Exodus 3:1-15
Title: Who Am I?
I. Moses' Identity Crisis - Who Am I?
II. God's Identity Revelation - I AM
III. God's Everlasting Promise - "I will be with you"
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God the Father and from His Son Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world.
This morning, I would like to invite everyone to enjoy a story in scripture that no doubt is very familiar to many of you. Our story takes place a little east of the Gulf of Aqaba near what today is called the Al-Jawf Region in northern Saudi Arabia. At the time of our story, however, the area was called the land of the Midianites. The Midianites were the direct descendants of one of the children that Abraham had with his second wife Keturah. In Genesis chapter 25 we discover that after the death of Sarah, Abraham took another wife named Keturah and together they had six children. As a side note, some ancient rabbis believed that Keturah was in actually Abraham's former concubine Hagar. They believed that soon after Sarah's death, Abraham brought Hagar back home and gave her the new name Keturah which means "incense" or "sweet smelling one". The Bible is unclear on the subject so we really don't know a great deal about Keturah except that she became the matriarch of some 16 different tribes with one of them being the Tribe of the Midianites.
Our story is found in the book of Exodus chapter three. Almost immediate everyone will recognize that our story revolves around Moses' encounter with the LORD at the Burning Bush. It's a story that is a favorite among children, teens as well as adults. It is a story that has become a favorite in Vacation Bible School, Youth Classes as well as Small Group Adult Bible Studies.
This morning, we are going to focus our attention on the first 15 verses of that story where we discover Moses and God starting off by sharing their identities with one another. Moses shares his identity crisis while the LORD reveals Himself as the Good God of All Creation. Interspersed throughout our story we also discover the LORD invites Moses to experience a life changing transformation and then invites Moses to co-partner with Him on a rescue and redemption mission for the People of Israel. As we read and study this passage this morning, it is my hope that we also discover an even deeper truth. The truth that God wants us to experience the same life changing transformation along with co-partnering with Him on a continually rescue and redemption mission for all the people on earth today.
Let's turn to Exodus chapter three and stand as we hear God's Word.
I. WHO AM I? - verse 11
Moses sums up his whole self-identity crisis in verse 11 when he replies to God's invitation by asking both God and himself a very simple but very deep question - WHO AM I?
One of the things that the first two chapters of the book of Exodus share with us is that Moses had to deal with an ongoing identity crisis. It's an identity crisis that has a great many twists and turns. For example:
Moses was born to live out his life on earth as a Hebrew slave. His life was destined to be one in which he would be working as hard as he could from sunrise to sunset seven days a week all year long. He would have little or no control over what he did, where he lived or even what he ate. Everything would be dictated by the whim of his Egyptian overlords.
However, through the grace of God, the Bible tells us that Moses was rescued and instead grew up as an adopted son of an Egyptian princess. Moses grew up as an elitist practically having anything and everything he ever wanted. His future seemed bright and his prospect of being one of the next leaders in the Egyptian dynasty seemed all but certain. But then we know that all came to a crashing end when out of anger he killed an Egyptian overlord and then had to run for his life out of Egypt.
The Bible tells us that for the past 40 years Moses had lived life out in the middle of nowhere. In the middle of a vast and dry wilderness wasteland. Moses had been doing his best to make a living as a Midianite undershepherd. He had become a son-in-law of a Midianite priest who had taken him in after Moses had rescued his daughters from a bunch of roughneck shepherds who were terrorizing them.
So, was Moses really a Hebrew slave, an exiled member of Egyptian royalty or merely a poor Midianite undershepherd who was living on the backside of nowhere?
Was Moses a deliver? At least that is what he tried to be when he did his best to rescue a Jewish slave who was being beaten by an Egyptian overlord. Or was Moses a murderer because he took the life of the Egyptian overlord who in turn was beating that slave to death? Or was he what he called himself after the birth of his son, Gershom - merely a stranger walking along the earth?
Was Moses a follower of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God that his father Amram and his mother Jochebed had taught him as a boy? The God who the Hebrew/Jewish people saw as the Only True God, the Good God of Creation? Was Moses a follower of the gods of Egypt? The Egyptian gods he had watched people all around him worship as he grew up as a member of Egyptian royalty. The Egyptian gods with names like Seth, Isis, Hapi, Hathor and Ra? Or had Moses over the last 40 years cast off all those gods and had instead adopted the gods of the Midianites, the gods of Baal and Ashtoreth?
I think one of the things that we can be assured of when we read these first few chapters about Moses is we find a man in deep conflict. Moses was born into one culture, raised in another and now living in a third culture. It is any wonder that Moses asks God the question he does in verse 11 - WHO AM I?
Added to all of this is we can discover some other issues that Moses was having trouble dealing with in his later conversation with God that are outlined in the rest of chapters three and four. It is there we find that Moses:
+Saw himself as unworthy. After all, Moses was the 2nd born son. Everyone knew that the first born son would be the one who would have all of the honor and glory. Every son born after the eldest were mere additions, second class citizens at best. Any place of honor or leadership therefore should go to Aaron his eldest brother. It was Aaron who possessed the birthright. It was upon Aaron that his father would had given the generational blessing. It was Aaron who had stayed with the Jewish people, been raised to be a Jew and who understood the Jews best.
The same was true in his adopted Egyptian family. Moses was just a fortunate adopted son. He was not destined to be the next Pharaoh. That honor would have to go to a direct descendant of the royal family not some Jewish child that had been rescued from the Nile River. Moses knew all too well the life of a second son whether in his own native Jewish family or in his adopted Egyptian family.
+Moses also believed he was not smart enough. After all, would a smart man do something so foolish that would have caused him to be removed from the highest ranks of royalty to having to eking out a living on the backside of a wilderness littered with rocks and dirt? Would a smart man have so foolish allowed his anger to get so out of hand that he killed an Egyptian overlord rather than later merely removing that man from his office with some type of royal decree? Moses believed that he was not smart enough to be a leader.
+Moses believed he was not good enough. He was not good at speaking nor was he good at doing anything. He had already failed at being a Jew, at being an Egyptian and at being a good Midianite shepherd. After 40 years Moses was still working for his father-in-law. In half that amount of time, the Patriarch Jacob had not only paid off all of his debts but had accumulated a fortune. Genesis chapters 30 - 32 tells us that Jacob had a multitude of oxen, donkeys, sheep, goats, camels along with male and female servants. After twice that amount of time the only thing that Moses had to show for himself was that he was still working for his father-in-law Jethro. Apparently, Moses was a lousy shepherd.
+Moses also did not like being around people in general. How do we know that? Look where Moses made a home. The area we find Moses in was sparse of both vegetation and people. In our story Moses had gone to the west side or what could be called the backside of Mt. Horeb. The only reason he would have gone there was so that he could be away from everyone and everybody.
+Finally, I am sure that Moses was not looking for any great life change at this point of his life. At age 80 I am sure that Moses had felt he had already experienced enough changes as it was. Life had already beat him up more than once. Now, all he wanted was to be left alone. He was doing his best to stay out of harm's way and merely raise his family the best way he and his wife Zipporah could.
With all of that, can we really blame Moses for asking the question - WHO AM I? In his book he was a nobody. He was a man who had thrown away the riches of the world. He was a man who had caused himself to be driven from his Egyptian family and his Jewish family. Life had brought him a great deal of heartache and despair. Moses was a broken man.
The picture we have of Moses here at the beginning of chapter three is a man who was living the life of a simple desert undershepherd working for his father-in-law and doing his best to stay away from people. No doubt, forty years in the desert had taken their toll. I think the Moses we find here at the beginning of chapter three is a man who was very much like the area surrounding this mountain - dry and desolate - a wasteland. I am sure he felt like this is exactly where he belonged - he had wasted his opportunities and now he would live out the remainder of his days in a place that mirrored him - a dry and dusty wasteland.
I think there have been times in our lives where we feel like we can connect with Moses. Times that we feel like we are in a wasteland, a wilderness and times that we wonder who in the world we are. We find ourselves doubting ourselves and wondering if anything good is ever going to happen again in our lives.
II. I AM - verse 14
As much as Moses was confused about who he was the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY was assured about His Own identity. The LORD had no doubt concerning His own Identity and Personality. As we read this passage the LORD reveals that He is neither puzzled nor perplexed.
Listen again how God reveals Himself:
+I am the God of your Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob
+I am the God who sees my people's affliction
+I am the God who rescues and redeems
+I am the God who is going to give My People the land I promised to their forefathers
+I am the God who get involved in My creation, who speaks and who intervenes
+I AM that I AM or as other translations have it - I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE
Where Moses was full of confusion, the LORD was a clear as a crystal bell.
Later on through His Son Jesus the Messiah even more of the Lord's identity and personality would be revealed. In the Gospel of John the LORD JESUS reveals that He, His Father and the Holy Spirit possess all of these characteristics:
+I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48, 51)
+I am the Light of the World (John 8:12; 9:5)
+I am the Door of the Sheepfold (John 10:7-8)
+I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14)
+I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
+I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
+I am the True Vine (John 15)
Along with these characteristics the Bible is clear to let us know that the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, YHWH is the Good God of Creation. God is Love. God is Holy. God is Righteousness. God is Mercy and Grace. God is Life.
This morning, we may at times be confused about who we are and if you are like me then that has happened on one or more occasions. While we may not understand everything that we are going through there is one thing we can be assured. We can be assured of God. We can be assured that God:
+Knows Who He Is - there is no confusion or chaos with God. Our God knows Who He is and God Knows What He is Doing
+Our God Loves Us
How do we know that God loves us? I am so glad you asked. Let's look at one more verse for some final direction. We find it in verse 12 where the LORD says to Moses - "I will be with you"
III. I WILL BE WITH YOU! - verse 12
Did we get that? The LORD tells Moses that He will always be with Moses.
What exactly does that mean?
Let's go back and glean through our passage again for some really wonderful spiritual truths and insights that not only have meaning for Moses but have meaning for all of us as well.
+Let's begin by once again looking at Moses' surroundings. (v. 1)
The Bible tells us that at this time Moses and his sheep are near Mt. Horeb. Later on Mt. Hebron will be known as the Mountain of God. A mountain that God has chosen as a place to be with His People.
At the time of Moses it was not known that way. It's only after this encounter and a few other encounters that it takes on that name.
But what kind of place is Mt. Hebron? Remember, I told you that Moses was in a place that was dry, desolate and was called a wasteland? Those words accurately describe Mt. Horeb. The very name "Horeb" in Hebrew means wasteland, desolate and dry.
So why did God choose Mt. Horeb as the place to encounter Moses? Because Moses at that time was a lot like the Mt. Horeb that surrounded him. His life was desolate, dry and very much like a wasteland. And it was here physically, mentally, socially and spiritually that Moses most needed God. Moses was at a very low point in his life at this moment and we need to understand this morning that we serve a God who will always come to the very place that we need Him most. And most of the time that place is one that feels, looks and smells like a wasteland.
Later on the Bible tells us that Jesus (God in Flesh) would give His life for all of us on a wasteland called Calvary. Jesus, God in Flesh would take on our sins - all of our waste, all of our desolation, all of our despair and hopelessness and He would nail them to the cross of Calvary. Jesus would on that cross defeat all the dark powers of evil that seek to confuse us, create chaos and ultimately destroy all of us. The same God that came to rescue and redeem Moses when he was at his lowest will also rescue and redeem us. The Lord God Almighty will take our low moments, our places of desolation and transform them into places of transformation. The Bible tells us that God took Mt. Horeb and transformed it into a place of His Presence and Glory. The Bible tells us that God took Moses and lifted him out of a wasteland and made him the greatest prophet of all time. The Bible tells us that the Lord can take all of us this morning regardless of our circumstances and not only rescue and redeem us from sin but transform us into genuine human beings reflecting His image of holiness and grace.
+Very quickly, then let's look again at verse four where we find a little spiritual gem here that we might miss if we are not careful. It is the way that the LORD GOD addressed Moses. Notice that the LORD calls out Moses' name twice - Moses, Moses.
Only seven times is all of scripture do we find the LORD calling out a person's name twice in a roll. We find the LORD calling out to Abraham that way along with others like Jacob and Samuel in the Old Testament. Jesus, God in Flesh will call out the same way to Martha, Simon and to the man Saul later called the Apostle Paul. Each time this happens it is right before that person experiences a great spiritual awakening, revelation or transformation. Bible scholars tell us that saying a person's name twice in a roll was also an ancient way of showing a person that you deeply loved them.
So, let's understand this so far. The Lord came to this place of desolation because Moses was there - physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. But the LORD did not come there to beat up Moses or to pass judgment on him. God came to tell Moses that He was loved and that God wanted to greatly transform his life. No matter how much of a mess Moses had made of his life the LORD was inviting Moses to experience forgiveness, grace and transformation. The LORD was not throwing Moses away or abandoning him. Instead, the LORD was calling out to him in love. The Lord was inviting Moses to be a new person, a person with a transformed heart, mind and soul.
+Did you also notice where the LORD called out to Moses? (v. 2)
Verse two tells us that God called out to Moses from a thorn bush. Now, why in the world did the Lord God Almighty use a thorn bush? Why didn't the Lord choose to speak through an animal or a majestic tree? Why a thorny bush?
Bible scholars tell us that the LORD picked the thorn bush for some very specific reasons. Just as Mt. Horeb reflected the desolation and despair that Moses was experiencing so too does the image of a thorn bush reflect his life of pain and suffering. There was no way that one could pick berries off a thorn bush or place one's hand inside a thorn bush and not be harmed. Anyone who has been around a blackberry bush knows how easy it is to spill some blood in the process. And yet, in the midst of all that harm, that potential pain the LORD had placed His very Presence. Why?
The LORD spoke out of a place of pain to show Moses that He would share Moses' pain and suffering. Moses knew the pain of not feeling like you belong to anyone - either the Jewish people, the Egyptian people or to the people of Midian. Moses knew the pain of losing everything because you couldn't control your anger. Moses knew the pain of living a lost dream for the past 40 years. Moses was well acquainted with pain and I am sure there were many times he felt like he was caught in the middle of some type of life's thorn bush. Thinking that no matter where or how he turned all that was in store for him or his family was more pain and suffering.
And so, God comes down and puts Himself in a place surrounded by thorns. God chooses to speak to Moses from a place of pain and suffering. The Bible tells us that it would not be many years that our King Jesus, God in Flesh would put Himself at the mercy of some other thorns. Only this time those thorns would circle his head in a cruel attempt to mock His majesty and glory.
We need to understand this morning that the Lord God Almighty seeks to share our pain and suffering. He does not want us to go it alone. He seeks to walk with us through our valleys of shadow and death. He understands what it means to suffer and to be in pain.
+God tells Moses to stand on holy ground ( v. 5)
In verse five the LORD invites Moses to share sacred space. The Lord tells Moses to take off his shoes not merely as an act of humility but as a way to share His Holy Presence with Moses. The LORD doesn't want anything to separate His Presence (His Essence) from Moses. Even a piece of leather is too much of a separation. The LORD wants to share His Presence, His Holiness, Himself with Moses. The LORD desires for Heaven and Earth to connect.
And the Lord wants to bring healing and wholeness to Moses. When the LORD told Moses to stand on Holy Ground it was to enable the LORD to transform Moses from the inside out. Here was a man who was struggling with his own self-identity and worth. Here was a man who felt he had no hope. Here was a man who knew what it meant to lose everything. He was living the life in exile. Here was a man who had tried his best but his best was not good enough to even have his own little flock. Here was a man in great pain and suffering.
And here was our LORD extending His Holiness and Healing through His Good Earth. The LORD had used the Good Earth in making humans in the first place. The Lord had made the Good Earth to be the means by which mankind would receive food and shelter. Now the LORD was using the Good Earth to bring about healing and wholeness.
When Moses stepped on that holy ground it was a life changing and a life transforming experience.
Ancient rabbis sharing this story years later state how the Burning Bush encounter was more than a mere one hour encounter or even a 24 hour encounter. They believed that the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and Moses spent an entire week in communion with one another. They believed that around that fiery bush Moses poured out his heart and was transformed. They believed that around that fiery bush Moses began to experience a deep relationship with the LORD that would be deeper than any man had ever experienced up to that time. They believed that around that fiery bush Moses experienced New Life, New Meaning and a New Mission. They believed that around that fiery bush Moses at last found peace, received new revelations and began to be restored heart, mind and soul.
I believe those rabbis were right on key. After all, on two later occasions the LORD would spend 40 days with Moses on the mountain top. Our passage this morning lends itself to such a lengthy encounter. The passage is full of words and ideas and revelations that would have needed some time to receive, digest, process and accept. It takes a while to readjust a life that has already been lived 80+ years.
All of this reveals to us even more of the LORD's love and patience. The LORD comes here to Moses in this place of desolation, this place of quietness, this wasteland to heal him and to commission him. The LORD spends time with Moses listening and answering, convicting and challenging and cleansing and commissioning.
Just as the LORD's Fire did not consume the thorn bush neither would the LORD allow His holiness to consume Moses. Instead, the Lord used His holiness to transform and sanctify Moses. Just as the Lord would later do for men and women like David, Isaiah, Esther, Daniel and many others. Just like the Lord would do for over 3,000 people on the Day of Pentecost. Just as the LORD will do for all of us this very day. The Lord will rescue us, redeem us, sanctify us and restore us into His Holy Image.
+Finally, we see the LORD inviting Moses on a rescue and redemption mission. He invites Moses to allow His Holy Spirit to lead him to help free His People from physical, mental and spiritual slavery.
We may ask why God didn't do it alone. Why did God invite Moses and then Aaron and later Joshua to help free His people? Why didn't God merely overwhelm Egypt and free the people in a moment's notice?
I don't have all those answers but I know that from the moment of human kind's creation the LORD has put it into our hands to create His Kingdom here on earth. The Lord entrusted Adam and Eve with the wisdom, the knowledge and the power to His image bearers on this earth. It was the Lord's intention that they would create a whole world which would look like the Garden of Eden.
As we know they did not fulfill the mission. That's why we are all in the mess we are in today. But God did not abandon either our earth nor humanity. Instead, God decided to do things like He did with Moses. God transformed Moses - He made him a new person and then invited Moses to go and be a co-partner who would help Him rescue and redeem His People.
Many years later Jesus would do the same after His death and resurrection. He would tell His disciples that in the power of His Holy Spirit they were to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. They were to go and preach the message of rescue and redemption. They were to go and make disciples of people all over the earth. By doing so, those disciples would transform the earth - physically, socially, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
We get glimpses of that happening in the book of Acts where people lives are transformed, where people's deepest needs are met and where the world is being turned upside down for Jesus.
Our mission today is the same as Moses' was back then - we are invited to co-partner with God's Holy Spirit and be His image bearers in our world. We are invited to be His change agents - to be the people who are doing their best to bring God's Kingdom to our earth. And when we do that, history has shown us that societies and nations have been transformed. People have been lifted out of sin and individuals, families and whole communities have experienced spiritual, physical, emotional, financial and social revival. But when we don't do that then we have seen societies and nations falling into confusion, chaos and eventually destruction.
This morning as bring this time together to a close:
+Where do we find ourselves - do we find ourselves alongside Moses feeling down, feeling desolated and feeling hopeless. Do we feel like life has nothing more to offer? do we feel like we have been beat up by life? If that is how we feel, then today we need to know that the Fire of the Holy Spirit is here to bring you healing, comfort and peace. The fire of the Holy Spirit can lift up your heart and your spirit once again. The fire of the Holy Spirit can make your Mt. Horeb a place of God's Wonderful and Majesty Presence.
+Do we find ourselves in need of God's forgiving and transforming grace? Do we need either a heart change or an attitude change? If that be the case, then today we need to know that God's Fire is here this morning to bring forgiveness, mercy, grace and love.
+Do we find ourselves being a little lukewarm in our co-partnership with the LORD - depending on God to do it all while we sit back in comfort and ease. Believing that all is lost in this world and all we are really to do is just hang on and wait for His Second Coming. It's okay to wait but we must always remember the LORD has commissioned us to be His Disciples, His Change Agents, His Light and Salt in our world. God has always worked in humans to preach the Gospel, to evangelize the world and to be intercessors in prayer for others.
If you feel that way then this morning the fire of the Holy Spirit is here to renew your life and walk with the LORD.
Closing song and invitation with prayer and blessing.
