Exodus - God Hears the Cries: Week 2
Opening Prayer:
Lord God,
You are the God who calls. You call us to be Your own, and You call us to be Your holy, loving people.
You call us to call people, to call the nations, to call the world back to You.
Spur us on, Lord. May we not wait, may we move and act for the people of Your world now.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Key Scriptures:
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Exodus 3:1-12
Sermon Summary:
Moses was called by God through the miracle of the burning bush. This famous episode tells us several things about God’s call, the way He calls us, and that He calls us to go.
The first thing we see is that God disrupts; Moses was comfortable in life, all was good. Notice that God put the burning bush ‘over there’, not right in front of Moses. He had to move and go over to where the bush was to investigate. Only once Moses was ‘disrupted’, and had moved, did God turn up. God disrupts the comfortable and offers comfort to those who are disrupted.
God disturbs – “I have heard the cries of my people”, says God, and He promises to do something about it. There was lots going on in the world. Slavery had been in existence for a long time, there were lots of others things that God could have done, other issues that needed addressing, but slavery was the big thing God was concerned about right then and there. He was going to answer those cries.
God dispatches – God’s answer is “you go. I’m calling you to do this”. Moses said in response, “I’m not good enough”. God’s answer to this was “Yes, I know you’re not, but go anyway, I’ll be with you.”
There are two myths that we need to throw away. The first is we claim that we’re not good enough, we’re not suited to the task, as a reason not to respond. Big deal. We aren’t good enough – no one is – and yet God keeps calling people anyway.
The second myth is that you have to be called. No, you don’t. You don’t need to be called or spoken to beforehand. The sign comes afterwards, which we see in God’s statement “You will worship me on this mountain afterwards.” We don’t need to wait for a sign from God before we act. We know what pleases God, and so we should do it.
It’s not a case of asking and seeking, it’s a case of obeying, like Moses did.
Questions to Consider:
Why does God identify himself here as “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”?
Why is this identification important? What does it tell us (and Moses) about God?
What does God tell Moses about what He is intending to do?
What things do you think God is concerned about here?
What things concern you? Are they similar to what concerns God? Why or why not?
What was Moses’ response to God? Why do you think he responded in this way?
How do you respond when God asks you to do something?
What promises does God make to Moses? Why would Moses need to hear this?
What are you hoping to hear from God? Why?
How is God asking you to join in freeing people from slavery today?
Practices to Consider:
How are you standing alongside the poor and oppressed? Remember to: Give. Pray. Go.
Prayer Prompts:
Pray for the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquakes.
Pray for our people and communities overseas.
Pray about how you can Give, Pray, and Go.
Additional Resources:
Further Study Resources:
Bible Project - Exodus Scroll
Bible Project - The Exodus Way
Find the full sermon recording here
For a printable version of this guide click here