Israel in Egypt & the Call of Moses

Introduction

The story of Exodus begins in tension: a people who arrived in Egypt as honored guests now find themselves crushed beneath imperial power. Into that crucible God raises a reluctant deliverer—Moses—whose personal journey from the Nile to Midian to Sinai becomes the channel of Israel’s redemption. This article traces (1) Israel’s situation in Egypt (Exod 1–2:22) and (2) the call of Moses at Horeb/Sinai (Exod 2:23–4:31). By the end, you should be able to explain how oppression, divine compassion, and prophetic commissioning converge to shape Israel’s identity as God’s liberated, covenant people (Childs, 1974; Fretheim, 1991; Sarna, 1991).

1) Israel in Egypt: From Welcome to Bondage (Exodus 1:1–14)

1.1 From memory to amnesia

Exodus opens by naming the sons of Jacob who came with Joseph to Egypt (Exod 1:1–7), reminding readers that Israel’s presence began in providence, not accident (Gen 45–50). A new Pharaoh “who did not know Joseph” rises (Exod 1:8). In biblical rhetoric, “not knowing” signals willful disregard; Egypt chooses state policy that erases gratitude and fears demographic growth (Fretheim, 1991).

1.2 Imperial anxiety and policy

Pharaoh frames Israel as a national security threat (“in case of war… join our enemies,” Exod 1:10). Three escalating strategies follow:

1. Forced labor to break spirit (vv. 11–14);

2. Covert infanticide via midwives (vv. 15–21);

3. Public decree to drown every Hebrew boy in the Nile (v. 22).

The cities Pithom and Raamses anchor the narrative in Egypt’s building programs; many scholars see a plausible association with 19th-Dynasty activity while noting the limits of correlation (Kitchen, 2003; Hoffmeier, 1996). The text’s focus, however, is theological: the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied (Exod 1:12). Oppression cannot outmuscle promise (Gen 12:2–3).

1.3 Civil disobedience and divine favor

The Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah defy Pharaoh (Exod 1:15–21). Their reverence for God births the first acts of resistance in Exodus and establishes a pattern: the “weak” overturn imperial designs (Sarna, 1991). God “makes households” for the midwives—an irony-laden blessing that mirrors the very fertility Pharaoh fears.

2) The Birth and Early Life of Moses (Exodus 2:1–22)

2.1 Hidden child, floating tevah

A Levite couple conceals their son for three months. When concealment becomes impossible, the mother places him in a papyrus basket (tevah)—the same rare word used of Noah’s ark (Gen 6–9). The echo is intentional: as God preserved creation through one ark on chaotic waters, He preserves His deliverer on the Nile (Childs, 1974; Durham, 1987).

2.2 Irony at the river

Pharaoh’s daughter rescues the boy from the river her father weaponized, hires his own mother as nurse, and later adopts him (Exod 2:5–10). The naming scene—“Moses … ‘I drew him out of the water’”—introduces a life motif: the one drawn from waters will draw a nation through waters (Stuart, 2006).

2.3 Identity crisis and flight

As an adult, Moses attempts to right a wrong by killing an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew (Exod 2:11–15). Rebuffed by his own people (“Who made you ruler…?”), he flees to Midian, where he defends shepherds, meets Zipporah, and names his son Gershom (“sojourner”), signaling exile (vv. 16–22). Moses now knows both royal courts and desert life, a providential preparation for mediating between Pharaoh and a wilderness people (Fretheim, 1991).

3) God Hears: The Four Verbs of Compassion (Exodus 2:23–25)

Israel’s groaning rises, and four verbs describe God’s response: God heard… remembered His covenant… saw… and knew (vv. 23–25). “Remembered” is covenantal, not cognitive—God acts on promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen 15; 17; 26; 28). These verbs frame the call narrative: divine initiative precedes human obedience (Childs, 1974).

4) The Call of Moses at Horeb/Sinai (Exodus 3:1–4:17)

4.1 Theophany in the ordinary

While shepherding near Horeb, Moses encounters a bush ablaze but not consumed (Exod 3:1–3). The burning-yet-unconsumed bush symbolizes a holy presence that purifies without annihilating—apt imagery for a God who will dwell among a sinful people without destroying them (Durham, 1987). God commands, “Remove your sandals… this is holy ground,” re-orienting Moses’ posture from activism to reverence (3:5).

4.2 The God of the ancestors—and the oppressed

God self-identifies as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (3:6), rooting the revelation in covenant continuity. Then the cascade: “I have surely seen… I have heard… I know… I have come down to deliver” (3:7–8). Exodus theology begins in divine compassion leading to divine descent (Fretheim, 1991; Childs, 1974).

4.3 Commission: mission with a promise

God sends Moses to Pharaoh and promises presence: “I will be with you” (3:10–12). The sign is paradoxical and future-oriented: “You will worship on this mountain” (3:12). Obedience will lead to corporate worship, the telos of liberation.

4.4 The divine name (Exod 3:13–15): ’Ehyeh ’Asher ’Ehyeh

Moses anticipates Israel’s question—“What is His name?” God answers: “I AM WHO I AM” (or “I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE”), linked to the tetragrammaton YHWH (3:14–15). Two dimensions stand out:

• Faithful presence: “I AM/I WILL BE” accents ongoing, active presence—the God who will be with Israel in confronting empire and in wilderness (Durham, 1987; Fretheim, 1991).

• Covenant identity: YHWH is not a new deity but the same God of the patriarchs now self-disclosing for a new redemptive phase (Childs, 1974; Sarna, 1991).

The name is less a metaphysical label than a promise embedded in identity: the God who is with will act for His people.

4.5 Anticipating resistance: a realistic roadmap

God previews the struggle: Israel’s elders will listen, Pharaoh will not, and YHWH will compel Egypt with “mighty hand” acts, ending in favor and plunder (3:16–22). The mission will be contested but not uncertain.

5) Moses’ Five Objections—and God’s Five Replies (Exodus 3:11–4:17)

1. “Who am I?” (3:11) → Presence: “I will be with you” (3:12).
   Leadership in Exodus rests on God’s with-ness, not Moses’ résumé (Fretheim, 1991).

2. “What is His name?” (3:13) → Revelation: YHWH/I AM (3:14–15).
   God grants language for Israel’s hope.

3. “They won’t believe me.” (4:1) → Signs:

   • Staff → serpent → staff (4:2–5): power over chaos.

   • Leprous hand → healed (4:6–7): power to afflict and restore.

   • Nile water → blood (4:9): a forecast of judgment on Egypt’s lifeblood.
     Signs authenticate the messenger and preview the plagues (Stuart, 2006).

4. “I am slow of speech.” (4:10) → Creator’s reply: “Who made the mouth?” I will be with your mouth (4:11–12).
   Divine calling includes divine enablement (Durham, 1987).

5. “Please send someone else.” (4:13) → Aaron provided: God’s anger burns, yet He appoints Aaron as spokesperson and keeps Moses as mediator (4:14–17).
   God accommodates weakness without relinquishing the call (Childs, 1974).

Together, the objections map every common fear of vocation: inadequacy, ignorance, rejection, incapacity, reluctance. God answers each with presence, revelation, signs, empowerment, and partnership.

6) Return to Egypt & the Covenant Crisis (Exodus 4:18–31)

6.1 Consent, covenant, and costly obedience

Moses receives Jethro’s permission, takes the staff of God, and hears a sobering preview: Pharaoh’s heart will be stubborn (4:21). The program of signs aims less to persuade a pliable monarch than to expose an intransigent empire and display YHWH’s sovereignty (Fretheim, 1991).

6.2 The enigmatic encounter (4:24–26)

On the way, “YHWH met him and sought to put him to death,” until Zipporah circumcises their son, touching the foreskin to Moses’ (or the child’s) feet and declaring, “bridegroom of blood.” However puzzling, the point is clear: the mediator of a covenant must himself stand under the covenant sign. Deliverance is not antinomian; it is God’s holy work done God’s holy way (Childs, 1974; Durham, 1987).

6.3 Gathering Israel’s elders

Moses and Aaron assemble the elders; Aaron performs the signs; “the people believed,” bowed, and worshiped (4:29–31). Faith springs where word + sign + memory of covenant meet suffering.

7) Literary and Theological Architecture

7.1 Reversals and ironies

• Pharaoh weaponizes the Nile; God uses it to save Moses.

• Pharaoh’s household funds Moses’ infancy; Egypt will later fund Israel’s exodus (3:21–22).

• The “weak”—midwives, a mother and sister, a princess, a shepherd’s wife—subvert the mightiest crown (Sarna, 1991).

7.2 “Seeing–hearing–knowing”: God’s compassionate verbs

Exod 2:23–25 and 3:7–8 bracket the call with pathos: God’s sight and knowledge of pain catalyze mission. Exodus is theology of divine empathy enacted in history (Fretheim, 1991).

7.3 Name as promise

“I AM/I WILL BE” signals reliable presence. Liberation is not anchored in abstract metaphysics but in covenant fidelity—God will be to Israel exactly who He promises to be (Durham, 1987; Childs, 1974).

7.4 Prophet pattern

Moses’ commissioning (vision, objection, sign, assurance) becomes the template for later prophetic calls (cf. Jer 1; Isa 6). Exodus thus births Israel’s prophetic tradition (Childs, 1974).

8) Historical Notes (Concise & Responsible)

Scholars debate Exodus’s historical setting (15th- vs. 13th-century proposals). Pithom/Raamses may reflect Ramesside activity (Seti I/Ramesses II), but the text resists simple pinning; its primary aim is theological testimony of YHWH’s redemptive action (Kitchen, 2003; Hoffmeier, 1996; Sarna, 1991). The narrative’s Egyptian color—brickmaking, river edicts, royal daughters, desert routes—exhibits cultural verisimilitude while centering covenant theology (Hoffmeier, 1996; Walton, 2006).

9) Formation of a Deliverer: Leadership in God’s Economy

Moses’ preparation is paradoxical:

• Royal formation (education, court savvy) and wilderness apprenticeship (shepherding, survival).

• Zeal without wisdom (Exod 2) transformed into worship-fueled obedience (Exod 3–4).

• Speech weakness covered by divine presence and community partnership (Aaron).

For ministry formation today: God often shapes leaders through hidden years, exile experiences, and ordinary faithfulness before public mission (Fretheim, 1991; Durham, 1987).

10) Reflection & Practice for Students

• Compassion to calling: Where do you see the movement from groaning to calling in your context? How might you join God’s “I have come down” with faithful presence?

• Name as promise: What changes when you treat “I AM/I WILL BE” as a pastoral promise rather than an abstract title?

• Holy means for holy ends: How does the circumcision episode challenge “ends-justify-means” in ministry?

• Courage in weakness: Which of Moses’ five objections feels most like yours? Pray through God’s five replies.

• Women of deliverance: What practices of courageous, everyday resistance (like the midwives’) does faithfulness require of you?

Competency Connection

After this article, you should be able to:

• Explain how Israel moved from favored guests to enslaved laborers and why Exodus frames that shift theologically.

• Describe the literary and theological purpose of Moses’ birth narrative and early life.

• Articulate the significance of the burning bush, the divine name, and the commissioning pattern.

• Summarize Moses’ five objections and God’s answers as a model for vocational formation.

• Connect Israel’s oppression, God’s compassion, and Moses’ call to Israel’s emerging identity as a liberated, covenant people.

Conclusion

The first movement of Exodus narrates a God who sees and comes down, a people whose groans become worship, and a leader forged in weakness for holy work. “Israel in Egypt and the call of Moses” is not mere preface—it is the engine of the book’s theology: the God who promised the patriarchs will be with their children, confronting empire, unmasking idols, and summoning worship on holy ground. Liberation begins here—with a name that is a promise and a bush that burns without consuming (Childs, 1974; Fretheim, 1991; Sarna, 1991).

References

Childs, B. S. (1974). The Book of Exodus: A critical, theological commentary. Westminster.
Durham, J. I. (1987). Exodus (Word Biblical Commentary 3). Word.
Fretheim, T. E. (1991). Exodus (Interpretation). John Knox.
Hoffmeier, J. K. (1996). Israel in Egypt: The evidence for the authenticity of the Exodus tradition. Oxford University Press.
Kitchen, K. A. (2003). On the reliability of the Old Testament. Eerdmans.
Sarna, N. M. (1991). Exodus: The traditional Hebrew text with the new JPS translation. Jewish Publication Society.
Stuart, D. (2006). Exodus (New American Commentary 2). B&H.
Walton, J. H. (2006). Ancient Near Eastern thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the conceptual world of the Hebrew Bible. Baker Academic.
Wenham, G. J. (2003). Exploring the Old Testament: A guide to the Pentateuch. IVP.