The Call of God to Old Testament Characters

The Call of God to Old Testament Characters

Lesson 3

Lesson Text—Exodus 3:3-6

Exodus 3:3-63 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said,

Here am I.


5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.


Exodus 3:7-87 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;


8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the

Jebusites.


Exodus 3:9-109 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of

Israel out of Egypt.

Lesson Text—Psalm 105:26-27

Psalm 105:26-2726 He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.27 They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

Focus Verse—Exodus 3:4

Exodus 3:4And when the LORD saw that he

turned aside to see, God called unto him out of

the midst of the bush, and said, Moses,

Moses. And he said, Here am I.

Focus Thought

When God was ready to bring

Israel out of bondage, He started

by calling a man to lead them.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionCulture Connection

The Call to Leadership Leadership is critical to the success

of any endeavor. In the past, many strong church leaders were austere and even dictatorial. Many people considered this demeanor to be a display of strength. Leadership today has changed. People are more educated and independent, and this has made them more discriminate. They will follow leaders who respect them and allow their involvement in

decision making.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionMany successful leaders today have learned to work with groups (committees and teams). They lead not so much by making demands, but by inspiring and facilitating. Even though leading has changed, leading is still an essential element for getting things done.

Leadership does not always include a position or title. An individual can lead without holding an office or a position. John Maxwell calls this “leading from the center of the pack.”

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionA good leader is someone with sterling integrity and knowledge of the undertaking. He or she is faithful, dependable, and willing to sacrifice. The successful leader possesses some charm or charisma and has the ability to influence others.

God calls special people to lead. A perceptive Christian will be able to recognize God’s call on a life and respect it. Many times our leaders have titles and hold positions of authority.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThe Bible teaches us that it is our responsibility not only to acknowledge but to submit to spiritual authority wherever we encounter it. God’s calling comes with His equipping and anointing. Moses was a great leader. He was called, equipped, and anointed to lead the Hebrews from bondage into the Promised Land. He was not a perfect man, but God’s call made him effective.

Transparency 1

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionContemplating the Topic

On the backside of the desert, God spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Moses might have questioned the Lord’s call and felt his inadequacy as a man who would presume to fulfill the divine command, but there was no question in his mind he had heard from God. The phenomenal sight of the burning bush and the voice from the bush convinced Moses he was standing on holy ground.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionPerhaps the flame in the bush reignited a desire in his heart to see the Hebrew slaves—his people—set free.

As a prince in an Egyptian palace, Moses had known of Israel’s slavery; but he had never felt the lash of a taskmaster. Yet being in the care of his mother in his formative years had given him a Hebrew identity he still harbored. His mother probably told him of his own miraculous deliverance from death as an infant.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionNow, after a forty-year exile in the land of Midian, the God of the Hebrews called Moses to deliver His people from Egyptian bondage. Though separated from Israel by both time and space, he felt an overwhelming burden for his people’s freedom.

The Lord’s burden to deliver Israel would become the burden of Moses. For the rest of his life this man felt God’s matchless call. It caused him to risk the displeasure of the mighty Pharaoh of Egypt and, at times, the hatred of his own people.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThis call set a nation gloriously free, but it happened only after Moses had continuously faced what seemed to be impossible odds. Who else but Moses could stand at the Red Sea with a rod and a prayer and expect to see Israel delivered from the Egyptian army? Who else could lead millions through a barren wilderness for forty years without natural provision? In summary of his amazing life, Deuteronomy 34:10 declared, “There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses.”

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionWhy, we might ask, would God call

such a complex man as Moses to deliver His people Israel out of the land of Egypt? He was a son of slaves and yet a prince, an individual with an impressive education but an impulsive nature, a man with latent leadership qualities and yet who felt inadequate.

Moses had never forgotten the trauma of slaying an abusive Egyptian taskmaster only to suffer the sneers of his own people.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThis blight on his past made him apprehensive about appearing in Pharaoh’s court, and worse, he suspected his own people would not believe his message from God or accept him as their leader. He was all too aware of his own inability to speak well. How could he persuade Pharaoh to set the slaves free, much less rally the slaves to follow him into a deadly wasteland? Yet God saw qualities in the man others could neither see nor appreciate.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionSearching the Scriptures

God Got Moses’ Attention

Some people look for God in stately churches or ornate temples. Moses found God in a burning bush. Matthew Henry has commented that he “saw more of God in a desert than ever he had seen in Pharaoh’s court.”

A. God Set a Bush on FireA. God Set a Bush on FireWhen God calls a man He calls him

from the familiar to the unknown, from the ordinary to the extraordinary. When the Lord calls a man He calls him to set others free. This is always God’s plan. This is the heartbeat of Heaven, and it is why individuals leave the security of the present to step by faith into the uncertainty of the future.

What miracle must God perform to capture our attention? For Abram it was the voice of the Almighty calling him from Ur of the Chaldees.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionFor Jacob it was a vivid dream of angels ascending and descending a heavenly ladder. For Isaiah it was a breathtaking vision of the Lord enthroned in the Temple. For Peter, James, and John it was a miraculous number of fish caught and flopping in their net.

One momentous day as Moses tended the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, his search for pasturage drew him near Mount Horeb, whose Semitic name means “drought” or “desert.”

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionHe came upon a common sight: a bramble or thornbush that had combusted in the dry heat. Since Moses expected the bush to flare up for a minute and then dwindle to a charred, misshapen stalk, he started to pass it by. Suddenly a curious phenomenon drew his attention. “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2). This event became the catalyst that forever changed the shepherd’s life.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionGod first prepared a place, a bush

burning near the foot of Mount Horeb; then He prepared a heart: “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto [Moses] out of the midst of the bush” (Exodus 3:4). From that turning point Moses viewed the miraculous works of the Almighty as few men have seen them. Moses may have hidden his face at the burning bush “for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:6), but he eventually saw God humble Egypt and exalt His people Israel.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThe burning-bush experience served to transform his vision, his attitude, and his purpose.

B. God Called His NameB. God Called His NameMoses knew he had been singled

out when the voice called his name. Sensing an awesome presence, the shepherd answered, “Here am I” (Exodus 3:4). Jethro’s sheep probably shied away from the flaming bush, but it riveted Moses’ attention. He would have stepped even closer, but the Voice commanded, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionHoly ground? There was no sacred shrine or cathedral in this lonely spot. The very presence of the Almighty sanctified it. In awe, Moses removed his sandals and stood barefoot in the sand. He had never experienced anything like this astounding presence. He felt as if the fire from the bush had purged, purified, inspired, and humbled him. Yet even though the voice singled him out and he answered “Here am I,” the command of God to deliver the Hebrew slaves from Egypt gave him pause.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionHow could he ever accomplish such a preposterous feat? It seems that those who sense God’s presence in the strongest manner become acutely conscious of their own weaknesses. (See II Corinthians 12:9.)

C. God Identified HimselfC. God Identified Himself

Moses realized that the powerful demonstration and the voice came from the one true God. The voice thundered, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:6).

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionAs the shepherd of a flock, Moses

recognized the voice of the Great Shepherd. God talks to a person who knows Him, who listens to Him, and who obeys Him. He marvelously guides and uses people who humble themselves in His presence.

II. God Gave Moses a Specific Order

God Gave Moses a Specific Order

When the Almighty calls individuals, He awakens them to an urgent need, yet they sometimes falter when the small barrier of their own inadequacies eclipses their vision of the vast need. Similarly, the significantly smaller yet closer moon can block the brilliance of the sun when it moves directly between the earth and the sun.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThus Moses hesitated and tried to excuse himself from the call, but the Lord gave him no reprieve. Though we may feel ill equipped and ill prepared to accomplish the task God has set before us, we must not delay; the King’s business requires an immediate and positive response (I Samuel 21:8). God calls us because He knows we are equal to the task, even if we ourselves do not know. He will not change his mind about the call and will continue to confront us with it.

A. God Saw Israel’s PainA. God Saw Israel’s Pain

God’s compassion for Israel has endured through the centuries although the nation has often been unfaithful to Him. Time after time this people forgot their Lord (Jeremiah 2:32), but He could never forget Israel.

Isaiah 49:15-16

“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her

womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my

hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isaiah 49:15-16).

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionGod could no longer endure the bitterness and cruel affliction of His people (Exodus 1:14). The Egyptians forced the Hebrew slaves to gather their own straw in a race to meet their daily quota of bricks. Worse, many of them labored under a heavy load of grief because of Pharaoh’s decree that every one of their newborn sons should be thrown into the Nile.

B. God Heard Israel’s CriesB. God Heard Israel’s Cries

Israel had wandered away from God during their sojourn in Egypt (Joshua 24:14; Ezekiel 20:8), but God had not forsaken them. They belonged to Him; He claimed them for His inheritance. He would deliver them “out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron” (I Kings 8:51). How remarkable that the Almighty turned to an insignificant shepherd on the backside of the desert to accomplish His purpose.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionGod told Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. . . . Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:7, 10).

The Almighty considered Israel His firstborn son (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1; Jeremiah 31:9). He told Moses to use this same designation for Israel when delivering God’s message to Pharaoh:

I. God Got Moses’ Attention“Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn” (Exodus 4:23). The Lord has always wanted a close father/son relationship with Israel, even though on many occasions, they forsook Him, went their own way, and worshiped other gods. Still, Jehovah assured Moses that He would respond to His people’s cries and deliver them from Egyptian oppression.

C. God Was Moved to ActionC. God Was Moved to Action

The compassion of God would not let Him ignore Israel’s cry for deliverance. Forsake His people now? Leave them in their affliction? Never! He would turn the waters of the land into blood before He would abandon His people. He would turn the dust into lice, smite Egypt with hail, locusts, and darkness in order to bring deliverance.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionHe would even take the lives of the firstborn of Egypt “from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts” (Exodus 11:5).

The Lord said, “I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). When God chose to move, nothing could hinder.

A. God Said to Let His People Go

God Sent Moses with a Message

A. God Said to Let His People Go

The audacity of Moses and Aaron’s demands insulted and enraged Pharaoh. The two Hebrews entered his presence as if they were some key foreign dignitaries bearing a message from a royal court.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThe idea that he, as ruler of the mightiest empire of the day, should simply allow the Hebrew slaves to shirk their duties for three days to sacrifice to their God was preposterous. Pharaoh demanded, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2).

Pharaoh, like the heartless tyrant who afflicts our souls, rejected the message of God as well as the messengers of God.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionHe disdained Moses and Aaron’s message as “vain words” or, as one translation says, “a pack of lies” (Exodus 5:9). Far from allowing the Israelites to leave, he retaliated by burdening them further.

The king commanded the Egyptian taskmasters and the Israelite foremen to quit supplying the straw the laborers used to make bricks, forcing them to gather their own straw while producing the same quota of bricks. This was impossible.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThe Hebrews soon fell behind though they scoured all of Egypt for straw, and when that ran out they settled for stubble. The Hebrew foremen suffered the consequences of the shortage by being beaten by the Egyptians. It was a dark day for Israel.

B. God Planned to Humble Pharaoh

B. God Planned to Humble Pharaoh

Pharaoh could boast that he was god of the Nile and have babies thrown to their death in the river. He could even boast against Jehovah Himself. But Egypt soon would become a broken reed, and God would cause the Egyptians to detest the mighty Nile they had worshiped for thousands of years. Through Moses all the Egyptian gods would be proven powerless.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionPharaoh observed the miracles performed in behalf of Israel, but he was not impressed; instead he hardened his heart. Focused upon himself, his insensitivity to the things of God caused him to do what countless others have done: he closed the door on every opportunity God gave him to repent.

Transparency 2

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThe king continuously rejected the counsel of the Lord. With each particular plague, he pleaded for respite; but when it came, he dug in his heels and refused Moses’ petition. The Book of Exodus records fifteen instances that emphasize Pharaoh’s hardening heart. Not only did Pharaoh harden his heart (Exodus 8:15, 32), but God hardened it as well (Exodus 4:21).

I. God Got Moses’ Attention“Surely the wrath of man shall

praise thee” (Psalm 76:10). Pharaoh’s proud nature caused him to oppose the divine plan, but by opposing the Almighty’s purpose to deliver Israel, the Egyptian king simply magnified the supremacy of God. Before the plague of hail, Moses spoke as the Lord’s mouthpiece: “In very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth” (Exodus 9:16).

C. God Planned the Destruction of Egypt

C. God Planned the Destruction of Egypt

God purposed to cripple Egypt with a series of blows so severe that Pharaoh would free the Israelite slaves (Exodus 3:20), for God promised, “I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments” (Exodus 6:6).

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionHad Pharaoh only known the black

cloud of doom brooding over Egypt, he surely would have granted Moses’ petition after the first plague of blood. Observed by Pharaoh and his servants, Moses struck the waters of the Nile with his rod, and all the rivers, streams, ponds, and pools of water in Egypt turned a dark red and began to congeal.

Later Moses used his rod to call forth frogs to flood the land, swarms of lice or gnats to infest the people, and locusts to devour the crops.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionEach plague resulted in devastation. After the eighth plague when the locusts had chewed the vegetation down to stubble, Pharaoh’s servants tried to reason with him. “Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?” (Exodus 10:7). But Pharaoh would not.

The last plague pierced the heart of every Egyptian from Pharaoh to the lowliest prisoner in the dungeon. All of their firstborn, both humans and cattle, died at the midnight hour.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionAs a great cry arose eerily in the dark of the night, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron to expel the Israelites out of his kingdom. On the eve of this night, the Israelites had partaken of the newly instituted Passover by eating a sacrificial lamb and applying its blood to the side posts and lintels of their doors. This protected their firstborn from the threat of death. In the morning, while the Egyptians were burying their firstborn sons, the Israelites marched out of the land in triumph (Numbers 33:3-4).

D. God Planned to Bless IsraelD. God Planned to Bless Israel

God always keeps His covenants. He had made a covenant with Abraham to give his descendents the land from the Nile to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18-21). Many years later on the backside of the desert, God told Moses that the Almighty would bring Israel up “unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). During the plagues, the Lord had drawn a distinction between Goshen (east of the Nile Delta where the Israelites lived) and the rest of Egypt.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionBut Goshen, though well-watered

and suitable for pasturage, was not the land God intended to give to His people. They would inherit Canaan, a fertile land where they would taste the sweetness of honey and drink rich, nourishing milk. Alien tribes inhabited the Promised Land—Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—but God would go before His people and fight for them, as He had fought for them in Egypt (Deuteronomy 1:30). The land would become theirs as God had promised.

IV. God Provided a Deliverer for Us

God Provided a Deliverer for Us

Although Moses wrought a great deliverance for Israel, there was One coming who would offer a still more wonderful freedom.

A. To Bring Us Out of Spiritual Bondage

A. To Bring Us Out of Spiritual Bondage

Jesus Christ came to set men free from the powers of darkness and fetters of sin. One example is the Gadarene demoniac who dwelt among the tombs, howling, cutting himself with stones, and breaking the fetters with which the terrorized townspeople tried to subdue him. But wrenching off his chains could not free him from the bondage of demonic powers.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionUnfazed by any satanic display, Christ delivered the man from an entire legion of demons, and the townsfolk beheld him in amazement as he sat calmly, clothed, and in his right mind, worshiping his deliverer (Mark 5:1-15).

The power of the Lord Jesus over sin and darkness remains today. He is able to release us from spiritual bondage and remove our guilt and shame. No other liberty can compare to that which comes from surrendering our lives to Jesus. He has called us “out of darkness into his marvellous

light” (I Peter 2:9).

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionHe has called us to be victorious—to conquer sin, sickness, and Satan himself (Mark 16:16-18).

Israel experienced exhilaration on their way out of Egypt, but we experience much more liberation and joy as we are born again of water and Spirit. We have been brought out of the spiritual realm of darkness and death and into the light and life of God’s kingdom. Even as Israel left Egypt completely behind, we should break all ties with our sinful past.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThe people of Israel “were all

baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (I Corinthians 10:2), whereas we are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins. A cloud protected and led the Hebrews by day, and a pillar of fire warmed them by night on their way to the Land of Promise. But we receive the promise of the Father, the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionIn the wilderness they experienced the dwelling presence of God in the Tabernacle in the midst of their camp; today we become the very temple of Christ’s Spirit. Moses received the commandments of God on Mount Sinai, but now the Lord writes His law “not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart” (II Corinthians 3:3).

B. To Give Us an Eternal Heritage

B. To Give Us an Eternal Heritage

God gave land to Israel for an inheritance (Deuteronomy 3:28; 4:1; Psalm 105:11). With an everlasting covenant, God pledged to remember His people even when they were exiled from their land; and someday He would call them back to bask once again in His blessings (Deuteronomy 30:1-5). Messianic Rabbi Loren Jacobs wrote that ultimately the regathering of Israel to the land “will be greater even than the Exodus out of Egypt.”

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionWhat, we may ask, is our inheritance

as the born-again children of God? Out of many precious promises for faithful believers, the greatest blessing of all, the most breathtaking reward, will be to dwell forever in the presence of the Lord Jesus in a holy city. In the Book of Revelation, John described the holy city, the New Jerusalem, as having walls of jasper and gates of pearl. He stated that “the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass” (Revelation 21:18). Beyond the glory of the heavenly city, however, we will see the splendor of our King.

I. God Got Moses’ Attention“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelation 21:23).

Christ will become our everlasting portion. We love Him supremely, for through His shed blood He delivered us from eternal death. By faith we now enjoy the riches of Christ (Ephesians 1:3, 7), but one wonderful day we shall “inherit all things” that God has prepared for us (Revelation 21:7).

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThen we shall behold the fullness of Christ’s glory. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (I Corinthians 13:12).

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionInternalizing the Message

It must have humbled Moses to tend sheep for his father-in-law in Arabia after more than thirty years of privilege afforded to him as a prince in an Egyptian palace. Instead of the pomp and bustle of the royal court, he now spent his days in solitude caring for the sheep and enduring extremes of heat and cold. But it was here that God called Moses. At the burning bush the exiled prince received a call and a burden to lead Israel out of terrible

bondage.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThe task God gave to Moses was

daunting, and though he at first hesitated, he felt compelled to obey the Lord’s call. God went with Moses, sanctioning his words with signs and wonders. The Almighty delivered His people with a strong right arm. With ten major plagues He crushed Israel’s oppressors and humbled Pharaoh himself. After a 430-year sojourn in Egypt, Israel embarked on a trek back to the Promised Land.

I. God Got Moses’ AttentionThe story of the exodus of Israel points to a greater Deliverer. It speaks of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. He has become the Passover Lamb, the source of deliverance—not just for a nation but for all mankind.

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The Call of God to Old Testament Characters