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Bible History of the Old Testament |
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No. 35 The Call of Moses - Part 3
(To read Part 1 and Part 2 of this text and about the Birth and Training of Moses in Egypt, go to the Home Page above and then to the Bible History Archives.)
There are two points that yet require a brief explanation at this stage of the narrative. First, it would appear that God told Moses at the very outset that Israel wanted to "go three days' journey into the wilderness", whereas it was intended that Israel should forever leave Egypt. Second, a Divine promise was given to Moses that Israel would "not go empty" from the land, but that God would give them favor in the sight of the Egyptians. He also told Moses that every woman should "borrow of her neighbor" so that they would "spoil the Egyptians".
At the outset of the confrontations, Israel was directed to act in a very dutiful manner towards Pharaoh. He really had no absolute right to detain the people in Egypt, because their fathers had not come to settle, but on a temporary "sojourn", according to Genesis 47:4. It was on that understanding that they had been received to the land many years before that. Now they were not only being wrongfully oppressed, but unrighteously detained. Even with all this, they still were not to leave secretly, or yet to openly rebel against Pharaoh. God had greater plans in the works. Also, God had given Moses great power with the use of his staff, but even this was not to be used at this point to secure their liberty or make up for any past wrongs. God told them to start out their journey using the very opposite approach. They were to appeal to Pharaoh for permission to make a three days' pilgrimage into the wilderness to sacrifice and worship their God. This was really a very reasonable request, because the God of Israel was considered an abomination to the Egyptians, and their worshipping openly in the city could have led to major disturbances. When Moses asked this request of Pharaoh, he could not have asked for anything less demanding. He came to Pharaoh asking in a very nice and humble way the first time, and it would have been very easy for Pharaoh to grant the request and not look at all weak. It had to have been the interference of Jehovah God that caused Jehovah to refuse the first request of Moses. After all, everyone in Egypt had either one god or many gods that they worshipped all the time. When Pharaoh so blatantly refused to let the Israelites go into the desert to worship, it was without a good excuse. God had already told Moses that he would harden the heart of Pharaoh, but it's sure also that his heart was ripe for the judgment of hardening. He was already to the point that it was probably not a very hard thing for him to do. It was probably just more or less a natural process for him because of where his heart was at the time. Who knows what would have happened if Pharaoh had said yes to the request of Moses. Maybe the punishment of Egypt would not have been as severe just because of God's mercy in dealing with man. The demands of God are intended to try what is in us. It was so in the case of Adam's obedience, of Abraham's sacrifice, and now of Pharaoh. This principle of government also appears in the New Testament as Jesus often first told of earthly things, and said that unbelief in them might convince men of their unfitness to hear about heavenly things. An example would be the young ruler in Matthew 19:16, who thought that he should inherit eternal life because he was a good person. Jesus put before him a test, and he failed it. The second direction that Israel was to take was to "borrow jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment," and in this way they would "spoil the Egyptians" (Exodus 3:22). In the Hebrew, the word "borrow" did not mean a loan as we would think of today; it always and only meant "to ask" or "to request". So when the Israelites asked of the Egyptians, they readily granted their requests. The terror of Israel had fallen on the Egyptians, and instead of leaving Egypt as fugitives, they marched out like triumphant victors. They carried out the spoils of Egypt just as an army did that conquered an enemy by fighting and took home the spoils of war. It is also important to notice another point: Moses was the first to bear a Divine commission to others. He was also the first to work miracles. Miracles present to us the union of the Divine and the human. All miracles that were done by Moses pointed forward to the greatest of all miracles - the birth of Jesus. This was the union of the Divine with the human, and was the beginning of a totally new era for mankind. So in these two aspects of his office, as well as in his mission to redeem Israel from bondage and sanctify them unto the Lord, Moses was an eminent type of Christ. For more information from this book, go to the Archives Page at my site www.cathydeaton.com There are other articles of interest there also. This text is taken from the book The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah written by Alfred Edersheim. This book has been used by permission.
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