20241124 Exodus 3: The Conversion of Moses
Exodus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 12 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Welcome to Vertical Church
Acts 2:42 (LSB)
And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
As a church we seek to uphold the values of the NT church as seen in Acts 2:42 -
We are Trinitarian - while God is one in essence, He is three in person: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the sovereignty of God - sovereign over all creation, sovereign over the affairs of men, sovereign over salvation
We believe in the authority of the Bible - Scripture alone is the Word of God
We are Biblical in our theology - we are a bible teaching church
We believe that the Church is not a building or a denomination but a people - those who are truly in Christ and embrace the truths that were embraced and confessed by the New Testament Church, the apostolic church.
We are evangelical - we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
We are a Vertical Church - we believe that all true worship and living is Vertical, God directed and for the glory of God alone.
Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, For the glory of God alone - join us on Sundays
Call to Worship - Psalm 24
Of David. A Psalm. 1 The earth is Yahweh’s, as well as its fullness, The world, and those who dwell in it. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers. 3 Who may ascend into the mountain of Yahweh? And who may rise in His holy place? 4 He who has innocent hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness And has not sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall lift up a blessing from Yahweh And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face—pay heed O Jacob. Selah. 7 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 8 Who is this King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift yourselves up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 10 Who is He, this King of glory? Yahweh of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.
Scripture Reading - Exodus 3
Exodus 3 (LSB)
1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burned up?”
4 And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look, so God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 And Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sufferings. 8 “So I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 9 “So now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 “So now, come and I will send you to Pharaoh, and so you shall bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God at this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 And God furthermore said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, 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, and this is My memorial-name from generation to generation.
16 “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I indeed care about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 “So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ 18 “And they will listen to your voice; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you all will say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.’
19 “But I know that the king of Egypt will not give you permission to go, except by a strong hand. 20 “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wondrous deeds which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. 21 “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty. 22 “But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and of the woman who lives in her house, for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians.”
The Conversion of Moses Exodus 3
Introduction:
It has been 400 years since the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus.
Joseph has been forgotten and the new Pharaoh has enslaved the Israelites. But the Lord has heard their cries for a deliverer
Moses, educated as a price of Egypt, describes the story so far with a wonderful literary structure:
A1 Israel in Egypt: the Lord responds (2:23-25)
Two verbs of grief: groaned, cried out
Four verbs of divine reaction: heard, remembered, saw (looked on), knew (was concerned about)
B1 The Lord and Moses: revelation and commission (3:1-10)
The sufficiency of the Lord
B2 Moses and the Lord: hesitation and obedience (3:11-4:28)
The inadequacy of Moses
A2 Israel in Egypt: the Lord believed
Two verbs of the Lord’s intervention: visited (was concerned about), saw (had seen)
Four verbs of response: believed, heard, bowed, worshipped
(1) Moses: The Lord molds His servant
1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
(2) Mount Horeb: The Lord confronts His servant
2 And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
(3) The burning bush: the Lord transforms His servant
3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burned up?” 4 And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look, so God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
The Lord draws Moses - I must turn aside - the uniqueness of God
The Lord speaks to Moses - the Lord knows him
The Lord instructs Moses - take off your shoes
The Lord’s presence humbles Moses - he hid his face and was afraid
Isaiah in the presence of the Lord - sinful lips
Peter - away from me Lord
Paul - I am the chief of sinners
3 Who may ascend into the mountain of Yahweh? And who may rise in His holy place? 4 He who has innocent hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness And has not sworn deceitfully.
The answer is no one!
Let’s look at what is happening:
The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage (ii. The Imagery of Fire)
Holiness endangers the sinner because the holiness of the Lord is not a passive attribute but an active force, embracing all that conforms to it (Ps. 24:3–4) and destroying all that offends (1 Sam. 6:19–20). The trepidation humans feel before the Lord is not, therefore, the trembling of the lowly before the Almighty or the created before the Creator, but the fear of sinners endangered by holiness (Isa. 6:3–5).
The biblical symbol of this perilous force of holiness is fire, and it pervades the book of Exodus. In particular, fire is the bracket (or ‘inclusio’) which provides a framework around the central narrative of Exodus. It starts with the fire in the bush (3:2) and ends with the fire on the mountain (19:18), and in each case the fire is linked with the separateness of the divine and the exclusion of the human as endangered.
This was the starting place for Moses as ‘servant of the Lord’, as it is indeed for all true and effective service. For ‘unless we have been on our knees, more or less in tears, because of the holiness of God, we have not begun’.
iii. Approaching God
Fortunately, exclusion is not the last word on the subject, for out of his blazing holiness the Lord calls to Moses and commands him to remove his sandals (5) Mackay may be correct in thinking that this symbolized putting aside all that had been in contact with the ‘defilement’ of earth. The idea is appealing, but it is not the simplest, and may not be the best, way to understand what passed between the Lord and Moses.
The Lord’s command signifies, first, his desire that Moses should be enabled to remain standing on ‘holy ground’ and, secondly, the conditions necessary for that to take place. It would appear that God desires us to be in his presence, but the question, ‘Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?’ (Ps. 24:3) comes naturally to us. It would exhaust all our human wisdom to attempt to fashion a reply according to our notions of fitness, and we would remain excluded until he told us how to come to him.
There is a striking simplicity and accessibility in what the Lord directs: take off your shoes! The principles enunciated here remain constant throughout the Bible, even though the forms change. In the full Mosaic system, acceptance was through the atoning power of the divinely provided sacrifices (Lev. 17:11). These sacrifices point forward to the Christ who suffered, ‘the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God’ (1 Pet. 3:18), whose blood opened the way into ‘the Most Holy Place’ (Heb. 10:19), and through whom we ‘have access to the Father by one Spirit’ (Eph. 2:18). The point, therefore, of Moses taking off his shoes is a lesson in simple obedience: we should bow humbly to whatever God may require of us, rejoicing in the simplicity and effectiveness of his provision as he admits us to his presence.
Take off your shoes
Leave your nets
Go and sin no more
Sell all you own
Change your habits
End that relationship
(4) The deliverance of Israel: the Lord sends his servant
10 “So now, come and I will send you to Pharaoh, and so you shall bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
The objections of Moses
The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage 2. Moses’ Chronic Insecurities
‘Who am I?’ (3:11)
‘What shall I tell them?’ (3:13)
‘What if they do not believe me’ (4:1)
‘I have never been eloquent’ (4:10)
‘Please send someone else’ (4:13)
The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage (5. The Unchanging God)
Furthermore, the miracle that Moses saw of a bush on fire that did not burn up must have had an impact on him (2). Here was a flame nourished by its own life, needing no external fuel to feed it, a truly living flame. It was an important element in the Lord’s self-revelation to Moses, for it was what he used in the first instance to capture Moses’ attention. The essence of this revelation is that Yahweh is the living God, a self-maintaining, self-sufficient reality that does not need to draw vitality from outside.
If the flame symbolized the presence of God, should Moses have seen the bush as a symbol of himself? The juxtaposition of the transcendent God in all his holiness and vitality and the ordinary, earthly bush is a powerful metaphor for the indwelling, transforming presence of God with his people. This is the implication of his words to Moses. First, there is the sensitive feeling which makes the Lord aware of Israel’s plight and the graciousness which prompts him to identify with them in their need: I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt … So I have come down to rescue them (7–8). Secondly,
although he could have delivered Israel by the mere exercise of his personal presence and power, it was God’s choice to do it through a chosen emissary (So now, go, 10), whom he would accompany on the mission (I will be with you, 12). It is always so.
No-one who goes at the behest of God ever goes alone. The ‘I’ who accompanies is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God also of Moses.
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
I am with you - the Lord said this to Moses, the Lord said this to the disciples, and today the Lord says this to you.
Do you remember your burning bush?
Do you remember your lack of holiness, you need for repentance and forgiveness?
Have you become too focused on what you can’t do and forgotten that no one ever goes alone?
Have you forgotten the one who says I am with you always?
Never forget that just as the Lord was in the bush, the Lord dwells in those who are in Christ. The Spirit of God lives in you. You are His holy temple through the righteousness of Christ
As Paul writes, you are are being built
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Benediction
The joy of the Lord is your strength. O ransomed of Jacob, may you be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; may your life be like a watered garden; may your young women rejoice in the dance, your young men and the old be merry; may your souls feast with abundance, and may you be satisfied in the goodness of the Lord. May the one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage 1. The Mountain of God
The induction of Moses to be the great leader and deliverer he became began with his encounter with the Lord at Horeb, the mountain of God (1). Mountains, especially Horeb, or Sinai as it is also known in the Old Testament,2 figure largely in the spiritual history of Moses. Horeb makes its first appearance in the story here as the mountain of conversion or new beginnings, and in chapters 19 to 34 it is the mountain of revelation, the place of Moses’ seven ascents. Beyond Horeb lies Mount Pisgah, which could be called Moses’ mountain of disappointment as it was from there that he viewed the land he had been forbidden to enter (Deut. 34:1). Then, in the distant future there is the place of Jesus’ transfiguration, Moses’ mountain of homecoming (Matt. 17:1–3).
