BEMA Episode Link: 17: A God Who Hears the Cry
Episode Length: 41:00
Published Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2017 01:00:00 -0800
Session 1
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings wrap up the introduction to God’s story and set up the narrative of the remainder of Scripture in an effort to understand what God is rescuing His people from.

A God Who Hears the Cry Presentation (PDF)

Biblical Theme: Justice — BibleProject

Vocab Insight: Tse’aqah / Outcry — BibleProject

That the World May Know — Faith Lessons, Volumes 1–12 (Amazon)

God Heard Their Cry — Ray Vander Laan (Amazon)

TTWMK Faith Lessons on DVD and Digital (Focus on the Family)

Study Tools

Legacy Episode Content

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 17: A God Who Hears the Cry - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

Episode: BEMA 17: A God Who Hears the Cry (E17v24)
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings
Focus: Examining the identity crisis of Moses and the nature of God as one who responds to cries for help rather than simply punishing sin. This episode serves as a bridge between Genesis and Exodus, exploring fundamental questions of identity, calling, and God’s character through the lens of Moses’ reluctance and the Zipporah circumcision story.

Key Takeaways

  • Moses struggled with an identity crisis, feeling unworthy to represent the Hebrew people due to his upbringing in Pharaoh’s house
  • God is more interested in our availability than our qualifications for His calling
  • The phrase “uncircumcised lips” reveals Moses’ deeper spiritual struggle with accepting his covenant identity
  • Stories commonly labeled as “God’s wrath” (Sodom and Gomorrah, Egyptian plagues) are actually stories of God responding to cries for justice and restoration
  • God operates from a restorative justice mindset (mishpat) rather than purely retributive justice (diyn)
  • The Hebrew concept of hagah teaches us to “growl” over Scripture like a lion with prey, seeking deeper understanding

Main Concepts & Theories

Moses’ Identity Crisis and Qualification vs. Availability

Moses represents the tension between human insecurity and divine calling. Despite being the most qualified person to lead the Exodus (raised in Pharaoh’s house, understanding Egyptian culture, knowing Hebrew heritage), Moses felt disqualified due to his complex identity. His repeated excuses about being “slow of speech” evolving into “uncircumcised of lips” reveal a deeper spiritual issue - rejection of his covenant identity.

Key principle: “God isn’t interested in your qualifications. He’s interested in your availability.”

The Zipporah Story as Identity Marker

The strange account in Exodus 4:24-26 serves as a crucial narrative bridge. Moses’ son being uncircumcised suggests Moses had distanced himself from his Hebrew identity. Zipporah’s quick action with the “bridegroom of blood” ceremony forces Moses to confront his covenant obligations and embrace his role in God’s story.

Hebrew Word Study - Literary Connections

Four Hebrew terms connect the “wrath” stories of Sodom/Gomorrah and the Exodus:

  • Hatan (bridegroom/son-in-law) - appears only 4 times in Torah, twice in each story
  • Rasha (wickedness) - first 4 appearances connect these narratives
  • Tsa’aqah (cry of distress) - the specific cry of the oppressed that moves God to action
  • Shaphat (to judge) - the root of mishpat (restorative justice)
Restorative vs. Retributive Justice

Mishpat (restorative justice) focuses on making things right and restoring shalom (peace/wholeness). Diyn (retributive justice) focuses on punishment. God’s primary motivation is restoration, not retribution. When God “hears the cry,” He responds to injustice with the goal of making things whole again.

The Hagah Method of Scripture Study

Hagah - Hebrew onomatopoeia mimicking a lion’s low growl over prey. This represents the intensive, persistent study approach where believers “growl” over Scripture, refusing to let go until deeper meaning emerges. The method involves asking increasingly sophisticated questions rather than accepting surface-level interpretations.

Examples & Applications

Historical Context Examples
  • Moses in Pharaoh’s House: Like modern individuals caught between cultures, Moses experienced survivor’s guilt and identity confusion
  • Native American Tribal Courts: Modern example of restorative vs. retributive justice systems, illustrating the Hebrew mishpat concept
  • Parental Discipline: A father stopping children from fighting primarily seeks restoration of household peace, not punishment
Modern Applications
  • Identity and Calling: Many feel disqualified from God’s work due to background or perceived inadequacies
  • Justice Work: Understanding God as one who “hears the cry” empowers believers to engage in justice work as participation in God’s character
  • Scripture Study: The hagah method encourages deeper, more persistent Bible study rather than superficial reading

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  • The role of circumcision as identity marker in ancient Hebrew culture
  • Comparative study of ancient Near Eastern justice systems
  • The theological implications of God’s “wrath” stories in broader biblical narrative
  • Moses’ psychological development from prince to prophet to leader
  • The concept of corporate vs. individual identity in Hebrew thought
  • Ray Vander Laan’s “That the World May Know” series, particularly Volume 8: “God Heard Their Cry”
  • The literary structure and function of genealogies in Hebrew narrative

Comprehension Questions

  1. Analysis: How does Moses’ progression from “slow of speech and tongue” to “uncircumcised lips” reveal his deeper spiritual struggle, and what does this teach us about the relationship between identity and calling?

  2. Synthesis: Compare and contrast the concepts of mishpat (restorative justice) and diyn (retributive justice). How does this distinction change our understanding of God’s character in the “wrath” narratives?

  3. Application: What does it mean that “God is more interested in your availability than your qualifications,” and how might this principle apply to modern believers who feel inadequate for God’s calling?

  4. Literary Analysis: Explain the significance of the four Hebrew words (hatan, rasha, tsa’aqah, shaphat) that connect the Sodom/Gomorrah and Exodus narratives. What theological point does this literary connection make?

  5. Interpretive: How does understanding God as “one who hears the cry” rather than primarily as a punisher of sin change the way we read stories like Sodom and Gomorrah or the Egyptian plagues?

Personal Summary

This episode fundamentally challenges common misconceptions about God’s character while addressing universal human struggles with identity and calling. Moses’ journey from reluctant leader to willing participant in God’s story mirrors our own tensions between feeling qualified and being available. The deep dive into Hebrew terminology reveals that what we often categorize as “Old Testament wrath” is actually God’s consistent character of responding to injustice with restorative love.

The hagah method of Scripture study presented here offers a practical approach to discovering these deeper truths - approaching the Bible like a lion with prey, unwilling to let go until we’ve extracted the spiritual nourishment within. This episode serves as both a transition point in the biblical narrative and a foundational understanding of God’s heart for justice and restoration that will inform the entire Exodus account.

Most significantly, the episode presents a God who is fundamentally motivated by love and restoration rather than anger and punishment - a God who hears the cry of the oppressed and acts to restore shalom to His creation.

BEMA Episode 17: A God Who Hears the Cry - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

Episode: BEMA 17 - A God Who Hears the Cry
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings
Focus: Analysis of Moses’ identity crisis, the Zipporah incident in Exodus 4:24-26, and understanding God’s nature as revealed through stories of divine judgment in the Old Testament.

Key Takeaways

  • Moses struggled with a profound identity crisis throughout his life, caught between his Hebrew birth and Egyptian upbringing
  • God’s primary concern is not our qualifications but our availability and trust
  • The stories of “divine wrath” in the Old Testament (Sodom and Gomorrah, the Exodus) are actually stories of God hearing the cry of the oppressed and acting to restore justice
  • Four Hebrew words link the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah with the Exodus, revealing consistent themes of God responding to oppression
  • God’s judgment (shaphat) is restorative rather than retributive, aimed at putting things back in their proper order
  • The difference between discipline (from love) and punishment (from anger) reflects God’s character

Main Concepts & Theories

Moses’ Identity Crisis

Moses experienced deep psychological conflict throughout his life:

  • Born to Hebrew parents (Jochebed - “glory to Ya” and Amram - “exalted people”) but raised in Pharaoh’s household
  • Circumcised on the eighth day according to Hebrew law, making his Hebrew identity obvious
  • Suffered from survivor’s guilt, knowing he should have been killed with other Hebrew babies
  • Lived with the tension of watching his people oppressed while enjoying Egyptian privilege
  • His “speech impediment” may have been more about identity confusion than physical limitation
The Zipporah Incident (Exodus 4:24-26)

The strange story of Zipporah circumcising her son reveals:

  • Moses had not circumcised his son, indicating his rejection of his covenant identity
  • Zipporah’s immediate knowledge of what to do suggests divine revelation
  • The phrase “bridegroom of blood” (hatan) connects this story to larger biblical themes
  • God’s near-killing of Moses was related to his failure to embrace his calling as a covenant member
Four Connecting Words Between Judgment Stories

Hebrew linguistic analysis reveals four words that link Sodom/Gomorrah with the Exodus:

  1. Hatan (bridegroom/son-in-law) - appears only 4 times in Torah, in both stories
  2. Rasha (wickedness that causes oppression) - first 4 occurrences span both narratives
  3. Za’aq (cry of oppression/injustice) - appears in both stories as the reason for God’s intervention
  4. Shaphat (restorative judgment) - God’s response to put things back in proper order
Restorative vs. Retributive Justice
  • Western justice systems focus on retribution and deterrence
  • Ancient Eastern justice (mishpat/shaphat) focuses on restoration and healing
  • God’s “wrath” stories are actually stories of rescue, not punishment
  • God responds to the cry (za’aq) of the oppressed, not primarily to punish sin

Examples & Applications

Parental Analogy

Just as a good parent intervenes not to punish the aggressor but to protect the victim, God’s interventions in Sodom and Egypt were motivated by love for the oppressed rather than anger at the oppressor.

Modern Identity Struggles

Many people today, like Moses, struggle with feeling caught between worlds - cultural, religious, or social identities that don’t seem to fit neatly together. God’s call to Moses shows that our sense of not belonging doesn’t disqualify us from God’s purposes.

Academic and Professional Insecurities

Moses was the most qualified person for his mission yet felt completely inadequate. This reflects how our deepest insecurities often exist despite our actual qualifications and capabilities.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  • Detailed study of Hebrew justice concepts (mishpat vs. Western retributive justice)
  • Cross-cultural analysis of identity formation in bicultural individuals
  • Theological investigation of divine calling despite personal inadequacy
  • Comparative analysis of “wrath of God” passages throughout Scripture
  • Study of circumcision as covenant sign and identity marker in ancient Near Eastern context
  • Investigation of the role of women (like Zipporah) as spiritual agents in Scripture

Comprehension Questions

  1. How does Moses’ upbringing in Pharaoh’s household both qualify and complicate his calling to deliver the Hebrews? What does this teach us about how God uses our backgrounds?

  2. What is the significance of the four Hebrew words (hatan, rasha, za’aq, shaphat) that connect the Sodom and Gomorrah story with the Exodus narrative? How do they reveal God’s character?

  3. Explain the difference between restorative justice (shaphat/mishpat) and retributive justice. How does this understanding change your interpretation of God’s “wrath” in the Old Testament?

  4. Why hadn’t Moses circumcised his son, and what does this reveal about his internal spiritual state? How does Zipporah’s immediate response suggest divine guidance?

  5. What does the statement “God is not interested in your qualifications; God is interested in your availability” mean in practical terms for modern believers facing feelings of inadequacy?

Personal Summary

This episode reveals that what we often interpret as stories of divine anger are actually profound demonstrations of God’s love for the oppressed. Moses’ identity crisis - feeling caught between Hebrew birth and Egyptian upbringing - mirrors many modern struggles with belonging and qualification. The key insight is that God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. The linguistic connections between Sodom/Gomorrah and the Exodus show a consistent pattern: God hears the cry (za’aq) of those suffering under wickedness (rasha) and responds with restorative judgment (shaphat) to restore proper order. This understanding transforms our view of the “wrathful God of the Old Testament” into a God who consistently intervenes on behalf of the powerless and oppressed, motivated by love rather than anger.

Original Notes

  • We have gone over the preface, the introduction and now we are entering into the narative.
  • We are taking a break from the text this episode to take a step back and look at Egypt to understand what empire is and how it impacts culture and its people.
  • Hagah project: What is going on in Exodus 4:24-31?
    • Why does God show up to kill Moses?
    • How does Zipporah know exactly what to do?
    • Why is Moses’s son not carrying the sign of the covenant?
    • What has been Moses’s experience in this story?
    • What kinds of things stand out about this story?
  • Moses’s experience as a Hebrew growing up in Pharoah’s house.
    • Survivor’s guilt–he was supposed to have been killed with the other babies.
    • He knows that he’s a Hebrew because he bears the sign of the covenant.
    • Did he bear a grudge against the Egyptians because of the way they treated his people.
  • Exodus 4:10
    • Moses argues with G-d about his speech impediment.
    • Marty argues that it’s unlikely that any form of speech impediment would have been trained out of him having been raised in the most powerful house in the world.
    • G-d’s shows anger toward Moses when it becomes apparent that his own son was not circumcized.
    • This seems to be another sign that Moses doesn’t see himself as a member of G-d’s people.
  • Exodus 6
    • G-d tells Moses to go speak to Pharoah and Moses again pushes back.
      • 6:12 “…since I speak with faltering lips?” which is translated from the Hebrew as “I am uncircumsized of lips.”
      • This seems to suggest Moses is still struggling with this issue of circumcision from earlier in his story with his son.
      • This same language is used in 6:30.
      • What we see is a ~chiasm.
        • A: 6:12 “faltering lips”
          • B: Geneology proving that Moses is the Hebrew he struggles to believe that he is.
        • ‘A: 6:30 “faltering lips”
      • G-d never argues with Moses about his insecurities. G-d meets Moses where he is at in his insecurities.
        • God’s not interested in your qualifications. God is interested in your availability. God is interested in your trust.
  • Brent notices
    • throughout the story that G-d will instruct Moses and Moses will have no response in the text.
    • it’s weird that G-d would want to kill Moses.
    • it’s weird that Zapporah touched his feet with his son’s foreskin.
  • Vocabulary
    • chathan: bridegroom or son-in-law
      • Genesis 19:12; 19:14 Exodus 4:25; 4:26
    • rasha: wicked
      • Genesis 18:23; 18:25 Exodus 2:13; 9:27
    • tsa’aqah: cry out (oppression)
      • Genesis 18:21; 19:13 Exodus 3:7; 3:9
    • shaphat: to judge (restorative)
      • Genesis 18:26; 19:9 Exodus 2:14; 5:21

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