12. Exodus Chapter 3 verse 17 to Chapter 5 verse 21.

And now, in our journey through the Bible, we come to the time when the

Israelites, who were being oppressed by their Egyptian masters, achieve their

freedom and begin their march towards nationhood. It is quite a long saga

which we will not complete in one month. You will recall that Moses, an

Israelite exile from Egypt, was spoken to by God from the midst of a burning

bush and was told that he must go to Pharaoh (Ramses 11) and ask him to let

the Israelites go from his country.

In verse 17 we see what God resolves, and how it is to be done. Moses must

ask for three days’ leave for his people. This will get them out of the country.

If Pharaoh refuses God will stretch forth his hand and then Pharaoh will send

them away and they will not go empty handed; read verses 21 and 22.

Chapter 4 finds Moses in a most reluctant mood. He says to God, “But they

will never believe me or listen to me; they will say, “The Lord did not appear

to you””. Read verses 2 to 9 and learn what God can do with a staff, a human

hand and some water poured on to dry ground.

Now Moses, still obdurate, tries another tact to persuade God not to send him

to Egypt. He protests that he is slow of speech and will not know what to say.

God has a ready answer to that one. Moses has a brother named Aaron and

God knows that he is a good speaker and, moreover, he is already on his way

to meet Moses. God says that He will tell both Moses and Aaron what they

are to say and do.

At this point Moses Moses submits to God and goes back to Jethro, his father-in-law,

and asks to go back to his kinfolk in Egypt. Jethro tells him to go and wishes

him well. Moses now sets out for Egypt with his wife and family. God assures

him that those who wished to kill him are now dead. Now, in verses 24-26, a

very curious thing happens. Because Moses had not had his son circumcised,

God determined to kill Moses, Zipporah, the wife of Moses, saved the day by

circumcising her son and touching Moses with the foreskin. I don’t pretend to

understand all this but she saved the life of Moses.

In verses 27-31 Moses and Aaron meet and call together the elders of Israel.

They told them what the Lord intended and showed them some signs. We

now come to chapter 5 where Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and ask him to

let their people go. They had no difficulty in seeing Pharaoh because Ramses

11 was know to keep open-house for petitioners. When Pharaoh had heard the request of Moses and Aaron he at once refused to entertain it. He said, in verses 4 and 5, “Moses and Aaron, what do you mean by distracting the people from their work? Back to your labours! Your people already outnumber the native Egyptians,

yet you would have them stop working”. This last sentence is very telling

because, obviously, the Egyptians were afraid that if the Israelites revolted

they might take over the country.

To end this part of our journey, read verses 6 to 21 of Chapter 5 to see how

Pharaoh responded to the request of Moses and Aaron. Next month we shall

see what happens when Moses and Aaron ask again for the release of their

people and things become extremely serious for the Egyptians.