Exodus 3:1–20
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. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “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, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 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. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Word where we see Your mighty deliverance and the way of salvation. By Your Holy Spirit, work in us faith to believe Your Word and bear fruit in keeping with it, and that the fruit remain to eternal life. Amen.
The Lord Delivers His People
Dear Fellow Redeemed,
Moses was a Hebrew raised in the royal courts of Egypt. As an infant, Moses’ birth mother had tried to spare her son from Pharoah’s plan of killing all the young Hebrew boys by setting him into a basket in the Nile River. It so happened that Pharoah’s daughter found Moses in this basket and had pity on the boy. So, Moses, although a Hebrew, was raised in Pharoah’s court, taught by the scribes, and later played a significant role in Pharoah’s army as is reported by Josephus, a great Jewish historian. Yet, as we hear in our lesson, Moses isn’t in Egypt, but in Horeb. And he is now a sheep herder, not an impressive military commander in Pharoah’s forces. While we might think fondly of shepherds, this was a despised position by the Egyptians—the lowest of the low. So, why had Moses left the glory of the palace to the lowly life of a shepherd?
Moses had to flee Egypt because one day, when he witnessed an Egyptian taskmaster beating an Israelite, he killed the Egyptian and hid the body. However, the body must have been found or the event witnessed, because the next day when he witnessed two Hebrew’s arguing and asked what the problem was, one said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exodus 2:14). When Moses knew that this event was known, he feared Pharoah and fled to the land of Midian. There he married one of the daughters of the Priest of Midian and became a shepherd.
Nearly forty years later, when Moses was herding sheep near Sinai, the mountain of the Lord, he saw a bush that was burning but not consumed. We expect a bush on fire to break down rather than seeing the leafy branches stay green and unaffected. This was something miraculous! And then on top of this, a voice called from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” How would you respond to a bush calling your name? Moses was certainly puzzled when the voice continued, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground…I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses had a face-to-face encounter with the living God who declared himself to be I Am Who I Am, the One who always was and will be, the great I Am God.
The almighty God was calling Moses to be the liberator of his people. The Lord was going to bring his people, the descendants of Abraham to the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and he was going to use Moses to do it. The Lord said, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
It’s amazing to hear God’s concern for the people of Israel. As the Israelites endured the mistreatment from the Pharoah who did not know Joseph, I am sure they wondered where God was. When we go through hardships it can feel as if God isn’t concerned about us and far from helping us. But listen to the tender way in which the Lord announces this news to Moses, “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, and I have come down to deliver them.” I see their pain, I hear their prayers, I know their sufferings, “and I have come down to deliver them.” What a comfort it is to hear God’s loving concern and interest in us human beings.
At this news, Moses is a bit overwhelmed. Who wouldn’t be? God was asking Moses to deliver the people from Pharoah, who was the most powerful emperor in the world. Moses was on the run. He was in exile and serving as a lowly shepherd. You want me to do to this? He says, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” But notice how God replies, “I will be with you…” God doesn’t say, “Oh, you will do just fine! You’re the man for the job.” He doesn’t say anything of the sort. Instead, he says you can be confident, because you have my Word. I will be with you.
There is a common phrase that we hear in our culture which says, “You are enough.” Perhaps the intention is good, but it is not Christian. Because we are not enough. We fall short of the glory of God. This idea ultimately leads to idolatry because we are looking to ourselves as the answer. Moses doubted, because he first thought, “How can I do this?” He was focused on himself. Our society promotes us to find the ability from within, but this is where doubt creeps in. We see the tasks that are before us, the vocations to which we have been called, and we can become overwhelmed. “Who am I to do this?” How am I going to take care of myself in my old age? How can I provide for my family with all the rising costs? How can I make sure that my children remain faithful? Christianity seems to be on the decline, how can I make sure the church grows and continues here on earth? When it comes to our life, our faith, or this church on earth, we can get quite worried and distressed when we think we are the one’s doing it—that it is all dependent on you. But the greatest problem with worry and doubt is that you are putting your fear, love, and trust in something other than God. It might be money. It might also be yourself. But if you put fear, love, or trust in anything but God, you are committing idolatry.
It’s interesting that God didn’t call Moses all those years ago, when he was in his prime of life and in the glory of Egypt. He called him when he was eighty years old and living as a lowly shepherd. He called Moses to deliver his people, when he had been so humbled. God often needs to humble us, so that we learn to rely on his power and goodness, not our own. The Lord makes it clear that we should be confident because he is with us. He is the one working in us and through us. When we know this, there is no task too great—because there is nothing too great for God. Notice how the Lord responds to Moses doubt, he says, “I will certainly be with you.” The great I AM is with you. The One who gave his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The One who protected them from enemies and kings and blessed them in a foreign land. The One who brought life to the barren wombs. I will be with you.
The Lord would deliver the people of Israel from Pharoah. Yet, this points to a greater deliverance when Christ came to deliver all people from all time from all sin. This task was so great, that God could use no ordinary man save. To save us from sin and death, it took God’s own Son.
The burning bush points us to Jesus and his human and divine natures. The voice from the burning bush said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… I AM Who I Am.” Here we are reminded that Jesus is very God of very God, the only begotten of the Father from all eternity. Jesus said to the Jews, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am” (John 8:58). Jesus is the I Am God who called and spoke to Moses from the burning bush. Jesus divine’ nature, his consuming greatness, was seen in the flames of the bush.
At the same time the bush remained green and alive. This is a picture of Jesus’ human nature. He is a fine green bush as Isaiah spoke of him, a branch growing out of the root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). Jesus became man, providing a new green branch for humanity, hope for a dead and dying world. The fact that the bush kept on burning but was not consumed reminds us that the two natures of Jesus remain forever whole and united. Jesus is God and man in one person.
But why was our Savior both God and man? It was for the purpose of our salvation. If Jesus was only God, he could not take our place under the law. Only a man could die in our place for sin. God cannot die. Yet, if Jesus was only a man, he could only benefit himself and not the whole world. Therefore, our Savior had to be God so that his holy life and death would have infinite value for all people. As God and man, Jesus lived a holy and perfect life in our place and shed his blood on the cross to blot out all our sin.
On our own, we would never be enough. But in Jesus, you are more than enough. You are redeemed. You are forgiven. He has called you to be his own in Baptism. You are a child of God. All your sins, your shortcomings, and your worry and doubt, have been laid on him. When you confess your sins, they are forgiven and forgotten by God. What’s more, Jesus’ holy life is a comfort for every one of us. Where you and I have fallen short, Jesus lived perfectly. Instead of worrying, he trusted in God and relied on the word for you.
In this life, we are so often tempted to look for help from within—dig deeper, you might say. But our Lord Jesus would have us look to him for comfort, strength, and hope. He encourages us as he encouraged Moses. Jesus promised, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Jesus is with us and for us. He reminds you of this every time you hear the words of absolution. He assures you of his love and forgiveness every time he gives you his body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sins. And he invites you to come to him with all your worries and burdens, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
We have God’s word and his promises. We have the history of God’s people, where we see how God keeps his promises. God’s plan to save Israel was keeping with his promise to save all people and that includes you. We have thousands of years of history, and it is all proof for you and for me that God intended to save us. Our challenges and trials are never too big, when we remember that this is our God. He sees and hear our troubles. He delivers his people. And he is with you through all of it. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Amen.