Exodus 3:12

World English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹¹ Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" ¹² He said, "Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." ¹³ Moses said to God, "Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you;' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What should I tell them?" ¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: "I AM has sent me to you." ¹⁵ God said moreover to Moses, "You shall tell the children of Israel this, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Certainly: Exodus 4:12, Exodus 4:15, Genesis 15:1, Genesis 31:3, Deuteronomy 31:23, Joshua 1:5, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 43:2, Matthew 28:20, Mark 16:20, Acts 11:21, Romans 8:31, Hebrews 13:5

token: Exodus 4:1-9, Genesis 15:8, Judges 6:17, Judges 6:21, Judges 6:36-40, Judges 7:11, Judges 7:13, Judges 7:14, Psalms 86:17, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 37:30, Jeremiah 43:9, Jeremiah 43:10, Jeremiah 51:63, Jeremiah 51:64

ye shall: Exodus 19:1 - Exodus 40:38, Leviticus 1:1 - Leviticus 27:34, Numbers 1:1 - Numbers 10:36

Reciprocal: Genesis 28:15 - I am Exodus 3:18 - that we may Exodus 7:16 - serve Exodus 8:1 - Let my Exodus 8:27 - as he shall Exodus 18:5 - General Exodus 18:19 - God shall Exodus 19:2 - camped Numbers 16:28 - Hereby Judges 2:18 - then the Lord Judges 6:12 - The Lord Judges 6:16 - General 1 Kings 1:37 - As the 1 Kings 3:9 - who is able 2 Kings 19:29 - a sign 2 Chronicles 1:1 - the Lord 2 Chronicles 17:3 - the Lord Jeremiah 1:8 - for I am Jeremiah 1:17 - be not Amos 5:14 - and so Haggai 2:4 - for Luke 2:12 - General Acts 7:7 - and serve 2 Corinthians 12:9 - My grace

Cross-References

Genesis 2:18
Yahweh God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."

Genesis 2:20
The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him.

Genesis 2:22
He made the rib, which Yahweh God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man.

Genesis 3:13
Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel."

Genesis 3:20
The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Genesis 3:21
Yahweh God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.

Genesis 3:24
So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Job 31:33
If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding my iniquity in my heart,

Proverbs 19:3
The foolishness of man subverts his way; His heart rages against Yahweh.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said, certainly I will be with thee,.... To encourage and strengthen him; to protect, defend, and preserve him, and to succeed and prosper him; to give him credit and respect with the people of Israel, and influence over Pharaoh to prevail upon him at length to let Israel go:

and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee; not the promise now made, nor the vision he had seen, but what follows:

when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain: Mount Horeb or Sinai, as they did at the time of the giving of the law on it, when an altar was built upon a hill, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, Exodus 24:4 and this was a sign, "a posteriori", confirming the divine mission of Moses; and besides the promise of this, on which Moses might depend, being made by the Lord, assured him of success, that he should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, since he and they would serve the Lord together at this mountain, and from whence he might conclude he had a mission and commission from God. Of a like kind is the sign or token given of the deliverance of Jerusalem from the army of Sennacherib, Isaiah 37:30.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A token unto thee - Or the sign. The word means a declaration or promise of God, which rests absolutely on His word, and demands faith. The promise that God would have the people serve Him in that place was an assurance, if fully believed, that all intervening obstacles would be removed by His power.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 3:12. Certainly I will be with thee — This great event shall not be left to thy wisdom and to thy power; my counsel shall direct thee, and my power shall bring all these mighty things to pass.

And this shall be a token — Literally, And THIS to thee for a sign, i.e., this miraculous manifestation of the burning bush shall be a proof that I have sent thee; or, My being with thee, to encourage thy heart, strengthen thy hands, and enable thee to work miracles, shall be to thyself and to others the evidence of thy Divine mission.

Ye shall serve God upon this mountain. — This was not the sign, but God shows him, that in their return from Egypt they should take this mountain in their way, and should worship him in this place. There may be a prophetic allusion here to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. As Moses received his commands here, so likewise should the Israelites receive theirs in the same place. After all, the Divine Being seems to testify a partial predilection for this mountain, for reasons that are not expressed. Exodus 3:5.