Thursday, September 22, 2011

Exodus 4:14-17 A Shepherd and His Sheep

"Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said,
'What about your brother, Aaron the Levite?
I know he can speak well.
He is already on his way to meet you,
and his heart will be glad when he sees you.
You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth;
I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.
He will speak to the people for you,
and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.
But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.' "

Exodus 4:14-17 (NIV)
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The LORD was angry at Moses, with good reason.  After all, God had appeared to Moses at the burning bush.  He had assured Moses that He was God and had the power to deal with any situation which might arise.  He also promised to help Moses speak and to teach him exactly what to say when he went back to Egypt to speak with the elders of Israel and the Pharaoh.  Yet Moses was still reluctant to take on the mission which God had assigned to him.

Next, God offers to let Moses' brother Aaron assist him.  God would speak to Moses, Moses would tell Aaron and Aaron would convey the message to the people.  God would help both of them speak and would teach them what to do.

Apparently this was enough to reassure Moses.  After forty years, he would see his brother Aaron again.  Moses began to make plans to go back to Egypt.
                      
                             _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

What would his wife Zipporah say about this new direction for their lives?  Would she believe that God had spoken to him?  The couple also had two sons by now, and they would journey with them back to Egypt.  He wondered about what kind of reception they would find there.  Would his family be safe?

Moses looked at the staff in his hand.  Such an ordinary tool until today.  Yet now God had instructed Moses to be sure to bring it with him so that he could perform miraculous signs in front of the elders of Israel and the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Moses signaled to his sheep and began the journey back toward his father-in-law's camp.  He wondered -- What would Jethro have to say about him taking Jethro's daughter and grandchildren away with him?


Moses called out to a few straggling sheep.  He guided and prodded them until they had rejoined the rest of the flock.  Why did some of those sheep always seem to resist his leading?  Then Moses felt his face flush with embarrassment.  The sheep weren't the only ones who had been resisting their shepherd.

Moses picked up a good-sized lamb which had been uncertainly wandering near the edge of the flock.  "Come on," he whispered, "Don't delay any longer.  What are you waiting for?  It is time for us to be on our way."

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Exodus 4:10-13 Here am I; Send someone else

"Moses said to the LORD,
'O Lord, I have never been eloquent,
neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.
I am slow of speech and tongue.'

The LORD said to him,
'Who gave man his mouth?  Who makes him deaf or mute?
Who gives him sight or makes him blind?
Is it not I, the LORD?
Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'

But Moses said,
'O Lord, please send someone else to do it.'
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Moses protests that he lacks eloquence and fluency, characteristics which he believes necessary for a 'real' leader of the people of God.  Whether he truly had some type of speech impediment, or was just suffering from a fear of failure (after having spent the last forty years in the desert, far from the court life of Egypt) is not made clear in this passage.

In the New Testament book of Acts, Stephen -- testifying before the Sanhedrin -- has this to say about Moses:

"Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,
and was powerful in speech and action."

Acts 7:22


Apparently Stephen does not share Moses' assessment of his abilities.


Moses has already given several reasons why he should not be chosen to fill the job of God's deliverer:
  • Who am I?  (I'm not important enough.) Exodus 3:11
  • What is His name?...What shall I tell them?  (I don't know enough.) Exodus 3:13
  • What if they do not believe me or listen to me?  (They'll think I'm crazy.) Exodus 4:1
And now Moses has added a final excuse:

  • I am slow of speech and tongue.  (I'm not a public speaker and I can't think on my feet, and my goodness, this is the Pharaoh I'll be standing in front of...)  Exodus 4:10
God, of course, knows all this, and has the perfect comeback:
  • Who gave man his mouth?  (I'm God.  I created you.  I'll help you.  I'll teach you what to say.)  Exodus 4:11-12
Finally, Moses' real attitude comes out.  Left with no excuses, he displays the true attitude of his heart:

"O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

Although shocking in its honesty, I suspect that we might have to admit that at least once, we have shared that exact attitude.  We would like to see something done about a particular need or situation, to see an injustice made right or an evil exposed.  However, we do not necessarily want to be the one in the spotlight, the deer in the headlight, the place where the buck (pun intended) stops.  At least Moses was honest enough to admit it.  Even with all of God's assurances, Moses still did not feel capable of taking on this assignment.

Unknown to him, this probably made Moses the perfect candidate for such a mission.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Exodus 4:6-9 Flesh and Blood Signs of Moses' Authority

"Then the LORD said, 'Put your hand inside your cloak.'
So Moses put his hand into his cloak,
and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.

'Now put it back into your cloak,' he said.
So Moses put his hand back into his cloak,
and when he took it out,
it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

Then the LORD said, 'If they do not believe you
or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.
But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you,
take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground.
The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.'
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The LORD gives Moses two more signs to convince the Israelites that it is indeed God who has sent him to them.  I can just picture Moses' reaction when he sees that his hand has turned leprous like snow.  [I also think that it would have been interesting to see the speed at which he plucked his hand from his cloak the second time to see if it was restored.]

This was an impressive sign of God's power.  Leprosy was a serious disease, with no known cure.  Sufferers were isolated from society and generally lived a lonely and humiliating existence, with the added pain of having to warn others not to approach their diseased bodies.  Yet God was able to immediately call for Moses' flesh to be restored.

God is not only powerful, but also patient.  If the Hebrews do not believe Moses when his staff changes into a snake, or when his hand changes from leprous to whole flesh again, God is willing to give them the additional sign of water from the nearby Nile River being turned into blood before their eyes.

I think I will take a moment to share one of the NIV Study Bible's observations on these verses:  In its note on Exodus 4:8 (page 94), where these events are called miraculous signs, it says that such signs are designed to:

  • demonstrate authority,
  • provide assurance,
  • bear testimony,
  • give warning,
  • or encourage faith.


So signs are about a whole lot more than just "proof".  The fact that signs bear testimony to what God has said, and also warn against unbelief gives them a very solemn aspect indeed, particularly to those who would ignore their message.  These signs are not carnival tricks.  They are an assurance to God's servants and a warning (as well as an invitation to faith) to those who oppose Him.

 



Exodus 4:1-5 First Sign:Snake-Staff

"Moses answered, 'What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say,
"The LORD did not appear to you"?'

Then the LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?'

'A staff,' he replied.

The LORD said, 'Throw it on the ground.'

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.

Then the LORD said to him, 'Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.'

So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake
and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

'This,' said the LORD, 'is 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 4:1-5
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Moses wonders if the Israelites will believe that God sent him to them.  Considering the fact that his last encounter with a Hebrew man had been rather hostile, and that Moses had fled Egypt because Pharaoh was looking to kill him (Exodus 2:11-15), it is understandable why Moses would have some doubts about how he would be received by the Israelites.

However, it is the living God who is speaking to him.  Clearly, God would know exactly what was best in this situation.  God gives Moses an assurance and a test, all in the same incident.  God asks Moses what he has in his hand.  Moses has a staff, and God directs him to throw it onto the ground.  It becomes a snake, and Moses, having plenty of experience in the desert lifestyle, runs away from it.  Apparently Moses has no desire to be bitten by the creature.  [I would run, too.]

Then comes the test:  God directs Moses to pick up the snake.  And not from the head either, so he could somewhat control the snake's ability to bite him.  No, God directs Moses to pick it up from the tail end, which is generally not the way to avoid a snake-bite.  Since Moses has been hiking around in the desert after his father-in-law's sheep for about forty years now,  with plenty of experience in avoiding such encounters, I'd think that it would be extremely difficult for Moses to follow that last direction.  Yet Moses obeys, and the snake turns back into an ordinary staff in his hand.  This was to be one sign to the Israelites that the God of their forefathers was truly speaking through Moses.

What was God teaching Moses in this incident?  I think that there is a lot about control in this portion of Scripture.  In Moses' upcoming mission, God will be calling him to do some very unusual things.  Moses needs to know that God, not Moses, is in charge and that He can do whatever He wants to do -- like changing a staff into a stick.  After all God is the Creator of the Universe.  Staffs turning into snakes and back again is nothing difficult for the One who speaks galaxies into existence.  Moses can have great confidence in God's power in difficult times ahead.

Moses also learns that it is important to obey God, even when everything in him is telling him to do the exact opposite.  Moses' prior experience was of no help in this situation; in fact, this time, it just made things more difficult.  Moses needs to be willing to obey God even when His directions seem to be counter to common sense.  

God also has another sign for Moses, which we will speak about in the next post.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Exodus 3:18-22 Preview, Plans and Payback

"The elders of Israel will listen to you.
Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him,
'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us.
Let us take a three-day journey into the desert
to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.'

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go
unless a mighty hand compels him.
So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians
with all the wonders that I will perform among them.
After that, he will let you go.

And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people,
so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.
Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house
for articles of silver and gold and for clothing,
which you will put on your sons and daughters.
And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

Exodus 3:18-22 (NIV)
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The LORD of the Hebrews knows exactly what the future will hold.  He directs Moses and the elders of Israel to go to Pharaoh and request a three-day journey into the desert so that they may offer sacrifices to their God.

He also knows that the king of Egypt will not agree to this request, unless he is forced into it by a higher power.  So, God plans to perform wonders among the Egyptians.  Unfortunately, these wonders do not sound as if they will be beneficial towards the Egyptians, for God proclaims that He will 'strike' them with these events.  Calmly, God declares that after that, Pharaoh would indeed let the Hebrews go.

Not only that, but God also plans some recompense for the years of slavery which the Israelites have endured.  The Israelite women are to request gold and silver articles and clothing from their Egyptian neighbors.  This 'plunder' will not be taken violently, for God will make the Egyptians favorably disposed to give it to them.

[Perhaps this is why the women were directed to perform this part of the mission.  Not that women can't be just as violent as men, but just that there would be less opportunity for any type of violent 'payback' or skirmishes to erupt.  Also, I notice that the women were to ask their neighbors or women living in their households for the items -- another factor which might make the Egyptians more willing to give, and the freed slaves less inclined to exact revenge.]

God's command over every detail of the Hebrews' departure is very reassuring.  He has had a plan from before their forefathers even arrived in Egypt, and even now, He is concerned with doing what is right, for the Israelites should be compensated for their years of labor among the Egyptians.  The book of Exodus often gives us glimpses about the character of God in this way. 


Saturday, September 10, 2011

Exodus 3:16-17 The Message

"Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them,
'The LORD, the God of your fathers --
the God of your fathers --
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob --
appeared to me and said:
I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt
into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Hivites and Jebusites --
a land flowing with milk and honey.'
________________________________
Several things which I noticed about this passage:
  • The 'LORD' is capitalized again and God also identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  He makes it abundantly clear who the message is from and also,
  • God wants the message to go to the elders of Israel.  In this way, Moses is not seen as someone coming to the Israelites on his own authority.
  • God has been watching over the Israelites, even during their sufferings.  One might ask why He did not intervene sooner, but this is because He has been working out His plan.  They had suffered greatly, yet imagine how bad it would have been if God had not been watching over them.
  • God has seen everything which had been done to them in Egypt.  Their exhausting physical labors, unfair punishments, every hidden atrocity -- all would one day be avenged. Every unjust act would receive due consideration and judgement.  However, God did not stop there...
  • God is going to keep His promise.  He had told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years, but that afterwards they would come out with great possessions. (Genesis 15:13-14).

    Abraham's son Isaac and his descendants were also promised the land. (Genesis 26:3-5)

    When Isaac's son Jacob had his dream at Bethel, God had said that the land which He had promised to Abraham and Isaac would also be for Jacob and his descendants after him. (Genesis 35:12)

    Later, Jacob assured his son Joseph that God would be with him and take him back to the land of his fathers. (Genesis 48:21) 

    When Joseph was dying, he assured his brothers that God would come to their aid and take them to the land which He had promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Genesis 50:24)  [In fact, Joseph repeated this in the next verse and made his brothers swear that they would take his bones with them back to the promised land.]

    Now, after Joseph and his brothers and all that generation had died (Exodus 1:6), God is  reminding the elders of Israel about this promise and finally, after so many years, preparing to fulfill it. 

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Exodus 3:13-15 Who Is Speaking, Please?

"Moses said to God,
'Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them,
"The God of your fathers has sent me to you,"
and they ask me, "What is his name?"
Then what shall I tell them?'

God said to Moses,
"I AM WHO I AM.
This is what you are to say to the Israelites:
'I AM' has sent me to you."

God also said to Moses,
'Say to the Israelites,
"The LORD, the God of your fathers --
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob --
has sent me to you.
This is my name forever,
the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.' "

Exodus 3:13-15 (NIV)
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Moses is considering this task which God has assigned him.  However, he knows that the Hebrews may be somewhat skeptical if he just shows up in Egypt after a forty-year absence, claiming to have a message from God for them.  Especially since when he left Egypt, he had been fleeing for his life.

Moses asks God's name.  Why?  Does he not know it already? Or is this a test to see if it is truly the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is speaking with him?  His attitude reminds me of how I might react if an unidentified stranger calls on the phone:  "May I ask who is calling?"

God's reply seems somewhat enigmatic:  "I AM WHO I AM."  His reply is written in all capital letters in the Bible, but they didn't have the Internet at that time, so, no, God is not shouting.  His name expresses His character as the faithful, dependable God -- One who is self-existent and needed nothing from others himself, yet was all things to those who were in a covenant relationship with Him.

God also called Himself 'The LORD' in verse 15.  This is not an additional name.  In Hebrew, it is 'Yahweh'.  This word means 'He is' or 'He will be'.  The NIV Study Bible note on this verse says that it is "...the third-person form of the verb translated 'I will be' in verse 12 and 'I AM' in verse 14.  When God speaks of himself, he says, 'I AM,' and when we speak of him, we say, 'He is'."  Same word, different tense.
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[On an interesting side note, when Jesus applied this title to himself in John 8:58-59, he was making a clear claim for his own divinity, and the bystanders understood this as well, for they took up stones to stone him for what they considered to be blasphemy.]

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Exodus 3:11-12 Why Me? (Second Try)

"But Moses said to God,
'Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh
and bring the Israelites out of Egypt:'

And God said, 'I will be with you.
And this will be the sign to you
that it is I who have sent you:
When you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you will worship God on this mountain.' "

Exodus 3:11-12 (NIV)
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Remember how Moses had made a decision at some point that he would not be identified as the Pharaoh's daughter's son, but would align himself with his people, the Israelites?  The book of Hebrews says this about that decision:

"By faith Moses, when he had grown up,
refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God 
rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time."
Hebrews 11:24-25 (NIV)

Some time after that decision, Moses had come to the aid of one of his fellow Israelites who was being beaten by an Egyptian.  However, in his zeal, he killed the Egyptian.  Apparently he thought that the Israelites would appreciate his efforts in delivering them, but when he rebuked two Israelites for fighting amongst themselves the next day, the one in the wrong asked Moses if he was thinking about killing him just like he had killed the Egyptian.  Moses realized that his actions had become known, and when he realized that the Pharaoh was now intent on killing him, he fled to Midian.  He married the daughter of Reuel, a priest of Midian, and had two sons.  (Genesis 2:11-21;Acts 7:23-29)

Moses spent the next forty years as a shepherd in the desert area of Midian.  It must have been quite a change from the life he had lived while growing up in the household of the Pharaoh.  However, caring for his father-in-law's flocks was excellent training for the job he was to do in the future.  Sheep seem determined to wander into all kinds of difficulties, and need constant care lest they bring about their own destruction, much like the flock of God, who are prone to wander in a spiritual sense.

Now, forty years later, Moses seems to be quite a different man from the one who had rashly killed the Egyptian.  Even though some historians (Josephus, Philo and others) have written about Moses' successful military endeavors while he was still part of the Pharaoh's household, he is no longer that brash young commander of some of Pharaoh's forces.  He is older, and humbler, a husband and father. 

There is also that matter of his having killed the Egyptian.  The Pharaoh who had been in charge was dead, but there could be some people alive in Egypt who would still be interested in getting revenge for that death.

God knew that Moses was reluctant.  He give Moses two assurances:
  1. "I will be with you." (v.12)  Moses would not be alone on this mission.  God promised to be with him and help him.
  2. "When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."  I always thought that this was a funny way to assure someone.  With all due respect, what kind of a sign was that, to be told that you will one day return and worship God on this mountain?  Then I realized that this sign was an incentive for Moses' faith to grow.  The God who made the universe, who doesn't lie, was assuring Moses that he would be successful and would return someday to worship God on this mountain.
What a privilege to be able to serve such a God!  Perhaps Moses (and all of us) should be saying "Wow, me?" instead of "Why me?" when we find ourselves in a difficult situation or when God calls us to do something which we think we can't do.
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As for my lost post, well, it was probably too wordy anyway.  This one is much shorter and still says all that I wanted it to say.  Much thanks for the heavenly 'editing', for being with me, and for reminding me that my attitude should be not be 'Why me?" but instead, "Wow, me?" when an opportunity to grow comes my way.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Exodus 3:11-12 Why Me? (First Try)

[Sorry about the delay in posting.  I had a nice long post nearly done when it suddenly disappeared.  After getting cranky, I laughed (but only a tiny bit) when I realized the title I had given the post: "Why Me?".  I had spent a lot of time on this post, and now it was gone.  I tried everything I knew to get it back, but wasn't successful.  I was especially cranky because I had so many aspects all neatly dovetailed together, and now I don't think I will be able to remember all of the particulars.  However, another humorous aspect was that the following was all that survived the sudden purge:

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I think that God is also saying to Moses that He will be with him from the start to the finish of this mission.

So if Moses is thinking "Why me?", God is saying, "It's not just going to be you, it's Us."
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Yep, that's all that remained from at least three hours of work.  Apparently Someone has a strange sense of humor.  Maybe Someone is trying to tell me something, like:  "That post was too long-winded.", or "Yeah, I know it's frustrating, but you're not alone."  So I'll start over and try to recall the best parts -- in another post.  Because right now I'm a bit paranoid that it will all disappear again.