Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: Moses in Culture

Well good morning Forest Glen, it’s good to be with you all!

My name’s Dan Osborn, for those of you I haven’t met, and I serve as one of the Pastors at Park’s Near North location!

Well good morning Forest Glen, it’s good to be with you all!

My name’s Dan Osborn, for those of you I haven’t met, and I serve as one of the Pastors at Park’s Near North location!

If you’ve got a bible with you, open with me to the book of Exodus…chapter 3. It is the second book of the bible…if you grabbed one of the house bibles it’s on page 46.

If you need a bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll get one to you. .

We’re continuing in our series this morning called Great Stories and seeing how all of these stories from the Old Testament point to the greater story of Jesus and the Gospel.

This morning we’re looking at the story of one the most important people in the Bible—Moses.

Let me show you a picture of what historians believe Moses looked [SLIDE].

But in all seriousness, the story of Moses is still a very popular one!

There have been three major movies that have come out telling the story of Moses.

The 10 Commandments came out in 1956 and in it’s day it had the an AMAZING cast…and was such a popular movie that ever year since 1973 (with the exception of 1999), the 4 hour movie has been shown on Easter weekend with millions of views and is always the most viewed program that weekend.

In 1998, DreamWorks released The Prince of Egypt—Roger Ebert, the celebrated film critic said it was one of the best animated films ever made…and will actually come to broad way later this year.

Exodus: Gods and Kings…which did not do as well but still attracted an All-Star cast and directing crew.

And so I think all this says that even today, as a culture, we’re still fascinated with the story of Moses and the Exodus!

Even if you don’t believe the story actually happened, you still have to admit that this is an incredible piece of literature that millions and millions of people have been able to closely identify with!

Broadly speaking it’s a beautiful story of deliverance as God brings the Israelites out slavery…it shows us picture of God who is compassionate, and one who not only sees suffering, but does something about it…

This morning, we are gonna be focusing in on Moses’ origin story…Your might be familiar with it…the story of how God appears to Moses through burning bush…they have a conversation and God tells Moses exactly what to do next.

I’ll tell the whole story in a moment, but for now…before we get started, let me throw out a question I want you to think about as I tell this story…would you want your own “Burning Bush” experience with God?

What would it even be like to have that kind of candid conversation with God Himself.

What would he say?

What would YOU say?

Would you want to have your own burning bush experience with God?

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to .

Let me pray and we'll get started.

Pray

Story

Context

Now let me just catch us up to speed real quick on what’s happened already.

Exodus picks up where the book of Genesis left off…only there is about a 400 year gap.

There's a regime change and a new King—or Pharaoh—came to power in Egypt who saw the Israelites living there as a threat because they’ve grown into a massive portion of the population!

So this new Pharaoh decides he needs to do something about the Israelites.

And his solution is to enslave them and use them for forced labor.

And when that doesn’t seem to stop the growth of the Israelite population, Pharaoh declares all the male babies should be killed.

But when Moses is born, his mother hides him for a while, and then when she can’t do it any longer she put him in a basket and floated him down the river.

God is already showing up in his story because the basket makes it’s way to Pharaoh’s palace, where Pharaoh’s daughter finds him, adopts him, and raises him as an Egyptian prince.

Now, Moses knows his story…that he actually is an Israelite.

And he starts looking for ways to use his influence to help his people.

One day, he sees an Egyptian overseers beating an Israelite slave, he goes over to there, and kills the Egyptian.

It’s not long before Pharaoh finds out…he looks for Moses to kill him…and Moses flees the country.

So is Moses, an Israelites who’s been essentially raised as an Egyptian prince, but now a refugee.

The Story

And this is where our story pick up.

Look with me at chapter 3, starting at v. 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.”

Let me show you a map of where this is [SLIDE].

Midian is circled in red, and he took his flocks near where the blue star is.

The point is, Moses is just trying to lay low.

He’s got a pretty good thing going here…married with kids, a steady job, and at this point he’s about 80 years, just waiting out the rest of his life.

Moses Meets God

And so as Moses is going along, just doing his thing, he notices something out of the corner of his eye…a bush was on fire.

And so he’s intrigued…just like any one of us would be…but as he begins to make his way over to the bush…the bush starts talking to him.

“Moses, Moses…Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you’re standing is Holy ground.”

Let me just say it…this is a little odd, I know.

All over the bible God uses interesting ways to get the attention of His people…it’s what he does.

So here, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush.

God has a Plan (pt 1)

And in this conversation, God begins to tell Moses what’s about to happen.

Look with me at v. 7, “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…”

In the original language of Hebrew, this word for know is the word ידע which is a very intimate form of knowledge…it’s the difference between being aware of something and then actually being affected by it!

And he says he knows their suffering..It means He’s not been blind to it…He hears their cries…It’s actually a very affectionate picture of God, isn’t it?

And because God knows…in v. 8, he tells Moses, “I have come down to deliver them…” He says he’s going to take them out of slavery and bring them into a new homeland.

Here’s what we really need to see [SLIDE]…God is concerned—‘I’ve seen their affliction, heard their cries, and know their sufferings…’ AND He’s compelled to do something!

He says, ‘I’ve come down to deliver them!’

He is both…concerned AND compelled!

God doesn’t just stop with knowing about what’s going on, he’s compelled to do something about what’s going.

This is the picture we see of God here…he is concerned AND compelled…if there is anything we walk away thinking about God this morning, I want to be this: He is concerned AND compelled!

And so in this burning bush experience Moses has, he is listening intently to whatever God says he’s going to do next.

And here’s where the story really get’s interesting.

God says again He’s heard the cry of the people and seen their suffering…and it moves towards this climactic moment…Look with me what he says to Moses in v. 10, “Come, I will send YOU to Pharaoh…so that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

That is drastically different from what God said the first time!

See in v. 8, God says HE has come to deliver…v.

10, God says he’s sending MOSES to deliver…This is NOT what Moses was expecting.

And this is a problem for Moses.

See Egypt was the global super-power at the time.

And God is sending Moses to the most powerful individual alive…Pharaoh to demand that he free his entire work force…and then lead hundreds of thousands of people through the desert into a new country…where people already live and don’t have ANY intention on leaving or sharing!

This is what he’s calling Moses to do!

Needles to say, Moses has a couple questions about this and the rest of the story is the back and forth conversation as Moses says 5 times, I’m not the guy for this!

Let’s look at these questions Moses has.

The Humble Objection (11-12)

The first things Moses says is, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh?” That’s a fair question, right?

Remember the first part of Moses’ story…the only reason he’s in the desert to begin with is because he’s a fugitive…Pharaoh wants Him dead…And so Moses says, ‘Why me’?

I’m not important enough!

It’s a death sentence to go back there.

And God simply says, “I will be with you”.

And when you think about it, that’s an interesting response…God doesn’t tell Moses not to worry…he doesn't tell him it will be easy…in fact later on in the story God will say that nothing Moses does any way will work…but in v. 12, God simply says, ‘I will be with you’.

But Moses has another question.

The Real Objection 1 + Divine Name (13-15)

He says, “Okay…Say I go back to the Israelites…and tell them ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’…I can’t just tell them, ‘the bush told me to do this…I’ve gotta give ‘em a little more then that…they’re gonna ask, “What’s the name of the God of our Fathers?”

So his question is, God, ‘What is your name?

This is a phenomenally important question for Moses to ask…and we don’t pick up on that in our culture because to ask someones name is just a way to figure out what to call them, right?

We don’t have a lot meaning attached to our names in western culture any more.

But that wasn’t true in Moses’ day…names were loaded with meaning and very intentional and to ask someones name was actually a way to to get to know them…their name told you about who they were!

And so Moses is not just asking what to call God, but really asking what He’s like?

Look with me at v. 14, “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’

This is one of the most important points in the entire bible because it is the first time that God actually reveals this about himself!

And so what does this name mean?

‘I AM WHO I AM’…another way to translate this is, “I WILL BE who I WILL BE”

For Him to say that He is ultimately self-sufficient and independent.