Echoes of Purpose: Moses Receives His Call Barefoot before The LORD

Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating Scripture Through the Eyes of Family, where I share with you biblical stories like a family member would share a story around the dinner table. As children of God, we are a part of God's family and His family story has a lot of history. Each week we will take one story and talk about it the cultural, historical, geographical and sociological impacts. We will be looking at these stories from the perspective of our ancestors, through the lens of ancient times, in hopes of learning more about our family. This is our ancient future story. Welcome back to our ancient future story. I'm Vic and I am so excited to share with you another story today. When we left off last time, moses had settled in the wilderness of Midian with his new wife Sappora and their son Gershom. Meanwhile, in Egypt, the people of Israel were groaning because of their suffering, but Yahweh heard their cries and was actively working to pull them out of Egypt. And today we will see the beginning of this plan come to pass, as God meets Moses in the wilderness and invites him to take the leap into this epic story. So grab your cup of coffee or something to drink and let's get ready to dive into the story of Moses. Our story opens in the wilderness of Midian, where Moses has been living with his wife Sappora and his son Gershom in his father-in-law Jethro's house, the Bet-Ov. One day, while walking his flock to the west side of the wilderness, he came to Mount Horib, also known as the Mountain of God. In here, god appeared to him in a burning bush. Moses looked at the bush, clearly on fire, yet it was not being consumed. Perplexed, moses said I will turn aside to see this great sight. Why is the bush not being burned? When God saw him do this, he called out from the bush, saying Moses, Moses, here I am. Moses replied Do not come near, remove your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. Historical fun fact removing sandals in this culture was a very vulnerable thing because it put you in the mercy of the person in front of you, unlike in the story of Ruth, where the closerer demer had his sandals removed, which was a shameful act because he refused to fulfill the Leverite Law. This act was one of great respect and honor. I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Hearing this, moses hid his face because he was afraid to see God. Then the Lord said to him I have seen the affliction of the people of Israel. I have heard their cries from Egypt and I know their suffering, and I have come down to deliver them out of Egypt into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land of currently possessed by the Canaanites, the Hittites, amorites, pesarites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. I have seen the suffering of my people. Now come, moses, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. But Moses responds the same way many of us do. Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? Don responds this will be a sign to you. When you bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, you will come back here, to this very mountain, to worship me. Then Moses asked another question what if I tell the children of Israel that the God of their fathers sent me to bring them out of Egypt? But they asked me your name. What am I to say to them? And God says to Moses say to them I am who I am. Tell them I am sent you. Yahweh is the God of your fathers, abraham, isaac and Jacob. This is my name forever. Thus I am to be remembered for all generations. So go, gather the elders and tell them all I have told you, and they will listen to your voice. So then you and the elders are to go before the king of Egypt and tell him the God of the Hebrews has asked us to leave Egypt and go into the wilderness. That we may worship him, but Pharaoh will not let you go unless he is compelled by a mighty hand. So I will strike Egypt with an outstretched hand. Only then will he let you go, and when he does, I will give you favor and you will plunder the Egyptians. Then Moses again challenges God and says they will not believe me or listen to me, for they will say Yahweh did not meet with you. But I love God's response here because he didn't say how dare you not believe me? Instead he asked what is in your hand? And Moses replied A staff. Yahweh said Throw it on the ground. And when Moses did, it became a serpent. And Moses ran from it. But Yahweh said Stretch out your hand and pick it up. Then they will believe that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, of Abraham, isaac and Jacob, has appeared to you. And when Moses did it, it became a staff. Again and again God said to Moses Put your hand inside your cloak. And when he took out his hand it was leprous like snow. And when he put his hand back in his cloak, his hand was restored like the rest of his flesh. Then God said If they still do not believe you or listen to the first sign, they may believe this one. But even if they do not believe you after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile and pour it on the ground and the water will become blood on dry ground. But then Moses said to God I am not eloquent because I cannot speak well. Then the Lord said to him who made the mouth? Who makes one mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go and I will be your mouth and help you speak and teach you what to say. But Moses was still hesitant. He said oh, my Lord, please send someone else. Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Moses and he said what about your brother Aaron? I know he speaks well. Look, he is coming to see you and when you meet he will be glad in his heart. You will speak to him and I to you and then I will teach you both what to do. So Moses took his staff and returned to his father-in-law Jethro's house and said to him Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive. And Jethro blessed him and allowed him to return. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said Return to Egypt, for those who are seeking your life are dead. So Moses packed up his wife and his sons and headed back to Egypt with his staff in his hand. And Yahweh spoke to Moses again, saying when you get back to Egypt, do all the signs I have given you before Pharaoh, but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh Thus says the Lord Israel is my firstborn son. And I say to you Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son. Historical fun fact the firstborn son holds the patriarch heat in their hands. They are the legacy. They carry on the responsibility of their father when they pass In Egypt. That was for the son to take over as Pharaoh. In Israel, the oldest son would take on the responsibilities of caring for his mother, sisters and younger brothers. So God is saying Let my people go or I will kill your legacy. I think we talk about God confronting Pharaoh about this in the 10th plague. But here we see, god tells Moses to tell Pharaoh up front what will happen if he chooses to not let the people of Israel go. Then, while they were lodging at the place, on the way back to Egypt, the Lord met with Moses and wanted to kill him. Zipporah, seeing this, took matters into her own hands and took the flint knife and circumcised her son and threw the foreskin at Moses and said Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. Then the Lord left him alone. Back in Egypt, the Lord said to Aaron Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him and Moses told him all that Yahweh had told him to say and showed him the signs that he was commanded to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of Israel and Aaron spoke the words that the Lord had given Moses and did the signs on the side of the people. And the people believed. And when they heard that Yahweh had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction. They bowed their heads and worshiped. And that is our story ends for today. Moses is back in Egypt and Yahweh proved to be faithful to Moses. The people of Israel believed him, either by words or by signs, and Aaron spoke to the people for Moses and they believed and worshiped Yahweh. But the story is not over. The people believed that Yahweh appeared to Moses and that he had heard their cries, but they will soon see his power in might as Yahweh faces Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods in the ultimate showdown of divine power. If you grew up in church, you have probably heard this story many, many times. It is basically the staple VBS story. But I think there are a few things for us to note to help shape the context of the story for us. First location Our story takes place in Midian on Mount Horib, the mountain of God. Mount Horib is found at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Most scholars agree that Mount Horib is Mount Sinai. God told Moses that this would be a sign for him that once God pulled the people of Israel out of Egypt, they would come back to this exact mountain to worship. And guess what? When Israel was freed from slavery, they did return to this mountain. This is where the Ten Commandments were given. This is where God gave Israel the law. They did indeed worship at this mountain. In fact, it was this mountain that they traveled around for 40 years in the wilderness. So what about the burning bush? When we think about the burning bush, usually our first question in Western society is what did it look like? Usually followed by how would you have responded if you saw a bush on fire but not being consumed? And though these are not bad questions to ask, it is not the most important question we should be asking. In fact, we should be asking what is the Middle Eastern understanding of this scene? And for that we have to ask not what does it look like, but why would God do that? And that is a different question. Why would God choose to reveal himself to Moses in this way? And my initial response to this is because it would have gotten Moses' attention At this point. Moses had been living in Midian as a pastoral shepherd for 40 years. He has been all around the desert following the pastoral patterns of for food. He has been to Mount Horrid before. These are not new territories for him, but on this day. God appeared to him for a purpose and Moses' immediate response is one I think we all can understand. Moses first looks with curiosity, but then, when God speaks, he looks away because he was afraid to look at God. And I love that. This is how his story started, because later, in Exodus 33, he is the one who begs to see the glory of God, and I just love the growth of Moses. He starts off very timid and afraid and with all these reasons why he can't do what God is asking him to do, but by the time he is leading the Israelites in Exodus 33, he is so confident in his relationship with God that he begs to see the face of God, and I think that is so cool. The next thing I want to talk about is ancient idioms. The first in here we see is the land flowing with milk and honey. For the ancient, this was an idiom used to describe the wealth of a place. The milk refers to an abundance of livestock, but specifically goats, and for a pastoral nation, this was vital because livestock was the key to survival. Goats, especially, could be used for milk and meat. Honey, on the other hand, referred to an abundance of vegetation, but specifically figs, fig trees provided nutrients and would last for long periods of time. The other idiom in here, in this passage we see, is that Yahweh uses a mighty hand. He says that Pharaoh will not relent unless persuaded by a mighty hand. In the ancient world, pharaoh was known by their mighty hand. This was their authority and power, and God is setting up that he has the mightier hand than Pharaoh. So anytime we see that the Yahweh pulls you out with a mighty hand, that is what he's talking about Now. The next thing I want to talk about is the name of God. I am who I am. Moses asked God who am I? To say that sent me. When the people of Israel ask and God says to him I am who I am Now our first question is usually that's not a name, but I am who I am. In Hebrew is Ea, e'sher, ea. Ea shares the same root as Yahweh. Prior to this moment, god refers to himself as God Almighty or El Shaddai, but now he is giving Moses, the people of Israel and eventually Pharaoh the name in which God of Israel was to be remembered by Yahweh I am who I am. I am who always has been and always will be. In our Bibles, this is typically depicted as Lord in all caps. So when you see Lord in all caps, it is the name of Yahweh in Hebrew. The last thing I want to talk about are the three signs that God gives Moses. God gives Moses these three signs to convince the leaders of Israel that Yahweh actually appeared to him. One staff turns into a snake. Two hand turns into leprosy. Three water to blood. Now I never noticed this before, that these three signs that Moses and Aaron actually do at least four times over the next few chapters, as we will see next time, moses will do these signs for Aaron, for the leaders of Israel and before Pharaoh, before the plagues really start and the Hebrew people will believe Moses, but Pharaoh will harden his heart, just as Yahweh had said. But we can take a minute to appreciate each of these, because I think Moses' reaction is 100% legit. The first sign is a staff into a snake. Moses threw the staff on the ground and it became a snake and he ran from it. Um duh, I would have run too, but when God told him to pick it up by the tail and it became a staff again, can you take a minute to imagine what this would have felt like to have a wiggly, silky, smooth, flexible snake in your hand. And then it transformed in your hand to a still wooden and rigid staff. What would that have been like? But God doesn't stop there. He tells Moses to put his hand in his cloak and when he pulls it out it's white as snow, taking on the disease of leprosy. So let's take a minute and put ourselves in Moses' shoes. Leprosy is the disease that eats at the body, and the people who had leprosy were shunned to the outskirts of society because they were considered unclean or even cursed. But here Moses is, a former prince of the palace of Egypt, now in a desert, talking to Yahweh with a leperous hand. What is he thinking in this moment? But before he could think too much, god tells him to put his hand back in his cloak and it comes out whole again. God tells him to do one more task. If they do not believe the first two signs, he says go down to the Nile and get some water and pour it on the dry ground and it will become blood. This sign should be familiar to you, as it is the first plague. I think it is interesting that God had already set up a sign to tell his people that he is the God of their ancestors and that this would be the sign that he would use to kick off the series of plagues, to convince Pharaoh, on a much larger scale, that he is the supreme God. So now Moses knows that Yahweh has the power over animals, power over disease and over the human body, and now the Nile is the source of all of life in Egypt, and God has power over even the Nile. So each time we get together, we'll talk about how this story points us to Yahweh. In today's story, we obviously know that Yahweh is the one in the fire. He is the one who calls out to Moses, who tells of Moses what he needs to do and how he will be a part of what God is doing. But what I love most is the patience of God. Here Moses has questions, legit ones, and God doesn't roll his eyes and say come on, man, get it together. No, instead, yahweh asks what is in your hand? God gives him the tools to go and do what he is asking him to do. See, moses was so focused on what he could do. He lacked speech and the fact that the Hebrew people didn't want to hear from him, instead of focusing on what God wanted to do, which was tell Pharaoh and the Israel. It's about Yahweh and his mighty power, and I think we find ourselves in similar situations. We forget that Yahweh is the one doing the work, and it doesn't matter so much about our skill set or our lack of resources, because God's power doesn't depend on us. So I want to end our time together, as we always do, by reading the scripture, from which our story comes from today, in Exodus, chapter 3. I hope that as we read this story and we reflect on all that we have learned, that this story will be illuminated for us and we will see it in a new light. Let's read Now. Moses was keeping flock of his father-in-law, jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horib, the mountain of God, and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush. He looked and behold the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed, and Moses said I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, god called out to him from the bush and said Moses, moses. And he said here I am. Then he said do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for the place you are standing is holy ground. And he said I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. But then the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I've heard the cry because of the taskmasters. I know they're suffering and I've come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to the good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Pesarites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. And now, behold the cry of the people of Israel. Have come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, who am I? That I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. And he said but I will be with you and this shall be a sign for you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Then Moses said to God if I come to the people of Israel and say to them the God of your fathers have sent me to you and they asked me what is his name, what then shall I say to them? God said to Moses I am who I am. And he said say this to the people of Israel I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses say this to the people of Israel the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them the Lord, the God of your fathers, of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and Jacob have appeared to me saying I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of this affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Pesarites and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they will listen to your voice and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us and now, please, let us go three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord, our God. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it. After that he will let you go and I will give this people favor in sight of the Egyptians. And when you go you shall not go empty. But each woman shall ask of her neighbor and any woman who lives in her house for silver and gold and jewelry, for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters, so you shall plunder the Egyptians. Then Moses answered. But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say the Lord did not appear to you. The Lord said to him what is that in your hand? And he said a staff. And he said throw it on the ground. So he threw it on the ground and it became a serpent and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses put out your hand and catch it by the tail. So he put out the hands hand and caught it and it became a staff in his hands. That they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you Again. The Lord said to him put your hand inside your cloak. And he put his hand inside his cloak and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said put your hand back inside your cloak. So he put his hand back inside his cloak and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. If they will not believe you, god said or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground. But Moses said to the Lord O, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue. Then the Lord said to him who has made the mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now, therefore, go and I will be your mouth and teach you what to say. But he said O, my Lord, please send someone else. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? Now I know that he can speak. Well, behold, he is coming out to meet you and when he sees you, he will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people and he shall be your mouth and you shall be as God to him and taking your hand, this staff with which you shall do these signs. Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him Please, let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses Go in peace. And the Lord said to Moses and Midian Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead. So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them on a donkey and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took his staff of God in his hands. And the Lord said to Moses when you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the signs I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh. Thus says the Lord Israel is my firstborn son. And I say to you Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son At a lodging place. On the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took the flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said Surely you are a bread-groom of blood to me. So he let him alone. It was then that she said A bread-groom of blood because of the circumcision. The Lord said to Aaron Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went to meet him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. The Moses and Aaron went and gathered all together, all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed. And when they heard the Lord had visited the people of Israel, that they had seen their reflection, they bound their heads and worshipped. Thank you for listening to today's episode of our Ancient Future Story. I hope that you really enjoyed it. This episode was written by me, vic Harman. Music is embarking on an adventure by Evan MacDonald. Please support the show by subscribing and rating us and if you want to know more or grow deeper, check out our website at our ancientfuturestorycom. See you next time. Bye.