Look at Exodus 3:1-9, we read, “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy 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 affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto 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 is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.”
This was a big request that God was making of Moses. Remember, he is now living in Midian because he had killed an Egyptian and he left Egypt in fear for his life. Now God is asking him to go back to Egypt.
But God had a purpose in making this request.
• God was deeply concerned about His people’s suffering
• God heard their cries of sorrow
• God wanted to deliver them from their enslavement
God wanted to do something about their suffering, so He called Moses to lead them out of Egypt.
Verse 1 tells us for forty years, “Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.”
“The mountain of God” is the name used for Mt. Sinai in the burning bush account. (Exodus 3:1)
The fact that the burning bush occurred at Mt. Sinai indicates that it was within grazing distance of Midian, since Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro when he met God at Horeb, the mountain of God.
While tending to the flock he could, of course, just allow his mind to drift from one thought to another. While tending Jethro’s flock one night, look what happened in verse 2. “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”
Suppose when Moses saw this burning bush he thought, “I DO NOT HAVE TIME TO CHECK THIS OUT, I have more important things to do,” and went on his way tending to the flock of the sheep. If that had happened, we probably would not be studying about Moses tonight.
But God got his attention. Notice two things he saw at the burning bush.
(1) “…and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” This of course was a miracle, something no one had ever seen before.
(2) But there is something more significant about this bush. The Bible tells us, “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.”
WHO IS THIS ANGEL? The messenger seems to be the second person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verses 3-4, Moses said, “… I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am And when the LORD SAW that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”
God has his full attention now. Look at verse 5, we read, “And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”
God stopped Moses dead in his tracks. He told Moses to come no closer and to take off his shoes. He said this because the ground where he stood was holy ground. The ground was not holy in and of itself; it was holy because God was there.
Illus: We call this sanctuary a holy place. Does that mean that the bricks, lumber, plumbing and carpet are holy? No. What makes it is a holy place is because GOD IS HERE and He has promised if two or three would come together in His name He would be in the midst thereof.
When God told Moses to take off his shoes, He was teaching Moses a lesson that every child of God needs to learn, and that is, when we enter God’s presence we must be respectful and reverent.
• God is not a chummy friend to man
• Neither is He the man upstairs
• Nor is He a grandfather type person who allows us to behave as we want and who gives us what we want
Therefore, we must enter His holy presence with reverence.
Note that the LORD appeared as a blazing ?re from within the bush, a ?ame of ?re that just kept on burning and did not consume the bush. God has often used ?re to symbolize and represent His presence. (Exo. 13:21; 19:18; 24:17; Judges 13:20; 1 Kings 18:24, 38; 2 Chron. 7:1-3; Ezek. 1:4-28; Dan. 7:9-10; Heb. 12:29).
In verse 6, the LORD continued to speak to Moses from within the burning bush. In fact, the LORD alone spoke from verses 4 to the end of this passage at verse 10.
WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF MOSES HAD IGNORED THE BUSH AND CONCLUDED THAT IT WAS NOT WORTH THE EFFORT TO SEEK TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE? Again, most likely we would not be studying the life of Moses.
The person who seeks to know the meaning of things, and is open to God, will be met by God. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
God’s call was a personal call to Moses in verse 4. God called Moses by name. Note Moses’ response: “Here am l.” We must always respond positively to God’s call: “Here am I.”
We must obey God and do exactly what He calls us to do.
• Remember Abraham responded, “Here I am.” In Genesis 22:1
• Samuel responded, “Here am I,” in 1 Samuel 3:4
• Paul responded, “Here am I,” in Acts 9:6, “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”
We must never forget that God almighty is our CREATOR and we are His CREATION.
In verse 7, we read, “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows.” This is the ?rst time in the scriptures God ever called Israel, “my people.”
The taskmasters no doubt were cursing, abusing, beating, and forcing the people to work beyond utter exhaustion. The people moaned and groaned under the oppressive affliction. They had no hope but God, and they could do nothing but cry out to God. This they did, and the most wonderful thing was now happening: God heard their cries and was now acting to meet their need.
The very reason God calls us to serve Him is because He sees the af?ictions and misery of people.
In verses 1-10 God is calling Moses to lead His people out of bondage
Illus: How would you respond to God if He came to you and asked you to do something?
Moses responded with five ridiculous excuses. One of the most successful things that Satan brewed from the pits of hell is teach people how to make excuses for not doing certain things.
Excuses have shut down more churches than anything else. EXCUSES WILL SHUT DOWN ANYTHING!
Illus: Some years ago, Moody Monthly ran a piece which included excuses that as person might use for quitting sports.
• Every time I went, they asked for money
• The people with whom I had to sit didn’t seem very friendly
• The seats were too hard and uncomfortable
• The coach never came to see me
• The referee made a decision with which I could not agree
• I was sitting with some hypocrites – they only came to see what others were wearing
• Some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home
• The band played numbers that I had never heard before
• The games were scheduled when I want to do other things
• My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up
• I don’t want to take my children, because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best
In Exodus 3, we have seen God tell Moses that He has heard the cry of Israel for deliverance and that He is now ready to deliver them. In verses 1-9, God does all the talking, telling Moses He has heard the cry of His people under this evil Pharaoh that was abusing them.
After explaining all this to Moses, God says to Moses, in verse 10, “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”
In verses 1-9, when God is talking about the sad situation of His people, Moses was probably listening with sympathetic ears. But when God spoke to him and said I am going to send you to deliver my people in Egypt, he was probably like that TV program called, “Sanford and Son.” When Fred Sanford got some bad news, he would grab his chest and say, “Lizabeth I am coming!”
WHY DO I SAY THAT? Because as soon as Moses heard that God wanted to use him, he immediately began to come up with all kinds of ridiculous excuses.
HAVE YOU EVER RESPONDED THAT WAY?
• You WERE ASKED to teach a Sunday school class - the excuses start
• You WERE ASKED to serve in the nursery - the excuses start
• You WERE ASKED to share your faith with a friend or neighbor – the excuses start
• You WERE ASKED to help someone with a need that you could meet – the excuses start
If you ask some people to do just about anything for the Lord, the excuses start flowing.
We can fool each other with these excuses but we cannot fool God. God knows that the reason we do not want to do what He asks us to do is because we do not love Him enough. The Word of God tells us, IF YOU LOVE ME YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.
I read a humorous story about some GI’s on furlough that I think illustrates HOW RIDICULOUS THESE EXCUSES ARE BEFORE GOD.
Illus: The commanding officer was furious when nine GIs who had been out on passes failed to show up for morning roll call. Not until 7 p.m. did the first man straggle in. "I’m sorry, sir," the soldier explained, "but I had a date and lost track of time, and I missed the bus back. Being determined to get in on time, I hired a cab. Halfway here, the cab broke down. I went to a farmhouse and persuaded the farmer to sell me a horse. I was riding to camp when the animal fell over dead. I walked the last ten miles, and just got here." Though skeptical, the Colonel let the young man off with a reprimand.
However, after him, seven other stragglers in a row came in with the same story: had a date, missed the bus, hired a cab, bought a horse, etc. By the time the ninth man reported in, the colonel had grown weary of it.
"Okay," he growled, "Now what happened to you?" "Sir, I had this date and missed the bus back, so I hired a cab." "Wait!" the colonel screaming at him. "Don’t tell me the cab broke down." "No, sir," replied the soldier. "The cab didn’t break down. It was just that there were so many dead horses in the road, we had trouble getting here."
When Moses was asked by God to do this great work, he came up with five ridiculous excuses. Two of those excuses can be found in Exodus chapter 3, and the other three are located in Exodus chapter 4.
Let us look at two of the excuses Moses gave to God about going to Egypt and delivering his people from the bondage of Pharaoh.
We see . . .
I. THE “WHO ME?” EXCUSE
Look at verse 11, we read, “And Moses said unto God, WHO AM I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
The first excuse that Moses offers reveals doubt in himself. Moses is saying, “Remember God, forty years ago, the reason I came here to Midian was because I killed an Egyptian man and I had to flee for my life. Now you are asking little old ME to go back and tell Pharaoh to let Your people go.”
But look what God said to Moses, in verse 12, “And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.”
The older I get, the more I realize how weak and frail I am. Also, the older I get, I realize that if we have the Lord with us, we can do anything He asks us to do.
Moses was hiding behind an excuse when he said, “NOT ME!” He was basically saying that God didn’t know what He was doing.
Moses first excuse expressed doubt in himself! His second excuse was worst because He expressed doubt in God.
We see THE “WHO ME?” EXCUSE and . . .
II. THE “BY WHAT AUTHORITY” EXCUSE
Look at verses 13-15, we read, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”
God, you want me to go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh, “Let my people go.” The people are going to take one look at me and say, “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE; BY WHOSE AUTHORITY DO YOU SAY THIS?”
God said to tell them, “By the authority of the great I AM.” God told Moses it didn’t have to do with who Moses was; it had everything to do with who GOD IS!
The reason so many are not successful in carrying out the work that God has called them to do, is because the scriptures tells us, IT IS NOT BY MIGHT, IT IS NOT BY POWER, BUT IT IS BY HIS SPIRIT, that the job can be accomplished.
Illus: One of the problems today with many Bible Colleges and Seminaries is that students leave these institutions and they know ABOUT HIM, BUT DO NOT KNOW HIM!
God was saying, “Moses, you have no authority to tell Pharaoh to let my people go; you tell them the GREAT I AM SAID LET MY PEOPLE GO!”
Illus: One day, the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, Pastor of Bellevue Baptist in Memphis, Tenn., felt discouraged that people were not responding to His invitations. He felt so distraught that he asked God to give him a verse for encouragement. He opened his Bible and pointed at a verse and it read, "They are not rejecting you, but Me." After that, Dr. Rogers no longer worried about the results from his invitations, knowing that people were not rejecting him or his teaching, but God and His words of invitation. That took all of the pressure off of him to see success.
Moses needed to know that even if the people would laugh, ridicule or criticize him, God would do the DELIVERING.
Conclusion:
Look at verse 15, we read, “And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”
God’s name is, “I AM.” Now it has been translated into JEHOVAH, YAHWEH and others, but his name is, “I AM,” as the Bible says as a memorial to all generations.
In verses 16-17, we read, “Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.”
God reminds them of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In verses 18-19, we read, “And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.”
Now when they came to Pharaoh and asked for permission to go into the wilderness to worship their God, they would have gone. But God, who knows the future, knew that Pharaoh would not let them go.
God said, in verse 20, “And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that HE WILL LET YOU GO.”
Look at verses 21-22. THESE PEOPLE WERE TREATED LIKE ANIMALS. They had been in slavery for four hundred years, and they were dirt poor. But evidently, some of the Israeli women had befriended some of the Egyptian women. God told these women what to do.
Look at verses 21-22, we read, “And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.”
Now look at the words, “EVERY WOMAN SHALL BORROW OF HER NEIGHBOR…JEWELS OF SILVER, AND JEWELS OF GOLD, AND RAIMENT…” They were not stealing, they were getting back pay.
WHAT IS THIS VERSE TEACHING? God’s people at this time were living in slavery. The Egyptians had worked them like animals, and in slavery they did not have anything. But when they left Egypt, God wanted them to leave with something.
These four hundred years of bondage were prophesied in Genesis. Look at Genesis 15:13-14, we read, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”
We see . . .
I. THE “WHO ME?” EXCUSE
II. THE “BY WHAT AUTHORITY” EXCUSE
