Heavenhigh

The Heart Searches!

# 29 2024 Dev. SS.3:2.The Heart Searches! Read all of chapter three first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

SS.3:2 “I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him.”

SS.3 A woman searching, it is like a dream, longing for the one her heart loves, The church searching for Christ, and Christ is calling to us. He finds her, we are found, the church exists and the song culminates in the wedding of the lamb and His bride.

V.1 “All night long on my bed…” Is she dreaming? Dreaming of searching and finding?

V.2-4 “I will get up now and go about the city…” She is awake and goes out to search for her lover, metaphorically those searching for truth, for peace, for relief from this worldly life, looking for what will fulfill the human longing for purpose, for meaning and for contentment.

She doesn’t find him, “the watchmen found me”, strong attractions in this life are no help. “Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves.” No, he found her! She “held him and would not let him go” until the relationship is validated. Eph. 5:25-33 is the New Test. explanation; we quote only verse 31-32.“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[c]This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

V.5 Again there is a warning; a legitimate warning for lovers, as we mentioned in the last chapter, love, a potential for pleasure and procreation and a potential for great pain. Also, the love of Christ, salvation and eternal life, and the possibility of rejection by grieving the Holy Sprit.

Vs.6-10 “Who is coming up from the wilderness…” Is this the woman or is this the daughters of Jerusalem who speak? “Perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchants.” Very expensive but very desirable at this time and a simile for prayer and worship.

“Look! It is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by sixty warriors.” David had thirty escorts. It is a wedding procession. The carriage is described as exceptionally ornate, and heavy. Some commentators think that maybe a bed room is being described or a throne room. Be that as it may the daughters of Jerusalem are addressed; “come out, and look, you daughters of Zion.” That is a term used for Israel. “ Look on King Solomon… on the day of his wedding…” Again, the New Test. informs us: “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah!’ For our Lord God Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” (Rev.19:6-9)

Are you invited???

A Great Commission!

# 28 2024 Dev. Ex.7: A Great Commission! Read all of chapter seven first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex. 7:1 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.”

Ex.7 The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and how to worship. God chose the time for liberating His people Israel from Egypt. God chose the method and He chose the person to accomplish it. But Pharaoh was not ready to listen, as God had warned Moses, Pharaoh hardened his heart. The back story is that Satan is behind the destruction of the Israelites. There are people and countries today, helping Satan to destroy the Israelites.

Vs.1-5 God makes a proclamation about how He will use Moses and Aaron; “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron will be your prophet…” God gives them a great commission, as God has given us, to reflect God’s light, in Christ, to light up this dark world. God tells them what to say. “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart…” Pharaoh already had a unbelieving heart and God did not intervene. In spite of the many signs and judgments, he did not listen up to the very end. The heart of an unbeliever is rock hard, only by the gentle urging of the Holy Spirit does the human heart soften, then we are able to respond.

Vs.6-7 They did what God told them. “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty three when they spoke to Pharaoh.” God uses us at every stage of our life’s but most of us would like to retire at that point. God calls and empowers as He sees fit. Amen!

Vs.8-13 God tells Moses and Aaron to turn his staff into a snake. But the Egyptian magicians performed that feat as well. But Aaron’s snake swallowed up all the other snakes. Yet, Pharaoh continued to harden his heart.

Vs.14-24 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.’” God sends Moses and Aaron to the river Nile when Pharaoh goes there in the morning. “Say to him… ‘The God of the Hebrews has sent me to say to you: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.’” Because Pharaoh did not listen to Moses, Aaron lifted up his staff and turned all the water in Egypt to blood, the river, the ponds, all the containers holding water. “But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.” We all make choices based on what we know and what we see. This is what Pharaoh did, he chose. We may not blame God for our personal choices, we are responsible as Pharaoh was responsible. Amen!

V.26 Seven days later God is planning an event that the magicians will not be able to duplicate.

On this fourth of July, in light of Exodus and the history of the USA, freedom is a “fickle Mistress”; difficult to attain and even more difficult to maintain, only accomplished by faith, prayer and hard work!

Nature’s Song!

# 27 2024 Dev. SS.2:2. Nature’s Song! Read all of chapter two first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

SS.2:2 “Like a Lilly among thorns is my darling among the young women.”

Song of Songs. For centuries this book has been controversial in terms of how to read it. Is this a literal description of human relationships or is it allegorical, a rendering of the relationship of God and Israel or for Christians, Christ and the church? As we saw two weeks ago we do not need to choose, as an example, read all of Hosea 2. I submit v.23 here “ I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[i]’I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[j]’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

SS.2 Nature, creation is the main metaphor here.

V.1 She: “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.” Faith, Mt. 6:29 “See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

V.2 He: “Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the young women. She is unique, she stands out, it is obvious. Do we stand out, is it obvious to others that we follow Jesus?

Vs.3-7 She: praises her lover, he also stands out among nondescript trees, he is shade, he is sustenance, his fruit is sweet. “Let his banner over me be love” She is overwhelmed with love, she is faint, lovesick, she is in his arms. She warns others, love is a serous matter, it has the potential for pleasure but also for great pain. This is human love, but God’s love has no limit, it is pure grace, and provides healing for body and soul.

Vs.8-13 She: continues, he comes to her, he speaks to her, “Arise my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.” He describes for her a beautiful summer day, then he repeats his request, “come with me.” Jesus says: come to me!

His love is like the love of Jesus, relentless, unconditional, describing the beauty of His creation, it is reminiscent of the “Joy of the Redeemed. The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.” Is. 35:1-2

Vs.14-15 He: calls her, “My dove…” . He wants to hear her voice, see her face. Their love is new, still fragile, like “our vineyards that are in bloom.” Doves stay together for live.

Vs.16-17 She: My beloved is mine and I’m his;” She describes him as powerful, “like a gazelle”. It is like the love of Jesus, we are His and He is ours. Not for a day, or this year, no, forever! Amen.

God’s Covenant!

# 26 2024 Dev. Ex.6: God’s Covenant! Read all of chapter six first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex. 6:10-11 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.’”

Ex. 6 The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and how to worship. God chose the time for liberating His people Israel from Egypt. God chose the method and He chose the person to accomplish it. But Pharaoh was not ready to listen, as God had warned Moses, Pharaoh hardened his heart. The back story is that Satan is behind the destruction of the Israelites. God’s promise to Abraham, “your offspring will be as the sand of the seas, uncountable”, God means the church, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament Church of Jesus Christ.

Vs.1-5 Then the Lord said to Moses. “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” Further, God reconfirms His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob “to give them the land of Canaan… I have heard the groaning of the Israelites…and I have remembered my covenant.”

Vs.6-8 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians… I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God… And I will bring you to the land…’ I promised to give ‘to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession.’” This promise is still in play today. God loved us before we acknowledged Him, and He continues to love us by His grace and blessings to us, Amen! The continuing and New Covenant of Jesus’ blood, guides us in this life and brings us to the “promised land”, the New Heaven and the New Earth, the only permanent possession in our short lives on earth.

V.9 “Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of the discouragement and harsh labor.”

Vs.10-13 “Then the Lord said to Moses, Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.” Moses makes more excuses but God sends Moses and Aaron with that same message.

Vs.14-25 lists a partial genealogy of the Israelite nation in Egypt. It only lists three sons of Jacob, Rubin, Simeon and Levi, the propose seems to be to establish Aaron and Moses’ place in the Nation. Ironically their fore-fathers carried some serious baggage: Reuben defiled his father’s bed. Simeon and Levi murdered all the males of Shechem and the rest of Jacob’s sons carried off all the females. In spite of all that the Levites were chosen to be the priests of Israel and Moses and Aaron were given the important job of representing God to the captives and to the Egyptians. The wonder of Gods’ grace that blesses His people and blesses us today, “Amazing Grace”!

Vs.26-30 Moses and Aaron are the ones that God chose to speak to Pharaoh, Aaron is to speak, and Moses with his staff performed signs and wonders that will punish Egypt, until the Israelites are released. God is in control but Pharaoh continues to allow Satan to harden his own heart. Satan continues his war on the Jews to this day and thousands of American youth and educational institutions are helping him. But God is in control then and He is in control now. Amen!

Love!

# 25 2024 Dev. SS.1:4b. Love! Read all of chapter one first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

SS 1:4b “We rejoice and delight in you[b]; we will praise your love more than wine.”

Song of Songs. For centuries this book has been controversial in terms of how to read it. Is this a literal description of human relationships or is it allegorical, a rendering of the relationship of God and Israel or for Christians, Christ and the church. “We do not need to choose between literal and allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs as earlier generations of Christian readers felt they had to. There is no good reason to see erotic, earthly love as problematic either in itself or in its ability to speak by analogy of the divine-human relationship. Even if we had a problem here, of course, we should still have to ask whether we had good grounds for thinking that the original author found any difficulty in this area — and there is in truth no good reason to think that he or she did.” (NIV Application Commentary)

Vs.1-4 She: Begins with intimate description of her love for the king, enticing him, “Take me away with you-let us hurry!” She is encouraged by others; “We rejoice and delight in you[b]; we will praise your love more than wine.” God created humans in His image, “Male and Female he created them.” Christ as Bridegroom, the church as Bride.

She continues, “How right they are to adore you.” Jesus!

Vs.5-7 “Dark am I, yet lovely,” she says. “Dark like the tents of Kedar.” She refers to the black tents but Kedar is also a tribe, one of the sons of Ismael by his Egyptian wife, They are known as warriors. (See Ps. 120) She makes excuses for being dark, the sun, forced to work in the vineyard, not being able to care for herself. Light is beautiful and dark is beautiful. “Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock.” She wants to know where she can find him. If not in the Scripture, where will we find God? “Why should I be like a veiled woman…” a veiled woman in that day were prostitutes, belonging to no one. We should all belong to someone bigger than ourselves.

V.8 “If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracts of the sheep…” Follow the blessings of God to you and the signs of Jesus in your friends.

Vs.9-11 He: “I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.” Is the woman an Egyptian? Adorned with jewels, “We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.” Proverbs 25: 11-12 “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a ruling rightly given. Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is the rebuke of a wise judge to a listening ear.”

Vs.12-14 She: “My beloved is to me…”she Is describing their relationship, it is intimate, it is also obvious to others as henna is used by women to tattoo. How is our relationship with Jesus? Do Others see? Is Jesus obvious in your life?

V.15 He: Is completely head over heels, fully devoted to her. Who or what are we devoted to?

V.16 She: “Oh, how beautiful! And our bed is verdant”, a grassy place. They are enjoying each other in nature. Nature has an important role in our lives. Ps 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

V.17 He: He refers to nature as well. The sweet smell of cedar, the permanence of cedar, indicating the permanence of their relationship. It mirrors the permanence of our relationship with our God. John 10:27-28 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Praise be to God!

Let My People Go!

# 24 2024 Dev. Ex.5:2. “Let My People Go!” Read all of chapter five first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex 5:2 “ Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

Ex 5 The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and how to worship. God chose the time for liberating His people Israel from Egypt. God chose the method and He chose the person to accomplish it. He also told Moses what to say to Pharaoh Ex 3:18

Vs.1-5 Moses and Aaron did not say what God had told them to say to Pharaoh. They said to Pharaoh: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” But that is not what God told them to say to Pharaoh. They started with an imperative, “Let my people go,” That is like saying: we demand that you let us go and have a festival in the wilderness. They got a very negative reaction from Pharaoh. But then they were told that Pharaoh would refuse. “Then they said, ‘the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord out God.’” That is what God told them to say, a much softer tone. But they did not end it there, they added, “or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword” Were they trying to scare Pharaoh, with thousands dead depleting his work force? In any case Pharaoh hardened his heart. It would take God’s power to accomplish the release, not Moses’ or Aaron’s effort. When we start to depend on ourselves we get into trouble.

Vs.6-21 The end result of the first meeting was devastating for the Israelites. They had to make a certain number of bricks a day but now they would not get the straw they needed, they had to find it themselves. Pharaoh was punishing them saying they had to much time on their hands. “The Israelis overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh” to no avail, he called them lazy, he refused to give them straw and did not change the quota of bricks. The overseers went to Moses and Aaron and blamed them for this situation, it would be very difficult to meet the daily quota. “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Vs.22-23 “Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me?” Moses here blames God for this problem. He should really be blaming Pharaoh. He could also take a little blame himself for his confrontational approach. This is typical for many of us as well, quick to blame God, quick to blame others, and not always take responsibility for our own actions. God responds but we will have to wait for the next chapter.

Remembering God’s Grace!

# 23 2024 Dev. Ecc 12:11,12. Remembering God’s Grace! Read all of chapter twelve first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc.12:11-12 “The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.[b] Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.”

Ecc. 12 Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “Teacher” says: continuing from chapter 11, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth…” Remember your creator before you are old and incapacitated. “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of mankind.”

Vs.1-5 The teacher tells us to remember, while we still can and while we are young, and at the time we are vulnerable, remember Him! How easy it is to depend on our own strength, on the optimism of youth. How easy it is to follow a dangerous path. Remembering means to know God’s precepts and expectations, to experience His grace, His love, His forgiveness and to remember His call on our lives as followers of Jesus. We are old before we realize and before most of us will admit it. The Teacher here describes getting old in graphic terms. Think of the days of Solomon, and also some Third World countries today, how difficult and discouraging it is for those who need medical help, both physical and mental and spiritual. We need to count our blessings today.

Vs.6-8 “Remember your Creator…” before things go bad, before your strength is depleted, before your health is broken and before “the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

Vs.9-11 The Teacher has shared His wisdom and His knowledge, “what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise” inspire, instruct and set parameters. “Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.” There is no end of information in this world, today. We are overwhelmed with it! Who is able to discern the lie, the half lie from the truth, the right from wrong? There is only one way, weigh what you hear and what you think you know by God’s Word, by Jesus’ example, and by the whispers of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The teacher says:

Vs.13-14 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

For God will bring every deed into judgment including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

We are judged by what we believe, what we believe is what we do, how we live, how we act, what we say and how we serve God. Amen!

God’s Concern!

# 22 2024 Dev. Ex.4: 13. God’s Concern! Read all of chapter four first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex.4:13 “But Moses said, ‘Pardon your servant. Please send someone else’”

Ex.4 The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and how to worship. God chose the time for liberating His people Israel from Egypt. God chose the method and He chose the person to accomplish it

Vs.1-13 Moses is doing what many others have done when God calls. If only God would call us like He called Moses, that would have made it much easier to make that difficult decision to give up all you know in order to serve. But Moses continues to raise objections to his appointment. He mentions the possibility of the elders not believing him, he is in-adequate, he says, “I am slow of speech and tongue.” God shows Moses His power and gives him three signs, The snake from his staff, temporary leprosy of his hand and Nile water into blood. God also tells Moses and us that He is the creator of everything. Not only is God with us, He made us to be who we are and as he tells Moses, I can and will remake you for the task I have given you. That we need to remember as God continues to call us to different tasks. God has answered every objection that Moses had but Moses simply did not want to go back to Egypt. “Pardon your servant… Please send someone else.” After forty years of peace and harmony, it is understandable Moses did not want to give that up and jump into the difficult job of leading a million plus mass of people out of Egypt.

Vs.14-17 “Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses”. Understandable, but God teamed Moses up with Aaron, his brother. “I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.” Did Moses have a choice? No, God calls, we listen.

Vs.18-20 Moses informs his father-in-law, Jethro, that he is returning to Egypt. “Jethro said, ‘Go, and I wish you well.’” God continues to assure Moses, “those who wanted to kill you are dead.” So Moses departed with his wife and sons. “And he took the staff of God in his hand.” God commanded Moses to show the signs He gave to him to Pharaoh. But I will harden his heart. God did not harden his heart against his will, Pharaoh was an arrogant and power hungry leader who thought he was god. “Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’” Pharaoh was told the end game but he refused to listen.

But then there was an other issue: “At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses [b] and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.[c] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. Zipporah must have known about God’s covenant with his people (Ge.17) Moses had not taken God’s covenant seriously by not circumcising his sons.

We live under the New Covenant of Jesus’ blood. How serious are we? “The LORD said to Aaron, ‘go into the wilderness to meet Moses… Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites… He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed.” Realizing that God was concerned, “they bowed down and worshiped.” God is concerned about us as well, given our culture and the opposition to our Christian values.

Enjoy Life!

# 21 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 11:8.Enjoy Life! Read all of chapter eleven first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc.11:8 “However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all.”

Ecc.11. Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “Teacher” says: Be prudent but we are not in control. Be diligent but we are not in control. “Remember your Creator while Young.”

Vs.1-2 The Teacher says in today’s idiom, “hedge your bets.” And “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Vs.3-6 The Teacher tells us that we are completely dependent on the weather, it is unpredictable, this is very applicable in an agricultural society as in that time. They, like farmers today, make choices in faith. We trust in God’s care, but we use common sense in all that we do, as the Teacher suggests in His time. He also suggests diligence, after planting, “at evening let your hand not be idle.”

Vs.7-10 “Remember your Creator while young.” Enjoy the good days, but “remember the days of darkness.” “Everything to come is meaningless.” One dark day weather wise and event wise in our lives will undo a number of good days.

“You who are young, be happy…let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.” Then the Teacher warns the youth, “follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.”

Don’t be anxious and cast off the troubles of your body,” willfulness, unhealthy desire for things, and lust. There is an advantage in being young, but also a disadvantage in lack of prudence. “For youth and vigor are meaningless.” Thanks be to God for His grace, for His care and for His blessings. In an unstable world Jesus is our Rock. Amen.

I AM WHO I AM!

# 20 2024 Dev. Ex.3: 14. I AM WHO I AM! Read all of chapter three first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex.3:14 “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Ex.3 The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and the worship of God. Ch.1 sets the stage, Ch.2 sets God’s plan into motion and Ch.3 the burning bush, God revels His plan to Moses.

Vs.1-3 Now Moses has been with his wife and father in law for 40 yrs. He is tending the flock of his father in law way out in the wilderness, near mount Horeb, the mountain of God. He saw a burning bush but it was not consumed by the fire. Moses goes over to take a look.

Vs.4-6 When close to the bush God called out to him and Moses answered “Here I am… Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” God announces His presence and who He is. Moses quickly covers his face to avoid seeing God.

Vs.7-10 God tells Moses that He has indeed seen the misery of His people in Egypt. The way that Moses wrote the Pentateuch he seems to be wondering what we are wondering. Why did it take so long? Moses is now 80 years old. The Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 yrs., long enough to become a nation, so much so that the Egyptians feared them and wanted to reduce their number by persecution.

80 yrs. + is a long time for us humans. But God is working His plan. And so it is for us, the church is the new Israel, the people of God. God has His plan but we see the church declining in the West, but in the Third World it is exploding. Go figure, God has a plan! Satan has taken over at some of our universities, and God has taken over at some of our other universities, God is planning, He was then and He is now!

Vs.11-15 But Moses did not want to fit into God’s plan. “Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’” How many times have we not done the same, when the Holy Spirit moves us? Not me, Lord, send someone else. We have disobeyed more than once and missed out on one of the greatest privileges of Christianity, Service.

God said to Moses, “I will be with you.” God gives Moses a sign , the mountain of God, where He will bring them to worship. But Moses, still trying to get out of God’s call, says, who will I say sent me to them? This is my name: “ I AM WHO I AM.” The first part of the name, I AM, is associated with the Lord, God uses that here saying to them, the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sent me to you. The full name is also connected with Yahweh the verb “to be.” The name could also be translated as “I will be what I will be” (Notes). “God said to Moses, ‘I will be with you'” God will be there for us!

Jesus uses this name 7 times as well in the Book of John, “I AM” the Bread of Life, the Light, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the Truth and the Life, and the True Vine. Well, yes, Jesus is God, the second person of the Trinity.

Vs.16-21 God tells Moses, “assemble the elders of Israel, tell them the God of your fathers sent you. The elders will listen to you.” Tell Pharaoh that the God of the Hebrews, wants us to go into the wilderness, a three day journey and sacrifice to Him. He will not let you go, but I will work wonders and strike the Egyptians until they let you go. “And so you will plunder the Egyptians.” God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that He is glorified. Praise be to God!