Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 3:11
And Moses said unto God, Who [am] I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
11 12. Moses’ first difficulty: he is unsuited either to treat with Pharaoh, or to become the leader of his people. Cf. Jdg 6:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Who am I – These words indicate humility (compare Num 12:3), not fear. He feared failure, owing to incompetency, especially in the power of expression.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 3:11
Who am I?
Ministerial timidity
I. It is sometimes occasioned by undue and depreciating thoughts of self.
1. By undue thought of our social position.
2. By undue thought of our intellectual weakness.
3. By undue thought of our moral inability.
II. It is sometimes occasioned by an undue estimation of the difficulties of the work.
1. This may arise from the depressing experiences of youth.
2. This may arise from the removal of friendly aids.
III. It is sometimes occasioned by our not appreciating, as we ought, the divine presence and help.
1. The Divine presence is our guide.
2. The Divine presence is our sustaining influence.
3. The Divine presence is our victory.
IV. It should be removed by the hopes with which it is animated.
1. By the hope of achieving the freedom of a vast nation.
2. By the hope of leading a vast nation into the land of promise. Moses was to lead the Israelites into Canaan:
(1) Fertile.
(2) Abundance.
(3) Beauty.
So, the minister of Christ has to lead men to heaven–this is the hope by which he is animated–and ought to subdue all timidity–and inspire him with holy joy. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Notes
1. God may sometimes be denied by the best of men in their infirmity.
2. The best souls are apt to have the lowest thoughts of themselves for Gods work.
3. Visible difficulties in the Church may dishearten men to work.
4. The power of Egyptian oppressors may startle weak instruments of deliverance.
5. The redemption of men from the house of bondage is a startling fact. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The power of increasing age
1. To change the views.
2. To calm the temper.
3. To humble the soul. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Work greater than self
No wonder that he so inquired. The message seemed to be much greater than the messenger. He works best who magnifies his office. Preachers, and all ministers of good, should see their work to be greater than themselves if they would work at the highest point of energy. Let a man suppose his work to be easy, to be unworthy of his talents, and he will not achieve much success. (J. Parker, D. D.)
A Divine commission
I. Good men often want greater confidence in the service of God.
1. Distrust may arise from an honest conviction of personal unfitness. The most suitable workers are often the most diffident. Great talkers are little workers.
2. Distrust may arise from a false impression of opposing difficulties. Our estimate of what we can accomplish should be measured by our determination and love.
3. Distrust may arise from a positive relapse of religious fervour. Love inspires zeal.
II. Good men often want special encouragement in the service of God.
1. God encourages His servants by the assurance of His presence. He will give–
(1) Strength for every conflict;
(2) Wisdom for every emergency;
(3) Protection from every danger.
2. God encourages His servants by the assurance of ultimate success.
III. Good men often require minute instruction in the service of God. When Moses determined to go to the Israelites, he anticipated the difficulties that would arise. They would want proof of his Divine commission, and he asks, What shall I say unto them?
1. We should inquire of God respecting our secular engagements. Why am I engaged in this work, and not in some other? What is the object for which I work? What is the influence of my work upon my life? What is the spirit in which I work?
2. We should inquire of God respecting our intellectual tendencies. This is an age of intellectual unrest. Old theories are discarded, and old doctrines thrown aside. Am I wandering from the old paths? Am I resting on the true foundation?
3. We should inquire of God respecting our religious progress. Spiritual life necessitates spiritual growth. Our progress may be slow and imperceptible, but it must advance or perish. Are we going forward in the Divine life? Is faith stronger? is love deeper? is zeal more intense?
IV. Good men often received Divine authority for the service of God.
1. What evidence had Moses of his Divine commission? It was attested by a miraculous call.
2. What evidence had the Israelites of his Divine commission? It was attested by a miraculous power. (J. T. Woodhouse.)
Moses self-distrust
These words indicate humility, not fear. Among the grounds which he alleges for his hesitation, in no instance is there any allusion to personal danger; what he feared was failure owing to incompetency, especially in the power of expression. This shrinking from self-assertion is the quality which seems to be specially intimated by the word rendered meek in Num 12:3. (Canon Cook.)
False humility
Some people in studying this passage in the life of Moses will praise his humility. His pleas were all on the ground of personal unworthiness or unfitness for the great work. But let us not be deceived. That humility is not to be commended that shrinks from any duty which God commands. At Baalbec, in a quarry, lies a magnificent block, almost detached and ready for transportation. It was undoubtedly intended to be placed with its fellows in the wall which supported the Temple of the Sun. So large, so grand, it is a failure, because it never filled the place for which it was hewn. Like failures are many human lives. Who can tell how many men lie among the wastes and ruins of life, that God designed to fill grand places, but that, when called, refused to go? They folded their talents away in the napkins of supposed humility, of self-distrust, or of indolence or disobedience, and buried them in the earth. For ever they will lie in the quarries, pale ghosts of glorious might have beens, while the places in Gods temple which they were meant to fill remain for ever vacant. We can only make our lives successful by promptly, joyfully, and unhesitatingly accepting every call of our Master to His service, by putting ourselves utterly into His hands to be used anywhere, in any way, in any work, for any end, as He may direct. (The Westminster Teacher.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. Who am I – that I should bring] He was so satisfied that this was beyond his power, and all the means that he possessed, that he is astonished that even God himself should appoint him to this work! Such indeed was the bondage of the children of Israel, and the power of the people by whom they were enslaved, that had not their deliverance come through supernatural means, their escape had been utterly impossible.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
What a mean, inconsiderable person am I! how unworthy and unfit for that employment! He was more forward in the work forty years ago, by reason of the fervours of his youth, his inexperience in affairs, the advantage of his power and interest in the court, by which he thought he could and should procure their deliverance; but now age had made him cool and considerate; the remembrance of his brethrens rejection of him, when he was a great man at court, took away all probability of prevailing with them to follow him, much more of prevailing with Pharaoh to let them go. Thus Moses falls into that distemper to which most men are prone, of measuring God by himself, and by the probabilities or improbabilities of second causes.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Moses said unto God, who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh,…. A private person, an exile in a foreign country, a poor shepherd, unknown to Pharaoh, and had no interest in him; and he a great king, and possessed of numerous forces to defend his country, and prevent the Israelites’ departure out of it: time was when he was known to a Pharaoh, dwelt in his court, and made a figure there, and had great interest and authority there, being the adopted son of the king’s daughter; but now it was otherwise with him:
and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt: who though a people numerous, yet unarmed, and held in great bondage; and he might remember how he had been repulsed and rejected by some of them forty years ago, which might be discouraging to him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To the divine commission Moses made this reply: “ Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? ” Some time before he had offered himself of his own accord as a deliverer and judge; but now he had learned humility in the school of Midian, and was filled in consequence with distrust of his own power and fitness. The son of Pharaoh’s daughter had become a shepherd, and felt himself too weak to go to Pharaoh. But God met this distrust by the promise, “ I will be with thee, ” which He confirmed by a sign, namely, that when Israel was brought out of Egypt, they should serve ( , i.e., worship) God upon that mountain. This sign, which was to be a pledge to Moses of the success of his mission, was one indeed that required faith itself; but, at the same time, it was a sign adapted to inspire both courage and confidence. God pointed out to him the success of his mission, the certain result of his leading the people out: Israel should serve Him upon the very same mountain in which He had appeared to Moses. As surely as Jehovah had appeared to Moses as the God of his fathers, so surely should Israel serve Him there. The reality of the appearance of God formed the pledge of His announcement, that Israel would there serve its God; and this truth was to till Moses with confidence in the execution of the divine command. The expression “serve God” ( , lxx) means something more than the immolare of the Vulgate, or the “sacrifice” of Luther; for even though sacrifice formed a leading element, or the most important part of the worship of the Israelites, the patriarchs before this had served Jehovah by calling upon His name as well as offering sacrifice. And the service of Israel at Mount Horeb consisted in their entering into covenant with Jehovah (Exo 24); not only in their receiving the law as the covenant nation, but their manifesting obedience by presenting free-will offerings for the building of the tabernacle (Exo 36:1-7; Num 7:1).
(Note: Kurtz follows the Lutheran rendering “ sacrifice,” and understands by it the first national sacrifice; and then, from the significance of the first, which included potentially all the rest, supposes the covenant sacrifice to be intended. But not only is the original text disregarded here, the fact is also overlooked, that Luther himself has translated correctly, to “serve,” in every other place. And it is not sufficient to say, that by the direction of God (Exo 3:18) Moses first of all asked Pharaoh for permission merely to go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to their God (Exo 5:1-3), in consequence of which Pharaoh afterwards offered to allow them to sacrifice (Exo 8:3) within the land, and at a still later period outside (Exo 8:21.). For the fact that Pharaoh merely spoke of sacrificing may be explained on the ground that at first nothing more was asked. But this first demand arose from the desire on the part of God to make known His purposes concerning Israel only step by step, that it might be all the easier for the hard heart of the king to grant what was required. But even if Pharaoh understood nothing more by the expression “serve God” than the offering of sacrifice, this would not justify us in restricting the words which Jehovah addressed to Moses, “When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain,” to the first national offering, or to the covenant sacrifice.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Instructions Given to Moses. | B. C. 1491. |
11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
God, having spoken to Moses, allows him also a liberty of speech, which he here improves; and,
I. He objects his own insufficiency for the service he was called to (v. 11): Who am I? He thinks himself unworthy of the honour, and not par negotio–equal to the task. He thinks he wants courage, and therefore cannot go to Pharaoh, to make a demand which might cost the demandant his head: he thinks he wants skill, and therefore cannot bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt; they are unarmed, undisciplined, quite dispirited, utterly unable to help themselves; it is morally impossible to bring them out. 1. Moses was incomparably the fittest of any man living for this work, eminent for learning, wisdom, experience, valour, faith, holiness; and yet he says, Who am I? Note, The more fit any person is for service commonly the less opinion he has of himself: see Judg. ix. 8, c. 2. The difficulties of the work were indeed very great, enough to startle the courage and stagger the faith of Moses himself. Note, Even wise and faithful instruments may be much discouraged at the difficulties that lie in the way of the church’s salvation. 3. Moses had formerly been very courageous when he slew the Egyptian, but now his heart failed him for good men are not always alike bold and zealous. 4. Yet Moses is the man that does it at last; for God gives grace to the lowly. Modest beginnings are very good presages.
II. God answers this objection, v. 12. 1. He promises him his presence: Certainly I will be with thee, and that is enough. Note, Those that are weak in themselves may yet do wonders, being strong in the Lord and in the power of his might; and those that are most diffident of themselves may be most confident in God. God’s presence puts an honour upon the worthless, wisdom and strength into the weak and foolish, makes the greatest difficulties dwindle to nothing, and is enough to answer all objections. 2. He assures him of success, and that the Israelites should serve God upon this mountain. Note, (1.) Those deliverances are most valuable which open to us a door of liberty to serve God. (2.) If God gives us opportunity and a heart to serve him, it is a happy and encouraging earnest of further favours designed us.
III. He begs instructions for the executing of his commission, and has them, thoroughly to furnish him. He desires to know by what name God would at this time make himself known, v. 13.
1. He supposes the children of Israel would ask him, What is his name? This they would ask either, (1.) To perplex Moses: he foresaw difficulty, not only in dealing with Pharaoh, to make him willing to part with them, but in dealing with them, to make them willing to remove. They would be scrupulous and apt to cavil, would bid him produce his commission, and probably this would be the trial: “Does he know the name of God? Has he the watch-word?” Once he was asked, Who made thee a judge? Then he had not his answer ready, and he would not be nonplussed so again, but would be able to tell in whose name he came. Or, (2.) For their own information. It is to be feared that they had grown very ignorant in Egypt, by reason of their hard bondage, want of teachers, and loss of the sabbath, so that they needed to be told the first principles of the oracles of God. Or this question, What is his name? amounted to an enquiry into the nature of the dispensation they were now to expect: “How will God in it be known to us, and what may we depend upon from him?”
2. He desires instructions what answer to give them: “What shall I say to them? What name shall I vouch to them for the proof of my authority? I must have something great and extraordinary to say to them; what must it be? If I must go, let me have full instructions, that I may not run in vain.” Note, (1.) It highly concerns those who speak to people in the name of God to be well prepared beforehand. (2.) Those who would know what to say must go to God, to the word of his grace and to the throne of his grace, for instructions, Eze 2:7; Eze 3:4; Eze 3:10; Eze 3:17. (3.) Whenever we have any thing to do with God, it is desirable to know, and our duty to consider, what is his name.
IV. God readily gives him full instructions in this matter. Two names God would now be known by:–
1. A name that denotes what he is in himself (v. 14): I am that I am. This explains his name Jehovah, and signifies, (1.) That he is self-existent; he has his being of himself, and has no dependence upon any other: the greatest and best man in the world must say, By the grace of God I am what I am; but God says absolutely–and it is more than any creature, man or angel, can say–I am that I am. Being self-existent, he cannot but be self-sufficient, and therefore all-sufficient, and the inexhaustible fountain of being and bliss. (2.) That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever; he will be what he will be and what he is; see Rev. i. 8. (3.) That we cannot by searching find him out. This is such a name as checks all bold and curious enquiries concerning God, and in effect says, Ask not after my name, seeing it is secret,Jdg 13:18; Pro 30:4. Do we ask what is God? Let it suffice us to know that he is what he is, what he ever was, and ever will be. How little a portion is heard of him! Job xxvi. 14. (4.) That he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature, and not a man that he should lie. Let Israel know this, I AM hath sent me unto you.
2. A name that denotes what he is to his people. Lest that name I AM should amuse and puzzle them, he is further directed to make use of another name of God more familiar and intelligible: The Lord God of your fathers hath sent me unto you (v. 15): Thus God had made himself know to him (v. 6), and thus he must make him known to them, (1.) That he might revive among them the religion of their fathers, which, it is to be feared, was much decayed and almost lost. This was necessary to prepare them for deliverance, Ps. lxxx. 19. (2.) That he might raise their expectations of the speedy performance of the promises made unto their fathers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are particularly named, because with Abraham the covenant was first made, and with Isaac and Jacob often expressly renewed; and these three were distinguished from their brethren, and chosen to be the trustees of the covenant, when their brethren were rejected. God will have this to be his name for ever, and it has been, is, and will be, his name, by which his worshippers know him, and distinguish him from all false gods; see 1 Kings xviii. 36. Note, God’s covenant-relation to his people is what he will be ever mindful of, what he glories in, and what he will have us never forget, but give him the glory of: if he will have this to be his memorial unto all generations, we have all the reason in the world to make it so with us, for it is a precious memorial.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 11, 12:
The 40 years in the desert had humbled Moses. When he fled Egypt, he was quick to set himself forward as Israel’s “deliverer,” Acts 7:25. His brethren misunderstood him, and rejected his efforts. The reason: Moses was filled with pride and selfish ambition. He was not ready for a leadership role. He must learn the lessons of humility and service. This was accomplished during the forty years’ training session in the desert, under the authority of his father-in-law.
Moses was at this time eighty years old. He had been isolated from his brethren for forty years. During that time he had not achieved any fame of recognition as a leader. He was fully aware of his own inadequacy. He knew he could of himself do nothing.
This is the primary element of successful spiritual leadership. One must first recognize his own inadequacy in the flesh. Until he does this, he will never allow the Spirit of God to work through him.
“Certainly I will be with thee,” is literally “since I will be with thee.” God assured Moses that he would not be unfit for leadership, since He Himself would be with him to give him all the qualities necessary for his mission.
God promised to Moses a “sign” of His Presence, one that appealed to faith only. Long ago Moses had “by faith” made a choice to identify with God’s people Israel rather than Egypt (Heb 11:24, 25). Now this faith must look to the future when he would lead Israel to worship on “this mount,” Sinai. When he would stand there, this would be the sign to confirm God’s presence with him.
God confirms His presence with His people today with signs future, as well as those past. Faith takes hold of these future signs with as much confidence as those in the present and the past.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. Who am I? He cannot yet be accused of disobedience, because, conscious of his own weakness, he answers that he is not sufficient for it, and therefore refuses the commission. His comparison of himself with Pharaoh was an additional pretext for declining it. This, then, seems to be the excuse of modesty and humility; and as such, I conceive it not only to be free from blame, but worthy of praise. It is no contradiction to this that he knew God to be the proposer of this very arduous task, for he wonders that some one else was not rather chosen, since God has so many thousands of beings at command. But another question arises, why he, who forty years ago had been so forward in killing the Egyptian, and, relying on the vocation of God, had dared to perform so perilous a deed, should now timidly deny his sufficiency for the deliverance of the people? It does not seem probable that his rigor had decreased from age; though youth is naturally ardent, and age induces coldness and supineness: but it appears that his fault was of another kind, viz., that he advanced hastily at first, not having sufficiently considered his own powers, nor weighed the greatness of his undertaking. For although such precipitation may be praiseworthy, still it often fails in the middle of its course; just as precocious fruits either never arrive at maturity, or soon perish. Therefore, although Moses afforded an example of a noble disposition, when he so hastily devoted himself to God’s work; yet was he not then provided with that firmness which would support him to the end, because the faith, which prevailed in his heart, had not yet struck its roots deeply enough, nor had he thoroughly examined his own capability. Therefore does he tremble when he is brought to the point, though he had been more confident when its difficulty was as yet unconsidered. So daily do we, who appear to ourselves of good courage (42) when out of the reach of darts, begin to quake as the battle comes near us; because we perceive the dangers which did not affect us at a distance. No wonder, then, if Moses, who had been ready to obey forty years ago, and who had perseveringly cherished in himself this holy feeling, is filled with new alarm, when he is commanded to enter on the field of battle.
(42) “Courageux comme lions;” as bold as lions. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 3:11-12
MINISTERIAL TIMIDITY
I. It is sometimes occasioned by undue and depreciating thoughts of self. (Exo. 3:11.) By undue thought of our social position. Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh? Moses might imagine the need of social position, in order to obtain an interview with the King. Some of the best ministers of the gospel have come from the most humble scenes of social life. There are times in ministerial labour when good social position may aid the mission of truth and freedombut it is not an absolute necessity. Men from the lower ranks of humanity may do as much to subdue the tyranny of a king, as the most refined aristocrat of the realm. A man of great soul, independent of social standing, may successfully accomplish a campaign against moral evil.
2. By undue thought of our intellectual weakness. Who am I? True, Moses was well educatedstill his mental discipline would hardly appear to him as equal to the present crisis and undertaking. He would have to fall back upon his knowledge of the Egyptian court, and upon other matters, of important bearing on his mission. So, may ministers of to-day feel their inability to combat the errorscepticismand refined sin of the agethrough their lack of brain power. They have not had the advantages in their early days that even Moses had. Of what little information they possess, they make the best possible use. It requires a well disciplined mind to go to the Pharaohs of the world, and to demand efficiently the moral freedom of their slaves.
3. By undue thought of our moral inability. A man requires not only a strong mindbut much more, a strong soulof devout impulselarge sympathyand strong determination, to perform such a commission as that now given to Moses. Equally so, with the minister of Christ. And, when the true preacher looks into his heart in moments of depression, he feels his lack of great moral qualitiesand cries, Who am I, &c.
II. That it is sometimes occasioned by an undue estimation of the difficulties of the work.
1. This may arise from the depressing experiences of youth. When youngliving in the palaces of PharaohMoses had striven to interrupt a quarrel between two Hebrews by referring them to the fact of their common brotherhood and sufferinghe had been repulsed. No doubt a remembrance of this fact now lingered within his mindas there are certain experiences that never leave usthey become the constant, and great educational influences of our souls. This reminiscence would give Moses to feel the difficulty of the task now imposed upon him. So, with ministers of the Gospelit may be that the experiences of boyhood and younger manhood, have introduced an element of difficulty, perplexity, into their toil, that they almost shrink from the call.
2. This may arise from the removal of friendly aids. Moses once had friends in the court of Pharaohhe was the adopted son of the Kings daughterhad he retained her friendshipit might have been of use to him now; but he had lost it by flight. So, it sometimes happens that ministers often lose earthly, accidental friendships, aids to the achievement of their mission, and hence their timidity as to its issue.
III. That it is sometimes occasioned by our not appreciating, as we ought, the Divine Presence and help.
1. The Divine Presence is our Guide. God would teachguide Moses as to the best methods of approach to Pharaoh. So, the same Jehovah will equally guide all true ministers who are seeking the moral freedom of men. This guidance makes up for any scholastic deficiencyis our truest help.
2. The Divine Presence is our sustaining influence. It would sustain Moses under his memory of youthful failure to subdue the quarrel of the two Israelites. It would sustain him in the performance of all arduous toilsin the event of sufferingrebuff, either from Pharaohhis courtiersor his bondmen. So, the Divine Presence sustains the minister of Christunder the bitter memories of past failuremisdirected effortwanderingslonelinessand opposition, from whatever source. But for this he would be unequal to the task for an hour.
3. The Divine Presence is our victory. It gave Moses an insight into the future history of Pharaohit enabled him to work miraclesit empowered his moral naturerendered it superior to the conflict. So, with the minister of truththough he cannot work miraclesthe Divine Presence is the pledge of moral conviction in the minds of othersand of final victory.
IV. It should be removed by the hopes with which it is animated.
1. By the hope of achieving the freedom of a vast nation. Moses was to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. So, it is the hope of the gospel ministry to bring the universe from under the reign of sinto freedomhappinesshopewhat a sublime anticipation!
2. By the hope of leading a vast nation into the land of promise. Moses was to lead the Israelites into Canaan: (i.) Fertile. (ii.) Abundance. (iii.) Beauty. So, the minister of Christ has to lead men to heaventhis is the hope by which he is animatedand ought to subdue all timidityand inspire him with holy joy.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 3:11. The man who in youth slew the Egyptian, and was willing to undertake the emancipation of his nation, now modestly shrinks from the task.
The power of increasing age
1. To change the views.
2. To calm the temper.
3. To humble the soul.
No wonder that he so inquired. The message seemed to be much greater than the messenger. He works best who magnifies his office. Preachers, and all ministers of good, should see their work to be greater than themselves if they would work at the highest point of energy. Let a man suppose his work to be easy, to be unworthy of his talents, and he will not achieve much success [City Temple].
It is far better to partake of the spirit of Moses as manifested in this verse, than to too rashly seek the dignity and position of ministerial work.
Worth is modest: the proud man asketh, who am I not? [Trapp].
God may sometimes be denied by the best of men in their infirmity.
The best souls are apt to have the lowest thoughts of themselves for Gods work.
Visible difficulties in the Church may dishearten men to work.
The power of Egyptian oppressors may startle weak instruments of deliverance.
The redemption of men from the house of bondage is a startling fact.
Exo. 3:12. Certainly I will be with thee. The Divine companionship realised by the good in the service of the Christian life:
I. It was considerate. Never did Moses more need the Divine companionship than in this exigency of toil. The work is greathe feels his inability for itit is at the time of his weakness that the Divine companionship is promised. This promise will stand true for Christian workers during all time.
II. It was emphatic. Certainly. The promisein tonemannercould leave no doubt on the mind of Moses as to the likelihood of its fulfilment. Its emphasis satisfied his utmost requirementleft no room for doubt. So, now the promise of the Divine companionship is emphaticbecoming even more so by the accumulating experiences of the good.
III. It was sympathetic. With thee. Not I will follow theenot I will go before theenot I will be near theebut with theeas a companion to cheer thy soul; as a friendto give thee counsel; as a Godto make thee victorious. How can a mission fail when God is with the worker. How refreshing to a timid soul is the sympathy of Heaven. Our sufficiency is of God.
THE GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS
I. Certainly I will be with thee. Then man is servant, not master. He should know his place, or he can never keep it. As servant
1. He should consult his master.
2. Speak in the name of his master.
3. Be jealous of the honour of his master.
II. Certainly I will be with thee. Then the work must succeed. The guarantee of success:
1. Not human cleverness.
2. Not skilful organisation.
3. But the word of the Lord. My word shall not return unto Me void.
III. Certainly I will be with thee. Then the servant is to be received for the masters sake. He that receiveth you, receiveth me. The Romans were to receive Phebe in the Lord.
IV. Certainly I will be with thee. Then there need be no lack of grace or power. I any man lack wisdom, &c. Lo, I am with you alway. God is with His servants for,
1. Their comfort.
2. Justice.
3. Safety [City Temple].
This shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee. Tokens that a minister is Divinely commissioned:
1. That he reflects the light of heavenly vision.
2. That he is conscious, and his life gives evidence, of Divine companionship.
3. That he seeks to proclaim the name of God, as connected with the moral freedom of men.
4. That some amount of spiritual success attends his labours.
5. Sometimes special evidences of favour given in answer to prayer.
We render the highest honour to God when, relying on His proffered aid, we seek no ground of confidence out of Himself, when in the deep sense of our own impotence we count it enough that He is with us and for us [Bush].
God is not moved from His purpose by the objections of men.
To all human appearance Moses is to undertake the responsibility of this mission, whereas he is only a secondary agent. God is invisible. Gods goodness satisfieth the plea of His unwilling instruments for His work.
Gods presence is always with those who are engaged in His redemptive work.
God will answer the objection, and solve the difficulties of His workers.
Redemption promised by God will surely be performed.
The worship and service of God is the great end of His peoples freedom.
The true worship of God in the place appointed by Him is the best return for deliverance.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Exo. 3:12. There is an excellent story of a young man that was at sea in a mighty, raging tempest, and when all the passengers were at their wits end for fear, he only was merry; and when he was asked the reason of his mirth, he answered that the pilot of the ship was his father, and he knew that his father would have a care of him. The great and wise God, who is our Father, hath from all eternity decreed what shall be the issues of all wars, what the event of all troubles. He is our pilot, He sits at the stern; and though the ship of the Church or State be in a sinking condition, yet be of good comfort, our pilot will have a care of us. There is nothing done in the lower House of Parliament on earth but what is first decreed in the higher house in heaven. All the lesser wheels are ordered and overruled by the upper. Are not five sparrows, saith Christ sold for a farthing? One sparrow is not worth half a farthing, and there is no man shall have half a farthings worth of harm more than God hath decreed from all eternity [Calamys Sermon].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(11) Who am I, that I should go?The men most fit for great missions are apt to deem themselves unfit. When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, his reply was, O Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child ( Jer. 1:6). St. Ambrose fought hard to escape being made Archbishop of Milan. Augustine was loth to undertake the mission to England. Anselm was with difficulty persuaded to accept the headship of our Church in the evil days of Rufus. The first impression of a fit man selected for a high post generally is, Who am I? In Mosess case, though there were some manifest grounds of fitnesse.g., his Egyptian training and learning, his familiarity with the court. his knowledge of both nations and both languagesyet, on the other hand, there were certain very marked (apparent) disqualifications. Forty years of exile, and of a shepherds life had at once unfitted him for dealing with a court, and made him a stranger to his brethren. Want of eloquence seemed to be a fatal defect in one who must work mainly by persuasion. Even his age (eighty) might well have seemed to him unsuitable.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Who am I Forty years before he had been all ready in his youthful confidence, but the work that God had for him has been rising before him in its vastness, till now it overwhelms him . So Isaiah, when he had seen Jehovah and received his commission, cried, “Woe is me!” So Paul cried, “Who is sufficient for these things!”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Emphatic Commission
v. 11. And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? v. 12. And He said, Certainly I will be with thee, v. 13. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say unto me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them? v. 14. And God said unto Moses, I am that I am; and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. v. 15. And God said, moreover, unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name forever and ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations. v. 16. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, v. 17. and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction, v. 18. And they shall hearken to thy voice; and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Exo 3:11. Moses saidWho am I, &c. Conscious of his own unworthiness and incapacity for so great a service, and apprehensive of his little influence with the court of Egypt; Moses here modestly declines the undertaking: upon which, God assures him of his immediate succour and assistance; and fortifies him with the encouraging declaration, that nothing should harm him, for that he himself would be with him; certainly I will be with thee. See Gen 26:3; Gen 28:15. Jos 1:5.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
See Exo 6:12 & Jer 1:6
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who [am] I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Ver. 11. Who am I? ] Worth is modest: the proud man asketh, Who am I not? , Curi Maioris sepulchro inscriptum refert Arrianus. Worth with modesty is ; nothing is so amiable.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Who am I. ? Figure of speech Erotesis, in expostulation (App-6) for emphasis. Occupation with self is the cause of all distrust. Note these four instances. Compare Exo 4:1, Exo 4:10-12, Exo 4:13. Very different from the Moses of Exo 2:11-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Exo 4:10-13, Exo 6:12, 1Sa 18:18, 2Sa 7:18, 1Ki 3:7, 1Ki 3:9, Isa 6:5-8, Jer 1:6, Act 7:23-25, 2Co 2:16, 2Co 3:5
Reciprocal: Exo 6:26 – Bring Num 11:26 – went not out Jdg 6:15 – wherewith 1Sa 16:2 – How can I go 2Ch 2:6 – who am I then Pro 25:6 – in the presence 2Co 12:9 – My grace
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The hour had struck for God to act but Moses, who forty years before had been so forward, now shrinks backward. God had declared that He would send him, and He never sends any servant without bestowing adequate power for the carrying out of the mission on which he is sent. But for the moment Moses had his eye upon himself and not upon God. His language is “Who am I, that I should go?” During his many years in Midian he had forsaken all thoughts of his own greatness, which was good; but now he had passed to the other extreme and occupied with himself, was obsessed with the conviction of his own littleness. He had yet to learn that it is the way of God to take up and use just those who are little in their own eyes. Their littleness makes room for God to display His own power.
Hence the assurance God gave “Certainly I will be with thee.” This of course guaranteed everything, but Moses was slow to believe it, hence God condescended to give him a token. When God made promise to Abraham, He took account of the frailty of our faith and confirmed His counsel by an oath, as we are reminded in Heb 6:17. With Moses He did not confirm His word by an oath, but by a token, which was fulfilled as we find later in this Book. But Moses had to accept the commission God was giving him and carry it out before the token came to pass; hence the assurance just given to him did not suffice to revive his confidence in undertaking the task.
So in verse Exo 3:13 we find him raising a great question by way of further objection to what was proposed. The children of Israel had been in a land of idolatry for several centuries, and therefore knew well the names of the false Egyptian deities. Moses was to approach them in the name of the God of their fathers, but, confused in their minds by all that surrounded them, they would be sure to ask, What is His name?
This led to a fresh disclosure on God’s part. He made Himself known as the great “I AM” – the One self-existent, ever-existent, unchanging; and therefore ever true to what He is in Himself. Israel were to prove themselves to be an unstable yet stiff-necked people, so had it not been “I AM” with whom they had to do, they would soon have disappeared in judgment. God bore long with them and will ultimately achieve all His purpose concerning them, because He is ever true to Himself. We do well to remind ourselves that though we now know God in a far more intimate way, as He has been revealed in Christ, yet we do not lose the value of these earlier revelations. The One whom we know as Father is still the “I AM” to us, as much as He was to Moses and the children of Israel.
This fact is expressly stated in verse Exo 3:15. Looking backward, the “I AM” is “Jehovah God of your fathers.” Looking forward, He declares it to be His name for ever and His memorial to all generations. Evidently then this great name carried the revelation of God to a climax, as far as the Old Testament is concerned. Verse Exo 3:3 of chapter 6 may be consulted at this point. He had been known to the patriarchs as God Almighty, He had been mentioned as the Most High, but “Jehovah” carries within itself a fulness of meaning not found in these. The actual name, Jehovah, was known to the patriarchs, yet they did not understand its full import, which was now to come to light through Moses. Having come to light, it stands good for ever.
Having revealed Himself, and thereby answered Moses’ question, God instructed him as to how he should approach the elders of Israel, and then with them approach Pharaoh. To the elders he was to declare God’s remembrance of the fathers and His notice and concern regarding all that Egypt had done to them, together with His promise to bring them out, and then into the land flowing with milk and honey. Then to the king they were all to go with the request from Jehovah God of the Hebrews that they be let go three days’ journey into the wilderness so that, free of the pollutions of Egypt, they might sacrifice to Him.
At the same time Moses was to be under no illusion as to the way the king would react to this request, so the last four verses of the chapter predict what would happen. As to Pharaoh he would powerfully and stubbornly resist. But Jehovah would stretch out His hand in wonders, smiting in judgment, so that the king’s “mighty hand” would lose its might and he would release them. And God would do this in such a way that the common people of Egypt would be glad to see them go. The children of Israel would be able to ask great favours of them and go out enriched. Thus these four verses give a prophecy which we see fulfilled as we read the next ten or eleven chapters.
Unbelievers have seized upon the word “borrow” in verse Exo 3:22, and raised the objection that it represents God as telling the people to practise deceit by pretending to borrow what they never intended to repay. The word occurs again in Exo 11:2 and Exo 12:35. But the word really is “ask,” and is so translated in Darby’s version. The people had been but slaves, working for a mere subsistence. The position was to be entirely reversed, and their former masters would fear them and give them what they asked. All they could carry out of Egypt would be a mere fraction of what was really due to them.
Moses was still not satisfied, and raised a third objection. The people would not listen to him nor believe the Lord had appeared to him. This we see in Exo 4:1. He knew they were incredulous by nature. The Lord knew it too, and hence He did not rebuke Moses but rather gave him three miraculous signs, by which he might convince the people of the reality of his mission. Two of the signs were then and there performed on Moses himself.
The first sign we have in verses Exo 3:2-5. A rod is the symbol of authority. Cast to the ground, and thus debased, it becomes thoroughly evil, and even satanic, so that a man may flee from before it. But Moses seized the serpent by the tail, as he was commanded, and it became again a rod in his hand. The bearing of this is plain. In Egypt power was debased and satanic. As ordered by God, Moses was to seize it, when the authority, rescued from Satan would be in his hands. We live in a day when satanic power is increasingly in evidence. But as Christians we have no command to seize the serpent by the tail. If we attempt to do it before the time, we shall only get bitten in the process. That action is reserved for the One of whom Moses serves as a type. He will do it finally and gloriously at His second advent.
A second sign is given in verses Exo 3:6-7. It deals, not with outward power like the first, but with inward defilement. Moses was to put his hand into his bosom and it came out leprous and defiled. It was not a case of his hand defiling his heart but of his heart defiling his hand. Here we have in picture what our Lord taught in His words, recorded in Mar 7:21-23. Then as commanded, Moses put his defiled hand to his heart again, and it was restored whole as the other. A sign this, that cleansing must begin in the heart, which is unseen. Only thus can the hand, which is seen, be cleansed.
The significance of these signs would not have been apparent to the people, and may not have been to Moses, but at least they would be evidence that the power of God was with him. But if even these two failed to bring full conviction, a third was enjoined. He was to take some water out of the Nile and pour it out, when it should become blood – a preliminary sample of the first plague that fell upon Egypt. This was a sign of simple judgment. The river Nile was the natural source of Egypt’s fertility and prosperity. The earthly fount of their life should become death; their blessing should be made a curse.
We may remark that the record of Moses giving the people these signs is only found in verse 28, and there attributed to Aaron, who was acting as the deputy of Moses.
But even these signs did not remove the objections in the mind of Moses, and so in verse Exo 3:10 we find him uttering a fourth, based upon his lack of ability in speech, as if the message of God needed human eloquence in order to make it effective. When we remember the statement of Stephen, referring to the time when he was still acknowledged as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, that he was “mighty in words,” whereas he now pleads, “I am not eloquent, neither heretofore…” we are left wondering. But, knowing something of human nature in ourselves, we think it was not that he had really lost his powers of mighty speech, but that while the forty years of discipline in the desert had completely broken his self-confidence, he had also become self-occupied, and thus so unwilling to answer to the call and commission of God.
Therefore what he needed was to become so God-conscious that he might lose sight of himself altogether. Hence the words of the Lord to him, as recorded in verses Exo 3:11-12. The mouth of Moses was to be simply like an instrument upon which the Lord would play, and whether Moses could play well upon it, or could not, was immaterial. This is a lesson which every servant of God needs to learn. The Apostle Paul had learnt it, as we see in 1Co 2:1, and again in 2Co 4:2; 2Co 4:7.
Once more, and for the fifth time, Moses wished to decline the honour of this commission from the Lord, as we see in verse Exo 3:13. The man, who once ran unsent, now shrinks from running at the command of God, and with the assurance of His accompanying power! But this is just how the flesh acts in every one of us, though any service that the Lord may entrust to us is so minute as compared with his. Such shrinking back may have the appearance of humility but it really springs from self-occupation, and in the last analysis we find that the self-occupation is produced not by humility but by pride.
Now of all things pride is most distasteful to God, so “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.” In result part of the honour and activity of this great commission was to be transferred to Aaron, who should be the spokesman. Moses however was to be to him “instead of God;” that is, the Lord would still deal direct with Moses and Aaron would get all his directions through him. The rod that Moses had had in his hand was now, as it were, given back to him from the hand of God, as a sign of the authority with which he was vested. The subsequent history shows the fulfilment of all this. Again and again we read, “The Lord said unto Moses;” and at critical moments the rod appeared in his hand.
At last Moses is prepared to obey. His way is opened in peace to return to Egypt with the rod – now called “the rod of God” – in his hand. But while now clothed with authority he needed to know just exactly what he had to face. God would give him the words, but in spite of the words backed with mighty deeds, Pharaoh would resist and God would harden his heart. Here we might read Exo 9:16, which is quoted in Rom 9:17. This Pharaoh, whatever his name may have been as recorded in secular history, was evidently brought to the throne in some unusual way by the over-ruling hand of God, and had already pitted himself against the Almighty in such a way that the moment had now come for him to be abased in signal fashion. God would now harden his heart and thus seal his doom. We are to see in him what presently was seen in Nebuchadnezzar, “those that walk in pride He is able to abase” (Dan 4:37).
The situation is graphically summed up in verses Exo 3:22-22. God adopted Israel as His son, His firstborn, and demanded that he be released. If Pharaoh would not let him go, he would have his own son his firstborn, slain. The preliminary judgments are passed over in silence. The ultimate judgment is threatened, and in Exo 12:1-51 we find it fulfilled.
The episode recorded in verses 24-26 is explained when we observe that God was interfering on Israel’s behalf under the covenant He had made with Abraham, as recorded in Gen 17:1-14. Of that covenant circumcision was the token or sign, and it was definitely stated by God that if circumcision was not observed death was to be the penalty. Here was Moses, chosen to be the chief actor in Israel’s deliverance under that covenant, and he had not obeyed the sign! As the responsible person he was subject to the death penalty! It would appear that Zipporah, his wife, knowing nothing of the covenant, objected, but at last gave in and acted herself, though with annoyance. He was a husband of blood to her.
Just here the firstborn comes much into view. Israel is owned as God’s firstborn. If Pharaoh refused to acknowledge this, God would slay his firstborn. And now the sentence of death has to come figuratively upon the firstborn of Moses. Had it not, death itself would have fallen on Moses at the hand of God. The significance of the rite of circumcision comes clearly into view here. It was the sign of death put upon the flesh. This meaning is corroborated by what the Apostle Paul wrote in Php 3:3, “We are the circumcision, which… have no confidence in the flesh.”
Circumcision accepted by Moses, we see in the last five verses of the chapter that the hand of God was with him, and everything moved with smoothness and precision. The Lord instructed Aaron, who obeyed and met him. Together they entered Egypt, consulted the elders of Israelwho believed and worshipped. This Moses, who had been rejected forty years before, was now accepted as their God-appointed leader. He was sent “a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel which appeared to him in the bush” (Act 7:35).
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
The Deliverer
Exo 3:11-22
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We continue a study concerning Israel in Egypt and God’s great deliverance which He wrought through Moses. We wish to refer you to the 9th verse of our Scripture: “Now therefore, behold, the cry of the Children of Israel is come unto Me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.”
There are two outstanding facts before us. The first is a statement concerning Israel, God’s chosen people, and the second is a statement concerning the Egyptians who oppressed them. Let us center our thoughts around the two statements, “Behold, the cry,” and, “I have seen also the oppression.”
1. “Behold, the cry of the Children of Israel.” Israel had been for many decades in soul sorrow. No doubt, they felt altogether forgotten and despised by the Almighty. The lesson for us is that we should trust when we cannot see. May we bring before you a twofold application of this cry of Israel.
(1) God sees and knows our afflictions.
There is never a burden which comes to us that God does not see it. There is never a sob that falls from the trembling lip that He does not hear it.
(2) God hears and gives attention to our prayers. To Israel He said, “I * * have heard.” To Moses He said, “I * * have seen.” Thank God that prayer reaches the throne! Thank God that prayer is heard! Has not God told us that whatsoever ye ask the Father “in My Name, that will I do”?
Many volumes have been written on remarkable answers to prayer. When Christians grasp the hand of God they will grasp the power that rules the rod.
2. “I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.” These words bring before us the thought of the sympathetic Christ. They also suggest to us the responsive Christ. Jesus does not only see and know, but He cares. His hand is just as ready to help us, as His ear is ready to hear us. His grace is always sufficient.
What would we do in the hour of trial and in the time of testing if we did not have a Living Christ? The Bible describes the Lord Jesus as a great High Priest. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. That He cares for us, we know.
He’s near me when the storm-clouds lower,
He holds my hand when days are drear;
He never leaves, when shadows deepen,
He strengthens me with words of cheer;
I love to feel His arm around me,
And know that He’s my very own;
No power of men can e’er confound me,
He guides me from His heav’nly throne.
Then there is the dispensational message. This cry of the Children of Israel brings before us that final, last, excruciating sorrow of God’s chosen race into which they are now hastening. Pharaoh’s tyranny is but prophetic of the tyranny of the Antichrist. The coming of Moses as a deliverer is no more than the foregleam of God’s coming to rescue His people during the Great Tribulation when Christ comes from Heaven to save them.
I. A CALL TO SERVICE (Exo 3:10)
Unto Moses God said, “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the Children of Israel out of Egypt.”
1. We have before us a man sent of God. Moses had been chosen of God from before the day that his mother hid him in the ark of bulrushes. During the eighty years of Moses’ life up to this hour God’s eye had ever been upon him. Now, we behold, as God commissions him to go forth as Israel’s deliverer. It is most interesting when we read of John the Baptist: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.” Thus in every age God has had chosen men for special missions.
Enoch was sent of God to bear testimony to the world concerning the approaching flood. Noah was sent of God to give God’s call to the people to enter the ark of safety. Abraham and the patriarchs were sent of God to bear testimony to the nations among whom they sojourned. The Prophets were sent of God. They rose up early and stayed up late with their hands outstretched to the Children of Israel. The Apostles were sent to carry God’s Name and to give His testimony to every creature.
We who are living at the end of the age are sent of God. It seems to us that of all others our commission is perhaps the most important, because we are called to serve the strategic moment immediately preceding the Lord’s Second Advent.
2. We have before us a man sent to suffer and to save. This was the commission to Moses. This is God’s commission to us. Christ Jesus Himself came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. He put the sheep on His shoulders, the sheep that was lost upon the mountains. We, too, are sent with a message of redemption. We are sent to save. We are sent to bring men to God.
II. A CONFESSION OF INABILITY (Exo 3:11)
“And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the Children of Israel out of Egypt?”
1. Who am I? We can remember the time forty years prior to this hour when Moses evidently thought a good deal of himself. Uncommissioned, and in his own strength and power, he had endeavored to put himself forth as the deliverer of his race. He went in his own strength and he utterly failed. Now, he stands before the Almighty in his maturity. He was not old, although he was eighty. He was not old because he served forty years after the date of this call and died at about one hundred and twenty. What, then, do we have? We have a man in the prime of his physical strength, crying out unto the Almighty, and saying, “Who am I?” We have a man doubting his own. strength, and confessing his own inability.
2. Who am I that I should go? Moses may have felt content in the home of Jethro. He now was established with his wife and sons. He did not like to pick up and move out into new paths; he did not care to return to that land from whence he had come. Sometimes we do not wish to have our nests stirred. We do not wish to go.
3. Who am I that I should go and bring? The greatness of the Divinely commanded task overwhelmed Moses. In after years he confessed to God he could not alone bear so great a burden. With the task confronting him of bringing a million and more people out of Egypt, out from the power of Pharaoh, out from the tyranny of the Egyptians, Moses trembled and pleaded his own utter weakness. I suppose most of us feel the same way, as we face the tremendous issues which He before us, and the important tasks which God lays upon us.
III. THE PROMISE OF AID (Exo 3:12)
And God said, “Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.”
1. The promise, “I will be with thee.” God seemed to be saying to Moses, “I will put My omnipotency by the side of thy impotency. I will wed My strength to thy weakness. My almightiness shall superabound over thy nothingness.” As we see it, the very fact that Moses was weak made him strong. Let us remember that God has taught us, just as He taught Moses. Moses was commanded to go to Egypt and to Pharaoh. The Church is commanded to go into all the world, to every creature. To Moses God said, “I will be with thee.” To us and to the Church, God says, “And, lo, I am with thee alway, even unto the end of the world.” If God is with us we need not fear. All power is His.
2. The promise: “Ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” Here is a blessed assurance and a glorious consummation in anticipation. God did not ask Moses to embark on a problematical task. He did not ask Moses to undertake something which could never be completed. God told Moses that his service would be successful, that his undertaking should reach accomplishment.
Does not God tell us as much? Are we not sure that the One who has called us, will see us through? Of Christ it was written, “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth.”
Has not God said unto us what He said unto Jacob, “I am with thee, * * I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of”? It is a wonderful thing in the games when the runner knows that he will win the race, or the wrestler is assured that he will attain victory. We so run, and so also do we fight, not as uncertainly. We know that in Christ we shall prevail.
IV. THE NAME OF GOD (Exo 3:13-14)
1. The name which Moses gave to God. “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the Children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them?” Moses, in asking God His Name, himself, gave a name to His God. He called Him the “God of your fathers.” How significant was that name!
How our own hearts are stirred and thrilled with the fact that the God we serve is the God whom our fathers served, that the God who wrought of old is the same God who works through us!
2. The name which God gave to Moses. God said unto Moses, “I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel, “I AM hath sent me unto you.” This name is most meaningful. Moses had called God “the God of your fathers.” God told Moses that He was the Eternal I Am. In other words, that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the same God who now came forth to deliver. God, however, gave a further meaning to His name, “I Am.”
Let me quote for you Exo 3:15 : “And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; hath sent me unto you: this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.” Thus the name “I Am” proclaimed God the same in the ages past, and the same forever. In other words, the God who led the Children of Israel, is the God who leads us.
From everlasting, Lord art Thou,
To everlasting Thou shalt be;
Thou dwellest in eternal now,
Thou great, supernal One in Three.
V. OUT OF EGYPT AND INTO CANAAN (Exo 3:17)
In our verse God said concerning Israel, “I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, * * unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” Two things are before us:
1. There is an outcoming. We are all come-outers. God saved Israel out of Egypt. He saves us out of Egypt, that is, out of the world. Let us stop just a moment to consider that from which we came out when we were saved.
We came out of sin.
We came out of self.
We came out from sorrow.
We came out from Satan’s sway.
We came out of suffering.
Thank God we are out, and by God’s grace we will stay out!
“Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of my sickness into Thy health,
Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thy self,
Jesus, I come to Thee.”
2. There is an incoming. God did not only promise to take Israel out of Egypt, but He promised to lead Israel unto, and into the land of Canaan. We remember in the days of our boyhood that we preached a sermon on Canaan which was alliterated something like this:
The Presence of Peace.
The Partaking of Plenty.
The Practice of Power
The Place of Purity.
We had five of them, but we can only remember four. We used to tell the people that when Israel entered Canaan they entered into these five marks of blessings. Is this not true of us? God not only saved us out of our penury, but He led us into His plenty. He not only took us out of our sorrows, but He led us into His peace. He not only delivered us out of our weakness, but He placed us in the center of His power. Remember also, that beyond all of this, there is paradise, into which God will certainly bring us by and by.
VI. THE WILDERNESS WORSHIP (Exo 3:18)
1. The three days’ journey. This was the distance they were to go out of Egypt. Everybody knows what a three days’ journey means. It is a journey down into the valley of death, into the grave, but up into a resurrection experience. The three days stand for the three days Christ’s body lay in the tomb. The three days in which Christ descended into Hades. The three days which ended with the rolling away of the stone, and with the statement, “He is not here: but He is risen.” When we are saved we should go no less a journey with our Lord than the journey of death, burial, and resurrection.
2. The journey into the wilderness. You may say that you thought the journey was into Canaan. That is true. Canaan was not, however, the immediate experience. Between Egypt and Canaan there still lies the wilderness. The days of testing, however, should always be days of trusting. The days of trial should always be days of conquest. The wilderness stands for many unpleasant things. It suggests trials, difficulties, sighs, and sorrows. However, the Lord has said that even in the valley of the shadow of death He will be with us.
3. The objective was to worship God. They were to go three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice unto the Lord, their God. We have come out of death and into life, out from Satan’s tyranny and into the liberty of God, in order that we may walk with Him, in order that we may bow at His footstool and worship at His throne. To worship God is the climactic experience of the Christian.
VII. FOREWARNED AND FOREARMED (Exo 3:19-22)
As we close today’s message, there are three things in our four final verses which must not be overlooked.
1. The forewarning of Pharaoh’s resistance. God plainly told Moses that the king of Egypt “will not let you go.” God did not lay before Moses a rosy pathway out of Egypt. He told him definitely that Pharaoh would resist him and ask to keep the people under his authority and power that they might serve him. We have the same thing to face. There is not one young man, nor one young woman who by faith takes Christ as Saviour and Lord, and steps out of the world, but who will find obstacles by the way. Satan stood by to resist Joshua, the high priest. To Peter, Jesus said, “Satan hath desired to have you.” Paul wrote, “We would have come unto you, * * but Satan hindered us.”
2. God’s revealing of wonders. Was Moses to be alarmed because Pharaoh would resist him? Not at all. In Exo 3:20 God said, “I will stretch out My hand, and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.” Satan, like Pharaoh, was powerful, but God is all-powerful.
God still works wonders. He still delivers His children from Satan’s snares. He hath promised that there is not any temptation which shall come to us but such as is common to man, “But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
3. God’s promise of going out full. God not only told Moses that he would lead the people out, but He told them “ye shall not go empty.” There would be “jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment.” Thus it is that God makes the wrath of man to praise Him. Thus it is that God overrules every obstacle, and leads to every enlargement and victory.
AN ILLUSTRATION
A POOR MAN ROBBED
Satan will oppose us and rob us as much as he can but God will surely lead us out, “‘If a poor man be robbed of twenty or thirty shillings, no wonder if he cry and take on, because he hath no more to help himself with; but now, if a rich man be robbed of such a sum, he is not much troubled, because he hath more at home. So a man that is justified by faith, and hath assurance of the favor of God, he can comfortably bear up against all the troubles and crosses he meets with in his way to Heaven.’ Remember the Apostle’s reckoning in Rom 8:18 : ‘For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.’ He was so rich in grace that all his losses were as nothing to him. One of old got his living by his losses, for he said, ‘By these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit’: thus spiritual riches enable us to bear temporal losses with great patience. It is far otherwise with the worldling, whose goods are his god; for when these are taken he cries out like Micah, ‘Ye have taken away my gods which I made, * * and what have I more?’ He to whom God is all things cannot be robbed, for who can overcome and despoil the Almighty?
Lord, lead me to count nothing my treasure but Thyself, and then I may defy the thief. If I have suffered loss, let me make a gain thereby by prizing Thee the more.”
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Exo 3:11. Who am I? He thinks himself unworthy of the honour, and unable for the work. He thinks he wants courage, and therefore cannot go to Pharaoh: he thinks he wants conduct, and therefore cannot bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt They are unarmed, undisciplined, quite dispirited, utterly unable to help themselves. Moses was incomparably the fittest of any man living for this work, eminent for learning, wisdom, experience, valour, faith, holiness, and yet he says, Who am I? The more fit any person is for service, the less opinion he has of himself.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who [am] {l} I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
(l) He does not fully disobey God, but acknowledges his own weakness.