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Moses’ Theophany ( E & J Versions): Exodus 3:1-15

Moses’ Theophany ( E & J Versions): Exodus 3:1-15

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Moses’ Theophany ( E & J Versions): Exodus 3:1-15

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  1. Moses’ Theophany (E & J Versions): Exodus 3:1-15 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of Elohim. There the angel of YHWH appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When YHWH saw that he had turned aside to see, Elohim called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the Elohim of your father, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at Elohim. Then YHWH said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” [continued]

  2. Moses’ Theophany (continued) But Moses said to Elohim, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship Elohim on this mountain.” But Moses said to Elohim, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” Elohim said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’“ Elohim also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘YHWH,* the Elohim of your ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations. *Friedman:“This is where YHWH first reveals the divine name in E. Hereafter, the presence of the divine name will not be an indicator that the passage need be from J.” [But “Elohim” still indicates a passage is not from J.]

  3. The Priestly Version of Moses’ Theophany: Exodus 1:7, 13b-14; 2:23-25; 6:2-8 The Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them. After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to Elohim. Elohim heard their groaning, and Elohim remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Elohim looked upon the Israelites, and Elohim took notice of them. And Elohim spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am YHWH. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El-Shaddai, but by my name ‘YHWH’ I did not make myself known to them.* I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens. I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the Israelites, ‘I am YHWH, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your Elohim. You shall know that I am YHWH your Elohim, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am YHWH.’“ *In J, Elohim IS made known as YHWH long before this point. See Genesis 4:26; 18:14; 24:3; 27:20,27; 28:16.

  4. The Killing of Egypt’s Firstborn: Exodus 12:29-32 At midnight the YHWH struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, “Rise up, go away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord, as you said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you said, and be gone. And bring a blessing on me too!” An Early Church Interpretation: “How would a concept worthy of God be preserved in the description of what happened if one looked only to the history? The Egyptian acts unjustly, and in his place is punished his newborn child … If such a one now pays the penalty of his father’s wickedness, where is justice? Where is piety? Where is holiness? Where is Ezekiel, who cries: ‘The man who has sinned is the man who must die’ and ‘a son is not to suffer for the sins of his father’? [Ezekiel 18:20] How can the history so contradict reason? Therefore, as we look for the true spiritual meaning, seeking to determine whether the events took place typologically, we should be prepared to believe that the lawgiver has taught through the things said. The teaching is this: When through virtue one comes to grips with any evil, he must completely destroy the first beginnings of evil.” Gregory of Nyssa (c. 332-395), The Life of Moses, 2.91-92.

  5. Crossing the Sea: J Version (from Exodus 14) The king of Egypt was told that the people had fled. So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; The Egyptians pursued them. The Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them, and they were very afraid. But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that YHWH will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. YHWH will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” And the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night. YHWH drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land. At the morning watch YHWH in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for YHWH is fighting for them against Egypt.” And at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, YHWH tossed the Egyptians into the sea. Thus YHWH saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that YHWH did against the Egyptians. So the people feared YHWH and believed in YHWH and in his servant Moses.

  6. Crossing the Sea: E Version (from Exodus 14) The minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. The children of Israel said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” The angel of Elohim who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them and came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. Elohim clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty.

  7. Crossing the Sea: P Version (from Exodus 14) YHWH hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. All Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites cried out to YHWH. Then YHWH said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. And the Egyptians shall know that I am YHWH, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.” Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the waters were divided.The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. Then YHWH said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

  8. Song of Moses (possibly the oldest composition in the Hebrew Bible) “I will sing to YHWH, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. YHWH is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my Elohim, and I will praise him, my father’s Elohim, and I will exalt him. YHWH is a warrior; YHWH is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea; his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power— your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries; you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ You blew with your wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like you, O YHWH, among the Elohim? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed; you guided them by your strength to your holy abode. The peoples heard, they trembled; pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; trembling seized the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away. Terror and dread fell upon them; by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone until your people, O Lord, passed by, until the people whom you acquired passed by. You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession, the place, O Lord, that you made your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established. YHWH will reign forever and ever.” Exodus 15:1b-18

  9. Exodus 19:1-6 On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to Elohim; YHWH called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”

  10. Exodus 19:16-25 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet Elohim. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because YHWH had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak and Elohim would answer him in thunder. When YHWH descended upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, YHWH summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then YHWH said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to YHWH to look; otherwise many of them will perish. Even the priests who approach YHWH must consecrate themselves or YHWH will break out against them.” Moses said to YHWH, “The people are not permitted to come up to Mount Sinai; for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and keep it holy.’“ YHWH said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you; but do not let either the priests or the people break through to come up to YHWH; otherwise he will break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them.

  11. The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20-21 Then Elohim spoke all these words: I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other Elohim before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I YHWH your Elohim am a jealous Elohim, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of YHWH your Elohim, for YHWH will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to YHWH your Elohim; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore YHWH blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.* Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. *Deuteronomy 5:15 gives a different reason for the Sabbath.

  12. Exodus 32:7-14: YHWH said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your Elohim, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” YHWH said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses implored YHWH his Elohim, and said, “O YHWH, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, `I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And YHWH changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

  13. Exodus 32:25-35 When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Who is on YHWH’s side? Come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. He said to them, “Thus says YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.’“ The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. Moses said, “Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of YHWH, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.” On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to YHWH; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” So Moses returned to YHWH and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves Elohim of gold. But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written.” But YHWH said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin.” Then YHWH sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf—the one that Aaron made.

  14. Exodus 33:18-23, 34:5-8 Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘YHWH’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” And YHWH continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.” YHWH descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, “YHWH.” YHWH passed before him, and proclaimed, “YHWH, YHWH, Elohim merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.

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