Session 8: Exodus 3

Session 8: Exodus 3

Summarize:

1. Moses is tending his father-in-law’s flocks when God reveals Himself to Moses(1-6)

(See Theophany)

1. Moses is faithfully attending to His responsibilities(1)
2. God reveals something extraordinary in the ordinary(2)
3. Moses stops and takes the time to pursue God’s revelation(3)
4. God calls to Moses and reveals who He is(4-6)

2. God appoints Moses as His prophet(7-12)

1. God tells Moses He has seen and heard the suffering of His people and will rescue them(7-9)
2. God commissions Moses to speak on His behalf and promises His presence to Moses(10-12)

3. God reveals His plan to Moses(13-22)

1. Moses expresses his fear about his authority(13)
2. God confers His authority by giving Moses His name(14-15)
3. God tells Moses exactly what to do and what will happen(16-22)

Analyze:

1. What was Moses doing when God revealed Himself to Moses? (1-6)

Read Deuteronomy 5:32-33, 11:13, 1 Samuel 12:24

1. People often ask, “What is God’s will for me?” But while asking that question are immobilized and miss out on living out what God has already commanded them to do.  What do these passages tell us about how we are to live while seeking God’s will? How do these passages affect your understanding of who makes the decisions in your life?
2. How does the way you “seek God’s will” clash with these passages?

People often forget that God is our master and when we “seek God’s will” we aren’t so much seeking God’s will as much as we are seeking God’s approval and confirmation for what we want to do.

3. What extraordinary sight caused Moses to turn aside and investigate?

Read Psalms 139:1-7, Hebrews 12:1-3

4. When God reveals Himself to you what busyness or distractions keep you from turning aside to investigate?
5. How did Moses respond to God calling out to Him? What are some things in your life that would keep you from responding to God calling to you? (Ezra 9:6, 1 Jn 1:9, 2 Cor 10:4-5, Heb 10:22)

God tells Moses he is standing on holy ground, however, it’s not the ground itself that was holy.  The presence of God is what made the ground Moses was standing on holy. In the presence of God His holiness exposes our sin and we may be tempted to run in shame like Adam  and Eve in the garden.  But when we come before God with humility we receive the same grace God showed in the garden as He covers and removes our guilt and shame with the blood of His Son Jesus.

2. Why does God say He is going to rescue His people?(7-12) (Genesis 15:13-16)

1. How does Exodus 3 and Gen 15 help you understand the Sovereignty of God? (sovereignty=absolute power and authority)
2. What reason did God give for placing the Israelites in Egypt?(Gen 15)  What does this teach you about God’s patience and grace? (2 Peter 3:9, Rom 9:22-24)
3. What do you learn about prayer and God hearing the cries of His people?(Ps 66:17-20, Pr 15:29, 1 Pet 5:7)
4. Why has God called Moses?(10)  How does Moses respond to God’s call? How does God reply? (Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8)
5. What do the above passages tell us about what God has called us to do? What are some of the excuses or fears we express about obeying God? How do Matt 28 and Acts 1 tell you how God responds to our fears?

God calls Moses to be His prophet. A prophet is simply a messenger or the way God says it in Exodus 4, a mouthpiece.  Just like Moses, Christ followers are the mouthpieces of God and called to speak the words God has given us in Jesus Christ.  The good news of rescue and salvation that come to all that call on the name of the Lord.  This gives us a new understanding of what Joel, the mouthpiece of God says, “Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions”(Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17)

3. Why was it important to Moses to know the name of God? (13-22)

The Israelites have been living in Egypt, a land with many gods, for over 400 years! In many ways parts of their cultural identity had become diminished and even lost as they integrated into Egyptian society.  The Israelites needed to be reminded of who THE GOD of their fathers was and the covenant He’d made to the Patriarchs. All knowledge of God is knowledge that God has chosen to disclose so revealing His Name is a personal revelation of who God is.

1. How does God’s response qualify or add to a person’s understanding of knowing God as the God of their fathers? How does God’s personal disclosure to Moses affect how you understand what You know about God?
2. How has God revealed Himself to You in His Word and how does that add to the testimonies you hear about other’s experience/relationship with God?  Are you dependent on other’s experience of God that you miss out on the opportunity to know God personally and intimately?
3. What does God tell Moses to say to the elders? (16-17)

Milk and honey were expensive and rare items.  In ancient cultures milk and honey were considered the food of the god’s.  When God tells the Israelites He will lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey God is communicating that He is leading them to a land fit for the gods.  However God prefaces this statement by telling the Israelites that the land He is leading them  to is filled with many great and hostile nations.

4. Why does God say he will perform many miracles in Egypt? God tells Moses how difficult things will be before they get to leave and plunder the Egyptians without raising a finger. However it doesn’t make walking through those hard times any easier, Moses still needed to walk in faith.

Read Matt 28:20, Jn 14:1-4,27; 2 Cor 4:17, 1 Pet 4:12-13, Lk 6:40

5. What are some hard things God tells us to prepare for and what are some of His promises?

Contextualize

1. God reveals Himself in ordinary things
2. God equips and empowers those He calls
3. God goes before His children and leads them on His path

Actualize:

Write down all the fears, doubts, and excuses you have for not being an intentional witness for Christ. Make another list of all the people you know that don’t know Christ.  Surrender both lists to God.  (Exercise suggestion: burn the list of excuses and keep the list of lost people somewhere you will see it everyday)