(Some thoughts from the Pentateuch)
Poul Madsen
2. EXODUS. God the Redeemer
THE theme of Exodus is, "They shall know that I am the LORD". Although the Lord often revealed Himself in various ways, it seems that it was difficult to get to know Him. For example, we might expect that after Moses had met the Lord at the burning fire in the Bush, or as the Children of Israel had experienced deliverance from the house of bondage, they would surely [51/52] know Him. But it was not so. The fact is that knowing the Lord is not a matter of course, as we might imagine, but to learn to know Him is a task for life. If we could know Him easily or in a short time, it might be open to question as to whether He really would be the LORD.
Moses
When Moses asked God's name, he was told to say to the Israelites: "I AM hath sent me to you" (3:14). God is who He is and will remain so; He will always be what He is. His thoughts are as high above ours as are the heavens. No-one can learn to know God in his own way, by his own thoughts or imagination, nor can he get to know Him by mystic meditation or merely subjective experiences. On the other hand, it is possible to learn to know Him. While He is exalted and awe-inspiring, this does not exclude hope for any, since the Scriptures contain an invitation to sinners to draw near to Him and learn to know Him.
Although Moses had the revelation at the Bush, he still failed to be governed by it, protesting again and again that he could not do as he had been told. I imagine that perhaps what made the greatest impression upon him was when God offered to make all His goodness pass before him (33:19). So it was that "the Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous (rich) in mercy and truth" (34:6). Without plenteous mercy and truth from God's side, not one of us could learn to know Him. Humanly speaking, all of us must have disappointed Him often. Moses disappointed Him. Certainly the Israelites did. But He is so rich in the kind of riches which we need that little by little we may learn truly to know Him.
Pharaoh
Pharaoh also had to learn to know Him, though in a very different way. There are various ways of getting to know God; Pharaoh's was a tragic way. One of the first things which he said when Moses asked him to let God's people go was, "Who is the Lord? I know nothing about the Lord". Well, he had to come to know Him, but it did him no good. At last, and much against his will, he encountered the further revelation which God had given of Himself: "Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished" (34:7). Those solemn words were part of the gracious revelation given to Moses, for they constitute an aspect of the knowledge of God.
In the end, the Almighty God, the Glorious and Holy One, said: "I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh and upon all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord" (14:4). That is what our God is like; He was then and He still is today. We cannot understand His hardening, but still more incomprehensible to us, His people, is the assurance of His choosing: "Ye have not chosen me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit ..." (John 15:16).
The Israelites
The people of Israel more than all others should have learned to know the Lord. He revealed Himself to them in such an abundance of salvation that several verses are needed to express it: "I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am Jehovah" (6:6-8).
