This meditation is a companion to a previous meditation:
Gather the Elders, and Say unto Them - Exodus 3:16-22 (Pt. 1)
Exodus 3:16-17 reads, “Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.”
In Exodus 3:9-10 the Lord God expressed his call upon Moses to send Moses as His instrument of deliverance for His people Israel. In verse 11 Moses responded with the question, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” In verse 12 the Lord God answered Moses’ question by promising to be with Moses and to enable Moses in fulfilling His call. Then in verse 13 Moses asked a second question – “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?” To this question the Lord God gave answer in verse 14-15, declaring – “I AM THAT I AM.” “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”
Even so, on the ground of this declaration, the Lord God then instructed Moses to “go, and gather the elders of Israel together,” and to deliver the message of verses 16-22 unto them. Herein it is worthy of notice that although this message certainly pertained unto the entire nation of Israel, it was to be delivered specifically unto the elders of Israel, unto the leadership of Israel. Indeed, Exodus 3:16-22 provides encouragement and exhortation to those who serve in leadership for God’s people. In the first part of the meditation (see above), we considered three elements from Exodus 3:16-18 -- that the Lord our God knows personally of our need (the Lord's personal care), that the Lord our God promises to help us in our need (the Lord's promised help), and that the Lord our God calls us to serve Him in this world (our public service). In this second part of the meditation, we shall consider three further elements from Exodus 3:19-22.