Exodus 3: “The Calling Of Moses”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1. INTRO:

1.1. In our last study, we looked at the background and overview of the book and then we looked at chapters 1 and 2.

1.1.1. In chapter one we learned the plight of what had happened to the children of Israel now that they had been in Israel for over 400 years. They were now greatly multiplied in size, but also enslaved and being severely mistreated.

1.1.2. When the Pharaoh realized the problem of the size of the Hebrew people he decided to try to have all of the male Hebrew babies put to death when they were born, but God foiled his plans.

1.1.3. We saw the incredible story of how Amram and Jochebed in faith hatched and carried out a plan for saving their baby boy from death, and this boy was Moses who will become the deliverer of Israel.

1.1.4. We saw that Moses was raised in the home of Pharaoh and an “heir apparent” to the throne in Egypt, but sensing his calling by God that he spurned that privilege in order to fulfill his calling as a deliverer of the people of Israel.

1.1.5. After being impatient and trying to deliver the Israelites under his own strength and in his own way, which led to his murdering an Egyptian, he had to flee for his life to the land of Midian after the Pharaoh tried to kill him.

1.1.6. In Midian, Moses helped a couple of girls who were sheepherders and this led to their father giving one of the girls to Moses as his wife. Moses and Zipporah then had a baby and named it Gershom.

1.2. In our study today, we are going to look at chapter 3 of the book of Exodus.

1.2.1. When we come to Moses in this story, we him having now been in the deserts of Midian for 40 years. He now has been living on the back side of the wilderness. He has been living so far away from Egypt and what modern civilization consisted of for so many years, that he is now a very different man than he had been when living in Egypt. When he was in Egypt he was living in the luxury of a prince and partaking of all of the finest that civilization at that time offered. He had servants galore and nothing was withheld from him with the exception of the throne itself. Now however, Moses has become a shepherd and learned to live life with little to nothing. One might wonder why the Lord called him to this life style of shepherding and why he had to live in it for so long, however this lifestyle afforded him what was most important of all in the life of one of God’s leaders, lots of uninterrupted periods of time alone with God. There with all of life removed him except the fellowship of the Lord, he had learned to look at all things rationally and from an eternal perspective. He had come to see life in perspective, because that is what such a lifestyle causes. We will learn later that Moses has become the most humble man on the face of the earth. Moses will be made leader over all of God’s people and thus if he hadn’t learned this humility and had worldliness and self-will removed from his life he would have abused that power and authority that the Lord gives him. Other than the Lord Jesus Christ, Moses was the only man who has ever lived who was called by God to be a prophet, priest, and king. Even as it was, we will see later that one day Moses hits the rock in frustration to get water to come out when the Lord had told him to speak to it, for this rebellion and temper tantrum he will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Every minister of God’s people must go through the school of Moses on the way to his calling and ministry. The years of spending time with God and learning to wait upon the Lord in a life of relative obscurity is essential to provide the background to later deal effectively and in a godly manner with the pressures, struggles and successes of ministry. Sadly, many times in the church a man or woman has committed their lives to the Lord and shown signs of great gifting, and then they have been thrust too quickly into ministry and then failed. This has happened many times with famous people and celebrities.

1.2.2. The Lord will speak to Moses through a bush that burns but is not consumed, and He will call Moses to go and deliver His people from their oppression of slavery in Egypt to the land of Canaan which is flowing with milk and honey.

2. VS 3:1-3 - “¹ Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. ³ So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”” - Moses pastured his father-in-law’s sheep on the west side of Midian, and the Lord appeared to him in a bush that was burning but did not burn up

2.1. One can imagine how that after forty years of being a lowly shepherd, that profession despised among the Egyptians, and being separated from his people, that Moses had pretty much come to be resigned that his calling in life would be to take care of sheep and raise his family. He was probably at least a grandfather at this point in time, and maybe a great grandfather. He had learned lots of lessons about life and had his character refined by trials and adversities, and little did he realize that this was what the Lord had designated to occur during this time of obscurity in his life which was preparatory to delivering the children of Israel. Yet surely at this point in time all he probably thought about was yearning to be with his people in Egypt and at the same time realizing that he had surely blown his opportunities while living in Pharaoh’s household and that God was now done with his life and had no calling for him. However, the scriptures tell us that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable,” (Romans 11:29). If God has called a man to something then even if that man has blown it and failed in ministry, when the man recommits his life to the Lord, the Lord will lead him back to his calling and in some way use him again.

2.2. Horeb was a chain of mountains, with Sinai being one of them, the mountain where Moses received the plates of the Law (2 Chronicles 5:10). It was also the place where after the Exodus Moses was once told by God to smite the rock that water for the Israelites so that water might flow forth.

2.3. When it says here that the ‘Angel of the Lord’ was in the bush this tells us that the One in the bush was none other than the Eternal Son of God, or the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. He is the third person of the Trinity.

2.4. The bush ‘burning with fire’ here is a reminder that the God that we serve is holy and righteous. The attribute of God that is most impressive and most typifies Him is “holiness.”  Hebrews 12:29 says, “²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire,” for the Lord is a consuming fire of the passion of holiness. God has many attributes, however in the scriptures there is no other characteristic of God which is repeated for emphasis three times, except for holy.  In Isaiah 6:3 the angels who are called seraphim before the throne of God are declaring in worship, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,  The whole earth is full of His glory.”  Though also attributes of God, the scripture does not say “Mercy, mercy, mercy,” or “Love, love, love,” or “Power, power, power,” rather it is “Holy, holy, holy.” Holiness is “a combination of moral purity, chasteness, and separateness from that which is common, evil, and profane.”  Everything that God does is a reflection of all of His attributes, and therefore is a reflection of holiness.

2.5. Today, as I go to church web sites, see things posted on Christian blogs, and read about the things that make the news about churches, I am observing that less and less is there an appreciation for the holiness and righteousness of God. One of the things about the Emergent churches of today is the fact that they emphasize the love of God, often focusing upon Jesus and the gospels to the exclusion of the rest of the Bible, however they concentrate almost exclusively upon the love of God and never upon the fact that He is completely holy and that no profane thing shall come before His presence. There is no Gospel message, no salvation procured for mankind through Jesus’ cross, if the Lord is not completely holy and righteous. Jesus came to earth because God loved mankind yet because mankind had sinned and God is completely holy and righteous, and mankind would be doomed for all eternity in the Lake of Fire of hell because of their sin, were it not for Jesus dying in our place and paying the price of our debt of sin so that we do not have to do so. If Jesus came to earth and went through on Calvary’s cross the horrors He experienced and this wasn’t because God is holy, then His suffering and death were the greatest travesty of all time.

2.6. Moses had seen a lot of bushes, but he had never seen one that burned with fire and yet was not consumed. His curiosity caused him to come and check this bush out further.

3. VS 3:4-6 - “⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. ⁶ He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”” - The Lord calls out to Moses from the midst of the burning bush and tells him to remove his sandals

3.1. It is interesting that the Lord calls out to Moses from within this bush, calling him twice by name: ‘Moses, Moses!’ The Lord knows His people and He calls each of us by our name. The Lord has a calling also for each of us, although our calling to ministry by the Lord, even if we are called to be in full-time ministry, will probably not be as dramatic as that of Moses.

3.2. Moses needs to see God in His glory before he will be ready to fulfill His calling and be used by the Lord. Moses ‘hides his face for he was afraid to look at God.’

3.3. The Lord appears to Moses in a humble bush, and this is a symbol for how the Lord Jesus Christ shall at a time later to Moses also come to His people in the humiliation of the incarnation. God meets people where they are at and a lowly bush was the perfect meeting place for Moses.

3.4. Note here that the Lord tells Moses, ‘Do not come near here.’ Mankind must never approach God trusting in his own righteousness, and no creature shall ever enter His presence unannounced for this would bring instant death.

3.4.1. In fact, the Jews believed that if any person even saw the Lord that because of the Lord’s holiness that he would be killed. You must be completely holy to come into God’s presence and live.

3.4.2. The main theme of the book of Romans, which teaches us what the Gospel message really consists of, is “The Righteousness of God.” Coming into God’s presence and be accepted by God involves being made righteous.

3.4.3. Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and no flesh shall ever be justified in His presence by our works (Rom. 3:20), then the only righteousness that shall ever allow a person into the presence of the Lord is the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.

3.5. Moses is commanded initially to remove his sandals from his feet for the place on which he is ‘standing is holy ground.’ The burning of fire as well as being told not to come near, indicated God’s holiness, and now God tells Moses that he is standing on ‘holy ground.’

3.6. Rom. 1:18 tells us of the indignation and wrath that God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

3.7. God help us in the church today if we attempt to come into God’s presence or minister in His Name and yet we have unconfessed sin in our life. We are going to sin as people, however we must be those who when we realize that we have sinned that we following 1 John 1:9 and confess and repent of our sin, hopefully the sooner after realizing that we have sinned, the better. Then, we may come into the Lord’s presence and minister for Him.

4. VS 3:7-10 - “⁷ The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. ⁸ “So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. ⁹ “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”” - The Lord tells Moses that he has seen the affliction of His people in Egypt and that He has come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them to the land of Canaan, and that He is sending Moses to bring out His people

4.1. It is wonderful here to see the fact that the Lord tells Moses that He has ‘surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt,’ and that He is responding to their ‘cry’ because of their ‘taskmasters.’ God knows the things that we go through. Though we don’t always know why the allows us to have to go through certain things, nonetheless the Lord tells us that He is aware of what we are going through. He wants to meet us in those difficult times and He wants to sustain us and comfort us as we go through them.

4.2. The Israelites at this time being under cruel Egyptian taskmasters symbolizes men and women who ‘enslaved by their own sin,’ and it is their own sin that is destroying their life and taking the joys out of life for them. Sin will eventually kill everyone who is dominated by it for “the wages of sin is death,” Romans 6:23.

4.3. It is futile to try to understand why God allows a lot of things. In our previous study, we looked at why it took the Lord 400 years to lead Israel out of Egypt, and even when we did that we had to recognize that we were merely speculating about God’s intentions, and that we could only rely upon what His word tell us and not go beyond that except with speculative discussion.

4.4. I love the language that describes here the land of Canaan: ‘a good and spacious land…a land flowing with milk and honey.’ There was great bounty promised in that land of which Abraham and his descendants were given as an eternal inheritance.

4.5. We begin to see here that the Lord’s language is that of determination. He does not tell Moses that in regard to delivering Israel that He would like to see something happen, or that something might happen in regard to leading the people out of Egypt. All throughout the book of Exodus, the Lord tells Moses that He is going to lead them out, and then he tells him one step at a time how He is going to bring them out of Egypt and slavery. No one shall ever be able to thwart the Lord’s plans once He has determined them. Notice these sayings:

4.5.1. ‘I have come down to deliver them.’

4.5.2. ‘I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people…out of Egypt.’

5. VS 3:11-12 - “¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”” - Moses asks the Lord why He should call him to deliver the children of Israel, and the Lord assures Moses that He will be with him and that He will give Moses a sign, that they (the children of Israel) will worship at this mountain

5.1. It is interesting, revealing of human nature, and even a bit comical to see here that not long after having a burning bush talk to him, one that was divinely possessed, Moses now begins to argue with the bush and question God’s wisdom.

5.2. Moses questions why the Lord would be calling him to do these things. Forty years before Moses had presumed upon the Lord about his calling and even sought in his own strength to bring about his calling. Now, those forty years of shepherding have caused him to question that God could even use such a one as himself. Humility is seen in Moses’ life in his words here.

5.3. Moses will eventually tell the Lord that he is not eloquent enough to speak for the Lord and the Lord will become angry at him but then tell him to have his brother Aaron speak for him. However, in Acts 7 when the Stephen, the first martyr, was giving his speech for which he was stoned to death he called Moses a man who was “mighty in words.” Moses didn’t realize yet that the Lord could fill his mouth and use his speech mightily.

5.4. It is very interesting what the Lord tells Moses in regard to his questioning of his qualifications for such a calling as delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt. He tells him: ‘Certainly I will be with you.’ Then, the Lord gives Moses a sign so that one day he would know the certainty of God’s calling of him.

5.4.1. When churches look for candidates it seems they inevitably look for worldly qualifications, yet the things that look for are not the things that truly qualify one to be a leader of God’s people. The follow was received by me in an email:

Pastoral Search Committee:

In our search for a suitable pastor, the following scratch sheet was

developed. Of the candidates investigated by the committees, only one was

found to have the necessary qualities. The list contains the names of the

candidates and comments on each, should you be interested in investigating

them further for future pastoral placement.

Noah: He has 120 years of preaching experience, but no converts.

Moses: He stutters; his former congregation says he loses his temper over

trivial things.

Abraham: He took off to Egypt during hard times. We heard that he got into trouble with the authorities and then tried to lie his way out.

David: He has an unacceptable moral character. He might have been

considered for minister of music had he not fallen.

Solomon: He has a reputation for wisdom but fails to practice what he preaches.

Elijah: He proved to be inconsistent, and is known to fold under pressure.

Hosea: His family life is in a shambles. Divorced, and remarried to a

prostitute.

Jeremiah: He is too emotional, alarmist; some say a real 'pain in the neck.'

Amos: Comes from a farming background. Better off picking figs.

John: He says he is a Baptist but lacks tact and dresses like a hippie.

Would not feel comfortable at a church potluck.

Peter: Has a bad temper, and was heard to have denied Christ publicly.

Paul: He is too harsh, his appearance is contemptible, and he preaches far

too long.

Timothy: He has potential, but is much too young for the position.

Jesus: He tends to offend church members with His preaching, especially

seminary graduates. He even offended the search committee with a pointed

question.

Judas: He seemed to be very practical, co-operative, good with money, cares for the poor, and dresses well. We all agreed that he is just the man we are looking for to fill the vacancy as our Senior Pastor.

5.4.2. What we as Christians in ministry need in order to be successful is not natural intelligence, not the ability to speak fluently, not an advanced educational degree, not any certain pedigree, etc., etc. To be successful we simply need to have the Lord with us. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t study and work hard in preparation for teaching and preaching. But, in the final analysis if the Lord is with you then He will use you according to His plans and will for your life. He will fill His leader’s mouths with His words and guide their thoughts with His plans.

5.5. The people do come back to the mountains of Horeb to receive the Law, and they do worship there at that time.

6. VS 3:13-15 - “¹³ Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” ¹⁵ God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord, 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, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.” - Moses asks the Lord who he shall tell the sons of Israel is sending him, and the Lord tells him to tell them that ‘I AM’ has sent him, for that is the Lord’s Name to all generations

6.1. Moses is concerned now that he will go to the children of Israel and tell them that God has appeared to him and called him and told him what to do, however they will not receive him in that capacity and not believe his story.

6.2. The children of Israel had grown far from their spiritual roots at this point in time. Because of this Moses wants to know what he should tell the people if they are to ask him the Name of the One who has sent him. To this question, God replies to Moses to tell them that, “I AM WHO I AM” has sent him. The Lord is the “self-existent One.” That is what this title implies. This title means that the Lord is the One “who was and is and always shall be,” the title that Jesus Christ used to introduce Himself to the churches in the first chapter of the book of Revelation. It is similar also to the title that Jesus used for Himself as being, “The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” (Rev. 21:6).

6.3. The Lord telling Moses that His Name means ‘I AM,’ or the self-existent one helps to understand Jesus’ seven self-existent ‘I AM’ statements of Jesus in the gospel of John:

6.3.1. I am the Bread of Life : 6:35.

6.3.2. I am the Light of the World : 8:12

6.3.3. I am the Gate for the sheep : 10:7

6.3.4. I am the Good Shepherd : 10:11,14

6.3.5. I am the Resurrection and the Life : 11:25

6.3.6. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life : 14:6

6.3.7. I am the True Vine : 15:1.

6.4. Can you imagine how it would have impacted Moses and what he would have done if the Lord had said that His Name is the great “I WAS,” or “I COULD BE,” or “I WANNA BE’? With the Lord saying that He is the I AM’ this tells that He is the changeless One, or as is written, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, yes and forever more,” (Hebrews 13:8). The Lord confirms this idea to Moses here by saying that ‘This is My Name forever.’

6.5. The Lord even calls this Name His “Memorial Name.’

7. VS 3:16-18 - “¹⁶ “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ “So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ ¹⁸ “They will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’” - The Lord tells Moses to go and gather the elders of Israel together and tell them that the Lord has appeared to you and that He is concerned for you because of your affliction, and that He will bring you up out of the land of Egypt to the land of Canaan which is a land flowing with milk and honey

7.1. I love the fact here that the Lord tells Moses to gather ‘the elders of Israel’ and tell them that the Lord had appeared to him and that He wanted them to know that He is ‘concerned’ about them. The Lord wanted His people to know that He loves them, thinks about them, and is concerned about their well-being.

7.2. Again the Lord makes more deterministic positive statements as He tells Moses what to tell the elders of Israel:

7.2.1. ‘I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite.’

7.2.2. ‘They will pay heed to what you say.’

7.2.2.1.Here God’s omniscience is seen at work.

7.3. The Lord tells Moses that he is to take the elders of Israel with him to the king of Egypt and ask him to led them ‘go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

8. VS 3:19-20 - “¹⁹ “But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. ²⁰ “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.” - The Lord tells Moses that He knows that the king of Egypt will not let him go except under compulsion and that for this reason He will stretch out His hand and perform many miracles in the midst of Egypt and then after this he will let him go

8.1. God always prepares us for the things that we will face and the times He will use us. The Lord tells Moses ahead of time that the Pharaoh is not going to listen to him.

8.2. But, the Lord tells Moses that He is going to use ‘compulsion’ to force Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave the country.

8.3. What does the Lord tell Moses He will do to force the Pharaoh to allow the children of Israel to leaven? He says: ‘So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go.’ Of course, we know that this is exactly what the Lord in Israel.

9. VS 3:21-22 - “²¹ “I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. ²² “But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians.”” - The Lord tells Moses that when they leave the land they will not leave empty handed but every Israelite woman will ask her neighbor for articles of silver, gold, and clothing and thus they will plunder the Egyptians

9.1. Finally, the Lord tells Moses ahead of time how that the Lord will provide all that the children of Israel will need when they leave the land of Egypt. He tells them that the Israelites will plunder the Egyptians. This will come about because the Israelites will gain favor from the Egyptians and that the Israelite women will ask for jewelry and that the Egyptians will give it to them.

9.2. The Lord says that ‘every woman’ would ask her neighbor for articles of silver and glod and clothing, and that these things would then be put on ‘your sons and daughters.’ This would the be the way that they would ‘plunder the Egyptians.’

10. CONCLUSIONS:

10.1. Remember always that the One you serve is holy and that when you serve Him you need to take your shoes off (metaphorically) for you are standing on holy ground. Always approach God in light of His holiness.

10.2. Remember that the Lord knows your name and is always aware of what you are going through. He knows your sufferings and difficulties and will comfort you in them if you will learn to wait upon Him.

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