Moses raised two objections in Exodus 3 while speaking with God at the burning bush: Who am I that I should appear before Pharaoh and who will I say sent me? There will be two more specific objections and one “but I don’t want to.” Has anyone thought about the question from yesterday: Exactly who is Moses talking to at the burning bush?
Exodus 4
Moses answered and said “But they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice, for they will say ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”
Continue readingMoses at the burning bush; you have probably heard this story, hopefully you have read the Bible and net just seen the movies. You may have colored pictures of this event in a children’s Sunday School class at some point . Let’s make sure we have read it and not just rely on our head canon. Moses will make a total of five objections after God tells him to appear before Pharaoh and lead his people out of Egypt. We will see the first two in this chapter and get to the others tomorrow.
Below is what I am reading. If you want to know what I look at when preparing to read a chapter of the Bible, it’s the KJV text plus each of these, all at the same time. If you ever want to see a single verse in every English translation there is, Bible Hub is better suited for that.
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My mother uses her cell phone for one thing, and that is to make and receive calls. She has no camera, internet or mp3 player. But let’s be honest, that isn’t how most of us do it. Most of us are downloading music, texting, instant messaging, uploading pics, and some of us still talk once in a while. We do business on the way to work. We listen to audio books while on the treadmill. Nobody does one thing at a time anymore.
Moses sees the burning bush in Exodus 3, and in verse 3 he says “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” Moses was doing his job as a shepherd when the sight of the burning bush got his attention. He then turned aside; he put what he was doing on hold in order to pay attention to this curious sight. He discovers God in the bush, and for the rest of chapter 3 and 4 does nothing but talk and listen to God. Continue reading
God speaks to Moses through the burning bush in Exodus 3. God has heard the cry of the Hebrews slaves, and remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The affliction and time table described in Genesis 15 has been accomplished, and God is ready to lead his people out of Egypt and to the promised land. The only thing standing in the way of Moses leading them is out is… Moses. He goes point/counterpoint with God, listing new objections as God responds to each. Continue reading
I don’t make a habit out of running repeats. Like leftovers in the refrigerator, some old posts keep better than others. This one is still good.
When Moses encounters the burning bush, he asks of God “Who am I, that I should speak to Pharaoh?” That’s a legitimate question. Who am I that I should preach the gospel? Who are any of us? We are those called by God into his service. He calls us, saves us, then equips us to do his work for the Kingdom. Moses was a herdsman, already wanted for murder. David was a shepherd when he was called, and only a child at that. Look at the disciples; blue collar workers at best, rejects and outcasts at their worst. But look at who God calls; every major character in the Bible was tragically flawed in some way. God takes the small, the broken and the unwanted and fixes them up. He then sends us into the world, a world that is fallen and broken. It may look great at times, but we live in a fallen world affected by the curse. God calls little children wrecked by sin into his service, to spread the gospel among all his other little sinwrecked children.
Click here for the original post Who Does God Call? (Sep. 14, 2008)
The Master's Table 