Exodus 3
Big idea: God interrupts an ordinary working day. A bush burns without being consumed, and when Moses turns aside to look, God calls him by name from the middle of it and tells him he is standing on holy ground. What follows is the book's mission statement in God's own voice: I have surely seen, I have heard their cry, I know their sorrows, and I have come down to deliver them. Moses raises the first two of five objections — who am I? and what is your name? — and gets answers that reframe both: the point is not who Moses is but that I will be with you; and the name is I AM WHO I AM, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to be remembered to all generations.
Chapter 3 sends Moses with a name and a message but leaves his objections unfinished. Chapter 4 continues the argument — they won't believe me, I'm not eloquent, send someone else — and God answers each in turn until his anger burns.
3:1–6 — Take off your sandals
Moses is keeping his father-in-law's flock and leads it to the far side of the wilderness, to Horeb, the mountain of God. Yahweh's angel appears in a flame of fire in a bush that burns without being consumed, and when Moses turns aside to see this great sight, God calls him by name out of the bush. He is told not to come closer and to take off his sandals, for the place is holy ground — and then God names himself as the God of his father, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses hides his face.
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb. 2 Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 Moses said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.” 5 He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” 6 Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
3:7–12 — I have come down to deliver
God states the case in the first person: I have surely seen the affliction of my people, I have heard their cry, I know their sorrows — and I have come down to deliver them and bring them up to a good and large land flowing with milk and honey. Then the sentence that turns revelation into commission: come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh. Moses' first objection is about himself — who am I? — and God does not answer it; he answers a different question instead: certainly I will be with you, and this will be the sign, that you will serve God on this mountain.
7 Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
3:13–22 — I AM WHO I AM
Moses asks what to say when Israel asks God's name, and receives the answer the rest of Scripture is built on: I AM WHO I AM — tell them I AM has sent me. God expands it: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is my name forever, my memorial to all generations. Then the plan in detail: gather the elders, who will listen; go with them to Pharaoh and ask for a three days' journey; the king will not let you go, so I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders, and after that he will let you go. And they will not leave empty — the women will ask their neighbours for silver, gold and clothing.
13 Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. 17 I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 They will listen to your voice. You shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ 19 I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20 I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do among them, and after that he will let you go. 21 I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. You shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.”
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).