Review of last week
·
Chapter
2 Vs 16-22 (NASB)Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to
draw water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 Then the
shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and
watered their flock. 18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said,
"Why have you come back so soon today?" 19 So they said, "An
Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even
drew the water for us and watered the flock." 20 He said to his daughters,
"Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him
to have something to eat." 21 Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and
he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses. 22 Then she gave birth to a son, and he
named * him Gershom, for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign
land."
Encounter
at Well
·
Vs 16 The inhabitants of his new home, Midian,
were the descendants of Abraham’s concubine Keturah…..so Moses and the
Midianites were relatives.
·
Vs 17 Moses didn’t say “this is none of my
business” but stood up for shepherdesses.
o
Not the last Moses would be called to stand up
and help someone
o
We can’t expect to be used in the big areas
unless we are faithful in the small
o
In his weakened state, Moses was still
fearless…ended up getting a wife and a job out of it!
·
Vs 18, 19 Moses willingness to go above and
beyond by drawing water for them opened up the way for his own deliverance.
·
Well
was acceptable meeting place between men and women in ancient times.
o
Can
you think of other places in Bible in which there are important encounters at
well? Abraham’s servant meets Rebekah –
Gen 24 Jesus and Samaritain woman John 4.
Marriage is associated with all 3 accounts.
·
Tzippora’s father is Reuel (later called
Jethro)
·
Reuel =
friend of EL (had some knowledge of Yahweh, who is referred to as El Shaddai in
Genesis)
o
“The priest” of
Midian signifies that he was most important priest. Similar to “high priest” of Israel in later
years.
·
Gershom is born to Moses
·
Ger-shom = a
stranger there (Moses felt like a stranger there)
(Vs 23-25 NASB) Now it came
about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the
sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry
for help because of their bondage rose up to God. 24 So God heard their
groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25
God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.
GOD REMEMBERS ISRAEL
•
Pharaoh dies, but, the new Pharaoh still
enslaves Israel
•
Many days = almost 40 years!
•
Zakar =
remember
•
An active term, which means to pay close and
attention AND to become involved
•
Yehoveh’s reaction revolved around the covenant
He gave to Abraham, Isaac & Jacob
•
Read 23-25 in Amplified Version
•
Vs 25 NLT “He looked down on the people of
Israel, and knew it was time to act.
•
Prayer (Israel’s cry for help) + God’s covenant
promise = deliverance
•
So for us, we pray based on God’s
promises. Our prayers would have no
effect if not for God’s promises. Yet,
God’s promises mysteriously are often only put into effect when God’s people
pray!
Exodus
Chapter 3 (CJB)
1 Now Moshe was
tending the sheep of Yitro his father-in-law, the priest of Midyan. Leading the
flock to the far side of the desert, he came to the mountain of God, to
Horev.
2 The angel of ADONAI
appeared to him in a fire blazing from the middle of a bush. He looked and saw
that although the bush was flaming with fire, yet the bush was not being burned
up.
3 Moshe
said, "I'm going to go over and see this amazing sight and find out why
the bush isn't being burned up."
4 When
ADONAI saw that he had gone over to see, God called to him from the middle of
the bush, "Moshe! Moshe!" He answered, "Here I am."
5 He
said, "Don't come any closer! Take your sandals off your feet, because the
place where you are standing is holy ground.
6 I
am the God of your father," he continued, "the God of Avraham, the
God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya'akov." Moshe covered his face, because
he was afraid to look at God.
7 ADONAI
said, "I have seen how my people are being oppressed in Egypt and heard
their cry for release from their slavemasters, because I know their pain.
8 I
have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of
that country to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey,
the place of the Kena'ani, Hitti, Emori, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi.
9 Yes,
the cry of the people of Isra'el has come to me, and I have seen how terribly
the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Therefore,
now, come; and I will send you to Pharaoh; so that you can lead my people, the
descendants of Isra'el, out of Egypt."
11 Moshe
said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the people of
Isra'el out of Egypt?"
12 He
replied, "I will surely be with you. Your sign that I have sent you will
be that when you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this
mountain."
13Moshe
said to God, "Look, when I appear before the people of Isra'el and say to
them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you'; and they ask me, 'What is
his name?' what am I to tell them?"
14 God
said to Moshe, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],"
and added, "Here is what to say to the people of Isra'el: 'Ehyeh [I Am or
I Will Be] has sent me to you.'"
15 God
said further to Moshe, "Say this to the people of Isra'el:
'Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ADONAI], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God
of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya'akov, has sent me to you.'This is my name
forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.
16 Go,
gather the leaders of Isra'el together, and say to them, 'ADONAI, the God of
your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov, has appeared to me and
said, "I have been paying close attention to you and have seen what is
being done to you in Egypt;
17 and
I have said that I will lead you up out of the misery of Egypt to the land of
the Kena'ani, Hitti, Emori, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi, to a land flowing with
milk and honey."'
18 They
will heed what you say. Then you will come, you and the leaders of Isra'el,
before the king of Egypt; and you will tell him, 'ADONAI, the God of the
Hebrews, has met with us. Now, please, let us go three days' journey into the
desert; so that we can sacrifice to ADONAI our God.'
19 I
know that the king of Egypt will not let you leave unless he is forced to do
so.
20 But
I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do
there. After that, he will let you go.
21 Moreover,
I will make the Egyptians so well-disposed toward this people that when you go,
you won't go empty-handed.
22 Rather,
all the women will ask their neighbors and house guests for silver and gold
jewelry and clothing, with which you will dress your own sons
and daughters. In this way you will plunder the Egyptians."
Moses at Horeb
Vs 1 (NASB) Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the
priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the [a]west side of the wilderness and came
to Horeb, the mountain of God.
•
Scene opens 40 years
later as we find Moses on “the backside of the desert” KJV. Being faithful in what he knew to do. Every day was probably like the day
before…until this day!
•
Moses becomes a
shepherd – must have received training from father-in-law and/or his wife.
•
Did not own his own
animals, they belonged to his father-in-law.
Moses obviously had not been able to accumulate any amount of wealth
during his time in Midian
•
Moses moved flocks to
area of Mt. Horeb (later called Mt. Sinai).
Reason for move was new pasture
•
This would be same
place that Moses would bring Israelites too after the Exodus. Where Moses would receive 10 commandments
Vs 2 (NASB) The angel
of the Lord appeared
to him in a blazing fire from the midst of ]a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire,
yet the bush was not consumed.
•
Moses probably saw
bush in corner of his eye for some time.
Burning bushi in desert not that unusual. A burning bush which wasn’t being consumed was
though!
•
Burning bush
o
Fire plays significant
role in OT & NT
o
Symbol of Holy Spirit
o
United Methodist even
has flaming fire symbol on all of their churches.
(Would to God they all
were truly on fire as Methodists of old were!)
o
God was going to make
Moses like a burning bush…could not long ignore him, full of HS, where he
stepped would be holy ground.
o
God’s true prophets
are full of fire…so much so that it is only God’s grace that keeps them from
being consumed
o
Three examples of HS
and fire Jeremiah 20:9, Matt 3:11, Acts
2:3
(Vs 3 NASB) So Moses said, “[c]I must turn aside now and see this marvelous
sight, why the bush is not burned up.”
•
Moses could not ignore
bush any more. Egyptians would not be
able to ignore Moses!
•
Moses had to turn to
find out where God is. Though God made
Himself approachable to Moses, Moses still had to turn and move towards God
before would reveal Himself to Moses.
•
Think about how much
the hinge of history revolved around this one turn. Yet Moses had no idea. How may the hinge of history revolve around
your turn to God!
•
“This particular bush
was transfigured by the flame until it became the most famous bush in all of
history. It became the most famous bush in all of history, not because there was
a great bush, but because there was a great fire!” Tozer
•
“God takes people who
never amounted to anything and never will, but by living in them transforms
them” Tozer
•
Vs 4 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.”
•
God calls to Moses
from out of the fire. God speaks to us
by name!
o
Who else did God speak
to by name? Abraham (Genesis15;1), Jacob
(Genesis 32:28), Paul (Acts 9:4), many others
•
“Moses was born to be
Israel’s deliverer, and yet not a word is said of it to him until he was eighty
years of age.” John Wesley
•
“Here I am” is only
true answer we can give when God calls us.
o
Who else responded to
God’s call with “Here I am”? Isaiah 6:8
o
Yet, as we’ll see,
when He found out what God wanted from him, Moses is going to take some
convincing!
Vs 5 Then He
said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the
place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
•
Removing of sandals
was and is sign of respect in Middle Eastern cultures. Similar to men taking their hats off during
prayer in the west.
•
“Holy ground” – Hebrew
is qodesh (Kodesh) – means to be set apart as sacred.
•
Only previous use of the word or it’s root was Genesis 2:3,
where God sanctified the 7th day (Sabbath).
•
Yet it will be used 52
more times in Exodus as well as several hundred times in OT.
•
Concept of God’s
holiness – His awesome, fearful presence – is largely missing from the church
today.
•
We’ve made God like a
celestial pal
•
“The greatest loss
that modern man has suffered is the loss of a sense of sacredness.” A.W. Tozer
•
If Moses had not
abased himself before this holy God (symbolized by removal of sandals), he
might have been consumed right there!
Vs 6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid
his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
•
God had heard a lot
about God, but he didn’t know God until this moment. His reaction was to hide his face.
•
Eventually God would
say of Moses, that He spoke to Moses “face to face, just as a man speaks to his
friend.” (33:11)
•
God’s covenant with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob again appears here.
God speaks because of covenant.
He acts because of covenant. He
remembers (Zakar) because of covenant.
•
Vs 7 (CJB) ADONAI said, "I have seen how my people are being
oppressed in Egypt and heard their cry for release from their slavemasters,
because I know their pain.
•
“God makes it
very clear to Moses that He has not been asleep at the switch. He has seen, He
has heard, and He has KNOWN of His people’s plight. We should NEVER assume that
what we perceive as a long period of God’s silence in our lives means that He
has forgotten His promises to us, or isn’t aware of us, or has lost interest in
us. For, as daunting as it can be it seems that an extended period of heavenly
silence is invariably a major ingredient of God’s preparation process; His
preparation of us…..for whatever His divine purposes for us might be…WILL
include periods of divine silence”
(Bradford)
•
God saw their
oppression (affliction), God heard their cry, God knew their pain (sufferings)
•
God sees our
afflictions, He hears our cry when we are in trouble. He knows our sufferings.
•
Hebrews 2:17, 18 (Amp)
o
Therefore, it was essential that He
had to be made like His brothers (mankind) in every respect, so that He might
[by experience] become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things related to
God, to make atonement (propitiation) for the people’s sins [thereby wiping
away the sin, satisfying divine justice, and providing a way of reconciliation
between God and mankind]. 18 Because He Himself [in His
humanity] has suffered in being tempted, He is able to help and provide
immediate assistance to those who are being tempted and exposed
to suffering.
Vs 8,9 So I have come down to deliver them from the [e]power of the Egyptians, and
to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land
flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite
and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Now, behold, the cry
of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression
with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
•
Yet God does not only
see our affliction, hears our cry, and knows our sufferings, He will act on our
behalf.
•
Yet God’s act of
deliverance was far more than they were bargaining for. He wasn’t going to just make things better
for them in Egypt, he was going to remove them from Egypt altogether.
•
When we ask for God’s
help, he will deliver, but not always (seldom!) the way that we think He
will.
•
We must be willing to
follow Him wherever He leads, even if it’s into a desert for a spell (but I’m
getting ahead of myself!)
•
Vs 10 0 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to
Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of
Egypt.”
•
Up until this point,
Moses must have been thinking “that’s all great God, but what’s this got to do
with me?”
•
Must have been quite a
shock to Moses (down to his unshod feet!) when God said “I WILL SEND YOU!”
•
God could have
delivered Israel unilaterally without the help of man. He could have just transported them Star-trek
style from Egypt to Canaan (Scotty, beam me up!).
•
Yet God has always
used men and women as means for carrying out his divine promises.
•
So it is today. Are you willing to be that man or that woman
to whom God says, “I WILL SEND YOU?”
•
As a matter of fact,
God is sending us today. He’s sending each of us to our families, our
co-workers, our neighbors to be the
light of Jesus in a dark and desolate world. The call of Moses is my call and your
call.
•
Read
Acts 2:37-39 together
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