Moses and His Calling by God from the Burning Bush Elder Joseph Wong March 19, 2017 Chinatown English Ministry

Moses and Exodus Great leader to deliver the Israelites from Egypt Author of Pentateuch – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy Chapter 1 of Exodus God’s blessing on Israelites caused Egyptians to fear Enslavement and harsh treatment Call to midwives to kill Israel baby boys failed Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew baby boys to be thrown into Nile

Exodus Chapter 2 Baby boy Moses was born of Hebrew parents Parents hid him for 3 months Moses casted into the Nile in a woven ark Moses rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter Nursed by his own mother hired Pharaoh’s daughter Raised and educated in the palace with the princes Moses knew he was a Hebrew and refused to continue as son of Pharaoh’s daughter Identified with his Israelites and killed an Egyptian Pharaoh wanted to kill him and Moses fled to Midian He got married in Midian and settled down for 40 years

Exodus Chapter 3 Introduce significant change in the drama of the deliverance of God’s people from Egypt From Gods’ providential dealings to direct intervention through Moses Silence of God over 400 years to God’s speaking to Moses Chapter begins with revelation of God to Moses in a burning bush Develops with commissioning Moses to go back to Egypt Today’s message focuses on the calling and revelation of God to Moses

Exodus 3:1-3 1 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 desert 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.”

Exodus 3:4-5 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 you are standing is holy ground.”

Exodus 3:6 Then He said, “I am the God of your father, 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.”

Genesis 15:12b-16 “Know for certain that your descendants will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You however, will go to your forefathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

Genesis 15:18-21 … On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kennizites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Exodus 3:7-8 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 hands 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, Hivites, and Jebusites”

Exodus 3:9-10 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.

Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Exodus 3:12 “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 will worship God on this mountain.

Exodus 3:13 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.”

Exodus 3:14-15 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to them: I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘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, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

The Meaning of I AM I AM is the God who is, that is, the God who exists, who is the only true God The I AM is also the God who exists independently, eternally, and unchangeably God is the Creator, but has no creator God is who is, always has been, and always will be God is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is to come (Revelation 4:8)

Summary The burning bush was the turning point for Moses in becoming a leader to deliver the Israelites from Egypt God reviewed his character from the burning bush He is a holy God He is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God He is a compassionate God He commissions people to participate in His purpose He is the only eternal, unchanging and almighty God His name is I AM who came down to rescue the Israelites

Jesus is I AM John 8:56: “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I AM!” Jesus is the same God who delivered the Israelites from Egypt Jesus is the only eternal, unchanging and almighty God Our future in eternity is assured