DAY FOUR – Saturday, February 20, 2021
Exodus 3:1-12
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your 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 at God.
Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”
Why would God choose Moses, we may wonder, to free the people of Israel from bondage? He was far from perfect and also a murderer. Not only that, but he had been brought up in the Egyptian Royal Household, not among his own people. We could assume that, while being sympathetic to their plight, he would prefer not to leave his comfortable life and lead them into the wilderness on what he no doubt would think was a hopeless task.
True, at the moment he was living in exile, but probably hoped he would return to his former life sometime in the future. Indeed, he took quite a bit of persuading before he agreed, reluctantly, to take on the task and even then, did not do it quite as well as he could. He did not, in the end, see the promised land himself but did succeed in leading the children of Israel there.
Perhaps we can take from this message that one does not have to be perfect to be of service to one’s faith as long we are willing to try.
Frank Young
Exodus 3:1-12
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your 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 at God.
Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”
Why would God choose Moses, we may wonder, to free the people of Israel from bondage? He was far from perfect and also a murderer. Not only that, but he had been brought up in the Egyptian Royal Household, not among his own people. We could assume that, while being sympathetic to their plight, he would prefer not to leave his comfortable life and lead them into the wilderness on what he no doubt would think was a hopeless task.
True, at the moment he was living in exile, but probably hoped he would return to his former life sometime in the future. Indeed, he took quite a bit of persuading before he agreed, reluctantly, to take on the task and even then, did not do it quite as well as he could. He did not, in the end, see the promised land himself but did succeed in leading the children of Israel there.
Perhaps we can take from this message that one does not have to be perfect to be of service to one’s faith as long we are willing to try.
Frank Young
