The dominant figure of the Old Testament is Moses. He stands head and shoulders above all others in the history of Israel. He is Moses, the deliverer, the one who led the Hebrew people out of Egyptian captivity. He is Moses, the law-giver, the one who came down from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the law. He called the people into covenant with God, and led them through the wilderness to the land of promise. There is no doubt about it: Moses towers above all others in the Old Testament!

And yet, when we first meet Moses in the opening chapters of Exodus, he seems remarkably human. In fact, he looks and sounds a great deal like us.

I.

There he was, minding his own business, tending the sheep of his father-in-law, when God appeared to him out of a burning bush. God said, “Take off your s…