God Reveals Himself Series

Exodus 3 “13 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?” 14 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.’ ” 15 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.’

Today we continue our trip through the Book of Exodus. We will continue this journey until Thanksgiving. Today we begin with something un-natural. Something super-natural. Exodus 3:1-10 contains the familiar story of The Burning Bush. Fire is one of the most common signs of God's presence in the OT. This fire on the bush does not consume - neither do the "tongues, as of fire" in Acts 2:3. Fire that consumes everything is natural. There are wildfires in the news right now. If something is not burned up in a fire – we call it a miracle. This is a preview of unnatural occurrences that will come later in Exodus (plagues - frogs and flies). No matter what the History Channel has to say.

I’m not a big fan of the History Channel – except for one show, “The Curse of Oak Island.” They try to eliminate the supernatural from every Bible story they investigate. I want a supernatural God! I want an awesome and mighty, miracle-making God!

All of us in this room have seen many, many amazing discoveries in the fields of medicine and science. One time I was helping my Grandfather with some painting on the farm. We were relaxing in the shade and I asked him – “What’s the greatest discovery you have seen in the 20th century?” I was thinking about a man on the moon, modern farm equipment or even television. He thought for a moment and said, “Well, if somebody had ever told me there would be paint as good as oil paint that could be cleaned up with water – I would have told you they were crazy.”

At the beginning of Exodus 3, Moses meets his God in the miracle of the burning bush. This is a preview of the supernatural plagues (not according to the History Channel). God is the one making the first move. When Moses goes to look, God calls him by name.

God is the one who calls Moses (like us) - Exodus 3:4 "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."

When God calls people today – are we seeking first or is God seeking us first? It’s stories, like this one, that assures us that God makes the first move. We can be walking away from God and He is knocking on the door of our hearts. In this, we respond to His first move.

Then, God is the one who commands Moses (like us) v. 5 - "do not come closer" "take off your sandals". Why? Because God is HOLY! Holiness is one of His attributes. We say God is “altogether holy.” His holiness is perfect. So it can’t be altered by any of His other attributes. When we say “God is Love” we name another of His attributes. He is “altogether loving.” Not like our love – limited and touched by sin. We understand then that God is incapable of loving us so much that He would be less concerned with our holiness.

Moses is the one who brings in doubt (like us) v.11-12. Before this exchange is over, Moses will question God's plan five times. But God always has an answer for him. Do you have questions? Have you searched God's Word for the answer? Have you cried out in prayer and then taken time to listen?

Ps. 91:15 "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him…"

Jer. 33:3 "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'"

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Now God reveals Himself - in 2 ways- 2 names – God’s names always reveal something about who He is.

"I AM WHO I AM" – because Hebrew words have multiple meanings, we can also see in this name – “I will be who I will be” and “I will create what I create”. Our Bibles begin with 4 words - "In the beginning, God…" God is "PRE-EXISTENT" which means that as the Creator of all things He existed before all things. This one of the Basic Beliefs of Christianity that is proclaimed in the NT - John 1 "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God."