Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro his brother-in-law, the priest of Midian.
The third chapter teaches how Moses wandered in the desert when he left Egypt, where he saw a bush with fire, from which God spoke to him and commanded him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. So the main part of this third and also the following fourth chapter of Moses' calling is that he should be the duke and commander of the children of Israel and free them from Pharaoh's tyranny. So that we may see what it does when God calls one or when he does not call one.
(2) On the other hand, we also hear how Moses struggles and resists for a long time, and does not want to have the appointment. For Moses quarreled and quarreled with God at the same time, and would not accept this office; God demanded and called him almost a sixth time, but he still resisted and resisted.
3. Moses makes himself too small and low; on the other hand, he sees the matter, namely the execution of the children of Israel from the house of Egypt, so great that it will be impossible for him, and that he is nothing to be counted here, because there was no human help to be seen. And although the tyrannical and wicked king dies in Egypt, who had burdened the children of Israel with joyful services and drowned their children, and who was so hostile to Mosiah; since one had hoped that it would now become better, or, as they say, warmer by one coat, it becomes much worse. For a worse king comes into the regiment than the previous one had been. Moses was no longer at the royal court, but fled from Egypt and lived in Midian for forty years in exile. Therefore Moses does not want to go to his profession; he does not want to leave, whether God promised him that he would give him word and mouth for it. [He drives and tempts God.
He is angry with Moses and says, "Do not upset me; be afraid of my wrath.
(4) This, of the calling of Moses, keep well; for no one shall intrude into a public office without God's calling. And know this for the sake of the new spirits that infiltrate and creep in, since God has not called them nor sent them to do so; they want to be preachers and teach the people without requirement and calling [Jer. 23:21]. Moses had long ago wished in his spirit for the salvation of his brothers from the house of Egypt, as he had enough spirit and effort when he killed the Egyptian. As if he should say: Methinks I should help you. And God does not punish it; as Stephen praises such murder in the stories of the apostles [Cap. 7, 25.] and says: "They did not hear it." Nor does he want to attack such execution from Egypt; God calls him first and sends him to the children of Israel.
(5) For it is not enough to boast of the Spirit; neither will God have it that men believe those who pretend and say, Believe my Spirit. Item, who say: The spirit drives me, the spirit calls me. Otherwise we would all be standing in the same heap, and no one would hear the other.
(6) But where God calls and drives to the ministry of preaching, the work goes on and tears through. How God is doing a great work here, which Moses himself despaired of, that he should lead such a great people out of such a mighty kingdom, and said: What am I against such a king? I am truly a fine, handsome, adorned fellow. But there is no harm. Moses, says God, be bold, pray and be confident, I will make Pharaoh stubborn, and he will shut himself up; but I will do the more signs with you, so that you may be sure that I have called you to the work.
007 For whosoever shall begin a new thing, let him not bring with him this glory: the Spirit hath put it into his heart. If he brings this defiance and glory with him, then only beat it out. For so shall one do first, saying, If the Holy Spirit will use me for an arnte (be it what it may),
and if God wants me to start it, and I have it in mind, He will give it so that the signs will follow, that He will confirm the sending and lifting by heavenly signs.
8 For this is decreed, that the Spirit shall not blow out or provoke any man's heart, except he confirm it first with signs; outward evidence he must bring with him. This is the inward calling.
The other calling is also divine, but it happens through men. The first is by God alone, without any means; and this calling must have outward signs and testimonies. The other calling must not have any signs; as, I would never preach here in Wittenberg if I were not forced to do so by God and required to do so by the Elector of Saxony. It is the same with another. For if people want to force me and press me, and I can do it, or I cannot do it at all, that is desired of me, then I do as much as I can. There it drives through people, and so also God's commandment stands there, that the Holy Spirit also touches me and says [3 Mos. 19, 18.): You shall love your neighbor as yourself. No man shall live to himself alone, but shall also serve his neighbor. This commandment is laid upon all, upon me and upon you. If the same commandment takes hold of me and is held against me, no defense will help unless I want to defend myself until I fall from God's grace.
(10) This calling is now confirmed by men, and yet also by God; therefore remember, and serve your neighbor therein, lest others come plodding across the field, and intrude into offices into which they have not been called, nor asked nor solicited. As if I wanted to go to Leipzig and preach there in the castle, and say, "The spirit drives me, I must preach; that is wrong.
(11) If he does not give you a seal and a sign, refrain from doing so, 1) and remain in the common way, that one asks the other from time to time. As, in this place here,
1) Eislebensche: dichs ---- dich deß.
This is the preaching stand of all of us, and we all come together; but whoever is not chosen to preach here stands aside and does not preach. Who, then, is calling the spirits of the mob to break this order?
(12) Now these two professions are thus done. One who is badly done by God, and who claims this, do not believe that he is doing signs for you; or do not believe that he is bringing you signs first, that he is called by the Holy Spirit. For there are many such sneaks and preachers today who say that they are called by God, but they point to God or to the people who have called them. Yes, they can creep up behind people and wash so long that they are chosen and called afterwards; people can soon be persuaded with words. But they are thieves, murderers and wolves [John 10:1]. Now therefore they lack that it should be asked, If ye be of the Holy Ghost, shew signs. Or, if ye boast that ye are called of men, present it, and prove it, as is right and according to the scriptures. For God did not want to send the apostles into the world, unless they had been confirmed with signs beforehand.
(13) The other profession, which is done by man, is confirmed beforehand by the command of God on Mount Sinai [Deut. 19:18, Deut. 6:5]: "Love God and your neighbor as yourself. If this commandment drives you, you need no sign, for God has commanded it beforehand, and I must do it. Now people take this commandment and hold it up to me; this saying has been confirmed to me by Moses and by God in heaven, if I follow it. So I preach without any signs, and yet it is the calling of God; for it comes from the commandment of love, and is compelled by God. So also many prophets and Levites were called, whose natural office was to preach, just as our Doctores Theologiä are made and ordained for this purpose. Well, these were not allowed to be called, because they were prophets and preached without signs, because they did it from their natural office.
14 But this is my glory and my defiance, that I know that I do right, and by the gift of God I have done right.
I am called to do this by love. That is my glory. I do not boast of my spirit, for there I could not do a part of my ministry, even if I knew that I should convert the whole world, but there lies God's word and command. And if it goes according to God's word, then it is right; but if it goes according to my spirit, then it soon lies in the ashes of all that I began with. So they force me into it and make me preach, even though I would have liked to stay outside the preaching ministry. I have also boasted of this, since a long time ago the pope wanted to know the reasons for my profession.
(15) This is the profession of a public office among Christians. But if one were to come among the multitude, where there were no Christians, he would do as the apostles did, and not wait for the profession. If one said, "There are no Christians here; I will preach and teach them about Christianity," and a crowd gathered and chose me as their bishop, then I would have a profession.
(16) Moses here is eighty years old, and at forty years of age has a great spirit, and is an excellent man; yet he refuses to hold public office, and will not go up until he hears his God's displeasure, though he had excellent, glorious promise that God would be with him. For where God's word is confirmed, there is His commandment, and there the signs are also confirmed. God does no sign where it is not highly necessary. Christ did not want to do a sign for the Jews according to their head and favor [Matth. 12, 39], but where it was necessary, he could do miracles and wonders. Otherwise it would be a miracle, as Herod also wanted signs from Christ [Luc. 23, 8. 9.]. We could also perform signs, but there is no need, for our teaching has been confirmed beforehand and is no longer a new teaching.
17 This is the first part of this third chapter, about the calling of Moses to lead the great people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt against the will of the mighty king Pharaoh. And have heard of two kinds of calling; one that happens without means from God, when the Holy Spirit calls and gives into the heart. Do not believe him, they
then give you a sign that God has commanded them such a ministry, since no one knows about it but He alone. And whom God has called, to him he also gives a sign, as he does Mosi here. After that, there is the other profession, where one is called by the common commandment, namely, that one should serve people. In this calling one also has God's word, and there is no need for a sign that the gospel and the law are right. For both teachings were confirmed by signs many years ago and have also been accepted by the world, so that one can shut the world's mouth; for everyone knows that such teaching is right, and one must be satisfied with it.
V. 1 Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro his brother-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he drove the sheep into the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
18 Horeb and Sina is a mountain in Arabia; and Egypt is toward the west, but the promised land 1) is toward the east, and Arabia Petraea abutted thereon. The Edomites or Ishmaelites lived there, although the Scriptures call them by other names. Moses was a servant there and was forty years old. He came from a royal court camp, where he was held in high esteem, but he would rather be poor with his brothers with his high spirit than live in great honor in the king's court. Before, he was the king's son; here he is a servant for forty years, tending sheep. That is a great leap, coming from a great king's hall and court to a shepherd's house.
019 Midian was a priest, and a righteous man. For those countries were better Christians than we are; they did not fool themselves with the statutes of men, as we do. Midian was Abraham's son, born of Keturah, Abraham's third wife [Gen. 25:2], and there it was not lacking, they learned much from Abraham, how he walked in his house. They all knew God rightly, and the right way of God.
1) In the Eisleben edition: "the promised land". Thus the points of the compass are indicated straight opposite. The error will undoubtedly be found with the scribe.
The people learned to serve, as well as the Ishmaelites. But this, on the other hand, is the defect that faith does not follow all who know and have God's word. "For faith is not of all" [2 Thess. 3:2]. Where faith has fallen, hypocrisy certainly remains, since reason and the divine word are baked together, so that a cake may be made of it; just as in the papacy they have mixed the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, baptism and the divine word with the statutes of men.
020 Now Midian was not such a heathen as worshipped idols, but he taught the right God, though he invented a peculiar way, which we now call idolatry; as reason always does. So Laban was also righteous, and yet after that he was torn away to idolatry [Gen. 31, 30]. So Moses stayed with the Gentiles and preached to them as Joseph preached in Egypt [Gen. 39:9].
V. 2. 3. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a fiery flame out of the bush, and he saw that the bush was burning with fire, and yet was not consumed, and said: I will go and see this great vision, why the bush is not burned.
Here is a question: whether God or an angel spoke to Moses? For Apost. 7, 30. Stephen also says that for more than forty years the angel of the Lord appeared in the wilderness on Mount Sinai in a flame of fire of the bush. For some say that Moses saw the divine being himself here. Now it is written that the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses and spoke to him from the bush. Moses did not see God here. Therefore also Lucas and Stephanus say that the law was given by the angels 2c. God makes these princes of heaven preachers, so that it comes to us through the hand of angels; but we Christians have heard the Lord Himself. Christ, the Son of God, who is above all angels, preached to us with his mouth, and began to spread the gospel in the world, and then commanded his apostles to preach it. He has reserved the gospel in his humanity for him to preach, and the law through his apostles.
the angels [Gal. 3, 19]. Therefore one should always understand that God speaks through angels.
(22) There is an angel in this bush, which bringeth unto Moses the word of God, and speaketh as God: and Moses also heareth the word of God, whether it proceedeth out of a bush, or through a stone. The word is to be looked at, and not at the person. For God now takes an angel, soon Peter or Magdalene, or even a donkey, as happened with Balaam [Num. 22, 28, 30], through whom He speaks His word. Therefore it is rightly said: "God spoke with Moses", although it is not always reported that he spoke through the angels. For when God speaks His word for Himself, He speaks it so that we may all be blessed in a moment. If he spoke verbally, we would immediately melt and perish before the great glory; but if he does not speak bodily, he uses creatures for this purpose, whoever these creatures may be.
So God spoke here through an angel. In the 19th chapter of Matthew, v. 5, it is written that God said: "Man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife", since Adam said it [Gen. 2, 24]. But God's speaking and Adam's speaking are the same. For it is spoken from God and in God, therefore God has spoken it.
When the Lord saw that he was going to see, God called to him from the bush and said, "Moses, Moses! He answered, Here I go. And he said, Come not near, put off thy shoes from off thy feet: for the place where thou art standing is a holy land.
(24) So God does here with Moses, as He always does with His saints, that He first destroys one before He raises him up. God breaks and tears down everything before he builds it; he throws it to the ground before he raises it up again; he kills before he brings it to life. The devil even reverses such things. But Moses is frightened, becomes stupid, and all his presumption falls away. But these things must be done for the sake of his outward profession, in honor of the place that was holy.
(25) Whence is it holy? It is called holy not because it is anointed with oil and greased, but because God reveals Himself there to the must and speaks with him. God's word is there, so the people who live there must also be holy. Even though there are ungodly wretches there, the place is blessed. And therefore the people will be blessed, and the ears and eyes blessed, who hear and see the divine word; as the Lord Christ says [Luc. 10:23, 24]. For where the word of God comes, holy things are heard and seen; for the word is holy and makes holy people. Therefore, where the word resounds, there is a holy place.
(26) Therefore do not miss, as if you should not humble yourself, but go with complete fear. For there is not a bush or a fire, like other bushes and fires, but there is something new, namely God's word, which God wants to honor. And with trembling and fear one must go to it, and not respect it as a human word. Then he strikes Moses down, because God is present here with His angels and with His word. Then man must say: Lord, I am nothing; and soon his courage falls. When God touches a man's heart, his feathers soon fall out so that he does not fly high; just as Moses here no longer wants to look into the bush, for he is struck with fear.
27 Then God came and comforted Moses again. For he will begin the redemption of the children of Israel at Mount Horeb, and will make Moses captain of that work; speak of it to Moses. He will then give his law in this place and make his own kingdom and people out of the children of Israel. Therefore, because God's word and law is here, the place must be holy.
The patriarch Jacob also calls Bethel a holy place, because he saw there in a dream the ladder that reached from heaven to earth, and God was standing on top of the ladder, and the angels were ascending from heaven to earth [Gen. 28:12]. God was talking to him, heaven was open. In the same way Jerusalem is called a holy city [Matth. 27, 53.]
The temple, the law, the prophets' teachings and the promise of Christ. Just as all our churches are holy because the Word of God is preached and the sacraments are administered in them.
29 Here it should also be noted that God is very rich and superfluous with words in this text, and that He speaks a great deal to Moses. For I have said it many times before, and still say it, that it is a precious and delicious thing when one hears God's word. And one should go through all the lands to be worthy to hear one letter of God's word: rather, one should lift up one's hands, open house and yard, so that God may speak to us as much as he does here to Moses.
(30) But that the bush is full of fire and does not burn, and that Moses must take off his shoes, (2c) what that is, we will save for another time. But it is so that Moses would come humbled before God, knowing his worthlessness, and become a man other than the instrument through which God would accomplish great things. That is why he saw the bush burning and was frightened, and crawled into a different skin.
V. 6. And he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses covered his face, for he feared to look upon GOD.
God boasts here that this is his name forever, so he should be called, and whoever does not want to have this God, lacks the right God. The Lord Christ introduces this text against the Sadducees, Matthew chapter 22, v. 32, Marc. 12, 26, Luc. 20, 37] and interprets this text finely about the resurrection of the dead. For they thought that there was a God, but 1) no other life after this life, nor an angel nor a spirit, and understood the law of Moses only according to its outward essence, as the Jews did not see it differently. But the Lord Christ says [Matth. 22, 29] to the Sadducees: "You are mistaken and do not understand the Scriptures, nor the power of God"; you do not know what the resurrection of the dead is.
1) Eisleben's: or.
But here it is shown that God says: "I am a God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. From this Christ concludes that there is another life after this life. And that the resurrection of the dead is understood in this text, he thus proves that God is a God of the living and not of the dead; for that which is nothing, item, dissolved and dissolved, has no God. If a God is to be, he must be someone's God, from whom flows all goodness toward those in whom he is.
(33) And all the heathen have also done good to God; therefore one has devised this god, and another that god, for no other cause than that, when misfortune befalls them, they may find counsel and help here. Thus the pagans have made many idols, for it is naturally implanted in us that God is such a thing, so help all those who call upon him. The pagans did not lack that God is something that helps; this light is still in nature, otherwise people would not say: Help me. They must have a knowledge of God. But there is a lack of it, and here reason is blind, and causes idolatry, that it attributes the divinity to other things, which are not God, and does not recognize the right God.
Nature knows that God is the one who helps, but she does not know who that God is. Therefore, it dreams that this one will be God, and so it will be with the divine being. The Lord Christ was on earth, doing God's work and speaking God's word; yet the Jews themselves could not recognize with their reason that he was God, whom they saw before their eyes with his miraculous works [John 10:33], but said: God is He who created all things, helps all, and does all good things 2c.; but that this God should be, He is not. For when it comes to interpretation, God is soon absent. It is well known that there is a God, but who this God is, the whole world is blind.
Now, that I make it clear: We monks have preached highly of GOD and how one should serve GOD, namely, that this is GOD who sits high in heaven and created everything, and sent his son into the world 2c. Then
One said: I will serve this God, do this and that, and vow poverty, chastity and obedience. This work will please him. So they interpret God and say what His will is. So when I suggest to God how I want to serve Him, it is done, and I have lacked the right of God. For God is not so minded as I think, but what God gives and means, that shall be done. So he wants to be struck, and not by my discretion. For this reason, he lets all of these who have interpreted God altogether remain absent, mistaken and blind.
There is a common knowledge of God (as Rom. 1, 19. ff. and Cap. 2, 1. ff. are said) that has remained in the world. But when it comes to the meeting, they all lack God. Therefore, no one has the right to interpret or to name God, except as He names Himself, interprets Himself and proposes His work. Since his interpreting lasts, there it is, otherwise we all lack. So now it is better to refrain from all services where one is not certain that God's word is there, and where God does not interpret Himself. For the fact that a nun says that she is Christ's bride is nothing, for she is the devil's bride, because she takes things before her out of her own devotion and conceit, and points her thing to God's work. But therefore it is rightly said: God, who created heaven and earth, says: He who believes in Christ shall have eternal life, and his sins shall be forgiven and he shall be saved. That is where we meet GOD. For I did not make the interpretation (as, believe in Christ). For I would have said of myself: I will pray, fast, torture myself and call upon the saints until I am saved. Such interpretation is to call our Lord God as I wish, which means nothing.
(37) God is always known to be such a thing as helps all, but no one can name him unless he signs himself and puts a mark on himself, saying, "By name, sign, or work, you shall meet me and know me. But if I give God a name, and put a mark upon him, I have missed his mark; for God hath put his name and mark upon us in Christ. Christ shall be his name. Whoever attaches himself to Christ through faith, and is baptized, has
God is found. But if you do anything else, you are lacking God. As if you wanted to say: Dear Lord God, who sits in heaven among the angels, I will come to you and serve you and build a monastery, put on a monk's cap, go on pilgrimage, do this and that 2c. Hereby I interpret him, and call him without his command and word. There I have missed.
(38) Thus the article of the resurrection of the dead is also indicated here, for God says: "I am a God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If then he is a God of Abraham, Abraham must live. If he is also the God of Isaac, then Isaac must live. Therefore, everything that is called Abraham must remain, not only the soul, but also the whole man with body and soul, who had Saram, the old Rachel, 1) as his wife; the same physical man who fathered a son with Sarah. Accordingly, the man Isaac must also live. These are strong, excellent words, that Isaac, Abraham, Jacob should live again and rise again, not only with the body, but the whole man with body and soul.
(39) How then can this be? for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, are dead, rotten, and decayed, and there seemeth nothing in them? To this Christ answers, saying, that his word is true; and the text of the holy scriptures lieth not, that they which are dead must live. For though they are dead, yet are they alive: for in death they also live. For to our Lord God they are all alive, but to us men they are only withdrawn from sight. Nevertheless they are still alive, and that is still behind them, so that on the last day they will be brought forth again and shown to us. But they live in God, and what lives before Him is a prepared life; if it is a matter of a moment, we too will live again. Therefore St. Paul speaks [1 Cor. 15, 54.] from the prophet Hosea 2) [Cap. 13, 14.]: let death be swallowed up in victory 2c. [Is. 25, 8. 1 Cor. 15, 55.)
40 The patriarchs died because of it,
1) This is probably the name given to Sarah because she, like Rachel (XXX) [Gen. 29:31], was barren.
2) Instead of "Hosea" should probably be read "Isaiah", because the words as they are written here are 1 Cor. 15, 55. drawn from Isaiah.
that their mortal body is only changed. There is only one change. God is now working on the mortal body in death so that it will become as bright and beautiful again as the sun is in the sky. There is no death in the sight of our Lord God, and in the sight of our fleshly eyes dying is only a moving away. For as it is with our birth, so it is also with our death. What were you and I a hundred years ago? Nor did God create and make us later. So he can bring forth again the body, flesh and blood of those who died a hundred years ago. For all things live before him, as those who are yet to be born, and as those who have been.
41 So he decides that there is a resurrection of the dead. For Abraham, Isaac, Jacob have not died, but are alive. Are they buried? Yes, they are gone; but it is only to be a change, since the dead are taken away from our sight, and God now makes them different, for they shall live before Him.
V. 7-10 And the Lord said: I have seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry against them which they do wrong; and I have known their sorrow, and am come down to deliver them out of the hand of Egypt, and to bring them out of that land unto a good and far country, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Cananites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, because the cry of the children of Israel is come before me, and I have seen their fear also, how they feared the Egyptians; now therefore go, I will send thee unto Pharaoh, and thou shalt bring my people the children of Israel unto Egypt.
This is the calling of Moses, when God fetches him in the desert and behind the sheep in Midian, and sets him as lord or duke over his people, just as He takes Saul from the donkeys and sets him as king over Israel [1 Sam. 9, 2. ff], even as He finds David behind the lambs and anoints and confirms him as king in Saul's place [1 Sam. 16, 11. ff]. For God knows well how to find His own, whom He wants to use for great offices; they must not run and run for it, or practice much.
and attacks, God sees them Himself and expels them into His divine calling.
(43) Learn also from this text how God has an eye on the misery, distress, affliction, affliction or cross of His saints, looks upon it, hears their cries, sighs and prayers, and wants to save them. For he mourns over the affliction, anguish and heartache of his own, when they are in distress; he has a fatherly compassion and mercy on them, and will help them out of it, as the 103rd Psalm, v. 13, also says: "As a father has mercy on children, so the Lord will have mercy on those who fear him." So another Psalm [Ps. 56, 9.] says: "God count all the fleeing of His own, and gather their tears into His sack" 2c. For here He finally helps His people out of the tyranny of Pharaoh, and brings them into the promised land, which He had promised to their grandfathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is true in His promises; He has promised help to the children of Israel, and He is now putting it into practice. Now, how does Moses stand against this divine calling?
V. 11. 12. And Moses said unto GOD, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? He said: I will be with thee; and this shall be a sign unto thee, that I have sent thee: When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will sacrifice to God on this mountain.
44 God has done a strange miracle and wonder here, that he appears to Moshe in a fiery bush, and yet the bush is not scorched nor burned, so that he assures Moshe that he wants to be with him, and that his profession is a divine profession. Therefore he gives him a promise and says: he will be with him. For where there is a divine, proper profession, there is also God's promise that happiness and blessing shall be with the same profession. God also wants to be there with His help, so that those who have to endure all kinds of dangers and obstacles in their profession may be comforted and rejoice in the divine grace and help.
45. when God sent Jeremiah the prophet [Jer. 1:6-10] to the city of Jerusalem, and he apologized for being young and not being able to preach, God also gave him the like.
Promise and said, "You shall not say I am too young, but you shall go wherever I send you and preach what I command you. Fear them not, for I am with thee, and will save thee. I put my words in your mouth. I set thee this day over nations and kingdoms, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant."
(46) How then doth Moses stand against this calling? He is reluctant to go up; first he looks at himself and says, "Who am I that I should be the captain and duke of the children of Israel? He confesses his weakness and inability, saying that he is a shepherd or a shepherd who can hardly defend sheep before the wolf; how then can he protect the children of Israel from the angry tyrant Pharaoh? He has no armor, no spear, no sword, no horsemen, no chariots to deliver them from Egypt.
Therefore Moses resists. As we shall hear more later, he says to God, "What shall I say about you? Who are you? After this he reproves even more, saying, "They will not believe me," and complains greatly about the hardness or stubbornness of the people; item, he says, "He does not have a good language; therefore is the fault of his person, of our Lord God, of the king, and of the Jewish people. At last, when he sees that God will be ungracious to him, he says [4:13], "Send whom thou wilt," and leave me unsworn. [He] does not want to leave.
(48) All this is written for our teaching and comfort, that no one should enter into a matter concerning God unless he is called to do so. For he who intrudes himself, and has no sign or word from God that God wants him, will do little good.
V. 13. 14. Moses said to GOD: Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and speak to them: The GOD of your fathers has sent me to you, and they will say to me: What is his name? What shall I say to them? And God said unto Moses, I will be who I will be. And said, Thus shalt thou saw unto the children of Israel: I will be he that sent me unto you.
49 Finally Moses said, "Lord, how can I tell the children of Israel that you have sent me to them? He is supposed to tell God what his name is, and he cannot do it; even if he dared, he would be foolish. Therefore God comes forth and interprets His name Himself, and is a strange name of God. He interprets himself and says: "I will be who I will be". So my name is called. This is a blind thing, that he says: I am who I am, or will be. Why does he have this name? I have said before that no one could give him this name if one is to interpret God; for there we lack God. He advances with the word above all creatures who are not God, nor can give eternal life; for there is none else who works eternally but God alone; who says here: "I am." No one else can say this, for everything passes away.
(50) All our life is a travelling, loose possession. I can say, I am passing away; but I cannot say, I am living, I am not passing away or wavering, I am and remain forever. With what title does God tear our hearts and eyes from all creatures, and show it to Himself alone. For God wants to say here: Nothing remains on earth but I alone. I alone have the essence; whoever clings to other things goes away. Today man is strong, tomorrow he is sick; today I am honored, tomorrow I am disgraced; today young, tomorrow old; today rich, tomorrow poor. Therefore here says God: I am the God in whom you should cling, and trust no other creature. This is the first commandment; whoever thus leads and interprets it, interprets it rightly.
But reason speaks thus: I am attached to this work, because I have read so many masses, lived so long in the monastery, fasted, prayed and led such a hard order, so I take something temporal and transitory, so that we should comfort ourselves, and that we become deathly pale through poverty and are painted. Usually, however, we think that God looks upon us when we are well. And herewith the noble, precious name of God must be put to my work; [I] cling to perishable things, and forsake Him who is imperishable and eternal. For this reason, God wants me to be merely
That I may not trust in my merits, honor, good works, princes, or authorities, or any other name, but hold only to him who is eternal, and who says here, If thou holdest to me, thou shalt not want.
Who could have interpreted him in this way if he had not declared himself to be so, saying, "One must cling to me through faith. If one is stuck in reason, one does not come to God, unless I bring him a heap of good works, crown him, and say: Lord, this and that I have done. This means, then, to give God another name, and to appropriate God's name to creatures, and to defy creatures, since we should defy Him. This is how one should interpret God's name.
53. further he says to Moses: I will give you an outward sign, so that you may meet me: "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" 2c., to be thought of, spoken of and preached 2c. How then has he been Abraham's GOOD? He gave him the sign, the circumcision, and so Abraham believed GOD; he gave him an outward instruction how to find him. And this is told only to the Jews, and not to the Gentiles. Abraham has the testimony in the holy Scriptures [Gen. 15, 6. Rom. 4, 3. Gal. 3, 6. Jac. 2, 23.] that he believed God and was justified by faith; therefore God is the God of Abraham. Isaac followed this faith and also wore the circumcision on his body as a sign. So Isaac also had GOD for his GOD, and so GOD became GOD through the faith of Abraham. For he believed that in his seed all generations on earth should be blessed [1 Mof. 22, 18.]. Therefore Abraham became the son of GOD by faith [Jn. 1, 12. 1, and GOD became his father. Therefore he speaks here: If thou wilt interpret, teach, and preach me aright, propose no work, but as I became Abraham's GOOD, so am I still called, and will be thy GOOD also. If then thou shalt make another bridge unto me, thou shalt fail. For if he be Abraham's God, then shall I also have Abraham's word, preaching, doctrine, religion, faith, and signs, or come not to God.
54. the Jews say: We believe in God, who created heaven and earth, 2c., and believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But this is done by name alone, and we paint God with letters, and go about with Mosiah's laws and good works. This is far from the truth. For this is my name, says God here, even before Moses was born; but you want to mend your ways to me with Moses' good works and earn heaven.
55] Now he does not say here, "I am the God of Moses or of the Levites, but I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"; thus, with this name he cancels all the laws and works of Moses, and remains alone in saying that no one can attain to God, nor can anyone come to him, nor recognize him, but he considers him to be the God in whom Abraham also believed. God was Abraham's God without the law, and before the law was given; but so he became Abraham's God, believing that God would help the world through his seed. You must also come to believe, and then have the outward sign attached to it. Thus God will be preached and called in the world, and this shall be said of Him forever [Rom. 1:16]. Whoever seeks God otherwise is lacking. So his name shall remain and be preached forever.
Now, here a game will be played. The word of God and faith have remained, and through the word and faith alone one comes to God; but where now? We do not call God a God of Abraham, nor are we circumcised, nor do we keep what Abraham kept, but we come to Christ and keep to baptism; and yet it is said here, "This shall be my name forever? So we Gentiles must become Jews, and be circumcised, and forsake our baptism. The Jews know well that eternity here is not a time that never ends; as it is also said: Children and children's children, which is also not a time that never ends, but is spoken of a temporal course, of the time that passes here on earth.
1) Eislebensche: them.
There is a difference between the gospel preached in the world and the gospel promised before [Rom. 1:2 ff]. A thing that has been promised and a thing that has been put into practice are two different things. Faith and eternal life are also two different things. I have eternal life in promise, and not in essence; now I have it in darkness, and see it not, but believe it; hereafter I shall feel it [1 Cor. 13:12, 1 John 3:2]. The gospel has now rung out into the world, and has been proclaimed everywhere; but in this word, "In thy seed shall be blessed," 2c., there alone has it been promised. He saith, In this hour shall the gospel go; and it goeth. Again also: It shall come, it shall come, that one shall preach of the blessing and benediction as far as the world is; the blessed seed shall come from you, Abraham, so that it is called Christ [Gal. 3, 29.]. But Christ had not yet come at that time, but was promised alone, just as the gospel was promised.
(58) Now the Jews, of Abraham's seed, are bound by this text, that they believe in the God of Abraha, who made the promise to Abraha. But they lack that they do not want to believe that God made the promise to Abraha, that He performed it, and that He accomplished it. But God says, "I am to be taken and kept in the promise made to Abraha. Now this is not valid any longer, because the promise lasts; after that, when the promise is fulfilled, then it must be over. Therefore, one must not believe now that the gospel and Christ are promised, but that everything has now happened and been fulfilled, and that God is truly Abraham's God, and that this promise, which was made to Abraham, has now been fulfilled. I wanted to jump back and say that Christ had not come.
59) So it is played on Christ, when he comes, he shall bring forth the name, as Abraham was promised [2 Cor. 5:19]. So it is on Christ alone; as if he should say: I am a God who promised Abraham the future Christ with his gospel. Whoever wants to have me must now recognize me as such a God,
as he who promised Abraham Christ and his gospel. If he has promised Christ and the gospel, then it must come; and when it comes, then God is called the one who gives and keeps what he promises, and who joins himself to us so that he will be God and give what he promises. Therefore, all His promises must be fulfilled, and when the promise is fulfilled, then it is finished [2 Cor. 1:20]. Therefore, after Christ's birth no more time runs; one does not say there: Child, child child, so one shall grasp me 2c. It cannot last longer than until the promise comes and is fulfilled.
60 Thus God points us to Himself and to His word, indicating that no one can meet God except by His word, and that the word cannot be grasped except by faith. Therefore, no word, way, or work should be put before God, except how He tells me how to believe; thus all the works of Moses and our good works are extinguished. And then we know who GOD is, and can interpret him. For here he says: I am called, who it is that I am, and who I shall be. By what? You have my word, and you have the sign of Abraha; hang on to it. When the promise is fulfilled, you will have another word and another sign.
So this text contains many beautiful, glorious teachings, such as faith in God, item, about the kingdom of Christ, and about the resurrection of the dead. After that, some miraculous signs will come in the fourth chapter, of the rod becoming a serpent, and of the hands that he puts into his bosom and becomes leprous 2c. And if we look at these miraculous signs according to history, then by them God wants to accustom Moses to become bold and daring, to approach the matter of the execution of the children of Israel from Egypt with confidence. As if God should say: Moses, you have a terrible work before you, but take hold of it. It seems impossible now that you should attack and overthrow the mighty king Pharaoh, but dare it briefly and confidently. The serpent has a terrible face and is poisonous; but seize it by the tail. The hand is leprous; but only dare at my word, and it shall be established.
Allegoria or spiritual interpretation of the third chapter.
In the third chapter we heard how Moses was tending the sheep and he saw a fiery bush from which God appeared to him and commanded that he should lead the people of Israel out of Egypt; also how Moses resisted and pretended that he had a difficult language and tongue, that he could not speak well 2c. This is the third chapter.
63) But that the bush burns and yet is not consumed by fire, this is what has been attributed to the Virgin Mary throughout the world, that her virginity has been kept and preserved. Thus, when one plunders into the holy scripture, one draws the holy scripture elsewhere by human reason. If one puts secret interpretation on works or persons, it is wrong and unjust. Otherwise, one can praise Mary, but it is not necessary to take off Christ's feathers and put them on Mary, or to take off Christ's garment and put it on the Virgin Mary.
64 But the Lord Christ is the same bush. For he is the right angel, sent by God from heaven, as it is written to the Romans in the fifteenth chapter, v. 8: "Christ is the apostle of the Jews, that he might fulfill the promises made to the patriarchs. He is an apostle, that is, the right arch and supreme messenger sent into the world. This Lord Christ is shown to the must, that is, to all those who were under the law. For Moses bears the image and figure of the law, and signifies the law's office; and the people who are under the law are Moses, for he was to give the law, and the people to execute it. But that Christ burns, and is not corrupted, is pointed to the Godhead; and not unjustly.
But I do not want to go too high, but this time I want to make a point that is even closer, namely, that this means Christ, the true man, who appears in the same form as other men; just as the bronze serpent [Deut. 21:9], erected in the desert by Moses, had the form and likeness of other serpents, but there was no poison. As also told to the Romans in chapter 8, v. 3.
Christ has the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin"; and to Philippians, chapter 2, vv. 6-8. Christ preached on earth in the flesh, as I and you, that his flesh and mine cannot be separated. However, since all our flesh is poisoned, and he also has our flesh, therefore it is such a likeness, and has the flesh, sin and poison, yet there is no sin and poison in his person, so he is born in a flesh that is sinful, yet in him there is no sin; that is, Christ is truly born of the flesh. So the bush here is full of fire, that it burns, and yet is not consumed. Neither does it move Moses, as if to say, If there is fire, it must consume, for that is its nature. Moses looks at the burning and consuming; there is the flesh that burns, and seems like other sinful flesh, and yet there is no sin. Christ is the green bush without all sin, and yet he came in our likeness like the flesh, and feels the very flesh in his body that we have, yet without sin.
(66) This is the first sight 1) and the first comfort, that we have such an angel or messenger, who is without all sin, and yet like our flesh and blood. We are the fiery bush, so should burn, are vain fire and poison; but he remains unburned. Therefore he has taken our fire to himself, but he is not consumed or burned up because of it, but we are consumed because of it. So he got Christ in view, who is like other men, and sin does not harm him, but he helps us.
67 Thus the allegory should be drawn to the true man Christ, and not to the Godhead, unless the Scriptures make it necessary. For the sacred Scriptures most of all and primarily urge that Christ alone be known to be God and man. For that he is God, he has for himself, and does not help me, and therefore he is not my Christ or Savior; but that he is also truly man, that is valid for me.
1) Look - sight, appearance. - This meaning is missing in Dietz.
He has worked so much on it, that I suck it and get it. He gives it to us and makes it a treasure and food, which is turned to us; there he presents himself as a savior, mediator and helper, gives us help and medicine. And to speak recently, he wants us to use him for our benefit.
So he shall appear to Moses as a savior, that our sin may be put out of him, and that he may be roasted on the cross as if he were full of sin, and yet is without all sin. Moses and Christ must meet and appear to each other, but Moses marvels at this. For this is the joyful message and the comforting knowledge that Christ takes our sin out of Himself, and yet the sins do not harm Him.
This spiritual interpretation strengthens our faith, so that we may know Christ rightly and well. For if I interpret it in the same way as Mariam and her virginity, I am not improved at all; for her virginity is a gift, bestowed upon her and her property. But this allegory should remain in common use, and everyone should gain understanding and improvement from it, namely, that Moses sees Christ, the Savior, for the first time, who takes sin upon himself; and yet they do not harm him. This is to show that Christ is nowhere depicted and described as suffering and dying for us, but only in the law and in Moses. As the Lord Christ himself testifies in the Evangelist Luke [Cap. 24, 44] that Moses, the Psalms and the prophets prophesied of his suffering, death and resurrection. Moses gloriously described Christ as becoming man and taking away sin, and by his death and resurrection entering his eternal kingdom and saving us from sins, death, the devil and hell. This is Moses' prophecy and prophecy as found in the first book of Moses and Levitico.
The first book and word of God, in which we recognize Christ, is Mosi's book. Thus, Christ appears to Mosi only in the fiery bush; as if to say: With this image or figure, I show that whoever recognizes Christ-
1) Eislebensche: one.
If anyone wants to know who he is, he will first find it in Moses that he will come from Abraham's seed and redeem the world, take sin upon himself and kill it, and yet this green bush will remain unconsumed and unscorched; sins cannot suppress and destroy it. Thus, in this figure, the persecution, cross, suffering and death of the Lord Christ are included, as well as his entire kingdom, and the good things and benefits we receive from him, all of which are written in the Law of Moses.
(72) But this preaching is so strange and strange that even the saints do not soon believe it: Moses himself must marvel at the glorious, great goods and riches that have been given to us through Christ. Therefore he wants to go to the fiery bush and see how he will not be burned. But God tells him, "Take off your shoes, for the place is holy." From the bush it is made holy. One must first confess and put away sin and make oneself clean before coming to GOD [Isa. 1:16, 17]. Our Lord God does not deal with sinners [Ps. 5, 5], we are to come to Him pure and holy, so that we may be set free. Our good works, which we have in us, that is, those who keep the law and want to come to where Christ is, do not make any difference. For God's law and man's law (where they are understood to mean that one wants to establish it with good works and come to God) do one as well as the other, that is, nothing is established with it unless one sees that the law is spiritual. For it is said here: Moses, do not come near, because you are holy and pure; you people of Israel come out of presumption, as if you were holy, and [you] think that Christ comes to you out of your merit and good works.
73 Therefore shoes are not called sin or good works here, but the doctrine of works, as is also said to the Ephesians in chapter 6, v. 15, and in the Song of Solomon, chap. 7, 1, it is written that the bride walks in blue shoes; that is, the gospel or God's Word is a shoe in which consciences are to walk, and this because of the causes, that one may have a supply and preparation from it, that one may walk securely with the
Conscience. But these shoes of Moses are made of skins and hides or leather, that is, they are doctrines taken and drawn from God's Word, and yet make people carnal. So I also became a cobbler in the ministry, and made my life a pair of shoes, and put on the doctrine, thinking that if I did this or that work, I would be blessed.
74. But God says, "Take off your shoes, for this place is holy," that is, you will make a sinner rather than a saint. St. Paul and others also wanted to take off the shoes of this people, but those who were converted had their shoes taken off. We are not justified by the law [Gal. 2:16]. We must take off these shoes and go barefoot, so that it may be known that your good works are of no use to you if you want to go to this fiery bush, but you
You must learn that everything is over and lost with you. Just as Moses did not deserve to have the bush appear to him, but rather unawares; and Moses did not put on his shoes for this reason. Grace and the Lord Christ come to us before we think of them or ask for them. Therefore we must cast off all presumption of the law, of the doctrine of men, and of good works, and venture freshly upon Christ, as upon our Saviour.
The fire is his torture and suffering, since he is roasted on the cross, and yet not completely consumed. It seems as if he is no more, and as if he is finished and has become powder. But he rises from the dead and comes as a mighty king. Whoever is to come to this must take off his shoes. For the apostles themselves did not deserve to hear the gospel preached from this bush.