First of all, why is it Aaron, Moses' brother, is not well known? I thought I knew the story of Exodus, and right off the bat I learn about a main character who plays as big of a role as Moses so far. Also, it was previously unknown to me that Moses is actually a cowardly, whiney sort of fellow and when God commands him to 'man up for your people trapped in servitude', Moses pleads even more. Finally, like an exasperated father, God suggests to Moses to bring his brother Aaron along with him, that way Aaron can do all of the talking and Moses will stop whining.
This leads me to another revelation, which is the fact that God exhibits such human-like characteristics it is hard to take him seriously. His impossible feats such as the burning bush, and the serpent-staff are impressive enough, but, I'm under the impression that he's orchestrating an Exodus of the Israelites because he's 'behind' in his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What do we mere humans do when an obligation becomes too pressing to avoid? We scramble about until it's fulfilled so we can move on with our lives with peace of mind. This is the sense of urgency I'm reading from God in Exodus so far.
My own personal image of God is strikingly similar to that of Dr. Manhattan from the comic series 'Watchmen'. Granted I've only seen the movie, but his character is that of a master of quantum physics. One who understands every intricacy of the universe and therefore can manipulate anything and everything. The God depicted in Exodus, doesn't seem to possess this power at all. In fact, it seems that there is no more difficult task for him than controlling the course of human lives. Example;
"But Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." Then the Lord said to him "Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak" But he said, " O my Lord, please send someone else." Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, "What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; " Exodus 4.10-17
What threw me off here was God's powerful statement to Moses about "who gives speech to mortals?... Is it not I, the Lord?" and then a few lines later he seems to forget that it is he who does all of those things and recommends to Moses that maybe he should bring along his brother so his brother can do the talking... something is fishy.
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