Old Testament Commentary - Exodus 3

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 3 The Lord appears to Moses at the burning bush—Moses called to deliver Israel from bondage—The Lord identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and as the Great I AM—He promises to smite Egypt and bring his people out with great wealth.
1 NOW Moses kept the flock of ^aJethro his father in law, the ^bpriest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the ^cmountain of God, even to ^dHoreb. 2 And the ^aangel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of ^bfire out of the midst of a ^cbush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt^a.	3^a why the bush is not burnt Some might concern themselves about the Spirit of God burning like a fire, that it is a consuming 'fire' which devours, yet we have this instance which does show that the Glory of God is as the brightness of a burning fire and the it does not so consume the physical. We also have the evidence that such 'spirit encasement' is a protection against physical fire rather than a consuming brightness and glory as in the case of Meshach, Shadrach and Abendego and the firery furnace of King Nebuchadnezer.	1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see^a, God ^acalled unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses^b. And he said, Here am I. 5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy ^ashoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is ^bholy ground. 6 Moreover he said, ^aI am the ^bGod of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was ^cafraid to ^dlook upon God.	4^a when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see Of course the LORD knew that Moses would turn aside to see the burning bush, but the course of events was still waiting upon Moses doing so. This simple sequence sets forth that the LORD sees and knows all as he sees, knows and understands from the perspective of the eternal 'now'. And yet already knowing what Moses' reaction would be, in the chronilogical sequence of events which take time in space, the LORD's speaking to Moses did wait upon Moses' turning aside to see the bush aflame but not consumed. Thus the LORD was not waiting to see whether Moses would turn aside but rather the LORD waited upon Moses' turning aside before he then would proceed to speak to him. 4^b Moses, Moses Again, the LORD did not wait to see if Moses would or would not hear, for the LORD knew that Moses would hear. But like a parent calling to a child, knowing the child does hear them, the LORD waits upon the course of natural events in which Moses is given time to respond indicating that his attention is now set upon the calling voice. 4^c Here am I Moses' response, 'Here I', is not so much as an informing response to a questioning call wondering where a child is, as the LORD knew very well where Moses was. But it is rather the type of response that in our common English language usage would be more like saying 'What?' or 'What is wanted', indicating that now one's attention is focused in response to the calling voice. This same type of response was given by Jehovah in response to Elohim's call as to 'Whom shall I send?' God the Father knew well where Jehovah was and even that it would be Jehovah who would be sent, but the sequence of actual events requires the process of 'call' and response' rather than just an automatice performance without communication. This is the societal bases of the being and the state of being and existing. It requires the societal response and relationship between entities to actually so occur rather than to just be assumed or presumed based upon all seeing and knowing vision, which God does have. And thus it is that though God could have just said and judged us, knowing all, without our performance in this earthly probation, it still does require our actual passing through the events which does not so much as confirm the knowledge of God already knowing, but that it does place it into the reality of actually really happening in time and space.	1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
7 ¶ And the LORD said, I have surely seen the ^aaffliction of my people which are in ^bEgypt, and have heard their ^ccry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am come ^adown to ^bdeliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land ^cflowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the ^dCanaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the ^acry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.		1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
10 Come now therefore, and I will ^asend thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest ^bbring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 ¶ And Moses said unto God, ^aWho am I, that I should go unto ^bPharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 And he said, Certainly I will be ^awith thee; and this shall be ^ba token unto thee, that I have ^csent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this ^dmountain.
13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? ^awhat shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, ^aI AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The ^aLORD 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 ^bname for ever, and ^cthis is my ^dmemorial unto all generations.
16 Go, and gather the ^aelders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely ^bvisited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: 17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the ^aaffliction of ^bEgypt unto the land of the ^cCanaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the ^dJebusites, unto a ^eland flowing with milk and honey. 18 And they shall ^ahearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD ^bGod of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now ^clet us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may ^dsacrifice to the LORD our God.
19 ¶ And ^aI am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, ^bno, not by a ^cmighty hand. 20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my ^awonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you ^bgo. 21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go ^aempty: 22 But every woman shall ^aborrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall ^bspoil the Egyptians.