Moses had been a lot of things in his life at the beginning of his chapter. At various times, he could have identified himself as Egyptian, as Hebrew, as Midianite...as rich, as poor, as powerful, as helpless, as respected, as condemned, as rational, as impulsive. Along the course of his life, with his often-changing identity, his spiritual life changed and grew as well. Each of the three major cultures he belonged to had a historic reason for claiming the One God of Abraham, even Egypt, the homeland of Hagar, who bore Abraham's first child. They all related to Him in different ways, with different customs, and Moses had experience with all of these.
The God who had spent the previous 400 years seemingly quiet or unresponsive, really had a strong current under the surface, and burst dramatically back into human history now in the form of a dazzling divine fire that does not burn up. The Holy Spirit often shows up as fire, and the Father's voice rings out in the proclamation of himself as "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"...the "angel" could then complete the Trinity as a manifestation of the Son. The Early Church Fathers like Augustine thought about it in this way. This kind of amazing power required that you leave behind everything perishable and earthly (like leather shoes) and approach with the utmost humility and fear. Before Christ reconciled us to the Father, He was utterly too awesome to look at directly. By identifying himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord was placing emphasis on the chosen line, the ones He had been preserving and sustaining His light of hope in for generations. The Midianites didn't have it, the Egyptians didn't have it.
God hears our prayers and responds to them in a very personal way, but time doesn't limit Him. He can respond to prayers and rectify wrongs after 400 years if that must be, according to His infinite wisdom. In the specific moment written about here, his plan is to clear away the six (a number of human frailty and rebelliousness, always missing the mark) tribes that already live in Canaan and give it to his Firstborn nation, the Israelites.
Moses, upon being called, looked back on his life, and a single question from his past came back to haunt him: "Who appointed you judge and prince over us?" His countryman's sarcastic question showed him that he could be no leader alone. He couldn't do anything to help his people and guide them out of this on his own. The Pharaoh who knew him so well and remembered all the evil he had done would jail and kill him if he went back on his own merits and terms. God's response is, of course, the refrain that "all things are possible through Me. You as an individual are incapable but I'm not." He is the leader, not Moses. The promises and covenant he makes with Moses on behalf of the entire nation of Israel will be sealed when Moses brings them all back to Sinai.
His second problem results from the various ways Moses had encountered the God of Abraham and other deities in his lifetime. He was living in Midian, a nation that knew God but had altered the covenant rules of Abraham to suit themselves (e.g. they circumcised when boys were thirteen, not as infants). He had grown up in Egypt, a land where deities abounded and "priests" and "sorcerers" did cheap magic tricks in their names. How did he know the God he spoke to was the real one, and how would the Israelites believe him? Gods, in his experience, had names. Names that allowed humanity to call upon them, essentially to wield a form of control over them. If this God was the real one, Moses could prove it to one and all by offering His name. Again, Moses thinks that he alone is required to prove where his authority comes from, and again, God responds by saying "You're incapable of proving it, but I'm not. Use My name to prove I'm behind you in this." The God who had spoken to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob as YHWH, I Am, He Who Creates, would be recognized by this sacred name.
God's plan at this point was to bring the Israelite people out of Egypt for a three day (three days being a time of testing and then restoration/intervention by God) worship-fest at Sinai. It could be that this is literally what He wanted, but it also makes sense that He intended this to be a symbolic "three days", after which they'd be free forever. The people who hadn't seen the full divine power of El Shaddai (Almighty God) would learn a lot about Yahweh (I Am) as he dramatically intervened for them with plagues and the like. They would even receive just compensation for their labors on the way out the door.
But what if the Name isn't enough to establish what Moses has seen and what he must do? God again indicates himself as the source of authority instead of Moses. Moses' staff, his symbol of authority and leadership over his flock, was thrown down and became a snake...symbolizing evil in nature...God was pointing out to one and all that Moses had authority over both nature and evil. The demons acknowledged only Christ's authority as God in the New Testament, and God was handing this dominion over evil to Moses in a really flashy way Picking it back up again by the tail, an act of unbelievable trust, made it harmless again. Flesh degraded by leprosy, symbolizing sin, came under his authority too. Evil and sinfulness are under God's total control and nobody else's. Moses could only prove this through God working through him.
Throughout all of this Moses still basically trusts. He has faith, and God gives him powerful tools to demonstrate where Moses' authority comes from. He believes in the God who made those promises, who gave him His name, and who alone commands even evil and sin. The previous three challenges demonstrate how humble he really is and how little he trusts in his own human flesh.
Finally, however, he stumbles. This God is powerful, and has authority over evil, but would he heal? No, no...impossible. Also, when I demonstrate this kind of Godly might to people and then stutter in the next sentence, what kind of witness would that be? I can't be allowed to stumble and fall when I'm that visible an example. Moses here is like many Christians who believe that God cannot use an imperfect person to lead...who tut-tut over televangelists who are adulterers and embezzlers, priests who abuse and bishops who are misguided in handling them. They refuse to step up to responsibilities God is calling them to because they fear their own imperfection. God deals with this more sternly and plainly. I make the deaf! I make the weak and the blind! I am in charge of even your imperfections, and they're always there! Let me use your imperfections and perfect them in the process. But Moses pleads "No, I just can't." Finally, God spells out the solution for him: the human family. You stutter, but your brother is a fantastic speaker. If you refuse to allow Me to work through you alone, I'll "shore up" your weakness with the strength someone else has. Here, God shows us that some problems and weaknesses can be faced alone through relationship with Him, by letting Him shine through us, and some can be faced by enlisting human help.
Moses sets off with Jethro's blessing and Zipporah's, which makes me wonder how the poor man explained his experience to them. He had been living with them in Midian, and his father in law and his wife both related to God in the Midianiate way, which included waiting to circumcise their sons. As Moses is heading out, the covenant requirement to circumcise sons early on (so that it is a free gift, not linked in any way to "manhood") comes back to hit him square in the face. It isn't clear if he merely was pressured by Zipporah and Jethro to live their way, or if he forgot the covenant nature of this, but he didn't do it. God's covenant with Abraham made it absolutely non-negotiable, a sign just like the rainbow, that circumcision (a prefigurement of baptism) had to be done at eight days. God is willing to dialogue with us, and in his mercy He can forgive anything, but He had made a deal with us that defined how He related to us, and at the time, our end of the bargain was that circumcision. God is about ready to kill him in his infinite Justice, but then Zipporah, who may have been the reason, takes responsibility and rectifies the situation. She thus showed a brand new commitment to Moses' call, a call she couldn't share. She'd be there for him from then on.
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