Dr. Allen Mabra. Sunday September 3rd, 2017.
Who Am I?
Exo 3:1 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 3:2 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.
Exo 3:3
So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
Exo 3:4
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.”
Exo 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
Exo 3:6Then 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.
Exo 3:7
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.
Exo 3:8
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.
Exo 3:9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 3:10 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?”
Exo 3:12 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.”
Exo 3:13Moses 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?”
Exo 3:14 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.’ ”
Exo 3:15God 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.
I. WHO AM I? – verse 11
Moses sums up his whole self-identity crisis in verse 11 when he replies to God’s invitation by asking both God and himself a very simple but very deep question – WHO AM I?
So, was Moses really a Hebrew slave, an exiled member of Egyptian royalty or merely a poor Midianite undershepherd who was living on the backside of nowhere?
We find a man in deep conflict. Moses was born into one culture, raised in another and now living in a third culture. It is any wonder that Moses asks God the question he does in verse 11 – WHO AM I?
Exo 3:1
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.
II. I AM – verse 14
As much as Moses was confused about who he was the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY was assured about His Own identity. The LORD had no doubt concerning His own Identity and Personality. As we read this passage the LORD reveals that He is neither puzzled nor perplexed.
+I am the God of your Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob
+I am the God who sees my people’s affliction
+I am the God who rescues and redeems
+I am the God who is going to give My People the land I promised to their forefathers
+I am the God who get involved in My creation, who speaks and who intervenes
+I AM that I AM or as other translations have it – I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE
Later on through His Son Jesus the Messiah even more of the Lord’s identity and personality would be revealed. In the Gospel of John the LORD JESUS reveals that He, His Father and the Holy Spirit possess all of these characteristics:
+I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48, 51)
+I am the Light of the World (John 8:12; 9:5)
+I am the Door of the Sheepfold (John 10:7-8)
+I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14)
+I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
+I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
+I am the True Vine (John 15)
+Our God Loves Us
How do we know that God loves us? I am so glad you asked. Let’s look at one more verse for some final direction. We find it in verse 12 where the LORD says to Moses – “I will be with you”
III. I WILL BE WITH YOU! – verse 12
Let’s look again at verse four where we find a little spiritual gem here that we might miss if we are not careful. It is the way that the LORD GOD addressed Moses. Notice that the LORD calls out Moses’ name twice – Moses, Moses.
+Did you also notice where the LORD called out to Moses? (v. 2)
Verse two tells us that God called out to Moses from a thorn bush. Now, why in the world did the Lord God Almighty use a thorn bush? Why didn’t the Lord choose to speak through an animal or a majestic tree? Why a thorny bush?
We need to understand this morning that the Lord God Almighty seeks to share our pain and suffering. He does not want us to go it alone. He seeks to walk with us through our valleys of shadow and death. He understands what it means to suffer and to be in pain.
+God tells Moses to stand on holy ground ( v. 5)
In verse five the LORD invites Moses to share sacred space. The Lord tells Moses to take off his shoes not merely as an act of humility but as a way to share His Holy Presence with Moses.
The LORD doesn’t want anything to separate His Presence (His Essence) from Moses. Even a piece of leather is too much of a separation. The LORD wants to share His Presence, His Holiness, Himself with Moses. The LORD desires for Heaven and Earth to connect.
When Moses stepped on that holy ground it was a life changing and a life transforming experience.
+Finally, we see the LORD inviting Moses on a rescue and redemption mission. He invites Moses to allow His Holy Spirit to lead him to help free His People from physical, mental and spiritual slavery.