Georgetown MEN’S

BIBLE STUDY
                                   
                                   
 

“I am the God of your father”

In a moment, we’ll read the story of Moses and the burning bush – one of the most dramatic
personal encounters ever recorded between God and man. But first, let’s take a closer look at
Moses.

In a moment, his life will change forever. But how would Moses describe his life so far?

1. In his book Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication, Charles Swindoll imagines a

conversation at this juncture between Moses and a fellow alumnus of Sun Temple U who
drops by for a visit. How do you think that conversation would go? What opinion does
Moses likely have of himself at this point? Here’s a hint. Acts 7 describes Moses’ life as
divided into three 40 year segments. The first 40 he spent in Egypt, the second in
Midian, and the third leading the nation of Israel through the wilderness. As Dwight
Moody put it: “Moses spent his first forty years thinking he was somebody. He spent his
second forty years learning he was a nobody. He spent his third forty years discovering
what God can do with a nobody.”

2. Why was it necessary for Moses to be humbled before he could be used by God? See
Psalm 119:67-72; James 1:2-4, 12.

3. What qualities did Moses display as a prince of Egypt that foreshadowed his calling as
the leader of his people? What qualities prevented him from playing that role effectively?

4. 40 years after fleeing Egypt in disgrace, here is one of its favorite sons – a man schooled
in hieroglyphics, science, literature and military tactics now eking out a hardscrabble life
on the backside of a desert, living with his father-in-law, raising a couple of boys, and
watching over little flocks of someone else’s sheep. What kinds of benefits come from
such a wilderness experience? What gets stripped away? What comes into focus? Who
will Moses later guide through such an experience?

5. What wilderness experiences have you endured? Have you found yourself in a place
where God’s presence – let alone his promises – seem impossibly remote?

3/10/10: Lesson 3
6. Isolation is always part of a wilderness experience. But God is present there with you,
even if you can’t perceive him. Read Deuteronomy 32:10. The Hebrew word for desert
– midbaar – comes from the word dahbaar, which means “to speak.” What might the
connection be? Consider other Bible characters and their wilderness experiences.

“Why does God lead us through desert places? It is so that he might humble us, that he
might test us, and that the true condition of our heart might be revealed. Not that God
might come to know you, but that you might come to know you. There’s nothing like the
desert to help you discover the real you. When you strip away all of the trappings, peel
off all the masks, and shed all the phony costumes, you begin to see a true identity – a
face that hasn’t emerged for years. Maybe never.” (Swindoll)

Read Exodus 3.

7. What does Moses do when he sees the burning bush (v. 3-4)?

8. How does God introduce himself? What is the very first claim he makes for himself?
Why significance might this have had for Moses?

9. What is the very first question Moses asks of God? How does God respond? Why is this
meaningful, given the wilderness experience from which Moses has just emerged? What
is God trying to tell Moses here?

10. What did Jesus say this encounter proved? Read Genesis 22:29-32. How does this
verse illuminate the transformation that is about to overtake Moses’ life?

3/10/10: Lesson 3