The Burning Bush - 250302

SPEAKER 1 Hello. Welcome to Let God Speak. I am your host, Uriah St. Juste. Not everyone believes in God. Some people find it difficult to believe in a benevolent, personal, supreme being superintending over a world full of oppression, suffering, and death. How does the Bible help us to reconcile this conundrum? The life of Moses, an ancient Israelite figure born in Egypt, and his supernatural encounter with an incombustible shrub gives us insights into the existence of a loving God who intervenes to relieve human suffering. Stay tuned as we study the Burning Bush on Let God Speak. On our panel today, we have Gayl Fong and Kaysie Vokurka. Welcome, Gayl and Kaysie. SPEAKER 2 Thank you. SPEAKER 1 Please join us as we pray. Father, we thank you for this blessed privilege to share your Word today through this medium. We pray, Lord, that yout presence will be with us in this recording studio, but we also pray, Lord, that the person who is listening or viewing that yout will be with them in a special way. May our study today bring hope and may it reveal a loving God. May the love of God and all of the blessings of Heaven be extended to us. We pray through the name of Jesus Christ, you, Son. Amen. Austrian psychiatrist and Jewish Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl was known for his work on the meaning of life. Of success, Frankl wrote, Success is an unintended side effect of one's dedication to a cause greater than oneself, or as the byproduct of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Moses grew up in the palace of Pharaoh and was destined for a life of success as heir to the Pharaoh. But his life took many turns. Ultimately he came to a point where he had to make a choice, whether to surrender to the plan God had for his life or live his life as he pleased. The rest, as they say, was history. Now, Gayl, some people believe that, yes, there is a personal God, but He does not meddle, He does not get involved in human activity. Does the Bible teach that this is what God is like? SPEAKER 3 Well, in the creation story of the Bible, we see that our universe didn't just come about by accident or a series of mistakes. the Bible teaches that our universe and all that was created by God was from the word of His mouth. And it was a beautiful world without death and without suffering. If we read in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7, it talks here, it says, and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. and man became a living being. So we see right here in the very beginning that the God who formed man from the dust of the ground, he came down very close. He wasn't up there in Heaven, but he came right down and he's there breathing life, that breath of life that only God can give into that first human being, which was Adam. So he's a God who's very intimate and very close to his children. SPEAKER 1 That's wonderful. And Kaysie, that was when God created, and there would be some who might be saying that, yes, He was close when He created, but then He stepped back and He left everything to run all by itself. Is that what we find about God in the Bible? SPEAKER 2 It's an interesting point because it definitely is an idea that people can think. But when you read in Genesis 3:8-9, This is talking about what happened when man disobeyed and rebelled against God and how God reacted. And it says, and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? And I guess obviously, you know, it's post-creation, and I've had this disobedience and fallen. And yet even after they've disobeyed, we see here God actively coming and seeking humanity to connect with them. And this is something which is amazing because even though humanity had turned against God, He still wanted a connection. SPEAKER 1 That is a tremendous point. God didn't just set things in motion. He didn't just only was interested in man when they were being good, but even when they rebelled, He was still connecting with them. Now, Gayl, let's turn to the issue of suffering. Here we have the Hebrew people, the people who eventually became the Jewish people. Their lives are filled with suffering and oppression, yet they still believed in this personal God who took care of them in their suffering. What does God do with the suffering that they are enduring? SPEAKER 3 Well, if we turn to Exodus, Exodus chapter 3 and verses 7 and 8, the Bible says, and the Lord said, 'I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. For I know their sorrows. So He's saying here, He sees their suffering, He's heard their cry, knows their sorrows, He's present with them so that they're not alone. And verse eight goes on, so I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. So God is here, He has a master plan for His children, And. SPEAKER 1 We. SPEAKER 3 See here that as He comes down to them, as He's close to them, our suffering also presents an opportunity for God to draw near to us. We may not recognise it always, but as He's going to deliver them and lift them out of their suffering, this is what God wants to do for us too. SPEAKER 1 And I like the idea again that God comes down to them and he announces his plan to deliver them. Now, the life of Moses had taken many, many different twists and turns. It is really astounding. He was born into an average Jewish family in Egypt and then his life becomes under threat as Pharaoh commands that all baby boys are to be thrown into the river Nile. Then his life is saved and he's raised with the daughter of the Pharaoh in the Pharaoh's palace. palace, but then he's forced to flee because he murders an Egyptian. Kaysie, how does the life of Moses, with all its twists and turns, teach us about how God intervenes in our life's journey? SPEAKER 2 Well, Moses certainly did have an interesting and, some would say, colourful or dramatic life experience. And of course, when he was younger, he was reared in the palace with the pharaoh, and he would have been exposed then to, like, the best Egyptian training that was there, like the education that was there, he would have gotten the utmost because he was going to be a successor. And this included civil leadership, this included military training. He would have been versed on everything. But he also, before he was in the palace up until he was 12, he had a faithful mother who taught him about the Creator. And this was really, really ingrained into his mind. And so all of these things helped to prepare Moses for his life work. But God had another school for him to attend. And God has taken other people in this school as well. We can read about that in 2 Samuel 7:8, which says, Now therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people over Israel. So David had that training as a shepherd, and Moses also spent 40 years doing shepherd work after he had to flee from Egypt. And in that time, he was able to have experiences that had prepared him to be a deliverer for Israel. SPEAKER 1 And I love this about God. Sometimes you go through things through rough patches, but sometimes this is all God's way of preparing you for something greater. Now, we get to the point in the life of Moses where he is encountering God God in the burning bush or the bush that was on fire but wasn't really burning. And I just want to read Exodus 3:6. It says, Moreover, he said, that's God speaking to Moses, I am the God of your 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, why does God make reference to these patriarchs and reveals Himself that way to Moses? SPEAKER 3 Well, God had made a covenant with these three patriarchs, and we can read about that in Genesis chapter 28, verses 1 to 4. The Bible reads, Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him, 'You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. May the God Almighty bless you and make you faithful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples and give you the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham. So at that moment when he appeared to Moses at the burning bush, it would appear that perhaps the promise had seemed to be forgotten. And as we go to Exodus 2:23-25, the Bible says, Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage. And they cried out, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel and God acknowledged them. So God remembered His promise that He had made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. God never forgets His promise. Amen. SPEAKER 1 And sometimes we can be in a situation where we can think that God has forgotten us, but He remembered them. Amen. And He was confirming through Moses that He had not forgotten that nation. Now, Kaysie, I love the idea that God comes down in Exodus chapter 3 verse 8 and he announces deliverance to his people. But then we read in verse 2 of Exodus chapter 3 that it was an angel who appeared to Moses. What's happening there? SPEAKER 2 Yeah, it is an interesting thing to observe there. And when we read Exodus 3, Verse 4 and verse 6, we get some clarity. It says, so when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And then in verse 6, moreover, he said, I am the God of your 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 clearly, initially it used the term the angel of the Lord, but then as you read on, you get clarity that this is actually a member of the Godhead who is speaking to Moses. SPEAKER 1 Now, one critical principle of Bible study is that we never really form a conclusion on the Bible truth based on one single verse, Kaysie. Is there anywhere else in the Bible that this term is in reference to God? SPEAKER 2 Yes, and that's very important. And there is, in fact, very clear references that have the same meaning. In Genesis 16:7 and 10 and 13, we'll read those. It says, Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And then verse 10, Then the angel of the Lord said to her, 'I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.' and then verse 13, Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, you, are the God who sees. For she said, have I also here seen Him who sees me? So this was Hagar. This was her experience. And the Bible says, the angel of the Lord came to her, and she refers to the angel of the Lord as the Lord. SPEAKER 1 Wonderful. And again, it's connected to that promise that God had made to Abraham, that He would make a great nation out of them. Now, Gayl, an angel is a created being, and this idea might lead some to believe that this is a reference to Jesus and that Jesus was created before he came into the world as a babe in Bethlehem. Does the Bible support this teaching that Jesus was created? SPEAKER 3 Well, just reading from Psalm, Psalm 90:12, 2, it says, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. So God is eternal. He's existed from infinite past to infinity in the future. He has no beginning and He has no end. So therefore, before everything was created, He has always been, because He is the Creator. If we turn to the New Testament, to the Gospel of John, John chapter 1 and verses 1 to 3, and also verse 14, the Bible says, In the beginning was the Word, that's in a capital, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. And verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So in the beginning, that's from eternity past was the Word. And so, teaches that everything was created by Jesus. so Jesus could not have been a created being. SPEAKER 1 Amen for that. Now, let's get back to the story of Moses' encounter with God at the bush that was not burning. Kaysie, God gets Moses' attention and God is telling him what He's about to do and what He's about to send him to do. But God also gives him the reason for sending him to Egypt. What does the reason teach us about the God that the Bible reveals? SPEAKER 2 Well, the reason is told us in Exodus 3 and verse 9, and it says, Now therefore behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. So God cared about their situation. He heard their cry, he saw their oppression, and this is very important because it shows that when God sees these things, He's not blind to it, He's not deaf to it, He sees and understands and He will bring deliverance. And it's an important thing to remember that even though it might not be in our own time, but in God's time, He will intervene in the affairs of men to help to bring justice. SPEAKER 1 Now, someone can always ask the question, why would God even allow it in the first place? Why not just and not allow bad things to happen to people. Why doesn't He prevent all of this to happen to the nation of Israel? Gayl, would that not have been better if they didn't go into suffering and oppression? SPEAKER 3 Well, God is not the one who brought the sin into the world. Sin was the cause of man's own choice, choosing Satan over God. The story of the Bible is how God actually has His rescue plan for mankind from sin and suffering and problems. So the oppression that Israel felt was because of the cruelty of Pharaoh, not the cruelty of God. And if we read in Deuteronomy chapter 24, verses 18 and 19, the Bible says, But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing. When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. So God did not stop Pharaoh from oppressing his people, and as a result they had to experience oppression. But He also gave them a perspective. of what they had suffered and how they can treat others. And you find some of the most beautiful souls in the world are those that have experienced so much suffering because they have so much empathy for others. SPEAKER 1 That is beautiful. That's, you know, God has it all there in the Bible, why He does what He does. Now, Gayl, Moses did not have a perfect life. God did not shield him from bad things. he was a fugitive from murder when God encountered him at the burning bush and God tells him that he's going to send him to Pharaoh to let his people go. He didn't have a very positive response, did he? SPEAKER 3 Well, no, he feels totally inadequate here. In Exodus chapter 3 in verse 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? so earlier when in the story of his life we see as he's seen as he's oppressing the Egyptians, he sees an Egyptian sorry, an Egyptian oppressing a Hebrew slave and so he intervenes and he intervenes with confidence so much so that he actually slew him, slew the Egyptian taskmaster. So he chose violence and was not afraid to be the deliverer. But now, 40 years later, of course, God is working on his heart and he's extremely humble. We have this statement from the beautiful book, Desire of Ages, the Patriarchs and Prophets by Ellen G. White. And it says, Had Moses relied upon his own strength and wisdom and eagerly accepted the great charge, he would have evinced his entire unfitness for such a work. The fact that a man feels his weakness is at least some evidence that he realizes the magnitude of the work upon him and that he will make God his counsellor and his strength. SPEAKER 1 Moses had grown and he had been humble. Now, Kaysie, Moses asks God a question, what is yous name? Why did he ask God that question? SPEAKER 2 Well, it's very interesting. approach here because many of these children of Israel had actually lost a lot of the knowledge of God and they had a lot of unbelief and there were also many gods that were worshiped in Egypt. So he wanted them to feel confident in God's call and appointment of himself as well as God's leadership. And so that's why he says in verse 13, Moses says, you know, when I tell the children of Israel, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, or He was wanting them to connect and remember the God of their fathers, and that same God is the one who is actually calling and giving Moses the credibility and the responsibility to lead them. SPEAKER 1 So He wanted them to feel confident that God has initiated that rescue plan. Yes. He had not forgotten. Now, Gayl, God answers the question, My name is I am. Now in the English, that really doesn't give us much, does it? How would that give the children of Israel confidence that Moses was sent by God? SPEAKER 3 Well, we remember Moses' concern was when he said to them, the God of your fathers has sent me. And he's saying they would want proof. And so if we read in Genesis, Genesis chapter 15 and verse 12, and we read here, and this is what he said to Abraham. Then he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur and of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it. So that name, the I Am, was connected to Abraham and God's promise of the promised land and a great nation that he would make of them. So they clung to that name. the I AM, which is translated Yahweh, as a symbol of the promise that God made to their forefathers. And that name would bring them hope that God's promise was about to be fulfilled. SPEAKER 1 Wonderful. Now, let's turn to Exodus chapter 4, verse 1. It says, Then Moses answered and said, But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice. Suppose they say, the Lord has not appeared to you. Now, at this point, Kaysie, you would think that God would become so very impatient with Moses. How does God respond to Moses' lack of confidence in himself? SPEAKER 2 Well, He gives him more reason to have confidence in God. And He gave Moses three miraculous signs that He could perform, and this was both to help his own faith, but also the faith of those who would encounter Moses and hear about this plan. And in Exodus 4:8, it says, Then it will be if they do not believe you or heed the message of the first sign that they might believe the message of the latter sign. So God wanted them to believe. He knew that they were struggling and He wanted to give them as much as possible so they could have confidence in Him. And it's just wonderful how patient God is with us. SPEAKER 1 And it's amazing that God gives these both to boost Moses' confidence in that God is with him, but also to let the children of Israel know that God has sent him. And it's good to see that God is struggling with doubt and lack of faith, and he is encouraging. Now, Gayl, Moses gives another excuse. He's slow of speech. Does that mean that he had some kind of speech impediment? speech impediment? SPEAKER 3 Well, he was very educated in his earlier years and he'd grown up in Pharaoh's palace. And so he would have been taught to speak the finest Egyptian language, but it had been 40 years since he'd left Egypt. So he would not have been used to the language since then. I'm sure he hadn't been using that for that period of time. So it's not that he'd forgotten the language, but he's just feeling probably inadequate. He's feeling very humble. He's feeling he's not the man for this job. And he's arguing that he just won't have those skills to present this message to Pharaoh. SPEAKER 1 To be able to argue and define the nuances of the language, he felt that he wouldn't. Now, if we read Exodus chapter 4, 4:24, it says, and it came to pass on the way that, you know, they're now heading to Egypt at the encampment that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. Kaysie, what's going on here? Moses is obedient and God wants to kill him. SPEAKER 2 This does seem like an overreaction, but in the next couple of verses it helps us understand. And it says in verse 25 and 26, Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses' feet and said, Surely you are a husband of blood to me. So he let him go. And basically it seems like Moses had neglected to perform the rite of circumcision for his son. And this was a requirement of the Israelites to show their allegiance to God and their obedience of God. And so the point is God's grace and love doesn't come without the requirement of obedience. We need to respond. SPEAKER 1 And that seems small act. God wanted him to be faithful in the small things, including the big things as well. That's all the time that we have for today, ladies. Thank you for joining us. Ancient Israel features heavily as a collective main character in the Bible story. The story of the Bible is the story of how God intervenes when mankind disobeys God as his Creator, resulting in a world of chaos, destruction and death. God intervenes to restore us and our world to what He had originally had in mind, that is, a world where there is no suffering and death. Just as God wrestled with Jacob and wrestled with the nation of Israel for centuries, He wrestles with us to save us. My prayer is like Jacob, you too will cling to God and say to Him, I will not let you go. until you bless me. We're glad you joined us today on Let God Speak. Remember, all past programs plus teachers' notes are available on our website, 3abnaustralia.org.au. That's the number 3 and the letters ABN Australia. Or you can email us on [email protected]. God bless you. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.