Now You Will See What I Will Do to Pharaoh
5:22 to 6:13

Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh DIG: Why does Moses react the way he does? How does ADONAI reaffirm His trustworthiness? How did Moses end up feeling? Read Isaiah 45:14 and 17. How does God’s Presence through prophecy change the hearts of unbelievers? 

REFLECT: In your own walk with God, which is more important: the past acts of YHVH, your present circumstances, or His future promises? Why? In what ways can the LORD deliver you from the might of the very thing oppressing you?

Moses confronted ADONAI over the reason why Isra’el has not yet been delivered from Egypt. Moshe complains directly to Him and is quite bold in addressing YHVH in this manner. But ADONAI does not rebuke Moses. Instead He patiently explains, in great detail, what is going to take place in Egypt and why it is going to happen. God’s forbearance with Moshe is a concession to the prophet’s weakness and impatience. He is being taught to wait upon the LORD who does things according to His own timing.⁸⁷

His fellow Hebrews had just accused Moses of wrongdoing; therefore, he returned to God. We should not regard the response of Moshe to Ha’Shem as being irreverent or insubordinate, but these were words of a searching heart and of one deeply confused by the turn of events. What is significant about all of this is that Moses did not surrender the cause to which the LORD had called him.⁸⁸ In faith, he turned to God and said: ADONAI, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all (5:22-23). Moses laments that things had gotten worse because of him and his confrontation with Amenhotep II. Moshe could not see the entire picture, but God was moving slowly and patiently to work out His plan. However He responded with words of assurance. He had much to teach Moses, the Israelites, the Egyptians and Pharaoh.⁸⁹

In every instance where God brings about judgment, He always brings someone to give warning and an opportunity to repent. Enoch warned the antediluvians, or the people before the flood, to repent. He even named his son Methuselah, which means, “When he dies, it shall be sent.” Noah built an ark for one hundred and twenty years on dry land as a testimony to preach a message of repentance. Jonah preached to Nineveh. Isaiah and other prophets preached to the northern kingdom of Isra’el before they were assimilated by Assyria. Jeremiah and other prophets preached to the southern kingdom of Judah before being taken to Babylon. John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1) preached a message of repentance before the coming of Christ. And the hundred and forty-four thousand will preach a message of repentance before the plagues of the book of Revelation, which mirror the plagues of Egypt in many ways, will come upon the whole world. Who came, or has come into your life with the Gospel? What did you do with the message of repentance?

The Israelites were now at the end of their self-sufficiency. Moses and Aaron could not help them; Pharaoh would not help them; and they were powerless to help themselves. If help was to be had, it had to come from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Just then, when they had given up hope through any other source, was the time for ADONAI to step in and save them. That was just what He did.⁹⁰

First, God contrasted His strength with that of Pharaoh. Then ADONAI said to Moses His servant: Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of My mighty hand he will let them go and drive them out of this country (6:1). The initial failure of Moses was necessary to show him why God would drive him out of Egypt. Pharaoh had to be given the opportunity to repent and respond. At that point the opportunity had been given and rejected. Then the mighty hand of God would respond with ten plagues. In the final analysis, Pharaoh would not only allow the Hebrews to leave, but he would drive them away.

Haftarah Sh’mot: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23 (A); Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 1:1-2:3 (S)
(see the commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

Mightier works of the hand of ADONAI are not prophecies in order to redeem the fallen history of the sons of Jacob. Ephraim has lost his crown and the glory of leadership to Assyria (Isaiah 28:1-4). But YHVH, who redeemed Abraham when he as assimilating in Assyria (Isaiah 29:22), and delivered the house of Jacob from the power of Egypt, will act once more! The LORD’s hand will work out a new redemption. No longer will Jacob be embarrassed in the midst of the nations over his fallen holiness. When his descendants see the work of my hands among them, they will consecrate My name. Yes, they will consecrate the Holy one of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Isra’el (Isaiah 29:23). Unlike Ephraim, the House of Jacob will be delivered from the perils of national assimilation and loss of covenant status. 

B’rit Chadashah suggested readings for Parashah Sh’mot: Mattityahu (Matthew) 22:23-33; 41-46; Mark 12:18-27, 35-37; Luke 20:27-44; Acts 3:12-15, 5:27-32, 7:17-36, 22:12-16, 24:14-16 and Hebrews 11:23-26.

Up to now, foreign languages have been a sign of God’s judgment. Ha’Shem created languages to divide the nations (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Dn – Let Us Go Down and Confuse Their Language), and even to judge Isra’el among the Assyrians (see the Haftarah on Isaiah Fm – With Foreign Lips and Strange Tongues God Will Speak to This People). In the B’rit Chadashah, ADONAI chides the Corinthians for child-like immaturity, particularly when they judge the intensity of their personal experience in worship as a sign of spiritual maturity (First Corinthians 3:2 and 14:40). Prophecy, however, makes sense what foreign languages do not! In prophecy, secrets of the heart are laid bare, bringing the terrifying conviction that God dwells among His people (First Corinthians 14:25).

Parashah 14: Va’era (I appeared) 6:2-9:35
(see the commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

The Key People are Moshe, Aaron, Pharaoh, and the sorcerers.

The Scene is in Egypt.

The Main Events include God identifying Himself as YHVH, the God of the Covenant; Moshe’s reluctance to lead; lineage cited to validate Moshe and Aaron; wonders performed with Moshe’s staff becoming a snake; plagues of blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock dying, and boils; Pharaoh’s heart hardened first by himself and later by Ha’Shem; the plague of hail with warning to seek shelter; Pharaoh backing down, but only while under pressure, and then hardening his own heart again. 

Having established the principles by which God would act in the next few chapters, the promise that He had made to Moses earlier is now renewed. God also said to Moses, “I AM ADONAI” (6:2). This is God’s personal name and emphasized His ability to keep His covenant. This is important to understand because of what He says in the following verses.

Secondly, ADONAI showed Moshe that redemption of Isra’el from bondage was assured because it rested on His unconditional promises. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, or El Shaddai, or the provider, but by My name, YHVH (Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay), I did not make Myself known to them. This did not mean that the patriarchs did not know that God’s name was YHVH. Even non-Hebrews, such as the king of Sodom, were familiar with the Name. They knew Him by that name, but they did not experience what that name implied, namely that He is the One who keeps His covenants. The name El Shaddai emphasizes God as the One who would take care of them, provide for them and make a covenant with them. God did bring the patriarchs into the Land, and He did provide for them and YHVH did make the Abrahamic Covenant with them. But while God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they never experienced the fulfillment of that covenant because they all died before possessing the Land. Their only possession was a burial cave at Machpelah (Gen 23:9-20). Thus, they did not know Him as God who keeps the covenant; they only knew Him as El Shaddai, the One who makes covenants. Then He continued: I will also establish My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens (6:2-4).

But now God said that Isra’el was about to experience Him as ADONAI, because part of the Abrahamic Covenant said that after four hundred years they would be brought out of Egypt into the Promised Land. It was this generation of Hebrews and the following one, who would experience what the name God implied. He was not only the maker of the Abrahamic Covenant, but also the keeper of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Moreover, He said: I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant (6:5). In other words, He was prepared to act, and act very soon. In verses 6 through 8 ADONAI reveals the seven I wills of redemption (also see Genesis 17:1-8 and Jeremiah 31:31-34). These verses paint a marvelous picture for us today and were a great encouragement to Moses in his day. God announced who He is and what He is going to do. Today we have the same Savior who tells us who He is and what He is going to do. He is able to save all those who come to Him.⁹¹

Thirdly, YHVH made a sevenfold promise with the words: “I will” beginning each phrase. Therefore, say to the Israelites: I AM ADONAI; and I can be trusted to honor My promises.

Perhaps the most famous commentary written of the story of the Exodus is the Passover Haggadah. In it we find that the whole Passover celebration (Seder) is divided into four parts. Each section is marked off by the drinking of a cup of wine. These four cups of wine even have traditional names, two of which can be seen in the Passover Haggadah which Messiah participated in on the evening before He was crucified.

1. I will bring you out (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Kg – The First Cup of Sanctification) from under the yoke of the Egyptians (6:6a). His people had been groaning under the intolerable cruelty of their taskmasters. Was there no one to deliver them? There was. The covenant God made with their fathers had promised that at the end of four hundred years of affliction, they should be delivered (Genesis 15:13-16). That time had come for God to make good on His promises. He declared, therefore, that He would bring them out from under the yoke of their burdens. And this is what God does for those who follow Him today. We are delivered from the burden of sin from our souls.

2. I will free you (the second cup of Salvation) from being slaves to them (6:6b). God was going to do far more than merely relieve the Israelites of their burdens, He would completely set them free. Instead of them toiling in the kilns of Egypt, He would have them out in the wilderness, in communion with Himself. Those who receive Jesus as their Savior are no longer a slave to sin, no longer a slave to Satan, or the fear of death. The one who believes in Christ is set free.

3. I will redeem you (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Kk – The Third Cup of Redemption) with an outstretched arm, and with mighty acts of judgment (6:6c). To redeem means to purchase and set free. This is the mighty arm of God spoken of by Isaiah the prophet. Who had believed our message and to whom has the arm of ADONAI been revealed (Isaiah 53:1)? It turns out that the arm of ADONAI is none other than Jesus Christ (see the commentary on Isaiah Ja – Who Has Believed Our Message). He is the One who redeemed Isra’el and He is the same One who redeems today. Each of us needs a Savior from sin because we are corrupt in His sight. He loved us enough to die for us in order that we might be saved. If He was willing to do that, we must be willing to come to Him as sinners. If we place our faith in the work that Jesus did for us we will be saved. God has a great plan of salvation but we must come to Him for it. He will redeem you with an outstretched arm.

4. I will take you (the fourth cup of Acceptance) as My own people (6:7a). For Isra’el this meant from that time on, as a nation, they would have a unique relationship with God. They would be His treasure and the objects of His special care and favor. Amazingly, God Himself owned a downtrodden nation of slaves. But He did! On what basis? On the basis of redemption. With the mighty arm of ADONAI, Jesus Christ, He had purchased them by the blood of the Passover Lamb. This same truth is set forth in the B’rit Chadashah. Just think, God has lifted us out of the muck and mire of sin and made us His sons and daughters by faith in Christ! Now he tells them: I will be your God. But God does not save us and then run off and leave us. He wants to be your God and He wants us to be His people.

This cup of Acceptance introduces one of the most beautiful themes in the Bible – the theme of marriage between God and His people. The Hebrew word which is translated will take is a rather common word usually meaning to take. However, it is also used in reference to a man taking a bride for himself. For example it is used that way in Genesis 4:19, 6:2, 11:29 and 12:19, just to name a few places in the Torah alone. Based on this usage, we can say that here in Exodus, ADONAI is telling Isra’el that He will take her to be His wife! In other words, this is God’s engagement to Isra’el!

Let’s develop this theme a little more. YHVH first promised to separate Isra’el from all the other nations in the world. By His grace, He selected her as His bride and He intends to marry her. But His bride is held in slavery bondage to someone else. Therefore, the LORD promises to sever those bonds. Then the Exodus actually happens. God leads His bride to the wedding at Mount Sinai (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bf – God’s Chosen People). He even gives her a ring in the Sabbath (see Er – The Sabbath, the Sign of the Covenant). However, not all of His bride is ready. He is still adding on. Ephesians 5 tells us that all believers in Yeshua are His bride, along with the believing remnant Isra’el. Finally the wedding is consummated (see the commentary on Revelation Fg – Blessed Are Those Invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb).

There’s going to be a wedding: Therefore, if ADONAI makes a promise to be a husband to Isra’el, He will assuredly keep it. Now, it is true that this relationship with Isra’el has had some shaky moments throughout their history. But the Eternal One has assured Isra’el (in Hosea Chapters 1-3) that no matter how unfaithful Isra’el would be as a bride (or betrothed one) He would always remain faithful and keep His beloved one as His own.

The truth is that Gentile believers in Yeshua, though also called His bride, have NEVER replaced Isra’el in that position (Ephesians Chater 5). We know this because God’s promises, such as Exodus 6:7. They are only added to Isra’el by being grafted into the Olive Tree (see the commentary on Romans Cz – The Illustration of Isra’el’s Future).

Not only does this provide assurance for Isra’el on a national level, it also provides assurance for all of God’s children on a personal level. If the Eternal One can suffer all which He has from His bride and still love her infinitely and keep her as His bride, then He most assuredly will do so for the individual members of the bride . . . meaning us! The Eternal One who makes promises concerning Isra’el has also made promises to us individually. He will never leave us or abandon us (Hebrews 13:5), and there is nothing which is able to separate us from His covenant-keeping love (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).

5. I will be your God. Then you will know that I AM ADONAI, your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians (6:7b). Who but God could have made a way through the Sea of Reeds so that His redeemed could pass through on dry land? Who but God could have caused that Sea to turn back and drown the chariots of the Egyptians? Who but ADONAI could have guided His people through the wilderness wanderings by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night? Who but the LORD could have quenched their thirst from a rock, and fed a hungry nation with manna and quail for forty years? Truly, He was God to Isra’el. And such is His promise to us today: I will be their God, and they will be My people (2 Corinthians 6:16). Every believer receives this promise daily. Who but YHVH could bring us out from under the yoke of our own sin?

6. I will bring you to the Land that I swore with an uplifted hand, as One taking an oath, to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. Not only did God bring His people out of the land of bondage, but He also brought them into the Land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is true that many died in the wilderness; however, God brought the nation of Isra’el into Canaan. And He will bring each of us, the ones bought by His blood, safely to heaven. The world, the flesh and the Devil may be against us, but not a single sheep of Christ will be lost (John 6:45-40).

7. I will give it to you as a possession. This is the goal to which God is working. All was done in order that they might enjoy that which He had promised to their fathers. This has not yet been completely fulfilled. It is in the messianic Kingdom that Isra’el will take the Land as their possession. In like manner, the full enjoyment of our heritage is in the future. But we already have the Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13b-14). And notice it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).⁹²

The mention of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob connects the end of the divine speech with the beginning of it in verse 2. In addition, the divine formula of self-identification: I AM ADONAI, concludes the speech as it began (6:8).⁹³

Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him, or believe in what he had said, because of their discouragement and cruel bondage (6:9). Despite everything, however, the people of Isra’el were discouraged and unimpressed when Moses reported to them what God had promised.⁹⁴

Are you not listening to God today because of discouragement, or cruel circumstances in your life? I want to encourage you to walk in faith right now, and not to walk by sight. Just as God had deliverance and redemption right around the corner for the Israelites, He has deliverance and redemption right around the corner for you. Do not lose heart, the night has to come before the dawn can shine. I know that’s easy to say, but it’s true.

Nevertheless, even if the Hebrews didn’t want to listen to Moses and Aaron, God again commanded them to go to Pharaoh and demand that he let Isra’el go into the wilderness to worship Him. Then ADONAI said to Moses His servant: Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country (6:10-11).

But Moses hesitated, his zeal dampened by the people’s response, and said to ADONAI, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me.” He felt if he couldn’t convince his own fellow Jews that they would be delivered, what possible chance would he have with Pharaoh? Again he points out his speech impediment, saying: since I speak with faltering lips (6:12). He was looking at the circumstances rather than God. And before we get to critical of Moshe, we must remind ourselves that we do the same thing.

Now ADONAI spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt (6:13). God had a message for both the elders of Isra’el and Pharaoh king of Egypt, who no longer believed Moses and Aaron. They both needed to understand that ADONAI commanded the Israelites to be set free.

The Israelites would do nothing to deliver themselves from Egypt, nor could they, beyond believing and obeying what ADONAI had told them. God did it all for the Hebrews then, and He continues to do it all for us today. He purchased us and set us free with His blood, whereby we escape death. He breaks Satan’s power, and He leads us up out of the enemy’s sphere of influence into our inheritance in Christ.⁹⁵

You Must Produce Your Full Quota of Bricks
5: 10-21

You must produce your full quota of bricks DIG: How would you characterize the response of the people when faced with extra work? Now who is surprised? Why? How is Isra’el’s vision and Moses’ leadership now tested?

REFLECT: How do you respond to temporary setbacks? To what extent do you respond like Isra’el here? When have you suffered for what someone else has done? When this happens, what reassurance can you draw from Isra’el’s experience here?

Then the Egyptian slave masters and the foremen went out and told the people that Pharaoh said they would not be given any more straw. Moses and Aaron were not able to mediate anything with Pharaoh. The King of Egypt even attempted to prove his power as a god (to see link click Bc – Pharaoh as god and upholder of Ma’at) by dictating how the slaves should work . Pharaoh’s commands were arrogantly announced in the same manner in which Moses and Aaron proclaimed His words when they first met.⁸³ They had said: This is what ADONAI, God of Isra’el says: Let My people go (5:1). But then, this was what Pharaoh, god of Egypt said: Go and get your own stubble wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all (5:10-11).

So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble left in the fields to use for straw (5:12). Stubble is the mere leftovers of straw, and therefore of poorer quality, making their work even more difficult. But in spite of everything, they were not permitted to reduce their daily quota of bricks (5:8, 11, 13-14, 18-19). The straw itself is not so much a binding agent, but its chemical decay in the clay released an acid (like glutamic or gallotannic acid), which gave the clay greater smoothness for brick making. It should be pointed out here that Moses did not present the Hebrews as making bricks without straw as is sometimes stated. The decree of Pharaoh clearly instructed them to use stubble, but the difference was that they had to gather it themselves.⁸⁴

The slave drivers kept pressing the Hebrew foremen, saying: Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw. The Israelite foreman appointed by Pharaoh’s slave drivers were beaten and were asked: Why didn’t you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before (5:13-14)? Out of sheer spite, they were given an impossible task and beaten when they did not complete it. Moses and Aaron had given Pharaoh a reason to destroy the Israelites, and he was taking advantage of it. This doesn’t seem like a logical thing to do. Why would he destroy his work force? But we must never forget that Satan is always behind the scenes working against the people of God. He knew what was at stake. If he could destroy the Jews, the Savior could not come.

But the task of meeting brick quotas by gathering stubble became too much for the already weary Israelites. Sometimes slaves were permitted to make their complaints directly to Pharaoh, bypassing the slave masters. Sometimes their complaints were successful, as Egyptian records show. So instead of going to God the Hebrew foremen cried out to Pharaoh saying: Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, “Make bricks!” Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people who refuse to give us straw as before (5:15-16). They were not loyal to God, but to Pharaoh. Three times they refer to themselves as Pharaoh’s servants, thus showing their true colors. They try to convince him that it was not their fault, but their cries fell on deaf ears. This is what happens to us when we go to the world (First John 2:15-17), when we should be going to the LORD.

Pharaoh not only refused to listen to their cry, but he mocks them as well. He not only made their work harder by providing no straw, but he also rubs salt in their wounds by accusing them of bringing this whole situation on themselves by saying: Lazy, that’s what you are – lazy! That is why you keep saying, “Let us go and sacrifice to ADONAI.” Pharaoh repeats his same accusation as in verse 8. He refuses to give an inch. His heart has truly been hardened. He said: Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks (5:17-18).

Therefore, the Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day” (5:19). The beginning of this verse literally says: The Israelite foremen realized they were in evil. Consequently, the Hebrew foremen finally realized that Pharaoh represented the Evil One or Satan.

For now, Pharaoh’s strategy of disparaging Moses’ reputation among the Israelites was working. When the foremen left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron and confronted them. They bitterly complained to them saying: May ADONAI look upon you and judge you! It was hypocritical that they called upon ADONAI to judge Moses and Aaron, when they themselves did not believe that He could, or would, save them! They literally said: You have caused our smell to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us (5:20-21). But Moses and Aaron were not to blame; Pharaoh was at fault. Jacob said the same thing to Simeon and Levi after they slaughtered the men of Shechem. He said: You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed (Genesis 34:30). How many times have we done the same thing and blamed God for something that Satan has done?

It wasn’t like they were hanging tough and seeing what God would do in their horrible situation. They first complained to Pharaoh, and when that didn’t work, they complained to Moses and Aaron. Moses did not attempt to answer the charge of those who stood before him, but in the quietness of the hours that followed we are informed that Moshe returned to God and brought his case before the One who had sent him.⁸⁵

At no time did God promise that Moses’ and Aaron’s task would be easy. Here we see that their work was fraught with danger and difficulties. Pharaoh responded to their demands by making life even more miserable for the Hebrews by forcing them to gather straw for making bricks. The Hebrew foremen were no consolation. They attacked Moses and Aaron as the source of their misery. The two prophets seemed to be standing alone.

When the LORD calls us, the road is not always easy, straight or simple. One need only think of a missionary like J. Hudson Taylor, whom God called to evangelize China in the mid-nineteenth century. He suffered great deprivations in his life and ministry, loss of loved ones in the field and illness. Yet ADONAI did wondrous things through that man, as many Chinese became believers. During one serious illness, Taylor admitted to a friend, “I believe that God has enabled me to do more for China during this long illness than I might have done had I been well.” He knew his mission was wholly dependent upon the power of God. Even today, a century and a half later, Taylor’s work lives on and is reaping great rewards in China. In our lives and ministries we are also to rely and depend upon God’s power and the strength given by the Holy Spirit. Like Moses, we are called to live by faith, and not by sight.⁸⁶

You Are No Longer to Supply the People with Straw
5: 1-9

You are no longer to supply the people with straw DIG: Carefully read verses 2 and 3. Compare and contrast Pharaoh’s response to that of Moses in 3:4 and 11, 4:1 and 10, 13, 19-20, and of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-4, 22:1-3), after each one hears a word from God.

REFLECT: When have you ever tried to serve the LORD faithfully, only to have things seemingly blow up in your face? How did you handle it? Did you blame ADONAI or Satan? Did you retreat or carry on? Did you put on the armor of God (Galatians 6:10-18), or turn to the world?

This must have been an exciting meeting. Moses and Aaron fully expected a quick end to Pharaoh’s destructive plan. But that’s not what happened. Things would get worse before they got better.⁷⁷ The Egyptian ruler, an absolute monarch, was proud and unyielding, and believed that he was a god. Therefore, he refused to listen to God and His servant Moses. As his resistance stiffened, the way was prepared for the horror of the ten plagues.⁷⁸

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said confidently: This is what ADONAI, the God of Isra’el says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival to Me in the desert (5:1). But where are the elders of Isra’el who were to accompany Moses and Aaron to the Egyptian court (3:18)? Their failure to show up was in direct disobedience to the command of God. Maybe this was a foreshadowing of their unbelief. The request: Let My people go, will be made seven times (5:1, 7:16, 8:1 and 20, 9:1 and 13, 10:3).

There’s going to be a wedding. In Exodus 6:7, YHVH tells Isra’el “I will take you.” This was the engagement. Here we see the separation of the bride. Thus being engaged, the bride, Isra’el, was not permitted to pursue other grooms. To help her, God began a separation process with the purpose of making her unreachable for other pursuers and helping to remove any temptations on her part. This process culminated with the Exodus. The theological terminology is called “sanctification,” a separation from everything else to serve only YHVH. Accordingly, notice that Moshe’s main plea to Pharaoh throughout the Ten Plagues was: This is what ADOANI says, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.” Next we see the segulah, the LORD telling His would-be bride, Isra’el, that she is His beloved treasure (see De – The Calling of Isra’el).

The ultimate purpose of God was the total freedom of Isra’el from the slavery of Egypt. But at this point Moses presents a very understated request, just a three-day journey to Mount Sinai to sacrifice to God in the desert. Work-lists from Deir el-Medina in Thebes reveal that workers had days off for a variety of reasons, including offering to one’s god. Thus, the request made by Moses and Aaron was not all that remarkable or unexpected.⁷⁹ The purpose of this request was to show the unreasonableness of Pharaoh. He would not grant even that very minimal request, let alone the freedom of the entire nation. Therefore, he deserved the punishment that would be given to him.

Pharaoh, of course, paid no attention to their demands and responded: Who is ADONAI that I should obey Him and let Isra’el go? I do not know ADONAI and I will not let Isra’el go (5:2). This is a rhetorical question with no answer expected. Pharaoh simply regarded himself as the true god of Egypt and was far superior to the God of the Hebrews. Yet, God would introduce Himself by bringing the ten plagues upon the land of Egypt (7:5).

Did Pharaoh not know the God of Isra’el? Of course he did. The Egyptians had ruled the Hebrews for some time, and while not agreeing with them, they knew exactly what and Whom they believed in. However, unlike other rulers in the ancient Near East, the Egyptian Pharaoh did not merely rule for the gods, but he was in a literal sense one of the gods. His birth was considered a divine act. In light of this, it is not difficult to see why Pharaoh reacted as he did to the initial request of Moses and Aaron. The king, as a god, was to have sole rule over his people. In fact, the Egyptians well-being was directly associated with that of the king (see Bc – Pharaoh as god and Upholder of Ma’at). It was his duty to maintain Ma’at, which would bring justice, peace and prosperity in the land.⁸⁰

Then they said: The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to ADONAI our God, or He may strike you with plagues or with the sword (5:3). It is almost as if the two Hebrew leaders were throwing themselves on the mercy of the Egyptian king.⁸¹ Unfortunately, the demand of Moses and Aaron backfired. Pharaoh decided to use it as an excuse for making the work of the Israelites harder. Now they had to find the straw to make the bricks on their own.

But kings do not respond well to threats, and here Amenhotep II makes no concessions whatsoever. In fact, he becomes the accuser. He declared: “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” (5:4).

Then Pharaoh said: “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working” (5:5). Literally, your people are now more numerous than the Egyptians. The Hebrews were so numerous that they posed a military threat. If they stopped their work, they would have time to align themselves with an enemy or plot sedition. He thought that he could smother their desire to leave Egypt by increasing their workload.

So that same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people (5:6). There were three levels of the slave labor supervision. First there were the slave masters, who oversaw the labor camps (1:11), and they were all Egyptians. Secondly, underneath them there were the slave drivers, or overseers, who were also Egyptian. Thirdly, below the slave drivers were the foremen (5:10, 13-15), or Hebrews who were in charge of the different labor groups doing the actual work.

He said: You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw (5:7). Straw was the glue that held the bricks together. They made bricks by combining mud from the Nile Valley with straw and chaff, placing the mixture in rectangular molds. Then they let them bake in the sun.⁸² Up to this point the straw had been provided to the Hebrews for the purpose of making bricks.

But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; this is why they are crying out: Let us go and sacrifice to our God (5:8). Pharaoh doesn’t even consider the possibility that there is any truth or reality in the God of the Hebrews. In his mind he was a god and would not tolerate any other! They had the same quota of bricks, but now they had to find their own straw. This amounted to more work, with less time to do it. Pharaoh was going to show Moses and his God who was in charge!

Make the work harder, or heavy, for the men so that they will keep working and not have time for what he perceived to be the lies of the two brothers (5:9). He accused Moses and Aaron of lying about their encounter with God. They were false prophets in his eyes, promising a salvation that could not be delivered. The actual verb used here for heavy is kabed. It is the same verb used later in 10:1, where God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. The king of Egypt sensed that the Hebrews had hope in the message of Moses and Aaron, so he wanted to stop it before it began. However, because Amenhotep II oppressed the Hebrews, God oppressed him.

Like the king of Egypt, today there are those who say that they don’t know God or can’t find God. They use this as an excuse to carry on with their sinful ways and suppress the truth by their wickedness. But the Bible says that what may be known about God is plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men and women are without excuse (Romans 1:18b-20). Every time we see a sunset, every time we hear the waves crashing and smell the salty air, we see Him from what has been made. Pharaoh was blinded because he thought he was a god. Do you have an excuse to reject Him?

The First Encounter with Pharaoh
5:1 to 6:27

The first encounter between Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron was confrontational. The episode served to demonstrate Pharaoh’s true colors. He was playing at being god. Therefore, he persecuted the Hebrews still more and imposed even greater burdens upon them. The Hebrew prophets were certainly surprised by such a turn of events. They were rather confident that the king of Egypt would let the people go because God had commanded it. They were disappointed indeed.

But YHVH was at work. He was in the process of hardening Pharaoh’s heart so that the king would not release the Israelites. The reason was very clear. It was so the LORD would then bring judgments upon Egypt and miraculously bring His people out of that wicked land. And, in that manner, God would be highly glorified.⁷⁶

Pharaoh as god and upholder of Ma’at

The Pharaohs maintained many different titles and they played a vital role within the kingdom of Egypt. These titles consisted of Pharaoh as the Chief Priest of the gods, Pharaoh as the Chief Judge and Lawmaker, Pharaoh as Administrator and Pharaoh as a Military Leader. All of these were important to uphold Ma’at in Egypt.

Ma’at, thought to be pronounced as Muh-aht, was the Ancient Egyptian concept for order, law, morality and justice, which was deified as a goddess. Ma’at was seen as being charged with regulating the stars, seasons, and the actions of both mortals and deities, after she had set the order of the universe from chaos at the moment of creation (the Egyptians didn’t believe in evolution either).

The Egyptians believed that she continuously prevented the universe from returning to chaos. Her primary role in Egyptian mythology dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld, called Duat. Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully.

In Duat, the hearts of the dead were said to be weighed against the single shu feather, symbolically represented by the goddess Ma’at, in the Hall of the Two Truths. There, Ammit, the personification of divine retribution, devoured a heart that was unworthy and its owner was condemned to remain in Duat. Ancient Egyptians considered the heart the location of the soul, and those people with good and pure hearts were sent to Aaru, which was the Egyptian equivalent of heaven. They described it as paradise, the land of eternity, a field of peace and interestingly enough, the water of life. Osiris eventually came to be seen as the guardian of the gates of the underworld after he became part of the Egyptian pantheon.

Thus, to the Egyptian mind, the goddess Ma’at bound all things together in an indestructible unity; the universe, the natural world, and the individual were all seen as parts of the wider order generated by her. It was the responsibility of Pharaoh, as a god, to maintain Ma’at. To that end, Pharaoh had four titles.

The first title of Pharaoh was Chief Priest of the gods. The most important function of Pharaoh was Chief Priest. This role was important because when Pharaoh maintained a good relationship between the gods and Egypt, Ma’at was guaranteed. He acted as a channel of divine power, and performed religious rituals. Of course the priests, on his behalf, carried out most of these tasks. One of the most important religious festivals was called Heb-sed, which renewed the Pharaoh’s powers to rule. This festival was held on the anniversary of the Pharaoh’s accession.

The second title of Pharaoh was Chief Judge and Lawmaker. Pharaoh’s number one responsibility as Chief Judge and Lawmaker was to maintain Ma’at. It consisted of the right order of things, where nature was in balance and Egypt was prosperous and secure. The Egyptians believed that Ma’at was a state of harmony between the gods and humans.

The third title of Pharaoh was Administrator. Pharaoh was responsible for everything undertaken in Egypt. The image of Administrator was represented as a ruler who ensured that all the land was productive and commerce was profitable. Although this was another important role, Pharaoh was not concerned with the monotonous day-to-day details of administration. Therefore, Pharaoh usually appointed a Prime Minister to carry out those duties. The Prime Minister held the most important position in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. They were normally chosen from Egyptian nobility. Joseph was chosen as Prime Minister during the rule of the Hyksos, precisely because they were not Egyptian, and neither was he.

The fourth title of Pharaoh was Commander. Pharaoh was in charge of the army and the navy. It was Pharaoh’s duty to preserve Ma’at by keeping foreign people out of Egypt. Some of the New Kingdom rulers have been referred to as Warrior Pharaohs. The first famous ruler to portray the Warrior Pharaoh image was Ahmose. He achieved this status from his grand military campaigns that inevitably expelled the Hyksos invaders. However, Thutmose III was perhaps that greatest of all the Warrior Pharaohs, and was called the Napoleon of Ancient Egypt.

Therefore, the ten plagues targeted the gods of Egypt, and threatened Pharaoh as the keeper of Ma’at. The plagues surely must have pointed out to the Egyptians that Pharaoh was incapable of turning the tide of the disastrous situation that they found themselves in, and therefore demonstrated his failure as both a ruler and a god.

Rulers of nations today think they and their governments are in control of their nation, but Elyon “God Most High” the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is sovereign over the entire world and in control of all. When world events seem out of control, we can be at peace knowing that God is watching over and nothing ever escapes his eye. He never sleeps, never slumbers. Our help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121).

God and the Struggle with Pharaoh
5:1 to 11:10

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 the Israelites
4: 27-31

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
2: 23-25

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
4: 24-26

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
4: 18-23

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.

Moses Arrives in Egypt
4: 18-31

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
4: 13-17

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
4: 10-12

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
4: 1-9

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
3: 13-22

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
3: 11-12

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
3: 6-10

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

The Call of Moses
3:1 to 4:17

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
3: 1-5

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
2: 11-15

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.