When Moses turned aside to see the great sight, that the bush was not
consumed, he heard a voice calling to him, "Draw not nigh hither."
These words were to convey that the dignity to be conferred upon him
God intended for Moses personally, not for his descendants, and further
he was warned not to arrogate honors appointed for others, as the
priesthood, which was to belong to Aaron and Aaron's descendants, or
royalty, which was to appertain to David and the house of David.[121]
Again the voice spake: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the
place whereon thou standest is holy ground." These words conveyed the
desire of God that he cut asunder every bond uniting him with earthly
concerns, he was even to give up his conjugal life. Hereupon the angel
Michael spoke to God: "O Lord of the world, can it be Thy purpose to
destroy mankind? Blessing can prevail only if male and female are
united, and yet Thou biddest Moses separate from his wife." God
answered, saying, "Moses has begot children, he has done his duty
toward the world. I desire him to unite himself now with the Shekinah,
that she may descend upon earth for his sake."[122]
God spake furthermore, addressing Moses, "Thou seest only what is to
happen in the near future, that Israel is to receive the Torah on Mount
Sinai, but I behold what cometh after, bow the people will worship the
steer, the figure of which they will see upon My chariot, even while My
revelation will be made on Sinai. Thus they will excite My wrath.
Nevertheless, though I know all the perverseness of their hearts,
wherein they will rebel against Me in the desert, I will redeem them
now, for I accord unto man the treatment he merits for his present
actions, not what he will deserve in the future. I promised their
father Jacob, 'I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also
surely bring thee up again,' and now I will betake myself thither, to
bring Israel up in accordance with My words unto Jacob, and bear them
to the land I swore unto their fathers, that their seed should inherit
it. So long as the time of affliction that I had appointed unto his
seed in My revelation to Abraham was not past, I hearkened not to the
supplication and the groaning of his children, but now the end hath
come. Therefore, go before Pharaoh, that he dismiss My people. If thou
dost not bring about the redemption, none other will, for there is none
other that can do it. In thee doth Israel hope, and upon thee doth
Israel wait. The matter lieth in thine hands alone."
Moses, however, refused to take the mission upon himself. He said to
God, "Thy promise unto Jacob was, 'I will surely bring thee up again
out of Egypt.' Thou didst undertake to do it Thyself, and now it is Thy
purpose to send me thither. And how, indeed, were it possible for me to
accomplish this great matter, to bring the children of Israel up out of
Egypt? How could I provide them with food and drink? Many are the women
in childbirth among them, many are the pregnant women and the little
children. Whence shall I procure dainties for those who have borne
babes, whence sweetmeats for the pregnant, and whence tidbits for the
little ones? And how may I venture to go among the Egyptian brigands
and murderers? for Thou art bidding me to go to mine enemies, to those
who lie in wait to take my life. Why should I risk the safety of my
person, seeing that I know not whether Israel possesses merits making
them worthy of redemption?' I have reckoned up the years with care, and
I have found that but two hundred and ten have elapsed since the
covenant of the pieces made with Abraham, and at that time Thou didst
ordain four hundred years of oppression for his seed."[124]
But God overturned all his objections. He spake to Moses, saying: "I
will be with thee. Whatever thou desirest I will do, so that the
redemption will in very truth be realized through Me, in accordance
with My promise to Jacob. The little ones that Israel will carry up out
of Egypt I will provide with food for thirty days. This shall prove to
thee in what manner I will supply the needs of all. And as I will be at
thy side, thou hast no need to fear any man. Respecting thy doubt,
whether Israel deserves to be redeemed, this is My answer: they will be
permitted to go forth from Egypt on account of the merits they will
acquire at this mountain, whereon they will receive the Torah through
thee.[125] And thy reckoning of the end is not correct, for the four
hundred years of bondage began with the birth of Isaac, not with the
going down of Jacob into Egypt. Therefore the appointed end hath
come."[126]
Persuaded now of God's unalterable resolve to use him as His instrument
in the redemption of Israel from Egypt, Moses entreated God to impart
to him the knowledge of His Great Name, that he be not confounded if
the children of Israel ask for it. God answered, saying: "Thou desirest
to know My Name? My Name is according to My acts. When I judge My
creatures, I am called Elohim, "judge"; when I rise up to do battle
against the sinners, I am Lord Zebaot, "the Lord of hosts"; when I wait
with longsuffering patience for the improvement of the sinner, My name
is El Shaddai; when I have mercy upon the world, I am Adonai. But unto
the children of Israel shalt thou say that I am He that was, that is,
and that ever will be, and I am He that is with them in their bondage
now, and He that shall be with them in the bondage of the time to
come."
In reply to the latter words of God, Moses said, "Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof," and God assented thereto. He admitted that it
was not proper to force the knowledge of future suffering upon Israel
in a present that was itself full of evil and sorrow. And the Lord said
to Moses: "My words about the future were meant for thee alone, not
also for them. Tell the children of Israel, besides, that at My behest
an angel can stretch his hand from heaven and touch the earth with it,
and three angels can find room under one tree, and My majesty can fill
the whole world, for when it was My will, it appeared to Job in his
hair, and, again, when I willed otherwise, it appeared in a
thorn-bush."[127]
But the most important communication from God to Moses concerning the
Divine Names were the words to follow: "In mercy I created the world;
in mercy I guide it; and with mercies I will return to Jerusalem. But
unto the children of Israel thou shalt say that My mercy upon them is
for the sake of the merits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
When Moses heard these words, he spoke to God, saying, "Are there men
that transgress after death?" and when God assured him that it was not
possible for the dead to sin, Moses asked again, "Why, then, is it that
Thou didst reveal Thyself to me at the first as the God of my father,
and now Thou passest him over?" Whereupon God said, "In the beginning
it was My purpose to address thee with flattering words, but now thou
hearest the whole and exact truth, I am only the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."[128]
Moses prayed to God, entreating Him to reveal His Great and Holy Name
unto him, so that he might call upon Him with it and secure the
fulfilment of all his wishes. The Lord granted the prayer of Moses, and
when the celestials knew that He had revealed the secret of the
Ineffable Name, they cried out, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, gracious
Giver of knowledge!"[129]
God is always regardful of the honor of the elders of a people, and He
bade Moses assemble those of Israel and announce the approaching
redemption to them. And as God knew beforehand how Pharaoh's obduracy
would display itself, He made it known to Moses at once, lest he
reproach God later with the Egyptian king's frowardness.[130]