Exodus · chapter 3 of 40
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Exodus 3 tells how Moses, tending his father-in-law's flock at Mount Horeb, sees a bush that burns without being consumed and hears God call his name. The Lord has seen his people's affliction in Egypt and sends Moses to Pharaoh. When Moses objects, God promises to be with him and reveals himself by the name I AM.
Moses has spent forty years in Midian, far from Egypt, and the previous chapter ended with God remembering his covenant. Exodus 3 is the decisive meeting in which God answers Israel's cry by calling a shepherd in the wilderness. Here God's holiness, compassion and name are revealed, and the mission that fills the rest of the book begins.
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and led the sheep beyond the wilderness to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bush. The bush was burning but was not consumed, and Moses turned aside to look. God called him by name, told him not to come closer and to take off his sandals, because the place was holy ground. He identified himself as the God of Moses' father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Moses hid his face in fear.
The Lord said he had seen the affliction of his people, had heard their cry because of their taskmasters and knew their sufferings. He had come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and bring them to a good and broad land flowing with milk and honey, now home to several peoples. He then sent Moses to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
Moses asked who he was to go to Pharaoh. God answered that he would be with him, and that the sign would be that, after bringing the people out, they would worship God on that same mountain. Moses asked what to say if they asked God's name, and God replied I AM WHO I AM, telling him to say to Israel that I AM had sent him. God added that he is the Lord, the God of their fathers, and that this is his name forever.
God gave instructions: gather the elders of Israel, tell them the Lord had seen what was done to them, and ask Pharaoh for permission to go a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice. He foretold that the king would not let them go unless forced by a mighty hand, but that he would work wonders in Egypt. When they left, the people would not go empty-handed: the women would ask their Egyptian neighbors for silver, gold and clothing.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God tells Moses not to come closer and to take off his sandals, because the place where he stands is holy ground. The holiness comes not from the place but from God's presence, and it calls for reverence.
The Lord declares that he has seen his people's affliction, heard their cry and knows their sufferings. God is not a distant spectator: his compassion is the reason he has decided to act.
When Moses asks who he is, God does not list Moses' qualities but promises to be with him. The security of the mission rests on God's presence, not on the ability of the one sent.
God reveals himself as I AM WHO I AM. The name expresses his self-existence, faithfulness and presence with his people, and it is the background of the name rendered the Lord in translations.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. — Exodus 3:1
Answer: It was burning with fire but was not consumed. — Exodus 3:2
Answer: To take off his sandals, because the place where he stood was holy ground. — Exodus 3:5
Answer: His people's affliction in Egypt and their cry because of their taskmasters. — Exodus 3:7
Answer: That when he brought the people out of Egypt, they would worship God on that mountain. — Exodus 3:12
Answer: I AM WHO I AM; I AM had sent him. — Exodus 3:14
Exodus 3 reminds us that God sees and hears human suffering. To anyone who feels that their cry goes nowhere, this chapter says the Lord knows their pain and that acting for his people is part of his character.
It also shows that God's call does not depend on who we are. Moses made excuses, and God did not argue about his limits but answered with his presence. In a small group you can ask what task each person feels God calling them to, what excuses they offer, and how the picture changes when we remember that what sustains the mission is God himself. The holy ground also invites reverence as we draw near to him.
Exodus 3 ends with the promise that God will bring his people out with a mighty hand and wonders, and with details of what Moses must do and say. But Moses still has doubts, and Exodus 4 will show how God answers with signs and a helper.
The Hebrew name is related to the verb to be, and can be translated I AM WHO I AM or I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. It suggests that God exists in himself, is faithful and will be present with his people. It is the background of the name that translations write as the Lord. Jesus used the expression I AM in the Gospel of John, and many Christians hear an echo of this passage.
The text first says that the angel of the Lord appeared, and then that God himself speaks from the bush. Many Christians see in this figure a special manifestation of God's presence. The passage stresses that the one speaking is the Lord and that Moses stands before his holiness.
It was a sign of respect and reverence before a place made holy by God's presence. Removing his sandals acknowledged that the ground was holy and that Moses did not approach God on his own terms.