Chapter 4 Summary

Having eluded the baby killers and grown to manhood in Egypt, the Israelite Moses fled to Midian and settled down as a shepherd. Then a fully-integrated Yahweh/`Elohim God appears to him in a burning bush and identifies himself as "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." Both are firsts. Baal, the dominant deity in Canaan, is the god of mountain and flame: a war god, storm god, fertility god and mountain/volcano god simultaneously, a young rebel god intent on becoming "lord of the manor." The personal God of Abraham's extended family begins exhibiting Baal-like behavior.

God commissions a reluctant Moses to return to Egypt and lead his people to freedom. When Moses asks his name (because the Israelites are sure to question his commission), God declares, "I AM WHO I AM." The Hebrew original &mdash...