Essay on Moses and God

Moses and God Were On a Collision Course
Phillip Tomlinson Jr.
CCU
Hist/Lit of Ancient Israel
Block 3
HIS-111A-ON352-FA14
Marnia Pickens
November 9, 2014
Moses and God Were On a Collision Course
As the book of Exodus opens, the patriarchal covenant promises are in jeopardy. The Hebrews have been enslaved by the Egyptians for 400 years and God has heard their groaning and remembers His promises. He was committed to taking action to redeem His people; He did not forget or forsake the Israelites. “The birth of Moses is God’s answer to this terrible predicament. Exodus 2 relates how the baby was spared and raised in the Egyptian court, providing him with the best education possible.” (Arnold & Beyer (2008) p.105. (Acts7:22NIV)” Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” As an adult, Moses tried to take matters into his own hands in a pathetic attempt to fulfill his calling. (Ex 2:11-15a NIV)” 11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and wet to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. “As a result, he had to flee Egypt. Moses found his way to Midian, where he started life over again. He tried to forget about the terrible plight of the Hebrews by settling into a new occupation, a new family, a new home.”
“Since the Christian is to be "renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him," he cannot be renewed in knowledge unless he is conforming to the right image. What Moses did when he was forty amounted to this: He knew about God, but he did not know God. He had head-knowledge of God, of the prophecy that God made to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16, of the fact that the four hundred years were almost up, and that, counting Levi, he was of the fourth generation of Israelites who had been in Egypt.”( Ritenbaugh 2014)

He had head-knowledge, but he did not really know God. Therefore, he jumped the gun. Although he was excited and zealous, he was way off-base in terms of God's plan. However, in the intervening forty years, he came to know God. As he did, his beliefs about God changed, and thus his convictions also changed. They became more in harmony with the true knowledge of God.
At forty years of age, Moses' image of God was wrong. In his excitement and in his zeal, he went out, but he did not produce the right fruit. He could not because his image of God was incorrect. Forty years later, after spending so many years in the wilderness, his image of God was more correct, much clearer. Did it produce the right fruit? Yes, it did. Israel was released from its slavery because Moses was in harmony with God's will. The image of God was right, and he was conforming to it.”( Ritenbaugh 2014)
“Moses and God were on a collision course. The Lord was determined to save the Israelites; Moses was determined to forget about them. Moses and God were on a collision course. The famous call of Moses at the burning bush (Ex 3-4) is where the two collide. The resulting debate is classic and powerful. God called Moses to go back to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of their slavery. Moses raised four objections, all of which God answered. Finally Moses simply refused to go: “please send someone else” (4:13). ” (Arnold & Beyer (2008) p.105. “But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.””(Exodus 4:13

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