Speaker 1: Life Audio The Bible Study Podcast, Episode nine sixty six. Today,
Speaker 1: The Bible Study Podcast continues the study of the Book
Speaker 1: of Exodus, continuing on from chapter two. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Bible Study Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Kristensen. We're going
Speaker 1: to continue on with Moses' story talking about Moses as
Speaker 1: an adult, but first a word from this sponsor, so
Speaker 1: we're going to pick this up. In verse eleven of
Speaker 1: chapter two, Moses flees to Midian, so his childhood is
Speaker 1: over and Moses is now grown up. One day, after
Speaker 1: Moses had grown up, he went out to where his
Speaker 1: own people were and watched them at their hard labor.
Speaker 1: He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his
Speaker 1: own people. He looked this way and that, and seeing
Speaker 1: no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in
Speaker 1: the sand. The next day he went out and saw
Speaker 1: two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one and the wrong,
Speaker 1: why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew? The man said,
Speaker 1: who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you
Speaker 1: thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian. Then
Speaker 1: Moses was afraid and thought what I did must have
Speaker 1: become known. When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to
Speaker 1: kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to
Speaker 1: live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now,
Speaker 1: a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came
Speaker 1: to draw water and fill the troths to water their
Speaker 1: father's flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away,
Speaker 1: but Moses got up and came to their rescue and
Speaker 1: watered their flock. When the girls returned to Rueled, our father,
Speaker 1: he asked them, why have you returned so early today?
Speaker 1: They answered, An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He
Speaker 1: even drew water for us and watered the flock. And
Speaker 1: where is he? Ruel asked his daughters, why did you
Speaker 1: leave him? Invite him to have something to eat. Moses
Speaker 1: agreed to stay with a man who gave his daughter, Zipporah,
Speaker 1: to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son,
Speaker 1: and Moses named him Gersham, saying, I have become a
Speaker 1: foreigner in a foreign land. During that long period, the
Speaker 1: king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery
Speaker 1: and cried out, and their cry for help because of
Speaker 1: their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning,
Speaker 1: and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and
Speaker 1: with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was
Speaker 1: concerned about them. So Moses grows up, remember in Pharaoh's household,
Speaker 1: and so when he goes out to see where his
Speaker 1: own people were and watched them at their hard labor.
Speaker 1: He is not taking part in that. He hasn't had
Speaker 1: to do that, but he knows that he is a Hebrew.
Speaker 1: He would have been told that by people around him.
Speaker 1: And so he is going out to see how his
Speaker 1: people are getting treated and sees one being mistreated and
Speaker 1: kills him, which is not great. I remember when I
Speaker 1: was doing chaplain ministry to youth in juvenile hall, and
Speaker 1: I mentioned in a sermon of my church three people
Speaker 1: that were murderers that I wanted to introduce my kids to,
Speaker 1: and the three of them were Moses and King David
Speaker 1: and Saul also known as Paul, because all three of
Speaker 1: them were murderers. Now, we're not encouraging people to do that.
Speaker 1: But the surprising thing is that even after that terrible act,
Speaker 1: later on, God is able to use them. God is
Speaker 1: able to forgive and use these people, and that was
Speaker 1: something that I thought would bring hope to the people
Speaker 1: who I was teaching in Junle Hall because it was
Speaker 1: a lockdown unit for violent youth offenders and some of
Speaker 1: them were in fact murderers. So it is interesting to
Speaker 1: see that Moses his story doesn't end here. It doesn't
Speaker 1: end in the desert as a shepherd, although he certainly
Speaker 1: probably thinks it will. At this point. In this beginning
Speaker 1: of this section, he is an Egyptian. Remember that's what
Speaker 1: his soon wife calls him. She and her sisters who
Speaker 1: have him intervene with them, but he is in their
Speaker 1: minds an Egyptian. He probably dresses like an Egyptian. He
Speaker 1: talks like an Egyptian. He grew up in Pharaoh's house,
Speaker 1: although now he is a fugitive. He is fleeing Pharaoh
Speaker 1: because Pharaoh is going to have him executed, and says
Speaker 1: Pharaoh wants to have him killed. When a leader does that,
Speaker 1: we call it an execution, and in this case it
Speaker 1: would have been justified with the Egyptian law. That's what
Speaker 1: Moses deserves. He goes out into the desert. He finds
Speaker 1: this priest of Midian who has seven daughters. He helps
Speaker 1: them drives away the shepherd, and they take him in
Speaker 1: and he becomes a son in law and a husband
Speaker 1: and a brother in law to this group of people
Speaker 1: in the desert. He becomes a father to Gersham, which
Speaker 1: is an aim that sounds like a foreigner there. And
Speaker 1: so this is where he lives. Now he's a shepherd.
Speaker 1: But there's other things going on. The King of Egypt
Speaker 1: is dying, the Pharaoh is dying, and God is hearing
Speaker 1: his people cry out. And God is not done with
Speaker 1: them yet either. So this story is not over. Let's
Speaker 1: continue on to Moses and the Burning Bush Chapter three. Now,
Speaker 1: Moses was tending the flock of jeth Throw, his father
Speaker 1: in law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock
Speaker 1: to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,
Speaker 1: the mountain of God. There, the Angel of the Lord
Speaker 1: appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.
Speaker 1: Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it
Speaker 1: did not burn up. So Moses thought, I will go
Speaker 1: over and see this strange sight. Why the bush does
Speaker 1: not burn up. When the Lord saw that he had
Speaker 1: gone over to look, God called him from within the bush. Moses,
Speaker 1: Moses and Moses said, here I am, do not come
Speaker 1: any closer. God said, take off your sandals, for the
Speaker 1: place that you were standing is holy ground. That he said,
Speaker 1: I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,
Speaker 1: the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. At
Speaker 1: this Moses hid his face because he was afraid to
Speaker 1: look at God. And I'm gonna pause there for a second.
Speaker 1: You would think, from the way this appears in the
Speaker 1: Book of Exodus that this happens the next day or
Speaker 1: the next week, or a couple months from now, or
Speaker 1: something like this. This is years later. Moses at this
Speaker 1: point is a shepherd, and he's been a shepherd for
Speaker 1: most of his life, and he is at this point
Speaker 1: an old man. So it's taken a while to get
Speaker 1: to this point where he's walking along and he sees
Speaker 1: a bush that is burning but isn't burning up, and
Speaker 1: a voice speaking to him out of that bush, and
Speaker 1: it continues. The Lord said, I've indeed seen the misery
Speaker 1: of my people in Egypt. I've heard them crying out
Speaker 1: because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about
Speaker 1: their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them
Speaker 1: from the hand of the Egyptians. And to bring them
Speaker 1: up out of the land into a good and spacious land,
Speaker 1: a land flowing with milk and honey, the home of
Speaker 1: the Kenaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Parizites, Hibites, and Jebusites. And now
Speaker 1: the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I
Speaker 1: have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So
Speaker 1: now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring
Speaker 1: my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. But Moses said
Speaker 1: to God, who am I that I should go to
Speaker 1: Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? And God said,
Speaker 1: I will be with you, and this will be the
Speaker 1: sign to you that it is I who have sent you.
Speaker 1: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you
Speaker 1: will worship God on this mountain. Moses said to God,
Speaker 1: Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them,
Speaker 1: the God of your fathers has sent me to you,
Speaker 1: and they ask what is his name? Then what shall
Speaker 1: I tell them? God said to Moses, I am who
Speaker 1: I am? This is what you are to say to
Speaker 1: the Israelites. I am sent me to you. God also
Speaker 1: said to Moses, say to the Israelites, the Lord, the
Speaker 1: God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God
Speaker 1: of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me
Speaker 1: to you. This is my name forever, the name you
Speaker 1: shall call me from generation to generation. Go assemble the
Speaker 1: elders of Israel, and say to them, the Lord, the
Speaker 1: God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
Speaker 1: appeared to me and said, I have watched over you
Speaker 1: and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
Speaker 1: And I have promised to bring you up out of
Speaker 1: your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Parizites, Hipbites,
Speaker 1: and Jebucites, a land flowing with milk and honey. The
Speaker 1: elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and
Speaker 1: the elders are to go to the King of Egypt
Speaker 1: and say to him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews,
Speaker 1: has met with us. Let us take a three day
Speaker 1: journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord,
Speaker 1: our God. But I know that the King of Egypt
Speaker 1: will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.
Speaker 1: So I will stretch out my hand and strike the
Speaker 1: Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them.
Speaker 1: After that, he will let you go, and I will
Speaker 1: make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that
Speaker 1: when you leave, you will not go empty handed. Every
Speaker 1: woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living
Speaker 1: in her house for articles of silver and gold, and
Speaker 1: for clothing which you will put on your sons and daughters,
Speaker 1: And so you will plunder the Egyptians. This is not
Speaker 1: the end of this conversation, but we're going to pause
Speaker 1: here for this particular episode and look at what's going
Speaker 1: on here. So Moses is given a command. God is
Speaker 1: ready at this point to bring the people the Israelites
Speaker 1: out of Egypt and bring them into the land of
Speaker 1: the Canaanites, Hitsites, Amorites, Parazites, Hibites, and Jebusites. It doesn't
Speaker 1: say in this section why them. Why is God giving
Speaker 1: their land to the Israelites, But we'll learn more about
Speaker 1: that later. But this cry has gone out. God has
Speaker 1: heard it, and the person He's going to use to
Speaker 1: do this is Moses. Now, Moses will have some thoughts
Speaker 1: on that, which we'll talk about next week. But moses
Speaker 1: first question is good question. Is who should I say,
Speaker 1: is sending me? And we get this very famous phrase,
Speaker 1: I am who I am? And so God is known
Speaker 1: as the Great I am God, who is, who was
Speaker 1: and who is to come, who is outside of time,
Speaker 1: the Great I Am. This is the name that the
Speaker 1: Jews still use and that we still use sometimes to
Speaker 1: call God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the
Speaker 1: Great I Am. And that's who is sending Moses. And
Speaker 1: God tells him at this point, you're going to go
Speaker 1: to the elders. They're going to listen to you. You're
Speaker 1: going to go to Pharaoh. You're not going to ask
Speaker 1: to get out of Egypt. You're going to ask to
Speaker 1: journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices. You're going to
Speaker 1: be rejected. I'm going to compel him. I'm going to
Speaker 1: perform wonders and then he will let you go. And
Speaker 1: not only will he let you go, but you're going
Speaker 1: to actually plunder the people of Egypt. They're going to
Speaker 1: give you gold and silver and clothes because they're going
Speaker 1: to be glad to see the backside of you. All
Speaker 1: of that will happen, but we'll see how as we
Speaker 1: continue this story next week and With that, we're going
Speaker 1: to end this episode of the Bible Study Podcast. If
Speaker 1: you have any questions, send an email to Chris two
Speaker 1: x at gmail dot com, or, better yet, leave a
Speaker 1: comment on this episode at the Bible Study podcast dot com.
Speaker 1: And as always, thanks so much for listening. I want
Speaker 1: to take just a second to thank the team at
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