Exodus 3:19-22

Exodus 3:19-22 

English Standard Version 

  Egypt was renowned for its fabulous wealth.  Luxuries and jewelry would've been known throughout the world.  Egypt was power and affluence, and the thought of the Jewish people stripping away some of that on their way out would have delighted the listeners of this story.  Much of that wealth, the story tells us, is built on the backs of Hebrew slaves, who moved to Egypt and helped bring the people through famine, only to be enslaved later on.  

  God tells Moses here that the king will not let them go unless compelled.  So perhaps they see opportunity, but there is real fear as well.  Will this work as God says?  How will they know?  What might happen if they are wrong?

  There always seem to be more questions than answers.  God is in the midst of the uncertainty, in the midst of the fear, and God will do wonders in the midst of it all.  

Exodus 3:15-18

Exodus 3:15-18 

English Standard Version

  God is giving Moses assurance here -- the people will hear, and they will listen, and they will seek an opportunity to worship.  God is using Moses to remind the people of their history with God -- this isn't something new that God is doing with a new people, but God is building on a history of intervention, and just as God sustained the culture before, God will sustain them now.  

  This is what's helpful about reading church history.  We read about things the church endured in previous generations, and we see how God brought the people through challenges, pushing them beyond obstacles into new stages of growth.  It's the same church, generation after generation, and the same God, faithfully guiding the people into the future.  It can be an uncertain future in our minds, but we can know with certainty that God will be with us and that God holds that future in God's hands.

Exodus 3:13-14

Exodus 3:13-14 

English Standard Version 

  If you were going on a mission from anyone, you'd want some signal of authority.  You'd want something that offered proof that an organization is vouching for you as an official emissary.  That's exactly what Moses requests -- evidence of God's authority for his mission.  

  Moses, as usual, gets more than he bargains for.  

  God gives him not just a name, but a divine mystery.  I read this once translated as I will be whosoever I will be.  God doesn't fit neatly into our ideas of identity -- a name cannot contain God.  God is bigger than our concepts.  God is bigger than our minds -- we cannot wrap our minds around God.  We try, all the time, but God escapes our grasp, time and time again.

  And this is a good thing.  We do not want a God that fits neatly into what we can expect.  We do not want a God that fits into our minds, because that means that God isn't bigger than we can imagine.  A God who exists outside of time and space is a God we'll never be able to fully conceptualize, but this is a God worth chasing, a God worth pursuing, and a God worth worshiping.

Exodus 3:10-12

Exodus 3:10-12 

English Standard Version 

  Moses isn't alone in his hesitation.  Isaiah and Jeremiah had similar responses to God's calling.  That Moses has some fear about going is natural -- his first attempt at intervention between the Hebrews and the Israelites didn't go very well -- he ended up in Midian due to fear at being found out.  Moses is an outsider now -- he's not seeing his upbringing as fantastic preparation for the mission God has set before him.

  God gives Moses an assurance that Moses doesn't go alone.  It's a little funny to me to picture Moses having this conversation with a burning bush, but Moses realizes there is something extraordinary going on here.  God is calling him now and promising a future to Moses.  

  In the same way, God calls us, having prepared us in particular ways, sending us into uncertain situations, and always promising God's presence with us.  We never go alone -- we go with God, and surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses that is the church in every time and place.