Exodus 3:7

5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. ^aTake your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

6 Moreover He said, ^a“I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^bhe was afraid to look upon God.

7 And the Lord said: ^a“I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry ^bbecause of their taskmasters, ^cfor I know their sorrows.

8 So ^aI have come down to ^bdeliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to ^ca good and large land, to a land ^dflowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^ethe Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

9 Now therefore, behold, ^athe cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the ^boppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

10 ^aCome now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, ^a“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

12 So He said, ^a“I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a ^bsign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Exodus 3:7 Mean?

Exodus 3:7-10

God is already calling them, "My people." What had they done? Had they pledged themselves to God? Had they repented? They had not done a thing yet, and God is already calling them His own.

Does He have a similar feeling of possessiveness toward those that He is going to deal with in terms of salvation? Definitely! "They are Mine!" What will He do for His own? Who will hold back the hand of God? Nobody, and that is the story. Israel got out of Egypt because God set His mind to do it. He said, "I have chosen them, and they are Mine" and they had not done a thing yet. In fact, it would be weeks before they even knew that Moses existed anymore than just what they had heard about what occurred forty years before.

There is no indication that Moses had any contact with anybody in Egypt during those forty years. He was not sending letters every couple of weeks saying, "Get ready—I am just about to return now." No, he was in the wilderness learning what it is like to be a shepherd, tending sheep, because he was going to pastor a whole nation of millions of people. He was getting his attitude straightened out. God had sent him to school to prepare. The wilderness was the school of hard knocks for someone like Moses who had been reared in a cushy palace. God probably had to knock a great deal of pride, vanity, and cockiness out of him before He could use him.

Thus, the salvation of Israel was already underway. Who does the Bible say is in charge? Who does the Bible show to be the one who has the answers to their problems? Who took the initiative? Who is doing the leading? Who is doing the providing? Even at this point, we can see that God is the One doing all these things.

By the time they begin to realize that God is involved, we find that all they needed to do is to agree with what He wanted them to do, and He would do the work to bring them out of Egypt.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Unleavened Bread and Pentecost

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What Does Exodus 3:7 Mean?

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