7 Moses and the Burning Bush [Exodus 2:11-3:15]
The Bible passage: [Exodus 2:11-3:15]
The Story:
After Moses had grown up, he went out one day to watch his people working. He saw an Egyptian abusing one of the Hebrew people. Once no one was around, he killed the Egyptian.
A few days later, Moses was afraid that he had been found out and he fled to the land of Midian.
When he got there, he sat down by a well. A priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water for their father’s flock. Moses fell in love with one of the daughters, named Zipporah, and he married her. He settled and lived in the land, tending his father-in-law’s flocks.
While he was living there, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites cried out to God to deliver them from their slavery.
God heard their prayers, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
One day when Moses was tending the flock, he led them to the far side of the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.
The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses was amazed that the bush was on fire but was not burned up. When God saw that Moses had gone over to look, God called to him from inside the bush.
Moses replied, “Here I am.”
God told Moses not to come any closer. He told him, “Take off your sandals. This place is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
Moses was afraid to look at God and hid his face.
God told Moses that he had heard the prayers of his people in slavery in Egypt. He told Moses that he was to go back to Egypt and lead the people out of slavery and out of the land. Moses tried to argue with God and say he wasn’t able. God convinced Moses that He would help him.
Moses asked God, “What should I tell them if they ask the name of the God who sent me?”
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God also said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites ‘YAHWEH has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever. The name that My people will call Me from generation to generation.”
The Lessons:
- Mount Horeb is referred to as the “mountain of God”. Also known as Mount Sinai. We will see more about this mountain later.
- There are many places in the Bible where God is described as “a consuming fire“. You will be seeing a number of places where God sends fire to consume something. It’s important to note that this is one place where the fire of God does NOT consume. I think that was necessary so Moses would notice it and pay attention.
- Yahweh: God told Moses that His people would call him YAHWEH. This is a Hebrew name. In the ancient Hebrew writings, they didn’t write vowels. Because of this, God’s name was written as YHWH. The people passed down how to pronounce His name from generation to generation. No one is absolutely certain now what the correct pronunciation is. In the Greek translations of the Old Testament, this name is translated as Jehovah (a Greek version of the name). Many modern English translations will write this name as LORD (all capital letters).
- The Bible says that God “remembered His covenant”. God is omniscient (all-knowing), so he didn’t “forget” His covenant. God had allowed the time of slavery in Egypt to set up what was to come. It’s more like God “came back around to” His covenant.
- The Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses from the bush, but then it tells us that God spoke. Sometimes when the Bible mentions the Angel of the Lord, the context makes it clear that this is God appearing in some form directly to people.
- God prepares us for the tasks to which He calls us. Moses spent 40 years tending his father-in-law’s sheep in the same wilderness areas where he would lead the people of Israel later on.
Next: 8 The Ten Plagues [Exodus 7:6–12:51]
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