The Deliverer Calls a Deliverer

Sermon 6 in Series

Exodus 3:1-12
[1] Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. [2] And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. [3] And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” [4] When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” [5] Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” [6] And he said, “I am the God of your 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 at God.

[7] Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, [8] and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. [9] And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. [10] Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” [11] But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” [12] He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

 
DEEP SHEET: Sermon Study Questions
1.   Discuss the many ways God carries out his work through human agency. How does this motivate you and increase your zeal for serving him?
2.   How has God thoroughly Hebraized Moses by the time he appears to him in the burning bush? Why is this significant for his calling?
3.   What do we learn about God from this theophany passage? How does it grow our faith and direct our worship?
4.   What does the burning bush scene teach us about God’s holiness? What does it look like to live out the truth that God is both “Abba” and “Holy”?
5.   What is Moses’ response to God’s call? How does God reorient and reassure him?
6.   In what ways does Moses’ call encourage you in your vocation and areas of service? How does God’s approach of calling the “incapable” to the “impossible” glorify him and protect us from pride?

References: 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:24-26; Acts 7:30; Genesis 46:34; 2-4; Genesis 16:7-16; 22:11-19; 1 Peter 1:14-19; Genesis 15:13-14; Joshua 1:5; Jeremiah 1:8; Matthew 28:20; 19:26.