#8 – Exodus 3:7-10
The G-d Who Comes to Deliver
Coming Down
The L-RD has more in mind than simply introducing Himself to Moses. He begins to reveal His purpose for this encounter by restating what we learned at the end of Chapter 2. “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings . . . .“[1]
Hearing this, first person, in the L-RD’s very presence no less, answers the question, “Does G-d even know what’s happening to me?” The doubled verb form in Hebrew, “seeing I have seen,” intensifies the reality that yes, He truly is paying attention. He has heard their cry and is aware of the suffering of the enslaved Jewish people.
So . . . G-d knows. But does He care?
“And I have come down[2] to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey . . . .”[3]
This at last is what suffering hearts cry out for – deliverance from on high! Relief is coming! And G-d Himself is going to intervene on their behalf.
But the L-RD is promising more than escape from bondage. He is going to bring the children of Israel to the land [4] He covenanted to give to Abraham and his descendants![5]
Fear factor/Misery Index
The Hebrews back in Egypt still live in a nightmare that seemingly has no end.
Where is G-d?
G-d not only shows up, but communicates clearly to Moses, assuring him help is on the way. But at this juncture only Moses in Midian is aware the L-RD has seen the sufferings of the children of Israel and heard their cries.
But where was G-d when a wicked Pharaoh arose to afflict the Hebrews? [And by extension, where was He when the six million died? Or when the novel coronavirus strikes globally?]
Of course, those who believe in a sovereign, omniscient G-d would affirm He was well aware of the dire circumstances of Abraham’s offspring before He appeared to Moses. He just hadn’t told Moses about His plan as yet.
Or had He?
When the L-RD “cut” the covenant with Abraham back in Genesis 15, He spelled out in some detail what yet lay in store for future generations:
13 Then the L-RD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (Genesis 15:13-15)
What may we learn from this? Our suffering may seem both endless and purposeless. We often don’t have an answer to our “Why, G-d?”
But the passage from Genesis 15, which is quoted every year in the reading of the Passover Haggadah in Jewish homes around the world, should hearten every believer in the G-d of Abraham. We have a “know-for-certain G-d” who has a purpose for His people. And His purposes are always good – even when our circumstances are not.
[1] Exodus 3:7.
[2] The idea that G-d Himself has come down to deliver is reflected in the Passover Haggadah: “The L-RD brought us out of Egypt not by an angel, not by a seraph, not by a messenger, but by the Holy One Himself, blessed is He.”
[3] Exodus 3:8. This is the first of 14 times the Tanakh refers to Canaan as “the land flowing with milk and honey.” The “honey” may come from bees or dates.
[4] In Exodus 3:10 God refers to the Hebrews as “My people, the sons of Israel.” This is the first use of 130 times ami (My people) is found in the Tanakh. In every case but one (Isaiah 19:25, where Egypt is in view in the prophetic future) it refers to the Jewish people.
[5] In case we have forgotten where the Promised Land is, G-d lists seven people groups who inhabited the territory at that time. When compared to the longer list of 10 peoples inhabiting the Land (Genesis 15:19-21), the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, and Rephaim are missing, but in Exodus 3:8 the Hivites are added. This may reflect population shifts since Abraham’s day – or just a shortened list.
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