The God Who Acts: Exodus 3–4
Reading for Saturday 3.5–Tuesday 3.8
We need the presence of God. It is the goal to which we are freed, and the means to our freedom. Without it we are left to swim in the swirling currents of our oppressor. With it, everything changes.
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Read Exodus 3 & 4
“And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their head and worshiped.”
Exodus 4:31 (ESV)
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The God Who Acts
Everything changes when God shows up. Moses' feeble attempts at justice did nothing to stop the empire represented by Pharaoh (2:15). But now, God has entered the story.
Suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly, the Angel of the Lord bursts into history and into the life of Moses in a flaming bush that doesn't burn. The miraculous manifestation simultaneously depicts the consuming fire and life-giving nature of God's presence. So powerful is this presence that the ground surrounding the bush is altered. It is no longer just dirt but holy fertile soil brought to life by the presence of its Creator. It is unworthy of being trampled on by sandals made by the skin of a dead animal (3:5). Death does not belong here.
This is a God who hears the groans of his people. One who truly sees them and truly cares. He must act (3:7-8). This acting does not come in ways we would expect. This God is always other than what we thought, and the world He brings into being, and His processes for bringing it into being are always other than we expect. His world is not like the empire. It is wholly other because He is wholly other. His name is Yahweh, "I AM."
And the means of Yahweh's deliverance is Yahweh's presence (3:12). Like the earth surrounding the burning bush, everything changes in the presence of Yahweh. God's assurance to Moses came in His proximity, "I will be with you" (3:12).
The presence of Yahweh changes everything. In an instant, the presence of Yahweh among the enslaved people shifts their allegiance (4:31). Pharaoh oppresses Israel by demanding they serve him. Yahweh will demand that Pharaoh allow Israel to come out of Egypt and serve Him. This verb "serve" is used to describe both Israel's enslaved work of Pharaoh and the worship of Yahweh. When Yahweh arrives, freedom from serving the oppressive Pharaoh arrives with Him.
Everything changes when God shows up. And God's presence with us is both our intended destination (let them go out and worship me) and the means of getting to that destination (I will be with you). With this assurance, we, like Moses, have to relearn what it means to exist in God's presence (The likely point of the strange interlude depicting Yahweh's attempt on Moses' life (4:24-26)). We, like Moses, are being called to confront a tyrant of a world in which we have little power or influence. For us to taste freedom is for us to experience the presence of God. Only there will things truly change.
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Reflect with a friend
How does God’s otherness strike you? What picture does this paint of what God calls us into as He frees us in Christ Jesus?
What does it mean to you that God goes with you? Do you struggle (like Moses) to believe that this is true or that it makes much of a difference? Does this possibly stem from a fear of “Pharaoh,” that the world and its empire are unimpeachable?
What would change in your life if you truly began to believe that God was with you? What would you have the courage to take on? What would you have the courage to leave behind? Does this sound liberating or not?
Spend a moment praying together. Ask for the assurance, the courage, and the transformative power of God’s presence.
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Next Reading
Wed 3.9 – Fri 3.11
Exodus 5–7
“The Impinging Reign of Yahweh”
