Moses Meets with God

Optional titles:God called Moses.God told Moses to return to Egypt to rescue his people.

The Israelites lived in Egypt for about 400 years. When the Egyptian king [Pharaoh] made them work hard, they cried out to God who had made a covenant to their ancestors [fathers] Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Moses had run away from Egypt to a country called Midian. There he tended sheep [watched animals] for his wife’s father, Jethro.

One day, Moses was leading [herding] Jethro’s sheep [animals] near a mountain called Sinai. There he saw something strange.

Moses exclaimed to himself, “What is this? A bush [small tree] that is on fire, but the fire is not burning [consuming] the bush!”

Curious, Moses came nearer to the fiery [burning] bush, because he wanted to learn [see] why it was not burning up [being consumed].

When Moses had come near to the bush, he heard a voice come from it, saying, “Moses! Moses!” Moses replied, “I am Moses.” [or “Here am I.”]

The voice said, “I am the God whom your father and grandfathers served.” Moses covered his eyes, because he was afraid to look at God.

God said, “I see my people [Israelites] in Egypt. They are suffering [in trouble], and I want to rescue them from Egypt and take them to the country called Canaan. So, I am going to send you to the [Egyptian] King. You will lead my people [Israelites] out from Egypt.

Moses replied, “But the King will not listen to me! The King would not let me lead the Israelites out from Egypt.”

God said, “I myself will go with you, and prove that I have sent you. After you shall have led my people [Israelites] out from Egypt, they will come to this mountain and worship me here.”

Moses asked, “When I say to the Israelites, Our ancestor’s God has sent me to you, they will ask me, What is his name? What shall I reply to them?”

God replied, “My name is I AM. So tell them, The God who says, I AM, has sent me to you. I AM is my name forever. From now on, the Israelites must call me the Lord. [The name Lord means HE IS.]

“Tell the Israelite leaders that I AM is the Lord, the God over [of / worshipped by] Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Tell them that I appeared to you, and that I have promised to rescue the Israelites from Egypt.”

“Take some Israelite leaders with you, and go say to the King [over Egypt], You must let the Israelites go into the wilderness where they may worship the Lord our God.”

Moses asked, “If the Israelite leaders do not believe me, then what shall I say to them? They may say to me, The Lord did not appear to you.”

The Lord said, “You are holding in your hand a staff. Cast [throw] your staff down onto the ground.”

So Moses obeyed the Lord by throwing his staff onto the ground.

Instantly, Moses’ staff became a live snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord ordered, “Pick up the snake by its tail [far end].”

Again Moses obeyed the Lord. When Moses picked up the snake, it changed back to be a staff in Moses’ hand.

The Lord said, “When you go to Egypt, perform this sign [miracle] for the Israelites’ leaders. Then they will believe that I, the Lord, have appeared to you.”

The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, “Put your hand inside your coat [shirt / robe]. Moses did that [obeyed].

When Moses pulled his hand out of his coat, look! his hand had leprosy.

Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your coat, again.” Moses obeyed again.

When Moses pulled his hand out of his coat, look! his hand was well [healthy] again.

Next, the Lord made a promise to Moses, saying, “If the Israelite leaders still will not believe you after you perform [do] those two signs [miracles], then take some water from the big [Nile] river and pour it upon dry ground. That water will become blood.”

Then Moses said to God, “Lord, I do not speak well [the Hebrew language].” GC: Moses was competent in Egyptian, but not in Hebrew. In Median he spoke Aramaic.

The Lord replied, “I am able to help people speak well, to hear well and to see well. So go to Egypt! I will tell you what to say and how to say it.”

But Moses said, “Lord, please, send someone else.”

The Lord replied, “Alright. Your brother Aaron will speak for you to the Israelites. You must take with you your staff, and you must perform the two signs [miracles] that I showed to you.”

Moses left [the mountain] Sinai and went to see Jethro. Moses said to him, “I must go to Egypt to see if my relatives [father’s family] are still alive.” Jethro replied, “Go in peace.”

So, Moses, his wife and their sons, left Midian and travelled to Egypt.