Just When Things Were Looking Up

February 28, 2023March 1, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” ²But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” ³Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” ⁵And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” ⁶The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, ⁷“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” – Exodus 5:1-9 ESV

Chapter four ends with the promising statement, “And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction” (Exodus 4:31 ESV). Moses and Aaron had presented God’s message word for word.

“Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me. He told me, ‘I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you. I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey…’” – Exodus 3:16-17 NLT

Then, as God had commanded, they backed up their words with actions, performing the signs Moses had received in the wilderness of Horeb. And evidently, their efforts proved successful in convincing the Israelites to believe that Jehovah had heard their cries and had come to deliver them from their miserable conditions in Egypt. Encouraged by what they heard and saw, “they bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 3:31 ESV).

Having faithfully communicated God’s message to the people of Israel, Moses’ next stop was the royal throne room, where he and his brother hand-delivered an ultimate to Pharaoh.

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.” – Exodus 5:1 NLT

Moses and Aaron were sticking with the plan and, so far, everything was happening just as God had said it would.

“The elders of Israel will accept your message. Then you and the elders must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord, our God.’” – Exodus 3:18 NLT

But God had already warned Moses that Pharaoh would prove to be a hard nut to crack. This powerful, self-deified monarch was not going to play along with Moses’ request. In fact, he would find the very thought of it ridiculous and not worthy of consideration. But even that was part of God’s sovereign plan.

“I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him. So I will raise my hand and strike the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among them. Then at last he will let you go…” – Exodus 3:19-20 NLT

And as if reading a script written by the hand of God, Pharaoh responded, “Is that so?…and who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2 NLT). Overflowing with hubris, Pharaoh mocked his two visitors and belittled the status of this Jehovah (Yᵊhōvâ) who dared to order him around.

Interestingly enough, back when God called Moses to serve as His deliverer, Moses had expressed concern that the Israelites might know who Jehovah was.

“If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” – Exodus 3:13 NLT

But according to the opening verses of this chapter, it was not the Hebrews who needed a primer on Jehovah’s identity, it was Pharaoh. And, in response to Pharaoh’s sarcastic inquiry, “who is the Lord?”, Moses simply stated, “The God of the Hebrews” (Exodus 5:3 NLT). He uses the generic term ĕlōhîm, which is a Hebrew word used of Jehovah, but also of all other gods. But Moses makes it clear that he is talking about a very specific “God,” the God of the Hebrews. The one true God who created the heavens and the earth.

Moses reiterates his request for Pharaoh to permit the Israelites a take what would be a six-day break from their work so that they can travel into the wilderness and worship their God. In a sense, he was asking Pharaoh to agree to unpaid time off for all Hebrew workers. But he insisted this was not so they could go on holiday, but so that they might worship their God. And then he added a previously undisclosed bit of information.

“If we don’t, he will kill us with a plague or with the sword.” – Exodus 5:3 NLT

Moses was insisting that they were obligated to obey the commands of their God. If they refused, Pharaoh could end up losing all his laborers, not just for six days, but for good. The ball was in Pharaoh’s court. He could accommodate Moses’ request and suffer a drop in productivity for about a week, or he could refuse and watch his primary labor force get wiped off the face of the earth. It was up to him.

After 400 years, the Egyptians had become familiar with the strange religious rites of the Israelites. They would have known that the offerings they made to their God involved animal sacrifices, and the Egyptians considered many of those animals to be sacred. They believed their gods manifested themselves through these creatures, and the idea of the Israelites sacrificing bulls and goats within the borders of Egypt would have appalled and disgusted them. That is why Moses asked permission to journey three days outside of the borders of Egypt.

But Pharaoh was not buying what Moses was selling. He was not about to release the Israelites into the wilderness for any reason or for any length of time, for fear that they might try to escape. So, Pharaoh doubled down on his previous answer and rebuked his two visitors for wasting his time and filling the heads of the Israelites with false hope.

“Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.” – Exodus 5:4 NLT

Having drawn a line in the sand, Pharaoh upped the ante and ordered his Egyptian slave drivers to make the lives of the Israelites worse than before. Even the Hebrew foremen who oversaw the chain gangs of laborers were ordered to drive their fellow Israelites harder than before. To increase their suffering and get their mind off of the messages of Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh ordered that all brick production be done without the benefit of straw. It wasn’t that the Israelites were permitted to make strawless bricks, but that they now had to gather the hay and stubble on their own. It added another layer of back-breaking labor to their already difficult task.

Pharaoh concluded that the Israelites were lazy and easily distracted by Moses’ offer of a week off from work to worship in the wilderness. He was going to teach them a valuable and painful lesson they would not soon forget.

“Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!” – Exodus 5:9 NLT

It doesn’t take a psychologist to deduce that this treatment was going to produce an adverse reaction among the people of God. They had been pumped by Moses’ announcement that Jehovah had heard their cries. They were looking forward to seeing how God was going to improve their lot in life. Now, things had taken a very dark turn for the worse. Rather than experiencing deliverance, their pain and suffering had actually increased. And it wouldn’t take them long to decide that they had been far better off before Moses and his brother showed up on their doorstep.

But little did the Israelites know that this was all part of God’s sovereign plan. Their God was not up in heaven wringing His hands in worry. He had not been caught off guard by Pharaoh’s harsh reaction. God had known all along that this would be Pharaoh’s response. It was built into the whole plan and was part of the sequence of events that would ultimately lead to the release of the Israelites and the judgment of the Egyptians.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The High Cost of Commitment

February 27, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²⁴At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. ²⁵Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” ²⁶So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

²⁷The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. ³⁰Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. – Exodus 4:24-31 ESV

Having received his final instructions from God, Moses set off for Egypt with his wife Zipporah, and two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. Gershom, whose name means “sojourner there,” is mentioned in chapter two, but Eliezer’s name does not appear until chapter 18, and his name means “my God is helper.”

The long journey back to Egypt required many stops along the way so that Zipporah and their young boys could rest. On one of those occasions, Moses received another visit from Jehovah that would prove to be far from pleasant. Recording the details of that fateful evening, he records that they had stopped for the night, and “the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him” (Exodus 4:24 NLT).

This statement is meant to shock the reader. It comes completely out of nowhere and provides no rationale or context for its existence. The reader is left to wonder why God would want to kill the very man He has called to be the deliverer of His chosen people. It makes no sense. It seems pointless and out of character for God. But there is a powerful lesson contained in this seemingly out-of-place sentence.

Moses had finally given in and obeyed God’s commission to return to Egypt as His deliverer, but he was doing so in a state of disobedience. Moses had failed to keep one of the most important commands that God had ever given His people. More than half a century earlier, God had visited Moses’ forefather, Abraham, and reiterated His promise to provide Abraham with a multitude of descendants. But as part of his covenant commitment, Abraham and his heirs were ordered to practice the rite of circumcision.

Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.” – Genesis 17:9-14 NLT

The penalty for not carrying out this sacred rite was death. That is what God meant when He said, “any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off” (Exodus 17:14 NLT). This rather humorless wordplay was meant to convey the seriousness of the command. It was non-optional and binding on all generations of Abraham’s descendants.

Yet, Moses had failed to keep this command. It becomes readily apparent from the text that Gershom, Moses’ firstborn son, remained uncircumcised. We are given no reason for this oversight on Moses’ part, but the penalty for his failure to keep the covenant command was clear. Yet, rather than order the death of Gershom, God declares His intent to kill Moses.

It is no coincidence that this death sentence for Moses comes immediately after the record of God’s final words to Moses before he left Midian.

“…you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” – Exodus 4:22-23 ESV

If Pharaoh refused to obey God, the life of his firstborn son would be forfeited. But because Moses refused to obey God and circumcise Gershom, it would be Moses who died and not his firstborn son. God was holding Moses personally responsible for this blatant violation of His covenant command.

In a desperate attempt to spare her husband’s life, Zipporah took matters into her own hands and immediately carried out the circumcision of Gershom. Then, in a rather strange display of frustration and disappointment, she took “her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it” ( Exodus 4:25 ESV). In a sense, she was laying the blame at the feet of her husband. He had failed to lead his family well and, in doing so, had put them all at risk. Moses’ refusal to circumcise Gershom had placed a target on the young boy’s back because he would spend his life as a covenant violator who was worthy of death. He would also spend his life as an outsider, separated from fellowship with God’s covenant people.

Zipporah’s actions reflect her frustration with Moses, and she gives full vent to her anger when she tells her husband, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” (Exodus 4:25 ESV). In his commentary on the book of Exodus, the Italian Rabbi, U. Cassutto provides the following translation of Zipporah’s statement:

“I have delivered you from death, and your return to life makes you my bridegroom a second time, this time my blood bridegroom, a bridegroom acquired through blood”

In a sense, she has paid the bridegroom price. She has sacrificed the blood of their firstborn son in order to save the life of her disobedient husband. And, in doing so, she spared the life of Gershom as well. He would no longer live under the condemnation of death for his uncircumcised state.

And what makes this scene so important is that it emphasizes just how seriously God takes sin in the life of His chosen people. Moses had finally chosen to obey God and take up the mantle as His deliverer, but he was doing so in a state of disobedience. The one whom God chose to lead the circumcised sons of Abraham out of their bondage in Egypt, was leading an uncircumcised son into Egypt. This was unacceptable, and God was willing to kill the messenger rather than allow him to tarnish the entire mission with his own disobedience. Moses needed to be in a right relationship with God if he was going to serve as a messenger from God. What God had demanded of Abraham was true of Moses as well.

“I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless…” – Genesis 17:1 ESV

There could be no hidden areas in Moses’ life. He could not afford to have any undisclosed indiscretions or secret sins. He was to stand before Pharaoh as God’s representative. When he spoke, he was to speak on behalf of God. So, his character would be integral to the carrying out of his commission.

As all this was going on, God was working behind the scenes to keep His promise to enlist Aaron, Moses’ brother, as his assistant. When Moses had expressed his reticence to act as God’s mouthpiece, God offered to let Aaron take up that responsibility.

“You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” – Exodus 4:15-17 ESV

So, God arranged for the two to meet on the outskirts of Egypt, where Moses brought his brother up to speed on all that God had said and done back at Mount Horeb. We are given no insight as to how Aaron received all this news from his brother. But it must have been like drinking from a firehose. Aaron didn’t have the benefit of seeing the burning bush or hearing the voice of God. He simply had to take all that his brother said at face value and trust that this was a divinely ordained mission. And, by all indications, he heard his brother out and decided to join him in this rather Quixote-lie quest.

They eventually arrived in Egypt, made their way to the land of Goshen, and gathered all the elders of the people of Israel.

Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. – Exodus 4:30 ESV

This God-ordained tag team went right to work, carrying out the commands of God and launching the providential plan that He had ordained. And probably much to Moses’ surprise, “the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 4:31 ESV).

Early on, Moses had questioned the feasibility of this plan. He wondered whether the people of Israel would even remember the name of Jehovah, let alone accept the far-fetched idea of Him orchestrating their deliverance from Egypt. But when he and Aaron faithfully did what God had told them to do, the people believed. They were desperate for someone to deliver them from their suffering and when they discovered that Jehovah had heard their pleas for help, they responded in worship. Suddenly, the gods of Egypt were out of sight, out of mind. Jehovah, the God of Israel, had returned and they were ready to give Him the glory and reverence He deserved. But their newfound faith was about to be severely tested.

A Hard Heart is Not Difficult for God

February 26, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁸Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²²Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, ²³and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” – Exodus 4:18-23 ESV

Moses finally determines to accept the Lord’s commission and return to Egypt, but when he informs his father-in-law of his intentions, his words reflect a tone of pessimism.

“Let me go, so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still alive.” – Exodus 4:18 NLT

It almost sounds as if Moses is expecting the worst when he returns. But it is more likely that he is trying to appeal to the heart of Jethro. After all, his father-in-law is a family man and will understand if Moses simply wants to return to check on the well-being of his relatives. This appeal will also help to convince Jethro to allow his daughter and two grandsons to make the journey back with Moses.

Having gained Jethro’s permission, Moses made plans for the long journey home, but not before God informed him that it was safe to return.

“Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” – Exodus 4:19 NLT

Evidently, Moses still harbored reservations about going back to the place where he had murdered an Egyptian in cold blood. As far as he knew, the bounty on his head was still in effect and he would be arrested as soon as he set foot in Egypt. But God graciously informed him that the statute of limitations had expired because all those who sought him were dead. Moses could no longer use that as an excuse for delaying his return.

Before Moses loaded his wife and sons on a donkey, he received one final order from God that fully summarized his commission.

“When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. You must say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord has said, “Israel is my son, my firstborn, and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me,’ but since you have refused to let him go, I will surely kill your son, your firstborn!”’” – Exodus 4:21-23 NLT

Moses had his marching orders and they were far from encouraging. God basically told His servant that he would face stiff opposition. Pharaoh was not going to be like what Moses had to say. In fact, he was going to refuse any and all requests to let the people of Israel leave Egypt. And God let Moses know that Pharaoh’s stubborn resistance would be part of His sovereign plan for Israel’s deliverance. God was going to “harden his heart.” This phrase will be used repeatedly throughout the book of Exodus, in order to inform the reader that the entire narrative arc of the story has been authored by God. Though Pharaoh is a powerful figure, he is just another character in God’s divine drama of deliverance.

God is not suggesting that Pharaoh will be a helpless victim of His sovereign will. The king of Egypt will not be subjected to some kind of divine mind control that forces him to function in a robotic, trancelike state. Pharaoh will have full access to all of his mental faculties, and will willingly decide to oppose the will of God. On several occasions, it will become clear that Pharaoh is operating according to his own stubborn will.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. – Exodus 8:15 ESV

But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go. – Exodus 8:32 ESV

In a sense, God is using the prideful and arrogant nature of Pharaoh to accomplish His will. God is not forcing Pharaoh to do anything. He is simply taking advantage of what He knows to be a weakness in the life of this godless, pagan king. By having Moses make the request for Israel’s release, God is hardening Pharaoh’s heart because He already knows the king will reject that request. God could soften Pharaoh’s heart and make him amenable to Moses’ overtures, but that would not provide the proper environment in which to demonstrate His power and authority to the people of Israel.

But it seems clear from the text that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses. – Exodus 9:12 ESV

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go. – Exodus 10:20 ESV

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. – Exodus 10:27 ESV

Yet, once again, this seems to be an indication that God is allowing Pharaoh to operate according to his own moral compass. Pharaoh was simply doing what he would normally and naturally do, without any interference from God. Without God’s assistance, Pharaoh would be incapable of responding any other way. In that sense, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart by refusing to intervene. God could have provided Pharaoh with the capacity to behave in contrast to his normal, sinful disposition, but that would not have accomplished the plan for Israel’s release.

No man or woman can display heart-motivated behavior in keeping with God’s will without God’s help. In the book of Ezekiel, God informs His own chosen people that their ability to obey His laws and statutes will be impossible until He has given them the ability to do so. But one day, He will do just that.

“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” – Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV

The book of 1 Samuel recalls a scene in which the Philistines had stolen to Ark of the Covenant from Israel. This sacred object was integral to Israel’s worship of Yahweh because it contained the mercy seat, where God’s glory dwelt. To convince the Philistines to return the ark, God “terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.” (1 Samuel 5:6 ESV). In a panic, the people of Ashdod shipped the ark to the nearby city of Gath, “But after they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them” (1 Samuel 5:9 ESV).

Like a real-life game of hot potato, the Gathites sent the ark to another neighboring Philistine city. But when it arrived in Ekron, the same thing happened.

…there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there. The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven. – 1 Samuel 5:11-12 ESV

In a heightened state of panic, the Philistines sought the wisdom of their priests and diviners, hoping for a solution to their growing problem. Their advice was to send the ark back to Israel. Then they added this interesting word of warning.

“Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?” – 1 Samuel 6:6 ESV

The report of God’s long-past dealings with Pharaoh and the Egyptian people had become legendary. And these pagan priests warned their people not to follow their example. Because the God of the Israelites would eventually get His way.

In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul uses the story of Exodus as a lesson on God’s sovereign will. His main point is that God never operates unjustly. All that He does is good, righteous, and in order to accomplish His divine will. God can sovereignly choose to show mercy on whom He wills. It is not based on man’s merit or effort. And then Paul uses Pharaoh as an example.

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. – Romans 9:17-18 ESV

He actually borrows from the book of Exodus, quoting the words that Yahweh had Moses deliver to Pharaoh.

“…by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.” – Exodus 9:15-16 ESV

This helps to explain what God told Moses just before he made the trip back to Egypt. The mission on which Moses was about to embark, was going to be difficult, but its outcome was set in stone. Pharaoh was going to be a tough negotiator, but God was well aware of that. He had planned on it. This particular Pharaoh was just the kind of man God needed on the throne of Egypt because he would prove to be just stubborn enough to reject all of Moses’ requests and God’s judgments. And while God could have destroyed the Egyptians in a heartbeat, He had chosen instead to use Pharaoh’s stubbornness as a means for showcasing His power and sovereignty to the people of Israel. After what appeared to be a 400-year absence, God was going to make Himself known to His chosen people in a powerful and irrefutable way.

Just Say Yes

February 25, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” ²The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” ³And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ⁴But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵“that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. ⁷Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸“If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹²Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ¹³But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” ¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. ¹⁶He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. ¹⁷And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” – Exodus 4:1-17 ESV

Moses has seen a burning bush, heard a disembodied voice, and been given a name to go with the source of that voice. By now, he is convinced that it is indeed Jehovah, “the existing one,” with whom he has been speaking, and he fully understands the parameters of the mission he has been given. All of that becomes clear from the very next words that come out of his mouth.

“…behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord [Jehovah] did not appear to you.’” – Exodus 4:1 ESV

Moses understands that he is to return to his people in Egypt and give them a message from Jehovah, but he is unconvinced that this mission will succeed. Despite all of God’s assurances, Moses is reluctant to accept the assignment he has been given. There can be little doubt that fear is a primary factor behind Moses’ reticence. He knows that a return to Egypt, even after his lengthy absence, will be risky and potentially deadly. He has a bounty on his head for the murder of an Egyptian, so returning to the scene of the crime doesn’t seem like a particularly smart thing to do.

And it is apparent that Moses has strong doubts about his ability to win over his fellow Hebrews. After all, he had spent the majority of his life living in luxury within the walls of Pharaoh’s palace. To the Israelites, Moses was a turncoat and a traitor. From their perspective, he had “slept” with the enemy and could not be trusted.

So, Moses steps up to the bar and pleads his case with the Almighty. This time, he argues that the Israelites will never believe that he has spoken with Jehovah. After all, no one has heard a word from the Lord for more than 400 years. During that extended period of silence, most of the Israelites had chosen to align themselves with one or more of the gods of Egypt. It was a common belief in those days that deities were regionally based. Their authority and sphere of influence were localized to a particular geographic area. The ancient pagan nations perceived each god or goddess as having a particular domain or sphere of power on the earth. They even assigned oversight of the different parts of that domain to different gods. So, there were gods of the forests, the crops, the mountains, the seas, and the rivers.

Moses feared that when he returned to Egypt declaring to have received a message from Jehovah, the Israelites would never believe him. Some would believe that Jehovah was somewhere back in Canaan and had forgotten all about them. Others would believe His power was limited and prove to be impotent in distant Egypt. Still, others would simply deem Moses a liar who never heard from Jehovah in the first place.

God listens patiently, then proceeds to assuage Moses’ fears with a convincing demonstration of power that was also meant to foreshadow His judgment. God ordered Moses to throw down his shepherd’s staff and, when he did, it was miraculously transformed into a snake. While it’s likely that this powerful visual demonstration got Moses’ attention, he may not have immediately recognized its meaning. God was making an important point that was meant to convey His supreme authority as the one true God.

In Egyptian culture, the snake played an important role. The Uraeus (“rearing cobra”) was the stylized form of an Egyptian cobra that graced the crown of the Pharaoh. Displayed with a flared neck and in an upright position as if preparing to strike, this symbolic image was meant to represent Pharaoh’s sovereignty, royalty, and divine authority.

Whether he realized it or not, Moses was standing before a living symbol of Pharaoh’s power and authority. And when God commanded Moses to pick up the snake by the tail, he must have had second thoughts. He didn’t have to be a snake charmer to know that this tactic would probably not turn out well. But he obeyed. And when he did, the snake turned back into a shepherd’s staff.

God immediately explained the meaning behind this powerful, yet petrifying demonstration. It was so “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you” (Exodus 4:5 ESV). Jehovah, the existing one, would declare His presence in Egypt by having His appointed messenger easily manipulate the serpent of Egypt (Pharaoh). Every time Moses performed this miracle, it would deliver a powerful message to the people of Israel.

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings…” – Daniel 2:20-21 NLT

Jehovah was sovereign over all, including the Pharaoh who wore the symbol of a cobra on his crown. But Egypt’s sovereign would prove to be no match for the sovereign God of the universe. The Israelites would know that the God of their forefathers was amongst them and their days of suffering at the hands of the Egyptians were coming to an end.

But God had one more thing to show Moses. This time, He ordered Moses to put his hand inside his cloak, and when Moses pulled it back out, he was shocked to find it covered in leprosy. While Moses, the author, doesn’t divulge what went through his mind when this happened, it is safe to assume that he was not happy with the outcome. The very hand that had picked up the snake was now diseased and, therefore, unclean. I believe this particular sign was meant to deliver a personal message to Moses. He could refuse to answer God’s call and continue hiding in Midian, but he would pay dearly for it. When this encounter with God was over, Moses would return to Midian (“Put your hand back inside your cloak”), but he would eventually obey and make his way to Egypt.

God was not issuing Moses an invitation to participate in His divine deliverance of the people of Israel. It was a command and it was non-negotiable. In a sense, Moses had entered Midian as an unclean state. He had committed murder, and was damaged goods. But his impurity would be removed and he would become “the hand” of God, declaring the will of God to Pharaoh and the Israelites.

God informs Moses that these two signs were to be used to win over the people of Israel. But if they proved insufficient, Moses could use one more visual demonstration of God’s power. He could take some water from the life-giving Nile and transform it into blood. This great river that sustained all life in the region would become a source and symbol of death. Once again, God was revealing to Moses His power and sovereignty over all things.

But even after these incredible displays of God’s power, Moses continued to balk at obeying God’s command. This time, he argued that he was unqualified for the role.

“O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” – Exodus 4:10 NLT

In essence, Moses was telling God that He had chosen the wrong guy for the job. Moses begged God to reconsider and find someone else to take his place.

“O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!” – Exodus 4:13 NLT

But God doesn’t make mistakes. He knew what He was doing and He would not take no for an answer. But He did make a concession. He agreed to give Moses an assistant, someone who could act as Moses’ mouthpiece before Pharaoh. But this was not a knee-jerk reaction or some kind of compromise on God’s part. It had all been planned ahead of time.

“What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.” – Exodus 4:14 NLT

God had already arranged for Aaron to begin the long journey from Egypt to Midian, long before this conversation had begun. God had known in advance how this encounter with Moses was going to go, and God had always planned to have Aaron play a role in the deliverance of His people. And God told Moses exactly how this symbiotic relationship with his brother was going to work.

“So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do. He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God. You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.” – Exodus 4:15-17 NLT

At this point, the discussion was over. Moses had nothing else to say. He had his assignment and had been given an assistant. Now all that was left to do was to make the long journey back to Egypt.

I Am, Are You?

February 24, 2023February 24, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹³Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ¹⁶Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. ²⁰So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. ²¹And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²²but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” – Exodus 3:13-22 ESV

While shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks in the wilderness of Sinai, Moses had an unexpected visit from God. This divine manifestation took the form of a burning bush from which the voice of God declared His plan to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. But for Moses, the most shocking thing about this encounter was the part in which God revealed him to be the chosen deliverer.

“Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” – Exodus 3:10 ESV

His immediate reaction was to disqualify himself from service.

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” – Exodus 3:11 ESV

The thought of going home to Egypt, where he was a convicted murderer with his name on Pharaoh’s most-wanted list, must have scared Moses to death. Despite being Pharaoh’s adopted grandson, he would no longer have any negotiating capital with the Egyptian monarch. He was persona non grata back home. Even his fellow Israelites would refuse to listen to this former member of the royal family, who was more Egyptian than Hebrew.

But God was not buying what Moses was selling. The Almighty refused to listen to his excuses. Instead, God assured Moses that he had no reason to fear because he would not be alone. God would be with him every step of the way. And God provided Moses with an ironclad guarantee that he and the emancipated Israelites would one day return to Mount Horeb (Sinai) and worship Him. And the miraculous burning bush was to be “the sign” that confirmed the veracity of God’s words. Moses could trust God.

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? – Deuteronomy 23:19 NLT

But Moses was still reluctant to accept God’s commission. He was not yet convinced that he was the right man for the assignment, so he asked, “If I go to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’—what should I say to them?” (Exodus 3:13 NLT).

Moses knew that his people had long ago lost interest in Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. During their 400-year stint in Egypt, they had acclimated to the ways of their Egyptian hosts. In time, they had assimilated into the surrounding culture, adapting themselves to the local customs and even adopting the Egyptian gods as their own.

In the book of Ezekiel, God confirms that during their stay in Egypt, the Israelites had developed an unhealthy attachment to the false gods of Egypt.

“When I chose Israel—when I revealed myself to the descendants of Jacob in Egypt—I took a solemn oath that I, the Lord, would be their God. I took a solemn oath that day that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them—a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere. Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, get rid of the vile images you are so obsessed with. Do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt, for I am the Lord your God.’” – Ezekiel 20:5-7 NLT

Having lived in Egypt most of his adult life, Moses was well aware of this problem and knew the people of Israel would be reluctant to obey the commands of a God they didn’t know. It didn’t help that there had been a 400-year period when God had seemed to go silent. Their increasing apostasy had led Him to cut off all communication with His people. But with His appearance at the burning bush, God broke that silence. Now, Moses was wanting to know how he was supposed to reintroduce this long-forgotten God to the people of Israel.

At this point, even Moses is unsure of his visitor’s identity. While he seems to know that he is conversing with a deity, he has no way of knowing that it is Jehovah, the God of his forefathers. So, he seeks a name, an appellation by which to identify the God to whom he is speaking. And God responds:

“I AM that I AM.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” – Exodus 3:14 NLT

The answer Moses receives is not so much a name as it is a declaration of authority. God is declaring that He is the “existing one,” the eternal, all-powerful creator of heaven and earth. He is uncreated and has always existed. Unlike the gods of the Egyptians, God is not the byproduct of man’s imagination.

“I AM is the ultimate statement of self-sufficiency, self-existence, and immediate presence. God’s existence is not contingent upon anyone else. His plans are not contingent upon any circumstances. He promises that He will be what He will be; that is, He will be the eternally constant God. He stands, ever-present and unchangeable, completely sufficient in Himself to do what He wills to do and to accomplish what He wills to accomplish.” – https://www.gotquestions.org/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-Exodus-3-14

Moses is being sent by the one true God. And to ensure that Moses fully comprehends who it is that is speaking to him, God adds:

“You must say this to the Israelites, ‘The Lord—the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.’” – Exodus 3:15 NLT

Moses is communicating with the very same God that his forefathers worshiped. The man who asked, “Who am I?” has been talking to the great “I am.” This self-doubting prince turned murderer turned shepherd had questioned his own identity and qualifications for service. But God provided Moses with the assurance that there was no reason to doubt His identity and qualifications. He was Jehovah God.

And with His identity fully disclosed, God instructs Moses to return to Egypt, gather the elders of Israel, and let them in on the news.

“Go and bring together the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, appeared to me—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—saying, “I have attended carefully to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt, and I have promised that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’” – Exodus 3:16-17 NLT

This was great news, but it would have been difficult for Moses to comprehend. After four centuries of life in Egypt, would the people of Israel want to pack up and leave? Yes, things were difficult and they had been crying out because of their suffering and pain. But was a relocation what they had in mind? And how was Moses supposed to carry off this impossible mission? All of these thoughts must have rifled through the mind of Moses as he listened to God’s instructions.

But as Moses wrestled with doubts, God assured him that the elders would eventually listen to what he had to say. Then, having convinced the Israelites, Moses would need to turn his attention to Pharaoh, who would prove to be a challenge. God discloses that the Egyptian king will not allow the people of Israel to leave.

“I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not even under force.” – Exodus 3:19 NLT

Moses was going to face strong opposition from his former adoptive grandfather. But God reveals that Pharaoh’s resistance is part of the plan. His refusal to cooperate will bring about God’s judgment.

“I will extend my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do among them, and after that he will release you.” – Exodus 3:20 NLT

God was letting Moses know ahead of time that his assignment would not be easy, but it would eventually prove successful. So much so, that God assured Moses that not only will the Israelites leave Egypt, but they will do so with great wealth.

“I will grant this people favor with the Egyptians, so that when you depart you will not leave empty-handed. Every woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying in her house for items of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters—thus you will plunder Egypt!” – Exodus 3:21-22 NLT

Surrounded by bleating sheep and still staring at the burning bush, Moses’ head must have been spinning as he considered the words of Jehovah. It was all too good to be true. Not only that, it was all too impossible to even consider. He had grown up in Egypt. He had been raised in the royal court and knew what he was up against. The Egyptians were a powerful and proud people. They were not about to let millions of slaves walk away scot-free and loaded down with the riches of Egypt.

But God patiently endured Moses’ questions of concern and expressions of doubt. He wanted His deliverer to be fully on board with the plan and fully convinced of its ultimate success. So, that when the great “I Am” finally asked Moses if was ready, he would be able to say, “I am.”

Who Am I and the Great I Am

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ²And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹²He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” – Exodus 3:1-12 ESV

Moses is living in the land of Midian, on the far side of the Gulf of Aqaba. He has married a daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian, and settled into his new life as a husband, father, and sheep herder. Moses has experienced a great deal of change since leaving Egypt. Long gone are the fine clothes and gourmet meals served in regal splendor in the Pharaoh’s palace. He was once a member of the royal family, but now he is a murderer and a fugitive from justice. He finds himself living on the lam in a distant land and relegated to the lowly role of a common shepherd. Safely ensconced hundreds of miles away from the scene of his crime, Moses is oblivious to all that is taking place back in Egypt. He has no way of knowing that, in his absence, the suffering of his fellow Hebrews has increased significantly. He may be living in relative peace and security, but they are not.

…the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. – Exodus 2:23 NLT

It’s interesting to note that Moses, the author of the book of Exodus, penned these words long after the events took place. Somewhere between the exodus of the people from Egypt and their arrival in the land of Canaan, God inspired Moses to record all the events that led up to his calling as God’s deliverer. He is writing from a different vantage point which enables him to look back with clarity and see how the hand of God was orchestrating every phase of his life.

While he was living in Midian, he had no concept of the difficult circumstances under which his parents, siblings, and fellow Israelites were being forced to endure. In retrospect, he writes that they were suffering so greatly that they cried out for help. They were desperately praying for someone to deliver them from their pain and misery. And he states that “their cry rose up to God” (Exodus 2:23 NLT).

God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act. – Exodus 2:24-25 NLT

Moses was oblivious, but God was not. Moses was ignorant of their plight, but God was fully aware. Moses could not hear their cries, but God not only heard, but He decided to do something about it. It was time to act.

And what Moses didn’t realize at the time, was that he was going to play a major role in God’s unfolding drama of deliverance.

At the same time that God heard the cries of His people, He made a surprise visit to Moses. Unhindered by time or space, God was able to hear and act. But this does not mean that God was reacting to what He heard. He was responding as if He had just become aware of the Israelites’ plight. He had known all along that they would suffer, and He already had a plan and an appointed time in which He would act.

Centuries earlier, God had told broken the news to Abraham that his descendants would one day end up living in a foreign land as slaves.

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.” – Genesis 15:13 ESV

This prophecy had a timeline attached to it, and the end date had come. Four hundred years had passed, which meant it was time to implement the second phase of His promise.

“But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” – Genesis 15:14 ESV

The persecution of the Israelites was about to end and the judgment of the Egyptians was about to begin. But before any of that could happen, God needed to notify the one He was going to use to bring it all about, and that happened to be Moses.

The scene for this divine encounter was a place called Mount Horeb, located in the southern region of the Sinai Peninsula. It lies opposite the land of Midian, on the other side of the Gulf of Aqaba. The memory of that life-altering day has been seared into Moses’ brain. Writing in the third person, Moses vividly recalls exactly what he was doing when God showed up.

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. – Exodus 3:1 ESV

His reference to Horeb as “the mountain of God” is a hint that the much older and wiser Moses is the one recording this story. The Moses shepherding sheep near the base of Horeb would have had no reason to see this particular mountain as holy or associated with Jehovah. It was just another mountain in the middle of the wilderness of Sinai. But Moses, the author, is hinting that this place is about to become a sacred spot in his life and that of the people of Israel, Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai would become the place where God revealed Himself to His chosen people, and it would begin with Moses.

Moses, the shepherd, suddenly stumbles upon a startling scene.

…the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. – Exodus 3:2 ESV

It seems that Moses saw the bush before he ever saw the angel of the Lord. He came upon this flame-engulfed shrub and noticed that it kept on burning as if fueled by some outside source. The brittle branches of the bush were not consumed by the heat of the fire, and Moses was forced to take a closer look. And as Moses stepped forward, God spoke up.

“Moses! Moses!…Do not come any closer…Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.” – Exodus 3:4-5 NLT

Moses was stunned to hear a voice emanating from the middle of the burning bush. It completely caught him off guard. And then he received a second and even more discomforting shock when the disembodied voice introduced itself.

“I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” – Exodus 3:6 NLT

And recalling that incredible moment, Moses records that he “covered his face because he was afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:6 NLT). It can’t be ignored that Moses knew he was a murderer, and to find himself standing before the holy and wholly righteous God of his ancestors must have left him in paralyzing fear. He was in the presence of God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. He was under the gaze of the judge of the universe and he stood condemned before Him. But God was not there to condemn Moses; He was there to call him.

“I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land.” – Exodus 3:7-8 NLT

For the first time since leaving Egypt, Moses receives an update concerning the situation back home, and it came from the lips of God Himself. The Lord wanted Moses to know that things were not going well but that He already had a plan in place that would guarantee not only their deliverance but the inheritance of their own homeland. Moses would have been familiar with the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He probably heard his birthmother tell of God’s covenant promises regarding the land of Canaan. Now, God was assuring this displaced Hebrew that those promises were about to be fulfilled.

And just in case Moses isn’t quite sure what “fertile and spacious land” God is talking about, the Lord provides clarification.

“It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.” – Exodus 3:8 NLT

In other words, the descendants of Jacob, who had arrived in Egypt 400 years earlier, were about to return to Canaan. They were going home. But for that to happen, God was going to need a deliverer/leader who could act as His representative. And what Moses didn’t realize at the time was that he was God’s choice.

“Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” – Exodus 3:9-10 NLT

This news must have hit Moses like a brick to the forehead. What in the world was God thinking? Why would Jehovah choose a convicted murderer and the disinherited adoptive son of Pharaoh to lead His people? When Moses left Egypt, he was disliked by Egyptians and Hebrews alike. Yet, here was God issuing Moses a summons to enter His service. This was not an invitation to be accepted, but a call to be obeyed.

But Moses responded to God’s call with a simple three-word statement: “Who am I?”

Moses knew exactly who he was. He was the son of Amram and Jochebed, two obscure Hebrews who had been forced to give up their son and watch him be raised by Egyptians. He was a well-read and sophisticated byproduct of the Egyptian educational system. He was a convicted murderer and a fugitive from justice. As far as he could tell, he broke every HR protocol for hiring effective leaders. He had no business standing before Pharaoh, especially with a bounty on his head. And he was the worst possible candidate for taking on the extraction of a disenfranchised and disheartened people group. But Moses was about to learn that arguing with God was both pointless and unproductive. His reluctance, disqualifying resume, and debilitating fear were irrelevant. God assured Moses:

“I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” – Exodus 3:12 NLT

The problem had been revealed. The plan for its solution had been disclosed. And the person to implement it had been called. But Moses would prove to be a tough sell. “Who am I” had just had a personal encounter with the great “I am” and his life would never be the same.

The Unfolding Plan of God

February 22, 2023February 22, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹¹One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. ¹²He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” ¹⁴He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” ¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” ¹⁹They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” ²⁰He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” ²¹And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. ²²She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

²³During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. – Exodus 2:11-25 ESV

Moses fast-forwards this section of his biography by skipping from his infancy to his young adulthood as a member of Pharaoh’s household. As the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses enjoyed the privileges and prerogatives that came as a grandson of the most powerful man in the land of Egypt. He was raised in an atmosphere of opulence and wealth. He would have received a first-class education and had access to all the trappings that come with his royal rank.

But while it appears that Moses grew up in relative isolation as a member of the royal family, he was not ignorant of his Hebrew heritage. His mother had played a role in the early years of his life, acting as his nursemaid on behalf of Pharaoh’s daughter. It seems likely that Moses continued to have contact with his parents, Amram and Jochabed, as well as his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron. This means he would have been aware of his heritage and the conditions under which his fellow Hebrews were living as a result of his adopted grandfather’s policies.

So, Moses relates a day came when he ventured outside the walls of the royal palace in order to observe the situation among his people, the Hebrews. It is not clear if this was a first for Moses or whether he made these excursions on a regular basis. But on this particular occasion, he witnessed “an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people” (Exodus 2:11 ESV). Perhaps Moses had seen this kind of harsh treatment before and chosen to ignore it. But in this instance, he decided to take matters into his own hands and teach the offending Egyptian a lesson he would not soon forget.

Moses killed the man and buried his body in the sand, and the only witness was the Hebrew whose life he had protected. But somehow, word got out. The very next day, Moses attempted to insert himself in the middle of a confrontation between two Hebrews, but they did not appreciate his interference in their affair.

“Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?” – Exodus 2:14 NLT

Suddenly, Moses realized that his little secret from the day before was anything but secret. This thought petrified and rightfully so, because Pharaoh got wind of Moses’ little stunt playing judge, jury, and executioner and was livid. His grandfather had no love affair with the Hebrews and when he heard that his adopted Hebrew grandson had taken the life of an Egyptian, he was livid. So much so, that he put a bounty on Moses’ head.

So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he settled by a certain well. – Exodus 2:15 NLT

Moses fled for his life. It appears that he took no time to say goodbye to his adoptive mother or his biological parents and siblings. He simply ran and he didn’t stop until he got all the way to Midian. This proved to be quite a trek and it covered territory that would become very familiar to Moses in the days ahead. To get to Midian, Moses had to cross the Sinai Peninsula, a path that would take him through the wilderness of Shur, Paran, and, possibly Sin. It would have been a long and arduous journey, made even more difficult by the knowledge that Pharaoh could have sent a posse in hot pursuit of his runaway grandson/murderer.

At this point in the narrative, it is important to consider how the author of the book of Hebrews describes Moses’ flight to Midian. In chapter 11 of his book, the author includes Moses in his “hall of faith,” a compilation of Old Testament characters whose lives exhibited faith in God. Of Moses, he writes:

By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward. By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. – Hebrews 11:24-27 NLT

This gives a whole new perspective on what was going on behind the scenes and within Moses’ heart during this critical period of his young life. According to the author of Hebrews, Moses had long ago made the conscious decision to reject his royal status and embrace his true ethnic roots. He had heard about Jehovah, the God of his people, from his mother, and he had embraced the promises of God that made been passed down from Abraham all the way to Jacob. The author of Hebrews suggests that Moses knew about all the promises concerning the land of Canaan. He knew that Egypt was just a temporary holding place for the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob. Moses was aware of the promise that Jehovah had made to Abraham.

“You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.” – Genesis 15:13-14 NLT

And Moses had been willing to jeopardize his standing in the royal court in order to align himself with the much-maligned and hated Hebrews. They were his people and he was willing to give up his status, wealth, and life of privilege in order to secure the better future God had in store for them. It even states that he “left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger” (Hebrews 11:17 NLT). He didn’t leave Egypt in a state of fear, but in a state of hopeful anticipation that God was going to do something for his people. He had no idea what the future had in store, but he was willing to give up all he had to be part of whatever God was going to do.

Moses eventually arrived in Midian, where he came into contact with seven daughters of the priest of Midian. These people were descendants of Abraham through Keturah, the wife he took after the death of Sarah. So, they were blood relatives of Moses. And in this distant land, Moses would meet his wife and settle down to a much different life than the one he led back in Egypt.

God was preparing Moses for something significant, but this young exile from Egypt was unaware of all that God had in store for him in the days ahead. And while Moses was settling into his new life in Midian, God was busy orchestrating things back in Egypt.

During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God. God heard their groaning; God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God understood. – Exodus 2:23-25 NLT

Moses was living in relative peace and security, oblivious to the conditions his family back in Egypt was having to endure. The persecution of the Hebrews had only increased in intensity. A new Pharaoh on the throne did not bring about any change in their conditions. Moses could not hear their cries, but God was listening and watching, and He had a plan in place that was going to radically alter their lives forever. And soon, Moses would know the role he was going play in God’s grand redemptive plan for the people of Israel.

Delivered to Be a Deliverer

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. ²The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ³When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. ⁴And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. ⁵Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. ⁶When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” ⁸And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” – Exodus 2:1-10 ESV

It’s interesting to consider the fact that, Moses, the author of the book of Exodus, is actually writing his autobiography. In the opening verses of chapter 2, he chronicles the earliest days of his life, as most likely told to him by his mother and sister, Miriam. The timing of his birth and its close proximity to Pharaoh’s edict that ordered the deaths of all the Hebrew male babies (Exodus 1:22), would not have escaped Moses. Over time, his mother and sister would have shared the events surrounding his birth and their efforts to preserve his life.

Moses’ recollections of his own birth narrative would have been a constant reminder of his own preordained role in the salvation of God’s people. There would have been plenty of times when he was forced to consider the sovereign will of God in his life. His very existence was God-ordained and sovereignly orchestrated.

Despite Pharaoh’s zealous attempts to liquidate the male infant population of the Hebrews, Moses had been born. No midwife terminated his life at birth. And no Egyptian citizen did their civic duty by throwing him into the Nile as a kind of sacrifice to one of their many false gods. No, Moses had lived because his God had ordained it and Jochebed, Moses’ mother had played her part in bringing it about.

We know very little about Moses’ parents, except that they were both from the tribe of Levi. Exodus 6 provides some of the only details we have regarding this couple whom God used to birth the eventual deliverer of the people of Israel.

Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses… – Exodus 6:20 ESV

Exodus 6::18 tells us that Amram was one of the four sons of Kohath. According to the book of Numbers, which Moses also wrote, Kohath was the chief of one of the Levitical clans.

This is the record of the Levites who were counted according to their clans:

The Gershonite clan, named after their ancestor Gershon.
The Kohathite clan, named after their ancestor Kohath.
The Merarite clan, named after their ancestor Merari.

The Libnites, the Hebronites, the Mahlites, the Mushites, and the Korahites were all subclans of the Levites. – Numbers 26:56-57 NLT

For some undisclosed reason, Moses chose to leave out the names of his parents as he penned the details surrounding his birth. It’s almost as if he wants to use their anonymity to emphasize God’s sovereignty. Who they were was immaterial. What was important was what God accomplished through them. Together, this unidentified couple gave birth to an unnamed Hebrew child. They are simply listed as “a man” and “his wife.”

When Moses wrote, “the woman conceived and bore a son” (Exodus 2:2 ESV), he meant for it to create an uncomfortable dissonance within the hearts and minds of his original audience. With the birth of their son, this couple, like so many others, was immediately confronted with the very real possibility that their little boy may not live to celebrate his first birthday. The proverbial deck was stacked against him. The forces of evil, in the form of Pharaoh and his all-pervasive power, were aligned against their newborn baby boy. And to make matters worse, “she saw that he was a fine child” (Hebrews 2:2 ESV).

Moses was born healthy and whole. He suffered from no physical flaws or disabilities. There is nothing in the text that would suggest that Amram and Jochebed had been informed by God of the role their son was to play in Israel’s deliverance. But the book of Hebrews records that they greatly desired that their son might live, so they placed their faith in God and implemented a plan to save his life.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. – Hebrews 11:23 ESV

It was not Moses’ faith that saved him. It was the faith of his mom and dad, revealed by their loving determination to do whatever was necessary to protect their boy from Pharaoh’s edict. They knew that if they did nothing, the infant in their care would become yet another innocent victim of Pharaoh’s barbaric pogrom of infanticide.

Imagine the anxiety and stress this couple must have endured as they attempted to keep the birth of their baby a secret. They couldn’t let anyone know he existed. So, every time he cried, they must have shuddered with fear. They were unable to display their pride and joy by introducing their friends and neighbors to their newborn son. No one could know. And, according to Moses’ recollection, the time came when Jochebed realized that she could no longer keep their secret hidden. So, she took drastic measures. Moses reveals that his mother fabricated a waterproof floating bassinet, “put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank” (Exodus 2:3 ESV).

Moses does not indicate how his mother came up with this ingenious, but somewhat risky, idea. There is nothing in the text that indicates she received a divine visit from an angel or experienced a dream or vision from God with instructions to build a “baby boat” to rescue her at-risk child. No, it appears that Jochebed came up with this outlandish solution on her own, but in full compliance with God’s sovereign will.

Hidden in the reeds along the shore of the Nile, little Moses remained under the watchful eye of his older sister, Miriam. She “stood at a distance to know what would be done to him” (Exodus 2:4 ESV). As the book of Hebrews indicates, Jochebed and Amram exhibited faith by doing what they did. By placing Moses in that basket and setting it afloat on the waters of the Nile, they were putting their baby in the hands of God. Only Yahweh could protect their child now. Miriam could watch, but she was incapable of delivering her little brother from certain death by exposure or from being eaten by a crocodile. She was forced into the uncomfortable and unenviable position of having to wait and see.

But she didn’t wait long.

Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. – Exodus 5:6 NLT

It just so happened that the basket holding the baby, Moses, floated down the Nile and came to rest in the very place where the daughter of Pharaoh took her daily bath. Was this Jochebed’s hope all along? Had she intended for the basket to pass by this very spot? It would seem odd for the mother of this newborn infant to see his discovery by any Egyptian, let alone Pharaoh’s daughter, to be a good thing. After all, “Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile’” (Exodus 1:22 NLT).

But as “fate” would have it, as the princess waded into the water to take her bath, she spied the basket and ordered one of her servants to retrieve it. Upon removing the lid, she was startled to find a crying baby boy, whom she immediately recognized as a Hebrew.

“This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said. – Exodus 2:6 NLT

Rather than exhibiting a loathing for this Hebrew infant, the princess showed pity. It may be that the sight of this innocent little baby tugged at her heartstrings. Finding him relegated to a handmade wicker basket and cast afloat in the Nile must have informed her of the desperate mother’s last-ditch effort to save her son’s life. This helpless mother had been willing to abandon her son to the fate of the Nile rather than see him suffer at the hands of the sadistic Pharaoh.

As the princess battled with her emotions, struggling to decide what to do, Miriam appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She carefully approached the princess and her royal retinue, offering to provide assistance.

“Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked. – Exodus 2:7 NLT

Almost sensing the princess’ indecision, Miriam provided an immediate solution to the problem of what to do with the child. She would find a nursemaid to care for the child while the princess decided what to do next.

Miriam’s quick action played a significant role in the sparing of Moses’ life. With the princess’ permission, Miriam ran home and returned with her mother. What the princess failed to understand was that this “nursemaid” was actually the infant’s own mother.

In a powerful illustration of God’s sovereignty, Jochebed was given the privilege of nursing and eventually weaning her own son. But, eventually, she was forced to give up possession of her child to the princess, “and he became her son” (Exodus 2:10 NLT). In an amazing turn of events, the little boy who had been under a death sentence was adopted into the very family of the man who had issued the call for his death. The princess named her newly adopted son, Môsheh or Moses, which means, ”drawn out of water” or “one born of water.”

Unbeknownst to the princess, the name she gave to her new son was prophetic in nature. This little child would grow up to be the deliverer of the people of Israel who would “draw out” God’s children and lead them through the waters of the Red Sea. But for now, little Moses would find himself growing up in the pomp and splendor of Pharaoh’s palace. The boy that should have been cast into the Nile and left to die, was saved by a “boat” prepared by the hands of his loving mother. God had sovereignly saved Moses so that he might become the future savior of the children of Israel.

The Pitiful Plans of Men

February 20, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” ¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. ¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. ¹³So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves ¹⁴and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” ¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” ²⁰So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. ²¹And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. ²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.” – Exodus 1:8-22 ESV

As the story of Exodus begins, approximately 360 years have passed since Jacob’s descendants first arrived in the land of Egypt. During the nearly four centuries they had lived in Goshen, a rich and fertile land located in the Nile delta, their numbers had exploded. Moses explains that “the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them” (Exodus 1:7 ESV). This statement is intended to prepare the reader for what comes next. It is essential to recognize that the Israelites’ 360-year stay in Egypt had been marked by relative peace and prosperity. They were living in the well-water plains of Lower Egypt and had plenty of pasture lands for their growing flocks and herds. While Jacob’s son, Joseph, was still alive and functioning as Pharaoh’s right-hand man, they enjoyed his patronage and protection. With Pharaoh’s permission, Joseph settled his family in Goshen and provided them food from the storehouses of Egypt.

Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents. – Genesis 47:11-12 ESV

And for 360 years they enjoyed a full and satisfying life in Egypt. This is important to understand because, too often, we operate under the impression that the Israelites lived as slaves in Egypt for 400 years. But the reality is that the vast majority of their time in Egypt had been marked by God’s blessings. He had greatly increased their numbers and had graciously multiplied their flocks and herds. They actually lived better lives than many of the Egyptians from the lower classes who must have resented the prosperity of these Hebrew refugees.

And Moses points out that the burgeoning numbers of the Israelites had gotten the attention of none other than Pharaoh himself.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” – Exodus 1:8-10 ESV

Moses does not provide the name of this Pharaoh because it is not relevant to the storyline. There has been much debate and scholarly speculation as to the identity of this “king over Egypt.” Some have identified him as Ahmose, while others have determined him to be Amenhotep I or Thutmose I. It is virtually impossible to know with any certainty which of these men was the Pharaoh mentioned in Exodus 1:8. But, whoever he was, he saw the Hebrews as a threat to his kingdom. From his throne in Zoan, the capital of Egypt at the time, he likely received regular reports that kept him informed about the expansive Hebrew population in Goshen. He describes them as being “too many and too mighty.” For nearly four decades they had lived alongside the Egyptian people and had posed no threat to the nation. But for some reason, this particular Pharaoh became paranoid about their presence and decided to take steps to bring them under control and mitigate their potential for joining forces with one of Egypt’s adversaries.

“…if a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with our enemies and fight against us and leave the country.”

So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. – Exodus 1:10-11 NLT

This represents the turning point in the Israelites’ existence in Egypt. For the next 40 years, things would grow increasingly difficult for the descendants of Jacob. Almost overnight, their prospects in the land of Egypt would take a decidedly negative turn.

Notice that Pharaoh had no desire for the Israelites to leave the land of Egypt. He was not looking to expel them but was only interested in bringing them under his control. It is likely that the Egyptians benefited from the presence of the Israelites. During the days of Joseph, his brothers had served as shepherds over the royal herds.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.” – Genesis 47:5-6 NLT

It is likely that this arrangement still existed and the new Pharaoh had benefited from shepherding skills of the Hebrews. And the sheer number of Israelites would have made them a powerful trading and economic force in Egypt. So, Pharaoh decided to institute a series of measures that would bring the Israelites under his mastery.

It began with what can only be described as forced enslavement. Pharaoh ordered the conscription of all able-bodied Hebrews and used them as an unpaid labor force to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses. These construction projects would have taken decades and would have subjected the Israelites to grueling conditions designed to crush their morale and beat them into submission. Yet, Moses indicates that “the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread” (Exodus 1:12 NLT).

The resilience of the Hebrews frustrated and enraged the Egyptians, causing them to increase the intensity of their oppression.

They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous. – Exodus 1:14 NLT

But despite the brutal conditions placed upon them, the Israelites seemed to prosper. This led Pharaoh to turn up the heat. This time, he ordered a pogrom that utilized infanticide as a means of controlling the ever-increasing numbers of Israelites. If he couldn’t beat them into submission, he would simply eradicate them.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you assist the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: If it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she may live.” But the midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. – Exodus 1:15-17 NLT

Pharaoh attempted to lower the birthrates of the Hebrews by ordering the immediate execution of every male infant, and he chose to implement this sadistic strategy by enlisting the services of the Hebrew midwives. These women were ordered to carry out this gruesome plan by using their intimate role as midwives to murder innocent newly-born male babies. But they refused to carry out those orders. Fearing God more than Pharaoh, they risked their own lives by sparing the lives of every baby boy they helped deliver. And when Pharaoh caught wind of what they were doing, he confronted them.

Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?” – Exodus 1:18 NLT

These women responded with what appears to be a lie.

“Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women—for the Hebrew women are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!” – Exodus 1:19 NLT

It seems that these two women oversaw a network of midwives who served the large Hebrew population. In an attempt to explain the higher-than-expected number of successful male births, they chalked it up to the “vigor” of the Hebrew women. The labor time of the Hebrews was so fast, that the midwives weren’t able to get there in time to help with the birth. It’s likely that there was an element of truth to Shiphrah and Puah’s statement, but they were also disguising the fact that they had ordered non-compliance to Pharaoh’s edict among their fellow midwives. They were not going to play his sadistic game. And Moses makes it clear that God was pleased with their actions.

God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. – Exodus 1:20-21 ESV

God blessed them because their sacrificial efforts resulted in the saving of many lives. As a result, the people of Israel continued to increase in number and God blessed these women with families of their own.

In a final, last-gasp attempt to control the Hebrew population, Pharaoh ordered every Egyptian to play a part in his nationwide infanticide program.

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.” – Exodus 1:22 ESV

He was not giving up. His fear of and hatred for the Hebrews only intensified with time and with each setback to his plan. But this conflict was going to set the stage for the rest of the story. because God also had a plan. And His plan was bigger and greater than that of Pharaoh. The persecutions and pogrom of Pharaoh were not going to get in the way of what God had in store for His chosen people. As a matter of fact, it was going to be the very thing God would use to set His people free. Slavery and persecution would become the backdrop for His plan of redemption for them. But to set them free, they would have to be enslaved. Had they never been persecuted by the Egyptians, the Israelites would never have wanted to leave. They had nothing to go back to. They had no land, no home, no gardens, and no farms.

They were content living in Egypt. But things were about to change. The situation was about to heat up because God was about to do something unexpected and unprecedented. He had a promise He was going to fulfill.

The Stage is Set

February 19, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹ These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ⁷But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.– Exodus 1:1-7 ESV

Exodus is the second of five books that Moses wrote for the people of Israel as they made their way from Egypt to the land of Canaan. This five-book canon was known as the Pentateuch, which means “the five scrolls.” It came into usage sometime around 200 AD, but the combined books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy were most commonly referred to by the Jews as the Torah, which means “law.”

The original Hebrew name for this second book of the Pentateuch was we’elleh shemot, which is based on the first five words of the first verse: “These are the names of…”

“The Hebrew title of the Book of Exodus, therefore, was to remind us that Exodus is the sequel to Genesis and that one of its purposes is to continue the history of God’s people as well as elaborate further on the great themes so nobly introduced in Genesis.” – Ronald Youngblood, Exodus

In Hebrew, the first verse opens with the word, “now” or “and.” This is meant to link the first verse of Exodus with the last verse of Genesis.

So Joseph died at the age of 110. After they embalmed him, his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt. – Genesis 50:26 ESV

[Now] These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household… – Exodus 1:1 ESV

The closing chapters of Genesis chronicle the story of how Jacob (Israel) arrived in the land of Egypt with his sons, their wives, and all his grandchildren. Jacob had discovered that his long-lost son, Joseph, whom he thought was dead, was actually alive and well and living in Egypt. Through a divinely ordained chain of events, Joseph had risen to the second-highest position in the Egyptian government. He was second only to Pharaoh in terms of his power and authority.

A famine in the land of Canaan forced Jacob to send his sons to Egypt in a desperate search for food. When they arrived, they were shocked to be reunited with Joseph, their younger brother whom they had sold into slavery decades earlier. But rather than seek revenge on his brothers, Joseph welcomed them and offered them protection and provision in the land of Egypt. And God spoke to Jacob, giving him permission to leave the land of promise and move his entire family to Egypt.

“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” – Genesis 46:3-4 ESV

And this relocation was in keeping with a prophecy that God had shared with Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, years earlier.

Then the LORD said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) After four generations your descendants will return here to this land…” – Genesis 15:13-16 NLT

Jacob obeyed the word of God and took his family to Egypt.

They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. – Genesis 46:6-7 ESV

Because of his high position and close relationship with Pharaoh, Joseph was able to provide his family with land and plenty of food. He even arranged for his brothers to serve as shepherds for the flocks and herds that belonged to Pharaoh.

Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents. – Genesis 47:11-12 ESV

Exodus 1 picks up the story where Genesis left off. Moses reveals that, when Jacob and his family first arrived in Egypt, they were only about 70 in number.

All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy. – Genesis 46:26-27 ESV

But, in time, their numbers would increase greatly, in keeping with the promise that God had made to Abraham.

“I will make of you a great nation…” – Genesis 12:2 ESV

God’s promise to provide Abraham with a multitude of descendants whose number would rival that of stars in heaven, would come about while they were living as relative slaves in Egypt for 400 years. That is the part of the story that the opening chapters of Exodus will reveal. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Moses will unpack the events that transpired between Jacob’s arrival in the land of Egypt and the moment God ordered their “exodus” or departure. The modern title of the book is “Exodus,” which is a transliteration of the Greek word exodos from the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible. Moses would be the one to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and to the land of Canaan, which had been promised to them as their inheritance.

But Moses wants his readers to understand what took place long before the ten plagues, the Passover, and the crossing of the Red Sea. He reiterates the fact that Jacob and his family were only 70 in number when they arrived. But time passed and their numbers grew.

Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. – Exodus 1:6-7 ESV

While His name is not mentioned, God is all throughout this passage. He was with them and He was blessing them. His sovereign will was being done on their behalf. But, as the story will reveal, even the blessings of God can be accompanied by difficulty. In fact, it will become readily apparent that their fruitfulness will produce conflict between them and the Egyptians.

The very next verse states, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8 ESV). Things are about to take a change for the worse. Over the centuries, since their arrival in the land, the Israelites have been prolific, and “the land was filled with them.”

They have enjoyed the blessings of God in the form of fruitfulness. Their numbers have increased greatly. They have their own land in Goshen and plenty of flocks and herds to meet all their needs. But it has been years since Jacob and Joseph have died. The peoples’ connection to the patriarchs has grown weak. And, as the story of Exodus unfolds, it will become clear that the chosen people of God have been fruitful but have become unfaithful. After four centuries in the land of Egypt, they have become “Egyptianized” and have embraced the many false gods of their host nation. They have forgotten Yahweh, but He has not forgotten them.

They are about to discover that their idyllic situation in Egypt is going to come to an abrupt and surprising end. Their numbers have increased, but now it’s their troubles that will expand, and virtually overnight.

They were content living in Egypt, but things were about to change. The situation was about to heat up because God had a plan for them. He had a promise He was going to fulfill. Chapter 1 sets up the great redemptive plan of God for the people of Israel. It is Act One in the divine drama that God has composed for His chosen people. In short order, things will take a dark turn. It will seem as if everything is going wrong for the people of Israel. But God will be there, behind the scenes, orchestrating His divine will and slowly reintroducing Himself to the people who have long forgotten Him.

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

Month: February 2023