Readings for today: Exodus 5-9
Who is God? It’s a question that has haunted the human race from the beginning. Who is God? You see this question reflected in the deep cave paintings that represent some of the earliest records. They depict scenes of worship. You see this question asked over and over again by the patriarchs in Genesis and now Moses in Exodus. Who is God? Who is this God who keeps calling to us? It’s easy to forget that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob didn’t know much about God. They didn’t know His name. They didn’t know much about His character and nature. They just knew He had chosen them. He had blessed them. He would be with them. In this way, He was not all that different than the other tribal gods who surrounded them.
Perhaps this puts Pharaoh’s initial reaction to God’s demand in context. “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2 CSB) The ancient Israelites and ancient Egyptians had no concept of an all-supreme Being. They believed the world was filled with gods and goddesses who demonstrated their power by raising up empires. The stronger the gods, the stronger their people. And among all the people in the ancient world, Egypt was by far the strongest. Therefore her gods must be the greatest. By comparison, Yahweh was the god of slaves. The god of a people who were barely a nation. The god of a group of people descended from a family of wandering Arameans. Why in the world would Pharaoh listen to such a god? Especially when Pharaoh believed himself to be a god?
Believe it or not, the main point of the Book of Exodus is not the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. It is the revelation of the divine name of God. It is the revelation of God’s supremacy over all the other gods and nations on the earth. It is the revelation that Israel’s God is not just one among many but One who rules over all. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He claims every square inch of the earth as His own. He claims every person on earth as His own. And His plan is to make Himself known through a particular people. A people who have no hope and no future. The most oppressed and powerless people on earth. In this way, He will leave no doubt as to who truly is God and who is not. Listen again to God as He outlines His plan to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” (Exodus 6:2-8 CSB) This is powerful, heady stuff especially for a people group who had nothing to offer God in return. They were poor. They were powerless. They were weak. They were afraid. They had lived under the tyranny of the Egyptians for four hundred years. There was nothing redeemable about them except that God loved them and God had chosen them and God would make Himself known through them.
In an ancient cultural context, it would have been tempting for the people of Israel to claim God for themselves. To claim exclusive rights to His favor and blessing. This was what the other tribes and nations around them claimed. But as I said above, Yahweh is no tribal deity. When He chooses Israel to be His people, He is not limiting Himself in any way. In fact, the whole point of what’s about to unfold with the plagues and the conflict with Pharaoh is to make it clear to the Egyptians - and by extension, the entire world of the Middle East at the time - who is God and who is not. For God desires all to be saved, come to a knowledge of His truth, and worship His great Name. Every tribe. Every tongue. Every nation on earth. “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.” (Exodus 7:5 CSB)
Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 10-13