The Reading
Exodus 1:8-14 and
3:1-15
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He
said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more
powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase
and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from
the land.’ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced
labour. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more
they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians
came to dread the Israelites. 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 labour. They were ruthless in all the tasks that
they imposed on them.
(After 400 years of slavery in Egypt)
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 God. There the angel of the Lord 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 the Lord saw that he had turned aside
to see, God 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 God
of your 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 at God.
Then the Lord 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.’ But Moses said to God, ‘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 God on this mountain.’
But Moses said to
God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors
has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to
them?’ God 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.” ’ God also said to Moses,
‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “The Lord,* the God of your ancestors,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to
you”: This is my name for ever, and this my title for all generations.
The message
Our reading this morning is packed with things to talk
about. There are complex philosophical
and theological ideas around God’s self-identification as “I am” and “the God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. “I am” reminds of us of the vast and eternal
being of God, both revealed and unknown.
“the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” is referred to by Jesus as a way
of showing God’s promise of resurrection and eternal life. In addition to these
theological ideas, we witness the first steps in one of the Old Testaments most
significant events, the exodus journey of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.
Along with these steps, we see even more examples of God keeping God’s promises
and covenants. Over the past few weeks, we heard of God keeping the promises
that Abraham and Sarah would have a child in their old age and that God would
always be present with the world. Today we witness the promise that God’s
people would multiply and become a great nation kept despite many people
forgetting this promise during 400 years of slavery in a foreign land. In the
middle of all this, something amazing happens again and again, God reveals, “I
know their suffering and I have come down to deliver them”. God knows us, hears
us, and can and will interfere in the world. At the center of this story is God responding
to the cries of those in need and interfering with the world. It happens in unexpected ways, through
unexpected people at unexpected times.
As I have done for the past few weeks, I am going to start
with some background on this story, to recap some of the things we have talked
about over the past few weeks and fill in some gaps. Abraham
who first hears God’s promise of care and greatness, and Sarah, one of his
wives, miraculously have a son Isaac in their old age. (no one thought this
would happen, in fact Sarah laughs when she hears the promise). Jacob
is one of Isaac’s children. Jacob has 12 sons who become the heads of the 12
tribes of Israel. Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, is betrayed by his jealous
brothers. He is left for dead in the
wilderness. After a series of events, Joseph ends up surviving but a slave in
Egypt. There, things get worse and he ends up in jail due to a false accusation. While in jail another series of events gives
Joseph a chance to interpret a dream for the pharaoh. The dream involves 7 fat
cows and 7 skinny cows. Joseph says the
dream is a message that means there will be 7 years of abundance followed by 7
years of famine in the land (personally I always thought it was a little
obvious but maybe that’s because Joseph and I share a name).
The pharaoh and Egypt prepare for the famine by storing and
saving during the years of abundance. In
thanksgiving for Joseph’s wisdom, he becomes a deeply respected leader in the
kingdom, entrusted with great responsibility and a friend of the Pharaoh. When
Joseph’s brothers come begging for help from Egypt, they are shocked to realize
they are standing before their brother Joseph, who holds the fate of them and their
entire family in his hands. No one knew
this is how God would save Abraham’s descendants and the promises made to them)
Joseph, with an explanation of divine
providence, tells his brothers, no one knew this but it was God’s plan for me
to be betrayed and enslaved, it was the only way they could now come to Egypt
and be saved from starvation. They reconcile and Joseph brings his family to
Egypt, where they settle. At the time, the
Pharaoh cannot do enough to provide for them, sending a huge amount of goods
and help to them during the journey to Egypt.
Years later, there is new leadership in Egypt. They do not
know Joseph and do not particularly care about his role in their history. The
people of Israel go from being welcomed guests to being an enslaved and abused
people. They languish in this state for almost 400 years.
This story of Moses and the Exodus, the freedom of the
Israelites from slavery and suffering in Egypt starts with God’s promise “I know their suffering and I have come down
to deliver them” At that time, no one knew what God’s plan is. Over the next
few years, God will send Moses to the Pharaoh to demand “let my people go”, God
will send the 12 plagues, everything from hail, darkness and pests to the death
of all the first born of Egypt, God will part the red sea and let the
Israelites cross on dry land. No one had any idea this is how God would save
them.
I do not want anyone here to think all we are called to do
is wait for God to act in mysterious ways. We are called to actively look for
God’s message in joy and sorrow, to discern what God is doing in the world. We
are called to listen closely, hear God speaking and then act in faith. Though
all of the exodus, the people doubt, fear, complain and question God’s work. Even Moses will constantly make excuses to
not follow God’s way. Today, we hear
two Who am I that I should go to
Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” and “what if they ask me, “What is God’s name?”
what shall I say to them? Later Moses will make other excuses including “I am
not very articulate and I don’t know what to say”. To each protest or excuse, God says the same
thing, “Trust me, we got this, I’ll be with you”. That is
exactly what God says to our excuses, when we feel shy to share the Gospel, God
says “ We got this, ill be with you”, when we feel anxious to help, God says :We got this, ill be with you: when we
feel powerless against great wrongs, God says “we got this, ill be with you,
when we feel frightened, God says “we got this, ill be with you”, we have the
invitation to hear God speak and act in faith.
At the start of the reading, we have an opportunity to hear God speaking and to act in faith. The 400 years of slavery in Egypt starts when an empire deals with immigration in harsh and violent ways, an ancient people with great power acts out of fear and abuses the people welcomed into their borders and entrusted to their care. Today, it feels like there is a little bit of Egypt in all of the world’s great powers. In our nation, all over Europe and other places, we hear many leaders, candidates and citizens saying there are too many immigrants, we are losing our power and identity, we need to build a wall to keep others out, we do not have the resources to sustain this system, we need to protect and maintain what we have, we cannot trust them and we must watch for the danger of enemies within. Basically, we constantly hear the same things that the Egyptians said almost 3000 years ago and in some places, people are getting close to doing what the Egyptians did 3000 years ago. As we think about the situation of refugees from Syria and other places and our debates about immigration, we need to remember that we have the empire, the power and the resources, We are Egypt and God tells us not to act like they did
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