“ABRAHAM, a descendant of Shem, one of the sons of Noah, was the father and founder of the great Israelitish, or Hebrew, nation. God chose him from all the people living on the earth at that time, for this purpose, promising that He would make his name great and that his descendants should have for their own the land of Canaan, a country in Palestine lying west of the river Jordan and the Dead Sea.

“Abraham had a son named Isaac, who became the father of Jacob, and Jacob was the father of twelve sons, among whom was Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers when but a boy. Joseph was taken to Egypt and in time rose from a slave to be the governor of that country under Pharaoh, its king.

“Jacob, with his eleven sons and their families, settled in Egypt at the invitation of Pharaoh, and after the death of their father his sons continued to live there, and became prosperous. After the death of Joseph they increased rapidly in numbers, and from shepherds and herders of flocks became masters of various crafts and occupations. At this time they began to be called “The Children of Israel.”

“They lived in towns and villages in the land of Goshen, on the eastern border of Egypt, industrious and contented. The king who had been so friendly to Joseph was now dead, and another Pharaoh ruled the land. He watched with much distrust the growing wealth and greatness of the children of Israel and determined to prevent any possible harm they might do him by making them work for him instead of for themselves.

“So Pharaoh began to treat the Israelites like slaves. Under the direction of his officers he set them at work making bricks and then had them build two cities to hold his treasures. From a prosperous people they were now reduced to the condition of common laborers, working without pay day after day in the burning heat of that country.
“WORKING WITHOUT PAY DAY AFTER DAY.”

“But in spite of their hardships the Israelites increased in numbers, and, to further crush them, Pharaoh ordered that all their boys should be destroyed as soon as they were born. But the people would not obey this order, and then Pharaoh commanded that all boys should be flung into the Nile, the sacred river of Egypt, immediately after their birth.

“At this time a child was born among the Israelites whose life was to be one of the most remarkable that history has recorded for us. His father’s name was Amram and his mother’s Jochebed, and they belonged to the tribe of Levi, the third son of Jacob. They had two older children, a son named Aaron and a daughter named Miriam.

“The mother of this little boy managed to keep him out of sight for three months, and then she made a little boat of the water-reeds called papyrus, fastening them together with clay and pitch. It was not much more than a basket, but she put the baby into it and placed it among the rushes at the edge of the river Nile, leaving her daughter Miriam to see what became of her baby brother.

“The Egyptians had many beliefs which appear very strange to us now. One of them was that anything surrounded by papyrus would be safe from the crocodiles which infested the river. Possibly Jochebed had some faith in this superstition, for during the time when the Israelites were living contentedly in the land of Goshen, many of them had fallen into the customs of the Egyptians, worshipping Ra, the sun-god, Apis, the sacred calf, and others of their national deities.

“While Miriam was watching the little boat and its precious burden, the daughter of Pharaoh, with her attendants, came to the river to bathe. She saw the little boat floating among the rushes and ordered it to be brought to her. As she looked down at the baby it cried, and, while she must have known that it was the child of Israelitish parents, her heart went out to it in pity, and she declared that she would bring it up as if it had been her own child.

“Miriam then came forward and asked if she might find a nurse for the child. The princess sent her on this errand and the little girl hastened to bring her mother. Then the princess gave the baby into the charge of its own mother, and promised her that she should be paid for taking good care of the child.

“When the baby had grown to be quite a boy the princess took him to her palace and treated him as if he had been a son of her own. She named him Moses, which means “drawn out,” because she had taken him from the water.

“Then the princess had him trained and taught as though he were really to be a prince. He was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became learned and powerful. All the pleasures and honors of Pharaoh’s court were open to him, and from them he could have selected what pleased him most.

“But the misery and degradation of his own people appealed to him more strongly than the splendor and preferments of the Egyptian court. His spirit was especially stirred one day when he saw an Egyptian overseer abusing an Israelite in the fields where that oppressed people were still making bricks.

“In his anger at this sight he killed the Egyptian and buried the body in the sand. The next day he interfered in another quarrel—this time between two of his own people, but all he received for his efforts as peacemaker was the knowledge that they knew he had killed the Egyptian the day before.

“For this reason, and also because Pharaoh suspected him of scheming to deliver the Israelites from their bondage, Moses felt that his life was not safe in Egypt, so he left the court and went to the land of Midian. He was then forty years old.

“One day when he was resting by the side of a well, the seven daughters of Jethro, the chief and priest of Midian, came there to water their father’s sheep. Some shepherds, who also wanted to use the well, drove them away, but Moses took the part of the maidens and watered their flocks for them.

“When Jethro heard of this he invited Moses to be his shepherd and to live in his house. Moses accepted the home offered him, and in time married Zipporah, one of Jethro’s daughters. They had two sons, one named Gershom, a word which means “stranger,” and Eliezer, or “God is my help.”

“For the next forty years Moses led the life of a shepherd in the land of Midian, in gradual preparation for the great work he was to do later. He certainly learned patience and must have become familiar with the country through which he was to lead the children of Israel when the time of their deliverance from Egypt came. During this time the afflictions of the Israelites had been increased. Another Pharaoh ruled the land, but his reign brought no relief to the nation toiling under cruel taskmasters.

“One day Moses was feeding his flocks on a mountain called Horeb, when he saw a bush of wild thorn, or acacia, apparently on fire. He looked more closely but could see no smoke, neither were the leaves and twigs blackened or consumed.

“Then a Voice which seemed to come from the bush called, “Moses, Moses.” Understanding that it was the Voice of God, Moses answered, “Here am I.” Then God told him to come no nearer, and to take off his shoes and stand with bare feet, for His presence made the spot holy ground.

“Moses tremblingly obeyed and stood with covered face while God told him that He had heard the cries and seen the affliction of the children of Israel, and that He would set them free from their bondage in Egypt. He told Moses that He had chosen him to be the deliverer of His people and their leader to the land of Canaan, which He had promised to Abraham.

“Moses felt unequal to this great undertaking and tried to excuse himself on various grounds. He said that the Israelites would not listen to him unless he could, by means of signs and wonders, convince them that he was the divinely appointed leader, and he also said that he was not a ready speaker.

“But God told him just what he had to do and that his brother Aaron should be his spokesman. He bestowed upon him the power to do wonderful things and promised His own protection and help. Moses could refuse no longer, and accepted the divine commission. Then the Voice ceased, the vision of the burning bush faded away, and Moses was alone again with his flocks.

“When Moses returned to his home he told Jethro that he wished to go to Egypt, and in the speech of those days Jethro replied, “Go in peace.” So Moses set out on his journey and on the way met his brother Aaron, whom God had sent to meet him.

“Then Moses related to Aaron all that God had said to him from the burning bush, told him the part he was to take in God’s plan, and showed him the rod which he was to use in performing the wonderful things by which the Israelites were to be convinced that he was their divinely appointed deliverer from the land of Egypt. Then the two brothers went on their way together.

“As soon as Moses and Aaron arrived in Egypt, they called the people together and told them that God was going to deliver them from their bondage and give them the land of Canaan. At first the Israelites were very thankful for the message, but after the first failure of Moses to get Pharaoh’s consent to let them go they began to doubt it, especially as from that time the King imposed harder tasks than ever upon them.
“AARON THREW DOWN HIS ROD AND IT BECAME A SERPENT.”

“Then Moses and Aaron went a second time to Pharaoh. Aaron threw down his rod and it became a serpent. The magicians of the court did the same thing, and threw down their rods, which became serpents, but Aaron’s rod swallowed theirs. Then the King once more refused to let the people go.

“Then, one after another, God sent terrible plagues upon the Egyptian people to show Pharaoh that He was the one Living and True God and that the children of Israel must be allowed to go to the land He had promised them.

The first of these plagues was the changing of the waters of the Nile into blood. The Egyptians were a very cleanly people, paying great attention to their bodies, and were generally dressed in white. They were accustomed to bathe in the Nile, and its appearance at this time must have filled them with loathing. But Pharaoh again refused to let the people go.

Then one after another eight more plagues were sent upon the land. They were equally disgusting to such a people and gave them the greatest discomfort possible, but, while Pharaoh relented from time to time, he persisted in his refusal to let the children of Israel depart from his kingdom.

“During all this time the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was exempt from these inflictions. Pharaoh must have known this and he must have begun to understand that their God punished those who refused to do as He told them, but he was obstinate and still refused his consent. It required another and a more severe judgment before Pharaoh consented to let the children of Israel go.

“It was now the month of Nisan or Abib, which means the “month of green ears,” and in consequence of what occurred at that time Abib has ever since been the first month of the Hebrew sacred year. By God’s command the blood of a lamb was to be sprinkled upon the sides and top of the doorway to every Israelitish home. The lamb itself was to be roasted and eaten by the family, who were to be dressed for a journey and ready to start on it at a moment’s notice.

“At midnight the tenth and last judgment fell on the Egyptians. A wail of anguish rose from every home in the land, for the first-born child in every home lay dead. The angel of death had entered the palace of the King and the hovel of his poorest subject alike, sparing only the homes where the blood- sprinkled doorways told of God’s protection.

Convinced at last that he could not successfully combat the God of the Israelites, Pharaoh now begged Moses to hasten their departure, and the Egyptian people were so anxious to have them out of the land that they gave them jewels and clothing to induce them to go quickly.

“So the whole Israelitish nation—some six hundred thousand men without counting the women and children—set forth, on foot and in the night, under the leadership of Moses, for the land of Canaan. With them they took the coffin containing the embalmed body of Joseph, which had been carefully kept in Egypt since his death. And God showed them the way they were to go by having a cloud move before them in the daytime, and gave it the appearance of fire at night.
“THE APPEARANCE OF FIRE AT NIGHT.”

“The shortest way to the Promised Land, which lay along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, led through the country of the Philistines, a warlike people who afterwards became the inveterate enemies of the Israelites, but with whom they were not now able to contend. So they traveled in a southeasterly direction until they came to that part of the Red Sea which is now called the Gulf of Suez.

“Pharaoh in the meanwhile had recovered from his terror and remorse, and with a mighty army was pursuing the Israelites, intending to take them back to Egypt. He first came in sight of them encamped upon the African border of the Gulf. When the Israelites knew that they were pursued they turned angrily upon Moses and Aaron for taking them away from Egypt. But Moses told them to trust God for He would not let Pharaoh overtake them.
“PHARAOH AND HIS HOST WERE OVERWHELMED.”

“Then Moses lifted his rod and stretched it out over the waters, and God sent a strong east wind which forced them back and left a passage for the wandering people to cross to the other shore. So on they marched in the fury of the storm, while Pharaoh and his host were overwhelmed by the waters, which rushed back again after the children of Israel had reached the further side.

“Then the Israelites broke out into songs of praise and thanksgiving to God, who had so marvelously preserved them from Pharaoh’s anger, led by Miriam, the sister of Moses, the one who had watched him as a baby in his little papyrus boat among the rushes on the bank of the Nile.

“During the next three days of their journey no water was found. Then they came to a well, but the water was not fit to drink. Again they found fault with Moses, but he threw a tree which God showed him into the well and the water at once became sweet and good.

“Before long they were traveling in a desert country and their stock of food gave out. As before, the Israelites accused Moses of having led them from Egypt to die in the wilderness. But God sent them great flocks of quails, upon which they fed, and covered the ground every morning with a curious substance, round and white, which was good to eat. In wonder the Israelites exclaimed “Man-hu?” which meant “What is it?” and so this mysterious food began to be called manna.
“COVERED THE GROUND WITH A CURIOUS SUBSTANCE.”

“Then they got out of the desert and camped at a place called Rephidim. But here there was no water, and the people became so angry with Moses that they were ready to kill him. Then God told Moses to strike one of the rocks with his rod and water poured out in abundance.

“WATER POURED OUT IN ABUNDANCE.”

“Then a new trouble came upon the wandering nation. A people called the Amalekites attacked them, and for the first time since leaving Egypt they were obliged to defend themselves by fighting.

“Moses chose a young man named Joshua to be the leader of a selected band and sent him to do battle for the children of Israel, while he held up his hands in prayer to God to help His people. So long as Moses’ hands were uplifted Joshua was victorious, but when from weariness he let them fall then the Amalekites prevailed. So Aaron on one side and Hur on the other supported his weary arms and at sunset Joshua had won the battle.

“Shortly after this Moses was visited by Jethro, his father-in-law, who brought with him Moses’ wife and two sons, who had remained with him in Midian for safety. Moses welcomed them and told Jethro all the wonderful things God had done for His people. Then Jethro said, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods.”
“AMONG CLOUDS FROM WHICH LIGHTNING GLEAMED.”

“From Rephidim the Israelites passed into the desert of Sinai and from the top of Mount Sinai God gave Moses a message for them. Among clouds from which lightning gleamed and thunder muttered, Moses was given the Ten Commandments, which were to be kept by the Israelites and their children, and laws which they were to observe.

“A second time Moses was called to communion with God on Mount Sinai, and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of the children of Israel were permitted to accompany him a part of the way, while he and Joshua, the young leader of the Israelites in their first battle, went on further.

Ten Commandments

“After waiting for six days Moses went alone nearer to the top of the mountain and staid there forty days and forty nights while God disclosed to him His purposes regarding the children of Israel, and delivered into his hands two tables or tablets of stone upon which He had graven the Ten Commandments.

Golden Calf

“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai a strange sight met his eyes. In his absence the fickle Israelites had persuaded Aaron to make them an idol such as they had seen in Egypt and which they could worship. They had given Aaron their jewels of gold and he had made of them a golden calf, to which they were now bowing down and offering sacrifices. In his anger Moses cast the tablets of stone from him and in their fall they were broken.

Then after reproaching Aaron for what he had done, Moses destroyed the golden calf by fire and by grinding it to powder, and strewed the ashes and powder upon water, which he made the Israelites drink.

“Then he stood at the gate of the camp and called for all those who were on the Lord’s side to come and stand beside him. The children of Levi, the third son of Jacob, answered this call, and Moses told them to go through the camp and slay every man they met. This they did, and three thousand Israelites fell at that time.

“After this God told Moses to make two tablets of stone like those he had broken, and with them come alone to Him on Mount Sinai, where He would engrave upon them the words which were on the first tablets. Moses did this, and when he came down from the mountain his face shone so that Aaron and the people were afraid to speak to him until he had put a veil over it.

“For more than a year the Israelites remained near Mount Sinai, and during that time Moses told them, among other things which God had imparted to him, how the Tabernacle was to be made, who its priests were to be, and how the services were to be conducted. The people brought him all the material they had that was suitable for those purposes, and skilful men built the beautiful and costly Tabernacle, in which was placed the Ark of the Covenant, which they were also instructed to make.

“Aaron was appointed high priest and his four sons were made priests to assist him in the services. The Sabbath or seventh day was to be strictly kept, and various feasts and ceremonies were instituted. Particularly the feast of the Passover was enjoined upon the Israelites to commemorate God’s mercy in passing over their homes when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain.

“Then the pillar of cloud, which, with the pillar of fire, had never ceased to show the Israelites the way they were to go in their journeys, rested over the Tabernacle, and at this sign that they were to resume their march to the land of Canaan, the children of Israel marched forth once more and in time came to Kadesh-barnea, near the borders of the promised land.
“A BUNCH OF GRAPES THAT TOOK TWO MEN TO CARRY IT.”

“Then a man was chosen from each of the twelve tribes to see what the land of Canaan was like and to find the best way of entering it. They were gone for forty days, and when they returned their accounts differed. All agreed as to the exceeding fruitfulness of the land, in proof of which they brought back a bunch of grapes so large that it took two men to carry it. But only two advised an immediate advance into the land. These were Joshua, the young general, and a man named Caleb.

“The ten remaining messengers frightened the people by their account of the giants and warlike tribes they would have to encounter and the many dangers that would have to be met, and the people, fickle as ever, believed these reports and again reproached their faithful leader.

“But their punishment was swift and severe. The ten messengers of evil died on the spot, and God commanded Moses to tell the people that, for their doubting and faultfinding, not one of them over twenty years old except Joshua and Caleb should enter the land of Canaan. Their children might do so, but they could never set foot in it. They were to wander in the desert until they died.

“After thirty-eight years the wandering nation, which during this time had been fed with manna and so cared for by God that they were neither footsore, neither did their clothes wear out, was again encamped at Kadesh-barnea. In the interval great numbers of the people had died, and here Miriam, the sister of Moses and of Aaron, died and was buried. Water was again scarce, and the people, as formerly, heaped reproaches upon Moses and Aaron, who asked God what to do.

“God told them to speak to one of the rocks and it would produce water in plenty. Instead of doing exactly what they were told, Moses and Aaron first rebuked the people and then Moses struck the rock with his rod. An abundant supply of water followed, but for this act of disobedience and this display of irritation, both of the brothers were forbidden to enter the land of Canaan.

“Before long Aaron died at the age of one hundred and twenty-three years and was buried in Mount Hor. After mourning him for thirty days, the people again broke out into discontent and in punishment were bitten by venomous serpents, which were sent among them for that purpose. Many died in this way, and then the people turned to Moses, who prayed to God in their behalf. God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and raise it upon a pole high above the heads of the people, and every one who looked upon this serpent, although he had been bitten, was healed at once.

“At last the Israelites came within sight of their inheritance and Moses’ work was nearly done. He appointed Joshua to succeed him and lead the children of Israel into the land of Canaan. Then he gathered the people together and made them an affectionate farewell address. He wrote down for them all the words of the laws which God had given him for them and gave them to the priest.

“MOSES MADE THEM A FAREWELL ADDRESS.”
HE LOOKED OUT OVER THE LAND OF CANAAN.

“Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab onto a mountain from which he could look over the land of Canaan, which he was not to enter, and there he died. He was one hundred and twenty years old, yet we are told that his eyesight was undimmed. Where he was buried no one knows. The Bible says, “The Lord buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor.
“AND THERE HE DIED.” – Willard, J. W. The Adopted Son: The Story of Moses. 1905.

“MOSES (מֹשֶׁ֔ה; LXX, Μωυσῆς, Vulg. Moyses). Meaning uncertain. If Heb., as suggested by Exodus 2:6 and by the explanation given in v. 10, the name is derived from the rare Heb. verb mashah, which occurs only in 2 Samuel 22:17 (Ps 18:16). If Egyp., it may be derived from the word ms meaning “child,” or else from mw-s (“water-son”). Perhaps this is a wordplay, the word “draw forth” suggesting both the taking out of the river beside which the little ark was found and the bringing forth of a child by natural birth. While the name occurs more than 750 times in the OT, no further explanation is given; and like the names of some other prominent OT characters, it is given to only one person, the great leader and lawgiver of Israel.

I. Background

“With the word “now” the historian passes from the death of Joseph, who saved the patriarchs from starvation in Canaan by bringing them down into Egypt, to the time of Moses who led their descendants forth from bondage. He first lists the tribes who were in Egypt and stresses their amazing fruitfulness (Exod 1:7), the rise of a king who knew not Joseph, the fears aroused in the heart of the reigning pharaoh by their increase, the steps which he took to control it, the refusal of the midwives to obey his command to destroy the male infants, and finally the command to his own people to drown them (v. 22). Thus the stage is set for the birth of Moses, which occurred nearly 300 years after the death of Joseph. This background is sketched very briefly. Nothing is said about Egypt except what directly concerns Israel. The names of the two Heb. midwives and of the two cities which the Israelites built for pharaoh are given, but the name of the pharaoh who knew not Joseph nor of the pharaoh who oppressed Israel, nor of the princess who became the foster mother of Moses, is not mentioned. As immaterial to his story the writer omits them.” Encyclopedia of the Bible

Exodus 1

⁶ Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, ⁷ but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

⁸ Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ⁹ “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

¹¹ So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites ¹³ and worked them ruthlessly. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

¹⁵ The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ¹⁶ “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” ¹⁷ The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. ¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

²⁰ So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

²² Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” Exodus 1:6-22

The Birth of Moses

Exodus 2

2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, ² and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket^[a] for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,^[b] saying, “I drew him out of the water.” Exodus 2: 1-10

“A. Birth. Moses is introduced to the reader in a striking way. Sometimes the ancestry of a person is given in some detail; here it is stated in the broadest of terms: “a man from the house of Levi went and took to wife a daughter of Levi.” From the words which follow, “the woman conceived and bore a son,” one might infer that Moses was their first child. This inference is promptly corrected by the mention of a sister whose name is not mentioned until Exodus 15:20, but who was old enough to watch over the babe in the little ark and shrewd enough to seize upon the remark of the royal princess concerning the parentage of the babe and produce the mother of the foundling to serve as its nurse. There is a touch of irony in the result, that the Heb. mother was paid by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse her own child. Pharaoh aimed to destroy every male child born in Israel, with the result that his own daughter took under her protection the Heb. baby who was to become the future deliverer of his people, and she even adopted him as her son.” Encyclopedia of the Bible

THE FINDING OF MOSES

“Many long years had passed since the days when Joseph’s brothers and their families had settled in the land of Egypt. They were a great nation in numbers now, but the Egyptians still ruled over them, and used them as servants. The Pharaoh who had been so kind to the shepherds from Canaan was dead long ago, and the new kings, or Pharaohs as they were called, hated foreigners, and began to treat the Israelites very harshly. There were too many of them, they said; it was dangerous to have so many strong, powerful slaves. They must be kept down, and made to work from morning till night, and be beaten if they did not work fast enough.

“That was very hard for the poor people; but worse was to come. An order was issued one day which spread sorrow through all the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived. Every baby boy that was born was to be thrown into the river. Girl babies might be allowed to live, for they would be useful as slaves, but boys might grow up to fight for their country, and so they must be destroyed.

“In one little house, not far from the great river Nile, a woman sat holding her tiny baby in her arms, while the tears ran down her cheeks. He was such a beautiful baby, so strong and fair and healthy; but the king’s order was that he was to be thrown into the river, where the cruel, hungry crocodiles were waiting to snap up everything they could find for a meal. Jochebed, the poor mother, held her baby closer in her arms. No, she could not obey the king’s order. She would try and hide the baby for a little while, at any rate.

“It was easy to hide a baby while he was still tiny and slept most of the day; but when he grew bigger it was much more difficult. His sister Miriam did her best to help her mother; but any day, now that the baby was three months old, he might be discovered, and something must be done at once. She laid the baby there while he was fast asleep.

“So Jochebed thought of a plan, and prayed to God that He would help her to carry it out. At the edge of the river there grew tall bulrushes, which, when cut down and dried, could be made into many useful things. Taking some of these bulrushes, she wove them into a little cradle with a cover to it, just like a little ark, and this she covered with a kind of pitch, so that not a drop of water could come through. Inside the cradle she made a soft bed, and laid the baby there while he was fast asleep, and set the ark afloat in the water where the bulrushes were growing. She knew that presently the great princess, Pharaoh’s daughter, would come down to bathe in the river, and would notice the queer little ark floating there

“Very soon the royal procession came winding down from the palace towards the river, as the princess in her gorgeous robes made her way to bathe in the pool of the lotus flowers. But at the edge of the river she stopped. What was that among the bulrushes? It was no lotus flower, but a strange-looking covered basket, and she ordered her maidens to bring it to her.

“The little ark was lifted out of the water and carried to the princess. There was surely something alive inside, and the princess was full of curiosity as she leaned down and lifted the cover to look in. Then she started back in amazement. The dearest little baby she had ever seen lay there, all rosy and fresh after his sleep, gazing up at her with wide-open eyes. The maidens crowded round, and the sight of all those strange faces was more than the baby could bear. He puckered up his face and began to cry.

“The princess loved babies, and she had none of her own. That little wailing cry went to her heart. She guessed at once that this was one of the Hebrew babies which had been ordered to be destroyed, and she made up her mind that this beautiful boy should at least be saved.

“All this time Miriam had been watching from her hiding-place close by, and with anxious, beating heart she came forward now. Could she help the princess? she asked. Should she run and find some Hebrew woman who might look after the baby?

“Perhaps the princess guessed that the baby’s mother would not be far off, and she must have smiled a little when a nurse was so quickly found. But she took no notice of that.

“‘Take this child away,” she said, when Jochebed stood humbly before her, “and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.”

“It was merely as a nurse that the mother was hired. The great princess meant to adopt the baby as her own. But he was safe, and Jochebed’s heart was full of gratitude to God as she took her little son into her arms again.

“As long as he needed a nurse the baby was left to be looked after by his mother in the little house by the river-side. The princess called him Moses, which means “drawn out,” because he had been drawn out of the water, and she had made up her mind that as soon as he was old enough he should come to live with her at the palace, and be brought up as a prince. He would be treated just as if he was really her son.

“But his poor mother had him for those first precious years while he was still a little boy, and she did not waste one minute of that time in her training of him. She taught him about God, and told him all the wonderful stories about his own country, so that he should never forget that he belonged to God’s people, even when he should become a prince in the Egyptian palace. Just as a gardener sows seeds in a garden which afterwards grow up into beautiful flowers, so she sowed the seeds of truth in the heart of her little son, which long afterwards were to blossom out and bear such wonderful fruit.

“Then when Moses was old enough to do without a nurse, she took him to the palace, and “brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.’

“But deep down in his heart he never forgot his own people. Beating him unmercifully with a long whip.

“It happened one day that he saw one of the Egyptian taskmasters treating one of the poor Israelite slaves with great cruelty, beating him most unmercifully with a long whip. This made Moses so angry that he rushed in to defend the slave, and dealt the taskmaster such a blow that it killed him.

“But instead of being grateful the Israelites would not trust him, and began to whisper the tale of how he had killed the Egyptian, so that Moses was obliged to flee for his life, leaving behind all the riches and honours he had enjoyed so long.

Shepherd

“A very different kind of life began now for Moses. He journeyed far into the desert and joined company there with an Arab tribe, and wandered from place to place feeding their flocks and living the life of a shepherd.

Moses Flees to Midian

Exodus 2

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”

¹⁴ The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

¹⁸ When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

¹⁹ They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰ “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”

²¹ Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. ²² Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,^[c] saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”

²³ During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. Exodus 2:11-25

Burning Bush

“But God had more difficult work for him to do than feeding sheep, and one day when he was in the desert he saw a strange sight. A bush was growing there, and in the middle of the bush a fire was burning, and the strange thing was that although the fire kept on burning fiercely the bush was not burnt at all. It was the Angel of the Lord that was in the midst of the fire, and as Moses drew near God called him by his name, and told him that he was to go back and set his people free from the tyranny of Pharaoh and lead them into the Promised Land.”Steadman

Moses and the Burning Bush

Exodus 3

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

[This song is probably a reference to Isaiah 6:8 but it fits here]

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father,^[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you^[b] will worship God on this mountain.”

¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

I Am

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,^[d] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

¹⁶ “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

¹⁸ “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

²¹ “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. ²² Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.” Exodus 3: 1-22 In the middle of the bush a fire was burning

“At first Moses said it was impossible for him to do this. His own people would not trust him, and he was no great speaker; he would certainly fail. But God bade him do his best, and Aaron his brother would speak for him; and above all God would be his helper.

“So Moses returned to the land of Egypt and boldly asked Pharaoh to allow the people to go and worship God. Time after time Pharaoh refused, although God sent dreadful plagues to warn him. At last, however, when the angel of death killed all the eldest sons of the Egyptians, Pharaoh was terrified and said the people might go at once and take all their belongings with them.” Steadman, Babe in the Bullrushes

“Moses had an older brother, Aaron, who was proposed to Moses as his spokesman (Exod 4:14) and sent to meet him at the mount of God (v. 27). Aaron was three years Moses’ senior (7:7), a statement of special interest because it implies that the command that all male children be drowned (1:22) was not given until after Aaron was born. The names of Moses’ father and mother are mentioned later (6:20). All these facts which are gradually introduced serve to show how much is omitted in the brief statement with which ch. 2 begins.

“C. Life in Egypt. “When Moses had grown up” (2:11). Nearly forty years lie between the “grew” of v. 10 and the “grown up” of v. 11. About this period Stephen stated that Moses “was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22), which implies that Moses received an education befitting an Egyp. prince. The parents “were not afraid of the king’s edict” (Heb 11:23), which may indicate that they were willing to risk the danger of detection before the baby was hidden in the bulrushes, or else that after his adoption by the princess, they used every opportunity to instill in the heart of their child a love for his people and his God. The Biblical account devotes only 15 vv. to this formative period of Moses’ life.

“Five vv. now suffice to describe its dramatic and unhappy conclusion, yet they are significant because of the light which they throw on the development of Moses’ character. “One day, when Moses had grown up” introduces two closely related incidents which marked the close of the first forty years of Moses’ life (Acts 7:23). Moses “went out to his people and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people” (Exod 2:11). This is the first expression of what became a master motive in Moses’ life, his love for his Israelite brethren (Heb 11:23f.). His love may have been aroused suddenly by the act of injustice which he imprudently punished too severely, but it seems more probable that it was only the sudden unleashing of a passionate desire which he had long cherished and which came to sudden expression. Probably this was not a sudden act on Moses’ part. He may often have watched the Hebrews, toiling at their burdens, and the word “people” indicates how powerfully kinship and parental teaching had influenced this adopted son of an Egyp. princess. It reveals Moses as a man of powerful emotions, impulsive in action, yet he was now a mature man of forty, to whom such a scene must have been quite familiar. He saw an Egyp. “beating” a Heb., “one of his people”; Moses “killed” the Egyp. (the Heb. uses the same word to describe both acts), but Moses’ blow was deadly and he buried his victim in the sand. His act was not one of uncontrollable anger, for before he struck, “he looked this way and that, and seeing no one” (Exod 2:12), he assumed the role of deliverer. Furthermore, he endeavored to cover up his act by hiding his victim in the sand, a prudent afterthought following upon an act of sudden passion.

“D. The flight. “He went out the next day” (v. 13). Was it to find out whether his act had been discovered? If so, he soon found out the facts. For an attempt to play the role of “peacemaker” between two of his fellow Hebrews brought upon him the accusation of murder: “Do you mean to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?” (v. 14). The tragedy in this charge is brought out by the words of Stephen: “He supposed that his brethren understood that God was giving them deliverance by his hand,” but they did not understand (Acts 7:25). So Moses fled for his life. It may seem a little strange that Moses made no effort to excuse or justify his conduct. He was a man of princely rank among the Egyptians and his victim apparently was not a man of any prominence, possibly at most only an Egyp. “taskmaster.” It would certainly seem that he might have been able to “brazen it out” before Pharaoh. Apparently Moses did not think so; and he already may have shown his sympathy with his oppressed people too plainly for his own safety. At any rate his fear was fully justified, Pharaoh sought to slay him. So Moses “fled from Pharaoh.”

III. The second forty years

“A. Moses in Midian. Forty years passed swiftly (7:23). This adopted son of an Egyp. princess sat by a well in the land of Midian, an exile from the court of Pharaoh and with a price on his head. Again the situation serves to reveal the man. While he was resting, seven maidens came to the well and he watched them draw water for their flock. Then he saw a group of shepherds come and drive the girls away from the troughs. Moses might well have said to himself, “This is no concern of mine. I am sitting here a wanderer and fugitive as a result of meddling with other people’s affairs. These girls and their sheep are nothing to me.” Instead Moses stood up and “helped them” from the roughness and violence of the shepherds (Exod 2:17). Moses’ act was not merely an expression of kindness and sympathy but also an evidence of high courage. It also indicates that there was something in his appearance and bold intervention which overawed the shepherds, who had courage enough to deal with seven girls, but quailed before a single unknown stranger who had the manhood to oppose them.

“The daughters may have thanked him, but they left him. They called him “an Egyptian” and prob. were wary of foreigners, so their father had to make amends for their lack of oriental hospitality. In this incident there is not the slightest suggestion of any prior connection or contact of Moses with Jethro or the Midianites. It was as a total stranger that this Egyp. came to this locality and he was treated as such.

“B. Moses and Jethro. “And Moses was content to dwell with the man” (2:21). “Content” renders the Heb. adequately; content, but not altogether happy. “And he gave Moses his daughter, Zipporah,” apparently one of the seven. When the marriage took place is not stated. Her name, Zipporah, meaning “bird” or “sparrow” is no clear indication as to her character. The name given his first child, Gershom, which Moses explained with the words, “I have been a sojourner (ger) in a foreign land,” may suggest that Moses was far from happy in his new environment. This second period of forty years (Acts 7:30) concludes with a reference to the homeland from which Moses had been forced to flee: “in those many days” (as the Heb. puts it) the king of Egypt died. The date is not given, but it was prob. toward the end of the forty years since it was his death which prepared the way for Moses’ return to Egypt.

“C. Moses at the bush. The first two forty-year periods of Moses’ life, both of which end in a startling and climactic event, have been largely covered by a single ch. of Exodus; but this second period ends with an event which introduced and determined the whole of the third period of forty years which was to follow. It begins by describing what may have been Moses’ chief occupation for forty years: “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro.” And he led them by slow stages as a shepherd leads his flock “to Horeb, the mountain of God” (3:1). Perhaps he had led them here many times before, but now something wonderful happened. The call of Moses is perhaps the most revealing, as it was the most momentous event in his entire life. Whether the name “mountain of God” is used proleptically or not is uncertain. The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses “in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush (seneh)” called in the NT “bush,” (batos). Moses prob. had noticed often that a thorn bush burns rapidly and with a great crackling (Eccl 7:6), so he marveled that the bush kept on burning. “I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn up” (Heb.). When he approached, God called to him and warned him that he was on sacred ground. Moses not only put off his shoes as commanded, but also hid his face “for he was afraid to look at God”—an act of reverence and awe.

“Then God revealed Himself as the God of Moses’ forebears, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and told Moses that He had heard the cry of their descendants and had come to deliver them. He then made a truly amazing proposal to Moses: “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exod 3:10). Forty years had gone by since Moses, an important figure at Pharaoh’s court, had slain one Egyp. for mistreating one Heb. and had tried to make peace between two of his fellow Israelites. Now suddenly he was challenged to undertake on a vast scale what he had so signally failed to achieve in a small way. Little wonder that Moses replied, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (3:11). If Moses’ reply was exactly what one should expect from a man in Moses’ position, the answer of the Lord was quite startling: “But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you.” Jehovah continues: “When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain” (3:12).

“The sign was a double challenge to Moses: to his faith in the God of his fathers and to his love of his people, a people who on his first attempt to serve them had met him with hostility and rejection. Moses at first apparently parried the challenge by asking what name he should give to the God whom he was to represent to the people as their deliverer. He asked the question as if he meant to imply that he knew the name of the God of his fathers, but was not sure just how he should speak of Him to the people when they ask the name of this God who will deliver them. Perhaps he was asking the question as much for himself as for them. The answer is, “I am who I am” (3:14). The Heb. word is ’ehyeh, which also may be rendered, “I will be what I will be.” The one tr. suggests the immutable God, who is unchangeable in His being, the same yesterday, today and forever, the same as when he called Abraham to go forth from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of promise. Or it may stress rather the activity and energy of this God of the fathers, who will act sovereignly and effectively in behalf of His people in the future as He has done of old. Then the Lord at once used the well-known name, “The Lord, the God of your fathers” (3:15), and added: “This is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” Hence the Tetragrammaton (or four-letter word YHWH) is properly called the Memorial or Covenant Name of the God of Israel.

“The command then was repeated that Moses go to the Israelites and announce to them God’s promise of deliverance and of entrance into the good land promised to their fathers. Moses was given the assurance that they would obey and that he would go with them to Pharaoh to request permission for a three days’ journey into the wilderness to worship the God of their fathers who had appeared to them through Moses. The request which they proposed was modest, designed to show the unreasonableness of Pharaoh’s refusal; and they were to make it as a request, not as a demand: “And now, we pray you, let us go” (v. 18). But they were to be told that Pharaoh would not let them go “unless compelled by a mighty hand.” Then God’s purpose to use force to affect the deliverance is plainly stated, and the result would be that Pharaoh would let the people go (3:20).

“Moses raised the natural objection that the people would not believe that God had sent him to deliver them from Pharaoh. The Lord gave him three signs: his rod becomes a serpent, his hand becomes leprous, and the water turns into blood. There is a striking difference between these signs for the people and for Pharaoh, and the sign given Moses for himself (3:12). These signs appeal to the physical senses; they are ocular proof of the power of God; they are intended to compel belief, to certify Moses as the servant of a higher power, the God of their fathers. Moses’ sign was a challenge to faith in God and to love of man. Furthermore, these signs also represented a definite challenge to Moses. The venomous serpent terrified Moses and he “fled” from it. Yet he obeyed, apparently without demur, the command to take it by the tail; and the wriggling, hissing snake became again his familiar shepherd’s rod. Leprosy is a terrible disease. The sight of his leprous hand must have filled Moses with loathing and fear. Yet he put it again into his bosom, and it became clean. Water turned to blood was a disgusting thing, undrinkable as it was later to prove (Exod 7:20f.). Fear, courage, and obedience all were involved in these simple tests and Moses stood the test. One need not argue for the reality of these signs. They are represented as supernatural and form an integral part of that series of mighty acts by which the God of Israel delivered His people from seemingly hopeless bondage (Deut 34:11).

“Moses raised still another objection: he was not qualified for the task to which God was calling him. He never had been eloquent (Heb. “a man of words”) and this call to extraordinary service had not changed this in any way. God’s answer was that human speech is God-given, as are all man’s faculties. Despite this indisputable fact, which is supported by the promise that God will teach him what to say, Moses still resisted with the words, “Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person” (Exod 4:13), meaning, “send anyone but me.” So God in anger and also in compassion gave him as a spokesman his brother Aaron, who should be to him “a mouth” while Moses is to him “as God” (4:16). That is what a true prophet says in the name of God. God says (as is strikingly illustrated by Isa 7 where the “Thus says the Lord God” of v. 7 is followed in v. 10 by “Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz” where obviously both messages come from the lips of Isaiah). Finally, Moses was to take the rod, the serpent rod, with him in order to perform these signs, and others far greater than he had yet performed (Exod 4:17).

“D. Return to Jethro. Moses returned to Jethro, told him nothing of the divine commission that he had received, offered a plausible and adequate excuse (cf. 1 Sam 16:2f.) for a visit to Egypt, received Jethro’s consent, and God’s assurance that it was safe for him to return. He set out for Egypt with the rod of God in his hand; and although he was forewarned that his attempt to secure Pharaoh’s consent to his mission would fail, yet he also was told what would be God’s final word to Pharaoh—the slaying of the first-born.

“E. Departure for Egypt. “So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on an ass, and went back to the land of Egypt.” The fact that he mounted both wife and sons on a single donkey indicates that both children were quite young, the younger a mere babe in arms. This may mean, as already suggested, that Moses did not receive Zipporah as his wife until toward the end of the forty years, or else that like Rachel, Zipporah had to wait many years until the crown of motherhood was given her.

“F. The bloody husband (4:24–31). When Moses was returning to Egypt a strange thing happened, which throws a little more light on Moses’ life in Midian and supports the view that Moses’ children were very young at that time. The incident at the inn is best understood as indicating that Moses had failed to circumcise the baby before leaving home. This may have been due partly to haste and preoccupation with the mission which had been given him. But it was more prob. due to Zipporah’s objection to the performance of the rite. Whether she had objected in the case of Gershom, we do not know. Here at the inn, when she realized that Moses’ life was in danger and apparently felt that she was responsible, she performed the rite herself, but evidently with great reluctance (as is shown by her words, twice repeated, “you are a bridegroom of blood to me”). Whatever the reason, Moses had sinned in failing to perform the covenant rite which was required of every Israelite under penalty of death (Gen 17:13, 14).

“G. The meeting with Aaron (Exod 4:14, 27). The Lord sent Aaron (first mentioned in v. 14) to meet Moses. It is perhaps significant that they met at the mount of God. This apparently involved a considerable detour. It may mean that Moses wanted to visit again the spot where God had called and commissioned him and so to gain fresh confidence and strength in preparation for the conflict which lay ahead of him. There at the mount of God Aaron met Moses “and kissed him,” an act of affection not often mentioned in the OT, and which showed the strong feeling of kinship which united these brothers who had been parted for forty years. Moses had much to tell Aaron, even “all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him, and all the signs which he had charged him to do” (v. 28).

IV. The third forty years

“If Moses’ slaying of the Egyp. and his flight from Egypt marked the close of the first period of Moses’ life, the call which he received at the mount of God may be regarded as marking the ending of the second period. If so, the third period begins with the return to Egypt and Moses’ entering upon the God-assigned task of delivering Israel from Egyp. bondage. This period then consists of two parts which somewhat overlap. The first is the conflict with Pharaoh which ends with the triumph song of Exodus 15. The second phase is the contest with Israel, which aptly is described and summarized by Moses’ own words, “You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you” (Deut 9:24). This struggle fully occupied Moses’ mind and heart from the day of his call to the day of his death.

A. Moses and Pharaoh

“1. The first request. After Moses and Aaron had accredited themselves to the elders and people of Israel (Exod 4:29-31), and Aaron had performed his proper role, acting and speaking for Moses, they at once presented themselves before Pharaoh with the Lord’s demand: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” The demand is not expressed as courteously here as in 3:18. There the “now, we pray you, let us go,” is a request. It is a summary demand, and the verb which is used is in the imperative “send forth” or “send away.” The demand was at first a moderate one— “that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.” It was met with disdain and flatly denied: “Who is the Lord, that I should heed his voice and let Israel go?” (i.e. “send away,” as in all the cases which follow). “I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go” (5:1, 2). So send away becomes the issue, the mot de combat between the God of Israel and Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Pharaoh’s first step was to charge the Hebrews with idleness and to make their task more arduous; they were not to be supplied with straw, but were to make just as many bricks as before. When the Israelite “officers” (i.e. scribes or tally-keepers) are thus ill-treated they complain to Moses and Aaron. Moses carries the complaint to the Lord (5:22f.), and bitterly complains that instead of the Lord helping Israel as promised they are worse off than ever. Moses lost the preliminary skirmish!

“2. The contest with Pharaoh. “But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land’” (6:1). That the conflict is now to begin in earnest is indicated by the fact that, as if in answer to Pharaoh’s contemptuous words, his opponents are now carefully identified.

First is the God of Israel, with the words, “I am the Lord (Yahweh): I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by my name the Lord (Yahweh) I did not make myself known to them” (6:3). This statement seems clearly to imply that the God of the fathers is now to manifest His redemptive power by deeds of covenant faithfulness mightier than any which the patriarchs had known or experienced. The meaning of these words has been much debated. In 1924 Dr. R. D. Wilson, after a thorough study of this passage in the original Heb. and in the VSS, both ancient and modern, reached the following conclusion:

“…the writer would suggest the following renderings: And God spake unto Moses and said unto him: I am Jehovah and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob in the character of the God of Might (or, mighty God), and in the character of my name Jehovah I did not make myself known unto them. Or, if the last part of the verse is to be regarded as a question, the rendering should be: And in the character of my name Jehovah did I not make myself known unto them? Either of these suggested translations will bring this verse into entire harmony with the rest of the Pentateuch. Consequently, it is unfair and illogical to use a forced translation of Exodus 6:3 in support of a theory that would destroy the unity of authorship and the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch” (PTR, XXII, p. 119).

“In view of the failure of their first meeting with Pharaoh, the Lord reaffirmed His promises to the people, assuring them of His entire awareness of their distressing situation and His purpose to rescue them. When Moses gave this reassurance to the people they were too dispirited to listen to him. When Moses was again told to demand the release of Israel, he complained that it was useless to do so. For if the people would not listen to him, how could he expect Pharaoh to do so? Yet the Lord simply repeated His purpose of deliverance.

“At this point (6:14-27) the Lord’s champions were introduced by means of a brief genealogy showing the descent of Moses and Aaron from the “heads of their fathers’ houses,” ending with the twice repeated statement, “These are…Aaron and Moses” (v. 26) and “this Moses and this Aaron” (v. 27). Similarly the repetition in the words: “On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you” (6:28f.) makes them emphatic. Yet again Moses pleads his incompetence: “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me?” (v. 30). “Uncircumcised” recalls the giving of the covenant sign to Abram (Gen 17) and perhaps indicates also that Moses remembers the near tragic episode at the inn (Exod 4:24ff.). The use of the word here in a fig. sense is noteworthy. Then follows the amazing statement: “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet,” i.e. “spokesman,” an excellent definition of the meaning of the word “prophet” (נָבִיא, H5566); for what the God says, the prophet says.

“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” (7:3), was first referred to in 4:21, and now was to be repeated more than a dozen times. Sometimes it was used of the state of Pharaoh’s heart (7:14, 22; 8:19; 9:7). Sometimes it is stated that Pharaoh hardened his heart (8:15, 32; 9:34); more often, that God hardened or would harden it (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). The best commentary on this subject is the Biblical one which is given in Romans 9-11, ending with the wonderful doxology which celebrates the “wisdom and knowledge of God” (Rom 11:33).

“The ten plagues then were sent upon Egypt to show the omnipotence of the God of Israel, His sovereign control over nature, and to convince Pharaoh and the Egyptians of the folly of resisting His will. It is pointed out again and again that the aim of these divine judgments was that Pharaoh and His people might “know” (i.e. come to understand) the power of the God of Israel (7:5, 17; 8:10, 22; 9:14, 29; 11:7; 14:18) and that Israel might know it also (6:7; 10:2; 11:7; 14:31; cf. 29:46; 31:13). Pharaoh’s first reply to the demand that he free the Israelites was, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed his voice? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go” (5:2). The plagues were sent to enlighten his ignorance and to break down his stubborn will. Furthermore it was no mere chance that brought about this confrontation of Pharaoh with the God of Israel. To this very God whom he defied Pharaoh owed his throne and power (9:16; cf. Rom 9:17).

“The last plague was the most terrible of all. It is introduced by the words, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt.” It would accomplish what all the others had failed to do. Not merely would Pharaoh let Israel go; “When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely” (11:1). That matters had come to a head is indicated by what had just taken place; Pharaoh had dismissed Moses and threatened him with death if he came before him again.

‘In the case of all the plagues which preceded, Moses and Aaron played an important but a rather impersonal role; here appear two personal touches. One is the statement that “the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people” (11:3; cf. v. 8). The other is that Moses “went out from Pharaoh in hot anger” (11:8). Moses had been greatly tried by Pharaoh’s vacillation, by his persistent refusals to yield to the demands made of him in the name of Moses’ God. Finally Moses’ wrath found vigorous expression. If Pharaoh would not yield, his people would implore Moses to leave. Pharaoh would not yield. The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart in order that he might not yield until the sovereign power of the God of Israel was fully manifested in the last and most terrible plague (11:9f.), the death of the first-born.” Encyclopedia

‘So Moses returned to the land of Egypt and boldly asked Pharaoh to allow the people to go and worship God. Time after time Pharaoh refused, although God sent dreadful plagues to warn him. At last, however, when the angel of death killed all the eldest sons of the Egyptians, Pharaoh was terrified and said the people might go at once and take all their belongings with them.” Steadman

“It was a great company of people that set out, and Moses the great leader guided them on their way. They had many adventures, and braved many dangers and difficulties, but God was always their shield and defence. He delivered them by parting the waters of the Red Sea and allowing them to walk over dry-shod when Pharaoh and his army were pursuing them. And when the pursuers tried to follow them, the waters rolled back, and the whole great army were swept away by the returning tide.

“Yet in spite of God’s care and goodness towards them, these Israelites were often ungrateful, and complained bitterly when they suffered any want. And it was always Moses whom they blamed.

“There on the mountain top he stood, gazing into the far distance, where the Land of Canaan, that fair land flowing with milk and honey, lay stretched out before him. Then he bowed his head to God’s will. The murmuring people never saw their great leader again. He “was not, for God took him.” Steaman

Moses was very patient with them; but once he was so angry that he was tempted to disobey God’s direction, and as a punishment God told him that though he should see the Promised Land from afar he would never enter it himself.

“3. The Exodus. The death of all the first-born children evoked such a popular reaction that Pharaoh was compelled to release the Israelites. Under Moses’ leadership they celebrated the Passover (see Passover; Feasts), and marched out of Egypt, taking with them their children, cattle, household goods, and the bones of Joseph.

“The statement that “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him” (13:19), throws an interesting light on the situation. The words “and Moses took,” suggest that this was an act of piety which Moses performed without receiving special instruction from God. Amid all the confusion and the many demands upon his time and leadership, Moses thought of the oath which Joseph, looking forward confidently to this event, had imposed on his brethren; now after a lapse of centuries Moses fulfilled this sacred obligation. This mention of what Moses did, apparently on his own initiative, is esp. interesting and significant as affording a glimpse into his sense of personal responsibility.

“4. The pillar of cloud and of fire (13:21). At this point the supernatural guide is first mentioned which was to lead the children of Israel on their journeyings to the land of promise. This pillar represented the manifested presence of God; and three times the angel of the Lord is referred to as being in it (14:19; 23:20; 32:34). Apparently the pillar varied greatly in size. In 14:19 it is said to have separated the Israelites from the army of Pharaoh; in 33:9 it stood at the door of the Tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses from it. In Numbers 12:5 it is called the “pillar of cloud” through which the Lord spoke to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. More frequently it is referred to as “the cloud”; and in Numbers 9:15-23 occurs the fullest account of it (cf. 10:11f., 33-36; Deut 1:33). The chief purpose of the cloud was guidance, or rather the manifested presence of God. The mention of the Ark in that connection (Num 10:33) indicates that the cloud then hung suspended above the Ark. There are frequent allusions to the “glory” of the Lord as manifesting itself to Israel in the cloud (Exod 16:10). Numbers 10:33-36 describes impressively how Moses at the beginning and ending of each journey sought the guidance of the Lord during the years of wandering. This manifestation in the cloud and pillar was continuous (Exod 13:22) and prepared for and followed the tremendous theophany at Sinai.

“The guiding cloud led the Israelite host into a situation in which they were trapped between the sea and the pursuing chariotry of Pharaoh; and when the latter drew near the Israelites were terrified and bewailed their perilous state (14:11f.; cf. 5:21; 6:9). Moses was not dismayed; he encouraged them with words of the utmost confidence: “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord” (14:13). Israel’s extremity was God’s opportunity! Israel was to go forward to the sea and Moses was to open up a path through the sea, a tremendous challenge to Moses’ faith! Israel would pass through it on dry ground. The Egyptians would follow after them to their own destruction. Israel passed through the sea safely; Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the returning waters. Israel saw “the great work” of the Lord and believed in Him and in His servant Moses (14:31). Then Moses and the people sang a paean of triumphant praise to the God who had so wonderfully delivered them.

“Moses and Israel. Pharaoh and the Egyptians were finally beaten; the chariotry of Egypt overwhelmed in the returning waters, never to trouble Israel again (14:13). Then began Moses’ struggle with Israel, signs of which had already plainly appeared (5:21; 14:11). This far longer struggle proved a greater testing of Moses’ patience and faith, of his love of God and for his people, than the one which preceded it.

“1. The murmuring in the wilderness. Having seen the great work of deliverance and recognizing the hand of God in it under the leadership of Moses (14:31), three days later the people murmured against Moses saying, “What shall we drink?” (15:24). This time they were supplied from the waters of Marah. The trial of their obedience came again in the wilderness of Sin when they bemoaned their departure from Egypt (16:12); there they were provided with quail and manna; and they saw the glory of the Lord for the first time (vv. 7, 10). The quail were mentioned only briefly as a single occurrence (v. 13) while the manna which was their food for nearly forty years was fully described (vv. 14-36). Again they murmured because of thirst (17:1) and they were supplied with water from the rock at Horeb (v. 6). There they also were given a military victory over Amalek under circumstances which should have greatly increased their confidence in Moses as the servant of their God.

“2. Jethro’s visit. At this point (ch. 18) Jethro came to see Moses, bringing Moses’ wife and sons with him, having heard of the Lord’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Jethro rejoiced and declared, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods; because he delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians when they dealt arrogantly with them” (18:11). Jethro’s joy in the Lord’s victory and his sharing in the communal meal with the elders of Israel does not imply, as some claim, that Jethro was a worshiper of Yahweh and that he at this time inducted Moses and the elders into the worship of his god. The advice which he gave Moses and which Moses accepted had to do entirely with secular affairs; and in following it Moses merely freed himself from the deciding of matters of minor importance. Then Jethro left Moses and returned to his home. He did not accompany Israel to Sinai. He had no part in the ratification of the covenant there.

“3. The theophany at Sinai (ch. 20). The tremendous and terrifying scene which accompanied the giving of the law at Sinai provides further insight into the character of Moses. The awesomeness of the spectacle is described (19:18). When the Lord called Moses to come up to the top of Sinai, he obeyed; and when he came down from the mountain he again warned the people not to draw near to it. When the Lord uttered the Ten Commandments His voice so terrified the people that they asked that God speak to them only through Moses, “lest we die.” The NT states that so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear” (Heb 12:21). Of this fear in Moses’ heart nothing is said in the Exodus account. It simply states that Moses calmed the people and that while they stood afar off, “Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was” (Exod 20:21).

“4. Aaron and the seventy elders (ch. 24). The difference between Moses and the rest of the people, even the Seventy and Aaron and his sons, is emphasized by the fact that while these representatives of the people were to come up and worship afar off, Moses alone was to come near to the Lord. This ceremony followed the solemn ratification of the covenant, which involved the reading of the book, the solemn acceptance by the people, and the sprinkling of “the blood of the covenant” (24:8). Then these representatives of the people went up into the mount. There “they beheld God” (v. 11), but all that they saw was apparently what looked like a sapphire footstool, “a pavement” under the feet of Deity; and they “ate and drank” (v. 11).

“Moses then spent forty days in God’s presence and during this time he neither ate nor drank. Like his Lord, Moses had meat to eat that the people knew not of (John 4:32). The mention of Joshua in Exodus 24:13f. and in 32:17 indicates that Joshua was near Moses during the first forty days, while in the case of the second it is stated expressly that no one was to be with him or even on the mountain (34:3), during which time Joshua was left in charge of the tent (33:11).

“5. Moses and the Tabernacle. After the tremendous scene which attended the proclaiming of the Decalogue and the sight of the glory of their God which was given to Aaron and the Seventy, the glory abode upon Mount Sinai for seven days. Then Moses was summoned to come up into the mount. He left Aaron and Hur in charge (24:14), and they apparently returned with the elders to the camp; “And Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain.” He was there forty days and forty nights (v. 18). The purpose of his long stay there was that he might receive God’s instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle: “According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it” (25:9, 40: cf. Heb 8:5). Finally God gave Moses the tables of stone on which the testimony was “written with the finger of God” (Exod 31:18).

“6. The first apostasy (ch. 32). Later, while Moses was in the mount receiving instructions as to the conditions under which their God would dwell in their midst, the people apostatized from this God, whom they had promised to obey. “Up, make us gods, who shall go before us” (32:1). They had lived in such an environment of idolatry for centuries that it had left its mark on them. And Aaron, Moses’ brother, whose glorious apparel and sacred duties had been, or were now perhaps, being described to Moses on the mount (chs. 28-30) tamely acquiesced (32:2), and made a molten calf. When they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” Aaron “made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord’” (v. 5). In this terrible situation, it was no wonder that the Lord at once revealed to Moses what had taken place and threatened to destroy Israel. Moses at once interceded with God for the deliverance of his people. When he descended the mountain, he was filled with great anger upon seeing what had taken place, and he destroyed the tables of the Decalogue, ground the golden image to powder, scattered it on the water and forced the people to drink it. Then he turned upon Aaron himself, demanding an explanation for this “great sin” (v. 21). After hearing Aaron’s lame and fainthearted explanation, Moses called for volunteers to execute the Lord’s judgment on the idolaters, an impartial judgment which would fall upon all who had been guilty, whether Levites or non-Levites. The men of Levi responded and they slew about 3,000 men, an act of loyalty to Jehovah for which they were later praised and rewarded (Deut 33:9). That Aaron himself was spared from death was due to Moses’ special intercession for him (9:20).

“7. Moses’ intercession. Then Moses returned to the Lord, confessed Israel’s “great sin” (Exod 32:31), and requested that if it could not be forgiven he might be blotted out along with the rest of his people. Obtaining God’s pardon for chastened Israel, he received the command to lead the people to Canaan (v. 34). In this incident there is a deeper insight into the character of Moses. Moses did not try to minimize or excuse the sin of calf worship either for Aaron or for the people. It was a “great sin.” In reply to the Lord’s amazing offer to substitute him for Israel and make of him a great nation in place of unworthy Israel (a proposal which doubtless was intended to be a test of Moses’ love for his people) he proceeded to appeal to God’s love for the nation, as shown in His earlier deliverance of Israel from Egypt in fulfillment of the promises made to the patriarchs. Next he deplored the damage which would accrue to God’s own reputation if He should destroy Israel in the desert (v. 12). As for himself, he asked only that if Israel must be blotted out, he might perish with them.

Having received the promise that the Lord would send His angel to lead the people, Moses removed the tent (or perhaps it is his own tent) to a distance from the camp and there the Lord spoke to him “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (33:11). Moses secured God’s promise that His “presence” would go with Israel. Then he made a plea for himself, that the Lord would show him His glory; and when this privilege was promised to him, he hewed out two new tables of stone to replace the ones which he had broken, and ascended the mountain once more. There the Lord descended in a cloud and passed by before him and proclaimed the name of the Lord: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (34:6). During this second stay of forty days on the mount with God, Moses pleaded that the Lord would continue to accompany Israel on their journey. He received and repeated further instructions for the people, notably a renewed warning against idolatry, because “the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (34:14). It is in his conduct with regard to this terrible apostasy of the people (as well as the one narrated in Num 14) that the true greatness of Moses, his humility, his love of his people, his love of God and zeal for his honor and glory, were most severely tested and most clearly revealed.

“8. The veil on Moses’ face. After the second stay of Moses on the mount, as he came down his face “shone,” “gave off horns,” i.e. rays (34:29-35). The KJV has misunderstood the meaning of the Heb. The literal rendering of v. 33 should be: “and Moses finished speaking with them and he placed upon his face a veil.” The meaning is not that Moses covered his face because the people were afraid to look at him. The Apostle Paul gives us the true explanation of the use of the veil. It served to prevent the people from seeing the heavenly light gradually fade away from Moses’ face (2 Cor 3:13), since it was only when in the presence of God that the radiance of the divine presence was reflected in it (cf. Matt 17:2; Acts 9:3; Rev 1:14).

“”|z9. The Tabernacle and its ritual. In regard to the construction of the Tabernacle and all of the ritual vessels and vestments, it is important to recognize the emphasis which is placed on the heavenly origin of the pattern (Exod 25:9, 40; 26:30; 27:8; 39:32, 43; cf. Heb 8:5). Whether Moses learned much or little in Egypt about the plan and construction of Egyp. temples and their rituals of worship was immaterial: he was to follow the pattern shown him in the mount, during the twice-forty days spent there in communion with God. In chs. 39 and 40 which describe the construction and dedication of the Tabernacle, the words “as the Lord commanded Moses” become a kind of refrain, occurring about a dozen times. And the cloud and the glory which filled it (40:34) are the divine certification of the fidelity with which Moses “finished the work” (v. 33). …

13. The murmuring over manna. Scarcely had the journeying resumed when the murmuring began again (11:1). The reason for it was such as to arouse the anger of the Lord and cause Him to send a fire to punish them, a burning (taberah) in the outskirts of the camp. The complaint was not because of lack of food: but rather, they were tired of eating manna, the bread from heaven (cf. Exod 16), and demanded meat (Ps 78:18-31). This situation so distressed and distracted Moses that he offered an anguished plea (Num 11:11-15) that he might die rather than continue to suffer at the hands of a mutinous people. He evidently was brokenhearted and at his wit’s end. How could he furnish “meat” to feed “600,000 footmen!” The answer of the Lord was twofold. Moses was to be given the help of the seventy elders in judging the people; and the nation was to be given quail for a whole month and in such abundance that they would gorge themselves with it and be punished by illness and death for their greed.

“14. Miriam and Aaron. An incident occurred which Moses must have felt most keenly, a personal attack by his own sister and brother. It is significant that Miriam is mentioned first.” Encyclopedia