I'm a new believer so please forgive anything I might ask out of complete ignorance. I'm going through the Bible and I'm now at Exodus. Why is it said that God heard the groaning of his people and remembered His covenant with them. (Ex 2:24-25 NIV). Had He forgotten about them? Why also, is it said that HE was God of the Hebrews? Why not just God, the Lord Almighty?
Further, why was God angry with Moses for doubting and asking questions? (Ex 4:14) but e.g. not with Gideon (Judges 6) and yet Gideon really questioned and tested God? Did God want to kill Moses? If so, why after sending him on a mission? (Ex. 4:24)

If you don't ask questions, you will never get the answers; I heard it said that the stupidest question is the one unasked.

Your first question, you were wondering if God "remembered" because he forgot something, let me assure you that our God doesn't forget things; I think the terminology is there because God is in a relationship with us & he is talking to us in the Bible, so he uses terms that we can grasp, as his thoughts are higher than our thoughts & his ways are higher than our ways. There are a few instances in scripture of a prophet "reminding" God about his word in prayer - & that is one of the best sermons I've ever heard: Pray God's Word Back To Him.

Your second question you asked why God refered to himself in different ways; to get the best answer takes a long time to do the Bible study, as we have to look at the original language words that are used, so we can truly see how when God refers to himself with diferent words, that he is displaying different attributes about himself.

Your third question was why did God treat Moses diferent than Gideon - I think it was about the fact that God speaks to us where we are - Moses was making excuses (he probably didn't want to go back because he was facing murder charges, thats why he left in the first place); whereas Gideon was truly at a crisis of faith. The reason I said that is because Moses said he wasn't eloquent enough to speak; but didn't Pharoahs' daughter put him through the best schools in the land? (Similar to a modern day lawyer, he was trained in the royal courts jargon & customs, making him the most qualified person for the task) Wheras Gideon was in the mist of a enslaved, downtrodden people & from his perspective he had no hope except God.

Your last question, I am unsure who was being threatened in Ex 4:24, but the context seems to be talking about Zipporah's son (if that is Moses or not I forget) & the circumcision, which is a big deal to the jews, as it is similar to their siguanature on their contract with God. I think that passage has a lot more to do with the circumcision than God about to kill someone; because Zipporah circumcised her son, nobody in fact died.

God bless, hope this is of assistance =)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Slade,

Welcome, Nancy

Slade is right. There is no such thing as a silly question. We should all ask more of them.

You sound like a person seriously thirsting to learn more. You might enjoy the following website that contains various Bible study tools including a lexicon and concordance that provides the Hebrew meanings for Biblical terms in their proper context. The site is :

www.blueletterbible.com

One more thing, do keep asking questions. We all learn from them.

Nick P.

Hi Nancy,

Welcome to this board. As a new or a long-time believer, we all have questions about the Scripture. It is and will always be worthy of our study.

You have asked some difficult questions and Slade has answered well. These are my thoughts concerning your questions –

NAU Genesis 15:13 God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.

The Lord prophesied through Abram (Abraham) that his descendants would be enslaved a long period of time. Their move to Egypt saved their lives from the famine, as God had put Joseph in a high place of government to ensure Jacob’s family would survive. Once Joseph died, a Pharoah came to office that did not know Joseph and the Hebrews were enslaved in order to keep them in check so they would not cause problems for the Egyptians. God never forgot them, but used this period of time to form them into a unified body of people that would be willing to leave the land of Egypt and go back to their original home. When they cried out to Him, He “remembered His covenant”, meaning that He “was mindful of” them or “considered” their distress.


“Why also, is it said that HE was God of the Hebrews? Why not just God, the Lord Almighty?

God chose Abraham to be the father of many nations. God was making a covenant with a people, Abraham’s direct descendants, to be a holy nation that was to eventually influence all others.

NAU Leviticus 26:12 'I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.

He was God, the Lord Almighty, but He had a special relationship with the Israelites, who were to carry the message of the One True and Living God to the rest of the world.

The way I understand the incident of the Lord appearing to slay Moses – Moses had neglected to circumcise his son. He may have been a newborn infant (?) and Moses was more concerned with the trip itself than endangering the life of his son before they arrived in Egypt. God, however, would not let Moses continue on his journey because of the nature and importance of his mission until it had been done.

God bless you,

Chelki