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God vs. Moses and Pharaoh

When we think about the story of Israel’s release from slavery in the book of Exodus, we usually think about it in terms of God and Moses vs. Pharaoh. We don’t usually reflect on the fact that the story begins with God vs. Moses and Pharaoh.

God begins his mission to save Israel with his mission to convince Moses to ally with him in this quest. Moses has demonstrated that he is already predisposed to free Israel from Egypt in his murder of an Egyptian on behalf of a Hebrew, but when we meet Moses at Horeb by the burning bush Moses considers himself a retired savior and simply wants to live his own life. God has the difficult challenge of first convincing Moses and then Pharaoh that Israel needs to walk out of Egypt and into the desert towards a promised land. In time we’ll see the Israel itself will need the same convincing. What Moses, Pharaoh and Israel all have in common is their inability to believe or trust in God and his project. Continue reading →