Why does Moses get the limelight?
A friend of mine asked me last year, ‘Why is Moses in Exodus?’. It may sound like a strange question, but he had a point – the LORD is the great rescuer of the Exodus (or at least that is the way later Old Testament books tend to look back on it). Yet when you read Exodus itself, Moses seems to take centre stage for much of the narrative. For example, my first blog highlighted how five chapters of the book are devoted to setting him up as the rescuer the people need. So, why does he get so much air time? Why can’t the LORD just be the hero of Exodus and do all of the rescuing? Why is Moses set up as the rescuer of the people, and not God alone? This blog aims to answer that question (at least in part).
Moses – terrifying when he is against you
The answer will be the story of two ‘three days’. The first
comes in chapter 10 of Exodus. The evil, proud, God-opposing Pharaoh of Egypt
refused to let Israel leave the nation where they are slaves. Consequently, the
nation has been brought to its knees as the LORD sent plague after plague upon
them. Before the tenth and most well-known plague – the death of the firstborn
son (and Passover) – the first nine are presented in three cycles of three,
each cycle more severe than the previous one. As part of the escalation in
severity, the first three are done by Aaron, the second three are done by the
LORD, and the climactic final three are done by Moses himself.
These final three are where we see how terrifying it is to
have Moses against you. The seventh and eighth plagues (hail and locusts) began
to undo creation itself, removing man and beast and plant so that by the end,
‘not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant in the field, through all
the land of Egypt’ (Ex 10:15). All the good stuff that God made in Genesis 1 is
being removed from Egypt by Moses. He is about as scary an enemy as the nation
could have.
Then comes the most severe plague of them all: plague nine,
darkness. It may not sound that bad, but its implications are huge – here is
day one of creation being undone for Egypt, and with it everything good goes.
This is what foreshadows the death that comes to the whole nation: the lights
are being turned off on them. The author of Exodus describes it like this:
‘Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and there was pitch darkness in
all the land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, nor did
anyone rise from his place for three days’ (Ex 10:22-23).
Three days of total darkness, and not an ounce of hope. No
one rose for three days. Still. Lifeless. Hopeless. This is what happens when
Moses is against you: creation itself is undone; everything good is taken away;
you are left without hope.
But – you may be thinking that this is not answering our
question! This doesn’t explain why Moses is so important in Exodus. For that,
we need to go later into the book, and see another ‘three days’ with a very
different outcome…
Moses – amazing when he is for you
Later in the story, a new villain emerges: Israel. Exodus
32-34 tell the story of another three days. On the first day, God’s own people
abandon him and worship a calf made of gold. Instead of Pharaoh and Egypt, they
are now the evil, God-opposed nation. The LORD’s response to them is the same
just response as it was to Egypt: plague. Exodus 32:35, ‘Then the LORD sent a
plague on the people, because they made the calf’. Just like Egypt, it looks
like Israel are headed for decreation and destruction.
Except, there is one difference between Egypt and Israel.
Moses was against Egypt, but Moses is for Israel. He is there to bring them
rescue, and not ruin. And this makes all the difference for them.
On the second day, as the plague descended on the people,
Moses goes to the LORD and pleads with him to take them back. He pleads based
on his own special relationship with God. Moses had a relationship with God
like no other – ‘the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks
to his friend’ (Ex 33:11) – and Moses uses his favour with the LORD to convince
him to take Israel as his own people and for him to be their God. And it works!
Because of Moses, the LORD overturns his judgement on Israel and takes them
back. All because of Moses.
Cue the third day: ‘He rose early in the morning and went up
on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets
of stone’ (Ex 34:4). The two tablets are a symbol of the covenant – the
relationship – between the LORD and Israel being back on the cards. We see why
the relationship is restored in 34:6 – ‘The LORD passed before him and
proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”’: the LORD (because of Moses[i])
chose to forgive his people, as is his nature as shown by his name. And we see
the covenant established – the relationship fully restored – in 34:10, as the
LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do
marvels”.
Here is a very different three days to those faced by Egypt
in darkness. Back then, no one rose. Everything was hopeless. But here, Moses
rose early on the third day, and because of him, judgement was overturned and
relationship with God was restored to the people. Moses was for Israel, and it
was amazing for them: it could not have been better. (NB – if you have wondered
why Jesus thought it was so important according to the Old Testament that he
should rise on the third day, this may be a good place to look!)
Moses makes a difference in the book of Exodus that the LORD
alone couldn’t make: he pleads for the people, entreating forgiveness and
restored relationship for them from the LORD, and he succeeds*. In light of the
previous two blogs on Exodus,
the purpose for Moses in Exodus is to teach you about the rescuer you really
need. Here he is – one who knows God like no one else, as a friend, and who
uses his favour with the LORD to spare his people from judgement and give them
restored relationship with God.
The better Moses – one who succeeds where Moses failed
*When I said that Moses succeeds, that is not quite true.
Very importantly, Moses fails to do what the rescuer we need needs to do: he
fails make atonement for the people. In Exodus 32:30, Moses tries to make
atonement: ‘The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great
sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your
sin”’. He asks the LORD, “forgive their sin – but if not, please blot me out of
your book that you have written”. In other words, he asks the LORD to forgive them,
and if he will not forgive, he asks that he be punished instead of them
(blotted out of the book). The LORD replies, “Whoever has sinned against me, I
will blot out of my book”.
The swap does not work. Moses does not take the punishment
of the people: everyone who has sinned against the LORD will face their due
punishment themselves. Moses fails to make atonement.
This is why long-term, the first Moses is not enough. While
he could use his favour with the LORD to cause him to show mercy, he could not
deal with the justice due to Israel’s sin, and therefore he could not bring
real forgiveness. The LORD is slow to anger, but that is not the same as never
being angry. He cannot forgive iniquity in such a way that does not punish
iniquity at all. He can be gracious and delay his punishment, but he can’t forsake
justice in showing mercy. Without atonement, the success of Exodus 34 is merely
temporary, so it is no real success in the end.
Going on in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the
Bible), we see this reality come home to roost. Israel continue to sin against
the LORD, and they all eventually face their punishment: death. It is no
surprise that Moses could not make atonement, as Moses himself sins against the
LORD, and he eventually faces his punishment: death. The first Exodus rescue
did not work. It could not work, because God cannot truly forgive without
atonement. He is just, so punishment for sin must be dealt.
Therefore, we are left waiting for a second Exodus rescue, a
better Exodus rescue, with a better Moses rescuer: a Moses rescuer who knows the
LORD as a friend and uses his favour to plead on our behalf; a better Moses
rescuer who really can make atonement for his people by taking the punishment
they deserve.
It is no surprise that the last sentence of the Pentateuch leaves
us longing for a new Moses rescuer: ‘There has not arisen a prophet since in
Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face’ (Deut 34:10). After reading
Exodus, we are left longing for a prophet like Moses who will bring the rescue
we desperately need.
The author of Deuteronomy never saw the better Moses come,
but we have. Jesus has come and has inaugurated the new Exodus rescue. He has
pleaded on our behalf, using his favour with the Father for our sake. He has
made atonement for our sins in his death. He is the better Moses whom Exodus
makes us long for, and with him true rescue can be found.
Hence our response to Jesus matters so much. In Exodus, we see
that the difference between destruction and forgiveness, between hopelessness
and true hope, is found in where you stand with Moses. If Moses is against you,
he is utterly terrifying. If Moses is for you, he is utterly amazing.
Everything hinges on him – so faith in the new Moses, the better Moses, Jesus,
is the most important choice any human can make.
Why is Moses in Exodus? To teach us about the rescuer we
really need – a rescuer who is for us, who pleads for us, who overturns
judgement on us and restores us to relationship with the LORD. He teaches us to
long for Jesus.
[i]
The way the LORD forgives his people here is not just because of what he is
like – rather, it is through Moses pleading on Israel’s behalf that he chooses
to forgive. This is not to say that the LORD does not want to forgive people – he
really does! After all, Moses is only there to plead for Israel because God
equipped him for the task. But in the narrative, the LORD is stirred to
forgive the people and remake the covenant because of Moses, not just by himself.
This is very well done, thanks a lot, Toby. I like how you applied Moses in Exodus (and 5 as a whole) at the end of the post. What I would need more convincing about is that "blotting out of LORD's book" really does mean atonement and dying instead of people. There is very little textual evidence about it, especially if you consider 1. the Passover narrative doesnt share similar language to the "blotting from the book" (even though the "plague" situations are similar) and 2. Such language is not found in Leviticus which is a lot about atonement
ReplyDeleteHi Simon, great to hear from you - thanks so much for your comment, glad the blog was helpful.
DeleteGood question on atonement - as you say, the blotting out of the book language is not used in Leviticus/Passover. I think the reason for thinking it is an 'atonement' thing is because of (a) Moses' introduction, where he says 'perhaps I can make atonement for your sin' (where both the hebrew words for atonement and sin are the same words as those used in Leviticus), and (b) the significance of sin throughout the conversation (v31 x2, v32, v33, v34) which suggests that 'atonement for sin' is the focus of the conversation with God as Moses intended in v30.
I agree that the blotting out of the book is an interesting phrase. Looking at how the blotting verb is used in the Pentateuch, it looks like it is often an emphatic synonym for destruction (and implicitly death goes with that) - eg in Gen 7 with the flood, in Ex 17 with the Amalekites, or its usage in Deuteronomy (eg 9:14; 25:6, 19; 29:20). So it seems plausible that Moses is asking to be destroyed instead of the people.
The book language is also interesting - maybe it is just illustrative speech, and maybe it is a more covenant-specific idea linked to the book of the covenant in chapter 24 - Moses is asking to be excluded from the covenant that they may be included. This might fit with the idea of covenant inclusion in Exodus 34 (eg v10). It is also interesting that Daniel picks up the idea of the book and ties it to everlasting life and contempt (12:1-2), and that John seems to pick that idea up in Revelation with the book of life (20:12, 15).
Lastly, I think the way the Pentateuch talks about atonement is quite varied. For example, I think that the way Judah substitutes himself for Benjamin in Genesis 44 is meant to be related to the idea of atonement, but obviously is very different to the picture of atonement given in Leviticus 16. So the phrase in Exodus 32 might just be another component of a varied (rich) picture of the atonement idea.
What do you think? Thanks again for your engagement.
Thanks for your response, Toby. However, I think you are mixing "atonement" and "penal substitution" - i.e. mayber reading Leviticus/Romans into Exodus.
DeleteI agree that the aim of Moses' intercession with YHWH is to "make atonement" of Israel's sin (v. 30). However, Moses says that him being blotted out of YHWH's book is what he wishes if YHWH doesn't forgive them. V 32 ESV: "But now, if you will forgive their sin-BUT IF NOT, please blot me out of your book that you have written" (emphasis mine). To me, the natural reading is Moses saying to God that if God doesn't forgive the Israelites and blots them out of his book, then he wishes to be blotted out as well, i.e. what is the point of Moses' past and future actions, if there are no Israelites anymore...
Anyway, I agree with your overall conclusion that function of Moses is to a) teach that a mediator between God and men is necessary for God's people to be God's people, and also b) that Moses is limited and anticipates even better mediator. I just don't think the text teaches it the way you read it.