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You You You You You Well good evening everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church take your songbooks and turn to song number 55 Song number 55 if you would stand we'll sing when the roll is called up beyond yonder song number 55 When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and times shall be no more and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair When the saved on earth shall gather over on the other shore and the roll is called up yonder I'll be there When the roll is called up yonder When the roll is called up yonder When the roll is called up yonder When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there On the bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise and the glory of his resurrection When has chosen one shall gather to their home beyond the skies and the role is called up yonder I'll be there when the role Is called up yonder When the role is called up yonder When the role Is called up yonder When the role is called up yonder I'll be there Let us labor for the master from the dawn till setting sun. Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care. And when all of life is over and our work on earth is done, and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. When the roll is called up yonder, when the roll is called up yonder, when the roll is called up yonder, when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just want to thank you, God, for another Wednesday night that we get to meet in your house and hear your word preached. I pray, O Lord, that you would be honored and glorified out of everything that's said and done, for it's in Jesus' name we ask all that amen. All right, you may be seated. And turn in your songbooks to song number 56. Song number 56, we'll sing When We All Get to Heaven, song number 56. Sing the wondrous love of Jesus. Sing His mercy and His grace. In the mansions bright and blessed, He'll prepare for us a place when we all get to heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus. We'll sing and shout the victory. While we walk the pilgrim pathway, clouds will overspread the sky. But when traveling days are over, not a shadow, not a sigh, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus. We'll sing and shout the victory. Let us then be true and faithful, trusting, serving every day. Just one glimpse of Him in glory will the toils of life repay when we all get to heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus. We'll sing and shout the victory. Onward to the prize before us. Soon His beauty will behold. Soon the pearly gates will open. We shall tread the streets of gold when we all get to heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus. We'll sing and shout the victory. Shall I do announcements? We'll wait. Welcome back to the church on this Wednesday evening. And just some church announcements here. Yeah, so, giving statements. So, just to make an announcement that we're gonna be getting giving statements together, obviously for tax purposes, for your own purposes there, and all that. And so just a reminder, you know, for this year, if you're wanting a giving statement, obviously you have to let us know what you're giving. So, if you give anonymously, that's fine, but we can't keep a record of that. And so, anyway, we're gonna be getting that together there for you. Service times, everything should be as normal. So, Sunday we should have our morning and afternoon service there. And then our soul winning times, we have our 1 p.m. soul winning time, our main soul winning time on Sunday, that should be as usual. Chapter memory, we are still in Psalm 12. So, we're coming to the end of the month, so maybe Sunday we'll just go ahead and pick the new chapter since we're going into the new month. And anyway, that being said, hopefully you've memorized Psalm 12. James 3.18 is our memory verse for the week. Upcoming events, I did shift the men's prayer meeting to tomorrow night. So, hopefully you can make it to that. If you can't, I understand. But it's just working out better with my schedule. But that being said, that'll be the same time, but it'll be tomorrow instead of Friday. Women's prayer meeting will be the next Saturday, and so that'll be on February 5th. And pregnancies being a prayer for all the ladies that are pregnant. And obviously for those that just had babies being a prayer for them both with recovery and just transitioning into having a new baby. If anybody has cutters, I'll probably need that later on after church to fix my van. So, I don't know if anyone's got any because we didn't have any to cut that over there. So, now I'm wondering. Anyway, so, of course it's got to be 10 degrees when something breaks on your vehicle like a door. So, but that being said, I think that's all we got for announcements. Is there anything else really to announce? We've got the mission strip coming up, but I can't think of. Stay warm, stay healthy, you know, that type of thing. Brother Dave's going to sing another song. It's who's reading tonight. Brother Anthony's going to be reading Exodus chapter 3 for us. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number 63. Song number 63 in your songbooks. We'll sing What a Day That'll Be, song number 63. piano plays softly There is coming a day When no heartache shall come No more clouds in the sky No more tears to dim the eye All is peace forevermore On that happy golden shore What a day, glorious day that will be What a day that will be When my Jesus I shall see And I look upon His face The one who saved me by His grace When He takes me by the hand And leads me through the promised land What a day, glorious day that will be There'll be no sorrow there No more burdens to bear No more sickness, no pain No more parting over there And forever I will be With the one who died for me What a day, glorious day that will be What a day that will be When my Jesus I shall see And I look upon His face The one who saved me by His grace When He takes me by the hand And leads me through the promised land What a day, glorious day that will be Alright, take your Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter number 3 Exodus chapter number 3 We'll have Brother Anthony read that for us Exodus chapter 3 Bible reads, Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law the priest of Midian and he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God even to Horeb and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the mist of a bush and he looked and behold the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed and Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burnt and when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses and he said, Here am I and he said, Draw not nigh hither put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground moreover he said, I am the God of thy father the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God and when the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters for I know their sorrows 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 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 and 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 come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt and Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt and he said, Certainly I will be with thee and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt ye shall serve God upon this mountain and Moses said unto God, Behold when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? and God said unto Moses, I am that I am and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel I am hath sent me unto you and God said moreover unto Moses thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel the Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob hath sent me unto you this is my name forever and this is my memorial unto all generations go and gather the elders of Israel together and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob appeared unto me saying, I have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in Egypt and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perissites and the Hivites and the Jebusites unto a land flowing with the milk and honey and they shall hearken to thy voice and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel unto the king of Egypt and ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us and now let us go, we beseech thee three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God and I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go no, not by a mighty hand and I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof and after that he will let you go and I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians and it shall come to pass that when ye go, ye shall not go empty but every woman shall borrow of her neighbor and of her that sojourneth in her house jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment and ye shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters and ye shall spoil the Egyptians, let's pray Lord thank you for your word and thank you for tonight where we can gather and hear your word preach I pray it should be with Pastor Robinson, fill him with your Holy Spirit and help us all to learn, in Jesus name I pray, Amen Amen, so you're there in Exodus chapter 3 and we are continuing our study through the book of Exodus and this is the famous story of the burning bush actually this chapter is just starting that story because actually he's still there talking to the Lord at the burning bush in chapter 4 so this is just starting that, but we already saw that he fled in the Midian he married Zipporah and had two sons and here in chapter 3 is where he's actually going to talk to God and we're going to have this famous story of this burning bush in verse 1 there it says Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law the priest of Midian and he led the flock to the back side of the desert and came to the mountain of God even to Horeb and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush behold the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed we see here that he sees this bush that's burning but it's not getting burned up, it's kind of like if you were to see something on fire, you're like eventually that's going to go out, right, eventually that thing's going to stop burning because that's what happens with wood or anything like that, so if you saw like a tree or a bush or something like that on fire and you just kept seeing this thing over and over again and it just keeps burning and burning and burning, you're going to be like what in the world is going on with that bush, right? So essentially that's what I believe is going on is that he saw this bush burning and then just for, you know, I don't know how long he saw this thing burning but he's like I have to go see what's going on with this and this is where the angel of the Lord appears unto him in a flame of fire, now I do believe God literally speaks to him out of the bush and that he's speaking to God but that there's also an angel that's there as well some would say that the angel of the Lord is just the Lord Jesus and I'm not against you if you take that stance, some people believe that and I do think there are cases where it talks about the angel that went before them and how that would be the Lord Jesus and how that would, you know, he could be referred to as an angel because he's a messenger just as much as you have the angels of the seven churches in Asia and how that could be used to be talking about a messenger and all that but I believe you're probably just dealing with an angel because later on it's going to talk about how you know, he's going to destroy or how he's going to do these wonders by the angel out of the bush and all that and obviously there's other angels that are being used to do some of these plagues you have the destroyer which I believe is Abaddon, Apollyon that does at least the last plague but that being said is that when it comes to this it's no marvel that an angel would be in this bush or would appear in this bush because notice what it says go to Hebrews chapter 1 Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 7 dealing with angels, okay so in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 7 it says, and of the angels he said who maketh his angels' spirits and his ministers a flame of fire now this is quoting Psalm 104 where it says who maketh his angels' spirits and his ministers a flaming fire but if you go down to verse 14 of Hebrews 1 it says, talking about the angels it says are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? So obviously the angels are for our purpose, you know the whole point of the angels is to minister to us and they're not ministering spirits but they're ministers of a flame of fire or flaming fire and so the idea that this angel the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire you shouldn't be surprised because angels are ministers of flaming fire and they're ministering spirits for us a lot of times that's what the angels are basically being the who, you know, basically God will give them a word and then they'll speak it to us, you think of Gabriel, you think of other angels in the Bible but that being said is that this very well could be an angel that's kind of causing this fire to burn in this bush now when this happens Moses is actually 80 years old you remember he's 40 years old when he's come to years and he goes out to see his brethren he's 40 years old and then he flees in the Midian because he kills the Egyptian, obviously it's Nome, Pharaoh wants to kill him he goes in the Midian, he gets married and he's 80 years old now go to Acts 7 Acts 7 and again keep your finger in Acts 7 because Stephen when he's preaching this sermon before he's actually stoned he's giving this whole history of Moses and some things are given in here to show us more information we kind of already saw some of that a couple weeks ago when we were in Exodus chapter 2 but in Acts 7 verse 29 it says Then fled Moses at this saying and was a stranger in the land of Madian where he begat two sons and when 40 years were expired there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush so same story here but it says 40 years were expired now in Exodus 7 in verse 7 it says Moses was four score years old and Aaron four score and three years old when they spake on the Pharaoh so four score, a score is 20 years or just 20 but a score means 20 so four score would be four times 20 80 years old, which makes sense because he was 40 years old he went out to see his brethren he flees in the Midian 40 years go by and then he comes back and he's 80 years old he's actually going to live another 40 years because he's going to die at 120 it also shows that Aaron is four score and three years old when they go up to Pharaoh so Aaron's three years older so when Moses was born Aaron was three years old and Miriam, his sister is obviously older too, which makes sense he's the one that's going up to Pharaoh's daughter and saying let me find you one of the Hebrew women so obviously she's got to be older but that being said just to show you his age where he's at, but when he's 120 years old it says that his life force has not abated and basically he can come in and out but the reason he died is because God said he was not going to go into the promised land and that's when you get into the book of Numbers and get into the smiting the rock and all this stuff in the wilderness so obviously that's another sermon for another day, but at the same time he's 80 years old, but it's not like he's like 80 like we would think today as far as not being able to get around he was still well able he was well able at 120 which is crazy to think about obviously back when Jacob and all his sons came into Egypt they were living longer when we get into the genealogy of Levi and that genealogy going up to Moses they're all living to like 130 some so for Moses to live to 120 it's actually not that out of the ordinary right here but from the flood it kind of diminishes so before the flood you had people living to like 900 almost 1000 but then after the flood it starts diminishing real quick and then it starts diminishing a little slower until you get to the point where if you're living over 100 that's rare and today it's rare too but you'll still find some people in the Bible later on when there's after the king of David and you're in the time of the kings if you will you'll live to like 130 or something like that but that's few and far between as far as that goes now another thing to notice here is that in Exodus 3 it says that where is this at? It says that he's in the mountain of God even to Horeb now later on he's going to state that the token that he's going to give him that he brought them out and that he actually accomplished what he said he was going to do is that they were going to come back upon this mountain now in Acts chapter 7 where did it say they were at? when he was at the burning bush in the wilderness of Mount Sinai or Sinai so Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai are the same place because what you're going to see is that in Exodus you're going to see Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai you go to Deuteronomy it's going to be like Mount Horeb, Mount Horeb Mount Horeb or maybe it's the other way around either way I'm pretty sure but you'll see them both in both books but one will kind of heavily say the one the other one will heavily say the other so when you're reading through Exodus and you're reading through Deuteronomy sometimes you're like am I at the same mountain? Is this a different place? I believe it's very clear that these are used interchangeably so Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai are the same place and there could be reasons for that but there are two different names for the same place dealing with where that name came from you know you think about Laban and Jacob they mount up these rocks and they each call it something different it's the same thing same monument or landmark or whatever now let's go back to Exodus chapter 3 and verse 3 and so he sees this bush it's on fire but it's not consumed Exodus chapter 3 and verse 3 it says Moses said I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burnt so obviously you know like I said he's kind of seeing that this thing is not being consumed and it's not only not being consumed but it's not being burnt okay because you can think about if you were to look at a fire and you saw the wood and it's turning into coals it's whatever no this thing is not even being burnt so it's basically like this bush it's on fire but it looks like the bush isn't getting harmed at all by the fire so just to kind of give you a picture of what you're dealing with here now I want you to think about this because God calls himself a consuming fire but he's never consumed meaning this is a consuming fire but yet he's never burnt and he doesn't disappear but yet he's perpetually a consuming fire and I think this bush kind of gives us that picture of that and obviously God's going to speak out of this bush but it's giving you a picture of who God is God is a consuming fire but yet he always is and always will be but yet he's a fire that's just constantly burning and go to Deuteronomy 4 verse 24 Deuteronomy 4 verse 24 Deuteronomy 4 verse 24 says, for the Lord thy God is a consuming fire even a jealous God now in Hebrews 12 it says something very similar or basically says the same thing but it says this in Hebrews 12 28 wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire now it's interesting because in that passage it's showing you the dichotomy between when Moses was there at the mount and they were afraid to even touch the mountain and it was on fire and it was on a smoke but then it's talking about how now we see Jesus the mediator of the New Testament and this kingdom that cannot be moved of the Lord and that same God is the same God that was there at Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb and all that but how about this too, thinking about the Lord Jesus in Daniel chapter 3 good Daniel chapter 3 and verse 25 very famous story with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is the fact that they were thrown into a fiery furnace but yet they were not hurt by the fire and in Daniel chapter 3 and verse 25 it says he answered and said, lo I see four men loose so obviously Nebuchadnezzar is saying I see four men this is weird because we threw three men in I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the son of God so God is a consuming fire but yet like he's in this burning furnace but yet it's not hurting him and it's not hurting those that are his and so obviously God is a consuming fire but not being burnt by it and obviously because we're saved we shall not be heard of the second death and that second death is the lake of fire and that everlasting fire will not be heard of that because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and all that. So I just want to kind of show you what I believe that bush represents if you will. I believe it's kind of showing you a little bit of who God is in a bush and a lot of times God does that where he'll kind of show in nature who he is to a certain extent so you know like the Godhead and the eternal power of Godhead is seen in nature but also he's kind of showing Moses a little bit of who he is and the fact that he's this consuming fire but yet not being consumed by it right he's not being burnt by it it's not basically even burnt at all and so go back to Exodus chapter 3 Exodus chapter 3 so the angel of the Lord is definitely there and you could argue and say well I believe that's the Lord Jesus and I'm not against you if that's what you believe on that I'm not saying that I would be against that it's just one of those things that I don't see any at least I haven't seen any verse to just dogmatically say that's definitely the Lord Jesus you know that's the angel of the Lord because there are definitely places where the angel of the Lord is not the Lord okay I'll say that there are definitely places where the angel of the Lord is not the Lord so because some people say well the angel of the Lord that's the Lord but an angel of the Lord that's just another angel okay but I could show you there are definitely places where it says the angel of the Lord and it's not the Lord so that doesn't hold water to me to say that that has to be the Lord I'm not against it I'm not saying it can't be I'm just saying that it's not definitive enough for me Exodus chapter 3 and verse 4 it says and when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said Moses and he said here am I and he said draw not nigh hither put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place wherein thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said I am the God of thy father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God so at this point obviously the angel of the Lord was appearing out of this burning bush okay but there's no doubt right here that he's talking to God okay God is speaking to him and he's afraid to even look upon God that's the narrator stating it okay it didn't say that he thought that he was looking upon God or that he was stating to someone else I've seen God okay cause some places you'll see that where it's like I've seen the face of God and it's like well did you? you know what I mean like just because they say they saw God doesn't mean they actually saw God but at the same time here it's stating that that for he was afraid to look upon God which means that God was appearing to him in this bush okay and when it comes to this I see a few things here when it comes to this event and go to Joshua chapter 5 Joshua chapter 5 one is it says put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place where on thou standest this holy ground there's one other place that this is this phrase or this same statement is made and it's in Joshua chapter 5 now when it says draw nigh hither I know that's kind of an older way of saying it's basically saying don't come near and hither means here here to right so it's basically saying don't come near here until you take off your shoes pretty much it's basically what it's saying you know don't come near to where I'm at until you take off your shoes that's essentially what he's stating here but there's another place where this is stated and this is clearly God right I mean it's God speaking this it's holy ground why because God is there and he's speaking to him out of this bush and Joshua chapter 5 verse 13 so this is this is actually where Joshua is picking up the reigns of Moses and he's about to go into Jericho okay so that's the first place they go to take go into the promised land Moses dies basically gives the charge to Joshua and notice what it says here in verse 13 it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand and Joshua went unto him and said unto him art thou for us or for our adversaries and he said nay now I love this because he put this is a dichotomy of questions where there's no right answer okay and that's why he says no okay he says are you for us or are you for our enemies and he says no and this is why because the truth of the matter is Joshua is for him actually because we're going to see that this is the Lord now it says and I lost my place here Joshua 5 in verse 14 it says and he said nay but as captain of the host of the Lord I am now come and Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto him what saith my Lord unto his servant now there's places in the Bible where people would drop down and worship and what usually happens they usually say stand up I'm yet a man right you know worship God like that's constantly what's being said but what is stated here in verse 15 and the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua loose thy shoe from off thy foot for the place wherein thou standest is holy and Joshua did so you know why because he's God because it's the Lord Jesus Christ I believe this is an Old Testament actually yeah this would be an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ and he's coming down he's the captain of the Lord's host and obviously that's who Jesus is and obviously Jesus has many names and all that but the captain of the Lord's host is one of them and but I just wanted to show you that because this is a very famous phrase or statements being made is the put off thy shoes from off thy feet from where thou standest is holy ground there's another place where that's stated it's interesting too because Moses remember he's the one that parts the Red Sea but then with Joshua they actually part Jordan to go into Jericho right there's there's like the kind of this I guess I would call it a rhyme if you will like it kind of rhymes like what happens with Moses and what he does kind of rhymes with what Joshua does and all that okay in Acts chapter 7 kind of the same thing the same stated here but I just want to read this because you know it kind of shows you a different perspective on the same story as far as what's going on here Acts chapter 7 verse 30 it says and when 40 years was expired they appeared to him appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush when Moses saw it he wondered at the sight and as he drew near to behold it the voice of the Lord came unto him saying I am the God of thy fathers the God of Jacob I'm sorry the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob then Moses trembled and durst not behold then said the Lord to him put off thy shoes from thy feet for the place where thou standest his holy ground now it says that he was afraid to look upon God but here it says he trembled now obviously they're very similar words there but you can be afraid and not be trembling so this shows you that this is an extreme fear that he had and obviously this is founded we should fear God we should serve him with fear and trembling and people want to say well that's trembling that's not really like trembling like you're afraid trembling no actually I think that's what it means okay it means that you're actually trembling and I mean think about it I mean if the Lord Jesus showed up as captain of the Lord's host or if you saw God speaking to you out of a burning bush I mean would you not be a little terrified at what you're seeing I mean would you not be trembling I mean I know that there's people out there that think they're that spiritual that they would be like no man this is I'm ready for this but I'm telling you right now I wouldn't be I mean if I was on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus was showing his glory I'd be on my face you know I would you know it's just one of those things that I can't imagine just the awe and the fear and you know to know like even though you know God loves you and obviously God cares about you but just to see his power like that I mean that's gonna frighten you okay in your flesh okay you're in your flesh still in this life and so so you don't want to go Moses was a great man of God and to think that you wouldn't be trembling okay and go back to Exodus chapter three and verse seven Exodus chapter three and verse seven so at this point God basically states that who he is and stating that I'm the God of thy fathers and basically this is holy ground take off your shoes and and Moses is afraid obviously because of the sight and because of what he's hearing Exodus chapter three this is where the Lord is gonna tell him you know basically why he's appearing to him why he's talking to him in verse seven it says and the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their task for I know their sorrows and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land onto a good land and a large onto 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 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 come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt so basically here's the charge he's saying I hear their affliction all this and he's not only stating that he's gonna take them out of there but he's gonna put them into a good land a land flowing with milk and honey and specifically where he's gonna take them to he's gonna take them to Canaan and he's gonna talk about how he's gonna basically give them the place where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites Hivites and Jebusites are and good thing you're not the parasites, sounds like a parasite you know obviously it's not in our language I'm sure that was not a thing back then where they were making fun of it but that being said he's taking them from somewhere that's bad but he's got a plan as far as basically the promised land a place of rest, a place that's flowing with milk and honey and so a fruitful land that he's gonna put them in but then he states here that he's sending Moses to do this to get them out and in Acts 7 and verse 34 notice what it says here it says I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt I have heard their groaning down to deliver them and now come I will send me into Egypt this Moses whom they refused saying who may be a ruler and a judge the same did God send to be a ruler and deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush so it's interesting because you remember the story obviously where he kills the Egyptian the next day he's trying to set his brethren at you know the one that wronged his other brothers like who may be a ruler and a judge over this us but Stephen's stating here that when God sent Moses he's sending him to be a ruler and a judge over the people that didn't want him to be a ruler and a judge and you remember that Moses when he was there and like I said you gotta get all these movies flushed out of your mind, Moses knew that he was supposed to be the deliverer when he was in Egypt because it says in the New Testament that he thought that his brethren would know that God by his hand would deliver them and so that's what the Bible says the Bible says that Moses knew that he was going to be the one that God would use and then obviously they didn't want that they didn't want him to set them in order at all but then 40 years later they have to go through 40 more years of bondage and God's actually going to send them to do that exact thing it's interesting because now not in this chapter here he's going to kind of state it but there's going to be more of an argument in the next chapter but Moses doesn't want to do it and all that I don't want to get into that because that's the next chapter there where he really gets into this back and forth with God about not wanting to do it but Exodus chapter 3 and verse 11 we're going to get a very famous name for God in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 11 it says Moses said unto God who am I that I should go on Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt now I want you to know this is that the Bible says this in Numbers chapter 12 you don't have to turn there it says this is about Moses chapter 3 says now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth so Moses I don't believe he's just not wanting to I think that he goes too far with it but at the same time he's looking at himself like who am I that I can do this and obviously humanly speaking who could say that they could do this right but at the same time Moses is a very meek person and if you remember Moses was actually learned up in all the ways of the Egyptians and he was mighty in words and in deeds in Egypt like he was not just like some everyday person in Egypt I mean he was the son of Pharaoh's daughter and he was mighty in words and in deeds while he was there so if anything humanly speaking you would say Moses is the man right I mean he's the man to do it wasn't he he's the one that even knows like everything about the Egyptians he was he knows about everything they know he was basically taught up in their ways and everything else and he he was basically one of them for 40 years so like humanly speaking you'd be kind of like why wouldn't it be you okay but Moses is basically saying you know who am I that I can do this now obviously humanly speaking that's true so you can definitely see where he's coming from chapter 4 is going to get to the point where you're going he's going too far with it and it's more so lacking faith instead of just being humble and being meek about it but in verse 12 it says he said certainly I will be with thee and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee when thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt he shall ye shall serve God upon this mountain and Moses said unto God behold I when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you they shall say to me what is his name and what shall I say unto them and God said unto Moses I am that I am and he said thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel I am hath sent me unto you and God said moreover unto Moses thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel the Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me unto you this is my name forever and this is my memorial unto all generations so this is a very profound but kind of simple name if you will but it's kind of I love this because it says I am that I am because there's no one like him I mean if you think about a God I am God and there's none like me I am that I am I mean if you're gonna have a name to describe God there's nothing really in the world to describe him he is what he is I am that I am and he's basically saying say that I am has sent me unto thee now it's interesting because later on like before we even get into the plagues he's gonna state that he's gonna be known by Jehovah as well so he is gonna give them another name as well because he's been known by the name of Lord God Almighty before that but then he's gonna be known as Jehovah but here he's basically saying just tell him that I am has sent me unto thee okay and the thing that's that I love about this passage is what Jesus says to those that want to kill him in John chapter 8 John chapter 8 so when you know that one of God's names is I am okay now obviously that name means something because I mean God is and was and shall be right but God I am I am that I am he is and it's never gonna be stated that he only was right and he's not he can always say that it's basically what he stated but in John chapter 8 here with that in mind that that's one of God's names if you will it says in John 8 56 it says your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad and said to the Jews unto him thou art not yet 50 years old and hast thou seen Abraham Jesus said unto them verily verily I say unto you before Abraham was I am you know what he's stating there I am God I'm the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob because the God that was speaking out of the burning bush says I am that I am you know say that I am has sent thee and Jesus is saying before Abraham was I am that's a powerful statement when you understand where that's coming from and the context of this passage here obviously about who God is you know what's his name what should I tell him that his name is and so I love that passage that's one of my favorite passages in the Bible it's where they're basically like you're not even 50 years old you're gonna tell me you know Abraham he's like before Abraham was I am because he's God he created Abraham now go to Mark chapter 12 another thing to note here is that this passage about the burning bush is brought up by the Lord Jesus obviously it's kind of indirectly brought up there in John chapter 8 you know because he's kind of referencing the fact that he's stating I'm God that's why later on it's basically saying you know it's because thou thou being a man basically Jesus is like why dost thou stone me if I do good works he says because thou being a man makest thyself God well yeah because that's why they'll accuse him of that because he's saying before Abraham was I am but also that you know I and my father are one like all these different statements that he's making because it's true they're accusing him of it because it's true but obviously they don't believe that Mark chapter 12 verse 26 here they're coming to him and this is that story where he's like well this woman has seven husbands meaning this is that she marries somebody and he died they didn't have children he had a brother she marries him so she basically marries the whole family as they all die and then they don't have children and they're basically trying to catch him on this and like in the resurrection you know who's wife is she and he's basically going to stump him with the fact that no one right in heaven no one's married okay that's he's like you just err not knowing the scriptures but that being said then after he basically just puts that in her face he says and as touching the dead that they rise right it's kind of like they're trying to stump him on the resurrection but he's like you know as we're on why we're on that subject right let's talk about that and what I love about this is he's going to bring up a point to prove the resurrection but also it's going to debunk a lot of false doctrine here now in Mark chapter 12 verse 26 it says and as touching the dead that they rise have you not read in the book of Moses how in the bush God spake unto him saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob he is not the God of the dead but of the living ye therefore do greatly err you know what that means is that when he was speaking out of the burning bush Abraham Isaac and Jacob were alive or Jesus lied okay because he's basically saying I'm the God of the living and not of the dead and he's stating that he's the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob that means that Abraham Isaac and Jacob are alive how are they alive because spiritually speaking they're alive they're saved they're in heaven they have eternal life and this shows that you know what this debunks is that the idea of soul sleep okay have you ever heard that I don't know if anybody's ever heard that but like soul sleep like basically in the Old Testament I don't know if they maybe they go maybe they carry it on even until the resurrection I think some people you know they'll basically state that when you die you're just kind of like nothing you're just kind of unconscious until the resurrection or something like that that wouldn't make sense because Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus in the Mount of Transfiguration and they're talking to him well they must have woke up okay Samuel you know obviously Samuel talks about being awakened out of his sleep you know in 1 Samuel but at the same time it's talking about how he appeared as an old man so it's talking about him coming out of his sleep because you rose from the dead physically and appeared unto the witch at Endor and unto and unto Saul you know like the saints come up out of the graves after the resurrection and all that so I'm getting way off track that's not as far as I wanted to go with that but the point that I'm trying to make here is that it's a great thing that Jesus is pulling out of here where when we read this in Exodus are you really thinking about that are you really thinking about Abraham Isaac and Jacob being alive but he's making a point he's like God is the God of the living not of the dead and if that's the case that means Abraham Isaac and Jacob are alive when he's speaking to Moses out of the burning bush okay so that's something to think about and he's also talking about how Abraham rejoiced to see my day I mean Jesus is saying Abraham rejoiced to see my day how can he rejoice to see his day if he's not alive right so and obviously that gets into you know the sons of God shouting for joy when the foundation is laid you know talk about it and Job I'm gonna stop because that's getting way off track okay so back to Exodus chapter 3 Exodus chapter 3 and verse 16 Exodus chapter 3 and verse 16 it says go and gather the elders of Israel together and say unto them the Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacob appeared unto me saying I have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in Egypt and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites unto a land flowing with milk and honey and they shall hearken to thy voice and thou shalt come thou and the elders of Israel unto the king of Egypt and you shall say unto him the Lord God of the Hebrews had met with us and now let us go we beseech thee three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Now what's interesting about this and I just kind of want to put this in the back of your mind as we go further into Exodus is that the original plan was that Moses and all the elders of Israel would be going up to Pharaoh to speak to him about this. What actually ends up happening is it's Moses and Aaron. The original plan was that Moses himself would be the one speaking. Does that make sense? Like what I want you to see here is that this was the original plan but there's going to be a reason why the elders don't and we'll get to that why they don't end up going up to them and all this stuff but this is what God wanted to happen but obviously God doesn't force anybody to do and basically we have free will and he had a plan the plan was Moses is the one speaking. We'll get into that in chapter 4 but obviously he knows what's going to happen. He knows that Moses is going to fight it and that he's going to have to have Aaron be there to help him and all that but I want you to see a lot of times you can see God's original plan what he wanted to happen and then kind of how that veered off because of humanity and because of human nature and because no one's perfect and Moses doesn't follow everything to the T like he should be doing and all that. But going on in Exodus chapter 3 there and verse 19 and we're almost done to be honest and you're probably surprised you're like you just want to get your van fixed just blast them through this guys no but honestly some of this stuff I don't want to get into too much because chapter 4 is really where that's stated and I don't want to just preach chapter 4 and then you know anyway so but in Exodus chapter 2 and verse 19 that's what it says here so God knows that Pharaoh's not going to let them go like he's setting them up basically he's not going to let he's not going to let you go he's not like you're going to go in there and be like let my people go alright you're off so he's kind of showing Moses like hey you know there's going to have to I'm going to have to do a lot of wonders in his sight and eventually he's going to let you go something that we're going to see with Pharaoh and God and obviously Pharaoh's a great example of someone that's basically given over to a reprobate mind someone that's hardened by God where his heart is hardened I mean that he is like basically like Abraham is the example of faith Pharaoh is the example of basically being a reprobate I mean that's just kind of I mean there's obviously other examples but Pharaoh's kind of like this great example of someone that saw all these signs and wonders and rejected and hardened his heart and all that we're going to see and it's something that's interesting and especially going through this study is that Pharaoh's given an opportunity and I don't believe God God does not harden Pharaoh's heart until after he had given him an opportunity to let Israel go and it wasn't until he started doing his wonders that he started hardening his heart okay because and you can disagree with me on this but I I personally believe that Pharaoh had a chance he had a chance to do the right thing and all that and I don't necessarily believe he was reprobate before it got to when Moses was coming up to him and that Moses came up to him he had an opportunity he rejected that opportunity and what we're going to see is the fact that no miracles were done yet not even the snake with the staff turning into a serpent and when it comes to this is that salvation has to be by faith not by sight obviously there's things in the Bible where people miraculous things will happen but when it comes to this you know what if someone's going to get saved they're going to get saved by the word of God they're going to get saved by faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God you know a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh that for a sign and you know what I believe Pharaoh had a chance had a chance to get saved had a chance to not do what he does but there comes a point where that shut off and then now God knew that was going to happen but it's not that he didn't give him a chance is what I want to get across here and we'll see that I want you to see that because it's very interesting especially you know we read through Exodus and you kind of know the story but sometimes we get those events kind of switched on what's being done and what we'll see is that actually he goes to Pharaoh and talks to him and the first time he talks to him he doesn't do any signs or wonders in front of him what's every movie show you? you know every single time the first time he goes up to him he sees signs and wonders and that's when he says okay you're not going to have any straw or anything like that and I'm kind of just practicing this I'm kind of setting you up for what's going to happen in the future in these chapters but I just want to set that up that Pharaoh God knew that he was not going to let him go but that doesn't mean that God doesn't give him a chance God obviously knows from the foundation of the world who is going to reject him who's not going to believe but that does not mean that he doesn't give them a chance anyway okay and that he hasn't set up a chance and if anything those that become hardened had more of a chance than anybody else because they knew God and glorified him not as God now let's end the chapter here verse 21 Exodus chapter 3 and verse 21 it says, and I will give this people So notice what he's stating here he's telling Moses I'm going to take them out of Egypt out of Egypt where they're in hard bondage, I'm gonna put them in a great land that's flowing with milk and honey, but not only am I gonna do that, I'm going to make sure that they don't go out empty-handed. This is gonna be pertinent because when you get into the judgments, when we get into Exodus and it's like and it's talking about bond servitude and all these different things, is that's gonna be brought up. That basically when a bond servant like serves their time with you, they paid off their debt, you don't just leave them empty-handed. You don't just send them out empty-handed. And there's a lot of principles that are being taught just with this story about that. And also this term borrow, I remember being, you know, and it was I was out of college, but I just remember having a friend that was reading through here. He's just stuck on this. He's just like, why does it say borrow? Because they're not borrowing it, they're just taking it, okay? But borrow can sometimes mean to just take or acquire something, okay? And actually an older use of it, sometimes that's what it means. But think about this, you know, I borrowed that that word from this language over here. Are you giving it back or are you just using it, right? You borrowed it meaning that it was theirs, something they used, but now you're using it, okay? Now in our modern vernacular, when we say borrow, we're talking about the fact that we intend to give it back, right? You're borrowing it for a time, intending to give it back. But sometimes borrow could just mean like, I took that from this over here, I borrowed this from over here, right? You ever hear the term borrow from Paul, or borrow from Peter to give to Paul, right? I know that term very well because when we were doing this church building renovation, that term was used a lot. This carpet right here, borrowed from Peter given to Paul, right? Because there used to be a platform right here. But are we giving it back to Paul, right? No, okay. Anyway, I don't want to get caught up on some things that are more of an older use or a different use. We'll see that with the word let in Exodus and stuff like that. But I just, I don't know, it just sticks out to me. You may just not even care, but it sticks out to me because I had a friend, they're just like, why does it say borrow? They're clearly spoiling the Egyptians. They're not giving it back. Why does it say borrow? And it's just like, well, words sometimes can have different meanings depending on what you're talking about. And even in our modern vernacular, we'll say, you know, I borrowed that phrase from such and such. I'm not giving it back. I borrowed it. I used it. There it is, right? But it's just a phrase that you'd use and stuff like that. Anyway, we're gonna end on that. That's Exodus chapter 3. Lord willing, we'll be getting into Exodus chapter 4 next week and getting into more of what God and Moses talk about while he's at the burning bush. And so let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for the book of Exodus and thank you for these stories. And I just pray that you'd help us to learn all the details that we can. Ultimately, Lord, that we can use the information and use the lessons that are in this book and in these chapters to apply them to our lives. And Lord, we just thank you for everything that you've given us. Just pray that you'll be with us as we go back home. And Lord, give us safety and health. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So brother, they will come, sing one more song, and that will be dismissed. All right. Take your song books and turn to song number 64. Song number 64. If you would stand, we'll sing Shall We Gather at the River, song number 64. Shall we gather at the river Where bright angel feet have trod With its crystal time forever Flowing by the throne of God Yes, we'll gather at the river The beautiful, the beautiful river Gather with the saints at the river That flows by the throne of God On the bosom of the river Where the Savior King we own We shall meet in sorrow Neverneath the glory of the throne