Exodus 3 - 4

The Children of Israel

Exodus 3 and 4

Moses and the Burning Bush

One day Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement because the bush was engulfed with flames but did not burn up. So he decided to go closer and take a look.

When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

“Here I am!” Moses replied.

“Do not come any closer,” the LORD warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Then the LORD told him, “I have see the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey. Now go! For I am sending you to Pharaoh to lead my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”

But Moses protested, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?

God answered, “I will be with you. And this is our sign that I am the one who has sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”

Still Moses protested, “If I go to the children of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”

God said, “I AM THAT I AM. Say this to the children of Israel. I AM has sent me to you.”

God also said, “Say this to the children of Israel: The LORD 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, and this is my memorial to all generations.”

“Now go and call together all the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me. He told me, “I have visited you, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you.’ I will deliver you from the Egyptians. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’

“The elders of Israel will accept your message. Then you and the elders will go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD 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.’

“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him. So I will raise up my hand and strike the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among them. Then as last he will let you go. I will cause the Egyptians to look favorably on you, they will give you gifts when you go so you will not leave empty-handed.”

But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The LORD never appeared to you?”’

The LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

“Throw it down on the ground” The LORD told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

The LORD told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached and grabbed it, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

“Perform this sign,” the LORD told him. “Then they will believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, really has appeared to you.”

The Lord said to Moses, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.

“Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.

The LORD said, “If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first sign, they will be convinced by the second sign. And if they don’t listen or believe you, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the ground. When you do, the water from the river will turn to blood.”

But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “Oh LORD, I am not very good with words. I never have been, neither am I now while speaking with you. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or not? Or whether they hear or not? Or whether they see or not? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

But still Moses pleaded, “Lord, please send someone else.”

The LORD became angry with Moses but said, “All right, what about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. Look, he will come to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad.”

“Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. Aaron will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say. Take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.”

So Moses went back home to Jethro, his father-in-law. “Please let me return to my family in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.”

“Go in peace,” Jethro replied.

Before Moses left Midian the LORD assured him that those who wanted to kill him were dead. So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.

And the LORD told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go.”

“Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go, so he can worship me.” But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!”’

In the meantime the LORD said to Aaron, “Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him. Moses then told Aaron everything the LORD had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the LORD had commanded him to perform.

Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the children of Israel together. They told them of all the things the LORD had spoken to Moses about, and they performed all the signs in the sight of the people.

And the people believed, and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he saw their suffering, they bowed their heads and worshipped.