June 18, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Matthew and Exodus? Here’s today’s reading:
Exodus 3 (NIV)
Moses and the Burning Bush
1 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.……Continue Reading
Exodus 3
Exodus 3
Moses has been in the wilderness for 40 years. During this time; he has married a daughter of the priest of Midian who is Jethro. The daughter`s name is Zipporah. Moses has two sons with her which are not Israelites. Moses hasn`t been idol for he has been providing for his family as a shepherd tending his father in law`s sheep. He has gotten very comfortable living this life with his family. But then God appears to him by the burning bush. God tells him to take off his sandals for he is standing on holy ground. It is Holy because God is present. Moses is overcome by the presence of God and can`t look. God tells him His plan to rescue Israel from bondage and to free them. After Pharoah refuses to let Israel go God will send many plagues upon Egypt and will finally let Israel go. Moses is the chosen instrument to do God`s work. But not in his power but God`s. Moses is one of my favorite people in the Bible. He was not the oldest son; but the second son and the third child. Myself I am the second oldest son and the middle child. My sister who is in Heaven was the third child. God doesn`t always choose the oldest son. He chooses who He wants and not as men choose. A few examples are Joseph, Gideon, David, and of course Moses. Who could ever forget the movie [ The Ten Commandments ] which came out in 1956? With Charlton Heston playing Moses. When I think of Moses; this is who I picture. Anyways; God bless.
”And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.“
Exodus 3:7 NKJV
I am always struck throughout the Bible, how it is relayed that God hears the cries of people and responds. I think there is a cry of prayer and pleading, that is different from the “complaining and grumbling” of the people in the desert. God knows the heart. Even a people following their own way, like in the book of Judges, God is there, hearing.
”Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times He delivered them; But they rebelled in their counsel, And were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, When He heard their cry; And for their sake He remembered His covenant, And relented according to the multitude of His mercies.“
Psalms 106:42-45 NKJV
Amazing how much God spoke to Moses and in so much detail.
The Great I Am chapter
This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation
Exodus 1-3; Matthew 27
Every time we pray. Holy ground before “I AM”
Exodus 3
What a familiar yet powerful story. God provides a miracle to peek Moses’ curiosity and then speaks to let him know who He is. And how significant the identification of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a God of covenant, relationship and history. And maybe more significant is His personal name. There is no better way to identify a God so great and so self sufficient then to say His name is I AM. He is being itself. He is the cause that brings everything else into being and yet He is not created, He is the I AM. He is also the eternal one and the ever present one. There is no time or place that I AM is not I AM…He is outside of time, and yet He is ever present in time. And He will be present with the Israelites. It is amazing that He lays out the whole plan here so Moses will know what will happen. What a protection this should be when things aren’t going well in the process. The same goes for us in God revealing what the end will be like. We shouldn’t be surprised and we know Who to trust.
God lays out His plan to Moses, a response to the cries of His people! He hears us and He responds.
He also tells us His name, I AM! I think of all the great things people call themselves to establish themselves as successful, talented, best in their field. You think of GOAT, Supreme, Legend and still they can not compare to this. The name of one who has always been and will always be, the one who created everything and could take it away just as easy, the one that knows all that has happened and will ever happen. Imagine the great I AM loves us….mindblowing!