Exodus 3-4, God Acts

Introduction

Good morning! Once again we have the great joy and privilege of worshipping together through the reading and preaching of God’s Word. As we turn our attention to that, please open your Bible with me to Exodus 3. Last week we began our study of this wonderful book that details God’s actions in delivering His people from slavery in Egypt. This morning we continue by looking at Exodus 3 and 4. Before we begin, let’s first pray and ask the LORD to bless our time studying His Word together this morning.

PRAY

How do you get to know someone? The answer to that question probably depends in large part on who it is you’re wanting to know. If you like history and want to know more about an important person of the past, you might read a biography, or perhaps even better, an autobiography or memoir to learn more about them. Or if you’re not the reading type you might watch a documentary about them.

If it’s a new acquaintance or someone you’d like to get to know better, you’ll probably try to spend time with them in some way. You’ll have conversations where you will get to ask questions. You’ll get to know their personality. Their likes and dislikes. Their sense of humor or lack of humor. Their strengths and weaknesses. Their vices and virtues. Their level of reliability and trustworthiness. Who they are and what they do.

Regardless of who it is you’re wanting to know better, the truth is that we are totally dependent on that person revealing themself to us. From that, we’re limited in what we can know, being dependent on how much of themselves they want us to know. Most people, in my experience, tend to be more guarded, especially early on. But unlike us, or that new acquaintance you want to know better, God desires that He would be known. That in His people knowing Him we would love Him, trust Him, and worship Him all the more as He deserves.

As is true with anyone, in order for us to know God and know Him rightly, He must reveal Himself to us. And, praise be to Him, He has revealed Himself to us. As we look at Exodus 3 and 4 this morning we see God reveal Himself to Moses. The time has come for Him to deliver the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Unbeknownst to Moses, God had been preparing Him as His chosen instrument for this great task. And now we’re going to see God’s revelation of Himself to Moses.

But it’s not just Moses that God is revealing Himself to. Yes, Moses is the one who encounters God in the burning bush. Moses received direct revelation from God as He spoke to him. Nevertheless, what God revealed about Himself and His ways is laid down for us in the pages of Scripture so that we too might know Him, love Him, trust Him, and worship Him as well. If we want to know more about who God is along with His ways in the world, we would do well to look to Him as He has revealed Himself in His Word.

MAIN POINT––Trust God fully, knowing Him and His ways as He reveals Himself in His Word.

We’ll see this unfold throughout the passage in five ways. God reveals…

Himself

His Plans

His Power

His Patience

His Presence

God Reveals Himself

The first thing I want us to notice together is that our God is a God who reveals Himself. We see this in how He reveals Himself to Moses after many years of sojourning in the land of Midian. Follow along as I READ Exodus 3:1-15.

We pick up the events of Exodus with Moses still sojourning in the land of Midian. We learn that he has been tending the flocks of his father-in-law. He’s sort of a hired hand. He had made his way westward to what was known as Mount Horeb. This is the same mountain that is known as Mount Sinai. As our text tells us, it becomes known as the mountain of God. So, Moses is moving along with his flock and he notices something. He’s out in the wilderness and he sees a fire. A burning bush. Only he noticed something peculiar.

The burning bush was on fire, but it was not being consumed. Naturally that piqued his curiosity even more. Fire ordinarily needs fuel to burn. You would expect that whatever is burning is being consumed by the fire. Only here that wasn’t happening. It turned out this was a theophany––a manifestation of the LORD. We’re told that it was “the angel of the LORD.” That wording is important. It is not “an” angel of the LORD. It is “the” angel of the LORD. This was an angelic manifestation of the LORD Himself to Moses.

As Moses drew near, the LORD called to him––“Moses, Moses!” and Moses replied, “Here I am.” The LORD instructed Moses not to come near and to take his sandals off because the ground he was standing on was holy ground. After identifying Himself to Moses as the God of his father, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses’ response is instructive for us. He covered his face, being afraid to look upon the LORD as He revealed Himself. This is an appropriate fear and reverence for God.

Loved ones, our God is holy. The reality is the place where Moses was standing was holy ground because of the LORD’s presence there. There is no one like Him in moral purity and perfection. He is wholly other and separate. No one can come before Him on their own terms. A number of people have tried to reason why the LORD commanded Moses to remove his sandals. But it was John Stott who made the simplest and most obvious observation we would do well to consider.

We can only come before the LORD on His terms and according to His ways. We dare not come before the LORD in any other way than what He prescribes according to His Word. Moses removed his sandals as instructed. LORD willing, when we get to Leviticus, we’ll see that Nadab and Abihu were careless in how they offered sacrifices to the LORD. They didn’t fully obey His commands and they were consumed by fire because they didn’t come before Him to offer their sacrifices in the way He prescribed.

Likewise, down through the ages, many have sought to come to the LORD by any number of ways––their own rituals; their own so-called righteousness. And everyone who has or will try to come to Him by any other route other than repentance and faith in the LORD Jesus Christ will suffer eternal consequences. Friends, if any of you are here today and suppose that you are good enough or can do enough good to stand before God on your own merit, the Bible is clear that is not possible. Look no further than Moses' reaction when He realizes who is calling him.

Whenever men find themselves before a holy God, they are struck with fear. Moses covered his face. Later in Exodus we’ll see that God could only partially reveal Himself to Moses as he hid him in the cleft of a rock and passed by. When Moses would come out of the tent of meeting after meeting with God he would have to wear a veil over his face for the sake of the people. Isaiah cried out “woe is me” when he encountered the LORD in Isaiah 6. Even the seraphim, serving the LORD, covered themselves as they cried out “Holy, Holy, Holy!”

I find that in our day we do not take seriously enough the holiness of God. We are far more flippant in how we think of and even come before the LORD in many ways. In our worship. In our thoughts. In our speech about Him. Our God is a Holy God. He is to be revered. When you have a right grasp of God’s holiness it will have an effect on you. You will be far more aware of how far short you fall of Him and His glory. How desperate your condition is before Him apart from His mercy and grace in Christ.

As we continue on we learn that this infinitely holy God, who is transcendent above all, also is immanent. He draws near to His people. He makes known to Moses that He has seen the affliction of His people, heard their cry, knows their sufferings, and He has “come down to deliver them” out of slavery in Egypt and bring them to a land of their own. A land flowing with milk and honey, bountiful in all that they would need to live and flourish. And He’s going to use Moses to accomplish this.

The prospect of this assignment was staggering to Moses. He rightly responded in humility, “Who am I?” He acknowledged his own inadequacy. And don’t miss how the LORD responded to him. Not with a “you can do it”, or “believe in yourself.” He doesn’t correct Moses’ acknowledgment of his own inadequacy. If anything he confirms it with his response––“I will be with you.” In a sense, “you’re right Moses. That’s why I will be with you.” Moreover he tells him that as a sign of this happening, He will bring the people of Israel to this mountain to serve Him.

We then see that God revealed Himself all the more to Moses with the divine name. This was prompted by Moses’ question as to whom he should tell the people of Israel sent him. Look again at verses 14-15:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘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, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

The name is a form of the Hebrew verb meaning “to be.” The form is understood just as we see it here, “I AM WHO I AM” or “I WILL BE WHOM I WILL BE.” This is where we get the divine name, Yahweh. You will notice in your Bible that throughout the OT our English translations have “LORD” in small capital letters. Everytime you see that it is there in place of the divine name, Yahweh. Following the tradition of the Hebrews who would come to that name and out of reverence would say “Adonai” considering themselves unworthy to even utter the name of God.

This is what makes Jesus’ “I AM” statements in John’s gospel so amazingly profound. Some who deny the deity of Christ have said that Jesus never claims to be divine. Besides the fact that He gladly receives worship, the “I AM" statements in John’s gospel are a clear declaration of deity, applying the divine name to Himself. This is especially clear in John 8:58. The Jewish leaders knew exactly what Jesus was claiming for Himself in saying, “before Abraham was, I AM.” In response they picked up stones to kill Him for blasphemy!

So much has been written regarding the name of God given to us here. But again, John Stott so appropriately says, “God conceals as much as He reveals” in this statement. There’s so much that we glean and yet so much that still remains beyond our grasp. That’s why it will take all eternity for us to mine the depths of who God is in all of His fullness and glory. Nevertheless, there are some things we should reflect on together.

First, what should strike us in this declaration is the reality that God is who He says He is. He is the one who defines Himself and reveals Himself to us. We don’t get to conjure up our own ideas or imaginations of what God must be like. He is who He is completely and totally in Himself. He cannot be contained in any of our finite and tame descriptions or understandings of Him.

We also can glean from this an understanding of God’s self-sufficiency. He is not dependent upon anyone or anything. He simply is. We even see this in the theophany of the burning bush as it wasn’t consumed. God didn’t need the fuel of the tree to manifest Himself to Moses. Neither should we make the mistake of thinking that God is calling Moses out of some sort of dependence upon Him to deliver Israel. God doesn’t need Moses to accomplish His purposes. He is totally sufficient in and of Himself to accomplish His purposes.

Nor does He need any of us. We ought never think that we are somehow indispensable to God’s existence or the fulfillment of His plans and purposes. Jesus told the Jewish leaders who wanted him to quiet the crowds who cheered for Him on Palm Sunday that if they were quiet the very stones would cry out and praise Him. God will be praised and worshiped and He will accomplish His purposes. Nevertheless, in His grace and kindness, He uses us, His imagebearers, as a means to accomplish His plans and purposes.

Loved ones, you probably will not experience a theophany or manifestation of God in this way this side of eternity. But there is a sense in which you have experienced God’s revelation of Himself in an even greater way than even Moses himself. Consider what we read in the opening verses of Hebrews:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (Hebrews 1:1–3)

Praise God for revealing Himself to us in this way. For revealing Himself so fully and graciously in the LORD Jesus Christ. Loved ones, do not neglect to grow in your knowledge of and love for God. What a treasure we have laid down for us in His Word and the Word that became flesh and came down and dwelt among us.

God Reveals His Plans

Next we see that God reveals His plans to Moses. Follow along as I READ Exodus 3:16-22.

As the LORD continued speaking to Moses He revealed more of His plans to deliver the people of Israel from Egypt. He wanted Moses to go to the elders of Israel. He assured Moses they would listen to him. They then would go to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and ask for their release to go and worship the LORD in the wilderness. But He also revealed that Pharaoh would not initially be willing to comply. He would resist until compelled by a mighty hand. The mighty hand of the LORD as He would strike them with many wonders. Then Pharaoh would let them go.

More than that, he revealed that the people of Israel would leave Egypt enriched by the very people who enslaved them. They would leave Egypt as a conquering army who had plundered the ones they vanquished in battle. Only it was the LORD who fought the battle for them in laying low the mighty Egyptians. God revealed all of this ahead of time to Moses. And yet, as we’ll see in the coming weeks, there will be dismay and discouragement and doubt on both Moses and the people of Israel's part.

Beloved, we can read this account and think to ourselves how silly the people of Israel were for giving in so quickly to doubt and discouragement. We are tempted to look down on them and think we would have done better. But to think and believe such a thing is nothing more than haughty spiritual pride. God has revealed His character and His ways all the more to us and we still give in to doubt and discouragement just like Israel did in these days.

No, God has not revealed every minute detail of what He is doing in every microscopic detail of our individual lives. We won’t always be able to trace His hand and know exactly why our circumstances turn the way they do in all the specifics. Nevertheless, in the grand scheme of things God has revealed to us in His Word what we ought to expect as His people. He has revealed to us the way of salvation––by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This all being done for His glory alone.

When we think of the work of salvation we mostly tend to think of justification. I repent of my sins and trust in the LORD Jesus Christ by faith. Therefore, I am justified––declared righteous before God. But God has also revealed that we are being saved––that is sanctified. We are progressively being made into the image of Christ by the power of His indwelling Spirit at work in us as His Word shapes and molds us. He promises that we will face trials and tribulations this side of eternity. That those trials will be used in that process of sanctification for our good.

God’s will is our sanctification. Not a life of ease and comfort with no difficulties. All of this so that we would become more like Him and less like the world in order to display His glory as His representatives in creation. His glory will cover the whole earth as the waters cover the seas. He has revealed that all of this will come to an end in His final victory on the last day. Yet, when we face trials and difficulties we suddenly become surprised. “Why is this happening?” “God are you there?” “Why is this happening to me?”

We have been saved––justified. We are being saved––sanctified. One day we will be fully and finally saved at His appearing––that is, glorified. When we see Him we will be like Him. No more sin. No more death. No more pain. No more guilt and shame. Just eternal unhindered glorious fellowship with our triune God who made us and saved us all for His own glory. That we would make much of Him and delight in Him forever as we were created to do. He’s promised us this.

It’s right here in this book. I’ve read it to the end a few times. Things turn out pretty well in the end. Don’t be dismayed or discouraged when sin rears its ugly head again in your life, or when you are facing trials and difficulties, or when you face rejection and trouble in the world. Take heart. Jesus has overcome the world. Keep looking to Him and trusting Him.

God Reveals His Power

Third, we see that God reveals His power to Moses. Follow along as I READ Exodus 4:1-9.

As we continue moving through the passage we come to another objection raised by Moses. He is convinced that the people of Israel will not listen to him. Perhaps he remembers the last time he tried to help them when he was in Egypt. They rejected him as his killing of the Egyptian had been made known. His hesitance is understandable. So, the LORD responded to his objection with three signs that He will do through Moses to validate that Moses is speaking for Him. In so doing, the LORD demonstrated His great power.

First, He turned Moses' staff into a snake, but then as Moses grabbed it by the tail it returned to being a staff. God has power over creation to do with it what He will. I think there’s even more to it though. The Egyptian Pharaoh customarily wore the image of a serpent on his head. God is demonstrating His power over the greatest world power of that time. Second, He demonstrated His power over disease as He turned Moses hand leprous and returned it to health.

Finally, He demonstrated His power in a third sign where He would have Moses take water from the Nile, pour it on the ground, and it would turn into blood. The Nile played such a significant role in the life and power of Egypt that they revered the Nile as a god according to their religion. The Nile was the source of all their fruitfulness in the land and how they thrived in all that they did. Yet, God is going to demonstrate His incomprehensible power over the so-called gods of the mightiest nation on earth. Moses ought to have no reason to doubt or fear. Only trust.

God Reveals His Patience

Still, Moses––much like us, was slow to believe and trust God. Even with all that God has revealed about Himself and His plans and His power. So here’s where we become acquainted to some extent with God’s patience. Follow along as I READ Exodus 4:10-26.

Two more times, here, we see Moses raise objections to God using him. First, claiming that he was slow of speech. Not eloquent. In other words, “LORD, there must be someone better and more qualified to fulfill this task. Certainly, you have the wrong guy.” Again, Moses’ eyes are on himself. He still fails to recognize that his own insufficiency is the point. It is his weakness that is the very occasion for God to display His power and strength through Moses. So God told Him, “I made you! I know your qualifications, or lack thereof. That’s the point! I will be with you.”

Finally, Moses got bolder in his objection––“Oh LORD, please, send someone else!” In other words, “LORD, I do not want to do this. Just find someone else!” And this is the first time that we see, amidst all of Moses’ objections to this point, that the LORD’s anger was kindled against Moses. Justifiably so. God’s anger is a righteous anger at a man who is not trusting Him and is reluctant to follow Him. Yet, He doesn’t break out in wrath and consume Moses. He continues in patience with Moses.

We see this in his provision of Moses’ brother, Aaron, who was already on his way, coming out to meet Moses. Apparently, just as we would expect and just as God made known, He knew Moses’ weakness. He even knew that Moses would object on the grounds of his weakness. So, he had already spoken to Aaron and directed him to come out and meet Moses. “Don’t worry Moses! I’ve got it all worked out. Your brother Aaron, the one who is well spoke. Yeah, he’s already on his way to meet you.”

God would speak to Moses. Moses would relay God’s words to Aaron, who would in turn speak God’s Words to God’s people. Sort of like how we are supposed to do when it comes to God’s Word recorded in Scripture. This is a word for both preachers and all believers. We do not have the liberty to craft our own message––one that we deem more palatable and suitable for itching ears. A pastor is to open God’s Word and say to the people of God, “thus saith the LORD.”

Even for those who may never preach––you too are called to speak God’s Word to one another. We see that in Colossians 3 we are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. Then out of the overflow of that reality, we are to teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. Yes, even the uncomfortable and difficult work of admonishing one another when we are sinning and failing to represent the LORD Jesus Christ with our words and actions.

How many of us know we are to do that, but excuse ourselves in the way Moses tries to here. “Oh LORD, I don’t know what or how to say it to that person. They won’t listen to me. I’m not clear enough. I’m not witty enough. I’ll get too confused in what I’m supposed to say.” If that’s you, you just need to hear the LORD telling you, “I will be with you.” “I’ve given you my Spirit who lives in you.” “I’ve given you my Word, so that you would know what to say.” “Just say what I’ve already said.”

Now, there’s one more display of God’s patience we must note together before we move on to the last point. Moses is on the move. Then we come to this sequence of events in verses 24 to 26 that catch us off guard. Moses and his family are at a lodging and the LORD sought to kill Moses. What are we to make of this? Why would the LORD want to put Moses to death when He has already demonstrated so much patience and called him to this task of delivering Israel?

Moses had failed to honor the covenant with Abraham by not circumcising his son. Back in Genesis 17 God gave the sign of circumcision to Abraham and all his male offspring as a sign of his covenant with him. The punishment for not doing this was to be cut off from God and His people––a severe consequence. We’re not given much detail beyond that. We don’t know why Moses didn’t circumcise his son. We just know he didn’t. Somehow Zipporah knew what was going on and she circumcised their son and touched Moses feet with it. God’s wrath relented.

Loved ones, God is patient, yes. But God’s patience has its limits. He cares very much about the obedience of His people. Our obedience is not what saves us. Still, that should never lead us to presume upon the LORD’s mercy and patience. Especially for those who are called to lead the people of God. No one is indispensable. God will not be mocked. Moses had failed to honor the Abrahamic covenant and God rightly was ready to put him to death for it. And yet, he was once again shown mercy as Zipporah acted. The LORD passed over him.

God Reveals His Presence

The last thing we’ll observe in our passage this morning is God’s presence. This has really been seen throughout the whole of our passage this morning. We’ll note that here in a moment. But let’s first finish reading our passage for this morning. Follow along as I READ Exodus 4:27-31.

God's presence with His people is woven through this as well. Over and over again, as we’ve worked through this passage we’ve seen God affirm to Moses that He will be with Him. He calls Moses and says, “I will be with you.” He equips Moses, assuring that He will be with him. He sends Moses and is with him as evidenced by the accompanying signs with which he was equipped. Even Moses staff, given its prominent role in the sign and wonders God did at the hands of Moses, would become a sign of God’s presence with Moses.

Sure enough. Just as we read. God was with Moses as he and Aaron went to the people of Israel. Moses did the signs God told him to do. And just as the LORD promised, the people believed. They heard the LORD had visited them and seen their affliction. So, they bowed their heads and worshiped. A fitting response to the God who revealed Himself and His ways to His people. The God who was with them and would not forsake them.

Conclusion

Loved ones, there’s so much more we could glean from this. We’ve only scratched the surface. As we’ll see in the weeks to come, there will still be some bumps in the road. But God’s faithfulness is never in doubt, despite the doubts of His people. God will demonstrate His power and glory in defeating Egypt and delivering His people.

We need to remember that God’s presence with Moses, and thereby with Israel was not unique to them only. God is with His people today. You haven’t been called to go and deliver a covenant people out of slavery in a foreign country. But you have been commanded to make disciples of all nations. That more and more people would be delivered, by God’s grace, from bondage to sin and death.

And the one who has all authority, the LORD Jesus Christ, says, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.” God is with you, loved ones, in this glorious task that He has given to the church. Trust God fully, knowing Him and His ways as He reveals Himself in His Word.