The encounter with God (Exodus 3) turns Moses’ life upside down. After Moses had lost his liberty, God took him in order to liberate the people of Israel through him. It is not an easy path, it is a path full of surprises.
God introduces himself as the I AM. Not as the creator. God defines himself in being, not in doing. Perhaps we too should define ourselves more in being. If we have committed ourselves to Jesus, then we are children of God and that is enough. We should love God for who He is, not for what He does for us.
Secondly, it is striking that God does not reveal himself in such a way that we can dispose of him by calling him by name. He defines himself as a God in relationship with us human beings. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He spoke to all these forefathers. He promised them all that he would bless all nations through Israel. God keeps his promises. God keeps his word.
It is also stunning that God reveals himself in a thorn bush. We would have expected something else. Like the shepherds in Bethlehem, the heavens open and the glory of God appears. Throughout the Bible this is a recurring theme: God reveals his love through suffering. When all else fails, God is there.
Messiah images in the Torah
- God seeks us – Adam where are you?
- The possibility of a choice – Two trees in the Garden of Eden
- Neediness instead divinity – A new view
- God’s master plan – Salvation through a human being
- A divine clothing – God acts
- A world upside down – Kai and Abel
- Living in the presence of God – Enoch
- God is calling – Noah
- A king-priest like Melchizedek
- God visits Abraham
- Life through a sacrifice – Isaac
- The ladder to heaven – Jacob
- New identity from Jacob to Israel
- Messiah Ben Joseph – Joseph the son of Jacob
- Shiloh, whom all nations will serve – Blessing on Judah
- Moses, the prototype of the Saviour
- References to Jesus in Moses
- The Passover Lamb
- The pillar of cloud and fire
- God wants to be with us – The tabernacle / The temple
- The snake on a pole – An image of a new beginning
- The rock in the desert – Faith is not a method
- A prophet greater than Moses
- A star from Jacob – Bileam