Chapter 3
Exodus 3
“Tonight I shall go on with the story of Moses,” said Mother as Arthur climbed up on her knee and Sophy settled along side.
“Moses led the flock of Jethro to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God called Mount Horeb. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush. Moses looked and though it continued to burn, he saw that it was not burned up. He said, ‘I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.’ When the Lord saw that he turned around to see, He called to him out of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses.’ Moses answered, ‘Here am I.’ It was the glory of God that Moses saw that looked like a flame of fire. God was speaking to him from the bush. He said to Moses, ‘Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.’
“The spot was holy because God was there. He said to Moses, ‘I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Then God spoke to him out of the bush, and 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, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.’
“He told Moses He would send him to Pharaoh to bring His people out of the land of Egypt. This is the very thing Moses had so much wished for, forty years before, when he left Pharaoh’s daughter’s house to be used of Him to deliver the children of Israel from the Egyptians.”
“Mother, was Moses delighted when God told him that he should go to Egypt for the Israelites?” Sophy asked.
“No,” answered Mother. “Poor Moses was thinking of himself instead of the wonderful God he had to do with, for he said, ‘Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?’ But God said to him, ‘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.’ Then Moses said, ‘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 to them?’ God said to 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.’ He was the same God who had been with their fathers and He would be with them forever.
“God told Moses to go and gather the elders together and tell them all He had told him. He said the children of Israel would believe what he told them. Moses and the elders of Egypt were to go to the king of Egypt and ask him to let them come and worship God upon this mountain. He also told Moses that He knew that Pharaoh would not let them go except by His showing His mighty hand and power, compelling Pharaoh to do so.
“God also told Moses that when they did go He would give them favor in the sight of the Egyptians.”