How come some people don’t follow through on what God wants them to do? God speaks to them, He inspires them, He calls upon them to do something great but they just don’t do it. How come some people don’t answer God’s call?
[Garrett’s calling story.]
Well maybe they get into sin, maybe they get distracted, maybe they get disillusioned, maybe they get hurt. There can be many reasons why people don’t answer God’s call.
But sometimes people don’t do what God wants them to do when they either don’t know or when they forget who God really is. Think about it. When God asks us to do something, it’s God asking us to do something! Our obedience is directly linked to who’s asking us to follow.
There’s a difference between when your little sister asks you to do something and when your mother asks you to do something. There’s a difference between when a coworker asks you to do something and when your boss asks you to do something. And there’s a difference between when a god, little g, asks you to do something and when Almighty God asks you to do something. We need to remember just who it is that calls us!
When God called Moses to lead the Jews out of Egypt, Moses was extremely tentative and even reluctant to do what God was asking him to do – even though it was God asking him to do it! Moses repeatedly made excuses as to why God should get someone else to do this great task. But God had chosen him.
So while God’s outlining to Moses what his mission was He was also giving him a theology lesson on just who He was. Moses needed to understand just who this God was so he could be committed to this seemingly impossible mission. And as we go see how God called and instructed Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, we’re also going to see God for who He really is – the great I AM!
So please turn to Exodus chapter three. Remember, Moses spent his first forty years in the household of Pharaoh being groomed for leadership. He then decided he cared more about his people the Jews, but he ended up fleeing Egypt and settling in Midian. There he met a priest of God, married one of his daughters, had a couple of sons and then spent the next forty years as a shepherd in the land.
[Read Exodus 3:1.]
Mount Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai where God would give Moses the Law. So Moses is out in this desert region looking for grasslands for his heard. For forty years he’d been doing this day after day. God used those years to prepare this man to lead His people. But now:
I. God gets Moses’ attention
[Read Exodus 3:2-6.]
God Himself showed up and got the attention of Moses. Now remember, Moses had been traveling those lands for forty years. Moses knew that territory like the back of his hand. God needed to do something out of the ordinary to get his attention. Also, God’s presence being within fire would be a theme throughout the Exodus of the people from Egypt so this was preparing Moses for that time. Moses saw a bush on fire that wasn’t turning to ash. He then heard the voice of God come from the fire.
Now I think that Moses immediately started to walk near the bush without a proper perspective on what was going on. That’s why the Lord told him to stop walking towards him and to take of his shoes.
[Read Exodus 3:4-5.]
Taking off your shoes was a sign of respect and even a sign of worship. God was letting him know that he needed to check himself before he dared approach God Almighty. And obviously Moses did.
Through this initial meeting, God begins to reveal to Moses just who He really was. And the first characteristic of God that we see is that He is evident. He made Himself known to Moses. Moses didn’t have to wonder if God existed, he could see the evidence that He is real.
Isn’t it great that we have a God that can be known? I mean, we can see evidence of God all over the place. Creation, our conscience, miracles, changed lives, the Holy Spirit, the Word, and Jesus Himself show us the reality of God. God is evident.
God is also seen here as a personal God. He calls Moses by name and speaks directly to him. God didn’t just choose the first shepherd He found wandering around Midian. He had a specific plan for Moses and was letting him know about it.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 10:29-31? "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” We serve a personal God who knows us and wants to be known by us.
God also showed Moses that He is holy. Moses needed to understand that God is completely holy and sinless and His very presence demanded a complete reverence to that aspect of Him. We serve a God who is holy. Do we really take that seriously? Now I know that God is loving and forgiving and understanding and all that – but He is holy and we need to treat Him as such. I think that sometimes we get a little careless in the way we approach Him and talk with Him. Our God is holy.
God also shows Moses that He is eternal.
[Read Exodus 3:6.]
By reminding him that He is the God of his ancestors He’s also reminding him that He is eternal; that He’s timeless; that He has no beginning and no end. God is eternal.
So in just a few minutes with just a few words, God got Moses attention by showing him that He is the evident God who is personal, holy and eternal. But theology class isn’t over yet for Moses and he still doesn’t know what God wants from him at this point. So:
II. God gives Moses a mission
[Read Exodus 3:7-12.]
God tells Moses that He knows about the afflictions of the Jews under the rulership of Egypt. He’s aware and He cares. He also tells Moses that He intends to deliver the Jews from their bondage through him. Moses, you’re the man for the job!
Moses, you get to go directly to Pharaoh, demand he release his two million Hebrew slaves, and then lead these millions of people right back here where you can all worship Me.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I? Lord, I’m a nobody now. Did you see what I was doing right before you spoke to me? Have you seen what I’ve been doing for the last 40 years? I’ve got no pull with Pharaoh any more. You must have the wrong guy!”
But you know what, it’s not who are we when it comes to doing things for God. It’s who God is! And that’s what God is trying to convince Moses of. God would accomplish this task through Moses. It was God who would deliver the people. Moses might have been thinking that this was something that he would have to accomplish on his own. But it’s not us – it’s God who does the work.
Moses just needed to step back and take a closer look at God instead of looking at himself. In this part of their conversation God reveals more of who He really is.
Here we see that we have a God who is omniscient. He knows everything. There is no limit on His knowledge of things past, present and future. Has it ever occurred to you that nothing’s ever occurred to God? God has never said, “Oh yea, now I understand.”
In this passage he let’s Moses know that He is fully aware of everything that’s happened to the Jews and intends on doing something about it. You see, our God is omniscient.
Our God is also caring. He intends on doing something for the Jews, His chosen people, who are being treated so poorly. He said in verse eight, “So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians.” I have come down is an idiom that describes divine intervention. God cares enough about people to do something about their struggles. We have a God who cares.
Along with that, we have a faithful God. We see that in how He’s caring for His chosen people the Jews. He’d promised them through Abraham generations before this that one day they would inherit the promised land. He describes it here as a ”land flowing with milk and honey”, which is a way of saying that the land is great for raising animals, (milk) and agriculture, (honey). He’s never forgotten His promise to the Jews because God is faithful.
Finally, we have a God who is present. He tells Moses in verse twelve, “Certainly I will be with you.” He was letting Moses know that He would be with him every step of the way during this monumental task. That should have given great comfort and strength to Moses.
[Swimming in the ocean with Elysse story.]
God shows us here that He’s with us; that He’s a present God.
So Moses’ initial reaction to God’s calling on his life was, “Who am I?” But again, God shows Moses who He is. He’s the omniscient, caring faithful God who planned to be with him every step of the way.
But Moses still isn’t so sure that this is going to work out. He continue to cast doubts on the whole mission. So God gives him some specific instructions. Along with the instructions, more training on just who He was.
III. God gives Moses instructions
[Read Exodus 3:13-22.]
God tells Moses to go to the leaders of the Hebrew people and let them know that the “I AM” sent him. They’d catch the vision of exodus and rally around Moses. Then Moses was to take some of those men and demand Pharaoh let the Jews go to Mount Horeb to worship. Of course, Pharaoh would refuse.
But then God would take over, convincing Pharaoh to let His people go. The convincing would be accomplished in such a dramatic fashion that the Egyptians would even send the Jews away with all kinds of riches that they would need for their journeys.
I mean, it’s really not that complicated. Take God’s message to the Jews. Take God’s message to Pharaoh. Let God do the rest! But Moses still wasn’t convinced that this would work. We know this because chapter four is filled with Moses doubting God’s words and even trying to get out of doing this. (We’ll get into that next week.)
But if he’d just listen to what God was saying and be reminded of who God was, he’d be ready to do whatever God wanted him to do.
We see in this passage that God is particular. He has His plan in place and there’s no debating it. Remember, since God is omniscient He knows what is best. He also knows what the future holds. He could achieve this any way He chose to, and He chose to use Moses.
[“Evan Almighty” plans illustration.]
We serve a God who knows what He wants to do because God is particular. We also serve a God who is the great “I AM.”
[Read Exodus 3:14.]
This is one of the simplest and yet most powerful ways that God has ever described Himself. The basic meaning of this is that the “I AM” is the Self-existing One. God’s existence isn’t dependant on or determined by anyone or anything. He can exist independently of everything – even matter since He’s the one who created matter. We serve a God who is self-existing and self-sustaining.
Linked to that self-existence, we also see God as omnipotent. In other words, He is the all-powerful God who has no limits on His power.
[Read Exodus 3:20.]
All humans have a limits. All machines have limits. Even the most powerful nuclear bomb can destroy only so much. But God’s strength knows no limits. He is omnipotent.
I tell you what, through this short conversation with God, Moses got a real good look at who God really is. He should have been able to see how God is:
Evident
Personal
Holy
Eternal
Omniscient
Caring
Faithful
Present
Particular
Self-existing, and
Omnipotent
But amazingly, Moses continued to question if he could do what God wanted him to do. I think that maybe Moses should have quit looking at himself and the circumstances so much and should have focused more on who God is.
The next time we find ourselves surrounded by difficult circumstances, instead of looking at our own inadequacies, let’s look at who God is. He is able to accomplish whatever He wills in and through us!
