Join us this Sunday to discover how God’s presence transforms our ordinary lives.
This passage highlights God’s miraculous initiative to reach out to humanity from the midst of the mundane tasks of life. It explores how an encounter with God’s holy presence redefines our identity and sets us apart for His divine purposes.
Bible Study
Introduction: A “Blazing” New Start
Moses was having an ordinary day looking after his sheep until he stumbled upon the ultimate light. a bush that was on fire but didn’t burn? It’s a “hot” topic, but we promise not to “burn” through it too fast. This encounter reminds us that even when we are just doing our job, God can reach out to meet us in the most unexpected ways.
The Events at Horeb
While tending his father-in-law’s flock near Mount Horeb, Moses witnesses a miraculous sight: a bush engulfed in flames that is not consumed by the fire. As he approaches to investigate, God calls out to him, instructing him to remove his sandals because he is standing on holy ground. God reveals His plan to rescue the Israelites from their suffering in Egypt and chooses Moses to lead them. When Moses asks for God’s name to give to the people, God reveals His eternal, self-existent identity: “I AM WHO I AM.”
Key Highlights of the Passage:
- The Miraculous Sight: A bush that burns but is not destroyed.
- The Holy Ground: The requirement of reverence in God’s presence.
- The Divine Call: God’s commission to Moses to lead His people.
- The Eternal Name: The revelation of God as the “I AM.”
Scripture: Exodus 3:1-15 (NIV)
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. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the 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, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”
Bible Study & Sermon Outline: Exodus 3:1-15
Holy Smoke! A Burning Desire to Meet the Great I AM
1. A “Bush-ing” Encounter with the Divine (Verses 1-3)
2. A “Sole-ful” Moment on Holy Ground (Verses 4-6)
3. “Pharaoh-nough” Excuses for a Divine Mission (Verses 7-12)
4. The Name That Is Always “Present” (Verses 13-15)
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