Moses Didn’t Understand What Yahweh Told Him on Mount Sinai

Moses had a personal encounter with Yahweh on Mount Sinai. It’s presented in Exodus chapter 3:

1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of Elohim. 2 The Angel of the Yahweh appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

[The Angel of Yahweh is Yahweh. He is the Messiah. See His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition.]

3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look, Elohim called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “I am the Elohim of your father, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at Elohim.

7 Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8 So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 9 Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to Elohim, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

12 And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship Elohim at this mountain.”

[“This mountain” refers to Mount Horeb, a.k.a., Mount Sinai. Today it’s called Jabal al-Lawz, and it’s in Saudi Arabia. See the videos below. It’s where Moses met Yahweh at the burning bush and where Yahweh delivered the Ten Commandments to the Children of Israel.]

13 Then Moses said to Elohim, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

14 Elohim said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 Elohim, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is My Name forever. It’s the Name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”

16 “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 They will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘Yahweh, the Elohim of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our Elohim.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. 20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. 21 I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus, you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Moses Misunderstood Yahweh

Moses understood that Yahweh was sending him to deliver the Children of Israel. He was supposed to take them out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

Moses didn’t understand this part of what Yahweh told him:

“But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.”

Yahweh was going to put on a show in Egypt the likes of which no one had ever seen. Everyone alive who witnessed it could never forget. It would become the stuff of legend. Parents would tell their children about it from generation to generation. Later, Yahweh told Moses to write it down as a permanent record. It’s called the Torah or the Books of Moses.

But all Moses understood was, “Go and deliver the Children of Israel.”

I know that’s true, because after Moses met with Pharaoh the first time and told him to let Yahweh’s people go, Pharaoh mocked Yahweh and made the Children of Israel’s work harder by refusing to supply straw for the bricks they were forced to make.

Moses was dumbfounded. He told Yahweh, “Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.” (Exodus 5: 23)

This is Yahweh’s response:

“I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your Elohim; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a permanent possession; I am Yahweh.” (Exodus 6: 6-8)

This is the essence of Yahweh’s explanation:

“I am Yahweh.”

“I am Yahweh” says it all. Yahweh’s Name sets Him apart. Yahweh is the Sovereign of the universe—a fact that Pharaoh and the people of Egypt had to learn the hard way. We call it “The Ten Plagues”. They were lessons about Yahweh that were taught by Yahweh.

Have Faith and Be Faithful

Have faith. I call it “the faith of Abraham”. See The Trilogy.

Yahweh has a plan. We have parts to play in it, and everything will be done according to Yahweh’s plan and Yahweh’s timing. Nothing we do can alter Yahweh’s plan, so don’t try to force things. That won’t work, and you will become frustrated with Yahweh just like Moses did.

Be faithful. Play your part, and enjoy the show. Yahweh wants us to relax and watch Him work miracles. Yahweh enjoys teaching us and entertaining us while He does it.

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SnyderTalk Comment:

In the Bible, Horeb is also called Mount Sinai. It’s in the Land of Midian or what we call Saudi Arabia today.

Mount Horeb (a.k.a. Mount Sinai) is called Jabal al-Lawz today. Jabal al-Lawz means “Mountain of the Almond”.

The rock in the first video above is the rock from which water flowed so that the Children of Israel had plenty of fresh water for themselves and their animals while they camped at the base of Mount Sinai.

The second video above tells about the Exodus and Mount Sinai.

Yahweh is doing amazing things all over the world right now. We need to have faith and be faithful. It’s Yahweh’s plan, not ours. We have parts to play in His plan.

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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)