Exodus 2:11-Exodus 3
"Introducing: Moses" • 9.17.10 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Thursday Night Bible Study
Intro.
- The children of Israel have been in the land of Egypt for 350 years. The first hundred years were prosperous times. Then Joseph and that generation died, leading to a time of hardened slavery.
- At 350 years, unbeknownst to them, a little baby was born, that would one day be the man that God would call to be their deliverer.
- Tonight, we'll get a good look at the first 80 years of that deliverer's life. As with any hero, he begins very unlike what he will become. God will have a lot of work to do before he is ready.
Text
• Exodus 12:11-15 : "Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, 'Why are you striking your companion?' Then he said, 'Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?' So Moses feared and said, 'Surely this thing is known!' When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well." : Between verse 10 and 11, there is a 40 year gap that Moses tells us nothing about. We learned last week of his adoption into the Pharoah's daughter's home.
- We also learned of his families' continuing influence upon him, at least in his formative years.
- There are two instances in the New Testament where we might get a little more light. Turn over to Acts 7 and Hebrews 11.
- In Acts 7, Stephen is giving a history lesson to his accusers, when he comes to Moses.
• Acts 7:20-22 : "At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds." : Moses was given a grand education. He was not a simpleton.
- Moses became a man who was mighty in words and deeds. His knowledge of Egyptian language, writing, astronomy and sciences must have been off the charts!
- Josephus, the secular Jewish historian, tells us that he was a military conqueror, having defeated the neighboring Ethiopians.
- Moses was a mighty man among the Egyptians in those years. But there came a turning point in Moses' life. Turn now to Hebrews 11.
• Hebrews 11:24,25 : "By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward." : At some time in his life, Moses made a decision about the world around him. He had position, he had respect. He had it made! But he knew that he was different.
- He knew that these people who dwelt in Goshen, were his people and they had a designation of being the very people of God!
- He had a choice: Enjoy the passing pleasures of sin or esteem the reproach of Christ?
- It seems like an easy answer. You and I know that it is not! The riches of Egypt were right there within his grasp, but that's not the reward that he looked to! He looked to the reward of Christ!
- Now, this brings us right back to our text. Moses has decided that he would suffer the consequences and help bring the Lord's people out of their suffering.
- Back to Acts 7, Stephen tells us that Moses intended to be their deliverer and that this scene took him over the top.
• Acts 7:23-25 : "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand."
- His initial plan was a little flawed. He thought, "I'll take them out one at a time!"
- He killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He thought that he got away with it, but the Hebrew men had seen what had happened.
- Moses, well intentioned, strong in his faculties, understands that the secret method was not going to work. He had been found out and he flees to Midian.
- Moses had the right idea, but was all wrong when it came to the time and the method! God was not about to let Moses do it in his strength. Moses could not conceive of this in his mind!
• Exodus 2:16-20 : "Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. When they came to Reuel their father, he said, 'How is it that you have come so soon today?' And they said, 'An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.' So he said to his daughters, 'And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.'" : This priest's name is Jethro and He sends his daughters to water the flocks.
- The Midianites were cousins to the Hebrews through Abraham's wife Keturah. These people would provide a natural refuge. Other countries had agreed to extradite Egyptian prisoners.
- Midian was the only option for Moses. He is hanging out by this well when a dispute arose.
- This was likely an occasion where the Shepherds wanted exclusive use of the well and figured they could easily get rid of them. However, Moses was not about to stand there and let them.
- He rose to their defense. Moses was a noble and strong man with a real sense of justice. These shepherds who were likely no match for him.
- When the girls got back and told Jethro, he wondered why they had not brought him back to the house! "A stranger who defends my daughters? This might be potential son-in-law material!"
- The girls believed him to be an Egyptian and they called his work, a work of deliverance! Isn't that ironic? Jethro wants to repay him, which was only right in that part of the world to do.
• Exodus 2:21-25 : "Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a stranger in a foreign land.' Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them." : This is an interesting turn. Moses has had a bad experience with being his people's deliverer. Here he has found a good family.
- He's in Midian, away from the Pharoah, away from his troubles.
- He has a new wife in Zipporah, a new son in Gershom, whose name reflects the sum of his experience: He has been a stranger in a strange land!
- Moses is settling out of the picture. He figures that someone else will take care of it.
- In the meantime, the Pharoah that sought his life had died and the children of Israel groaned. Their groaning was due to their severe bondage. They cried out to God for help and He heard them.
- God always hears us when we cry out to Him. Mark the reason why: He remembers His covenant with Israel's forefathers. He is being faithful to Himself and His promise!
- Moses employs the word "remembered" and in our minds, we wonder about whether or not God would forget something. God cannot forget anything unless He chooses to.
- For example, God chooses to forget our sin when it is confessed and repented of. Hebrews 8:12 is a great verse to memorize, as it is for us who have entered into the New Covenant:
• Hebrews 8:12 : "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.'"
- He chooses to forget, but that's not what happened here. He remembered His covenant. He begins now to actuate the plan that will emancipate them. His actions are in line with His covenant.
- He looked upon them. There is intention here. When they were suffering, and for that matter, when we suffer, we often wonder if He has forgotten or if He can see?
- The answer is yes on both accounts! He gazed upon their sufferings and saw what was taking place. The intention to say this is to let them know that God started working on their behalf.
- The last verse says it best: He acknowledged them. A poor translation for an idea of great concern and compassion. Now, compare things together.
- Moses has moved out of the land, settled down in contentment and is enjoying life in Midian.
- The people are groaning in bondage, crying out to God for deliverance.
- Moses has forgotten or has decided to put out of his mind, the suffering of his people. God has remembered His covenant.
- Moses looked away, God looked upon. Moses is living without concern for them. God is actively concerned for them!
- Why would Moses write this? He wants the people to understand that God began to work on their behalf long before they were delivered and long before He was interested in the job!
- Their deliverance was God's idea, which will be important for the readers to remember, as they were often prone to forget.
• Exodus 3:1-3 : "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.'" : Acts 7:30 tells us that we're looking at 40 years of time! Moses has been working for his Father-In-Law, in the desert, for 40 years and is now an 80 year old shepherd of someone else's flock!
- He is in what is called the Sinai Peninsula, near the mountain of God which is a phrase that the Israelites knew well. The back of the desert, refers to the most remote part.
- This day was no different than any other day until he gets a call from the Bush Administration!
- This is the Angel of the Lord, a pre-incarnate visit from Jesus Himself, who appears as a flame of fire within this bush.
- From where Moses was standing, he saw the bush aflame, but it did not extinguish. In the desert, a bush could catch ablaze for various reasons, but it would inevitably lessen. This one didn't!
- The way that Moses writes this is pretty funny: I will turn aside to see this great sight! He viewed this as another natural wonder. This was the moment that would change his life.
• Exodus 3:4-10 : "So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.' Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said: 'I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.'" : God has come to meet with Moses. The details that Moses presents are keys to his authority as God's choice.
- Moses kept moving closer, when God told him to stop and to take off his shoes. This was a sign of humility and something that was done when a person entered someone's house.
- Moses was in God's house! This is the same God of their forefathers. He had appeared to each of them. Some might have been tempted to think that this was a new God. It was not!
- The Lord has heard their cry and He knows their sorrows. Deliverance is His idea on account of what He feels for the people of God. He is affected by their suffering.
- Finally, He has made the initiative to personally come down to deliver them from the land of Egypt and to the land of Canaan. That is important to understand.
- God is not just going to bring His people out of slavery. That is not redemption. Redemption is deliverance from slavery and deliverance to settlement!
- Moses is listening and his heart is being awakened. He is excited. "God is going to do something! I can't wait to hear about it!"
- He wants to see Israel freed and back home. Then God says two words that he did not anticipate: "Come now!" Gulp...
- "Wait, you want ME involved!?" God tells him, I am going to deliver, but I am going to do so THROUGH YOU! I am going to bring my people up out of Egypt but you will be the agency I use!
- Family, let me tell you that God is saying the same thing to you. You want to see Him do something great? Be ready to be the agency that He does it through!
• Exodus 3:11,12 : "But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?' So He said, 'I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.'" : Things we going so good...then Moses said to God. This is where things always get complicated! His first reply regards his inadequacy. "Who am I?"
- Moses sees himself as a shepherd, a peaceful man. He's an old man, with no reputation and a sheepish disposition! He can't do this!
- God immediately replies: "I didn't say I was sending you alone. Maybe you didn't hear me: I WILL BE WITH YOU!" God's presence more than makes up for our inadequacy to the task!
- The proof that God was with Moses would be in the very place that he stood. The people would serve God right there. He needed that proof and the Israeli's would need that as well.
• Exodus 3:13-15 : "Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?' And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.' Moreover God said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord 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.’" : Moses wants to know who He should say is sending them. They won't ask, but God says something amazing to Him that he will need.
- He gives Him the name that He wants to be identified with. I AM WHO I AM. I exist. I have always been. I remain as I have always been.
- I AM, this being of unaltered strength is the one that is calling His people out. He has sent Moses as His official delegate. He is the God that is and is the God of their History.
- This is His memorial to all generations. That is to say, that this is how He wants us to remember Him. He is as He has always been. He will never change.
• Exodus 3:16-19 : "Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, 'I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand." : Moses was to go first to the elders of Israel. He was to gather them together.
- One of the unique features of the Jewish people is their commitment to community. They have had to, as many times through history, been forced to preserve their way of life.
- Somehow, even in the midst of their persecution, the elders were identifiable and led the people of God. Before God sends Moses, He gives Him a message.
- He tells them about their present. He has visited them and has seen their affliction. God is saying that He had been watching them. He knows what they have been going through.
- This has been their present experience. Now, He tells them about what their future will be.
- God is going to bring them back into the land of Canaan, one that is now 350 years later, widely settled by these very real Canaanite tribes.
- But before that experience happens, God tells Moses to tell them that the King of Egypt would not comply, not even by a mighty hand.
• Exodus 3:20-22 : "So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians." : God says that the Pharoah will need a mighty hand. His will be the hand that will do it.
- He's about to send Moses with a name, a message and now with miracles. God is going to do great things in Egypt and the Egyptians will favor them.
- God tells Moses that when they go out, the will go out with riches. Literally, they would receive their back wages for their slavery. They would go out with the necessary resource.
Conclusion
- Moses is a type of Christ, in that He is a deliverer that was called by God to emancipate his people from a slavery, theirs physical, ours spiritual.
- Moses is also a type of minister, who God calls to do something for Him. He is calling us to minister as well. From Moses' life, we have to understand three things:
- First, the Lord will give the vision. Second, the Lord will choose the time. Third, the Lord will accomplish it through us. Let us remember this, as we discern His call in our lives.
"Introducing: Moses" • 9.17.10 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Thursday Night Bible Study
Intro.
- The children of Israel have been in the land of Egypt for 350 years. The first hundred years were prosperous times. Then Joseph and that generation died, leading to a time of hardened slavery.
- At 350 years, unbeknownst to them, a little baby was born, that would one day be the man that God would call to be their deliverer.
- Tonight, we'll get a good look at the first 80 years of that deliverer's life. As with any hero, he begins very unlike what he will become. God will have a lot of work to do before he is ready.
Text
• Exodus 12:11-15 : "Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, 'Why are you striking your companion?' Then he said, 'Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?' So Moses feared and said, 'Surely this thing is known!' When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well." : Between verse 10 and 11, there is a 40 year gap that Moses tells us nothing about. We learned last week of his adoption into the Pharoah's daughter's home.
- We also learned of his families' continuing influence upon him, at least in his formative years.
- There are two instances in the New Testament where we might get a little more light. Turn over to Acts 7 and Hebrews 11.
- In Acts 7, Stephen is giving a history lesson to his accusers, when he comes to Moses.
• Acts 7:20-22 : "At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds." : Moses was given a grand education. He was not a simpleton.
- Moses became a man who was mighty in words and deeds. His knowledge of Egyptian language, writing, astronomy and sciences must have been off the charts!
- Josephus, the secular Jewish historian, tells us that he was a military conqueror, having defeated the neighboring Ethiopians.
- Moses was a mighty man among the Egyptians in those years. But there came a turning point in Moses' life. Turn now to Hebrews 11.
• Hebrews 11:24,25 : "By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward." : At some time in his life, Moses made a decision about the world around him. He had position, he had respect. He had it made! But he knew that he was different.
- He knew that these people who dwelt in Goshen, were his people and they had a designation of being the very people of God!
- He had a choice: Enjoy the passing pleasures of sin or esteem the reproach of Christ?
- It seems like an easy answer. You and I know that it is not! The riches of Egypt were right there within his grasp, but that's not the reward that he looked to! He looked to the reward of Christ!
- Now, this brings us right back to our text. Moses has decided that he would suffer the consequences and help bring the Lord's people out of their suffering.
- Back to Acts 7, Stephen tells us that Moses intended to be their deliverer and that this scene took him over the top.
• Acts 7:23-25 : "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand."
- His initial plan was a little flawed. He thought, "I'll take them out one at a time!"
- He killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He thought that he got away with it, but the Hebrew men had seen what had happened.
- Moses, well intentioned, strong in his faculties, understands that the secret method was not going to work. He had been found out and he flees to Midian.
- Moses had the right idea, but was all wrong when it came to the time and the method! God was not about to let Moses do it in his strength. Moses could not conceive of this in his mind!
• Exodus 2:16-20 : "Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. When they came to Reuel their father, he said, 'How is it that you have come so soon today?' And they said, 'An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.' So he said to his daughters, 'And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.'" : This priest's name is Jethro and He sends his daughters to water the flocks.
- The Midianites were cousins to the Hebrews through Abraham's wife Keturah. These people would provide a natural refuge. Other countries had agreed to extradite Egyptian prisoners.
- Midian was the only option for Moses. He is hanging out by this well when a dispute arose.
- This was likely an occasion where the Shepherds wanted exclusive use of the well and figured they could easily get rid of them. However, Moses was not about to stand there and let them.
- He rose to their defense. Moses was a noble and strong man with a real sense of justice. These shepherds who were likely no match for him.
- When the girls got back and told Jethro, he wondered why they had not brought him back to the house! "A stranger who defends my daughters? This might be potential son-in-law material!"
- The girls believed him to be an Egyptian and they called his work, a work of deliverance! Isn't that ironic? Jethro wants to repay him, which was only right in that part of the world to do.
• Exodus 2:21-25 : "Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a stranger in a foreign land.' Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them." : This is an interesting turn. Moses has had a bad experience with being his people's deliverer. Here he has found a good family.
- He's in Midian, away from the Pharoah, away from his troubles.
- He has a new wife in Zipporah, a new son in Gershom, whose name reflects the sum of his experience: He has been a stranger in a strange land!
- Moses is settling out of the picture. He figures that someone else will take care of it.
- In the meantime, the Pharoah that sought his life had died and the children of Israel groaned. Their groaning was due to their severe bondage. They cried out to God for help and He heard them.
- God always hears us when we cry out to Him. Mark the reason why: He remembers His covenant with Israel's forefathers. He is being faithful to Himself and His promise!
- Moses employs the word "remembered" and in our minds, we wonder about whether or not God would forget something. God cannot forget anything unless He chooses to.
- For example, God chooses to forget our sin when it is confessed and repented of. Hebrews 8:12 is a great verse to memorize, as it is for us who have entered into the New Covenant:
• Hebrews 8:12 : "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.'"
- He chooses to forget, but that's not what happened here. He remembered His covenant. He begins now to actuate the plan that will emancipate them. His actions are in line with His covenant.
- He looked upon them. There is intention here. When they were suffering, and for that matter, when we suffer, we often wonder if He has forgotten or if He can see?
- The answer is yes on both accounts! He gazed upon their sufferings and saw what was taking place. The intention to say this is to let them know that God started working on their behalf.
- The last verse says it best: He acknowledged them. A poor translation for an idea of great concern and compassion. Now, compare things together.
- Moses has moved out of the land, settled down in contentment and is enjoying life in Midian.
- The people are groaning in bondage, crying out to God for deliverance.
- Moses has forgotten or has decided to put out of his mind, the suffering of his people. God has remembered His covenant.
- Moses looked away, God looked upon. Moses is living without concern for them. God is actively concerned for them!
- Why would Moses write this? He wants the people to understand that God began to work on their behalf long before they were delivered and long before He was interested in the job!
- Their deliverance was God's idea, which will be important for the readers to remember, as they were often prone to forget.
• Exodus 3:1-3 : "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.'" : Acts 7:30 tells us that we're looking at 40 years of time! Moses has been working for his Father-In-Law, in the desert, for 40 years and is now an 80 year old shepherd of someone else's flock!
- He is in what is called the Sinai Peninsula, near the mountain of God which is a phrase that the Israelites knew well. The back of the desert, refers to the most remote part.
- This day was no different than any other day until he gets a call from the Bush Administration!
- This is the Angel of the Lord, a pre-incarnate visit from Jesus Himself, who appears as a flame of fire within this bush.
- From where Moses was standing, he saw the bush aflame, but it did not extinguish. In the desert, a bush could catch ablaze for various reasons, but it would inevitably lessen. This one didn't!
- The way that Moses writes this is pretty funny: I will turn aside to see this great sight! He viewed this as another natural wonder. This was the moment that would change his life.
• Exodus 3:4-10 : "So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.' Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said: 'I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.'" : God has come to meet with Moses. The details that Moses presents are keys to his authority as God's choice.
- Moses kept moving closer, when God told him to stop and to take off his shoes. This was a sign of humility and something that was done when a person entered someone's house.
- Moses was in God's house! This is the same God of their forefathers. He had appeared to each of them. Some might have been tempted to think that this was a new God. It was not!
- The Lord has heard their cry and He knows their sorrows. Deliverance is His idea on account of what He feels for the people of God. He is affected by their suffering.
- Finally, He has made the initiative to personally come down to deliver them from the land of Egypt and to the land of Canaan. That is important to understand.
- God is not just going to bring His people out of slavery. That is not redemption. Redemption is deliverance from slavery and deliverance to settlement!
- Moses is listening and his heart is being awakened. He is excited. "God is going to do something! I can't wait to hear about it!"
- He wants to see Israel freed and back home. Then God says two words that he did not anticipate: "Come now!" Gulp...
- "Wait, you want ME involved!?" God tells him, I am going to deliver, but I am going to do so THROUGH YOU! I am going to bring my people up out of Egypt but you will be the agency I use!
- Family, let me tell you that God is saying the same thing to you. You want to see Him do something great? Be ready to be the agency that He does it through!
• Exodus 3:11,12 : "But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?' So He said, 'I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.'" : Things we going so good...then Moses said to God. This is where things always get complicated! His first reply regards his inadequacy. "Who am I?"
- Moses sees himself as a shepherd, a peaceful man. He's an old man, with no reputation and a sheepish disposition! He can't do this!
- God immediately replies: "I didn't say I was sending you alone. Maybe you didn't hear me: I WILL BE WITH YOU!" God's presence more than makes up for our inadequacy to the task!
- The proof that God was with Moses would be in the very place that he stood. The people would serve God right there. He needed that proof and the Israeli's would need that as well.
• Exodus 3:13-15 : "Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?' And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.' Moreover God said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord 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.’" : Moses wants to know who He should say is sending them. They won't ask, but God says something amazing to Him that he will need.
- He gives Him the name that He wants to be identified with. I AM WHO I AM. I exist. I have always been. I remain as I have always been.
- I AM, this being of unaltered strength is the one that is calling His people out. He has sent Moses as His official delegate. He is the God that is and is the God of their History.
- This is His memorial to all generations. That is to say, that this is how He wants us to remember Him. He is as He has always been. He will never change.
• Exodus 3:16-19 : "Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, 'I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand." : Moses was to go first to the elders of Israel. He was to gather them together.
- One of the unique features of the Jewish people is their commitment to community. They have had to, as many times through history, been forced to preserve their way of life.
- Somehow, even in the midst of their persecution, the elders were identifiable and led the people of God. Before God sends Moses, He gives Him a message.
- He tells them about their present. He has visited them and has seen their affliction. God is saying that He had been watching them. He knows what they have been going through.
- This has been their present experience. Now, He tells them about what their future will be.
- God is going to bring them back into the land of Canaan, one that is now 350 years later, widely settled by these very real Canaanite tribes.
- But before that experience happens, God tells Moses to tell them that the King of Egypt would not comply, not even by a mighty hand.
• Exodus 3:20-22 : "So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians." : God says that the Pharoah will need a mighty hand. His will be the hand that will do it.
- He's about to send Moses with a name, a message and now with miracles. God is going to do great things in Egypt and the Egyptians will favor them.
- God tells Moses that when they go out, the will go out with riches. Literally, they would receive their back wages for their slavery. They would go out with the necessary resource.
Conclusion
- Moses is a type of Christ, in that He is a deliverer that was called by God to emancipate his people from a slavery, theirs physical, ours spiritual.
- Moses is also a type of minister, who God calls to do something for Him. He is calling us to minister as well. From Moses' life, we have to understand three things:
- First, the Lord will give the vision. Second, the Lord will choose the time. Third, the Lord will accomplish it through us. Let us remember this, as we discern His call in our lives.
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