Exodus - God Hears the Cries: Week 4
Opening Prayer:
Lord God,
We have heard Your call. We have heard Your heart.
Help us focus on You, the God who can do all, and on obeying Your call.
Give us the courage to walk with You in our weakness, under the cover of Your strength.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Key Scriptures:
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.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, 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,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”
Exodus 3:11-4:17
Sermon Summary:
God calls Moses to bring His people out of slavery in Egypt. God tells Moses to go, but Moses objects – several times, for several reasons: who am I to go? Who are you? What if they don’t believe me? Please send someone else. God responds uncompromisingly to each of these objections (and more still to come…) and tells him to go. God says He will be with Moses That He is the great I am who I am, He is Lord over Israel and Egypt, and that He is the Creator of humans and gave them speech.
Moses’ objections break down to issues of his (in)adequacy, his authority (or lack thereof), and his eloquence (or lack thereof). Lastly, Moses simply flat out refuses to go. God doesn’t call Moses because he had the tools he needed, or he had all the skills to do the job. God called Moses because He knew His power and love would shine through Moses, if he would just faithfully obey God’s call and walk in His presence. Moses needed to trust in God rather than in himself.
God also answered Moses’ questions about who the God is that is going to do these miraculous things. God revealed who He is; the God of their ancestors, the God who hears the cries of His people, the God who is Lord over all creation. He would demonstrate this through the miraculous signs of which He gives Moses a small taste of.
Finally, Moses pointed to his own inadequacy of speech. In response, God revealed His nature as all powerful creator who made Moses, and had already given him all he needed to fulfil the task God was placing upon him. Moses wouldn’t be alone. He wouldn’t be acting out of his own weakness, but would be led by God and shown the way. God will be with him, and still Moses says not me Lord. Send someone else.
So, God calls Aaron to join Moses and be the mouthpiece of God’s message. Moses’ objections don’t work, but God shows mercy by giving him someone to go with him. Moses was more focused on who he was and what he couldn’t do, rather than on who God is and what God could do. Moses thought his inadequacies ruled him out, but whether God’s plan would work or not had nothing to do with Moses’ strengths, and everything to do with obeying God and trusting that God would be with him.
Moses lacked trust in God. Is God who He says He is? And is that enough? These are also the questions that can plague us as well. It is a natural human failing that they do so. But in this passage, we see God replying emphatically that yes, He is who He says He is, and yes, He is enough – more than enough. If we will only obey and step out in answer to God’s call. Because God is who He says He is and He is with us, just as Jesus said He was with us until the end of the age.
Questions to Consider:
What assurances did God give Moses?
What excuses did Moses give God? Why do you think Moses was so reticent?
How was Moses to introduce God to the people? Why did God tell Moses to describe Him as He did?
What does this definition/description of God tell us about Him? Why emphasise these features?
What was the significance of what Moses had in his hand?
What do the signs that God gave to Moses signify?
How did God show mercy to Moses? How has God shown mercy to you?
Practices to Consider:
What reasons would you give God to not send you? How would/could/has God answered these objections?
Reflect on a time when God has used you and powerfully worked in your life. Praise Him for it and for His goodness.
How are you standing alongside the poor and oppressed? Remember to: Give. Pray. Go.
Prayer Prompts:
Pray for our people and communities overseas.
Continue to 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