Tag: Moses

At the beginning of Exodus, the situation appeared fairly bleak for the Israelites.  Enslaved and held captive by the power-hungry Pharaoh, the Israelites were facing their death and oppression.  And God heard their prayers. He sent Moses and gave him specific instructions on how to handle the release of His people.  In faith, Moses and the Israelites followed God and were saved.  During their plight in the desert, as the people feared for their safety, the Lord provided for them in miraculous ways.  Again, in faith, Moses and the people of God followed instructions for their own salvation.

God had met His people on Mount Sinai.  He did not join them through metaphor or representation, but the presence of God descended from heaven on Mount Sinai.  This divine invasion had spurned and annoyed the broken world that ceased being righteous long ago.  As God’s presence came near, the very earth groaned in the expectation of perfection that would soon be coming.  The mountain smoked. There was thunder and lightning.  The righteous God had come to an unrighteous world for the salvation and blessing of His people.

As the Israelites looked upon the Egyptian army bearing down on them with their backs to the Red Sea, their enslavement or death looked imminent.  The situation for the Israelites appeared to be fatal.  It had only been one day since they were led by the hand out God out of Egypt.  Yet, having been rescued through the sovereign grace of God, the people immediately began to doubt that God had even sent Moses.

Three months have now gone by since the people of Israel were saved from the mad king tyrant of Pharaoh.  During that time, the people had followed the guidance of God with a pillar of smoke and fire guiding them day and night.  The presence of God was with them and guiding them to safety.  Even more so than that, God had made provisions for them for both food and water, to provide for them supernaturally.  Clearly, God intended for the Israelites to not only survive but to live a thriving life.

The saga with the Egyptians, for all intents and purposes, was over for the Israelites.  The army that had chased them had perished into the mighty waves of the Red Sea that God had parted for the Israelites to cross safely and rescinded when the Egyptians pursued the people under God’s care.  They were well on their way to the Promised Land that God had set apart for His people.  The journey, though, would not necessarily be easy.  Along the way, the people would need to lean into the faith that had got them to this moment to see them through to the next.

As the Israelites looked upon the Egyptian army bearing down on them with their backs to the Red Sea, their enslavement or death looked imminent.  The situation for the Israelites appeared to be fatal.  It had only been one day since they were led by the hand out God out of Egypt.  Yet, having been rescued through the sovereign grace of God, the people immediately began to doubt that God had even sent Moses.

As we pick up the story in chapter 11, the people of Egypt have endured nine different plagues sent by God. For some of these plagues, Pharaoh’s sorcerers were able to somewhat approximate their effects.  Yet, much like the staff turning into a snake, their works never produced the same strength and power as the plagues brought down by the one, true God.  Yet, for all of these plagues, the Israelites had been spared.  The plagues had wreaked havoc over Egypt, punishing their source of water, their food, and their livelihood.  The Israelites, however, prospered and were protected during this time.  Pharaoh noticed.

Having heard from God directly, having encountered Him miraculously, Moses reverted to the same excuses that he had given before.  His fear of speaking before Pharaoh and even the Israelites was rooted in deep seeded insecurity based on his speech deficiencies.  Scholars have argued that it was either some form of speech impediment or, rather, just an inability or nervousness in speaking in front of people.  Whatever the reason, Moses feared that the people would not listen to him and, in fact, that they were already not listening to him.   But God and Moses were passed this and had dealt with it during their encounter previously.  Events were beginning to unfold quickly and now was the time for decisive action, not insecurity and doubt.

In Exodus 5 we have the first show down between Moses and Pharaoh. In coming to Pharaoh, Moses came with the authority of the one true God to challenge a man who viewed himself as a god. There is almost this sense that you would hope Pharaoh would relent to the charges and commands of God and that the Israelites would be free to worship their God.  Surely a man in a position such as the one Pharaoh was in would be able to understand the issue of true authority and know when to submit.