"I AM" In The Darkness

Key Elements

In Exodus 3-4, God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush, declared His holy name and compassionate plan to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt, overcame Moses’ fears and objections, and called and commissioned him to lead His people out of slavery through divine power and presence.

Main Idea: In the dark seasons of life, God meets us where we are, commissions us to His calling on our lives, and shows us who He is-revealing Himself as the self-sufficient, ever-present I AM.

I want my audience to realize that God is the great I AM who meets us where we are and takes us into the calling He has for us and all along the way, is enough to meet every excuse and provide for every need.

Intro

In our day and time, there is something that exists called “imposter syndrome.” I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of that term before or not. Basically, it is an internal feeling people get that causes chronic self doubt. It is feeling like a fraud despite success in your life and it is the fear of being found out. And many people have it. I’ve heard interviews with famous authors and actors who have this lingering thought that the success they have is more related to luck than it is ability. And because of that thought that is constantly there, there is also a lingering fear that one day they will be exposed as a fake. And there are five types that fall under this plague of imposter syndrome: there’s the perfectionist, who sets impossible standards and feels like a failure if they fall short; there’s the expert, who feels they never know enough and must master every detail; there’s the natural genius, who believes they should master new skills quickly, and feel ashamed if they don’t; there’s the soloist, who feels they have to accomplish everything on their own and sees asking for help as a weakness; and there’s the superhuman, who pushes themselves to work harder than anyone else so they can prove they are not imposters. And at the core of this syndrome is insecurity. Which is something that we all struggle with on some level. And that insecurity usually leads us to hear this statement often in our heads: “I’m not ___________ enough.” And we can all fill in that blank: “I’m not… smart enough, funny enough, pretty enough, skinny enough, young enough, old enough, and the list goes on.

And today as we open our copy of God’s Word to Exodus 3-4, we come across a man named Moses in a situation that screams insecurity. And we wouldn’t really probably know it by looking at him. Here is a man who was destined for greatness, who grew up in the palace of the Egyptian pharaoh, who has been raised in royalty but has made an incredibly huge mistake. And we saw this last week, in anger, he killed an Egyptian officer who was beating one of Moses’ fellow Hebrews and, it being discovered, he has fled to the desert of Midian and for the last forty years he has been a shepherd in Midian tending the flocks of his father in law Jethro. And he has really resided to the fact that this is his life now. He is eighty years old now shepherding someone else’s sheep on the backside of the desert in Midian. Far away from the life he once knew. But, as we’ll see today, things are about to change again for Moses. We are about to see another turning point in his life. And it’s not because of anything he has done or will do, it is solely because he comes face to face with God, the great “I AM.” The God who has preserved his life from the very beginning, the God who has sovereignly been leading and guiding him every step of the way, the God who has placed a calling on Moses’ life to be the man He will use to deliver and rescue the people of Israel.

Exodus 3-4 are about God’s revelation of Himself to Moses, declaring His holy name and compassionate plan to rescue and deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt, all the while overcoming Moses’ fears and objections calling him to lead God’s people out of slavery but doing it only by the divine power and the everlasting presence of God the great I AM.

You see, it’s like we said last week, Moses’ time in the desert and the wilderness was him being prepared by God to fulfill the divine purpose and plan of God. Moses thought Midian was the end, but what he did not realize was that he was about to meet the great I AM, who would call him and commission him to deliver the people of Israel. Not because Moses was ready and not because Moses was worthy, but because God would be with him and would go before him. In the darkness of the wilderness, God was and is the great I AM.

And today, that statement is still true for you and for me. No matter where you find yourself this morning, God wants you to know that your story has not ended and is not over. Because In the dark seasons of life, God meets us where we are, commissions us to His calling on our lives, and shows us who He is-revealing Himself as the self-sufficient, ever-present I AM.

Message

In our text today in Exodus 3-4, we see four truths about God, the great I AM in the darkness:

1. God, the great I AM, meets us where we are. (3:1)

So, let’s dive right in. Look at vs. 1...

So, let’s talk about where Moses is for a moment-geographically and in his life because both are key and both are important to where the text is going to take us. It says that “he’s tending the flock of his father in law, he is on the far side of the wilderness, and he has come to Mt. Horeb.” Three things: first, we notice...

a. God meets us in the routiness of our lives.

This is a job that Moses has been doing for forty years. And, again, he’s gotten to the point in his life where this is who he is and this is what he does and this is what he thinks he’ll be doing for the rest of his life. Remember, when we came to the end of Exodus 2 last week, Moses had fled Egypt as a fugitive. He’s come to the point in his life where he feels like he’s a failure. And as Exodus 3 opens up, he’s been in this state of life for forty years. Moses finds himself in a lowly position of shepherding and he has resided that this will be the state of his life for the rest of his life. Second, we notice...

b. God meets us in the obscurity of our lives.

Not only is he shepherding sheep but second, he is on the “far side of the wilderness.” Some of your translations probably say that he’s on the “backside of the desert.” And this isn’t a place that he’s ended up by accident. This is not a place you end up by coincidence. This is a place you purposefully go. It’s a place where the world has moved on without you and you have stopped expecting anything to happen. You see, Moses didn’t set out that morning searching for God. He set out that morning to find a place for his father in law’s flock of sheep to feed. He’s in a posture of routine and obscurity and it’s a routine that he’s been following for the last forty years. But, there’s some hope in this passage as well. We also notice...

c. God meets us to do something significant.

This is a finger pointing us to what’s about to happen in Moses’ life. It says that he “came to Horeb, the mountain of God.” Now, this is important because this is another name for Mt. Sinai. The same mountain that will show up again and again in Exodus and every time it does it will be a place where God does something significant.

So, again, notice where God meets Moses. He doesn’t meet him in the palace, he doesn’t meet him in the height of his influence or at a time in his life where his power is greatest. He meets him on the far side of the desert, in the wilderness, in the routiness of his life, in failure and obscurity. He meets him in the forty year stretch of nothing. He meets him where he is in his life. God comes to him. And this is a familiar pattern of what God does all throughout Scripture. Think about the Book of Genesis-God comes to Adam and Eve, when? When they have sinned and they are hiding from God. Think about the prophet Elijah-God comes to him when he’s running from Queen Jezebel, when he’s depressed and suicidal. Think about King David-God sends the prophet Nathan, when David has committed adultery. Think about Simon Peter in the NT-Jesus comes to him when he’s gone back to fishing after denying that he knows Jesus three times and Jesus restores him on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

God met all of those people where they were and He does the exact same thing with you and me. In our lives, in the wilderness moments that we are facing in our lives, God the great I AM meets us where we are. In the darkness of the wilderness of our lives, God meets us where we are. And He does this for the purpose of doing something significant. You see, God did not meet Moses in the wilderness for a casual encounter, He met Moses in the wilderness for the purposes of taking him where He knew he was supposed to go. Israel is in darkness in Egypt, Moses is in darkness in Midian, and God is about to call Moses out of the darkness so He can use him to lead Israel out of their darkness.

And this morning, maybe you can relate to Moses’ situation. I think we all can. We all have wilderness moments of darkness in our lives. And the good news is if that is where you are, God is here and He is meeting you where you are, taking the initiative in your life to call you out of where you are for His purposes and His plans to use you for His glory. The question is will you follow Him?

Which leads us to notice that...

2. God, the great I AM, calls us to Himself. (3:2-22)

And it’s so interesting how God does this in the life of Moses, look at vs. 2-8...

Now, when we read this story as kids and as adults, we kind of rush past this moment. As kids, we are a little more amazed but as adults, the awe of this moment escapes us at times. There is a bush that’s on fire and it’s not burning up. So that’s the first unique thing that pops out about this encounter. And that’s what gets Moses’ attention as well. Now, it wasn’t unusual for shrubs or bushes to catch on fire in the desert. Everything being so dry and hot, sometimes would cause small bushes or shrubs to catch fire, but what’s unique here is that it’s not going out. And Moses says, “I need to check this out.” And then God speaks to Moses from the bush. Now, we can’t rush past that, we need to sit in that for a moment. This is Almighty God speaking to His servant Moses calling Him to Himself.

So, what does this tell us? First,...

a. God’s call brings us face to face with His power.

The bush is on fire and it’s not burning up. It is not consumed. It shows us a picture of God’s self existence, that nothing gives Him life but He is the source of life; God’s self sufficiency, that He needs nothing from anyone; and God’s eternality, that He has always been and will always be. Summing it all up, it is Moses coming face to face with the power of God. This burning bush not being consumed is a picture of the never ending power of God. This is the One who upholds the universe. This is the God who has always been and will always be-the Alpha and Omega. This is the God who is so powerful that He created the universe and the world in seven days. And He has come to meet with Moses. (Just a side note-any time you see the title “the Angel of the Lord” in the OT that is either God appearing to someone or it is Jesus, pre incarnate, coming to His people.) The Almighty, powerful God who has been working behind the scenes in the events of the lives of the people of Israel and in Moses’ life, specifically, has now come to meet with Moses to call him to the purpose He has for his life. This is a powerful moment in the life of Moses.

And I want us to think for a moment what this says to us. This same powerful God who comes to Moses and calls Him to Himself is the same powerful God who has come to us through the sending of His Son Jesus Christ. And this is the same powerful God who is here present with us this morning by the power of His Holy Spirit and who is calling us to Himself today. I think we sometimes take that for granted. I think we sometimes forget who we serve and who God is and what a privilege it is to live in relationship with Him and to be called by Him. God’s call brings us face to face with His power and...

b. God’s call brings us face to face with His personal presence.

So, Moses stops, he notices this bush on fire but it’s not being consumed and then it happens-God speaks to Moses. He calls out to him from the bush but notice what He says in vs. 4, “Moses, Moses....” God calls him by name, not just once but twice. God knows him by name and personally comes to him and calls him to Himself. God calling his name twice is significant in Hebrew because it indicated the deepest intimacy possible between two people and it also indicated that there was an urgency to the call. This is God saying to Moses, “I know you, I created you, I see where you are in your life, and I have a purpose and a plan for you.” This is a deep personal calling from God on Moses’ life. But also, we notice God say something else in vs. 7-8, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out, and I know their sufferings.” It’s personal language here, over and over again, God says “I, I, I...” The misery of my people,.… This is God personally responding to His servant calling him to Himself and this is God personally responding to the suffering of His people.

And that’s who God is, He is a personal God. He is a God who encounters us on a personal level. He comes to us and invites us into a personal relationship with Him and Him calling us to Himself brings us face to face with His personal presence. This morning, God knows you, He created you, He sees where you are in your life, and He has a purpose and a plan for you.

God’s call also...

c. God’s call brings us face to face with His holiness.

Moses begins to approach the burning bush and look at what happens in vs. 5...

God says, “STOP! TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!” Now, why does God ask him to do that? In the Bible, the feet were a sign of our humanness and our sinfulness. Feet are just nasty. Our feet are what connect us to the earth. When God tells Moses to take off his shoes, He’s reminding him that God is holy and Moses is not.

Author Jen Wilkin gives us some great insight to what’s happening here, she says, “There’s a significance to the image here that Moses is standing barefoot before God. Because not too long before this he was not doubt wearing the velvet slippers of a prince. And perhaps he thought he would serve God wearing those. And then shortly thereafter he found himself wearing the sandals of a herdsman. And perhaps he thought this is how I will serve God. But now we see the right orientation. Because Moses is now barefoot as a servant would be.”

Moses is now face to face with a Holy God, standing on holy ground, barefoot as a servant and he responds appropriately, it says, “he hid his face.” In this moment Moses recognizes the holiness of God.

God’s call brings us face to face with His holiness and as we come before Him, a question we have to consider is “Face to face with a Holy God, how do we come in service to Him?” You know where we get this wrong a lot of times in our lives is in the church. How many times have we shown up to serve God with the attitude of entitlement on our terms instead of coming before a Holy God with the attitude of a servant? Something for us to think about.

God, the great I AM, calls us to Himself and His call brings us face to face with His power, His personal presence, and His holiness.

And then it happens. God tells Moses exactly what he wants Him to do, look at vs. 9-10… And Moses spends the rest of chapter 3 making excuses to not do what God has called him to do. God tells him His purpose He has called Moses to and Moses says, “Who am I?” He’s reflecting back on the same question the Hebrew man had asked him 40 years ago in Egypt before he fled, “Who do you think you are?” And God answers him with “I will be with you, and you will bring the people to this mountain.” Moses, again in vs. 13, makes another excuse; and in vs. 14, God answers again but this time He makes a profound statement, “I AM WHO I AM!” This is the Hebrew divine name for God, Yahweh. The name is so holy that the Jewish people would not say it out loud. It literally means "I will be what I will be.” When God says this to Moses, this is His declaration of who He is to Moses of His eternal presence-that He always has been and always will be. He is central to everything. You see, every time Moses makes an excuse as to why he shouldn’t do what God has called him to do, God responds with an I AM statement. And here’s what God is doing, in the midst of every excuse Moses makes, God takes Moses out of the middle and restores Himself at the center of the narrative. He tells him exactly how things are going to go. God calls Moses to Himself.

But even after all of that, even after coming face to face with Almighty God, Moses still doesn’t get it.

Which leads us to the next truth we see...

3. God, the great I AM, reveals the power of Who He is. (4:1-17)

And as we move into chapter 4, this is what comes to the forefront. Moses continues to make excuses. Look at vs. 1...

God has laid out every detail for him and has even told him at the end of chap. 3 that pharaoh will let the people go and they will go with everything they need and Moses still has doubts. So, God takes it a step further. In chap. 3, God told Moses who He was, I AM. In chap. 4, God shows Moses who He is. Now, every time Moses makes an excuse as to why he shouldn’t do this, God will give him a demonstration that He is I AM. And the same is true in our lives. When we are facing moments in our lives that have left us in the darkness of the wilderness, God in His grace, reveals the power of who He is.

And that happens in three ways here:

a. God reveals His power over creation.

Look at vs. 2-5...

So, I love this. God asks Moses what’s in his hand. Like God doesn’t already know. And of course, it’s his shepherd’s staff, just a common, ordinary every day thing he uses to herd sheep. And God tells him to throw it on the ground and it becomes a snake. And Moses does what we all would have done, he runs. And then God has him pick it up by the tail and it turns back into a staff. Now, you don’t pick up a snake by the tail, Moses would have known that. But in obedience, he does it. Now, there’s two significant things this says to us: first, God is powerful over all creation. And that’s what God is showing Moses and us here. But there’s something else. (show pic) If you’ve ever see a picture of an Egyptian pharaoh, on their head dress in the middle is a cobra, a serpent. That was the snake god who was the protector of pharaoh. What is God doing here? He is revealing that all power and authority belong to Him and He is powerful over all creation and all gods. Next...

b. God reveals His power over sickness and death.

Look at vs. 6-7...

So, this would have been another major sign for Moses of God’s power. Leprosy in that day was a death sentence and here God curses Moses with leprosy and then heals him all in a matter of seconds. What is God doing here? He’s showing Moses that He is powerful over all sickness and disease. Again, all authority belongs to Him and He has the power to grant life and death. And...

c. God reveals His power over our weakness.

Look at what happens next in vs. 10-12...

Moses makes another excuse. You think by now he would be convinced but not yet. And in response to Moses’ excuse about his own weakness, God says, “I created your mouth and I will empower you to speak the words you need to say.” God says it’s not about you, it’s about Me working through you. There is no weakness too powerful for God to overcome.

And here’s what all of this shows us. That there is nothing or no one more powerful than God. This is who He is. He is greater than anything or anyone. He is more powerful than any human ruler or king. He holds life and death in His hands. And there is no weakness that you or I possess that He cannot overcome and use for His glory. And today, that’s something we need to hear and rest in. Because of who God is, we can look to Him and be at peace that He is there and He is greater than anything we will face in this life.

God, the great I AM, reveals the power of who He is and...

4. God, the great I AM, accomplishes the purposes He has promised. (4:13-31)

God has done all of this, He has shown Moses His power and revealed to him who He is and Moses says in vs. 13, “Please, Lord, send someone else.” I mean, he’s not even trying to come up with anything else. He’s out of excuses. This is actually the most honest Moses has been with God throughout this whole conversation. And look at God’s response in vs. 14, “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses,...” That’s a pretty serious statement and in that statement I want us to see the grace of God. You see, from the very first objection of Moses in chap. 3, God was within His rights to do away with Moses and move on. But what does God do, He shows him grace after grace. And even in this moment, God shows Moses grace. Look at vs. 14-17...

God in His grace towards Moses will send Aaron his brother to accomplish His purposes to go to the people of Israel and speak to the elders and to pharaoh. And then in vs. 18 it says… And at the end of the chapter, we see that Moses and Aaron obey and they go to deliver God’s message to the people of Israel. And everything God has promised comes to pass just like He said it would.

God will accomplish His purposes and His plans. Nothing or no one can stop that. As the great I AM, God’s mission and His purposes are the priority for God. And in His grace, He has called us and given us the privilege to be a part of that. But it all goes back to what we said before, as the great I AM, God is at the center. His will will be done. And what’s amazing to me is that at the end of chap. 4, after 400 years of darkness and bondage and slavery in Egypt. After 400 years of God’s people crying out to Him. God speaks to His people through His messengers and the people worship Him.

And this is where the entire story has been headed. The moment when suffering people who have been in the darkness discover that God, the great I AM, is about to provide deliverance and rescue.

And this is what God does for us as well. He accomplishes the purposes He has promised. Not because of us but in spite of us. Because He is the self sufficient, ever present, eternally faithful great I AM.

Closing

And this is the message of Exodus 3-4 for everyone in a dark season this morning. The darkness you are in is not the end. It may not even be the problem God is primarily concerned with solving right now. The problem God may be most concerned with is your view of Him. Because a small view of God produces a life lived in the shadow of our own limitations — constantly calculating what we can and cannot do, constantly comparing our inadequacy to the size of the calling, constantly retreating to the backside of the desert because the mission looks too big and we look too small. But a right view of God understands that the great I AM is self-sufficient, ever-present, all-powerful, and already at work ahead of you. Remember this morning, God is the great I AM and because of that:

He meets us where we are.

He calls us to Himself.

He reveals the power of who He is.

And He accomplishes the purposes He has promises.