The Call
of
Moses
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- Evidence for Israel's Presence in Egypt
- No direct evidence in Egyptian records relating to Israel's presence
in Egypt - Egyptian building projects did employ slave labor - the reference to the
construction of the store cities, Pithom and Raamses (Exod. 1:11), may well reflect
construction during the reigns of Haremhab and Sethos I
- Indirect evidence of Israel's presence in Egypt
- Prevalence of Egyptian names in Israel, especially in the tribe of
Levi (e.g., Moses, Hophni, Phinehas, Merari)
- Hundreds of Semitic words entered Egyptian vocabulary and Canaanite
gods were Egyptianized
- Numerous texts mention the presence of the `Apiru in Egypt
- Best evidence is that a nation would hardly invent such a tradition -
a tradition of slavery is hardly desirable
- Background to Moses' Call (Exod. 1:1-2:25)
- Problems arise for Israel when a Pharaoh who is not familiar with the
Joseph account assumes power (Exod. 1:8) - the issue of "knowing" becomes quite
important throughout the account of the exodus (especially knowing God - Exod. 5:2; 9:14;
14:4,18,31)
- Due to the excessive growth of the Hebrew population, the Pharaoh
directs that all Hebrew boys be killed when they are born (Exod. 1:16)
- In Egypt the promise to Abraham that he would become a great nation
comes true
- The two Hebrew midwives disobey Pharaoh and let the boys live - God
blesses the midwives with children of their own (Exod. 1:17-20)
- Birth and development of Moses (Exod. 2:1-25)
- After Moses is born, his mother contrives a plan to save his life -
Moses ends up being adopted by Pharaoh's daughter (Exod. 2:3-10)
- His early years are the best of both worlds
- Luxury and education of the royal court
- His mother serves as his nurse and is able to teach him the
traditions of his people and God
- When Moses later sees an Egyptian foreman beating a Hebrew, Moses
kills the Egyptian - unfortunately there are witnesses and Moses must flee for his life
(Exod. 2:11-15)
- Moses in Midian (Exod. 2:16-23)
- Moses flees to Midian
- Becomes a shepherd for Jethro (sometimes called Reuel); marries
Zipporah, his daughter; and has two sons
- Jethro is a priest in Midian and Moses may learn more about his faith
from Jethro
- As time passes, God remembers His people (as He had earlier
remembered Noah - Gen. 8:1) and begins to prepare to deliver them (Exod. 2:24-25)
- Moses' Call Experience (Exod. 3:1-4:31)
- Burning bush serves only to draw Moses' attention (Exod. 3:1-4) - the
miracle is not that the bush burns without being consumed but that Moses hears, talks to
God, and obeys Him
- Who is God? (Exod. 3:13-15)
- God identifies Himself to Moses as the same God whom the patriarchs
worshiped (Exod. 3:6,15,16; 4:5) - God is not a new god but the God who has already acted
on behalf of Israel
- "I AM WHO I AM" (Exod. 3:14)
- According to Hebrew thought, knowledge of the name gave some degree
of control over the person - by giving His name, God indicates His willingness to be
called upon
- Yet, the name is a mysterious one that can be translated in a variety
of ways (e.g., "I am who I will be," "I am who I was," "I will be
whom I choose to be," "I will cause to be what I will") - the name does not
confine or explain God - He is still mysterious and beyond our comprehension - in the long
run, we cannot control Him
- YHWH
- God's name is passed down only as the consonants YHWH
- In the Hebrew Bible, whenever the consonants of God's name appeared,
the vowels of the word Adonai ("Lord") were placed with the consonants
to remind people to say Adonai rather than God's name and thus not use His name
in vain
- Later, some assumed the consonants YHWH with the vowels for Adonai
formed the name of God and thus the name Jehovah came into being
- Moses' task - all Moses had to do was go back to Egypt where he was
wanted for murder and lead out a large group of slaves against the will of the king of
Egypt (Exod. 3:10) - the task was impossible for Moses, but possible for God
- Signs given to Moses (Exod. 4:1-9)
- Three signs
- His rod becomes a snake and then a rod again
- His hand becomes leprous and the clean again
- Water taken from the Nile River would become blood when poured out on
the ground
- Problems
- The Egyptian magicians could do the first (Exod. 7:11-12) and third
(Exod. 7:22) - growing up in Egypt Moses might have seen the magicians do these things
- Moses never showed the second sign to the Egyptians - they may not
have been as concerned about leprosy as the Israelites
- The third sign could only be done in Egypt - in the desert Moses
could not determine if that sign would work or not
- While the signs are impressive to us because they are out of the
ordinary, they may not have impressed Moses - certainly they do not provide evidence of
the power Moses would need to fight Pharaoh
- Reluctance of Moses (4:10-21)
- Moses complains he cannot speak well - God answers that He:
- Made Moses that way
- Will send Aaron, Moses' brother to speak for him
- Moses would tell Aaron exactly what to say - for Aaron, listening to
Moses would be like listening to God - great and perhaps unwanted responsibility for Moses
- Moses asks Jethro to allow him to visit Egypt to check on his family
- he cannot even tell Jethro, a religious individual, the truth about his task
- God assures Moses that those in Egypt who sought to kill him are dead
- that fact probably makes Moses less apprehensive
- God also reveals to Moses that He will harden Pharaoh's heart and
finally kill the firstborn of Egypt - Moses knows his task will be exceedingly difficult
- Experience on the way to Egypt (Exod. 4:24-26)
- As Moses journeys to Egypt, God seeks to kill him
- Why would God do this?
- Either Moses is not circumcised
(doubtful since Pharaoh's daughter knew he was a Hebrew, probably since he had been
circumcised on the 8th day after his birth) or his son or sons are not
circumcised and thus he has not fulfilled God's covenant with Abraham (Gen. 17) - the
impression is that God cannot use anyone who has not embraced the covenant and its rituals
- God does not want to use a murderer, especially when God plans to
give His commandments through this person and one of those commandments is not to kill
(Exod. 20:13)
- God does not seek to kill Moses - Moses gets sick and assumes God is
destroying him
- Problems
- First two explanations imply God does not know something about Moses
or has forgotten - not the typical way God is portrayed
- Last explanation does not take the text seriously - assumes the text
is not saying what it really says
- Does God do evil things?
- In Exod. 4:11 God accepts responsibility for the creation of those
who are mute, deaf, or blind - less than perfect creations (as we all are) are ultimately
traced back to God
- In a monotheistic system, there is no other source to blame - Israel
believed everything came from God - that was one reason people feared God
- Another interpretation
- May have been intended to force Moses to realize the power of God
- Moses was reluctant to face Pharaoh knowing his power and not knowing
God's power - Pharaoh's power was supreme in Egypt - could God take him on in his land?
- Moses knew Pharaoh held the power of life and death - his soldiers
carried out his orders - Moses discovered God also held the power of life and death and
did not need soldiers - God could take Pharaoh on and win
- Moses arrives and Israel believes (Exod. 4:27-31)
- Moses shows the signs to the Israelites in Egypt and they believe
- Israel's belief probably encourages Moses but their belief is
short-lived (Exod. 5:21)
Artwork from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art (c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97
