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Summary
We are reminded that God is both transcendent and personal — the holy, self-sufficient ‘I AM’ who nonetheless stoops down to involve himself intimately in the lives of his people. Through Moses’ burning bush encounter and his five reluctant objections, we see that God’s sovereign power, not human strength or eloquence, is what accomplishes deliverance.
Key Lessons:
- God’s holiness encompasses far more than moral purity — it means he is utterly unique, exalted, and set apart in every attribute, from his love to his justice to his power.
- The name ‘I AM WHO I AM’ reveals God’s eternality, immutability, independence, and self-sufficiency, while his covenant name ties him personally to his people as their faithful promise-keeper.
- Moses’ repeated excuses all pointed back to self-reliance, and God’s patient responses consistently redirected Moses away from self and toward trust in God’s presence and provision.
- We are called overcomers — not in our own strength, but as we humbly rely on God by faith, just as Moses had to learn to stop focusing on his own inadequacy and start trusting God’s all-sufficient power.
Application: We are called to stop using past failures, fears, or feelings of inadequacy as excuses to disobey or doubt God. Instead, we must own our weakness, trust God’s promises, and step out in obedience — whether in sharing the gospel, serving in ministry, or resisting temptation — confident that God’s power is made perfect in weakness.
Discussion Questions:
- What past disappointment or failure have you allowed to make you reluctant to obey God, and how does Moses’ story speak to that fear?
- How does a deeper understanding of God’s holiness — his transcendence and his nearness together — change the way you approach prayer and daily obedience?
- In what specific area of your life do you need to stop relying on yourself and instead step out in faith, trusting that God will be ‘with your mouth’ and empower you?
Scripture Focus: Exodus 3:1–4:17 is the central passage, revealing God’s self-disclosure as ‘I AM WHO I AM’ and his commissioning of the reluctant Moses. Acts 7:23–25 provides Stephen’s insight into Moses’ mindset, and 2 Corinthians 12:9 (‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’) ties the passage to the New Testament call to rely on God’s strength rather than our own.
Outline
- Introduction
- Moses: From Bold Deliverer to Reluctant Exile
- God Appears at the Burning Bush
- Observing the Text: Horeb, the Angel, and the Holy Ground
- The Holiness of God
- Terror Before a Holy God
- God’s Transcendence and Nearness
- Moses’ Five Objections
- Objection 1: I Am Nobody
- Objection 2: I Don’t Know Your Name
- The Meaning of ‘I AM WHO I AM’
- Objection 3: They Won’t Believe Me
- Objection 4: I Am Not Eloquent
- Objection 5: Please Send Someone Else
- Why Moses Didn’t Want to Go
- God Is the True Deliverer
- Overcomers by Faith
- Application: Facing Our Own Weakness
Introduction
Good morning.
Welcome back. We continue our new series, Staying the Life and Ministry of Moses. Today we’re looking at God’s call to Moses in the burning bush. Last time we saw how God was protecting Moses and the people of Israel even while God ordained Israel to fall under oppression and enslavement.
Israel has definitely continued to multiply as God foretold to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But what about God’s other promises?
When will God deliver his people and bring them to their land?
We’re going to see the beginning of the answer today in this special calling from Moses and this special revelation about God as the deliverer.
Let me pray and then we will get into our lesson.
Heavenly Father, please open up your word to us. Help us to see you, to behold you in your glory, and to love you. God, help me to be able to explain this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Please take your Bibles and open to Exodus 2. You’ll be right near the beginning of your Bible. If you’re using the Pew Bibles, you’ll be around page 57-58.
Moses: From Bold Deliverer to Reluctant Exile
All right. Last time we were with Moses, he had just started to try to begin a liberation movement for his Hebrew brethren in Egypt. He identifies with them as brethren. You remember that Moses killed an Egyptian who was oppressing an Israelite. And then Moses tried to arbitrate a dispute between two other persons, between two Israelites.
But what was the response to Moses given by his own people?
Okay, I think I heard two answers that are both correct. “Who made you a prince or a judge over us?” And “Are you going to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?”
This was not the reaction that Moses expected. In fact, we made reference to this last week. But listen to what Stephen says about Moses in Acts 7:23-29.
“But when he, that’s Moses, was approaching the age of 40 and entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.”
So this is key. Stephen reveals to us that Moses, already around age 40 when he goes to arbitrate between his two brethren, already sees himself as the Hebrew deliverer. He’s ready to free them and to lead them out of Egypt. I mean, who better to do it? His position in Pharaoh’s household had seemingly set him up perfectly to deliver Israel.
But the words he heard from Israel were the direct opposite of what he expected.
“Who made you our ruler and judge? I don’t accept your authority. I don’t accept your leadership.”
This must have utterly shocked Moses.
Instead of all the Hebrews lining up behind Moses, Moses found himself on the run, rejected by his people. And because his crime had become known, he was no longer able to return to Pharaoh’s household.
“Moses found himself on the run, rejected by his people — yet God protected Moses through this.”
Now, God protected Moses through this, as we saw last time. Even though Moses committed murder, things couldn’t have turned out worse or more differently than Moses expected when Moses felt like he was doing the right thing. He was trying to love and take care of his people.
Have you ever felt similarly based on a disappointment in your life?
You pursued something you thought was God’s will. Something that seemed to line up perfectly with your circumstances, but it completely blew up in your face.
You finally decided to witness to that one family member. You were so afraid. You prayed about it. You finally got the courage. You talked about Christ to that family member, but their response is so hostile that your relationship with that person is now completely ruined.
Or you spent so much time preparing to serve the Lord in a certain career or ministry. You got the training, you got the education, but then something happens in your life and suddenly you can’t pursue it anymore. It all falls through.
Or you prayed, you sought counsel, and you thought that a certain person was the right one for you to pursue in marriage, but when you did, it was a complete fiasco.
And you say, “God, why? What was the point of all that? I was trying to be obedient to you. I went out on a limb for your sake and you left me hanging out to dry.”
And so two words may begin to repeat themselves in your mind after such an experience: “Never again. I don’t ever want to risk that again.”
And so, you become tentative about following the Lord in a certain area.
Well, at the end of Exodus 2, we’re told that Moses settles down in the household of a Midianite named Jethro. He’s also called Reuel. Jethro appears to have been a priest and true follower of Yahweh.
Jethro gives one of his daughters, Zipporah, in marriage to Moses. I got confused about Zipporah last week, but yes, Zipporah is Moses’s wife.
And Moses lives with Jethro and tends his flocks in Midian for 40 years.
So at the age of about 80, after 40 years shepherding in exile, we might ask: Is Moses still the zealous deliverer he used to be? Is he still passionate about seeing his brethren delivered from bondage?
“After 40 years shepherding in exile, is Moses still the zealous deliverer he used to be?”
God Appears at the Burning Bush
Well, let’s find out. Now, let’s turn to Exodus 3. God decides this is the right time to appear to Moses and call him to a special mission. We’re going to read Exodus 3:1-10 together. Follow along with me as I read Exodus 3:1-10.
“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.
The angel of the Lord, [or more literally, the angel of Yahweh] appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When Yahweh 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.” And he said, “Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
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.
Yahweh 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. 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.
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.
Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Observing the Text: Horeb, the Angel, and the Holy Ground
Let’s start our analysis of this passage with some basic observations. We think about a good Bible study method. We’re talking about the inductive Bible study method. You first just observe what’s there in the text. Then you ask questions of interpretation about what’s in the text. And then third, you ask, well, how does this work out in my life? How do I apply the text? Observe, interpret, apply.
We start with observation.
Notice where this scene takes place. Verse 1 says Horeb, the mountain of God. Horeb is just another name for Mount Sinai.
Mount Sinai is going to feature very prominently in the book of Exodus.
Notice who appears to Moses in verse 2. It says the angel of the Lord, or the angel of Yahweh.
Now, if you’ve read along in Genesis before or been part of our previous studies, you hopefully have learned and seen that the angel of Yahweh is God yet distinct from God. Most likely the second person of the Trinity. Even here we can see that this angel is God. Because notice where it says the angel appears in verse 2, it says the angel appears in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush. Yet verse 4 says God called to Moses from the midst of the bush. So they’re set equal to one another.
Now notice why Moses turns aside to check out this bush in verse 3. It’s not normal for a bush to be on fire and yet not burned up, not consumed.
But before Moses can approach too closely, notice that God calls to Moses twice by name in verse 4. And in verse 5, God warns Moses that the place and the very ground of it is holy. Thus, Moses must not approach near. In fact, Moses must remove the sandals from his feet from where he already is.
Then notice how God identifies himself in verse 6 by revealing himself as God, the same God of the patriarchs of Israel. It’s at this announcement that Moses hides his face. Verse 6 says, probably bowing to the ground. And the reason given is notice Moses was afraid to look at God.
So how quickly the situation changes for Moses. He turns aside to look, but now he dares not look.
And notice what God declares to Moses in verses 6 to 9. Five times in verse 6 and in verse 9, God reveals that he knows. of his people’s suffering in Egypt. God has seen it. He has heard it. He is well aware of it. In verse 8, God reveals that now is the time that God himself is going to come down, as it were, to deliver his people and bring them to Canaan.
Now, this is great news. Deliverance for God’s people from bondage in Egypt is here. Reception of the great land and its prosperity and luxury is coming.
But the big surprise comes in verse 10. God says, “Moses, I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring up my people out of Egypt.” What an honor. What a privilege to be commissioned by God to be God’s appointed agent of deliverance.
“What an honor, what a privilege to be commissioned by God to be God’s appointed agent of deliverance.”
And isn’t this what Moses had wanted all along?
How will Moses react to this commission? We’ll see in a moment. But before we move on, let’s take these observations and ask some interpretation questions based on them.
Why was the ground around the bush and even the mountain itself considered holy? What would you say?
Yeah. Because God’s presence was there.
Now, we know theologically that God is omnipresent. He is in every place. Yet, he’s manifesting his presence in a particular place and thus makes it holy. God’s holiness makes the place holy.
“God is manifesting his presence in a particular place and thus makes it holy. God’s holiness makes the place holy.”
The Holiness of God
Okay. But what does it mean for God to be holy?
Yeah. God is above everything. That’s what I believe.
That’s right. So Glenda’s answer—separated from everything, every human being totally set apart from creation, high and lifted up. That’s what makes him holy. That’s a very good answer. Let me explore that a little bit more because often when we think about holiness, even God’s holiness, we just think about righteousness, God’s purity, God’s being totally set apart from sin.
And that is true. God is holy in that sense. But God is also holy in a greater sense.
One of the things I appreciated from my teachers in seminary is the reminder that we always need to be integrating the attributes of God. That is to say, we must not separate them from one another, but realize that they are constantly characterizing each other.
For example, it’s not like God is holy on the one hand and loving on the other. And sometimes these two things are in conflict. Not at all. Rather, God’s holiness is loving and God’s love is holy.
This is what I mean by integrating God’s attributes. We have to separate God’s attributes to help us conceptually because of our human limitation. But God is all his attributes at the same time in one united essence. God is not sometimes loving, sometimes wrathful, sometimes patient, sometimes merciful. No, he is all these at the same time.
Each of these attributes is integrated with each other.
I say that so that we can better appreciate what it means for God to be holy. Glenda was actually well describing this. God is not holy just in that God is free from sin or perfectly righteous, but everything about God is holy and separate.
His love, his mercy, his justice, his power, his sovereignty, his omniscience. God is so unique and different in every one of these qualities.
This is why the Bible often says there is no one like God. He’s in a separate category. He’s utterly special. He is unique.
And this is also why the words of the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” are what they are. If you ever study the lyrics of that song, you’ll see that the song is not really about God’s purity or God’s righteousness. Rather, it’s about God’s specialness, God’s being so set apart, so different and exalted.
“God is in a separate category. He’s utterly special. He is unique.”
We need to keep in mind this broader sense of God’s holiness which includes his purity so that we think rightly about God.
Terror Before a Holy God
Now why was Moses afraid to look at God?
Yeah, Glenda again,
Yes. Glenda says because of Moses’ sinfulness, and he sees how different he is from God. And I think yes, that’s it at its core. But again, from what I was just saying, it’s not just his sinfulness, his impurity, but everything that he is that God isn’t.
God is so glorious and amazing and pure and Moses is not that. He’s so different. He’s so not special compared to God. And especially he is corrupt by sin.
So he cannot even bear to look at God. He is afraid to even look at God and behold Him in his visible glory, the visible splendor of His holiness.
This is man’s fundamental problem, isn’t it? God is holy and we are not. We cannot even look upon God’s glorious essence lest we be burned up, lest we be consumed.
“God is holy and we are not. We cannot even look upon God’s glorious essence lest we be consumed.”
And consider how many other people in the scriptures when seeing or hearing God’s set apart glory are terrified. And give me some examples.
John.
John in the book of Revelation, he says when he sees Jesus in his glory, he falls at his feet like a dead person. And John’s a believer in Jesus, but he’s like, “I can’t take it.” Who else?
Manoah and his wife.
Yeah. Manoah and his wife, Samson’s parents. They have a conversation with the angel of Yahweh. And then they say, “We’re going to die because we just saw God.”
Who else? Judy.
Isaiah. Isaiah very famously in Isaiah 6 where he has that vision of God on his throne and when he sees it he says, “Woe is me, I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips dwelling with a people of unclean lips and yet my eyes have seen Yahweh of hosts.” When speak exactly, yeah, the whole people of Israel in Exodus 20 when God declares the ten commandments. Afterwards they’re like, “That is way too scary for us. Great that God spoke to us, but Moses, please don’t let him do that anymore because if he speaks to us, we will die.”
This is the constant theme in the scriptures. Even Peter in the New Testament, when Jesus has a certain encounter with him—Peter’s fishing on a boat. He’s not even seeing the visible splendor of God, but he’s not able to catch any fish. And then Jesus says, “Well, you do this and you’ll catch it.” As soon as he catches the fish, he looks at Jesus and he says, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Not, “Thank you for the fish. That was really convenient.” It’s “Please don’t kill me. I know that I am so sinful. I am so not you. I don’t even deserve to be in your presence.”
Peter, James, and John right?
So Mike bringing up at the transfiguration, you have this similar experience of terror. Peter doesn’t even know what he’s saying, but they see Jesus being transfigured in glory before him, and they are simultaneously in awe and in terror. So this is the thing with God’s holiness, God’s glory. And we see it in this passage. God clearly is the holy one who reigns in heaven.
God’s Transcendence and Nearness
But God also comes down to earth to appear and speak to Moses.
God even reveals that he is intimately aware of what is going on with his people, and he’s now determined to deliver them by sending Moses.
So what other seemingly contradictory quality of God is put on display in this passage?
He’s so wholly separate and lifted up. Yet he is also relational. He’s near. He’s imminent. He is personable. He is loving.
This is one of the most amazing things about God. He’s transcendent in holiness, yet he’s also near and involved in love.
“God is transcendent in holiness, yet he is also near and involved in love.”
And is this not well illustrated in another place? The first words of the model prayer Jesus gives us as his disciples: “Our Father who is in heaven.”
Our Father—personable, near, relational—who is in heaven, transcendent and separate.
Every time we pray, we are to regard God in our hearts in both of these ways. Every time we speak about him, it should be with both of these qualities in mind.
We see them both on display here in this passage.
The one and only God, the Holy One, appears in this form in a burning bush. He affirms that He knows and cares about what’s going on with the Hebrews. And He commissions Moses to do what Moses had originally desired: to deliver Israel.
But how excited is Moses about this?
Moses’ Five Objections
Not terribly. We’re now going to read the next section, and we’re going to do it in parts. Exodus 3:11 to 4:17. Moses is going to offer five objections to being God’s deliverer.
Now, these objections sound like they’re just innocent questions at first, but what’s really going on is revealed in the final objection that Moses gives in Exodus 4:13. Jump over there for a moment.
Exodus 4:13, Moses says, or the verse reads, “But he said, ‘Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever you will.’” Now, that’s the New American Standard 95 translation. And reading it, that doesn’t sound like a bad thing for Moses to say to God. God, whoever you want to send, send him.
But look at the next verse. Verse 14.
Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Moses.
Why did God get angry at Moses? Well, it’s because of what Moses was really saying by using those words. And the ESV translation is a little bit more helpful in getting the sense. Exodus 4:13 is: he said, “Oh my Lord, please send someone else.” That’s really what he’s saying. Send whomever you will, just not me.
Hey, Moses, how can you say that?
We’ll come back to that question. But seeing Exodus 4:13 helps us to see that Moses is already not wanting to take part when he starts asking God questions in Exodus 3:11 and following.
“‘Oh my Lord, please send someone else.’ That’s really what Moses is saying.”
Now, this is a lot of text. We don’t have time to read or observe everything here. Instead, we’re just going to focus on what each question is that Moses raises to God and then how God answers.
We’re going to try and observe both of those things. What is Moses’s objection? And then what provisions and assurances does God give in response?
Objection 1: I Am Nobody
We start with Moses’ first objection in Exodus 3:11-12.
“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?” 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.””
What is Moses’ first objection?
You can’t send me because..?,
I think it has something to do with that. Mike, “been there, done that.”
But what’s the objection, Eric?
Pharaoh is Pharaoh, I’m a nobody.
Yeah.
His objection is, I’m not significant enough to go. I’m not great enough. I’m not important enough. I’m nobody special. And notice God’s response to Moses. Yes, you are, Moses. You’re really special. Have some self-esteem.
Is that what God says to Moses? No, that’s not what He says. Instead, God says, “But Moses, I will be with you.” Not about you, Moses. Not about your specialness or stature. It’s about me.
“‘I will be with you.’ It’s not about you, Moses. It’s not about your specialness. It’s about me.”
God also gives Moses a sign. I promise you, Moses, one day you will return to this mountain with the people of Israel to worship.
Well, did that set Moses’ heart aright?
Objection 2: I Don’t Know Your Name
Not really, because he has another objection in verses 13 to 22. We will read all of this together, a longer section here. Exodus 3:13-22.
“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?” 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.’ ” God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, 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. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘Yahweh, 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. 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.”’ 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.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. 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. 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. 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.””
Ok, what’s Moses’ second objection to going?
Yeah, Jose.
I think that’s essentially it. Jose says that he’s kind of asking for training. If they ask me who this God is, I won’t be able to explain. Who are you God? I don’t know you. That really is the essence of it. Specifically, he says, if they ask me your name, what do I say?
But he’s basically saying, I won’t know how to explain you and I won’t know how to explain your name.
So this may sound like an odd objection because do the people of Israel not know God’s name? Do they not know who he is? Does Moses not know God’s name?
We can see in previous chapters in Genesis and even earlier in this chapter that people are using God’s name, not just the name God, but they’re using his special name, Yahweh.
So what exactly is this objection all about? You don’t know his name. You’ve been using it. Well, the answer is, as Jose was alluding to, in those days to ask for an explanation of a god’s name was to ask for an explanation about that god, his character, his nature.
It’s like if I were to claim to love and know about great paintings. “I love paintings. I know all about paintings. And then someone comes up and asks me what my favorite painting of Rembrandt is and why.”
If I can’t give a good explanation, then that person can dismiss me as a painting expert. He can’t even explain a painting of Rembrandt.
So Moses seems to have a similar fear here. It’s like Moses is saying, “If I say I’m your special spokesman, your prophet, and they ask me to explain all about you, I won’t know what to say.”
“Moses feared: ‘If I say I’m your special spokesman and they ask me to explain you, I won’t know what to say.’”
The Meaning of ‘I AM WHO I AM’
Then they’ll just dismiss me as a fake.” But notice God’s provisions and assurances in reply. First, God says to Moses, “Here is an explanation that you should give to the people about my name. And it’s in two parts.”
In verse 14, God says, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them I AM sent you.” This is a very important statement in the Old Testament and in the Bible as a fundamental explanation of the name Yahweh.
Yahweh sounds like the Hebrew for “he is.” It sounds just like how you would say “he is” in Hebrew. God says “I am.” His people say “he is” even in just naming God.
Many “I AM” statements appear throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, and they are calling back to this verse—the fundamental explanation of God. To be “I AM” is to be God. To declare fundamentally “I AM” is to say, “I am God.”
But what exactly does “I AM WHO I AM” say about God? What does it express?
Well, without too much thinking, we can see this expresses his eternality and immutability. God has no beginning and no ending. God always is. God also does not change or develop through time. He is at one time who he always is and will be: “I AM WHO I AM.”
Connected to that, we see in this short statement God’s independence and self-sufficiency. God does not describe himself in relation to anything else because God does not need or rely on anyone or anything else.
God has existed eternally before anything was created and has always been perfectly satisfied in himself. “I AM WHO I AM.” Now, sometimes we get the idea that God was lonely and that’s why he had to create, that’s why he had to redeem. No. “I AM WHO I AM.” I was, I am, and I was perfectly satisfied in myself. I was enjoying—as we bring in the idea of trinity—I was enjoying union and fellowship with myself. I was not in need. “I AM WHO I AM.”
Certainly, this name emphasizes God’s holiness and God’s transcendence. There’s no one like this. There’s no one who could say “I AM WHO I AM” in the sense that God does.
But notice this is only the first part of the explanation of God’s name. God in verse 15 gives a second part. He says, “I am Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Why add the second part?
Well, God wants his special name associated with his covenant relationship with the forefathers of Israel. Thus, the name Yahweh—”he is”—not only points to God’s transcendence, but also His nearness, His love, and His faithfulness.
God is not just transcendent; he is also personal. So, when God says, “I AM WHO I AM,” He says “I don’t change in covenant. When I have made promises to you, when I have set my heart on you to bless you, I will because I do not change. Nothing can affect me. I am independent. I am eternal. I am the faithful covenant-keeping God. Even with you, Israel, even with all you who are grafted into Abraham.
“When God says, ‘I AM WHO I AM,’ he says: I don’t change in covenant. When I have made promises to you, I will because I do not change.”
God wants both aspects of his name communicated by Moses to the people of Israel. In fact, God says he wants this name and its explanation remembered forever. “It’s my memorial name to all generations,” which is why it appears in our Bibles, which is why we’re talking about it.
So God has dealt with Moses’s worry about God’s name pretty well. But notice there are other assurances that God gives here. In verse 18, God promises that the Israelites will listen to Moses. In verses 19 to 22, God promises that Pharaoh would not listen at first so that God may strike Egypt and cause Israel to plunder the Egyptians, but then Pharaoh will listen.
Okay. Moses satisfied now?
Objection 3: They Won’t Believe Me
No. He’s got another objection. Let’s now read Exodus 4:1-9.
“Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, Yahweh has not appeared to you.” Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground. And it became a serpent. And Moses fled from it.
But Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand, that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Yahweh furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.
And He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again. And when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.
If they will not believe you or heed you, heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. But if they will not believe even these two signs, or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. And the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
What’s Moses’ third objection to God? They won’t believe me. Sounds great, God. You give me all the words to say, but they’re just not going to believe me.
Now, this is odd because God just said the people would listen to Moses. They will believe you, though Pharaoh won’t at first. But notice God’s provision in response. God gives Moses three miraculous signs to perform.
Verses 2 to 5, your staff will turn into a snake and then back again. Verses 6 to 8, your hand will turn leprous and then back again. And then verse 9, your pouring of Nile water on the ground will cause the water to turn to blood on the ground.
God says if they won’t believe the first sign, I’ve given you two more just in case. Three miraculous signs. These are obvious miraculous signs.
“God says, ‘If they won’t believe the first sign, I’ve given you two more just in case.’ Three miraculous signs.”
Surely you are good now, Moses.
Objection 4: I Am Not Eloquent
No, there’s another objection. There’s a fourth objection in verses 10 to 12.
I’ll read those now.
“Then Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Yahweh said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to say.””
What’s Moses’ fourth objection?
Not just that he won’t know what to say, but he’s not a good speaker. “God, I’m just not a good speaker. I’ve never been eloquent, actually, and I’m still not.”
Now, why is this an especially odd objection for Moses to make?
Oh, Danny,
Yeah, we would expect that being brought up in the royal household serving as a prince of Pharaoh, he probably was trained in rhetoric, so he could probably speak better than most people.
Not only that, but why else is this an odd objection?
Judy,
Okay, he is laying out an argument with God. So he’s using his mouth right there. He’s expressing some degree of eloquence. There’s that, too. But he’s going to end up being sent by God. He’s going to end up delivering Israel. He’s going to end up writing the Torah. He’s going to be talking a lot. And how does he do? He proves himself quite eloquent, quite able to speak, and quite a teacher.
So this doesn’t seem to be a real objection. This just seems to be Moses’ fear.
But again, notice God doesn’t go the route of trying to build Moses up. “Oh, Moses, don’t you remember all those public speaking classes you took at the palace? Moses, just wait to hear some of the prayers you’re going to pray to intercede on behalf of Israel. Believe me, you’ve got the stuff!”
No… How does God assure Moses?
Kind of like in the first objection, verse 11: Moses, I am the creator. I know how to provide for created parts like the mouth. And also verse 12: “I, even I, will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”
What a promise. Moses, God says, I’m going to empower you to speak. So stop worrying about it.
“‘I, even I, will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.’ Moses, God says, I’m going to empower you to speak.”
By the way, does that sound like anything in the New Testament?
Okay, so Mark is talking about Moses thrown in the flesh and how he says it’s actually God’s grace and weakness that displays God’s strength. And also, in Corinthians where he talks about how he didn’t come with eloquent speech. He came in the power of the Spirit so people learn not to rely on man’s wisdom but on God. We certainly see that.
But more directly, is there any statement in the New Testament that talks about worrying about what you’re going to say?
Right? When Jesus was commissioning His disciples, He said, “They’re going to haul you into the courts and they’re going to put you on trial.”
“Don’t worry what to say. Why? Because I will give it to you when you need it. In that hour, the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say.” That’s a relevant assurance to us.
Objection 5: Please Send Someone Else
Surely now after four objections, Moses has been assured enough to obey and go. But no, the final objection appears in verses 13 to 17.
“But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever you will.” Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently, and moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you.
When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I, even I will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people, and he will be as a mouth for you, and you will be as God to him. You shall take in your hand this staff with which you shall perform the signs.”
We’ve already seen this final objection: “I don’t want to go! Please send someone else!”
Notice this is the first time in this whole conversation it says the anger of Yahweh burned against Moses. But it’s kind of amazing. It’s amazing that Yahweh didn’t get angry before, especially because Yahweh knows what’s going on in Moses’s heart even as he raises each one of these objections.
It’s also amazing that God Yahweh doesn’t take Moses up on his suggestion. “What if Moses, you’re right? You’re being a big pain and I’m tired of dealing with your lack of faith. I’m going to set you aside. Maybe I’ll even destroy you and I’ll just work with someone else.”
It’s not what God does. Notice that even here, God gives Moses a gracious provision, though Yahweh insists on still using Moses. In verses 14 to 17, Yahweh agrees to have Aaron, Moses’ brother, work with Moses in bringing God’s message to Israel and Pharaoh.
“Even here, God gives Moses a gracious provision, though Yahweh insists on still using Moses.”
Moses will speak to Aaron and Aaron will speak to Israel and to Pharaoh.
And here the conversation ends. The rest of chapter 4 describes how Moses travels with his wife and son back to Egypt and he meets Aaron along the way. They later declare—Moses later declares through Aaron the message of God to the people of Israel.
What is the response? What is the response of the people of Israel at this time? Do they reject Moses as before, as Moses is so fearful of experiencing?
Well, look at Exodus 4:31.
“So the people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh was concerned about the sons of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed low and worshiped.”
It happened exactly as Yahweh said it would. What were you so worried about, Moses?
Why Moses Didn’t Want to Go
All right, having seen this entire burning bush narrative, let’s step back and ask a few more interpretation questions.
First one we broached a little bit last time: Why didn’t Moses want to be God’s deliverer?
What do you think?
Glenda?
All the excuses Moses is making.
Remember when he killed the Egyptian and heard about this and fled in the desert? Could it be all of these excuses? Why are you sending me back to that?
But I believe he’s afraid to go back.
That’s a good point, Glenda. You’re talking about how he was basically there was a warrant out for his arrest for murder. The Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was trying to kill Moses. So Moses would be fearful of going back to that Pharaoh.
Ultimately, the answer for why Moses doesn’t want to go is fear. Or we could just say it more simply, it’s a lack of faith. He doesn’t believe God and doesn’t believe that God will accomplish what God says he will.
The essence of Moses’ objections, you may notice, they keep pointing back to self. He really is tempted to rely on himself. He wants to rely on himself instead of God.
But likely Moses’ hesitancy and fear stems largely because of his previous failure to deliver Israel from Egypt. Moses is so afraid of a repeat failure that even with strong assurances from God to the contrary, Moses is very slow to believe and obey God. Still too focused on himself.
But I think Glenda, you’re right too that the anticipation of maybe that Pharaoh was still around and he might still be out for my life.
What were you going to say, Pastor Mark?
So I love how you said that because I think both in his presumption that he was the savior and his thought that he couldn’t be both were focused on self.
Yeah, good point.
Mike, something else?
Really what we all suffer from, before being born again. Moses had Egypt in him. He had himself and he had to die to that. He had to crucify that and come to God.
Yeah. You’re right, Mike. So let me repeat both comments just in case it didn’t get on the recording. Pastor Mark talked about how when Moses was presumptuous to be deliverer, he was really focused on self. And when he was assuming that he couldn’t be the deliverer, he was focused on self. That was the problem in both instances.
And then Mike, you were connecting that to what it really is like to be a human being before salvation where we’ve got Egypt in us like Moses did, where we’re focused on self. We don’t rely on the power of God and we’re really more about securing our own glory than God’s glory.
It’s amazing the righteous things you can do for God which are really about you. And that’s not just true of people who don’t know God. It can be true of people who do know God. We can easily be entangled into that way of thinking and living.
“It’s amazing the righteous things you can do for God which are really about you.”
Now, what attributes of God are put on display in this passage besides the one that we already looked at in the name Yahweh? What are some things that you notice from this exchange?
Yeah. The Lord’s patience and compassion. It’s only when Moses objects a fifth time and basically rejects God’s calling that God gets angry with Moses. And even then, he does not deal unkindly with Moses.
What else?
That’s right. Mike bringing out God’s power and sovereignty. He’s completely in control of all the future circumstances. And he will bring to pass his promises to Moses. He will do miracles. He’s promised plagues on Egypt. He’s shown little miracles that Moses can do himself on God’s behalf. This is God’s power. This is his sovereignty on display.
And we can also see his faithfulness and covenant love. Yes, this is connected with Yahweh’s name. But God would never forget Israel. He would never forget the promises given to the patriarchs. So God is determined. He makes this very clear to Moses: I am determined to bring deliverance to Israel and I’m going to use you to do it.
God Is the True Deliverer
Okay. Now, one question I always like to bring up when looking at a passage of scripture is: what is the main point of this passage? This was originally written to Israel. We want to know what that original intent is before we think about how we can apply it. What was the main point of Moses writing this?
I believe the main message is that Yahweh, not Moses and not anyone else, is the true deliverer of his people.
Look, Moses is tripping all over himself not to go save Israel. Can any leader look weaker at the start of an epic deliverance than Moses does here?
But the weakness of Moses only underscores the sovereign strength of God. God will still save his people, and God will change Moses in the process to become a faithful leader and man of God.
“The weakness of Moses only underscores the sovereign strength of God.”
Moses must face his own utter weakness, even his pride, so that he can learn to rely on God and seek God’s glory.
Is it not the same for us, brothers and sisters? It is only when we learn to rely on God by faith in our weakness that we can ever find the strength, the courage, and the hope to do what God has called us to do.
This is where in my notes I had what Pastor Mark was referring to earlier. Paul said the same regarding his thorn in the flesh when God refused to remove it. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, he said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Remember, that thorn in the flesh is some sort of affliction, some kind of trouble, some kind of great pain in his life. It wasn’t Paul’s own sin. But God says, “I’m going to put you in this situation where the pressure is so hard, and I’m not going to remove it from you, so that you will learn to rely on my grace and then I will display my power in you.”
So, brothers and sisters, have you faced your own weakness yet? This is even like what we saw in the sermon passage last week with Jesus’s trial and Peter in the courtyard.
Has God shown you that you don’t really have the power to make things happen, both in physical terms and in spiritual terms? You can’t give yourself a job. You can’t make yourself get into that school. You can’t force someone to become saved. You can’t even on your own overcome a sinful temptation.
You must own your own weakness so that you may ask for and receive God’s strength.
You must also learn, as Moses did, that going outside God’s will to bring about something good is not going to work. God may allow it to produce some results temporarily, but that will be despite you rather than because of you. You never need to sin to get what you need or fulfill God’s commanded will. Attempting to do so is counterproductive.
God is the only true deliverer, though he has chosen amazingly to work through us weaklings. We don’t have the strength or wisdom on our own, but if God is with us, and He says He is, then we can do as Psalm 18 says: “We may beat back a whole troop of soldiers and we may leap over a wall,” figuratively speaking.
Overcomers by Faith
You may say, “That sounds wonderful, but how do I tap into that strength from God?” What’s the answer?
Faith. You have to believe. If you believe you have it, you have it because God promised it. But if you don’t believe, you cut yourself off from it and you will have no strength.
Don’t get the impression from this teaching or my other recent teaching that the expectation is that the Christian life is just constant failure, constant reminder that you’re weak, you can’t do it, you’re weak, you can’t do it, just have a nice life of failure.
That is not so. What is the expectation actually in the New Testament when it comes to Christians?
Overcomers.
We are overcomers!
That specific phrase is used multiple times in the New Testament and certainly repeatedly in the first few chapters of Revelation. He who overcomes, boom, this is the reward. He who overcomes, this is what they’re going to receive.
And you say, “Oh, I guess that’s for the super Christians. I’m not really going to do that.” No, no, no. That’s a description of every Christian. Every true Christian is an overcomer.
They still sin. They still fail. But the expectation is progress. Overcoming.
Putting to death the old way of thinking, the old way of living, and putting on the new way of thinking in Jesus Christ and the new way of living in him. That is the expectation.
But how do any of us get there? Not on our own strength, but in Christ’s strength as you humbly learn to rely on him by faith. I found myself doing this every day where I say, “God, here is the task before me. I can’t do it, but God, you said that you’re with me, so I’m going to go to it, and I’m going to trust that you provide.”
I think that’s what we all have to do as Christians. That’s the only way that we can overcome. That’s the only way that we can endure, and that’s the only way that God will use us.
“‘God, here is the task before me. I can’t do it, but you said you’re with me, so I’m going to trust that you provide.’”
So, do you believe that? Do you believe that in Christ, you can overcome?
No matter how you failed in the past, no matter how things blew up in your face before and set that bad experience in your mind, do you believe that through Christ you can still be obedient and overcome? You can do the task set before you. You can resist sinful temptation. You can obey the Lord.
We got to learn the same lesson that God was teaching Moses and through Moses the people of Israel.
In all this, we should come to appreciate once again that God is both transcendent and personal. He is involved in our lives. Even though he’s on his throne above the cherubim in heaven, he’s also near and involved in your life. Yes, every one of you in this room, he’s involved in your life.
He is intimately involved, doing all for your good and his glory if you love Jesus Christ.
Application: Facing Our Own Weakness
All right, these are wonderful truths and hopefully you’re already seeing the application of them. But in our last few minutes, here are a few other application questions for you to consider:
What bad experiences in your life have you used to doubt God or disobey his word?
Those things didn’t happen to you so that God would basically say, “Okay, it’s all right to disobey.” I remember somebody said that to me once in counseling where he said, “Well, I’ve had a lot of really hard things in my life, and so this sin in my life, I feel like it’s God saying, ‘Well, I’ll give you that because of what you’ve suffered.’” No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You need to understand your experience through the lens of God’s word, not through human wisdom and not through your feelings.
God was doing something, but it’s probably something you didn’t expect. Probably something like with Moses: learning, causing you to be humble and rely on him even when you don’t fully understand.
How often do you think about, study, or talk about the attributes of God?
It comes up in Sunday school or it comes up maybe in a Bible study, but it’s really rich. This is not something that we want to sequester ourselves away from. The more you think about God as he actually is, that’s expressed in the Bible, boy, your soul is lifted up.
And it does have a sanctifying effect on your spirit.
How is your lack of understanding or appreciation for who God is tied to your lack of faith? This is something we talked about in Iron Man in my small group this past Thursday.
We talk about, well, where does humility come from? It ultimately comes from an encounter with the truth, an encounter with God. When you see who God really is and what his truth is, it should humble you.
But if you don’t understand God, you don’t get to know him, or you think something untrue about him, well, it’s going to affect your humility and it’s going to affect your faith. How to think rightly about God as he actually is.
And then a direct application here. When thinking about giving the gospel to others, do you think in terms of your own inability with God’s power and promises?
This is the one, right? “Oh, I’m not good at it. I’m not good at talking to people about the gospel. They’ll never listen to me. Oh, they know my past.” All sorts of excuses we give, right? God says, “But I called you to be an ambassador, and I will be with you.
Yeah, you might stumble and make yourself look a little bit silly, but guess what? I’ll still use you. You can’t mess up so badly that you ruin my sovereign purpose.
Rather, go out there and be obedient and see how I might use you.
The most eloquent person in the world can’t win somebody to God. But if you are faithful and you’re stumbling in your words and you can’t recall exactly the verse, God can use your witness to be what draws somebody into the kingdom of God.
“The most eloquent person in the world can’t win somebody to God. But if you are faithful, God can use your witness.”
All right, that’s it for this week. The stage is now set for the showdown between God and Pharaoh. Next time, God sends the plagues on Egypt and its wannabe god.
Let’s close in prayer.
Heavenly Father, it’s interesting what you’ve chosen to do with us in our lives. As others have pointed out, when we get saved, when you draw us into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ by faith, you don’t entirely sanctify us. You don’t say, “Now you will never struggle with temptation again. Now you will have perfect faith. Now you will have perfect understanding and you will never sin.” That is not what you do.
We might wonder why. I mean, you love holiness. You love obedience. Why wouldn’t you just force that?
But I believe God, as others said, it’s so you can cultivate that spirit of humility in us, that spirit of reverent reliance and love for you. Yes, God, we are overcomers. We can make progress. We never need to submit to a sinful temptation again.
But the danger we have toward pride, the danger we have toward self-reliance. If you did not allow us even in our sinning against you to be humbled, then in a sense, we wouldn’t be prepared for your heavenly kingdom the way that we ought to be.
So God, cause us to learn the lesson that you were teaching Moses, that you were teaching Israel. Help us, God, to be humble before you so that you may exalt us. Show us, God, our absolute inability in ourselves, in our weakness and sinfulness, but your full ability.
Not so we can say, “Oh, I’m so bad, but God is so good.” But we can say God has enabled me to overcome and he can use—he is using even me to advance his kingdom. God, let that be true for every person here, for me and for the other pastors and for the deacons here and their wives.
Let us, God, be so delighted that you would use us as clay pots, but give yourself all the glory. Do that today. We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.