To follow along, visit your local Christian bookstore, and ask for the Bible Expositor and Illuminator

Time:  about 1445 B.C.      Place:  Horeb

Golden Text:  The cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 3:9-10).

Lesson Outline:  I.  The Circumstances of Moses – Exodus 3:1, II. The Divine Appearance – Exodus 3:2-6, The Divine Message – Exodus 3:7-10, IV. The Objection of Unworthiness – Exodus 3:11-12

Introduction

Moses was from the tribe of Levi, he was saved from Pharaoh’s decree to destroy the Hebrew male infants, but by his mother’s wisdom and by the intercession of Pharaoh’s daughter’s who was down at the river washing herself saw the ark and asked her maid to get it. Once she looked in she saw the baby, the maiden that received the child Moses was his sister and a maiden of Pharaoh’s daughter. She then asks Pharaoh’s daughter should she call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child which was his mother. He was raised in the court of Pharaoh and trained in the wisdom of the Egyptians. He later fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian and went into the land of Midian in the Sinai wilderness. There he married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro who was a Midian priest. One day while shepherding he saw a bush with flames but it wasn’t consumed, the bush got Moses attention and he went to see why the bush didn’t consume and had an encounter with God.

Lesson Outline:  I. The Circumstances of Moses – Exodus 3:1

Exodus 3:1 – Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. What a contrast between Moses life as an Egyptian prince and his life as a Midianite shepherd. As a prince, he had everything done for him, he was the famous son of an Egyptian princess. As a shepherd, he had to do everything for himself. He was performing the very job he had been taught to despise. The years of the life of Moses are divided into three forties: the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh’s court, the second a shepherd in Midian, dessert gaining knowledge of the desert where he would eventually lead his people, thirdly, a king in Jeshurun. He was keeping the flock near Mount Horeb another name for Mt. Sinai, means “Desolate Place”. Because God appears on the mountain, this desolate place would become holy.

Lesson Outline:  II. The Divine Appearance – Exodus 3:2-6

Exodus 3:2 – And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. As Moses goes to investigate why the bush was not consumed the angel of the Lord appeared in the flame of fire in the midst of the bush.

Exodus 3:3 – And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. What drew Moses attention was the bush was in flames but was not being burned up or consumed. Moses was seeing a bush in flames, while God was preparing him to have an encounter with Him. God noticed that Moses was astonished by what he was seeing, and He knew that He had Moses complete attention.

Exodus 3:4 – And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses, And he said, here am I.  The Lord saw Moses turn to see and He called him out of the midst of the bush. Moses was left with no doubt that he was standing before Deity, he heard a voice that came from a bush and not a visible person. The repetition of Moses’ name indicated the urgency of the message He was about to give. Moses reply to the call was “Here am I”. Just as God called Moses, He’s calling us to come into the mountain which would be our prayers closet so He can talk with us.

Exodus 3:5 – And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Proof of God’s presence is also evident from the command that came from the voice, as he is instructed not to come any closer and to take off his shoes because of the place he was standing was holy ground. This gives us an example, we can not come into the presence of God living any kind of way, living according to our desires and not the Word of God.  It also is giving us instructions when we come into the house of God which is considered holy, we should respect it, turn the cell phones off, unplug the ear pieces. Dismiss for about two hours and a half what’s going on in our life and focus on the holiness of God; being in a place that has been set aside for the dwelling and the presence of God. The house of God should be reverenced, and when it’s not, it’s offensive to God.

Exodus 3:6 – Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.  Through early training by his parents, God formally introduced Himself to Moses in terms that Moses would recognize from his mother’s teaching when she was his nursemaid. Moses knew of this covenant God and His promises to Israel. Now the Lord was speaking to him personally, and he was afraid to look upon Him. When we come into the presence of God, just like Moses, we can’t look at Him, everything within us begins to bow to the presence of God.

Lesson Outline:  III. The Divine Message – Exodus 3:7-10

Exodus 3:7 – And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmaster; for I know their sorrows. The Lord is informing Moses, He sees the affliction of his people in Egypt, He’s aware of their suffering, He has heard their cry. He’s seen how the taskmaster is treating them. Egypt is a type of the world, and Satan and his co-host are the taskmasters. God has ordained Pastors, Apostles, Evangelist, Teachers, and Prophets to go and get His people from the world by preaching the gospel. He has ordained every person that accepts His salvation to be a minister to the world through their lifestyle and their speech. God sees the affliction of His people whose bound by sin and addictions. It’s our responsibility as Christians is to pray them out, fast them out of the world, and not confuse them by our lifestyle when it’s opposite of what a Christian suppose to live.

Exodus 3:8 – And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of the land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The word “come down”, speaks of God’s gracious intervention on the earth. Not only was God intimately aware of the troubles of His people, but now He would act on their behalf. The good and large land of Canaan was God’s great pledge to His people. The land of Canaan (flowing with milk and honey) would sustain God’s people, with some sections given to agriculture, and other for herds and flocks. Under God’s blessings, milk and honey would seem to flow.

Exodus 3:9 – Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. God heard His people crying out of from their enslavement in Egypt. He wanted Moses to know that He would free them and bring them to a land with space and fertile ground. The people of Israel would not have to devise a plan to escape Egypt, God would take the responsibility Himself to bring them from Egypt to their own land. Nothing takes God by surprise, He’s Sovereign, and He’s aware of what’s happening in the lives of His people. As Christians, we have to believe there is nothing impossible for our God.

Exodus 3:10 – Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. When God told Moses that it was he who would go to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses thought certainly God had the wrong man. Moses was to return to Pharaoh, he was being sent back to the land where he had fled forty years earlier. Many thoughts could have been running through Moses mind, he was considered a murderer, he was a slave, and Pharaoh may have him killed. When the Lord saves us, we too, have to go back and minister the Word of God to those who are still bound. We can’t be afraid or timid, we can’t live carnally and try to witness, it confuses the people, and the Word of God comes ineffective!

Lesson Outline:  IV. The Objection of Unworthiness – Exodus 3:11-12

Exodus 3:11 – And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? Moses made excuses because he felt inadequate for the job God asked him to do. It was natural for him to feel that way, he was inadequate all by himself, but God was not asking Moses to work alone. God never commissions us to do a job He hasn’t prepared us for, and He never allows us to go alone. As we’re being used as an instrument for God, we should never forget, it’s God’s power, it’s God’s gifts, we’re just the vessels being used, all honor, praise, and glory goes to God.

Exodus 3:12 – And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. God assured Moses a sign, someday Moses and the people of Israel would return to the mountain to worship God. God promised to be with Moses, not only had God come down to deliver but He promised to be present. Whenever the Lord commissions us to go or to minister to someone, He always goes before us to prepare the way. This is why we must be sensitive to the leading of the Lord so that we will be able to discern is it God whose speaking and sending or is we doing this on our own. Anytime we try to minister and not allowing God to go before us, we’re leaning on our strength and abilities rather than the Spirit of God. It’s not by might, nor by power, but it’s by the Spirit of God that draws people, that ministers.