Exo 3:10-14 | KingComments | STEP | God says to Moses that He has seen what is being done to His people and He has heard them moan about it. He is familiar with their sorrows. That brings Him to action. He has come down to redeem them and bring them to a land He has chosen for them. And Moses is the man whom He will use to carry out His purpose, that is to say the first part of it, which is to lead the people out of Egypt. God knows that Moses will not enter the promised land. The fact that it is a land flowing with milk means that it is extremely suitable for animal husbandry. The juicy meadows will ensure that the goats, sheep and cows give a lot of milk. The flowing with honey is another proof of the riches of the soil conditions of the land. The expression “flowing with milk and honey” occurs here for the first time and is repeated many times hereafter ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ). In the coming down of God and the sending of Moses we see a picture of what God has done through His Son. The Lord Jesus descended to earth to save people who sigh under the yoke of sin. As with Israel, He did not speak from heaven, but came from heaven to earth. He did so to bring all who believe in Him into the heavenly land, that is, to bless them “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ” ( ).

‏ Exodus 3:10-14

Moses Must Go to Pharaoh

God says to Moses that He has seen what is being done to His people and He has heard them moan about it. He is familiar with their sorrows. That brings Him to action. He has come down to redeem them and bring them to a land He has chosen for them. And Moses is the man whom He will use to carry out His purpose, that is to say the first part of it, which is to lead the people out of Egypt. God knows that Moses will not enter the promised land.

The fact that it is a land flowing with milk means that it is extremely suitable for animal husbandry. The juicy meadows will ensure that the goats, sheep and cows give a lot of milk. The flowing with honey is another proof of the riches of the soil conditions of the land. The expression “flowing with milk and honey” occurs here for the first time and is repeated many times hereafter (Exo 3:8 ; 17; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27 ; Num 14:8 ; Num 16:13-14; Deu 6:3 ; Deu 11:9 ; Deu 26:9 ; 15 ; Deu 27:3 ; Deu 31:20; Jos 5:6; Jer 11:5 ; Jer 32:22; Eze 20:6 ; 15).

In the coming down of God and the sending of Moses we see a picture of what God has done through His Son. The Lord Jesus descended to earth to save people who sigh under the yoke of sin. As with Israel, He did not speak from heaven, but came from heaven to earth. He did so to bring all who believe in Him into the heavenly land, that is, to bless them “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ” (Eph 1:3).

First Objection and God’s Answer

Moses comes with his objections. He sees his own

1. incapacity,

2. ignorance,

3. incredibility.

4. inarticulacy,

5. after which he finally shows his unwillingness.

Moses is full of objections. His first objection shows that he considers himself totally unfit for his task. When he was still in Egypt he was full of vigor. Then he would just do it. There his self-assured ‘I’ forms the hindrance to God’s work. Now his humble ‘I’ is the hindrance. When God calls, it does not matter who we are, but Who He is. He says: “I will be with you.”

This answer the LORD also gives to Gideon when he raises the same objection as Moses to the commission he receives from Him: “He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” But the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man”” (Jdg 6:15-16; cf. Jer 1:8).

Moses also receives a sign that he and the people will serve God on His mountain. With this, God also gives the actual purpose of the redemption of His people: that they may serve Him. Serving here means serving as a slave. So far the people have served the Egyptians as slaves; after their redemption they will serve God and worship Him as His people (cf. 1Thes 1:9).

As fast as Moses acted the first time when he struck the Egyptian to death, so slow he is now to respond to God’s calling. The man who has shown the progressive development of human nature now shows a reluctance that also stems from human nature. Neither of them can have a place in the work of God.

Second Objection and God’s Answer

Moses comes up with a second objection. He is not convinced. Who actually sends him? He thinks he does not know enough about God to be able to speak of Him when asked. In His goodness and grace God also meets this objection of Moses. He acts with us the same way. He meets all our objections as long as they arise from our weakness and not from our unwillingness. In that way He speaks with an objecting Ananias whom He sends to Paul (Acts 9:10-17) and with an objecting Peter whom He sends to Cornelius (Acts 10:9-16).

First God points out the immutability of His Person: “I AM WHO I AM.” He is the eternal Being Himself, the totally independent One. He finds everything in Himself and everything and everyone depends on Him. The Lord Jesus calls Himself so too. He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (Jn 8:58), which means that before Abraham’s existence He has always been there as the I AM. He is the eternal One, always true to Himself.

Then God continues, ”furthermore”, (Exo 3:15) with His answer, pointing out that He has Himself made contact with the patriarchs: He is “the LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. This also means that He will fulfill the covenant He has made to them. The patriarchs have died, but the promises of God have not failed. To reassure Moses, God then tells him what will happen. He is the One “declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done” (Isa 46:10a).

Moses and the elders must tell the king of Egypt that “the LORD, the God of the Hebrews” has come to them (Exo 3:18). In this name, which Moses later mentions to Pharaoh (Exo 5:3 ; Exo 7:16 ; Exo 9:1 ; 13 ; Exo 10:3), the LORD shows that his people are a company of pilgrims. They were instructed by Him to “go a three days’ journey into the wilderness”, that they “may sacrifice to the LORD” their God. In Exo 3:12 we have read the purpose of salvation: serving God. Now we see a special aspect of serving God: to sacrifice to Him.

They cannot sacrifice to God in Egypt. This requires “a three days’ journey into the wilderness”. The number three is associated with the thought of the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: from the death of the cross to the resurrection are three days (Mt 16:21 ; Mt 17:22-23 ; Mt 20:18-19. The three days’ journey speaks of this. By believing in the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus a person is delivered from the power of the world, sin and death and can serve and sacrifice to God.

Pharaoh, by his refusal, gives God the opportunity to show His power. It is ultimately a battle between God and Pharaoh with God’s people as a stake.

When they leave Egypt, the Israelites have to claim the outstanding wages of many years of slave labor. In this way God settles the debt Egypt has with His people. The payment will be made in kind, in the form of objects of valuable metals and clothing. These are things that are used in Egypt by the Egyptians to the dishonor God. However, these objects can be used by God’s people to God’s glory. Thus, the metal objects are later used for the building of the tabernacle.