Exodus 1–4: Moses & the LORD

Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 14: Sunday

“Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ”
Exodus 1:8

Monday’s Bible reading of Exodus 1–4, introduces Moses, one of the dominant and most dramatic figures of the Old Testament.

Exodus 12:40–41 tells us that when the nation of Israel left Egypt, they had been there 430 years; Moses is born when the descendants of Jacob had been in Egypt for almost 400 years and at a time when the Hebrews had been enslaved and used for forced labor. The continued growth of their families caused Pharaoh to decree the killing of all the baby boys, ironically setting the stage for Moses to be found by a daughter of Pharaoh and grow up as her son.

Moses’ strong personality and character flaws are evident in these first chapters, and committing assault and murder, he has to flee for his life to Midian. Here he becomes a shepherd, marries and might have lived his entire life in obscurity except one day God arrests his attention with a burning bush, and tells him He is sending him to Pharaoh to bring God’s people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.

Moses balks, not only about Pharaoh, but about Israel, and God answers his concern with His name:

Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons 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 this is My memorial-name to all generations.”
Exodus 3:13–15

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Isaiah 42 Photograph: ChristianPhotos.net – Free High Resolution Photos for Christian Publications
Moses and the Burning Bush, Richard Simon: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic