Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Exodus chapter 3 as we continue our study through the Word of God. As we began our study in Exodus last week the children of Israel have been down in Egypt for almost 400 years and the climate has changed you might say.
Pharaoh now sees the children of Israel as a threat and he places them under hard bondage, they are now slaves. But the children of Israel continue to grow in numbers and Pharaoh asks the midwives to destroy every male child born to the children of Israel. When that didn’t work he calls for every male child born to them to be drowned in the Nile River!
It was during this time that Moses was born and through a series of circumstances, he is raised in Pharaoh’s house and is next in line for the throne in Egypt! Now forty years pass by and, like I said, he is next in line to the throne, but he has a calling from God to deliver his people from this bondage. So he tries to do it his way, which didn’t work well at all. He killed one Egyptian who was abusing one of his people, buried him in the sand and only a few million more to go. Once Pharaoh heard what he did, he was not a happy man and put out a death sentence upon Moses, so he flees to Midian. There in Midian he becomes a shepherd, marries Zipporah and has one son by the name of Gershom.
As we concluded last time we read, “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.” Exodus 2:23-25.
The children of Israel have been in captivity almost 430 years, 400 of those years as slaves serving with rigor. Moses has been in the deserts of Midian for 40 years now. And, as we are going to see, God is now going to call Moses to be the deliverer, it is time. With that said, let’s begin reading in Exodus chapter 3, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us as we study His Word.
VERSES 1-3
At this point 40 years have passed by and what is Moses, the deliverer doing? There in the desert, day in and day out for 40 years he tended the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, not even his own sheep. That is what the Hebrew is telling us here, that it was a habitual occupation and these roads in the desert he kept traveling with these sheep. And as he came to Mount Horeb, latter to be called Mount Sinai, something he did over and over again, but on this day, something catches his eye!
There was this bush, in fact there were bushes everywhere, but this one was different, this thorn bush of the desert was on fire! Now, that is not what caught his attention because that did happen. Being in that dry, hot climate these bushes did catch on fire. What was different here is that this bush burned and yet it was not consumed! What was God showing Moses and us through this?
Think about it like this. The thorn bush speaks of sin, (Genesis 3:18). The fire speaks of judgment. The bush is on fire but it is not consumed, which is a picture of God’s grace and mercy that He extends to us. Paul put it like this in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the [free] gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And isn’t it the goodness of God, the grace of God that draws us to the Lord as it did here with Moses? Of course it is as Paul tells us, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” The Amplified Bible puts this verse like this, “Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God's will)?” Romans 2:4.
Not only do we see this thorn bush on fire and not consumed, but “ . . . the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. . . .” Who is this Angel of the Lord? It is the pre-incarnate Christ! How do I know that? In John 8:58 we are told, “Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’” In other words Jesus is saying that He is the “I AM,” the voice from the burning bush and we will see that more as we get to Exodus 3:14. But the Jews recognized what Jesus was saying because in John 8:50 we are told, “Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” Jesus was saying that He is God and the Jews wanted to kill Him for that, but the reality was and is, He is God!
VERSES 4-6
Notice the Lord didn’t say, “Hey you!” No, He called Moses by name, God knew who he was and he was important to God. Folks, none of us are Moses, but God still calls us by name and we are important to Him. If you doubt that then listen to what Jesus said in John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one.” That is our God. Never forget that!
Here is another important point. The burning bush that was not consumed was a spectacular sight but it did nothing for Moses. Yes, it got his attention but it wasn’t until God spoke to him do we see his life changed. People today run to and fro looking for signs and wonders but negate the Word of God. Does God do signs and wonders today? You bet He does but we have lost the focus. And because of that many have opened themselves up to being deceived by these false signs and wonders that the Devil unleashes. How can people not be deceived? By listening to the voice of God, by being in the Word of God and it will set you free from the lies of the Devil. Thus, dig into God’s Word!
Why was this holy ground? Because God was there, that was the only reason. Think of it like this. There is God and then everything else is creation and thus, He alone is holy and deserves our worship! Also notice that this is not a new God, but He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! You see, the way that God will deal with Moses will be based upon the covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God does not change and He relates to us based upon the New Covenant that is found in the shed blood of Jesus for our sins. Thus, there are no new god’s, there are no new ways into heaven, it is only through Jesus, the New Covenant!
VERSES 7-10
Our God is a personal God who sees, who knows, who hears. Then why did he wait so long in delivering the children of Israel? Folks, God was not late, He was right on time! In Genesis 15:13-16 the Lord tells Abraham, “Then He said to Abram: ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.’”
Notice, 400 years of affliction down in Egypt but they were down there a total of 430 years because those first 30 years they were not slaves. And the reason was not only to birth the nation of Israel but also the iniquity of the Amorites was not complete yet and thus, God waited and now it was time. God gave them the time to repent but they did not and thus, the Amorites were going to be driven from the land and the children of Israel would enter into the land of Canaan, the Promise Land.
I want you to also notice that God not only sees, He not only knows, He not only hears their problems, but now it says, “ . . . I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.” And God accomplished this through Moses, that is how He came down to deliver His people. Could God have done this on His own? You bet and much better, but He chose to work through Moses. Folks, He does the same with us. In I Corinthians 3:9 Paul tells us, “For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.” And in II Corinthians 6:1 we are told, “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” The Amplified Bible puts it like this, “LABORING TOGETHER [as God's fellow workers] with Him then, we beg of you not to receive the grace of God in vain [that merciful kindness by which God exerts His holy influence on souls and turns them to Christ, keeping and strengthening them — do not receive it to no purpose].” God works together with His people, you and me to accomplish His will!
VERSES 11-12
What a picture of man we see here! We think we know who we are, we are bold, proud, we can do it until things fall apart and God brings us into and out of those desert experiences so that we can learn from them and grow in them, be broken by them. And then we respond by saying to God, “No thanks, I am happy in the desert!” Why is that? Because we have lost the self-confidence and we have not yet learned to trust in the Lord, to put our full weight upon Him – FAITH!
Moses here recognized he couldn’t do it, those 40 years in the desert broke him. But that was not the right question. It is not “Who am I” but “Who is God” that he should have asked and that should be the way we face these issues. We are dust – He is God – great perspective to have but at this point Moses is still focused on self!
Look at how God encourages Moses here. He will be with Moses and He will not only deliver the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, but they will gather and worship God on this very mountain! It is not an “if,” but they will do this! But for Moses, as we will see as we read on, Moses moves from a lack of self-reliance, which is good; to a lack of faith, which is bad.
VERSES 13-14
And as we have seen, 40 years earlier he was the prince of Egypt but now he is a nobody and thus, he wants something to back him up, who should he say has sent him? And the Lord tells him, “I AM” or the eternal One, the all-becoming One has sent him! The Hebrew consonants YHWH are how it is written because they did not insert the vowels and thus, the speculation on how it is pronounced. Some say it is Yahweh, which I believe is correct and others say Jehovah, we are not really sure. This combination of consonants, YHWH is known as TETRAGRAMMATON or “four letters.”
In the Old Testament we see many names of God, the same God but just how He meets us where we are. The all-becoming One! Here are a few names of God in the Old Testament:
JEHOVAH JIREH: The Lord will provide – Genesis 22:14.
JEHOVAH ROPHE: The Lord who hears – Exodus 15:22-26.
JEHOVAH NISSI: The Lord our banner – Exodus 17:15.
JEHOVAH M’KADDESH: The Lord who sanctifies – Leviticus 20:8.
JEHOVAH SHALOM: The Lord our peace – Judges 6:24.
JEHOVAH ELOHIM: Lord God – Genesis 2:4.
JEHOVAH TSIDKENU: The Lord our righteousness – Jeremiah 23:5-6.
JEHOVAH ROHI: The Lord our shepherd – Psalm 23.
JEHOVAH SHAMMAH: The Lord is there – Ezekiel 48:35.
JEHOVAH Sabaoth: The Lord of hosts – Isaiah 1:24.
Now, look at the New Testament and see how Jesus teaches that He is the great
“I AM” or that He is God. As you will see, this is very clear so to deny the deity of Jesus is just plain foolishness. The New Testament tells us of Jesus that:
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE – John 6:35.
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD – John 9:5.
I AM THE DOOR – John 10:9.
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD – John 10:11.
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE – John 11:25.
I AM THE WAY, I AM THE TRUTH, I AM THE LIFE – John 14:6.
I AM THE VINE – John 15:11.
BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM – (voice of the burning bush) – John 8:58.
Thus, Jesus is our all-becoming One, that no matter what we are going through He will meet us where we are. I believe the Lord was telling Moses this very thing – “Moses, don’t worry, I AM with you and you have nothing to fear!” May we too remember that and apply it to our lives – He is the great “I AM” not the great “I WAS” or the great “I WILL BE”!
VERSES 15-18
God first gives Moses the words to say to the elders of Israel. Let them know that He is aware of their afflictions, their cries have reached His ears and He will deliver them through Moses. But, before they are released they are to ask Pharaoh if they can leave the land of Egypt to worship their God, a three days journey. And the encouragement for Moses is that they will heed his words but what about Pharaoh? Let’s read on and see.
VERSES 19-22
It was going to take a lot of breaking before Pharaoh will let the children of Israel go free, but he would eventually give in but not completely as we shall see as we go through Exodus. Now, why did God allow the children of Israel to plunder the Egyptians of their wealth as they are leaving? I think God was paying them for the 400 years of slavery that Egypt had placed upon them. They worked for the Egyptians and now it was time to pay the children of Israel back. And as we will see, as they leave Egypt they willingly give their wealth to them!
VERSE 1
Moses has no problem speaking to a burning bush but he has a problem with what the bush is saying! God figure. I know, it sounds crazy and it is! God speaks to Moses and yes, he has no confidence in self but he also has no confidence in God. The Lord said He would be with him, it will happen and Moses says, “But . . .!” We do the same thing folks. May we learn to trust what the Lord has said to us and walk by faith! May we not look at the problems we face and become overwhelmed but may we look to the great I AM and just rest in Him as we walk in faith!
VERSES 2-5
The first sign that God gives to Moses to show that he was sent from God is that his rod will turn into a snake and then back to a rod. For 40 years Moses carried this staff, this rod through the desert and now this. What is God is saying? First of all God was stretching the faith of Moses because you would never grab a snake by the tail, that is too dangerous. But that is what the Lord told him to do and he did it! But I think the Lord was showing Moses and us that God wants us to use what is in our hand for His glory.
Folks, what is in your hand, what are you doing? God wants you to use it for His glory! Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad – Judges 3:31. Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey – Judges 15:16. David killed the Philistine giant, Goliath with a sling and a stone – I Samuel 17:49. And God took five small barely crackers and two pickled fish from the hand of a young boy and fed 5,000 men plus women and children – John 6: 9, 13. Can God use what is in your hand? You bet He can if you will let Him!
The reason for this the Lord says, “that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Exodus 5:4. The God of the covenant had not forsaken them but He has come to deliver them and here is the evidence that Moses is the instrument He will use!
VERSES 6-9
The next sign is that as he put his hand in his bosom and takes it out it will become leprous and when he does it again it will be restored. What does this mean? Leprosy in the Bible is a type of sin and maybe the Lord is saying that if we obey Him our hands, our lives will be clean but if we walk in rebellion against Him they will be unclean as a leper’s hand!
The third sign will be the water that is taken from the Nile River, as it is poured out on the ground it will turn to blood. This seems to be a sign of judgment if they don’t believe and they continue to rebel against the Lord, if they remain in their wicked ways!
VERSE 10
Moses keeps coming up with excuses why he can’t serve God and this one is not even true. He said that he couldn’t speak clearly, eloquently but in Acts 7:22 we are told the opposite, “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” The Amplified Bible puts it like this, “So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was mighty (powerful) in his speech and deeds.” It wasn’t that Moses couldn’t speak, he just didn’t trust God and was not willing to walk by faith and allow God to use what he had. What excuses do we use for not serving the Lord? Are they just as lame as Moses’ excuses? They are if God has called you and you are not moving!
VERSES 11-12
Folks, does it really matter if you are not articulate with your speech if God has called you? Absolutely not because God is with us just as He was with Moses. Let me show you what I mean with this story of D. L. Moody. We are told:
One day during his great mission in London, Mr. Moody was holding a meeting in a theater packed with a most select audience. Noblemen and noblewomen were there in large numbers, and a prominent member of the royal family was in the royal box.
Mr. Moody arose to read the Scripture lesson. He attempted to read Luke 4:27: “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet.” When he came to the name of Eliseus he stammered and stuttered over it. He went back to the beginning of the verse and began to read again, but when he reached the word “Eliseus” he could not get over it. He went back the third time, but again the word was too much for him. He closed the Bible with deep emotion and looked up and said, “Oh, God, use this stammering tongue to preach Christ crucified to these people.”
The power of God came upon him, and one who heard him then and had heard him often at other times said to me that he had never heard Mr. Moody pour out his soul in such a torrent of eloquence as he did then, and the whole audience was melted by the power of God.
- Sunday School Times
God is looking for people that He can work through to show Himself strong through. Don’t try to back out of what God is calling you to do like Moses tried to do. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our weaknesses and strengths and it is usually through our weakness, what we have in our hand that He will use to work in us and through us. God is sufficient for us no matter how inadequate we may feel, be it real or not, God is still God and if He has called, go forward!
VERSES 13-17
Why was God angry with Moses? Because he was unwilling to serve as God has called him to do. He was not unable because God said He would enable him to do these things. But Moses asked God to let someone else do it. How sad a statement that is and how often people do that today. They are just unwilling to serve for whatever reason, whatever excuse they make even though God has told them to go forward.
God’s perfect will, I believe was to have Moses go but He allowed Aaron to speak to the people for Moses. God would speak to Moses and Moses would represent God before Aaron and tell him what to say before the people. But, as we will see as we go through the Scriptures, the Pentateuch, Aaron was a problem for Moses. He helped to instigate the worship of the golden calf while Moses was getting the commandments from God (Exodus 32:1-6)). Two of his sons blasphemed God and were put to death (Leviticus 10:1-7). And Aaron led a rebellion against Moses (Numbers 12:1-8). Moses should have obeyed the Lord and served as God had instructed him to!
VERSE 18
Before Moses leaves he asks his father-in-law Jethro if it is okay for him to go. He does not neglect his family or his employer, which in both cases was Jethro. That is important, that we are a good example to others as God calls. Now Moses doesn’t go into great detail about what God has said, only that God has called him to deliver his people and then, as God blesses it will minister to Jethro and those who have heard what God was going to do. Folks, as God calls you, you don’t have to go into great detail, just explain the call of God and let them see the fruit that God will bring from the work you are doing.
VERSES 19-23
Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Sometimes it says that the Lord hardened his heart (Exodus 4:21) and other times it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 8:15). So which one is it? It really is both. You see, God just gave to Pharaoh that which he wanted. He did not want the children of Israel to be set free and God just made his heart firm in what he wanted. You see, God will not make your heart firm, hard unless you want it that way and I believe it is what we are seeing here with Pharaoh.
It is just as Paul said in Romans 1:18-23, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” And that is just what God does, He gives them over to the wickedness of their hearts and it is not pretty. You can read the rest of Romans chapter 1 on your own, but all the filthiness that is out there, apart from God that is where man will gravitate! God gives to them what they want and firms their heart in that area!
We are also told that Israel is God’s firstborn son and thus, if Pharaoh refuses to let God’s firstborn son go, then it will cost them the firstborn sons in Egypt and that is exactly what will happen because Pharaoh hardened his heart to what God wanted and God just firmed it up. God knew what it would take to let His people go but it didn’t have to go that far if only Pharaoh softened his heart to God!
VERSES 24-26
This seems very strange and yet, as you will see, it is very important. Moses was to be God’s instrument to deliver His people, to bring them the Law of God and yet, he did not circumcise one of his sons, probably the youngest. I believe that Gershom his firstborn was circumcised but when Eliezer was born his wife Zipporah refused to let him be circumcised and Moses did nothing about it.
But now, as they begin to travel to Egypt God is going to kill Moses and he must have been very sick because Zipporah recognizes what is going on and why, and she goes and gets a sharp stone and circumcises Eliezer – OUCH! Why was God so angry? Because in Genesis 17:10-14 God told Abraham, “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
Moses was to represent God before the people and he is already compromising what God has said. Is there something in your life that God wants you to cut away so He can use you? Some compromise in your life that is holding back what God wants to do? For Moses, before he could deliver his people he had to correct his error and be the spiritual leader in his family even if his wife didn’t agree!
I believe at this point that Zipporah and the children go home and Moses continues on towards Egypt. The reason I say that is what we are told in Exodus 18:1-5, “And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people — that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, ‘I have been a stranger in a foreign land’) and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, ‘The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh’); and Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.” Thus, I think they went back home after Eliezer was circumcised.
VERSES 27-31
Moses and Aaron meet, probably the first time in 40 years they have seen each other and Moses tells him all that God has said and shown him all that God will do. They are then to go and tell the elders in Israel these things and then the people and as they do this, they all bow before God and worship the Lord – they see the hand of God at work in their lives and in the life of Moses and Aaron.
Isn’t that exactly what God said He would do? You bet it is. God brought Aaron to him. They would speak before the elders and the people and they would believe. Folks, what God has promised He is more than able to bring to pass. All He asks us to do is walk by faith. You see, the problem is never with God, but it is always with us. May we learn the lesson and obey the Lord, no matter how impossible it may seem through our own strength and ability and resources and whatever! God can do it and if He has spoken He will do it all we must do is walk by faith and let’s see what God can do in us and through us for His glory if we do!