Title: God's Call and Response
Content God's Call and Response
Exodus 2:23-3:22
Are you sure that you are a child of God? Are you sure of the privilege of answering prayers? (Matthew 7:7-11, John 14:13, Psalm 116:1,2, Psalm 50:15, Jeremiah 33:3) How powerful is the power of answering that cry of prayer? Let's read today's text 2:23.
1. The blessing of those who cry out to God (Exodus 2:23-25)
(1) The matter came up to God (verse 23)
God tells us to cry out (Isaiah 55:6). God waits for you to cry out. Do you know something? Because you need a podium. Confidence in God comes when we cry out. Therefore, it is grace that we can cry out to God in our faith.
(2) Not only that, God remembers the covenant and takes care of it (verses 24-25).
God listens carefully to the groans of the people. Not only that, He hears the groans of the children of Israel and remembers the covenant (Exodus 6:5). What covenant did God remember when He heard the suffering of the Israelites? It is the salvation of Israel (Exodus 3:7,8).
In verse 25, “consider” is the Hebrew word for “yada,” which means “to know.” God already knows deeply about the groans of the people. When we cried out, God heard our pain and came down to us and rescued us from our suffering. God heard the groans of His people, remembered the covenant, and looked back. Who is God looking at Israel and sending as leaders? This is Moses.
2. God meets Moses (Exodus 3:1-12).
Moses lived to be 120 years old. The life of Moses can be divided into three parts. Until the age of 40, as an Egyptian prince, he had mastered all the sciences, wisdom, and culture. Until the age of 80, I received training from God, and at the age of 80 I was called by God to save the nation of Israel. Until I was 120, I lived a life of saving the people of Israel and fulfilling that vocation according to God's will.
(1) The great view of Mount Horeb (verses 1-3).
One day when Moses turned 40, he killed an Egyptian who was harassing the Hebrews and ran away. He lived in the desert for 40 years, and became an 80-year-old man. Moses lost the strength he had when he killed and ran away, and the dignity of living in the royal palace was also gone, and now he is an old man who has to organize his life. Even when he was eighty years old, he lived with his in-laws and took care of his father-in-law's sheep. Then one day, when he led the flock to Mount Horeb, he met an angel of God in the flames of a bush that was lit but did not burn (Exodus 3:1-3).
(2) God's purpose (verses 4-10): Save Israel from Egypt.
How was Moses to fulfill God's purpose of salvation?
3. How to Fulfill God's Purpose
(1) Moses himself must first be sanctified (verses 4-6)
God calls Moses. “Moses! Moses!” And Moses replies, “Here I am” (v. 4). This is a confession of a sense of calling to God's calling. God wants to work through people rather than directly. He wanted to entrust Moses with the task of saving the people of Israel from Egypt.
If we are God's children, we must have a sense of calling that we have been called for God's purpose. We can be happy only when we have a sense of calling to fulfill God's purpose. After God calls Moses, he then commands Moses to take off his sandals (verse 5).
“Take off your sandals on your feet” has three meanings.
First, to take off your shoes means to put away the old things first. The second is to give up on me. Third, trust in God. I'm telling you to take off my shoes, let go of my insistence and stubbornness, and get God's guidance. It is a word to put on the shoes of God. “Take off your shoes” is a command to obey God’s authority. Taking off your shoes is a sign of respect, worship, and worship (Joshua 5:15).
(2) I will bring the people of Israel out of Egypt (verses 7-10).
God has called us to bless us and use us as channels of blessing to pass on those blessings to others. God has called us to accomplish His plan through us, but not just to use us. Blessings are promised in the calling (verses 7, 8). It means that God used Moses as a channel of blessing to give the Israelites a blessed land (verses 9 and 10).
⑶ I will worship with the people of Israel (verses 11-12)
Moses thought he was not worthy in the face of God's great call and plan (verse 11). God gives the evidence that God is using Moses to fear Moses. It means that God Himself will be with Moses. Moreover, the fact that the people of Israel worshiped God on Mount Horeb, where Moses was meeting God, would be the evidence that Moses would deliver Israel (verse 12). In fact, on this Mount Sinai/Horeb, God gave the Ten Commandments and the Law to the Israelites through Moses (Exodus 20:1~17), and it is also the place where Moses first built the tabernacle (Exodus 26:30).
4. God's revelation of salvation (Exodus 3:13-22)
(1) God's name (verses 13-15): the Eternal Self
First, God's name is theologically "I am who I am", and second, historically "I am the God of Abraham. The God of Isaac. The God of Jacob." Third, in life, “an eternal name and a mark to be commemorated from generation to generation.” For whoever calls on the name of the Lord, because of the promise of that covenant that I will give salvation. That is why it is a name that we will remember forever in all of our lives. “My everlasting name, and my sign to be remembered from generation to generation.”
(2) God's method of salvation (verses 16-18): Go to the land of Canaan to offer sacrifices.
What sacrifices will you offer to Jehovah as a way to save Israel? It is a lamb sacrifice. The sacrifice offered through the blood of the Lamb is the sign of Israel's salvation. The power of the Exodus lies in the sacrifice. The power of salvation is in the Lamb.
⑶ The time of the Exodus (verses 19-22): the strength of the Egyptian king and the exodus
He told them that the king of Egypt would not obey from the beginning the words of God's prophecy about the salvation of Israel. In the end, it was said that it would be granted after several miracles (verses 19-20). When they are delivered from Egypt, by the grace of God they will take the Egyptians' silver and gold and clothing (vv. 21-22).
God remembers the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He gives grace according to the covenant and faithfully keeps that covenant. Even now, he has established a plan to save us in Jesus Christ and calls us. Not only are we called to save us, but we are also commanded to save our neighbors. Please pray and cry out to God who hears our prayers. And, looking at the power of salvation in Jesus Christ, I bless you for victory.
Ministry: Pray to live according to God's plan of salvation.