Exodus @ Roots
Exodus 3: 1 - 5: 21
How is God portrayed differently here to (chapters) 1 & 2?
Immediacy. Intimacy. Relationship.
Continuity - personal dynamic.
Ex. 3 - not a distant, remote being
3:15 + compassion, rescue
Ex. 3:4-5: The refrain
I am the God of your father...
v.7 Concern - “I have come down to rescue them”
So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh.
◘ v.11 Moses: Who am I that I should go...?
Qu: under whose authority?
- v.12 God: I will be with you
◘ v.13 Moses: Then what shall I tell them? / credibility
God: I AM WHO I AM. (YHWH)
Jn 8:58 - Jesus’ claim about himself
“I AM has sent me to you.”
v.10 - 11 contrast w/ Isaiah 6
Pro-active, thought-out, established
v.16 Go, assemble the elders [...] The elders will listen to you
v.19, 20 ... I know ... I will stretch out my hand
__________________________
◘ Moses: What if they [the elders] do not believe me..?
... staff → snake
The first sign reveals God’s character:
- God is in control - right down to the details;
- God’s promise & power, the second list
- God can & will use the weak & the vulnerable
4 v 6 The second sign
- ‘put your hand inside your cloak’
v.9 The third sign (as a back-up)
‘the water you take from the river will become blood on the ground’
v.10 - Moses not a public speaker
v.13 - Moses now plaintive: ‘please send someone else’
__________________
EXODUS 4 v 29 → 5
From meeting the elders to Pharaoh's court.
“Afterwards Moses & Aaron went to Pharaoh...
◘ ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
‘Let my people go...”
◘ The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.
(echoes Exodus 3:18)
- Does Moses go under his own strength?
≠ the elders, as commanded ... changing the words given?
v 1. falls short - “Israel” & not the Hebrews
“Let my people go” sounds like a complete liberation request
The aborted rescue: “Get back to your work!”
Israelites' workload increased (v. 5-14)
_____________
EXODUS 5:22 - 7:7
Reminder & encouragement that God is bigger than Pharoah
◘ Dialogue & genealogy
5:22 “Moses returned to the LORD...”
.... returns to continue conversation & questioning
◘ 6: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do...’ (echoes 3:19)
6:2 God also said to Moses, ‘I am the LORD.’
6:6 Therefore say to the Israelites: “I am the LORD,
& I will bring you out ... I will free you ... I will redeem you ...
I will take you as my own people, & I will be your God.”
(echoes Rev 21)
The Israelites told of this by Moses but rejected due to failed rescue:
gives a context, directed to the reader, to show how the clans were connected:
Moses & Aaron - tracing back through the Levites:
6:26: “It was to [this] Aaron & Moses to whom the LORD said, ‘Bring the Israelites out...’
◘ Showing their lineage & fidelity, providing credentials
◘ Or/ God using the most ordinary to do the extra-ordinary??
Moses, “faltering lips” ...
7:1 “I have made you like God to Pharaoh, .. Aaron will be your prophet.
You are to say everything I command.”
7:5 “the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD..”
7:6 Moses & Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them.
◘ Mapping the journey through:
3: 18 command → 5: 1-2 disobedience? → 7:6 obedience
What prompts change?
- The ongoing conversation - much less backchat from Moses this time.
~ is he now starting to listen more?
v.9: now the Israelites don’t want to listen
7:4: God’s foreknowledge - Pharaoh “will not listen to you”
5:22 ‘Moses returned to the LORD’
◘ Foreshadows the Moses of Mount Sinai; who presents the case of the people to God;
the beginnings of a compassionate heart & a responsive, listening ear
* Do Moses & Aaron know God better after these conversations?
- A sense of savoir vs. connaitre
________________________________
EXODUS 8
8.15 “just as the LORD had said.”
8:23 ... 9:26
“I will make a distinction between my people & your people.”
Why must they go? The reason why:
8.27 “We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices.. as he commands us.”
8.28 Pharoah’s consent & request: “Now pray for me.”
.... v.32 “But this time also Pharoah hardened his heart, and would not let the people go.”
◘ Power struggle: Pharoah still trying to assert authority - bargaining power / placing parameters.
________________________________
EXODUS 9
9:13 “There is no one like me in all the earth.”
(echoes Exodus 5)
v.15 “I could have”, delayed action
◘ Second chance: the chance to change
◘ v.16 God’s intention - relayed to Moses; delivered to Pharoah:
“I have raised you up for this very purpose / that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Pharoah’s refusal
- has consequences:
“I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt” (v.18);
- results in action & inaction:
“Those officials.. who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves & livestock inside.”
v. 13 - 33
The dialogue: Pharoah/Moses;
The struggle: Pharoah vs. God
Moses following instruction (stretches out the staff), prompting event → impact
v.27 Pharoah’s response:
◘ Acknowledgment of sin; request for prayer to spare them; consent for Israelites to depart.
v.29 Moses: “I know you & your officials still do not fear the LORD God.”
v.33 Pharoah’s U-turn ... “just as the LORD had said through Moses.”
_______________________________________________
EXODUS 10
◘ Why Pharoah’s heart is hardened:
v.1 God:
“so that I may perform these signs ... that you may know I am the LORD.”
v.3 Moses & Aaron dispatched with new message:
“How long will you refuse to humble yourself...?”
◘ Why ten plagues?
◘ To give Pharoah chance to change?
Act of mercy & patience towards surrender
◘ To illustrate Pharoah’s stubbornness
~ he does fear God to some extent but fears loss of power more
◘ To demonstrate to the Israelites God’s salvation & judgment
A hardened heart. cf. Ezekiel / Rom 9
- Stubborn (‘stiff-necked’)
- Not wanting to listen to God’s word
or change through God's mercy
__________________________
EXODUS 15: 22 - 17:16
◘ Manna, thirst & grumbling
16 v.28 God to Moses:
"How long will you refuse to keep my commands & my instructions?"
17 v.2 Moses to the Israelites:
"Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?"
◘ Water from the rock
__________________________
. . . EXODUS 19
Mount Sinai: the people return, as promised
v.3 God speaks to Moses:
reminded of Egypt; of God's promise (the Covenant)
v.3 Moses to the elders; obedient responses
v.9 - 13 Moses: takes the people's promise back to God
* how God will manifest himself;
that God’s word is trustworthy
* people told to make ready, to consecrate
* told of restrictions & limitations - 1st warning
v.20 Moses → top of Mt. Sinai
- 2nd warning / reiterated (v. 21) will perish
Moses repeats previous command but told to bring Aaron
The manifestation (v. 16 - 19)
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
- The crucifixion / God's wrath (Ps 75:8) satisfied
- Pentecost - God made manifest
◘ From fear & gloom to confidence & joy,
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. ~ Heb 14:16
Hebrews 12:
You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.
The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken-that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'
How is God portrayed differently here to (chapters) 1 & 2?
Immediacy. Intimacy. Relationship.
Continuity - personal dynamic.
Ex. 3 - not a distant, remote being
3:15 + compassion, rescue
Ex. 3:4-5: The refrain
I am the God of your father...
v.7 Concern - “I have come down to rescue them”
So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh.
◘ v.11 Moses: Who am I that I should go...?
Qu: under whose authority?
- v.12 God: I will be with you
◘ v.13 Moses: Then what shall I tell them? / credibility
God: I AM WHO I AM. (YHWH)
Jn 8:58 - Jesus’ claim about himself
“I AM has sent me to you.”
v.10 - 11 contrast w/ Isaiah 6
Pro-active, thought-out, established
v.16 Go, assemble the elders [...] The elders will listen to you
v.19, 20 ... I know ... I will stretch out my hand
__________________________
◘ Moses: What if they [the elders] do not believe me..?
... staff → snake
The first sign reveals God’s character:
- God is in control - right down to the details;
- God’s promise & power, the second list
- God can & will use the weak & the vulnerable
4 v 6 The second sign
- ‘put your hand inside your cloak’
v.9 The third sign (as a back-up)
‘the water you take from the river will become blood on the ground’
v.10 - Moses not a public speaker
v.13 - Moses now plaintive: ‘please send someone else’
__________________
EXODUS 4 v 29 → 5
From meeting the elders to Pharaoh's court.
“Afterwards Moses & Aaron went to Pharaoh...
◘ ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
‘Let my people go...”
◘ The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.
(echoes Exodus 3:18)
- Does Moses go under his own strength?
≠ the elders, as commanded ... changing the words given?
v 1. falls short - “Israel” & not the Hebrews
“Let my people go” sounds like a complete liberation request
The aborted rescue: “Get back to your work!”
Israelites' workload increased (v. 5-14)
_____________
EXODUS 5:22 - 7:7
Reminder & encouragement that God is bigger than Pharoah
◘ Dialogue & genealogy
5:22 “Moses returned to the LORD...”
.... returns to continue conversation & questioning
◘ 6: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do...’ (echoes 3:19)
6:2 God also said to Moses, ‘I am the LORD.’
6:6 Therefore say to the Israelites: “I am the LORD,
& I will bring you out ... I will free you ... I will redeem you ...
I will take you as my own people, & I will be your God.”
(echoes Rev 21)
The Israelites told of this by Moses but rejected due to failed rescue:
- 10 Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go, tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go..’
- 13 Now the LORD spoke to Moses & Aaron .. & commanded them.
gives a context, directed to the reader, to show how the clans were connected:
Moses & Aaron - tracing back through the Levites:
6:26: “It was to [this] Aaron & Moses to whom the LORD said, ‘Bring the Israelites out...’
◘ Showing their lineage & fidelity, providing credentials
◘ Or/ God using the most ordinary to do the extra-ordinary??
Moses, “faltering lips” ...
7:1 “I have made you like God to Pharaoh, .. Aaron will be your prophet.
You are to say everything I command.”
7:5 “the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD..”
7:6 Moses & Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them.
◘ Mapping the journey through:
3: 18 command → 5: 1-2 disobedience? → 7:6 obedience
What prompts change?
- The ongoing conversation - much less backchat from Moses this time.
~ is he now starting to listen more?
v.9: now the Israelites don’t want to listen
7:4: God’s foreknowledge - Pharaoh “will not listen to you”
5:22 ‘Moses returned to the LORD’
◘ Foreshadows the Moses of Mount Sinai; who presents the case of the people to God;
the beginnings of a compassionate heart & a responsive, listening ear
* Do Moses & Aaron know God better after these conversations?
- A sense of savoir vs. connaitre
________________________________
EXODUS 8
8.15 “just as the LORD had said.”
8:23 ... 9:26
“I will make a distinction between my people & your people.”
Why must they go? The reason why:
8.27 “We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices.. as he commands us.”
8.28 Pharoah’s consent & request: “Now pray for me.”
.... v.32 “But this time also Pharoah hardened his heart, and would not let the people go.”
◘ Power struggle: Pharoah still trying to assert authority - bargaining power / placing parameters.
________________________________
EXODUS 9
9:13 “There is no one like me in all the earth.”
(echoes Exodus 5)
v.15 “I could have”, delayed action
◘ Second chance: the chance to change
◘ v.16 God’s intention - relayed to Moses; delivered to Pharoah:
“I have raised you up for this very purpose / that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Pharoah’s refusal
- has consequences:
“I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt” (v.18);
- results in action & inaction:
“Those officials.. who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves & livestock inside.”
v. 13 - 33
The dialogue: Pharoah/Moses;
The struggle: Pharoah vs. God
Moses following instruction (stretches out the staff), prompting event → impact
v.27 Pharoah’s response:
◘ Acknowledgment of sin; request for prayer to spare them; consent for Israelites to depart.
v.29 Moses: “I know you & your officials still do not fear the LORD God.”
v.33 Pharoah’s U-turn ... “just as the LORD had said through Moses.”
_______________________________________________
EXODUS 10
◘ Why Pharoah’s heart is hardened:
v.1 God:
“so that I may perform these signs ... that you may know I am the LORD.”
v.3 Moses & Aaron dispatched with new message:
“How long will you refuse to humble yourself...?”
◘ Why ten plagues?
◘ To give Pharoah chance to change?
Act of mercy & patience towards surrender
◘ To illustrate Pharoah’s stubbornness
~ he does fear God to some extent but fears loss of power more
◘ To demonstrate to the Israelites God’s salvation & judgment
A hardened heart. cf. Ezekiel / Rom 9
- Stubborn (‘stiff-necked’)
- Not wanting to listen to God’s word
or change through God's mercy
__________________________
EXODUS 15: 22 - 17:16
◘ Manna, thirst & grumbling
16 v.28 God to Moses:
"How long will you refuse to keep my commands & my instructions?"
17 v.2 Moses to the Israelites:
"Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?"
◘ Water from the rock
__________________________
. . . EXODUS 19
Mount Sinai: the people return, as promised
v.3 God speaks to Moses:
reminded of Egypt; of God's promise (the Covenant)
v.3 Moses to the elders; obedient responses
v.9 - 13 Moses: takes the people's promise back to God
* how God will manifest himself;
that God’s word is trustworthy
* people told to make ready, to consecrate
* told of restrictions & limitations - 1st warning
v.20 Moses → top of Mt. Sinai
- 2nd warning / reiterated (v. 21) will perish
Moses repeats previous command but told to bring Aaron
The manifestation (v. 16 - 19)
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
- The crucifixion / God's wrath (Ps 75:8) satisfied
- Pentecost - God made manifest
◘ From fear & gloom to confidence & joy,
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. ~ Heb 14:16
Hebrews 12:
You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.
The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken-that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'