Exodus 3-The Lord Commissions Moses To Tell Israel That He Will Deliver Them From Their Bondage In Egypt
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday September 25, 2011
Journey Through The Bible Series: Exodus Chapter Three-The Lord Commissions Moses To Tell Israel That He Will Deliver Them From Their Bondage In Egypt
Lesson # 3
Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 3:1.
Exodus chapter three can be divided into five parts: (1) Moses circumstances at the time when the Lord introduced Himself to him (3:1-3). (2) The Lord introduces Himself to Moses and commissions him to tell Israel He will deliver them (3:4-10). (3) Moses asks two questions with regards to his commission (3:11-15). (4) The Lord instructs Moses to tell the Israelite leaders that He will deliver them from Egyptian bondage (3:16-22). (5) Moses makes excuses why he cannot fulfill his commission and the Lord commissions his brother Aaron to speak for him (4:1-17).
Exodus 3:1 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 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a 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 the bush is not burned up.” (NASB95)
This paragraph presents to us the circumstances of Moses at this time in the narrative.
Exodus 3:1 says that he drove his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, which is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exodus 19:10-11 with Deuteronomy 4:10).
Moses identifies Horeb as “the mountain of God” which reflects his view of this mountain after the events that took place there later (cf. 4:27; 18:5; 24:13).
“Horeb” was the location where the Law was given to Moses and Israel (Malachi 4:4; Deuteronomy 4:10) and it was at this place that Israel sinned by worshipping a golden calf (Exodus 33:6).
The exact location of Horeb or Sinai is disputed by scholars.
However, Deuteronomy 1:2 teaches that the mountain is an eleven day journey from Kadesh-Barnea, which tends to support a location in Sinai.
Exodus 3:2 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a 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 the bush is not burned up.” (NASB95)
The fact that the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses is a “theophany,” which is a theological term used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation of the Son of God before His incarnation in Bethlehem (Gen. 32:29-30; Ex. 3:2; 19:18-20; Josh. 5:13-15; Dan. 3:26).
This theophany indicates that Moses was a prophet according to Numbers 12:6.
The Lord chooses to reveal Himself to Moses through fire, which was a symbol of God’s presence as seen later when He descended upon Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18).
Exodus 3:4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, 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.” (NASB95)
The fact that Moses is told to remove his sandals out of reverence because he is own holy ground tells him that He is in the presence of God.
Exodus 3:6 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. (NASB95)
The angel of the Lord identifies Himself as the God who established an unconditional covenant with Abraham and reconfirmed it with his son Isaac and with Isaac’s son Jacob.
“Your father” is an acknowledgment that Moses’ biological father Amram was a believer in the God of the patriarchs.
“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” indicates that Moses is a believer since He does not reveal Himself to unbelievers.
This designation also indicates to the reader that God is about to fulfill His promises to these men to make of them a great nation.
The Lord quotes Exodus 3:6 to teach that God is the God of the living and not the dead (cf. Matthew 22:29-32; Mark 12:26-27).
This identification of Himself by the Lord to Moses also links the promises made to the patriarchs to Moses and the descendants of these men who were in bondage in Egypt, the Israelites.
By the Lord identifying Himself as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” the reader would be aware of the fact that the Lord is about to act upon these promises at this point in the narrative.
Moses’ response to the theophany expresses his awareness of his sinfulness and was an acknowledgement of God’s holiness.
Exodus 3:7 The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8 So I have come down to deliver them from the power 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 Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.” (NASB95)
“The good and spacious land” refers to the land of Canaan and the promise of land to the patriarchs that is a part of the Abrahamic covenant.
In Exodus 3:8, the Lord describes the land of Canaan as “a land flowing with milk and honey” which describes the goodness of God’s provision for His people in Canaan (cf. 3:17; 13:5).
Exodus 3:10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” (NASB95)
This verse records the Lord commissioning Moses to confront Pharaoh in order to bring the nation of Israel out of Egypt.
Exodus 3:11 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?” (NASB95)
This verse is not revealing Moses’ lack of confidence but rather he is speaking to God according to the dictates of his culture.
He is properly and respectfully expressing his humility upon receiving such an important assignment.
His question “who am I?” is not an expression of a lack of confidence or lack of faith.
Rather, his question is expressing his polite acceptance of the honor that God had given him and was not an attempt to decline the honor.
This is indicated by Moses’ statement in verse 13 where he acknowledges that he was in fact going to the citizens of Israel.
However, he delays only because he wants to know what name he should use to identify the Lord when speaking to the Israelites.
Exodus 3:12 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 worship God at this mountain.” (NASB95)
This verse records a fulfillment sign, which means that the Lord is telling Moses that when he and Israel worship Him on the very same mountain which they were conversing on, that this event will confirm that God had sent him.
This sign was fulfilled three months later according to Exodus 19:1.
Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” (NASB95)
This verse indicates that Moses is shrinking from the task given to him by the Lord but rather demonstrates that he has accepted the task.
This is indicated by the fact that if Moses was not willing or was hesitating, he would not have asked the Lord what name he should use to identify Him to the Israelites.
Or he would say to God what he said in Exodus 4:13 that there must be someone better qualified than him.
His question in Exodus 3:13 is an implicit acceptance of the task assigned to him by the Lord.
Why would he ask this question if he was not convinced he could do what God commanded him to do?
He does not ask for himself what name God wants him to use when addressing the Israelites but rather he asks this question in anticipation of the Israelites challenging his assertion that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had sent him.
He asks this question because the designation “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” is not a name but simply describes the relationship of God to these three men.
Therefore, Moses’ question in Exodus 3:13 is simply an attempt by him to have God choose for Himself what name He would like to be identified with when dealing with the Israelites.
Exodus 3:14 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.’” (NASB95)
“I AM WHO I AM” describes God’s existence as eternal.
Exodus 3:15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons 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 this is My memorial-name to all generations.” (NASB95)
“Lord” is the proper noun yhwh (יהוה), which is the personal name of God emphasizing the “immanency” of God meaning that He involves Himself in and concerns Himself with and intervenes in the affairs of men.
Exodus 3:16 “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned 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.”’ (NASB95)
Again, God emphasizes His relationship to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob telling Moses to communicate this when speaking to the Israelite leaders so that they can draw encouragement.
If God fulfilled His promises to their ancestors, He certainly could be counted on to fulfill His promise to them of delivering them from the bondage of Egypt.
God also wants Moses to emphasize His relationship to the patriarchs because His promise to the Israelites to deliver them from Egypt and bring them to the land of Canaan is a fulfillment of the promise He made to the patriarchs.
Exodus 3:18 “They will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, 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 the Lord our God.’” (NASB95)
In His omniscience, God assures Moses of success at convincing the leaders of Israel that he was sent by God and to accompany him in confronting Pharaoh with God’s demands.
God instructs Moses to request that Pharaoh let Israel go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to worship the Lord God, which in the Near East, would be tantamount to making a request to permanently leave Egypt.
People in many Eastern societies prefer to use gentle and restrained ways of making requests instead of coming right out and saying what they want.
Exodus 3:19 “But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. 20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.” (NASB95)
These two verses summarize what God will do to Egypt with the ten plagues.
Exodus 3:21 “I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, 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.” (NASB95)
Not only does God promise to deliver the Israelites from Egypt but He also promises that the Israelites will plunder the Egyptians without the use of military force but as a result of the exertion of God’s power manifested by the ten plagues.