Sunday, February 20, 2022

The Exodus – Part 5 Moses and the Burning Bush

 The Exodus – Part 5

Moses and the Burning Bush

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

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This Document is a Sermon Outline. You may hear the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this and other Full Sermon Audios.  For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org or Truth Digest on Facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on Facebook at House of Faith Church.

 

 




 

SERMON TIMELINE

·          The Book of Genesis

·          The Book of Exodus (Between years 2368-2448 or 1400 – 1320 B.C.)

·        Introduction

·         Israelite’s Oppression

·         The Birth of Moses

·         Moses Flees to Midian

·         Moses and the Burning Bush

 

INTRODUCTION

We began reading Exodus a few weeks ago and saw that at the time Moses was born the Egyptians and their rulers had forgotten about all the good Joseph had done for their nation and how the power of God worked through him.

 

The Egyptians hated the Hebrews and thought of ways of getting rid of them, including demanding all Hebrew boys be killed at birth by the midwives. When this didn’t work, because the midwives feared God more than the Pharaoh, he demanded all the young boys be cast into the Nile upon sight.

 

Moses’ mother placed him in a basket on the shore of the Nile where he was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. His sister, who hid in the bushes watching, asked the Pharaoh’s daughter if she should fetch a Hebrew woman to nurse the Hebrew child, and returned with Moses’ mother.

 

After raising Moses to the age of weaning, he was returned to the Pharaoh’s daughter to live the rest of his life as her son. From this point, until Moses is an adult, scripture tells us nothing of his life. I believe it is because nothing of importance took place. Everything Moses becomes and achieves is because of God and nothing else.

 

We see the jump from Moses as the weaned infant in verse 9 to Moses as the adult man in verse 10. It is at this point we can infer from scripture and its tone that Moses was unhappy with his station. He longed for “his people” and felt for their plight.

 

So much so, that when he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he kills him. Thinking it was in secret it isn’t until the next day when he discovers two Hebrew men fighting that what he did was already known about. Fearing for his life, he fled to Midian.

 

This is where we learned last week of Moses, always the defender and righter of wrongs, find women being assaulted by shepherds at the Midian well. Coming to their defense and even watering their flock for them, the women’s father was so pleased he allowed Moses to marry one of his seven daughters.

 

In just a few short verses later, we see Moses and his wife Zipporah are married and have a child together, named Gershom, which is a play on words for “a foreigner there”.

 

This is where we pick up today with Moses and the story most have heard of, if not read many times in scripture about the burning bush.

 

So, let us look at Exodus 3, Moses and the Burning Bush      

 


SCRIPTURE READING

Exodus 3

“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

 

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

 

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

 

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

 

7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

 

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

 

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”

 

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

 

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

 

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[d] the 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,

    the name you shall call me

    from generation to generation.

 

16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

 

18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

 

21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

 

 TODAY’S MESSAGE

 

I.                   MOSES TENDING HIS FATHER IN LAWS FLOCKS

a.      Moses sees a strange sight in the distance

                                                             i.      This was the Angel of the Lord appearing in flames of fire from within a bush

 

                                                          ii.      Angel of the Lord simply means the Lord Himself, we know it is Him because of Exodus 3:4, “When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

 

                                                       iii.      Why did God wait until Moses was 40?

1.      Firstly, 40 is the number of testing or trial

 

2.      Moses, the would-be king of Egypt is now humbled to the position of lowly shepherd.

 

3.      We MUST humble ourselves if we are to approach the Lord in any manner at all.

 

4.      Moses had finally reached a point in his life where the Lord could reach his heart

 

 

b.     Free will and the burning bush

                                                             i.      One thing we should take note of here is the fact that the Lord made the FIRST MOVE, making Himself appear and available at the burning bush

 

                                                          ii.      Moses was presented by this appearing with a choice, Moses needed to respond properly for this interaction to continue. So, he moved in closer to see what it was.

 

                                                       iii.      Verse 4 states, “When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look…” this is the Lord acknowledging Moses made the proper response to the invitation.

 

                                                        iv.      God THEN calls to him from within the bush.

 

                                                           v.      The Lord still presents Himself today, and all those who see the fire must properly respond to it!

1.      Fire represents judgment, and when God’s judgment Is revealed to us in His Word, we MUST respond to it appropriately, going TO IT, instead of running away from it.

 

                                                        vi.      It is during this proper response to the fire that God “calls Moses”

 

 

c.      Moses finds the Angel of the Lord and responds in reverence

                                                             i.      What is the proper response when God calls you by name?

1.      Here I am.

 

                                                          ii.      And in verse 5 when God reveals Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

1.       Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God

 

2.      He showed reverence!

 

 

II.               GOD CALLS MOSES

a.      Moses’ response, who am I?

                                                             i.      God then reveals He has seen the suffering of His people and heard their cries.

 

                                                          ii.      Verse 8 “So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey”

 

1.      Literally - the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

 

2.      Allegorically

a.      I have come down to rescue them

b.     From the hands of the Egyptians (sin)

c.      And bring them up

d.     To a land that is good and spacious

e.      Flowing with milk and honey

 

 

 

3.      Luke 12:49 Jesus said, “I have come to bring fire to the earth…”

 

4.      John 6:38 Jesus said, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”

 

5.      What is the Father’s Will? – 1 Timothy 2:4 “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

 

6.      What land is truly “good”?

 

7.      Remember Genesis after creation, the Lord looked upon the creation and it was good. So shall it be again!

 

 

b.     God answers I am who I am

                                                             i.      God tells Moses He is sending him to speak to the Pharaoh and Moses fears

 

                                                          ii.      “Who am I to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites out of Egypt?”

 

                                                       iii.      God says, “I will be with you.”

1.      And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you:

 

2.      When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.

 

                                                        iv.      What if they ask your name? What shall I say?

 

                                                           v.      God replies, I am who I am. I am has sent me to you.

 

 

c.      Moses trusts in the Lord and receives more instructions

                                                             i.      Those who are responsible with little will be given more

 

                                                          ii.      Obedience opens the door to blessings, promises, benefits, and protection of the Kingdom, but it also opens the door for God to trust you with even more

 

                                                       iii.      Jesus says in Luke 16:10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

 

 

III.            GOD ENCOURAGES AND INSTRUCTS MOSES

a.      Go to the Elders of Israel

                                                             i.      God instructs Moses to speak with the Elders and tell them what He has said.

 

                                                          ii.      God then says, “The elders of Israel will listen to you.”

 

 

b.     When they leave, they will not go empty-handed

                                                             i.      God then promises He will take care of the matter

 

                                                          ii.      Exodus 3:18-20 “Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.”

 

 

c.      The Egyptians will pay for their acts against Israel

                                                             i.      In many ways

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Exodus 3:21-22 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

 

So, God has called Moses to a great task but ensured him that God would be with him the entire time. God also tells Moses exactly what to say to Pharaoh, and what to say to the elders.

 

God states He knows that this will not happen unless a strong hand comes against the Pharaoh, so God Himself will stretch out His hand and strike the Egyptians with wonders, and after that, the Pharaoh will let the Israelites go.

 

 

NEXT WEEK

We will look at signs for Moses

 

 

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