We can’t get off the hook.

Exodus 3-6 with notes from the Reformation Study Bible.

We aren’t let off the hook when God has a plan for us.  In this section of Exodus, Moses tries to make excuses about why he won’t be successful in doing the thing that God is sending him to do, or why he isn’t qualified.  Moses knows that it won’t be easy, but that the task is necessary.  Much like Christ knew that going to the cross wouldn’t be easy, but that it was necessary, and was reluctant to do it.  Even Christ – or at least the human part of him – pleaded with God to let him off the hook.  But God’s ultimate plan and promise to Israel was fulfilled in part by Moses eventually being obedient and going back to Egypt, just as God’s ultimate plan to redeem his elect was ultimately and finally fulfilled by Christ going to the Cross.

Moses silliest excuse for why he won’t be successful is “Well, God, I don’t know your name, so I can’t tell Pharaoh or Israel who sent me, and since I can’t tell them who sent me, they won’t listen to me.”  God smacks down that objection with “sure you do, tell them I AM sent you… tell them Yahweh sent you.”  I AM and Yahweh are both packed with meanings that point to God’s self-existence and ultimate sovereignty over everything in creation – including Egypt, Israel, Pharaoh, and Moses.  Moses didn’t go to Egypt to demand the freedom of God’s people under his own authority, like when he killed the Egyptian for beating one of the Hebrews, this time he acted with the authority of THE LORD.  Jesus of Nazareth wasn’t just a nice guy that came to earth to shake things up just because he felt like it, he was Jesus the Christ, the anointed one, come under the authority of God the Father to redeem his elect.

Moses was given miraculous signs to show to Pharaoh and Israel to authenticate his God-given authority.  Even after that, Moses still tried to get off the hook and hang the possible success of the whole plan on his own qualifications, and he was indeed utterly unqualified for his task.  He was a stuttering escaped convict, and a coward, that God later raised up to become Israel’s law giver.  Christ also did miracles to authenticate his authority.  But Jesus, unlike Moses, was fully and completely qualified for his task, and despite his fear of it, he did it.

God had a plan, Moses had excuses.  God didn’t let Moses off the hook, so Moses went to Egypt.  God had a plan, Christ had a humanly understandable fear of the cross.  God didn’t let himself of the hook – he didn’t let Jesus Christ (God incarnate) off the hook, so Christ went to the cross.

Once Moses and Aaron arrived in Egypt and had their first conversations with Israel’s elders and with Pharaoh, things didn’t go according to the human plan, even though God had told them what to expect.  God then reassured them that everything would work out just fine.  God has given us his plan and his reassurance in Scripture.  We’ll undoubtedly be much better prepared to face life’s challenges by exploring and endeavoring to understand God’s ultimate plan, and by seeking his reassurance.