God Calls, But Will Moses Accept? (MP 38)

Moses led sheep to the “mountain of God”;
There he saw a bush burning unconsumed;
He went closer to see, for it was odd;
From it, God called him a new task assume!
“I have come down my people to set free;
You are to tell them I AM is my name;
Ask Pharaoh to let them come worship me,
But only plagues will his refusal tame!”
“Who am I,” asked Moses, “that I can do this?”
“I will go with you,” responded the Lord;
“To the land of Canaan, which I promised;
Then they’ll follow you, of their own accord!”
Flowing with milk and honey was the land
God had foretold would be theirs to command!

Scripture Quoted (NIV) [Brackets added]
Exodus 3:2—“There [Mount Horeb] the angel of the Lord [God] appeared to him [Moses] in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.”

Exodus 3:5— " 'Do not come any closer,' said God, 'Take off your sandals, for the place where your are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.”

Exodus 3:19-20—“ ‘But I [God] know that the king of Egypt [Pharaoh] will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that he will let you go.’ “

Commentary on Exodus 3 (NIV)
When God’s Master Plan provided for the now-massive family of Jacob to become the nation of Israel and leave Egypt for Canaan to possess it, Moses was the man He selected to lead them. As Moses was tending sheep in Midian, he saw a bush in flames but which was not consumed. It was “the angel of God”, a phrase used for God Himself in the Old Testament, come to call Moses to return to Egypt and lead Israel through the desert to the Promised Land. The presence of “flames” is a common phenomenon associated with God in the Bible, but most of the time the flames are not “hot” and do not burn like common flames on earth. In this case the bush blazing but not being consumed caught Moses’ attention, and he went to investigate, as God wished him to. Note that in these appearances to various men, God sometimes talked directly to them, but that He was in some form other than His actual being, for no one could see God’s face and live. It will not be like that in heaven after we die; we will see His face then.
Moses did not accept the call to the task immediately. He mentioned several objections, the first being, “Who am I” to do this? God responded to all his objections; in this case He said, “I will go with you.” Moses then asked, “What if the Hebrews ask me who you are?” God had always called Himself simply “God” in speaking with men; here He said, “I AM WHO I AM” , or just “I AM”. The Hebrew language doesn’t use vowels, and there is a problem in translation here. The original Hebrew was “JHVH”; this word translates to “Jehovah”, “Yahweh”, or even “Yeshua”. To Moses, God told him to tell the people that “I AM” is what He is to be called. I am sure a newcomer to the Bible gets confused with the many names used for “God”; it might be clearer if you just think “God” for any of them; after all, He is just one being.

God told Moses that He knew Pharaoh would not let the Israelites leave at first; so God would “stretch out His hand” with plagues and wonders and compel the king to let His people leave. He also told Moses they would not leave Egypt empty-handed—they would be loaded with gold and silver, coming out with most of the wealth of Egypt.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believed in him will not die, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)