Today
was… well, eventful. Where to begin… oh
ok, so I was looking after Yitro’s flock and I was leading the flocks, I guess
I should have figured I was going to be leading something else, much larger, in
the future. Anyways, I came to this
mountain and all of a sudden an angel appeared to me in a flame in a bush on
fire but not being consumed by that fire.
So I decided to turn towards this great spectacle. This thing was amazing, it went against
nature, plus I sort of felt a connection to the bush. This bush reminded me of my people, the
Israelites, and the fire was the Egyptians who were trying to destroy them (the
bush). However, I knew, and this bush
reassured me, that Egypt would not consume and destroy the Israelites, rather
the bush would continue burning without being consumed.
Then, a great voice came
and said, “Moshe, Moshe!” So I said,
“Here I am.” The voice told me to take
off my shoes, so I did. Then, He told me
that He was the G-d of my forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I didn’t know these people exactly by name,
but as soon as I heard their names, I felt like they must have been important
and these people were really my great-great-great… grandfathers. I was so stunned by these names that I hid my
face from this awesome voice and His power.
He
told me that He had heard the cries and pleas of the Israelites who were being
afflicted in Egypt. He wanted to send
them to this land full of other nations and flowing with milk and honey. I was going to ask Him why He was bringing
them to a land that was already inhabited by other nations, but then I figured
that He knew what He was doing and that if He wanted His nation to live in that
land, He would have enough power to get rid of these other nations.
And then He said He wanted
to send me to Pharaoh to take His people out.
Now hold on, ME?! So I asked G-d
how am I worthy to go? Pharaoh wouldn’t
let someone like me, even bringing offerings and presents, into his court. Am I important enough to speak with
kings? And even if he let me in, what
would I say? What could I say to
persuade him to let an entire nation go?!
But G-d said that He would
be with me. And seeing what He can do
with the bush, I felt a little more confident.
But then I was concerned about answering the people if they asked me
what G-d’s name was. He told me that he
will be what he will be, which didn’t really answer my question. But then He said to tell them He was the G-d
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the words that had a certain power on me. He also wanted me to assemble the elders of
the Israelites and to tell them that I will bring them to this land full of
other nations and milk and honey. I
figure I’ll get some resistance here, for they don’t know G-d’s power like I
do. Then I will go to Pharaoh, demand
that the Israelites go sacrifice in the desert for a few days, he will say no,
G-d will perform miracles and Pharaoh will then let us go. Also, when we do leave, we will “borrow”
money and clothes from the Egyptian neighbors so that we can provide for
ourselves on our trip.
I told Him that the people
wouldn’t believe me, so He said for me to take my staff and to throw it on the
ground, which I did. All of a sudden,
the staff turned into a snake, so I jumped back in surprise and in fear of what
I had just done. He told me to pick it
up by its tail, and when I did this it turned back into a staff. He said I could use this trick or whatever
you want to call it to make the people believe.
Then, He had me put my hand in my shirt and when I took it out, it was
leprous! I freaked when I saw this. Yikes!
But after I put the hand back in my shirt and pulled it out again, it
was normal. Then He said that they will
definitely believe this trick, and if not then I could spill some water from
the Nile onto dry land and it would turn into blood.
However, I knew I couldn’t
be G-d’s mouth to the people, for when I was younger, I put a hot piece of coal
to my mouth and ever since I have had a speech impediment. But G-d tried to reassure me that He would be
my mouth. I was still unsure, so he told
me to take my brother Aaron and that he will be my speaker and I will be his
leader and I will perform the signs.
Whew, that’s a relief, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to speak to the
people.
