Exodus Chapter 3
To encounter a burning bush that is not being consumed by the fire is quite an anomaly. But it is altogether something different to hear the voice of God coming from that burning bush. In the same way, it is incredible to hear testimonies of people who have had such encounters with God. People who have questioned if God truly exists and cried out to Him for that answer, often have testimonies of experiencing God in a unique way. And they instantly know that it is God reaching out to them. They never question who it is, they just instinctively know that it is God.
Moses, while tending to his father-in-law’s sheep, saw a burning bush on Mount Horeb. This same mountain would later be called Mount Sinai. From this burning bush Moses heard an audible voice calling out his name. When God or the angel of the LORD spoke to Moses and told him that he should take off his sandals because he was on holy ground. Moses immediately responded by hiding his face before a holy God. Moses knew that he was in the presence of the one true God.
Let's Reflect
1. When God called out to Moses to get his attention, how did He call out his name? Note that God knows our name.
2. In verse 6 how did the angel of the LORD describe Himself?
3. What things do we also learn about in verse 7 that shows us that God knows about and cares about us humans?
4. God told Moses that He was going to deliver the Hebrew people out of their slavery and into a land filled with what?
5. What did God want from Moses? See verse 10. Moses probably remembered how he had thought his upbringing in the Egyptian palace had meant nothing to the Hebrew people. In fact, they despised him for killing a man and then trying to use his authority to settle things between the Hebrews. He knew that he was not respected in Egypt so this would seem an impossible task. Moses was forgetting that he was not the solution when he asked, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
6. What was God’s response to Moses’ question?
7. When Moses asked God for a specific name that he could use to refer to when speaking to the Hebrew people, what did God say His name was?
8. He was also told that God was the same God of his forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We could say the same thing about our God! God is the all existing one. After some 400 years of slavery, God told the people that it was time. He was going to rescue them. What did God tell Moses about how the Hebrew people would respond to the words he would tell them?
9. What did God tell Moses about how the Pharoah was going to respond to Moses’ request to let the people go and worship God?
10. What exactly did God tell Moses He would do to make the Pharoah comply?
