The narrative of Moses going before Pharaoh to demand release of his people is perhaps the most central part of the Old Testament biblical narrative and one of the most influential stories ever. The debate as to whether it actually happened exactly as told is intense. There is little if any supplementary historical data to support it but the memory of it in the history of the Jewish people is also so intense and important that it is hard to believe it has NO basis is fact. It is the memory…

Having returned to Egypt from Midian and reestablished a connection with his brother Aaron, Moses is now reintroduced to his people

Exod 5 - Together, Moses and Aaron go to ask Pharaoh to let the Hebrew people go “hold-a-pilgrimage festival” ["hag" in Hebrew is related to hajj in Arabic] in the wilderness. Pharaoh wants to know “Who is YHWH, that I should hearken to his voice” (5:2). Pharaoh accuses them of just being lazy and looking for an excuse to get out of doing the work…

So we leave behind the first stories of the biblical narrative, the stories that present to us a God who is above all and who has a creative desire to create something that is good and pleasing, a desire to be in relation to man (male and female), beings who are “like” Him. In our freedom, we disappoint God and He respond to our failings with anger and persistent outreach. We finally see God reach out in a very personal way to Abraham, a man whose family by one account originated in Ur and…