Exodus 3:1-12
I. Introduction
Our
passage is the historic call of Moses with a promise. But it is living history for each of us
because the same person and word come to us.
II.
God calls Moses with a promise.
1. Our text is a part of the larger section
continuing through chapter four of the commission of Moses as the deliverer of
the people of God. I take these verses
to represent the call of God. The text
is divided in vs. 1-6 with the divine presence and identity (what and who); vs.
7-12 is the proclamation of the presence (said).
2. It is instructive for each of us that Moses
has been in the wilderness for forty years.
I think the years were hard on Moses.
I think he has abandoned any sense that he is the deliverer he once
thought he was. I think the years have
stripped him of his confidence. It is
the way of God. God does not need Moses’
strength, court education, or strategy because God does not compete with our identity. See I Corinthians
1:26-29. Appl: humility.
3. What is this?
The text reads an angel of the Lord appears in a blazing fire in the
midst of a bush. The miracle is that the
bush was not consumed (literally eaten).
It turns Moses to investigate.
4. The messenger calls to Moses. And Moses responds. Here I am.
What does the bush represent? I
take it as a mobile temple in microcosm perhaps foreshadowing the tabernacle
(AF1). First, there is the holy
ground.
5. The covenant God is breaking into history in
the pre-incarnate Christ.
And
Moses responds with worship. He hides
his face in fear. It is
instinctive. Appl: we are losing the fear of the Lord.
6. We now know who and what has confronted
Moses. God has called from a mobile
temple representing the heavenly court.
And what follows in 7-12 is the proclamation of the court. In vs. 7, there are three verbs: seen, heard, know. They are the exact verbs of 2:24-25 meaning
the same God that appeared to Abraham.
Illus: no change in person or
form. Thus, God has come down to deliver
and to bring them to the covenant land of promise. It confirms that deliverance is tied to the
covenant. The deliverance is from
7. In 11, Moses responds in abject
humility. Who am I? I am a nobody. In other words, I cannot deliver. I am unable, ill equipped, ill clad, mal
educated, and ill suited to go up against the most powerful man in the world.
8. And the last proclamation is the climax. I will be with you. I will bring you back here to worship at this
same mountain. It is a twofold promise
breaching present and future. But the
key is the divine presence. Moses does
not need any ability, equipment, clothing and stature, a new education, and
training to take on Pharaoh. All he
needs is God because God is going to do it with Moses as the means or
instrument of the divine power; a man forgotten by the nation but not by God. And God says, serve me! Appl:
9. The crowning
proof that this is Christ is that he is the lampstand. I am the light of the world. In 3:14, he identifies himself as I am. John continually uses this. Lastly, the promise in Matthew 28:20, “I am
with you,” is an allusion to the theophany to Moses
in Exodus 3:12. The contexts are
parallel: call and commission with
promise. When Moses responds in Exodus 3
with “who am I that I should bring . . . , God answers, “I will be with
you.” Moses is about to go into the
court of Pharaoh to secure deliverance by the divine word. But he goes with the
promise (2:23-25) that is unalterable and unassailable by the court of
man. It does not mean that he will not
experience trouble. But he will not
fail; deliverance is certain. Likewise,
the apostles are sent to the court of the world to deliver their
commission. The promise is the
same. As Yahweh was with Moses, Jesus is
with us; furthermore, they are one and the same. The success of Moses is predictive of ours. The word will have success, and the reason is
the divine presence. In and of
ourselves, we are, like Moses, not able, but the divine presence enables us. I find it immensely satisfying that Jesus has
gone before us and is now with us; the greater Moses who will not fail
himself. In