03. The Call of the Deliverer (Ex 2:23-3:10)

As they suffered under harsh slave labor, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush.

πŸ‘‰ Read Exodus 2:23-3:10

What are the two reasons that the Lord saves the Israelites? (2:23-24)

 

 

When Moses was shepherding the sheep of his (                        ), the angel of the Lord appeared to him in (              ) from within a bush. But, the bush is not being (               )! As Moses approached to look at it, God said, ‘Take your (           ) off. You stand on (           ) ground.’

The Lord said, “I have (           ) the affliction of my people and (           ) their cry. I (           ) their sorrows.”

The Lord will give them a (          ) and (            ) land.

 

Answers and Meditation

Mercy (compassion) and faithfulness to His promise

These two are the main motivations of God’s salvation works throughout the Bible.

 

Father-in-law, a flame of fire, consumed, sandals, holy

It past forty years since Moses fled from Egypt. He didn’t build up his house, lived in his father-in-law’s house, and worked for his flock. At such a moment of the meaningless life of an old man, the Lord appeared to him. When we give up our plan and all human hope diminishes, it is the time of God.

They say the burning bush symbolizes the Israelites under oppression. Because the Lord was with them, they were not consumed amid hardships.

The Lord’s presence made the place holy. Taking off one’s sandal implies humiliation. The holiness of God, as a character of God, was first revealed to Moses, not to any patriarch. Then, He revealed Himself as the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac.

In ancient times, they used ‘god’ to denote any divine being. Therefore they described a god using his specialty. Baal was the god of fertility and rain. Asherah was the goddess of fertility. Hapi was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile.

However, our God wants to be called ‘the God of Abraham.’ He is the God who cannot be limited as any power or phenomenon of nature. Only through a personal encounter with God do we know Him, for He is a personal being. It is like that you would understand better about someone when you live together with that person.

 

Seen, heard, know

God uses three verbs to emphasize that He knows their pain. He had been watching their hardships before they cried, and though He didn't seem to answer their cry, He was with His people amid the pain. (The Hebrew verb 'Ada,' meaning knowing something, is knowing as experiencing it.)

God knows all our pain and suffering and is working for our salvation. 

God’s promise was given to their ancestors. It was 'to give the land of Canaan to their descendants.' However, which generation God would fulfill the promise was open. Why did God choose Moses’ generation for the exodus? It was because they had suffered and needed salvation from God’s mercy.

If our lives are amid hardship, there will be an amazing salvation work of God.

 

Good, spacious

It was a good land of milk and honey. But is it spacious, for there packed with the Canaanite tribes? Surely, the land was big enough to house many tribes. God will empty the land to provide enough space for His people.

In the eyes of faith, the land of Canaan was spacious. 

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