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Theme: 'I believe in God the Father..'
Text: Exodus 3:1-15
It is one of the most incredible offers of God to humanity, that we sinners may come to know God as our Father.
Introduction
What are your memories of your own father? Can you think of the kind of feelings you might have if you did not know your father, how would it make you feel?
Some of the issues that would follow is a lack of a sense of identity, a lack of a sense of belonging, a lack of a sense of security. Why do you think these issues are so important to us?
Why do you think it is an issue that is central to our understanding of who the God of the Bible is, that we define him as ‘Father’? What does it say about the nature of God and his attitude towards humanity? What does it say about humanity’s need of being in relationship with God?
Bible passage
The background to this incident is that the people of Israel have been enslaved in Egypt: exiled from home, oppressed by hard taskmasters. What was their response to this and God’s response? (read Exodus 2:23-25) Is it the case that God needs us to come to the point where we feel our need of Him this much, before He can help us?
(Read Exodus 3:1-3)
Imagine
What is Moses doing when he has this encounter?
He is eighty at this point. Read the background as it is recorded in (Acts 7:23-30).
Has he been specifically seeking God? What would suggest, that this was probably not the case? Do you think he intentionally went to ‘the mountain of God’ (probably Mt Sinai) with the hope of meeting God?
Have you any experiences of God meeting you, or speaking to you, in a special way, when you least expected it?
What is it that draws Moses’ attention? What is it about this spectacle that makes him question the reality he sees before him? Has God ever confronted you in a similar way, by making you look beyond the surface of appearances before you?
(Read Exodus 3:4-6)
The personal approach
That Moses regarded himself as a nobody and a failure, becomes very apparent in the conversation he later has with the Lord (v11).
What personal encouragements would Moses take from this intitial encounter with God?
Moses’ personal background was less than perfect, as was the history of all of his ancestors. What about you and your family background? What is said that encourages us to think that though we may be faithless, God is faithful to His promises and in His love, down through generations? Why is Moses afraid?
(Read Exodus 3:7-9)
The divine initiative
What, in these verses, makes it clear that the rescue which God would effect for His people, would come from Himself and not as a result of the efforts or merits of the people? How is this such a wonderful aspect of the gospel, which Jesus Christ was to fulfil for us? (Ephesians 2:8-9)
(Read Exodus 3:10-15)
The human response
What is the need for human response, if God is the one who saves? How is the issue of our involvement such a crucial issue?
What would you say to someone who feels unworthy to be saved or to serve?
What difference does it make to have the assurance, ’I will be with you’, even when we do not feel the presence of God with us?
How do you think the conversation between God and Moses reveals the Fatherhood of God for the people of Israel?
Why do you think Moses wanted to know the name of God?
What does the answer of God to that question reveal about God that is relevant for every generation of believers?
A few years ago, there was a book written by a converted Muslim, ’I dared to call Him Father’. How much do you think this emphasis in biblical faith sets Christianity apart from other religions, and why does it matter?
Remember the words we looked at on Easter day? (John 20:17)
‘Moses spent forty years in Pharoah’s courts, thinking that he was a somebody, forty years in the desert learning that he was a nobody, and forty years showing what God can do with somebody that has found that he is a nobody.’ (D.L.Moody)
Nobody need be a nobody, God seeks for you and I to be His child, and for Him to be our Father.
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