Exodus 3:1-12
INTRODUCTION
In Biblical names had meanings. The name Moses in Hebrew means “drawn out of the water. The name embodies the history of the Hebrew nation. The nation in Egypt started when Joseph the son of Jacob was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers.
Joseph end up in Egypt and rose to second in command to the King. He brought his
family from the promised land to Egypt to escape the famine. Over 400 years the family grew to a population of 2 million people.
A king rose up who didn’t know Joseph. The Egyptian pharaoh feared the rapid growth of the Hebrews would take over his country. He enslaved the people and decided to kill all male Hebrew babies.
To save her baby, Moses’ mother put him in a basket that floated in the river
where the Pharaoh\’s daughter was bathing. She took Moses as her son and
unknowingly paid Moses’ mother to nurse him until he was weaned.
The Pharaoh’s daughter raised and educated Moses as her son.
Moses at 40 years old, knowing he was a Hebrew, killed an Egyptian who was
fighting a Hebrew brother. Moses fled Egypt and landed in Midian where he
married the daughter of a Midianite priest.
God Gave Moses a forty-year detoxification period. He was detoxed from the
Egyptian culture and the Egyptian idol gods. Under his father-in-law, a Midianite
Priest, he learned the true and living God and became devoted to Him. He became
a family man and the leader of his father in laws flock.
At 80 years old, after Moses had trained, God called him to serve.
God uses the circumstances of our lives to prepare us to lead others to Him.
GOD DRAWS US TO HIM
V:1. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, \”I will go over and see this strange sight — why the bush does not burn up.\”
A. God uses working people. He uses the ones who are dedicated to serving.
1. If we are faithful in the little things, God will give us greater things.
2. The name Horeb in Hebrew means a desolate place.
3. Why would Moses lead a flock of animals to a desolate place?
4. It was not Moses, but God doing the leading.
5. God can take that which we call desolate and make it a place of abundance.
6. God claims the mountain as His to show us His glory.
B. For Moses the mountain was the place where he met God in the Spirit.
1. It was a place of new directions
Moses had heard about God, but he came to know God.
2. We are naturally curious about things that are out of the ordinary.
3. It is evident that Moses spent some time watching the bush burn
expecting the fire to go out.
4. When we are in the presence of God, we should expect the extraordinary.
Sometimes God uses what we cannot explain to get our attention.
5. Sometimes what we cannot explain is the Lord in the form of an
angel.
6. Since the Lord is everywhere all the time, He shows up to give directions
when we need them.
7. Since life is not all about us, the Lord\’s presence is our opportunity to serve
Him.
GOD REVEALS HIMSELF AS HOLY
V:4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from
within the bush, \”Moses! Moses!\” And Moses said, \”Here I am.\”
5 \”Do not come any closer,\” God said. \”Take off your sandals, for the place
where you are standing is holy ground.\”
6 Then he said, \”I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac and the God of Jacob.\”
At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
- God gets our attention to communicate with us.
- The burning bush may represent the purity of God
- The fact that the bush was not consumed by fire may
Represent God’s everlasting presence.
TIME OF MEDITATION
B. It was when Moses was alone, that God presented Himself.
1. We need that alone time to hear a word from the Lord.
2. Notice God made Moses aware that He was holy and the meeting place
was holy.
- When we come before the Lord, we should present ourselves in a holy
manner.
C. God identified Himself as the God of Moses\’ forefathers.
1. God knows us by name and our response to Him should be immediate.
2. It is evident that Moses had been taught about God, perhaps from His
Mother and his father in Law.
- Moses knew enough about God to fear Him and to listen to His
commands.
5. Let me suggest today the church knows God’s commands but doesn’t fear
Him enough to be obedient, until there is a need.
GOD IDENTIFIES THE PROBLEM AND THE MISSION
V:7 The Lord said, \”I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.\”
- God knows every event that happens in our lives. He knows every wrong
that is done to us. He allows all things for our good.
- 430 years earlier, God told Abraham that his descendants would be
enslaved.
2. Abraham was in the promised land when God gave him the prophecy.
3. The question becomes what was the purpose of the planned slavery for
Israel?
Let me suggest that God wanted to grow a nation forged together by slavery
to keep them focus on Him for deliverance.
In the middle of their misery was the hope for salvation. According to the text
the whole nation cried out to God for deliverance.
The nation grew up surrounded by the worship of idol gods yet for 400 years,
managed to keep their hope in the true and living God.
Perhaps slavery was God’s way of keeping the nation from being scattered among
other idol-worshiping nations.
God started with one family whose forefather was Abraham with the promise of
Building a great nation. One family went to Egypt to start the nation’s growth.
Israel was not always slaves in Egypt. There is no mention of the growing nation
Before slavery wanting to return to their homeland. Jacob and his 11 sons settled
in Egypt under the cover of Joseph and became complacent.
By enslaving Israel in Egypt, God prevented intermarriage with foreign nations.
Steve Best a Bible Teacher suggested the following:
First, God was biding time for the fulfillment of the iniquity of the Amorites to be fulfilled (Gen 15:16).
Second, it was in suffering that they learned obedience, for God scourges all sons he receives (Heb 12:5-11, Ex 3:27; 4:31; Rom 5:3-5, Jam 1:2-4).
Third, they were subject to mankind’s unjust laws, in order to see the superior wisdom of God, when he handed down his Torah to them.
Fourth, it was in their miraculous deliverance that God demonstrated to the entire world, the power and sovereignty of the one true God, and the fact his hand was upon them.
God\’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Whatever God
Does, is in our best interest.
WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU IS FOR YOU
B. After 430 years, the promised land was still intact.
God placed it in the hands of the enemy to cultivate and keep it.
1. What God has for you is for you.
2. God may delay giving us what He prepared to get us ready to
receive it.
C. God has a mission for each of us. It is up to you to discover
what God wants from you.
1. It is the mission that brings success to our lives.
2. You have been prepared for the mission God assigns you.
Moses was trained and educated in Egypt by the Pharoah’s
daughter.
3. At an early age, God was instilled in him by his mother
4. When Moses left Egypt, God placed him with a Mediante priest to
learn family and leadership skills.
- Under the Midianite priest, Moses came to know God.
QUALIFIED TO SERVE
A. We are uniquely qualified to do the work God has for us.
1. You are never too old to work for God.
Moses was 80 years old when God assigned Him the task of
leading Israel to the promised land.
GOD USES YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES
A. The pharaoh and his attitude were no stranger to Moses.
1. The oppression of Israel was known by Moses.
2. Moses had all the knowledge He needed to deal with
Pharoah.
3. Moses was given the power and authority to free Israel.
4. With God on your side, you are well equipped.
WHO ARE YOU?
V:11 But Moses said to God, \”Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?\”
12 And God said, \”I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.\”
A. There are no buts with God.
1. You should never devalue your worth to serve God.
2. If God calls you to it, He will see you through it.
3. Who are you? A powerful messenger of God.
Who are you? A qualified messenger of God.
Who are you? A faithful messenger of God.
Who are you? A devoted messenger of God.
Who are you? A chosen messenger of God
Who are you? One empowered by God.
Who are you? One prepared by God
Who are you? One authorized by God
Who are you? A child of God.
Who are you? One who has God on his side.
Who are you? One who loves God and is loved by God
DON’T LET NO ONE DEFINE WHO YOU ARE
ONLY GOD HAS THAT RIGHT
Rev. M. Mitchell
