Say therefore to the Israelites, “I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgement. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”
God speaks to Moses a message of encouragement and hope. God bookends these words with God’s authority to make these things happen. “I am the Lord,” God says. If you want assurance that these things will come true, assurance that God can make this happen and it will happen, then consider who is speaking. “I am the Lord.” As they say, “take it to the bank,” because this is as certain as the sun rising tomorrow.
And what does God promise? God promises freedom from burdens and delivery from all that enslaves them. God promises them a new identity, that of being God’s free people rather than slaves. The promise is an exodus from all that has given them and us a false sense of self, from all that holds them and us captive, and in that exodus all will know the character of God. God is in the exodus business. Wherever the people of God have been enslaved, by whatever has enslaved them, God’s judgment will be against those enslaving forces and for those held captive. While this text is from the book Exodus and is given in the context of the exodus of the Hebrew people it is a message for all people and all time. It is a message about a God who claims us as God’s own and whose heart and desire is to call us into an exodus from all that captures us and holds us in a false sense of identity, from all that oppresses us and keeps us from the freedom of living as God’s own people. This text may serve as a point of reflection for us to think about who we are in God’s eyes and what might be holding us and others captive. It is also a chance for us to reflection upon who God is in our eyes. God’s promise is to pass judgment on all those things within and without that burden, oppress, and enslave all people. That is a message of hope and an encouragement to not give up but to call upon God to come quickly and show us that “I am the Lord, the God of exodus.”
Grace and peace, Fr. Bill+