When God Introduced Himself
Tony R. Nester
Exodus 3:1-15
Today we're going to spend some time with the story of Moses. It's a powerful story as evidenced in the success of the movie The Prince of Egypt.
If you learned Bible stories in Sunday School or saw the movie at the theater you might remember that Moses started out as a hot-headed young man. Although he was a Hebrew he had been adopted into the Pharaoh's royal family - he was indeed the Prince of Egypt. But he never forgot that he was not Egyptian but a Hebrew. He grew angry at the way the Egyptians had enslaved and oppressed his own people. One day he watched an Egyptian taskmaster abusing a Hebrew slave. Moses' anger grew hot and he killed the taskmaster.
Moses expected to thanked by the Hebrew slave. He was ready to take on a leadership role with his own people. I suspect he even believed he was acting for God and that he understood God better than his fellow Hebrews did.
But it didn't turn out at all as Moses had expected. The Hebrew slave did not thank Moses for killing his taskmaster but instead resented Moses' interference. The Hebrew people did not trust him as a leader. They did not rally around this Prince of Egypt. The news spread that Moses was simply a murderer.
Moses had to run for his life. He went the land of Midian. He found work as a shepherd for a man named Jethro. He married and had children. He grew up and saw his youth pass away. He became a middle aged man. Egypt had become a distant place. It was as if his life as the Prince of Egypt had happened to somebody else.
And as for God - well, Moses had had years to reflect on the fact that he didn't know God at all. If there was a God - Moses didn't have a clue about him. Moses was in the wilderness - the wilderness of Midian where he tended sheep and the wilderness of spiritual confusion as we wondered if God existed and what God might be like.
This is where we pick up the story in the Bible. I'm reading from Exod ...
Tony R. Nester
Exodus 3:1-15
Today we're going to spend some time with the story of Moses. It's a powerful story as evidenced in the success of the movie The Prince of Egypt.
If you learned Bible stories in Sunday School or saw the movie at the theater you might remember that Moses started out as a hot-headed young man. Although he was a Hebrew he had been adopted into the Pharaoh's royal family - he was indeed the Prince of Egypt. But he never forgot that he was not Egyptian but a Hebrew. He grew angry at the way the Egyptians had enslaved and oppressed his own people. One day he watched an Egyptian taskmaster abusing a Hebrew slave. Moses' anger grew hot and he killed the taskmaster.
Moses expected to thanked by the Hebrew slave. He was ready to take on a leadership role with his own people. I suspect he even believed he was acting for God and that he understood God better than his fellow Hebrews did.
But it didn't turn out at all as Moses had expected. The Hebrew slave did not thank Moses for killing his taskmaster but instead resented Moses' interference. The Hebrew people did not trust him as a leader. They did not rally around this Prince of Egypt. The news spread that Moses was simply a murderer.
Moses had to run for his life. He went the land of Midian. He found work as a shepherd for a man named Jethro. He married and had children. He grew up and saw his youth pass away. He became a middle aged man. Egypt had become a distant place. It was as if his life as the Prince of Egypt had happened to somebody else.
And as for God - well, Moses had had years to reflect on the fact that he didn't know God at all. If there was a God - Moses didn't have a clue about him. Moses was in the wilderness - the wilderness of Midian where he tended sheep and the wilderness of spiritual confusion as we wondered if God existed and what God might be like.
This is where we pick up the story in the Bible. I'm reading from Exod ...
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