Perspective 1:

There’s a guy in our community who is very upset with Moses. This guy accuses Moses of “slandering and dishonoring God!”

This guy says, “Moses should be cancelled because Moses explicitly dishonors God when he says, ‘O Lord, why have you done evil to this people?‘ (look at the end of Exodus chapter 5). Moses makes God out to be the villain! Moses blames God for the increased oppression of the Hebrews!” Furthermore, This guy says, “Moses is irreverent and disrespectful to God when Moses complains, ‘Why did you ever send me back to Egypt!??‘” This guy says, “Moses is attacking God’s wisdom, and implying that the mission of God was ill-conceived from its inception.”

This guy says that Moses ought to be denounced and deposed because Moses says, ‘God, You have not delivered your people at all!'” This guy says, “Moses directly undermines God’s promises made during the Burning Bush meeting (see Exodus 3:7–10).” This guy says, “We need to establish charges against Moses!”

Perspective 2:

We have someone in our community who says, “Moses is simply overwhelmed and stressed out!”

This person says, “Moses candidly voiced extensive objections in his meeting with God in the wilderness. For instance, at 80 years old, Moses was long past his political prime, and he had spent 40 years as a shepherd in Midian, completely detached from Egyptian court politics. Moreover, Moses fled Egypt as a fugitive murderer; and returning the scene of the crime is just foolishness! And Moses had built a life, a family – and he had put down roots in Midian – with Jethro’s (a.k.a. Reuel’s) household. And Moses has a speech impediment! And then there is the bizarre “bridegroom of blood” incident, which adds extraordinary auxillary fear and disorientation to his journey! And then – upon arriving back in Egypt – Moses does exactly what God asked, and the immediate result is disastrous! Pharaoh doubles down, revoking straw supplies while maintaining brick quotas; and the Hebrew slaves curse Moses for making them “a stench to Pharaoh.” Moses feels completely stressed-out, overwhelmed, ill-equipped, and outmatched; and he feels culpable and rueful for the increased suffering caused by his intervention.

This person says, “We need to cut Moses some slack and show him sympathy, and we need to understand that what Moses said in chapter 5 verses 22–23 is simply a deeply human reaction to an agonizing situation.”

Perspective 3:

There is a man named Willy in our community who says, “Moses is an enigmatic, rogue-like protagonist operating inside an outrageous divine plan of redemption!”

This guy Willy says, “Moses is like Capt Jack Sparrow! Moses returns to a place where he’s sentenced to hang. Moses is a fugitive returning to the world’s greatest superpower with nothing but a walking stick and his brother. And Moses will plunder (a.k.a. “win favor” with) the Egyptians. The entire scheme is paradoxical and unpredictable. God hardens Pharaoh’s heart, turns rivers to blood, uses swarms of frogs and flies, and turns political power structures on their heads. Moses navigates the story through improvised confrontations, strange miracles, and sheer persistence against an empire. We root for him precisely because the plan seems chaotic, paradoxical, and absurd! Yet somehow the anomalous redemptive agenda succeeds in stripping the empire of its wealth and power!”