of Reeds (14:16). The use of a staff was a deliberate attack on Egyptian culture and belief. Now Moses’ staff was probably his shepherd’s crook and the Egyptians detested sheepherders. The irony was that Moshe and his brother used a symbol of the very thing they detested to humiliate and defeat them.56
Then God told His prophet: Throw your staff on the ground. Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ADONAI said: Reach out your hand and take it by the tail. So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. The purpose of the first sign was that the people would believe that God had sent Moses. God said: This is so that they may believe that ADONAI, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you (43:3-5). It was also a sneak preview of the snake confrontation in 7:8-13, where the Egyptian magicians appear to perform the same miracle; but, Moses’ staff swallowed their staffs, thereby proving God’s sovereignty over Egypt.
God always begins by using what we have in hand. Page after page of God’s Word reveals that there is a chance for true usefulness, in the consecrated employment of what we already possess. In the Book of Judges, Ehud had a double-edged sword in his left hand, and Shamgar had an oxgoad. Gideon’s three hundred had only jars and lamps, and Samson the jawbone of a donkey. When David went to kill Goliath, he only had a sling in his hand. Elisha needed only a little oil from the widow to fill her pots, six stone water jars were all that were needed for Jesus’ first miracle at Cana, and five small barley loaves and two small fish were sufficient when He fed the five thousand.57 God will use what little we have to show how great He is if we use our faith.
The second sign was that of the leprous hand. Then God said to His servant: Put your hand inside your cloak. So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. That must have shaken him up. God then said: Now put it back into your cloak. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. The purpose of the second sign is given in verse 8, to cause faith if the first sign was not believed. Then ADONAI said to him, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second” (4:6-8).
The third sign was changing water into blood. God equipped Moshe with more than one miraculous sign because the people were living by sight and not living by faith. The people needed a physical confirmation and YHVH provided it. Living by sight, and not by faith, becomes a central theme in Exodus from here on out.58 So ADONAI said: But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground (4:9). This would have been especially damaging to Egypt because the Nile was considered the lifeblood of Egypt.
There were three purposes for these three signs. The first purpose was to strengthen the faith of Moses. The second purpose was to authenticate the mission of Moses to the Jewish people. And the third purpose was to show Pharaoh the superiority of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now Moshe without excuse. From God’s perspective Moses is fully equipped. But however convincing these miracles are to you and I, evidently they were not convincing enough for Moses, because he raised a fourth objection.
If you have the tendency to lose hope over lost opportunities or if you worry about the future, ask yourself this question: “What is right in front of me?” In other words, what circumstances and relationships are currently available to you? This question can get your focus off of a past regret or a scary future and back to what God can do in your life.
It is similar to the question YHVH asked Moshe at the burning bush. Moses was troubled. Aware of his own weakness, he expressed fear about God’s call for him to lead Isra’el out of bondage. So ADONAI simply asked Moses, “What is in your hand?” The Lord shifted Moses’ attention away from his anxiety about the future and suggested he notice what was right in front of him – a shepherd’s rod. The LORD showed Moses that He could use that ordinary staff to perform miracles as a sign for unbelieving people.
Jesus said it like this: I tell you, don’t worry about your life – what you will eat or drink, or about your body – what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are? Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to this life?
And why be anxious about clothing? Think of the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. If this is how God clothes grass in the field – which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven – won’t He much more clothe you? What little trust you have!
So don’t be anxious, asking, “What will I eat?” or “What will I drink?” or “How will I be clothed?” For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Don’t worry about tomorrow – tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough worry already (Matthew 6:25-34 CJB)!
Therefore, do you think about past failures too much? Do you have anxious thoughts about tomorrow? Recall ADONAI’s question, “What is in your hand?” What current circumstances and relationships can God use for your benefit and His glory? Hand them over to Him. Look at the birds flying about! Aren’t you worth more than they are?
I AM has sent me to you DIG: What reassurances did ADONAI give Moses? How does I AM uniquely designate God? How does Jesus take on that name for Himself and with what implication (Yochanan 8:58-59)? Who is responsible for carrying out God’s plan?
REFLECT: Do you think YHVH will come through for you as He promised to Moses? Why or why not? God is Ehyeh, the Becoming One. What is He Becoming to you? Is He Becoming your savior? Is He becoming your best friend? Is He becoming the One on whom you trust and rely upon?
Moses thought that the Israelites would not believe him because they would want to know the name of the God who sent him. He said to the LORD, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ Then what shall I tell them” (3:13)? This would have been a natural question in ancient times because the name of a person expressed that person’s character, nature and qualities, since a name in biblical days was much more than simply a label; for example, the name Abel means a vapor or fleeting, and it reflects his life. Yeshua’s name means He is the one who brings salvation.
Then the LORD responded to Moshe and said: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I AM/will be what I AM/will be]. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you (3:14). ADONAI identified Himself to Isra’el with the covenant name YHVH (Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay) known as the Tetragrammaton, or the Name (see Ac – The Book of Exodus From a Messianic Jewish Perspective: The Use of the Hebrew name ADONAI for YHVH for a further explanation). The Name is related to the Hebrew verb meaning I AM and refers to God’s self-existence. There are two different interpretations of this name in Hebrew and both are true. One translation is: I AM Who I AM. The other translation is: I AM the Becoming One. The words I AM translate a first person form of the Hebrew verb to be. The meaning is that ADONAI is the self-existent One. His existence depends on nothing or no one except His own will. So when God said I AM, He was referring to His active, life-giving existence.
So there is no mistake on the part of Moses regarding who is speaking to him, God added more detail. Then He also said to Moses His prophet: Say to the Israelites, “ADONAI, 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”, or eternity (3:15).
Therefore, I AM and ADONAI make up the most intimate and personal names of God in Scripture. We can easily understand why the Jews of Jesus’ day thought He was blaspheming when He said to the Pharisees: Before Abraham was I AM (John 8:58)! Today there are cults that claim Christ is not God. However, there was no such confusion with those confronting Yeshua in His day; their reaction was to pick up rocks in order to stone Him (John 8:59). However, our reaction should be to fall at His feet to worship Him.51
Then in verses 16 to 22, God spells out the program of redemption. The LORD, the Covenant Keeper, talking to Moses, said to His prophet: Go, assemble the elders of Isra’el and say to them, ‘ADONAI, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – appeared to me as said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. This would no longer be a revolution of his own initiative. Moses would have to get the elders of Isra’el on board. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites – a land flowing with milk and honey’ (3:16-17). When ADONAI appeared first to Abraham, and later also to Isaac and Jacob, He promised in each instance that He would give them the land of Canaan. Now He appeared to Moshe with the same promise. This proves that Moses was a true prophet.52
The elders of Isra’el will listen to you. After speaking to the elders, or bearded ones, of Isra’el, he is to go with a message to Pharaoh. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him: ADONAI, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Moses identified God as the LORD of the Hebrews, a power greater than Pharaoh. Then, Moses would say: Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to ADONAI our God (3:18).
This three-day journey was not the ultimate purpose of God. The ultimate purpose was to bring Isra’el permanently out of Egypt. But ADONAI wanted Moses to keep the request at the minimum. Because if Pharaoh wouldn’t allow even this minimum departure, then that would show that he was worthy of all the judgments of God that would come upon Egypt.
But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a Mighty hand compels him. 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 send you out (3:19-20). There is a play on words here where the phrase: I will stretch out My hand, literally means I will send out My hand, using the same verb as the later statement that he will send you out. The idea is that God will stretch out His hand so that Pharaoh will stretch out his hand. The first action is the cause of the second.53 God warned Moses not to be discouraged in his mission by Pharaoh’s refusal to agree to his request. He would let Isra’el go only under pressure from the LORD.
When the exodus did come, Isra’el would not leave empty-handed. And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians (3:21-22). This plunder was used later in Exodus for both good and evil. Some of it became part of the materials for the Tabernacle (25:3-8), while some of it was used to make the golden calf (32:2-3).
This is the fulfillment of a promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 15:14 (also see Psalm 105:37). And speaking of the nation of Isra’el, God said to Abraham His servant: I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out of Egypt with great possessions. But Moses is still not satisfied and raised a third objection.
In the middle of the eighteenth century in America, a certain young man was attending Yale University as a full-time divinity student. His desire was to be trained to be a pastor. He was an excellent student and after a few years of hard study he was close to completing his work. However, one day something bad happened. He was talking to some friends and gossiped about one of his teachers. He said, “That man is about as spiritual as the chair I’m sitting in.” The student was expelled from Yale, never to be readmitted. No doubt it was a sinful remark, and the student later repented and asked for forgiveness from the teacher. Later, David Brainerd began the lowest, most depressing and discouraging period in his life.
But the Scriptures call us to understand that God uses even our most wicked acts to bring about His good purposes. For example, in the story of Joseph, when the patriarch confronts his brothers about the wickedness they had done to him, he says: You intended it to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20).
And so, in the same way, YHVH worked His good pleasure in the life of David Brainerd. After his expulsion from Yale, Brainerd agonized over his calling. But God opened up a service for him on the mission field to the American Indians. That had not been the ministry that Brainerd had chosen, but God gave him the desire for those people and God blessed his ministry with great revivals among the Native American tribes.
The life of Moses provides a good illustration of this biblical principle: ADONAI even uses our misdeeds to bring about His purposes. So, even though Moses’ sin caused him to flee Egypt, God made use of it in His redemptive plans for His people.54
Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh DIG: How does Moses reply? Is he more unsure of himself or of God? Why? What did Moses have to learn before the LORD would send him back to Egypt?
REFLECT: Do you believe that God is with you when you are confronting dangers in your life? Does He always give a sign like He gave Moses? Why? Why not?
The life of Moses can be separated into three forty-year periods. Forty years in Egypt, forty years in Midian, and forty years in the wilderness. In the first forty years, God showed what He could do with a man who thought he was something. In the second forty years, God showed what He could do with a man who thought he was nothing. And in the last forty years, God showed what He could do with a man who had learned both lessons well.
Therefore, Moses at eighty was not as rash as he was at forty. When he was forty, he was cocky and almost arrogant. He killed an Egyptian and thought his act would be understood by the Jews. He thought he could deliver Isra’el all by himself. But he found out that he could not. God took him to the backside of the desert for special training. Now at eighty he wasn’t so anxious. He had learned how weak he was. Therefore, now Moshe and ADONAI begin a series of objections and answers. Moses raised five objections as to why God should not use him because he didn’t understand that God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.
Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt (3:11)?” At that point, ADONAI could use him. At forty, he thought he was something, but now at eighty he thought he was nothing. He repeatedly called into question his own abilities and conveyed a lack of confidence. This is God’s way of training all of His men and women. God had to take the boy David who could slay a giant and put him out into caves where he was hunted like an animal until he found out how weak he was. Then God could make him a king.
Elijah the prophet was brave enough to walk right into the court of Ahab and Jezebel and tell them that there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word (First Kings 17:1b). But Elijah was not as brave as he seemed. God put him out in the desert where He trains men and he found out that he was nothing and the LORD was everything. When Elijah realized this, God used him to face the prophets of Baal and bring down fire from heaven (First Kings 18:16-40).
Rabbi Sha’ul put it this way: That is why, for Messiah’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (Second Corinthians 12:10). This is certainly a paradox. It is, however, what ADONAI was teaching Moses. When Moshe learned that he could not deliver Isra’el, but that God could do it through him, ADONAI was ready to use him.50
This applies to us today. The LORD cannot use us when we think we are strong. It is out of weakness that we are made strong in Christ. The Rabbi Sha’ul said: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (First Corinthians 1:27). Moses and Sha’ul eventually understood that God could not use them unless they were weak. God can do amazing things through a weak person.
ADONAI answered Moses from the burning bush and said: I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain (3:12). God provided Moshe with a sign of evidence. In the future, Moses’ flock of two to three million would worship ADONAI on the very place that he was standing. When Moshe saw the whole camp of Isra’el worshiping God at the foot of Mount Sinai, he would know who he was and that God would have indeed used him. This was indeed a sign because Sinai is not in a direct route from Egypt to Canaan. It was about one hundred and fifty miles out of the way. But they would take that route and that would serve as a sign to Moses that the LORD really did send him. However, this would lead to a second objection.
I am sending you to Pharaoh DIG: What are some of the things Moses learned when God appeared to him? What was ADONAI’s three-fold work? How was YHVH going to use Moshe in that work? What prompted Ha’Shem to act?
REFLECT: What would your land of milk and honey be like? To get there, what route do you imagine having to take? What Pharaoh stands in your way? What elders will you consult? What has the Lord called you to?
God had tested Moses for forty years in the desert. Now he was being called to be the deliverer of the nation of Isra’el. In the process, he will be highly exalted by ADONAI. It is interesting to compare the way in which YHVH calls to service the one He has appointed to His service. Read the story of His call to Gideon (Judges 6), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-10), Ezeki’el (Ezeki’el 1-3), and Paul (Acts 9). In every case there is first a vision of God, which humbles to dust the one whom God called. Then there is a clear explanation of the work that God wishes accomplished; often there is reluctance on the part of the one commissioned to undertake the task. But there is always the assurance of God’s presence and power that enables him to go forward. It was no different with Moses.43
Then God identified Himself in the burning bush and said: I AM the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He announced that He was the same God who had appeared to the patriarchs and that He had not forgotten the Covenant that He had made with His people. At this Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God (3:6). Moses and others of faith believed that they would be destroyed if they looked at Ha’Shem because of their own lack of holiness (Genesis 16:13, 32:30; Judges 12:22), as God Himself would later affirm (33:20).
ADONAI spoke with compassion and said: 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 (3:7). God sees, hears and knows everything concerning His people. No affliction, no crying, or sorrow escapes His tender watchful eye and ear. He is always ready to help those who cry out to Him.
Moses learned the threefold work that YHVH had come down to do for Isra’el (3:8). Fifteen hundred years later Jesus Christ, came down to do this same work for all mankind. First, He came down to rescue the nation of Isra’el from the hand of the Egyptians. The verb to come down is a common anthropomorphic expression meaning that God is especially intervening in the situation. It is the same phrase used in Genesis 11:5 concerning the Tower of Babel. Later, God will rescue us from the hand of our enemies (Luke 1:74).
Secondly, He came down to bring them up out of that land. God would not deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and then leave them in the land of the Egyptians. Later, Rabbi Sha’ul, in his letter to the church at Corinth would say: Come out from them and be separate (Second Corinthians 6:17).
Thirdly, He came down to bring them into a good and specious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. God not only brought His people out of the bad, but also into the good. Many believers say they have come out of the world (Egypt), but they have not come into the fullness of the Christ (Canaan).44
The phrase a Land flowing with milk and honey means Canaan was ideal for raising goats and cows. Feeding on good pastureland, the goats, sheep, and cows were full of milk. The bees were busy making honey. Milk and honey suggested agricultural prosperity. This is the first of many references in the TaNaKh to the land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 33:3; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 13:27, 14:8, 16:13-14; Deuteronomy 6:3, 11:9, 26:9 and 15, 27:3, 30:20; Joshua 5:6; Jeremiah 11:5, 32:22; Ezeki’el 20:6 and 15).45
Canaan was the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. This list of pagan nations is an oft-repeated formula in the Bible. Genesis 15:18-21 provides the first list of ten nations occupying the Promised Land. The number of nations in the formula changes from one citation to another, although the reason is obscure. The point of the formula was to demonstrate that the LORD would work mightily to remove the pagans and give the land to the Hebrews. In addition, the fact that six nations resided there suggested that it was spacious enough to provide for the Hebrews.46
ADONAI knew the suffering of the Hebrews. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them (3:9). Although at times He may seem distant and uninvolved, YHVH intimately knows and understands your suffering and pain. Because this is a repeat of verse 7, it brackets the beginning and the end of God’s speech to Moses.
The call of the LORD to us is always personal and individual, and our response to Him must be similarly personal and individual. So it was with Moses.47 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt (3:10). Here was the climax of the burning bush episode – the call of Moses. Notice that God’s call was not in the form of a question, as if Moses had a choice in the matter. It was in the form of a command. There was no doubt about the task before him.
This Pharaoh was Amenhotep II; it will be to him that Moses, as God’s spokesman, would come and say: Let My people go (5:1). He was the Pharaoh who experienced the ten plagues, including the death of his firstborn son (to see link click Bc – Pharaoh as god and upholder of Ma’at). It is under him that the Exodus finally occurred, and thus he is called the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
Exodus is the story of how the LORD redeemed His people. The essence of redemption is to be bought back. One of the great pictures of being bought back is in the book of Hosea, who prophesied to a corrupt and idolatrous Isra’el from his own experience. Instructed by ADONAI to marry an adulterous wife, he married Gomer and she bore him two sons and a daughter. Afterward she continued her unfaithful ways and Hosea put her out of his house. But God commanded him to demonstrate his love for her once more. This gracious act would serve as an object lesson of YHVH’s great love for Isra’el despite her great unfaithfulness in chasing after other gods. Hosea responded obediently to the LORD’s command when he redeemed, or bought his wife back for a substantial price. In that sense, the book of Exodus reveals how God bought back His people.48
When the LORD redeems, He not only redeems from something, He always redeems to something. We have been saved from sin to holiness and heaven. If you are saved today, you are completely saved (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). You will be just as saved a million years from now as you are today because you are in Christ (Ephesians 1:1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, 20). You have been brought out of Adam and put into Christ. You have been brought out of death and put into life. You have been brought out of darkness and put into light. You have been brought out of hell, if you please, and put into heaven. ADONAI said to Moses His servant: I am going to rescue them from the land of the Egyptians and bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. That is the salvation of God. That is redemption.49
One thing God knew was that it was time to raise up a deliverer – Moshe. Accordingly, the narrative now focuses on that single man. Exodus 2 has shown us that God had already begun to act upon Isra’el’s grim circumstances by rising up a deliverer in Pharaoh’s court. That deliverer was Moses and he was forced to flee to Midian for a further period of preparation because the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt was about to happen. God was clearly at work behind the scenes, guiding and directing everything for His purposes. The next step in the exodus of Isra’el now occurs, the call and commissioning of Moses.36 ADONAI knew that he was ready, although Moses wasn’t quite so sure.
Flames of fire from within a burning bush DIG: Why do you think God used a burning bush to get Moses’ attention? What do you make of the fact that Moshe was rejected before he saw the burning bush? How is the nation of Isra’el like the burning bush?
REFLECT: What does it mean to you that Moses was rejected in Egypt before his burning bush experience in Midian? As Moshe drew near to the bush, God met him. In the same way, God told Jeremiah the prophet: You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13). Do you want to find Him? Do you want a relationship with Him? Do you seek Him today?
Moses’ forty years in Midian had come to an end. All of his schooling in Egypt was not enough to prepare him for his great work of delivering Isra’el from slavery. God prepared him for this task with forty years in the desert of Midian.37 Throughout the south Sinai Peninsula area there are little bushes that the Bedouin sheep and goats feed on. And because of a lack of rain and extreme heat, these bushes sometimes unexpectedly ignite with fire and burn up. So burning bushes there are not all that unusual. But burning bushes that talk to you, give you orders and don’t burn up are unusual, even for the Sinai.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. His real name was Reuel (2:18). Jethro was a title like Pharaoh, not an actual name. This would have been especially humbling for Moses because the Egyptians detested herding flocks as an occupation (Genesis 46:34). And he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, which means desolation, or the mountain of God (3:1). Horeb and Sinai are two names for the same mountain, just as Mount Hermon is also called Mount Sirion (Deuteronomy 3:9; Psalm 29:6). Horeb is the most elevated area of the Sinai Peninsula, and has the most fertile valleys in which even fruit trees grow. Water is plentiful there and consequently it is the destination of all the Bedouins when the lower countries are dried up. Therefore, Jethro’s home was separated from Horeb by a desert.38
Even Moshe’s vocation served to shape his character. To mankind, who judges primarily on the things of the flesh, Moses appeared to be a tragic figure at this stage in his life. He had lost his position of power and authority, his fame and riches. And at that time he was carrying out the most menial type of work in a barren land! But to ADONAI, all earthly authority, power, riches and pride are mere chaff that the wind drives away. For Moses was a poor shepherd who became the deliverer of Isra’el. In fact, that lowly work was preparation for the task of shepherding the flock of the Lord.39
On one occasion at Mount Sinai, perhaps at night so it would be easy to see, Moses suddenly found himself confronted by a burning acacia bush. As mentioned earlier, the extremely dry conditions in the desert sometimes cause bushes to burst in to flames by spontaneous combustion. But there was something different this time; Moshe saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up (3:2). But what Moses thought was fire, was actually the Sh’khinah glory, or the visible manifestation of God’s presence. Deuteronomy 33:16 refers to the Sh’khinah as: Him who dwelt in the burning bush. The Hebrew word dwelt, is shahchan, and this is where we get the concept of the Sh’khinah glory. Whenever the Sh’khinah glory is present it appears as a light, a fire, a cloud, or some combination thereof. Moshe had seen many burning bushes, however this was something he had never seen before.
When Moses saw the burning bush, he was curious and decided to take a closer look. He thought to himself, “I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up” (3:3). Here was a wonder that all the magicians of Pharaoh could not produce. Here was something that confused all the wisdom of Egypt. This was the manifestation of God Himself, and from the midst of the bush, God began to speak to Moses.40
There, within the burning bush, the Angel of ADONAI appeared to him. Whenever the phrase: the Angel of ADONAI is seen in the TaNaKh, it is always the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. It is never a common, ordinary, run of the mill angel. Therefore, when ADONAI saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush and called out: Moses! Moses! And Moses answered: Here I am (3:4). The Bible is very consistent that whenever God calls a man’s name twice, as He does here, it is for the purpose of calling him to a specific ministry or commission. He does this to Abraham in Genesis 22:11, to Jacob in Genesis 46:2, to Samuel in First Samuel 3:10, and Rabbi Sha’ul in Acts 9:4.
After talking to ADONAI, Moshe decided to take a closer look. But from the midst of the bush God set the tone immediately when He commanded: Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground (3:5). This is a sign of reverence common to the ancient Near East, a practice that continues to this day. Joshua was commanded to do the same in Joshua 5:15. There, the commander of the Lord’s army, again the Second Person of the Trinity or Yeshua Messiah, appeared to Joshua just before the fall of Jericho. As here in Exodus 3, through a Divine encounter, a leader is commissioned to do battle with those forces that oppose God’s people.41
The picture of the burning bush is full of symbolism. First, the bush was burning and fire is consistently used as a symbol of divine judgment in the Scriptures (Genesis 3:24; First Kings 18:38; Dani’el 3:1-27; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:14). The writer to the Hebrews tells us that our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). When we get to the building of the Tabernacle in Exodus 35:1 to 39:43, we learn that bronze, like the bronze altar, contained the fire. Therefore, bronze is also associated with judgment (Numbers 21:9; Dani’el 10:6; Revelation 1:14 and 2:18).
Secondly, the word bush, or seneh, means a thorny bush. When God introduces the concept of sin in Genesis 3, He uses thorns as its symbol. ADONAI said: Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field (Genesis 3:17b-18). And when Christ was being crucified on the cross for our sin, the Roman soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and set it upon His head (Matthew 27:29a). The Holy Spirit is consistent in this usage and the thorny bush in the desert was a symbol of sin. So the picture we have before us is sin being judged by God’s consuming fire. The rabbis teach that God chose the lowliest of the trees as the place of revelation to show that He was with the Israelites in their sufferings and humiliation.
Thirdly, a very strange thing happened. The burning bush did not burn up, which pictures His mercy. This is exactly what God is asking Moshe to do at his burning bush experience. God is sending Moses to Pharaoh and the ten plagues will be in judgment of Egypt’s sin. However, even in His judgments, God will show mercy to the Egyptians and not consume them.
One of the greatest proofs of the accuracy of Scripture is the existence of the nation of Isra’el. Years ago an emperor of Germany asked his chaplain the question, “What is the greatest proof that the Bible is the Word of God? Is that proof somewhere in my kingdom?” Without hesitation the chaplain answered and said, “The Jew sir. She is the proof.” Isra’el is the burning bush that ought to cause the unbeliever to turn aside and take a look today. It is amazing that she has existed down through the centuries. From the days of Moshe to the present hour, she has been in existence. Other nations have come and gone, and she has attended the funeral of all of them. But she is still around. Isra’el has been in the fire of persecution from the bondage in Egypt, through the centuries, to the present day. But like the burning bush, Isra’el has not been consumed.42
Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian DIG: Why does Moses feel the way he does about the Hebrews? Why does he flee? What character traits do you see in Moses when he lived in Egypt? Which ones will serve him well in the long run? Which get him into trouble again?
REFLECT: How do you feel about God using a murderer to further His plans? How might God use a personal flaw or failure of yours for His greater glory?
The first thirty-five years of Moses’ life were spent in the courts of Egypt. He was raised and trained like an Egyptian. He looked like an Egyptian, talked like an Egyptian and acted like an Egyptian. He was educated in the great Temple of the Sun, which was the outstanding university of the day. They had an outstanding library there, and we are told that Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7:22). But the one great lack in his education was that he was not taught how to serve ADONAI.21
Thirty-five years after Moses was brought into the house of Pharaoh, Thutmose III had taken control of the throne because Hatshepsut had died. He was the fourth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. He was probably about thirty at the time and had grown up hating Hatshepsut and anyone associated with her. Not only was Moses Hatshepsut’s adopted son, but he was royalty and an indirect heir to the throne. As long as Hatshepsut was alive, Moses was in safe hands. But after her death, Moses no longer had the protection of his adopted mother. Therefore, Thutmose III set out on a campaign to kill him.
Thutmose III was perhaps that greatest of all the so-called Warrior Pharaohs. He evidently undertook seventeen victorious campaigns. This Pharaoh was a natural leader and general. He made unpopular military decisions that proved to be correct. He planned his attack in such a way that he always had the high ground and left his enemy at a disadvantage. In fact, Thutmose III has been called the Napoleon of Ancient Egypt, and was feared both inside and outside of the land.
Despite the education that Moses received in the courts of Egypt, he could not get rid of the belief that he belonged to the people of Isra’el. One day, Moses went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. It seemed that Moses made a conscious decision to change his lifestyle and identify with his own people after the death of his adopted mother Hatshepsut. Stephen comments on this incident: When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. This was not a casual visit to see how they were doing. His adopted mother was dead and he probably knew that Thutmose III would try to kill him, so there was nothing left for him in Egypt. He saw one of his own people being mistreated by an Egyptian overseer, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian and hiding him in the sand. This was a turning point in his life. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them from slavery, but they did not (Acts 7:23-25). He would indeed rescue them from slavery, but God’s timing would not come for another forty years.
By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. The Greek tense from the Septuagint here is an aorist tense, which means it was a once and forever act. He made a once and forever decision not to be known as the son of Hatshepsut. There is nothing to suggest that he did not love his adopted mother, but Egypt was dead to him. It was probably at that point that he shortened his name. He had no intention of contending for the Egyptian throne and he chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He understood that the Messiah would be fulfilled through the nation of Isra’el; therefore, he regarded the disgrace on behalf of the Messiah (CJB) as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:24-27).
Somehow he knew that the Hebrew slaves were the ones that ADONAI, or God, would use to bring about the Jewish Messiah, who at His Second Coming, would set up a far greater Kingdom than that of the Egyptian empire. So it was a conscious act on the part of Moses. He intuitively knew God’s program. He knew God was going to use Isra’el and get them out of Egypt, and he also knew he was the instrument to be used. Perhaps this was from his own mother because she recognized that he was a special instrument of God (Acts 7:20). However, while Moses understood God’s program, he didn’t understand God’s timing.
When Moses killed the Egyptian overseer, the only ones present were the Jews. He expected that it would have been kept a secret. However, he was about to learn a bitter lesson. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your brother” (2:13)? The man replied mockingly: Who made you ruler and judge over us? This reaction foreshadowed the relationship between Moses and the entire nation of Isra’el. Here the man questioned Moses’ authority – why, he was no more than the son of a Hebrew slave. Who was he to lord it over his fellow Hebrews?22 Then he sarcastically asked: Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian? That shook Moses to the core because he realized that in one day the word had gotten out about what he had done. Then Moses was afraid and thought to himself, “What I did must have become known” (2:14). At that time he knew that his offer to rescue his own people from slavery had been rejected.
When Thutmose III heard of this from the Hebrews he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well (2:15). Wells were important for shepherds and semi-nomadic people. It was quite natural that Moses would be drawn to a well, not only for the physical sustenance, but because it was the meeting place for shepherds and travelers.23
As far as Moses was concerned, he understood that normally those of the royal household could kill anyone they wanted to without penalty. Except that now with Hatshepsut dead, Thutmose III was looking for a way to kill him. So when Moses killed the Egyptian overseer, the king of Egypt had his excuse. Moses then fled to live in Midian, not because he was afraid of Pharaoh, but because his own people did not realize that God was using him to rescue them from slavery (Acts 7:25). His forty years in Egypt were over. All of his education in Egypt did not prepare Moses to deliver his people. God would prepare Moses in the land of Midian to be the deliverer of God’s people, Isra’el.
So God was kind to the Midwives DIG: What did Pharaoh’s fear lead him to do? What did the midwives fear lead them to do? By disobeying Pharaoh, what were the midwives risking? What did God think of their disobedience? Compare the accounts of how the seed of the Serpent tried to kill both Moses and Jesus (Matthew 2:1-20).
REFLECT: If you were a Hebrew midwife, what do you think you would have done? How were their actions justified in light of what the B’rit Chadashah teaches us about submission to authorities (Romans 13:1)? Why did God bless them?
When working the Hebrews ruthlessly didn’t stop them from multiplying, Ahmose put a second phase of his plan to work. Then the king of Egypt said to the two chief Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah. Judging from the names of these two midwives, they were probably of Hyksos origin. The name Shiphrah means beautiful, like Linda in Spanish. And Puah can also be a Semitic name. They were told, “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” (1:15-16). The rabbis teach that Pharaoh, warned by his astrologers, schemed to safeguard himself against the birth of a child who might become the deliverer of the Israelites. Art by Sarah Beth Baca: see more information on Links and Resources.
Under biblical and ancient law, nationality was determined by father and not by the mother. So we can see why the daughters were allowed to live and the sons had to die. If your father was a Hebrew, you were a Hebrew regardless of what you mother’s nationality was. If your father was an Egyptian, you were an Egyptian regardless of what you mother’s nationality was. So by killing off the sons, the Hebrew population would be decreased because the daughters could be forced to intermarry with the Egyptians, and any subsequent children would be Egyptian because their fathers would be Egyptian. But this plan failed as well.
If Pharaoh’s command to the midwives had been carried out, it would have been a master stroke. The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do. They let the boys live (1:17). They feared God more than they feared Pharaoh. They committed themselves to obey His will rather than Pharaoh’s and allowed the boy babies to remain alive.9 This is one of the major themes of Exodus. Who were the Hebrews to serve – God or Pharaoh?
Pharaoh’s plan for Isra’el and God’s plan for Isra’el were exact opposites. Pharaoh’s plan for them was slavery, sorrow, poverty and death, while God’s plan for them was liberty, joy, plenty and life. A great contrast, for sure, but that is just the wide difference between Satan’s plan and God’s plan for every human soul. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23a).10
It was obvious that his plan was not working, so the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live” (1:18)? Their response was not completely truthful, but they honored God before man. The midwives answered Pharaoh saying: Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vagarious and give birth before the midwives arrive (1:19). The question arises, is it ever proper to lie in a situation like this? There are times when believers are faced with this issue. For example, believers were faced with this situation during the Second World War when they had Jews hidden in their homes. The Dutch believers reacted differently than the Polish believers. When the Nazi’s came and asked the Poles if they knew where the Jews were hiding, they felt like they could not lie and they exposed the Jews sending them to their deaths in the Nazi gas chambers. But when the Dutch believers, including Corrie ten Boom, were asked the same question, they avoided the truth, saving Jewish lives. What would you do?
In the same manner, the Hebrew midwives saved families through disobedience to Pharaoh, so God rewarded them with families for their obedience to Him. So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. God protected them from Pharaoh’s wrath, and He gave them a reward. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own (1:20-21). The end result was that the Israelites continued to multiply in strength and numbers.
The rabbis teach that according to the Talmud (commentaries on the TaNaKh), Pharaoh’s astrologers warned him that a savior was about to be born. Thus, Pharaoh attempted to kill Moses as a baby. Thereafter, Pharaoh put the third phase of his sinister plan into operation. Totally frustrated and angry, Pharaoh gave this order to all the people of Egypt saying: Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live (1:22). Genocide, the killing off of an entire ethnic population, was Pharaoh’s solution to his problem. In a chillingly similar modern situation, Adolph Hitler called the same procedure the final solution.11 But just as Satan tried to get rid of the children of Isra’el, God intervened and one in Pharaoh’s own household would draw a deliverer, Moses, out of the Nile.
Today we are obligated to obey YHVH before men. For example, if a government commanded that no one was allowed to present the gospel to others, believers in that country would have to disobey because Christ commands us to witness for Him (Matthew 28:19-20). Such was the response of the disciples in Acts 5. If a government ordered mandatory abortions for its people, believers would have a duty to resist. God will not tolerate His people committing murder (Exodus 20:13). This is a general principle for how a believer is to live: it is to be on the basis of God’s word.12
Now a priest in Midian had seven daughters DIG: How is the exodus foreshadowed in the deliverance of Reuel’s daughters? What other important men and women in the Bible meeting at a well? How did Moshe’s act of driving the shepherds away serve as a microcosm of the later exodus deliverance?
REFLECT: Have you ever dropped out and sat on the spiritual sidelines for an extended period of time? How did this better prepare you for your future? How has ADONAI used you because of it?
Moses fled to the land of Midian, which for the next forty years was his home. It is the area of the southern Sinai Peninsula, the same area in which Mount Sinai is located. The one in charge of that territory was not a king but a priest. His name is Reuel, which means the friend of God. When we get to 3:1 we are told: Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and some have seen a contradiction between the two accounts. But Jethro is not a proper name; it is a title like Pharaoh, Kaiser, Cesar or President.
However, Moses did not learn about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from this man; he learned about Him from his parents until the age of five. At this point Reuel is a polytheist, and is not convinced of monotheism until we get to 18:9-12.
Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock (2:16). Women watering animals was very common in the TaNaKh (Genesis 24:11-19). Here is another biblical example of a guy meeting the right girl by a well. Isaac’s servant, Eliezer of Damascus, found Rebekah by a well (Genesis 24:15-16). Where did Rebekah finally meet Isaac? At Beer Lahai Roi, or the well of the Living One (Genesis 24:62). Jacob also met Rachel by a well (Genesis 29:1-14). And of course, Jesus talked with a Samaritan woman by a well (John 4:126).
Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock (2:17). This act serves as a microcosm of the later exodus deliverance. Here the women are victimized and oppressed by shepherds who drive them away from the water. Moses stands up for the persecuted and rescues them from the oppressors. The word rescue simply means saved or delivered. The same verb is generally used for the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt. That day ADONAI saved Isra’el from the hands of the Egyptians (14:30a). The word for drove away is also used later when Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence (10:11). The character of Moses is emphasized here. He was brave, loved justice, took the side of the weak and the oppressed. Those traits would serve him well in the later deliverance of the Hebrews.27
When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them: “Why have you returned so early today?” The watering of their father’s flock should have taken much longer. They answered and said: An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. At this point Moses probably dressed, talked and was clean-shaven like an Egyptian. The girls concluded by saying: He even drew water for us and watered the flock (2:18-19).
“And where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.” A man with seven daughters was anxious to find out who this guy was! During the course of the meal, an agreement was made and he would live with them from that point on. Moses agreed to stay with the man (2:20-21a). So ADONAI was working behind the scenes and this stranger was accepted into Reuel’s family.
Later, Reuel would give his daughter Zipporah, which means ladybird, to Moses in marriage. Normally the marriage proposal came from the family of the bridegroom. But occasionally, under unusual circumstances like this, the custom was reversed. The father, of course, had the authority to make such decisions, with their society being totally patriarchal in nature. Later, Zipporah gave birth to their first son, and Moses named him Gershom, a pun which means an alien there or banishment, and refers to Moses’ realization that he, at first somewhat homesick and lonely, was an alien in a foreign land (2:21b-22). He was a man in exile from his home country and the people of his birth. Moses was an alien, as were his Israelite countrymen in Egypt and he was finally experiencing their plight. His son’s name was a constant reminder of his banishment.28
Two general points of application need to be made here for those who follow Christ. First, believers are called to understand and take to heart, the truth that God’s plan for the universe and eternity will come to pass despite sin. Do we think that in some way our sin will thwart ADONAI’s decrees from operating in the world? Not even Satan, at his most wicked and hateful moment, can hinder the providence of YHVH. Even the very gates of hell are powerless to block God’s purposes for the universe. May we hold to that truth.
Secondly, may we grasp the truth that the LORD will use us, like He did Moses, despite our sin. That, of course, does not give us a license to sin, but God employs frail and weak vessels to proclaim the gospel to a dying world. Yeshua uses redeemed sinners to proclaim the excellences of Him who has called us out of the darkness! ADONAI uses His people, despite their weakness, failure and sinfulness, for His glory and His purposes.29
Moses lived in the land of Midian for the remainder of the reign of Thutmose III. The Midianites were primarily herdsmen, migrating with their livestock according to the seasons. They were also involved in international trade (Genesis 37:28).24 Their founder was Midian, a son of Keturah, wife of Abraham, who had been sent to the east away from Isaac (Genesis 25:2-6). They lived in the southeastern Sinai and northwestern Arabia on both sides of the Gulf of Aqaba.25 It goes without saying that the culture and lifestyle of Midian was drastically different than those of Egypt.
The long years he would spend in the desert were not wasted years, but a time of maturity and reflection on the things of God (Acts 7:29). He needed the discipline of physical toil and the lessons this kind of occupation conveys. ADONAI was preparing Moses to be a leader of men, so for forty years he received experience by leading the flocks of the Midianite priest.26 He gained much knowledge of the Sinai area, which would later be useful as he would lead the nation of Isra’el in that wilderness land.
It seems that almost every great man of YHVH spends time in the desert preparing for his ministry. John the Baptist was a man of the desert eating locusts and wild honey. Rabbi Sha’ul was in Arabia for several years. Jesus spent time in the desert alone. So the LORD might prepare you for a ministry with a period of exile in some desert, and the thing that will interfere with your preparation is impatience.
It is significant that Thutmose III reigned for forty years after Hatshepsut’s death, and Moses lived in Midian for exactly the same amount of time. It is only after the death of Thutmose III that Moses returned to Egypt.
From Adam to Christ, there is none greater than Moses. He is one of the few characters of Scripture whose life is recorded from birth to death. He is one of the most commanding figures of the ancient world. In his character, in his faith, in his achievements, and in the unique position assigned to him as the mediator between YHVH and His people, Moses stands first among the heroes of the Hebrew Scriptures. All of God’s early dealings with Isra’el were transacted through Moshe. He was a prophet, priest and king in one person.15 He lived in Egypt for forty years, and what he learned was that he was not an Egyptian, but a member of the tribe of Levi, a Hebrew.
The LORD’s response to Pharaoh’s murderous scheme was to raise up a man who would eventually lead the Israelites out of bondage and into freedom. That man was Moses, who is considered by many to be the greatest single individual in the entire TaNaKh, and who is the principal figure in the biblical narrative from Exodus Chapter 2 through the end of Deuteronomy.13
Moses spent his first forty years in Egypt and his second forty years taking refuge with the Midianites. Of the first forty years, the Bible just touches the highlights, chiastically paired with the second forty years, with D being the turning point. There is a parallelism, where the first letter is antithetical to the second letter.
A Marriage of Moses’ parents and his birth (2:1-4)
B Moses taken by a king’s daughter to her home (2:5-10)
C Moses rescues his Israelite brother (2:11-12)
D Moses betrayed by his fellow Hebrews (2:13-14)
C Moses rescues non-Israelite maidens (2:15-17)
B Moses taken by a priest’s daughter to her home (2:18-20)
A Moses’ marriage and birth of his son (2:21-22)
The life of Moses presents a series of striking antitheses. He was the child of a slave, and the son of a queen. He was born in a hut, and lived in a palace. He inherited poverty, and enjoyed unlimited wealth. He was the leader of armies, and the keeper of flocks. He was the mightiest of warriors, and the meekest of men. He was educated in the court of Egypt, and dwelt in the desert. He had the wisdom of Egypt, and the faith of a child. He was fitted for the city, and wandered in the wilderness. He was tempted with the pleasures of sin and endured the hardships of virtue. He was backward in speech, and talked with ADONAI. He had the rod of shepherd, and the power of the Infinite. He was a fugitive from Pharaoh, and an ambassador from heaven. He was the giver of the Torah, and the forerunner of grace. He died alone on Mount Moab (Jude 9), and appeared with Messiah in Judea (Luke 9:28-33). No man assisted at his funeral, yet God buried him.14
