called ‘burning bush’, in brilliant flower; or the sunset light falling full on a thorn bush and producing the effect of flames?17 All of these alternatives have been suggested.
In any case, he heard a voice from the bush cautioning him: “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then the voice continued, “I am the Lord the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Exod. 3:5–6). In other words, the God the patriarchs.
The Lord then assured him, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with mild and honey.” Hence, ideal from a pastoral perspective. “So, now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
When Moses protested his lack of credentials, God assured him: “I will be with you. And this will be a sign that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Initially, this recalls the saying: “One with God is in the majority.” Subsequently, “The proof of the pudding is in its eating.”
Afterward, Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh, and informed him: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert’” (Exod. 5:1). Consequently, even rulers are subject to God’s sovereign authority.
“Why are you taking the people away from their labor?” Pharaoh indignantly replied. Then he instructed his slave drivers, “Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.” Which incited Moses to complain to the Lord for worsening the situation, with no relief in sight.
The stage was set for a series of plagues to descent on Egypt. Some “have suggested that a sequence of natural occurrences can explain the plagues, all originating from an overflooding of (the Nile). Those who maintain such a position will still sometimes admit to the miraculous nature of the plagues in terms of timing, discrimination between Egyptians and Israelites, prior announcement and severity.”18 With the exception of the tenth plague, concerning the death of the firstborn. Not that we lack answers, but seen at a loss to ask the appropriate questions.
Pharaoh finally relented, only to have a change of mind. Pursuing the Israelites, his forces perished when the waters which parted to let the Israelites pass, returned to engulf their pursuers. An event perhaps associated with volcanic activity in the Aegean region.
So it was that the Israelites were able to covenant with God in the wilderness. Since we explored this topic earlier, we need not expand on it further. They remained to possess the promised land.
With the conquest. “See, the Lord your God has given you the land,” Moses declared to the populace. “Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your fathers told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deut. 1:21). But the people were reluctant to comply, and asked that spies be sent ahead, to bring back word as to what they might expect. The suggestion seemed to have merit, and so Moses did as they requested.
The spies subsequently reported that it was indeed a good land. However, “The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.” The Anakim were said to be giants. So that the people refused to lay hold of God’s promise and possess the land. “We have sinned against the Lord,” the Israelites eventually concluded. “We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.”
It was too late, because God had withdrawn his approval from this generation. Nonetheless, the people insisted, and were soundly defeated. It remains for “every generation of God’s people to avoid such a chain reaction: you were unwilling . . . you rebelled . . . you were afraid . . . you saw but . . . you did not trust . . . you thought it easy . . . you would not listen . . . you rebelled . . . you came back . . . you wept . . . you stayed.”19
The midbar (wilderness) was an uninviting prospect. Life was exceedingly difficult, and survival threatened. The people complained. The food was not to their liking. They questioned the wisdom of their leaders. They were inclined to blame others for their misfortune. One generation passed and a new generation replaced it.
After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua: “Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses” (Josh. 1:2–30. “God points Joshua and the tribes toward the potential gift, the Fertile Crescent, the part of the Middle East that reaches across the northern Syrian Desert and extents from the Nile Valley to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The tribes will need to wait until the reign of David to achieve anything near to those borders.”20
Joshua subsequently instructed the populace, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are the Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it” (Josh. 3:3). After which, he admonished them: “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Although the Jordan River was at flood stage, when the priests’ feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing—allowing the Israelites to pass over into the promised land.
“From a geographical perspective, the Jordan River Valley lies at the juncture of tectonic plates that create an unstable region. Earthquakes occur and have been known to block the flow of the river.”21 However explained, this qualified as one of the amazing things they were to witness.
Another consisted in the collapse of the walls of Jericho. The people were instructed to march around the city’s wall once for six days. “On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you have them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout: then the all of the city will collapse and the people will go up” (Josh. 6:4–5). So it came to pass, providing a foothold for the Israelites within the promised land.
The struggle intensified. Sometimes with favorable results, and on other occasions with disaster. Consequently, the Israelites were able to settle in the land, while many of its inhabitants yet remained. This was in keeping with the promise that they would possess every place you set your foot.
With the monarchy. The turbulent time of the judges served as a transition into the era of the monarchy. It consisted of a predictable pattern: the people would succumb to sin, call out to God in their desperation, be delivered, enjoy peace for a time, only to fall back into their sinful ways. “The type of leadership that judges provided was unique to the ancient Near East. They were charismatic figures, divinely raised up in times of crises from outside the traditional power circles to meet a specific threat, namely, oppression.”22 An exception did not prove to be the rule.
Now when Samuel was well advanced in years, he appointed his sons as judges. However, they “did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice” (1 Sam. 8:3). So all the elders protested: “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” While their concern was justified, looking to all the other nations as a model suggests that they hoped to embrace a contemporary
