 
A Jewish Rabbi Challenges Whether Ancient History Supports The Biblical Account Of The Exodus And Why Blacks In America Should Be Interested In The Controversy (Part 8)
In light of what we have suggested and presented evidence for over the last 7 weeks, let us now return to the Torah and see more of the details of how God would raise up two men, in particular, to lead an entire people out of slavery and into their own land.
Here we read from the book of Exodus Chapters 3 and 4. We have placed bold and italics on certain parts of what we quote from this book:
3:1
One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he went deep into the wilderness near Sinai, the mountain of God.
3:2
Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire in a bush. Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn't burn up.
3:3
"Amazing!" Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go over to see this."
3:4
When the LORD saw that he had caught Moses' attention, God called to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!""Here I am!" Moses replied.
3:5
"Do not come any closer," God told him. "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground."
3:6
Then he said, "I am the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." When Moses heard this, he hid his face in his hands because he was afraid to look at God.
3:7
Then the LORD told him, "You can be sure I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.
3:8
So I have come to rescue them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own good and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey – the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live.
3:9
The cries of the people of Israel have reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians have oppressed them with heavy tasks.
3:10
Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."
3:11
"But who am I to appear before Pharaoh?" Moses asked God. "How can you expect me to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?"
3:12
Then God told him, "I will be with you. And this will serve as proof that I have sent you: When you have brought the Israelites out of Egypt, you will return here to worship God at this very mountain."
3:13
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 won't believe me. They will ask, 'Which god are you talking about? What is his name?' Then what should I tell them?"
3:14
God replied, "I AM THE ONE WHO ALWAYS IS. Just tell them, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
3:15
God also said, "Tell them, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you.' This will be my name forever; it has always been my name, and it will be used throughout all generations.
3:16
"Now go and call together all the leaders of Israel. Tell them, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – appeared to me in a burning bush. He said, "You can be sure that I am watching over you and have seen what is happening to you in Egypt.
3:17
I promise to rescue you from the oppression of the Egyptians. I will lead you to the land now occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites – a land flowing with milk and honey."'
3:18
"The leaders of the people of Israel will accept your message. Then all of you must go straight to the king of Egypt and tell him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.'
3:19
"But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go except under heavy pressure.
3:20
So I will reach out and strike at the heart of Egypt with all kinds of miracles. Then at last he will let you go.
3:21
And I will see to it that the Egyptians treat you well. They will load you down with gifts so you will not leave empty-handed.
3:22
The Israelite women will ask for silver and gold jewelry and fine clothing from their Egyptian neighbors and their neighbors' guests. With this clothing, you will dress your sons and daughters. In this way, you will plunder the Egyptians!"
Exodus Chpater 4:
1 But Moses protested again, "Look, they won't believe me! They won't do what I tell them. They'll just say, 'The LORD never appeared to you.'"
2 Then the LORD asked him, "What do you have there in your hand?""A shepherd's staff," Moses replied.
3 "Throw it down on the ground," the LORD told him. So Moses threw it down, and it became a snake! Moses was terrified, so he turned and ran away.
4 Then the LORD told him, "Take hold of its tail." So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it became a shepherd's staff again.
5 "Perform this sign, and they will believe you," the LORD told him. "Then they will realize that the LORD, the God of their ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – really has appeared to you."
6 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses did so, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with leprosy.
7 "Now put your hand back into your robe again," the LORD said. Moses did, and when he took it out this time, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
8 "If they do not believe the first miraculous sign, they will believe the second," the LORD said.
9 "And if they do not believe you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, it will turn into blood."
10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, "O Lord, I'm just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I'm not now, even after you have spoken to me. I'm clumsy with words."
11 "Who makes mouths?" the LORD asked him. "Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the LORD?
12 Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say."
13 But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send someone else."
14 Then the LORD became angry with Moses. "All right," he said. "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? He is a good speaker. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. And when he sees you, he will be very glad.
15 You will talk to him, giving him the words to say. I will help both of you to speak clearly, and I will tell you what to do.
16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the people, and you will be as God to him, telling him what to say.
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Has any of the above occurred in the United States of America? Did any of the above occur in the last century in particular? Did God visit America because of the suffering of Blacks in this country and hemisphere due to slavery? Did God, Jehovah, Allah – the Supreme Being – speak to a Black man and instruct him to work to free Black people from their enslavement and lead them out of America? Has God judged America as it is written that Jehovah judged Egypt? Has God sent a Black man to be a warner to the political establishment and top ruler of America as it is written to have occurred with Moses, Pharaoh and Egypt? Have or will Black leaders accept the message of the man that God has assigned to free the ex-slaves as it is written that the leaders of the people of Israel eventually accepted the message of Moses? Did God send a second Black man, who is more eloquent in speech, to help the first Black man that God assigned to free Blacks in America from the yoke of slavery, as it is written that Jehovah sent Aaron to Moses? Did God make this eloquent, second Black man the “spokesperson” for the first Black man that Jehovah spoke to directly, as it is written that Aaron was made the “spokesperson” for Moses?
If the answers to all of these questions is yes, then why hasn’t it made the front-page news of the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Wall St. Journal? Or, why hasn’t it become the top story on the ABC, NBC, or CBS nightly news?
And more importantly, why don’t Pastors, Rabbis and Imams in America preach and teach this on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at mass meetings honoring the Supreme Being?
Cedric Muhammad Sunday, September 9, 2001 To discuss this article further enter The Deeper Look Dialogue Room
The views and opinions expressed herein by the author do not necessarily represent the opinions or position of BlackElectorate.com or Black Electorate Communications.
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