Moses and the (non)Burning Bush (Exodus 3)

 Welcome back friends! Last time we found out that Moses got married to one of the women he helped in the desert when some mean shepherds wouldn’t let her and her sisters feed their sheep. After he got married, Moses’ father-in-law gave him a job taking care of all his sheep. Moses would take the sheep on a four mile walk to the other side of the mountain to eat. While the sheep were grazing, Moses looked over and saw a bush that was on fire. He saw the large flame, but the bush was not burning!
 “That’s strange.” He thought to himself as he walked toward it.
 “Moses!” a voice came from inside the bush.
“This bush can talk, and it knows my name. This is really weird!” He said to himself as he got even closer.

 “ I am the God of Abraham and Jacob. Come closer, but take off your sandals. This is Holy ground.”
Moses did as God said and God continued. “I have heard the cries and prayers of the Hebrews. I am going to rescue them from the slavery of the Egyptians. Go tell the king of Egypt to let the Hebrews go.
 Moses got a little nervous. “Who am I that I can just walk into the king and tell him what to do?”
 God answered. “I will be with you. The king will refuse at first, but with my power and might, I will convince him to let you go, and to top it all off, I will have the Egyptian women give you their jewelry, silver and gold before you leave.”


Moses was a little more confident now, but he still had some questions. “Why would the Hebrew people even believe that you talked to me.  What do I say? What is your name? Who do I talk to first?”
“Relax Moses.” Said God. “I am the God of all your ancestors. Just go to the Hebrew church leaders and tell them that I spoke to you through a burning bush. They will believe you. Tell the people that my name is I Am, because I always was and always will be.

 What would you do if you saw a burning bush and it talked to you? I’d be a little scared myself!
When God spoke, Moses knew it was God right away. When we think that God is speaking to us, we can be sure by going to His word (the bible) and seeing if it agrees with what we heard. God never contradicts Himself.
God told Moses. “I will rescue the Hebrews.” He didn’t say, “Moses, you will rescue the Hebrews.” When we obey what God tells us, He does great things through us. What a privilege!
Moses questiones God. It’s OK for us to question God, but we must remember that God sees all thing.(even the future)He knows what is best all the time.
So relax, obey God and leave the rest up to Him.

Here is a coloring page for you! Ask your guardian to print it out for you. I had a lot of fun coloring the bush!

Moses gets out of Egypt in a hurry! (Exodus 2)

 Last time we saw that Moses was pulled from the Nile River by the king’s daughter.  He was 3 months old. He was raised like the king's son. Moses had the best of eveyrhing, but he was sad for the Hebrews.
When Moses grew up, he went out to visit his people, the Hebrews. He saw how they were forced to do hard labor. He even saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.  Moses looked all around, and when he saw that no one was looking, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. 

The next day he went back and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you beating up a fellow Hebrew?” The man answered, "Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me just as you killed that Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and said to himself, "Oh No! People know what I have done. When the king finds out, he'll have me killed!" Moses was right. When the king heard about what had happened, he sent orders to have Moses arrested and killed, but Moses got out of Egypt quickly and went to live far away, in a land called Midian. 

One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to get water for their father's sheep and goats.  But some shepherds drove Jethro's daughters away. Then Moses went to their rescue. He chased the bad shepherds away and got some water for their animals. When they returned to their father, he asked, "Why have you come back so early today?”                                                                                    

"An Egyptian (they thought Moses was an Egyptian) rescued us from the bad shepherds," they answered, "and he even got water for us and watered our animals." "Where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him out there in the desert? Go and invite him to eat with us."  So Moses came to dinner. He must have liked the cooking, because he decided to live there. Moses ended up marrying one of Jethro's daughters. Her name was Zipphorah which means "bird”.  



 Years later the king of Egypt died, but the Israelites were still slaves and still groaning. They cried out to God for help. God heard their cries and prayers. He remembered the promise that He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He saw how badly they were treated. God had already planned on using Moses to fufill His promise....but not until the timing was right.


 Sometimes we keep asking God over and over for something good. God has already planned on answering our prayers, but He makes us wait for a couple of reasons.
1: God wants us to keep asking. The more we come to Him, the better we get to know Him. God does not want to be our magic genie... he wants a relationship with each of us.
2: God wants us to learn patience. Waiting for something makes us a better person.
3: God has perfect timing. Sometimes if we get what we want right now, it may not be as good as if we get it later. Would you rather get an egg, some flour and oil now....or a cookie later?  I'd rather wait for the ingredients to be mixed and baked. See waiting on God is good!