It is the beginning of the end of Egyptian oppression. It is the basis for the call of Moses to return to Egypt as Israel’s deliverer. The burning bush marks the beginning of God’s direct intervention into the affairs of history. This chapter is more than just the account of a life-changing incident in the life of one man however, it is a crucial turning point in the history of the nation Israel. The burning bush of Exodus 3 was one of those life-altering events which happens but a few times in a person’s life. Little did he know that today would be the beginning of a new chapter in his life. In the solitude of the wilderness, Moses perhaps talked to himself and even to his sheep. An occasional viper or wild beast offered the only excitement. He knew all the grazing places and had the exact location of every water hole within many miles etched in his mind. Acts 7:30) Moses’ life had become all too predictable. The leather-skinned shepherd expected nothing out of the ordinary, though he no doubt wished for something different to break the monotony of tending sheep. Let us listen carefully to the voice of God as He speaks to us in these verses. Finally, we shall seek to find the application of this text to our own lives. We shall next turn our attention to those Old and New Testament texts which refer to this incident and guide us in its interpretation. 1-6), and then the revelation of God to Moses as He spoke to him (vss. The message will be structured so that we first consider the appearance of God to Moses in the burning bush (vss. In many ways, the incident of the burning bush is critical to our understanding of God. It is also the basis for all of God’s actions with regard to Egypt and to His people. It is the basis for Moses’ obedience, as well as for the entire nation. In this message we will focus on the revelation of God to Moses, which, I believe, is the basis for all that is to follow. It ends with the beginnings of Moses’ reticence and resistance toward the task which God has given him. It develops with the commissioning of Moses to go back to Egypt and the Pharaoh and to deliver God’s people from their oppression and bondage. 58 It begins with the revelation of God to Moses from the midst of the burning bush. We move from the silence of God over the past 400 years to God’s speaking directly to Moses from the bush, and later on, from the same mountain.Ĭhapter 3 then is a very significant point of transition. From God’s providential dealings in the life of the nation Israel, we move to God’s direct intervention through Moses and the miracles performed by Him. 57From all that we are told, we would hardly expect to see Moses back in Egypt again, and certainly not as God’s deliverer.Ĭhapter 3 introduces a significant change in the drama of the deliverance of God’s people from Egypt. A “chance” meeting with a Midianite priest, who was a distant relative, led to Moses’ settling down, marrying, and having children.
Hence, we are told of Moses’ flight to Midian to escape Pharaoh’s attempts to kill him once again. This identification of Moses with his people led to his visiting the Israelites and the killing of an Egyptian. There came a time, however, when Moses decided to identify himself with his own people, and thus he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. What could well have been the death of Moses became his deliverance, as he was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter and eventually taken into the palace to be raised as her son. Eventually they concede to partially obey, “casting Moses into the Nile” in a woven ark. The parents of this child hide him for three months, refusing to obey Pharaoh’s order. The first chapter ends with the order of Pharaoh to the entire Egyptian population that they must throw the Hebrew boy babies into the Nile.Ĭhapter 2 focuses on one Hebrew boy baby, Moses, who is destined to become the deliverer of the nation. This also failed to accomplish the goal of annihilating the Israelites as a race. When this failed, Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew handmaids to kill all the Israelite boy babies at birth. This began with enslavement and harsh treatment. God’s blessings of the Israelites caused the Egyptians to fear them and to attempt to insure their control over them. In the first chapter of the Book of Exodus, we learned of the cruel oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians.
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