Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 100
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IMMERSE
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BEGINNINGS
3:8-22
slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to
rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt
into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and
honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Look! The cry of the people of Israel has
reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now
go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out
of Egypt.”
But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh?
Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”
God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the
one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you will worship God at this very mountain.”
But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The
God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his
name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel:
I Am has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people
of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your a ncestors—the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.
This is my eternal name,
my name to remember for all generations.
“Now go and call together all the elders of Israel. Tell them, ‘Yahweh, the
God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me. He told me, “I have been watching closely, and I see how the
Egyptians are treating you. I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and h oney—
the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and
Jebusites now live.”’
“The elders of Israel will accept your message. Then you and the elders
must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So please let us take a three-day journey into the
wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord, our God.’
“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty
hand forces him. So I will raise my hand and strike the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among them. Then at last he will let you go.
And I will cause the Egyptians to look favorably on you. They will give
you gifts when you go so you will not leave empty-handed. Every Israelite
woman will ask for articles of silver and gold and fine clothing from her
Egyptian neighbors and from the foreign women in their houses. You
