The Story and History of Exodus - Part 2: Exodus 3 & 4

PRAYER
God of all who wander in the wilderness,
guide us through danger,
sustain us through desolation,
and bring us home to the place
you have prepared for us.
Amen.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

When it comes
to the great stories:
Is it REAL? < Is it TRUE?

When it comes to much of
the Biblical story:

EXODUS 3:1
Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his
father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian;
and he led the flock to the west side
of the wilderness and came to Horeb,
the mountain of God.

Exodus 2:18 = Reuel
Exodus 3:1, 18:1 = Jethro
Exodus 4:18 = Jeter
Num 10:29, Judges 4:11 = Hobab
PICK A NAME ALREADY:
Moses’ Father-in-law:

Exodus 3:1, 17:6, 33:6
(and bunch in Deuteronomy):
Horeb
Everywhere else in Exodus
(beginning 16:1, esp. ch.19/34):
Sinai
PICK A NAME ALREADY:
God’s Mountain

…Whoever brought these traditions
together into what we call the book of
Exodus wasn’t bothered by these sorts
of blips, so…neither should we. More
important than being consistent was
preserving
(the various) traditions.

EXODUS 3:2-3
Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush;
and he looked, and behold, the bush was
burning with fire, yet the bush was not being
consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside
and see this marvelous sight, why the bush
is not burning up!”

We might stop to ask, “Why a bush?”
It’s worth noting that the Hebrew word
for bush is seneh, which is
very, very similar to the word for Sinai,
sinay. This seems more than
coincidental. In fact, Deut 33:16
tells us that YHWH “dwells on seneh,”
which is typically translated “Sinai,” but
don’t let that fool you.
(Likely name Sinai came first, which led
to tradition of the bush story…)

Another question: Why fire?
In the Old Testament, the word
“fire” is commonly used to indicate the
appearance of God (a theophany – a
visible manifestation of God).

Literal miracle?
Natural wonder?
Hallucination?
Moses had an
encounter with
God in some way

EXODUS 3:4-6a
When the Lord saw that he turned aside
to look, God called to him from the midst
of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said,
“Do not come near here; remove your sandals
from your feet, for the place on which you are
standing is holy ground.” And He said, “I am
the God of your father—the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

EXODUS 3:10-12
…and I will send you to Pharoah, so that you
may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of
Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I,
that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should
bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” And He
said, “Assuredly I will be with you, and this shall be
the sign to you that it is I who have sent
you: when you have brought the people out of
Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

BUT I DON’T WANNA BE A SPOKESMAN!
SCRIPTURE EXCUSE GOD’S REPLY
Ex 3:11 Who am I?! I’ll be with you

Ex 3:13-22 Who are you?! I AM who I AM

Ex 4:1-9 What if…?! Signs/wonders

The plagues (previewed here by
Moses’ snowy white hand) will
work like the flood in Noah’s day. The
plagues are God causing creation to
run amuck; God is reintroducing chaos.
Each plague
(will be like a mini creation act.
Pharoah’s magicians… can’t restore
order… The chaos will not harm the
Israelites, just as the flood waters did
not harm Noah and his family.

Ex 4:10-12 But I don’t speak
well in public!
I’ll help you with the
words

Ex 4:10-12 But I don’t speak
well in public!
I’ll help you with the
words
Ex 4:13-17 Send someone else! I’ll speak through
you to Aaron

EXODUS 4:14a-16
Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses,
and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the
Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. So you are
to speak to him and put the words in his mouth;
and I Myself will be with your mouth and his
mouth, and I will instruct you in what
you are to do. He shall speak for you to the
people; and he will be as a mouth for you
and you will be (as)* God to him.

EXODUS 4:18-20
Then Moses departed and returned to his father-in-
law Jethro, and said to him, “Please, let me go, that
I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and
see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses,
“Go in peace.” Now the Lord said to Moses in
Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men
who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses
took his wife and his sons…and returned to Egypt.
Moses also took the staff of God in his hand.

EXODUS 4:24-26
But it came about at the overnight
encampment on the way, that the LORD
met Moses, and sought to put him to death.
So Zipporah took a flint and cut off her
son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet;
and she said, “You are indeed a groom
of blood to me! (because of the circumcision).”
So God left him alone.

EXODUS 4:27-29
Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet
Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and
met him at the mountain of God and kissed
him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord
with which He had sent him, and all the signs that
He had commanded him to do. Then Moses and
Aaron went and assembled all the elders
of the sons of Israel…

EXODUS 4:30-31
…and Aaron spoke all the words which
the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed
the signs in the sight of the people. So the people
believed; and when they heard that the Lord was
concerned about the sons
of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, they
bowed low and worshiped.

God SEES and
God KNOWS
and God LOVES.
PART 1

We often FOCUS
on our own
INADEQUACIES
but God says,
“I will be WITH you.”
PART 2

A Prayer For The People of God
God of miracles and mercy,
to whom all of creation sings praise.
Your grace is extravagant and unexpected.
Lead us to repentance and the
acceptance of your grace, that we may
witness to your love that embraces both
those we call friend and stranger.
Amen.

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The Story and History of Exodus - Part 2: Exodus 3 & 4

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The Story and History of Exodus - Part 2: Exodus 3 & 4