Exodus 3:1-10
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
God sees his people’s suffering, keeps his promises, comes near to rescue, and calls ordinary people into that rescue on the strength of who he is.
Have you ever gone through a long season where it felt like God was silent? What did you assume about him during that time?
Read Exodus 3:1–10 aloud. For background, summarize Exodus 2: Moses’ failed attempt to help his people, his flight, and forty years as a shepherd. End with 2:23–25, where God hears, remembers, looks, and knows.
Point 1: God meets us in the ordinary (vv. 1–4)
Moses was at work, in the desert, doing what he’d done for forty years. Nothing about the day or the place was special. God spoke “when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see.”
• Why do you think God waited until Moses turned aside?
• What keeps us from noticing when God is getting our attention?
Point 2: God is holy and personal (vv. 4–6)
He calls “Moses, Moses,” by name, twice. Then, “put off thy shoes.” The same God who knows your name is not to be approached casually.
• Which do we tend to forget, that God is near or that God is holy?
• What would “taking off your sandals” look like in your life?
Point 3: God sees, hears, and knows (vv. 7, 9)
Four hundred years of crying out, and every bit of it registered. Silence was never absence. He had told Abraham the timeline in advance (Genesis 15:13–14).
• How does it change your prayers to know God already “knows your sorrows”?
Point 4: God comes down, and God sends (vv. 8, 10)
“I am come down to deliver them… Come now therefore, and I will send thee.” He acts himself, and he acts through a person. The man he sends is the one who already failed at this exact task.
• Why would God choose to work through people at all?
• Where might you be praying for God to act while he is preparing to send you?
The picture to remember
The bush burned and was not consumed. God’s presence supplies what the vessel lacks and does not use it up. The call never rested on Moses. When he asks “Who am I?” God’s answer is simply “I will be with thee” (v. 12).
Application for the week
1. Turn aside: set apart unhurried time daily to be attentive to God.
2. Name one situation where you’ve read God’s silence as absence, and pray verse 7 over it.
3. Ask: is there someone whose suffering I see that God may be sending me toward?
Memory verse
“I have surely seen the affliction of my people… for I know their sorrows.” (Exodus 3:7)
Closing prayer
Lord, thank you that you see, hear, and know. Teach us to turn aside, to stand before you with reverence, and to go where you send, trusting that you are with us. Amen.
