Exodus 3: I am . . .

 

Exodus 3, NIV emphasis in blue and green, CJB in magenta my comments in yellow or gray

[I read the Bible to consider the perhaps 5500 year old Sumerian political philosophy. It’s partially expressed by Hebrew scholars 3000 years ago in Genesis 1:26-28:  Female& male-human-being may and can, independent of other entities, choose to constrain political chaos on earth. In other words, on earth, humankind has the power to pursue the good and constrain the bad. Jesus affirmed this idea in Matthew 19:3-8, in Matthew 5:48, and in other dialogue. I think the next Bible canon should include the law codes of Sumer and competing civilizations. Resulting insights would take the heat off Judeo-Christianity, a Messiah vs Christ conflict that egregiously deludes Jesus’ civic influence. The broader view could accelerate collaborative pursuit of human being (verb) and lessen baby killing like those going on in Israel, Ukraine, and the U.S.]

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law [Nomads leader, Kenneth, reminded us that from discovery in the reeds Moses had risen to oracle of Egypt but was castigated when he killed a guard who was beating a Hebrew slave. Reduced to herding the owner’s sheep rather than leading 2 nations, Moses may have been brooding ever since.], the priest of Midian [Midianites may have later joined the Hebrews, a term that may represent unity rather than tribalism], and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” [This passage reminds me of the “unbiblical” idea that the next time “God destroys” most inhabitants of earth and its rainbow it will be fire.]

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.” [Phil Beaver advocates Jesus’ civic influence and pursues perfection in Jesus’ image, according to Genesis 1:26-28. With these opinions about me, I am fearless about my self-interest.]

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” [Abraham was a descendant of Noah, who received God’s covenant of abundance to 2 of 3 sons, Shem and Japheth, and not to destroy humankind by flood again, Genesis 9 (Pauline fire next time? 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7); son Ham’s Canaan gets cursed. Abraham’s bloodline was through Shem and Abraham became affiliated with the Amorite tribe. Abraham received the covenant of circumcision; Genesis 17:10.  Isaac was Abraham’s son through Sarah (also a Shemite). Isaac received God’s confirmation of covenant with Abraham (Genesis 26). God blessed Jacob and changed his name to “Israel”; Genesis 35. Jacob was the father of 12 sons, who, minus Joseph and Levi then adding 2 of Joseph’s sons, became the 12 tribes of Israel. One online posting has the sequence of covenants as follows, in hundreds of years ago: Noah before 45, Abraham 41, Isaac coming to Sarah 41, [Hagar not so nice 41] Jacob 39, and Moses 38. It seems Jesus lineage begins with Leah. See genealogy diagrams I found that suggest that line to David and beyond.] At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. [I can’t imagine this fear. I am delighted with every personal epiphany and would try to focus – listen – if directly addressed by theGod. As I have written elsewhere, I would not respond to a God that demanded that I murder my son. I was not privy to origination of my existence and can do nothing beyond pursuing the good in all choices to affect my afterdeath.]

⁷ The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. [Genesis 10 presents Canaan son of Ham, then Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusite of Canaan. It does not inform about Perizzites. So, this is a narrow faction of Hebrew ancestors.] ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” [Should this inspire someone who thinks so to share that they live under Jesus’ civic influence rather than under the mystery of theGod?]

¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” [Jesus regarding “before Abraham I am”, John 8:58-59? Is Jesus theGod who authored Genesis 1 as a metaphor for a process too complicated to express? Is my dream – widespread appreciation of Jesus -- too complicated to share? Is Christ a stumbling block? Should James’ Hebrew hopes suppress Paul’s Gentile boats?]

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,
    the name you shall call me
    from generation to generation. [Did God say his name is “I AM”? CJB offers insight in Verse 15: “God said further to Moshe, “Say this to the people of Isra’el: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.” While Adonai or the Lord (NIV) seems suggested as the name of God, “I am” does not. Or perhaps God is I am and Adonai is the ancestral God of the Hebrews.]

¹⁶ “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

¹⁸ “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

²¹ “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. ²² Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.” [I choose not to accept this as Jesus’ civic influence. Also, revenge is not consistent with Genesis 1:26-28’s will that humankind rule to the good on earth. Jesus’ process for forgiveness leads to statutory justice rather than revenge. In civic justice, only people who insist on effecting the bad invite annihilation.]

[Each Sunday, it seems the gifts I receive from Nomads Sunday school class and UBC worship service accumulate beyond my most noble ambitions. It’s a personal involvement now in its 5^th decade.]