Burning Bush

Key Phrase: You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt

Intro

Pharoah and the Egyptians forget the salvation from famine that God brought through Joseph. They become fearful that the family Joseph brought to Egypt will become too powerful. When Pharoah orders the midwives to kill the baby Hebrew boys, one mother, Moses’ mother, hides her baby to protect him. The baby Moses is later found by Pharaoh’s daughter and Moses grows up in Pharaoh’s house.

As a grown man, Moses kills an Egyptian and flees to Midian where he tends sheep for forty years. At age eighty, God speaks to Moses through a burning bush and tells him to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let his people go. Moses makes excuses to God that he is not a good speaker so, God allows Moses his brother, Aaron, as a spokesman.

Burning Bush

Exodus 1:6 In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. 7 But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.

 8 Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. . .

 11 So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. . .

14 They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands. . .

 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.” . . .

 Exodus 2:1 About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. 4 The baby’s sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.

 5 Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. 6 When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said.

 7 Then the baby’s sister approached the princess. “Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked.

 8 “Yes, do!” the princess replied. So the girl went and called the baby’s mother.

 9 “Take this baby and nurse him for me,” the princess told the baby’s mother. “I will pay you for your help.” So the woman took her baby home and nursed him.

 10 Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses,[1] for she explained, “I lifted him out of the water.”

 11 Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. 12 After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand. . .

15 And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian. . .

 Exodus 3:1 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro,[2] the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai,[3] the mountain of God.

2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.

 4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

   “Here I am!” Moses replied. . .

 7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. . .

10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” . . .

 Exodus 4:10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” . . .

 11 Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? . . .

12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” . . .

 13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” . . .

 14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. . .

 27 Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him. 28 Moses then told Aaron everything the Lord had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the Lord had commanded him to perform.

Connect

Moses and Aaron head to Egypt for a stand-off with Pharaoh. They begin one of the best-known parts of the Bible where God displays His power to Pharoah through ten plagues. By the end of the plagues, the Egyptians are happy to see the people of Israel leave.

Footnote

[1] Exodus 2:10 Moses sounds like a Hebrew term that means “to lift out.”

[2] Exodus 3:1 Moses’ father-in-law went by two names, Jethro and Reuel.

[3] Exodus 3:1 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.