BRAGADAYJAH 174

So far, God had been very patient with Moses; as patient if He were trying to assure and encourage a little child; but still Moses doubted and said “Lord find someone else to send; but not me.” So now the anger of the Lord was stirred up; and the Lord said, “Is not Aaron the Levite thy Brother? I know that he speaks well; and even now, he is on his way to meet you; and when he sees you he will be very glad in his heart. So when you meet with him tell him what you would have him say; and I will tell you what you should say, and teach you what you should do. Let Aaron be the spokesman unto the people. He shall be to you as your mouth, and you shall be to him as if God. When you go, take this rod with you, for with it you shall do wonders.” Moses needed no more encouragement; he went home and told his father in law Jethro that he would like to return unto his brethren which were still in Egypt, to see if they were still alive; and Jethro told him to go in peace. In addition God assured Moses by telling him that those in Egypt who sought his life were already dead. So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey and with them and with his rod in his hand, he returned to Egypt; but not before the Lord prepared him for the battles ahead by informing him, to make sure that he performed all the miracles he had shown him, when he appeared before the Pharaoh; but he assured him further that Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened so that he would refuse to let the people go; for I, said God will harden his heart. More

BRAGADAYJAH 173

It is not every day a person encounters and talks with God. So Moses could be excused for doubting God over the success of his mission. They will not listen to me or believe me he protested; but God is patient and assures him that they will. Surely God assured him these two signs I have given you, a stick that turns into a snake and back again into a stick, and a hand which turned leprous white as snow and back again are two powerful tools which would surely convince the people that you have met and spoke with God. However, God told Moses, “I will give you a third sign should they not believe or listen to you after the first two signs. Here is what you should do. Take some water from the river and pour it on dry land; and the water which you take out of the river and pour on the dry land will turn to blood upon the dry land.” Moses was fast running out of excuses. First he used the excuses of doubting God; but now God demonstrated who he was and his power, Moses turned to doubting himself. “Lord,” he said; I do believe you are the God of my fathers and you are mighty in power; but the problem is I. You see Lord, I cannot speak; when I try to speak I get all tongue tied; and the people would just laugh at me because I am slow of speech and I am slow of wit. “Now then,” “the Lord asked Moses, “Is it not I who made the mouth of man? Have I not made the dumb and deaf and blind and sighted? Am I not the Lord?” “Go ye, therefore, and I will be with thee; I will be your mouth, and will teach you what to say.” What did Moses have to say to that? We will see next time. More

BRAGADAYJAH 172

We have seen so far that God was giving Moses every assurance that his mission to lead God’s people out of Egypt was going to be successful; but Moses had doubts. Having lived in the house of the Pharaoh literally most of his life, he knew the ways and the caprices of the Pharaohs far better than God did, or so he thought. Not only would he bring the people out, God assured him; “but every woman shall borrow of her neighbor and of every householder, jewelry and clothes and supplies for the journey. God called it spoiling the Egyptians, that is, God’s people taking from the world the basic necessities for survival. Yet Moses held out and told God that the people would not believe him. He was still no doubt mindful of the trouble he got into before, when he tried to help one of these very people. So now one could hardly blame him for being hesitant. “They just won’t believe me he lamented.” “What is in your hand?” God asked Moses. “Just a stick,” Moses replied. “Cast it on the ground!” God commanded Moses cast the stick on the ground and it turned into a snake, and startled, Moses ran away. God then ordered Moses to go back and take the snake by the tail, which Moses did and the snake was just a stick again. After that God told Moses to put his hand into his bosom and take it out again; and when Moses did so, his hand turned as white as snow. Now put your hand in your bosom again, and then take it out, God told Moses, and when he did so, his hand reverted to its original color. What was the color of Moses and thus his body? It was certainly not white, as white does not contrast with white. Certainly whatever his caste, he would have by today’s standard been classified as non-white for whatever that is worth. More

BRAGADAYJAH 171

If you know anything about God, you would know that when he gives instructions they are precise, clear, detailed and to the point. God is never vague or imprecise about what he wants his servants to do or what he expects of them. So now he is talking to an incredulous Moses; who is having a one on one experience with God for the first time. God is about to send him on a mission; granted a mission that seemed to Moses highly dangerous if not impossible; so God gets down to details and specifics with him. Having given a code name by which his authority could be recognized, he continued to tell Moses, “When you go down to Egypt, first gather all the elders of the people together; then you tell them, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob appeared unto me, and said unto me, I have surely visited you, and have seen all the things that have been done to you in Egypt. Therefore I have said, I will bring you out of your afflictions and take you to and give you the land of the Canaanites, and the Hitties and the Amorites, and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, a land that is flowing with milk and honey.” “And the people shall listen to you and the elders shall go with you before the King, and you shall say to him; The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us, and so now we request that you give us three days off so that we may go into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God. I know he will say no and will not let you go; but I will stretch forth my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders and great power and after that he will let you go.”

BRAGADAYJAH 170

“God are you crazy? Don’t you know that I had to flee for my life from that place, and I would be killed on sight should I show my face in Egypt again much less lead a bunch of people out of there?” Well then, if Moses did not actually speak these words, at least those were some of his thoughts for sure. So he said instead, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and tell him, let the children of Israel go out of Egypt?” And God said to Moses, you will go and you will bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. Don’t worry, I will be with you. And to prove that I have sent you, after you bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, you and I will meet upon this very mountain. But Moses was not about to cave in that easily; so he said to God, suppose I did go to the children of Israel and say to them that the God of their fathers sent me unto you, what will I say to them when they ask me what it is his name? And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM. That is how you should answer the children of Israel; tell them, “I AM sent me.” Also say to them, “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 forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

BRAGADAYJAH 169

Moses was now a part of the family of the priest of Midian and was the keeper of his flocks. One day, Moses led the flock on the rear side of the desert and came to the mountain of Horeb, and was feeding the flock there. While attending the flock there appeared suddenly a flame of fire out of the midst of green brush, and as he looked on in awe, he noticed that the bush were all as it were glowing flames of fire; but the marvel was that the bushes were not being burnt. So Moses decided to draw nearer to investigate this mystery, how could green bush burn without being consumed by the fire? Of course Moses saw and observed; but he could not articulate what he saw; he could not translate the experience into language; for what he saw, but could not explain was the effect of the incandescent glory of God on the bushes all around him. Then as he began to get closer to the bush, God called unto him from within the midst of the bush and said to him, “Moses, Moses,” and Moses as startled as he was said, “Here am I.” And God spoke to Moses and said, “Draw not nigh hither; (don’t come any closer); but remove your shoes from off your feet; for the place upon which you stand is holy ground.” In addition, God said to him, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” During this encounter with God, Moses could not look at him; but threw himself face downward on the ground, because he was afraid to look at God; for the sight of God’s glory was too overwhelming for him to behold. But God continued to talk to him. “I have sure seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land unto a good land, a large land unto a land flowing with milk and honey. The land I speak about is the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites. So I have decided to send you to the Pharaoh that you may be able to bring my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses’ immediate reaction was to blurt out, Me Lord, are you crazy?” More.

BRAGADAYJAH 168

Once Moses knew that his secret was out, he ran and never stopped running until he was way out of the reach of the king of Egypt. But at last tired and worn and thirsty, he stopped be a well to drink water and rested himself there. And so it happened that while Moses was there, seven young girls all the daughters of the priest of Midian came to the well to water their father’s flock; but the shepherds came and tried to drive them away and to prevent them from watering their animals; but Moses rose up and stopped the shepherds from interfering with the maidens. Moses indeed must have been a most imposing figure. It would seem that this was not the first time that the shepherds would prevent the girls, driving them away, and making them wait until they the shepherds had watered their own flocks first. So that when the girls were able to return home long before the usual time, their father Reuel wanted to know how come they returned home so soon. The girls explained to their father that an Egyptian protected them from the shepherds and drew water for them so that they could water their flocks without the usual interference. Hearing this, the father wanted to see this Egyptian who had helped his daughters, and wanted to know why they did not invite him to dinner. And so the girls went out again and found Moses still at the well and bid him join their father. And so it was that Moses decided to remain with the priest and eventually he gave him one of his daughters, Zipporah by name to be his wife; and in course of time she bore him a son, whom he called Gersham, because he said, “I am a stranger in a strange land.” Eventually, however, the King of Egypt died; but the bondage and burden of the Hebrew children did not subside; and they cried continually unto their God because of their bondage. And in course of time God was touched by their cries, and he decided that he would heed their cry because of the covenants he had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and for their sakes.