The Anger of the LORD and the Parable of the Reluctant Steward

"And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses" (Exodus 4:14). Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh said: The Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with Moses only in the way of decent conduct, so that the base people of the world should not say, "Because He is God and Master of the world, He did His business unjustly." Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, kept pressing Moses all six days, as it is written, "neither yesterday, nor the day before, nor since You first spoke to Your servant," and on the seventh he said to Him, "Send, I pray, by the hand of him whom You will send" (Exodus 4:13). They told a parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a king who had a servant whom he loved with a complete love. The king sought to make him steward, to provide for the members of the king's household. What did the king do? He took his servant by the hand and brought him into his treasure-house and showed him silver and gold and precious stones and pearls and all that he had in his treasure-house. He took him out to the field and showed him gardens and orchards and all that he had in the field. The servant stretched out his hand and said, "I cannot be made steward to provide for the members of the king's household." The king grew angry at him and said to him, "If you cannot be made steward, why did you trouble me with all that trouble?" He swore to him that he would not enter the gate of his palace. So too the Omnipresent kept pressing Moses all six days regarding His mission to Egypt, and on the seventh He said to him, "Send, I pray, by the hand of him whom You will send." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Moses, you say to Me, "Send, I pray, by the hand of him whom You will send," Joshua your disciple and the work of your hands; he will bring Israel into the land. You yourself will not enter the land with them, as it is said, "Therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land" (Numbers 20:12). Moses replies and says before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, You say to me, "Go down to Egypt and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt." Surely I am one man sent on two missions at one time. My Master, this errand is fitting only with two men together, as it is said, "Two are better than one" (Ecclesiastes 4:9), and it says, "By the mouth of two witnesses shall a matter be established" (Deuteronomy 19:15). The Holy One, blessed be He, replies and says to Moses: Moses, I make known to you on whose account you stand and seek mercy that he should go with you on My mission to Egypt. The holy spirit has already rested upon him, and he goes out and watches for you on My account on the road to Egypt; and now that he sees you he rejoices, as it is said, "And behold, he also comes out to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart" (Exodus 4:14). The Holy One, blessed be He, replies and says to Moses: At first, when I revealed Myself to you at the thornbush, you would hide your face from Me, as it is said, "And Moses hid his face" (Exodus 3:6); now, when have you been given an opening to speak before Me like a servant of flesh and blood who has permission to speak before his master? Moses, you are a man of words. "I have no envoys, I have no troops, I have no seraphim, I have no ophanim, I have no ministering angels, and I have no wheels of the chariot, that I should send and bring out My children from Egypt," that you say to Me, "Send, I pray, by the hand of him whom You will send"? "I am He who called the world from the rising of the sun to its setting." By that law you would be fit for chastisement at once; but what shall I do? I am the Master of mercy. "Therefore it is said, And God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the LORD" (Exodus 6:2). And the Sages say: The Holy One, blessed be He, says to Moses: Moses, the merit of Amram your father stood by you, for he did a great thing in Israel. When the Egyptians made the labor harsh upon Israel and were drowning them in the river, they said, "We marry wives and beget children, and the Egyptians drown them in the river. Why should we weary ourselves for nothing?" Amram arose and did a great thing in Israel, and his counsel agreed with the counsel of the Omnipresent: he sent away his wife when she was three months pregnant; at the end of three months he returned and betrothed her again, as it is said, "And a man of the house of Levi went and took the daughter of Levi" (Exodus 2:1). And the ministering angels were praising before her like grooms and brides, as it is said, "a joyful mother of children" (Psalms 113:9). The Egyptians counted nine months for her, but she gave birth within six months. And why was this necessary? Whether Amram took a wife or did not take one, it was only to make known to all who come into the world the merit of Amram the righteous. Moses replies and says before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, I am a prophet, son of a prophet; with doubts upon doubts I have entered into Your words. Pharaoh is a wicked man, son of a wicked man, and the Egyptians are rebels, sons of rebels. How will they enter into my words? He said to him: You shall speak in the holy tongue like an angel, and Aaron your brother will speak in the Egyptian tongue, as it is said, "See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet" (Exodus 7:1). Moses replies and says before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, You say to me, "Go down to Egypt and bring out six hundred thousand from under the burdens of Egypt." I am afraid of the men from before whom I fled. He said to him: Do not fear, Moses, they have already died, as it is said, "For all the men who sought your life have died" (Exodus 4:19). The Holy One, blessed be He, replies and says to Moses: Moses, you say to Me, "I am afraid of the men from before whom I fled." The men whom Pharaoh sent against you to seize you, who made them dumb, who made them deaf, who made them blind? Was it not I, the LORD? Rabbi Elazar ben Yehudah of Bartota says: Moses replies and says before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, You say to me, "Go down to Egypt and bring out six hundred thousand from under the burdens of Egypt." Had You said this to me concerning a hundred men or two hundred men, I would say to You the matter is still hard for me; how much more so when You say to me, bring out six hundred thousand from under the burdens of Pharaoh from Egypt. And had You warned them a year or two before You spoke, the matter would already be accomplished; but since they have been enslaved for two hundred and ten years, Pharaoh will say to me: One who has enslaved a slave for ten years and no creature has protested against him, shall another come and take him out of his hand? Or one who has worked a vineyard ten years and no creature has protested against him, shall another come and take it out of his hand? Master of the universe, weighty and heavy are these words You say to me, "for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue" (Exodus 4:10).