King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 19 notes
1Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
At the backside of the desert 🏜, the blessing, the covenant of The man who sacrificed his son to obey God was crying out.
Yes the time had come and the covenant was starting to speak.
So loudly was the cry 😢 of this covenant that bushes caught literal fire 🔥
2And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
Of all the children of Israel in Egypt, why Moses?
What was unique about him that God skipped all the millions and chose Moses?
He was very different from his brothers because he was a free man, he grew up in the palace...
But why did that matter...
How did that translate to his being chosen?
I think it’s not merely being free and being royalty, but he had the right mentality and heart for his people and for God to use.
If these attributes existed in one of the slaves, God could have used him, as we see in David.
Who though a shepherd boy and in the fields had God at heart, and the heart of a king who would serve his people in truth and in accordance with God’s will.
3And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Which place was this?
Which holy ground? And what was special about those grounds such that it was holy?
To the last question 🙋 I believe because God had come down 👇 in a manifest form, it made the grounds holy — just like when the anointed priestly garment sanctifies whatever it touches.
6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
From day one, Moses saw the Lord face to face.
The premise had been set and was to continue throughout his journeys.
7And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
I am come down 👇. Hmm 🤔. God was in action. He was going to take charge, for the time he spoke of had come.
Many things happening to us are because their time is due...
That which was spoken of, some of which predates us, are due and we see its manifestations.
This is so with light and darkness.
Who ordained him a priest? If he was the first generation of priest, who called him? When was his call?
Him being a priest meant he was deeper into God than the average Hebrew.
He had a special ordination that allowed him access to God in a deeper and intimate way without risk to his life.
In the Levitical priesthood, only they could go into the holy place.
In this wise, Reuel had a depth of relationship with God that others had not.
9Now 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.
10Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
11And 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?
Moses was literally saying, God I think you’ve jumped the gun.
I am a nobody, how do I stand before the king 👑 of the world’s super power and deliver such a message.
I do not even have the clearance and weight to stand before him.
Remember he was a fugitive who had escaped, so to now ask him to turn and face what he was running 🏃 from was unfathomable for him.
Moses well remembers the past, how that 40 years ago he attempted what he could to save Israel 🇮🇱 and failed miserably.
Because of which he was now a fugitive and has had to raise his family 👪 in a strange land.
12And 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.
God was saying my being with you is all the clearance you need.
But Moses was not going to buy that. He needed more and better proof, and he got that.
God being God speaks as he is, i.e. God, and “forgets” we are men and it will take some time and break down to be at his frequency.
But to say that the proof or token of your words coming to pass is that they will come worship on this exact same mountain is no token.
We need proof in time, in the present, to assure us of the future — not the other way round.
But God, who lives not in time, does this strange thing of assuring Moses of present-day success and of his words coming to pass before Pharaoh in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, by pointing to the future.
Aah, so that answers the question of the mountain ⛰. Sinai.
13And 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?
Now Moses gives a practical breakdown of what would happen for God to come to terms with the reality on the ground.
14And 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.
The questions we probe God with is what opens up dimensions of revelations to us.
15And 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.
Moses knew of the history of his people, but like history it’s a vague memory — Abraham died centuries back, so a sudden appearance of his God needs clarification.
Moses asked to know HIS name, and unlike with Jacob, he did reveal himself by his true name.
16Go, 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, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:
Say to them, the I AM, the God of your fathers, has sent you.
17And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
18And 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: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.
Hmm 🤔, that was not exactly true.
And Pharaoh read through it and made matters worse.
It was this and other hindrances like it that Moses tried explaining to God, that God would have none of.
And Moses was proven right, but God already had it figured out — it was all part of the plan.
19And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.
God knew it won’t work, but it was all part of the plan.
20And 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.
The kind of wonders it took for Pharaoh to release Israel 🇮🇱 shows Egypt was a land of the supernatural.
Pharaoh himself must have thought himself a God-king 👑. His people even replicated some of God’s wonders.
It really took the extra supernatural and mighty hand 🖐️ of God to release Israel.
If not for God, Israel 🇮🇱 was never going to be free.
I mean their enslavement was not just physical and through cunning ways, but entangled with sorcery and magic 🧝♂️.
21And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:
22But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.