S4E4: How Moses learns God is speaking with him step-by-step

God that spoke to Moses is "Yahweh," unfolding everything around him. But, the question was: will reality unfold what this voice spoke to him? What if things go wrong? What if Moses was deluded, or mistaken, or deceived?

How Moses, and people who hear God speak to them, find out whether what they hear is true--whether God really is speaking with them--is actually a step-by-step process. Rarely do we make some heroic leap of faith, at least at the start. We embark on that journey, one step at a time. And sometimes, the first step can be very, very small.

But, the question that reality confronts us with--question that God asks--is "What will it take for you to take that step? And will you when that path opens before you? Whether we do or not separates people like Moses and those who aren't.
           
 3:03     God's name points to reality unfolding around us           
 11:38     Wavering between following or ignoring God’s voice           
 17:47     What it means for anger of God to burn against you           
 24:00     The question is, what it make you take the next step?           
 31:48     Taking the next step when stakes go up            

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Transcript

There is often a large gap between the life-stories of people as recounted in the Bible and the how these same stories are generally remembered at a popular level—if they are remembered at all, that is, which have become rare nowadays. And personally, I suspect that many of these popular re-telling are based more on the simplistic versions told in children’s Sunday schools. These versions are trying to teach easy-to-understand lessons for children, like, “If you trust God, like Moses did, or Abraham did, God will do great things!” But, this means these stories tend to leave out all the messy bits—things that don’t quite fit with those lessons and would confuse them, things that make who these people are more complicated, and what happens in their lives more convoluted. Yet, as we all learned when we grew up, Life… is not simple.

So, it actually took some time for Abraham to muster up the courage to follow the voice of God speaking to him and leave his home; even then, he wavered between faith and doubt, fleeing to Egypt during a famine, and surrendering his wife to the ruler there. It took many years for him and his wife Sarah to gradually become the kind of people that the Jews and the Christians today revere as their examples of faith. 

And so it is with the account of Moses. We remember the stories of Moses confronting the Pharaoh, and then the miracles and plagues that struck Egypt, and maybe Moses’s initial reluctance to follow God’s call. But, his story is much more of a gradual process, and it is quite interesting to follow how he slowly grows and changes through it all. And it’s more than about how he changes, but what moves him to change; Moses is more or less coaxed, at each stage of his journey, to take the next step. Several times during this journey, Moses openly voices fears and doubts. And the LORD, God that speaks all that reality unfolds, unfolds things in his life that presents just enough reason, just enough glimpse of what’s possible, to coax Moses to take the next step. And with each step, Moses becomes more confident of what God is speaking to him, and changes. 

Because that’s how it happens. So, let’s follow his steps ourselves in this episode of…

[ music / ]

"What do you mean, God speaks?" where we explore important ideas, insights, and stories in Christianity, for the skeptics who want to understand religion, to the Christians who have questions about their own beliefs. And everyone in between. 

I am Paul Seungoh Chung, and this is our fourth episode of the fourth season, “How Moses journeys step-by-step, to experience God speaking with him.” 

[ / music ]

Names of God in the Bible… point to how we experience reality—reality that’s all around us. Now, obviously, there's more to Reality—to God—than what we can ever experience, incomprehensibly more. But these are names we can speak, and so, they point to what we can experience. And the meaning of the name of God that was spoken to Moses, “Yahweh,” is "Eh'Yeh asher Eh'Yeh,”—or in English, “I am that I am"—and that points to what all of us have experienced and come to realize regarding our reality, in some way. 

First, we found that at the deepest level, "Reality" just is. There’s nothing more we can really say—no further explanation, nor descriptions, nor conditions. Now, that level may be some ultimate set of laws or principles, which our scientists have been searching for, and what ancient philosophy in the West has called the "Logos," which Christianity has explicitly identified as the speech of God (or God -that is- speaking). Or, there may be some level beyond that, but that’d be beyond our language altogether. [1] Either way, that level of reality just is. And there are equivalent concepts outside the West: the ultimate principle—or level—to reality, which just is, such as Brahman in Hinduism, or the Dao, or Taij in East Asian Thought, and the latter literally means, “the Supreme Ultimate”. And this seems to be one key meaning of what God said, when Moses asked for the name of the voice that was speaking to him—asked which words would point to this god, and “capture” what he truly is. Then, God just simply said, “I am.” “Say to the Israelites that ‘I am’ has sent you—that ‘Yahweh’ has sent you.” God just is, because in the end, reality just is.

We also know though that everything we experience of reality comes from what unfolds in our lives. Because reality does "unfold," so to speak, as time passes, bringing into our lives some particular things, among an infinite number of other possible things—so one course of events rather than some others, this kind of life rather than that kind. That is the second meaning of what was said to Moses, when God declared: “I am that I am.” We are to experience God through what reality unfolds, since God is reality. And the words, “I am,” is actually an ongoing verb in the original Hebrew, and so this name of God points to reality that is continuing to unfold—to everything that has unfolded in the past, everything that is even now unfolding, and everything that will be unfolding in the future. So, God’s name points to “whatever that is unfolding in your life,” and “whatever you are experiencing,” because God is that which is bringing them into your life.  

But, then here’s the problem. This means literally everything. And somethings are not pleasant. The Bible asserts that “Yahweh” is “Elohim”—God whose domain and power encompasses every domain and every power there is, so that there is nothing beyond the purview of this God as He declares, “I will be unfolding whatever I will be unfolding.” From the furthest reaches of the universe and beyond, to the innermost depth of one’s heart, everything points to this God that is has spoken to Abraham and is now speaking to Moses. But, then, everything includes incomprehensible things; it includes terrible things; pain and suffering; famine and flood; oppression and slavery. 

But, there is yet one more meaning of this name that the Bible emphasizes. God is not simply an "It" that just is; God is the voice that says to us, "I am." We do not experience some silent, impersonal reality, so that we can only say with a shrug, "It… is what it is"; people in the Bible experienced that Reality engages us and personally speaks to us, saying, "I am who I am." We are to know this difference through what actually unfolds when God speaks to us. When we hear what is spoken to us, and experience what then unfolds, we’ll come to know that it is not What, but Who that is unfolding all these things around us. We’ll find that though a famine is unfolding, God who is speaking to us is also guiding us through it; though oppression and slavery is unfolding in our society, God speaking to us is also rendering judgment, and declaring our deliverance. 

As to the questions like, why would God unfold a famine, and then guide us through it, check the episodes 17 and especially 17.17 of season Three. To put it very simply here, something like a famine is God speaking, but—usually—not God speaking to us; but, because a famine does still affect us, God then speaks to us a way through it, if we can hear that voice. (Joseph) Likewise, things like oppression and slavery are what reality unfolds because of what we human beings do. It is God speaking, but, you can say we filled in the actual content. What God is speaking to us regarding that content from His side is judgement and deliverance. (Exodus)

Yet, all this necessarily involves people that God speaks to; people that hear and take part in what God speaks forth and unfolds. So, Moses heard God speak to him from the burning bush. He heard that God is concerned for his people, enslaved and suffering in Egypt, that God will unfold the events that will lead to their deliverance. He also hears that he is to go and follow this voice of God that is speaking to him from an undying flame in his heart, and if he does so, God will be with him. But, is this true? Will things really unfold as this voice says? Is this really "God," and is “God” really "with us"? 

Now, the predicament that Moses faced is somewhat different from ours in our secular era; in fact, it is the flip side of the same coin, so to speak. We ask if God really speaks with us—which is to say, whether reality really speaks to us in a personal way. People living in the time of Moses, however, did not question that there are powerful, personal beings that speak to them, which they called “gods”; they asked whether this “god” that spoke to Moses, really can unfold everything that was promised; because maybe there are more powerful gods that can stop him; or maybe reality will unfold obstacles that this “god” just cannot overcome. We ask whether reality as a whole is God who speaks personally to us, whereas they asked whether this “god” who is speaking personally to them is the whole of reality—again, flip side of the same coin, as I said.   

But, the answer is the same for both sides. We need to follow the voice, and find out for ourselves whether "I am that I am," is indeed personally saying to us, "I am with you."  That’s something Moses needs to do, to experience what reality unfolds, and thus find out whether the voice that spoke to him from the burning bush was telling the truth.

[ Pendulum ]

As we found in our previous episode, Moses was less than willing to do so. This was quite understandable; after all, there was a lot at risk, for a very, very small chance of success. For one thing, Moses had fled into this desert wilderness, because Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, the most powerful empire of his time, wanted him dead. And he was now being called to go back by this voice, to that very empire, which sought to kill him. Even worse, he is to go and lead an enslaved people out from that land; yet, in the past, his impassioned words were unable to move even a single slave among that people, and that was when he was a prince, a member of royalty in that empire. So, Moses is afraid of what will happen, what will actually unfold when he follows this “god” that is speaking to him. Here’s what I think would’ve come very naturally to his imagination: his own people, the fellow Hebrews, ignoring him and pushing him aside to go about their daily lives, toiling away as slaves; the entire royal court of Egypt scoffing at his words, and the Pharaoh ordering his long-delayed execution.

When Moses voices his fear that people won’t listen to him, God responds by enabling him to perform miraculous signs. Specifically, his staff turned into a snake when thrown on the ground, then back into a staff. His hand became leprously white when placed inside his cloak, and then restored when he did it again. God then adds that if people in Egypt do not listen to him, he is to pour some water on the ground, which will become like blood. It would turn out, however, that an elite few in Egypt with esoteric knowledge also wielded very similar powers. The Exodus account does not say whether Moses knew about that, though it does suggest it; he was once part of the Egyptian royal court, and so, he likely knew what its magicians and priests were capable of, and later on, he seems to show no surprise when they replicate his miracles. 

But, what these signs meant was that Moses could now do things that those who were known to be in contact with some deeper level of reality could do—people respected and acknowledged by the Egyptian royal court, as priests who commune with its gods, or magicians in command of cosmic forces. This placed Moses on the same playing field, and gave him enough reasons to believe that something real, something that is unfolding this world, was speaking to him. But, this did not guarantee him success. 

Because that’s just how it is. Truly important things in life that we strive for do not offer us any guarantee of success. We strive for it anyway because we are convinced that it’s worth it—again, it’s like a flame in our hearts that will not go out, and something real calls to us from it. And we embark on a path toward it only when something places us on the starting line. But, that just enables us to start the journey, which we can fail. Yet, that’s still a step further than not being able to start at all. That’s how reality unfolds our lives; and God’s name, “I am that I am,” points to reality, unfolding everything around us.  

Yet, this is not enough for Moses. He is haunted by his first failure, the trauma of finding that his words would not move a single Hebrew slave. “O my lord,” He protests. “I have never been good at speaking. Not in the past, and not now, even after you’ve spoken to me.” He is convinced that no one will listen to his words—no one has—and nothing about that has changed, even with these miraculous signs that God presented him. 

God responds, “Who gives speech to human beings? Who makes them deaf or mute, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, ‘Yahweh’? So go, I will be with you and teach you what you are to speak.” That is, how humanity has come to speak to each other, what words or deeds moves them, or turns them away—all of that—is part of what reality unfolds. But then, if reality is Who that is personally speaking to Moses, if this voice is “Yahweh,” unfolding all these things, then this voice should also be able to impart to him whatever it is that will actually move people. But, again, is this voice speaking to him Reality?  

So, Moses is still overcome with fear. It’s not quite that he disbelieves, so much as he cannot quite fully believe. Because again, that’s how it’s like. When there is something meaningful and worthwhile that we hope to see happen with all our hearts—a dream, or an ideal, something that can make our world better—and we can see just enough of the path to get there, just enough to feel that it can happen, but not enough to be sure that it will happen—we become afraid. What’ll be especially terrifying will be the thought that we’ll screw it up, so that it would have happened, if it wasn’t for us. And do we want the risk of finding out whether God will guide us through that path, despite our failings? And that’s, if the voice that is speaking with us really is God, “Yahweh” that unfolds all things, reality that somehow really speaks to us. Maybe it is, and that’s why Moses now finds himself on the starting line, with these miraculous powers. But, what if it’s not?

So, Moses finally replies, “O my lord, please send someone else!” 

[ Short pendulum ]

Exodus reports that the anger of ‘Yahweh’ then burned against Moses. And this feels different than the times when humanity is being judged by God, such as in the Genesis accounts of the Great Flood or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. There, God seems more impersonal, in the sense that God is just rendering judgment that is due— reality unfolding in response to a world built on lies and violence, by unraveling it into a flood, or to a society standing on cruelty, by overturning it in fire. You may be surprised to hear that the Bible does not describe God as “angry” in these stories of the Great Flood or Sodom; instead, it reports that God grieves. And I think this is because those under God’s judgment in these examples were entirely unaware of what was coming; those who were—those who heard God speaking—such as Noah, or Abraham, were not under that judgment themselves, so what they heard is God grieving.  

To be able to report the “anger” of God that burns against you when you’re going astray, you must somehow be aware of that anger—to be in personal contact with reality that is speaking with you, and which you are, at that moment, failing in a profound way; anger is a deeply personal response to that failure. And it seems to me that Moses was very aware of this anger, that he could feel the heat of it. He is refusing to do what God is speaking to him, and part of him knows he’s in the wrong. 

In my experience, that’s how it is. It happens when we know we are doing something wrong even as we make every excuse to justify ourselves; excuses not to do what we should do, or lies to convince ourselves we’re in the right, when we know we aren’t. The trick here is to add just enough truth to our lies, so that we can deceive ourselves. Make the excuses themselves true, for example; Moses really did fail to move a single person with his words. Then, we magnify that beyond proportion so that we can pretend to be in the right. But, then there’s that voice within us, often among many other voices, but you know the one: it’s the one that examines us with more impartiality and truthfulness than we’d like. And that voice says, that’s not the whole truth.

So, way back in Season One, episodes 10 and 10.10, we explored how this voice of truth within us is the closest analogy of the person of God in us; that voice, which Christians have encountered in the historical person of Jesus Christ, is constantly beckoning us toward a better version of ourselves, even when this leads us down a path strewn with hardship, suffering, and painful corrections. And when that voice is speaking to us, and we ignore that voice, and we are conscious of ignoring it, we’ll feel the wrongness of it. And it’s different from just having a guilty conscience, knowing we’ve done something bad. It’s deeper than that. It’s a relational wrongness; it feels like a destructive blaze burning away a very important part of us. And that’s because by ignoring this voice of truth, we’re “burning” the bridge between us and reality; we’re “burying” the path from the present to the future that is unfolding; that is to say, we are breaking our relation to “Yahweh”, God that unfolds our reality, and God that speaks to us. 

When we know we’re doing that, we can feel that God is angry; that reality is burning against us; but, it can also feel as if a part of yourself—a profoundly deep part that is at the same time, detached from you somehow—is silently furious with you. Why is that? Well, because the voice of God—the person of Jesus—in our minds tends to resemble, a better version of ourselves. And that’s because, we can’t quite imagine a truly perfect person, but we can sort of grasp what a better version of ourselves would be like, and so, that often is the closest mental image of the person of God that is speaking to us. And this better version of ourselves would not ignore this voice, would not lie, nor make excuses, and would be furious with ourselves for what we’re doing now, sort of like how you can be furious with yourself sometimes for something you’ve done in the past. And that’s what it’s like to feel the anger of God personally burning against you.

So, the anger of ‘Yahweh’ burned against Moses. But, then a surprising thing happens, something that further proves that the voice speaking to Moses from the burning bush is not just his imagination—simply a part of himself. 

“What about Aaron, your brother?” God said. “He is a very good speaker, and even now, he is coming to meet you. You will speak to him and tell him what to say, and I will be with you when you speak, and with him when he speaks. And he will indeed speak for you to the people. Now, take your staff, and with it, you will do miraculous wonders.”

Moses finds himself unable to follow what the voice of God is speaking to him, despite the miraculous powers, and despite being powerfully confronted with the truth of what he must do. But, then reality unfolds yet one more thing that will enable him to take that first step. ‘Yahweh,’ unfolds a meeting with his long-lost brother—another person who hears God and will support Moses. So, God coaxes Moses to take that first single step.

[Pendulum ] 

Here’s a question that reality confronts us with—and this is what God asks us, when calling us to face everything reality is unfolding in our lives, and embark a journey on a path that is unfolding before us, which is to say, a journey to find out whether “Yahweh” that unfolds all things is indeed “with” us. And this question is: what will it take for you to take the next step? Not to complete the journey, not to reach some milestone, but just the next step. And sometimes, we’ll find that the next step we can take is very, very small. Yet, the question still remains: what will it take for you to take that step?

For Moses, his next step was simply starting his journey to Egypt. It was not confronting the Pharaoh and demanding freedom for the Israelites; it was not even meeting up with the elders of the Israelite community to win their support; and it certainly was not about performing some incredible feat to somehow free his people. It was just about going toward Egypt, to see what happens—to find out for himself what reality will then unfold, what “Yahweh” will bring about, in accordance to what He promised. In an important way, what Moses did is very similar to how his ancestor, Abraham, started his journey; he too, simply started by leaving his home, following what God seems to have spoken to him, to see what then unfolded. They both stepped forward from where they were. But, what did it take for Moses to take that first step? 

First, God presented him with miraculous signs; Moses was given the power to perform wonders with his staff, such as turning it into a snake. These were, at least at this point, something that other priests and magicians in Egypt could also do, but these powers placed him on the starting line—in the same playing field. These wonders would grant what he says some credibility in the eyes of the people of his time, like how, say the words of a respected scientist about climate change would be regarded today. These things would prove that Moses, likewise, was indeed in contact with some deeper level of reality, though just how deep, they would not find out until later. More to the point, they prevented Moses from making the excuse that no one would believe that God spoke to him and sent him.

Then, God informed Moses that while he was in his exile, the previous Pharaoh and the members of the Egyptian royal court who sought to kill him, have all died. The Exodus account does not say how God spoke to Moses regarding that news; it does not even specify when God spoke to him about it—only that Moses heard this sometime, while he was living among the Midianites. It might have been something direct, like a voice speaking to him, or a vision, but it may just have been someone bringing him news of the old Pharaoh’s death—because both is God speaking, since both is what reality is unfolding. But, if it’s the latter, more mundane case, Moses would have taken the news as God reassuring him about what he is being called to do. Because either way, this news removed fear that Moses would be killed as soon as he set foot in Egypt. 

And God also spoke to him that Aaron, his older brother from his biological mother, a Hebrew, was on his way to meet him from Egypt. God declared that his brother will support him, and speak for him to the people. This removed the last excuse Moses made to ignore what God was speaking to him. Moses had this crippling fear that he will fail to persuade anyone with what he says, even if he were to perform wonders. After all, they’d have to first stick around to see what he does, but Moses thought that they’d never give him a chance; and even with a wonder, they may still openly question its meaning, or argue against his words. And all Moses could think of, is how he would fret and stutter, and everything would fall apart. He needed someone who was on his side, someone with flesh and blood. And God said, that person was on his way.

So, Moses set out; that was all he did at first. He still needed to find out if his brother really was coming to see him; if he was, he could meet up with his family and relatives, and then, see what unfolds from there. In fact, that is what he told his father-in-law, Jethro. “I need to go back to Egypt to see my relatives; I want to know if some of them are still alive.” He made no mention of freeing a people from their slavery, no mention of leading them out from that land, just a family trip to meet with people he knew in Egypt, now that authorities who wanted to kill him there were dead. So, Jethro blessed him, and Moses set out with his wife and sons, with the staff God empowered in his hand.

It was a small step. It was a step, which if anything happened, Moses could take back. He’d have lost quite some time, and possibly embarrass himself, but he could have just meet up with family and relatives, and come back, just as he told his father-in-law. There was no imminent threat of death, and he would be there just long enough to find out whether reality does unfold what the voice spoke to him from the burning bush. But, that’s the key. He went. What separates people like Moses and those who aren’t is that first step. Though he was fearful, and made excuses, when they were answered, when there was just enough for him take that first step, he acknowledged that and took it, and moved forward to face what unfolds. 

Then, just as God spoke to him, his brother, Aaron, met him by the mountainside. God had also spoken to Aaron, and told him to meet his brother. Encouraged, Moses told him everything that God spoke to him, of what “Yahweh” will unfold to free their people, the Israelites, and thus fulfill the promise made to their ancestors. He told him about the signs and wonders God enabled him to do. And Aaron listened to him and promised to support him. This in turn, enabled Moses to take the next step.

They went together to Egypt, and Aaron called together the leaders, the elders of the Israelite community there. He then spoke to them for Moses, telling them everything Moses told him, and Moses and Aaron then presented them with the miraculous signs with his staff. Then, that one thing Moses could not do even when he was a prince of Egypt, unfolded before him. The Israelites listened to him; they gave him a hearing, by listening to what his brother Aaron said on his behalf, and then were willing to see the wonders they performed. And then, they believed what he said. They believed that God did speak with him, God that spoke to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and unfolded everything in their lives. They believed what God said to Moses, and were deeply moved to hear that God was concerned for their suffering and saw their misery, and was promising to deliver them, and then, they worshipped God together. 

[Short pendulum ] 

Moses journeys step-by-step, each step unfolding the path before him further onward. Wonders and signs, and the news that the old Pharaoh was dead, unfolded a path for his first step, and he took it, to embark on his journey; his brother coming to meet him unfolded another, so that he met up with the community leaders of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt; they believed what Aaron said on his behalf, which unfolded the path further, as they could now seek an audience with the new Pharaoh as their representatives. Even then, what Moses and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh at first was not a full demand to free the Israelites from their slavery, to let them leave Egypt altogether. 

“This is what ‘Yahweh,’ God of Israel said,” they said to Pharaoh. “Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.” 

But Pharaoh replied, “Who is ‘Yahweh’? And why should I listen to this god and let your people go?” The name, “Yahweh” was not a name the king of Egypt recognized as one of the gods, and he wasn’t going to cave in to the demands of the lowest social group in his empire, just because they claimed that it was from a “god”—and one he didn’t know. This is understandable, and if anything, I think that the new Pharaoh was much more tolerant and magnanimous than his predecessor, since he was willing to grant the representatives of slaves a hearing at all.  

Aaron then tried to explain: “God of the Hebrews met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to hold a festival for our God. Otherwise, terrible things may befall us.” So, what Moses and Aaron requested at first was just an extended rest for the slaves, the King’s permission to make a short journey into the wilderness to hold a religious festival for “Yahweh,” God that spoke to their ancestors and unfolded their lives according to what He promised them. 

This was the next step Moses could see happen. Perhaps, Pharaoh was open-minded and gracious enough to allow that—or at least, God will open his heart. And I think the request was also a kind of litmus-test: if Egypt was willing to allow its Hebrew slaves to go where they pleased, and respect their freedom to meet with their God, then Hebrews wouldn’t really be slaves any longer. They may even want to stay in Egypt.

But, that was not what happened—not what reality unfolded. Pharaoh was willing to hear them out, but that was as far as he went as he scoffed at their words. “Moses and Aaron, stop asking for a holiday for your people. They need to get back to work!” He then decided that they needed to be taught a lesson, and so he called for the Egyptian slave-drivers. “It seems we were too easy on the Hebrew slaves,” he said. “They are getting lazy and asking for a trip to celebrate their god. Increase their work-load. That’ll teach them not to indulge in some fantasies about their ‘god’.” 

Now, the forced labor that the Israelites performed for Egypt was construction, and that meant they needed to produce bricks, and lots of it. But, now they were to provide their own material—specifically straw that holds clay together to form into bricks—and even with this additional task, their daily quota would remain the same. Predictably, they just weren’t able to meet the quota, and the slave-drivers punished them mercilessly. Then, the Pharaoh declared, “All this is because you were demanding to go and worship this ‘Yahweh,’ this god of yours. That must mean you had too much time on your hands.”

Faced with this rather cruel response, the Israelite community turned on Moses. “This is your fault! You turned Pharaoh and his officials against us! May ‘Yahweh’ judge you for letting this happen to us!”

Moses, utterly disheartened, cried out to God. “My Lord, why did you bring this trouble upon your people? Ever since I spoke to Pharaoh, nothing but bad things happened! You promised deliverance, but so far, you’ve done nothing!” He was told that he’d come to know Who God is, by what reality unfolded when he followed the voice. But, what unfolded so far was more mistreatment, more suffering and oppression.

Yet, Exodus reports that before Moses embarked on his journey, God already spoke to him about how Pharaoh would ignore his words. This was sometime after his encounter with the burning bush, and I personally think Moses put that thought aside, hoping that this was not God speaking to him, but his own worries and fears. Because none of us want our journey to be harder than it already is; we hope for the best-case scenario, where is the final step, and sometimes, hope can become an expectation. 

[ Music ] 

But, Moses’s journey was just beginning. Now that Pharaoh and his empire set itself up against what God spoke, Moses and the people of Israel he will lead, will witness what reality unfolds in response; they will find out for themselves, whether the voice that spoke to Moses and their ancestors, really will unfold the events that will fulfill the promise spoken to them and deliver them from their slavery, even when the greatest powers of an empire stand against it. 

So God spoke to Moses. “Now, you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, so that he will let you go free. I spoke to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as El-Shaddai, though I did not make this name, ‘Yahweh’ known to them.” Then God continued: “So, say to the Israelites, I will deliver you from oppression and slavery imposed on you by Egypt, and take you as My own people. You will come to know that I am ‘Yahweh,’ who will unfold your deliverance, and take you to the land I promised your ancestors.” 

However, this time, the Israelite community refused to listen to Moses, so dejected and disheartened they were from their long suffering. This in turn triggered Moses’s deepest trauma, and said to God, “Even the Israelites aren’t listening to me because I am such a terrible speaker. Why would Pharaoh listen to what I say?”

This conversation went back and forth. But, God spoke to Moses, “Go and speak to Pharaoh again. Say to him everything I am speaking you. And yes, Pharaoh will not listen to you; he will ignore you. That’s what I will unfold—and Egypt will be judged, and great wonders and signs will make them let your people go.” 

That was what reality will unfold, what ‘Yahweh’ would bring about—Egypt’s oppression and opposition, and its eventual downfall as judgment from God—if Moses will take the next step, to speak to Pharaoh of what will unfold as a warning. The next step is not the freedom of Israelites, not Pharaoh listening to Moses, simply speaking what God was speaking, and then finding out for himself what will then unfold. What God would then speak forth would be a series of miracles, wonders and disasters, and each of that would come, step by step. 

And now with no one beside him but his brother, Aaron, who God sent to him, Moses would once again go before the Pharaoh. One more step, though this time, stakes were so much higher; if reality does not unfold what God spoke, Pharaoh may do even more terrible things. Exodus reports that Moses again voiced his fears, protested that he was a terrible speaker. 

But, in the end, he took that step—that next step. Because that’s what sets apart those like Moses and those who aren’t. We take that next step to see what then unfolds, to find out whether God is Who God says He is.

[ Music ] 

So join me next episode to explore what God then unfolds, this time, from the side of Egypt and its king, Pharaoh. 

Thank you for listening, and please follow, subscribe, and share this series with others, and rate it on your Apple podcast and other platforms. You can also support this series at buymeacoffee.com—which you can go to by clicking on the line, “Support the show” in the episode description.

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[1] This series has considered that level in Christian terms, as “God ‘before’ Genesis.” This is, God “apart” from God speaking forth all of reality. However, that God cannot be thought of at all, since any and every thought we can bear apply only to what God has spoken.