Bible Reading
Exodus 2:1-25 “Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, "Because," she said, "I drew him out of the water." One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, "Why do you strike your companion?" He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known." When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come home so soon today?" They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock." He said to his daughters, "Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land." During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”
[10:53]Exodus 3:1-10 “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
[25:53]Romans 5:8 “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
[33:36]Observation questions
- What details show God’s protection and provision in Moses’ rescue as a baby, including the role of his mother, sister, and Pharaoh’s daughter? [13:01]
- What actions did Moses take before and after killing the Egyptian, and what do those actions reveal about his awareness of what he had done? [16:32]
- What changes took place in Moses’ life after he fled Egypt and settled in Midian?
- In Exodus 2:23–25 and Exodus 3:7–10, what words describe God’s response to Israel’s suffering, and what did God say He would do about it? [29:16]
Interpretation questions
- Moses wanted to protect someone who was being harmed, but he used sinful and secretive actions to do it. Why is it important to recognize that good motives do not make wrong actions right? [18:37]
- Moses spent forty years in Egypt and then forty years as a shepherd in the wilderness before God sent him back to Egypt. In what ways could those two very different seasons have prepared him to lead Israel? [30:36]
- God heard Israel’s cry even though Israel had not been consistently faithful to Him. What does this show about God’s character and His covenant faithfulness? [24:50]
- Moses was an imperfect deliverer, while Jesus is the perfect Deliverer. Why can no person rescue himself or herself from sin through good works or self-improvement? [35:17]
Application questions
- What is currently feeling like a heavy backpack in your life—past failure, anger, anxiety, financial pressure, busyness, or something else? What makes it difficult to bring that burden honestly to God? [06:54]
- Is there a past failure that still makes you feel disqualified from being used by God? How does God calling Moses by name after his failure challenge that feeling? [08:30]
- Have you ever acted too quickly because you wanted to fix a problem, defend someone, or force an outcome? What might it look like to seek God’s wisdom and timing before taking action? [19:00]
- Is there a difficult season that you have assumed must be God punishing you? What are some ways that season may be shaping, training, or preparing you instead? [31:10]
- God sees, hears, and knows the sorrows people often keep hidden. What is one sorrow, fear, or pressure that you need to stop carrying alone and bring to God this week? [23:33]
- Romans 5:8 says that Christ died for sinners. How does Jesus taking the punishment we deserve change the way we respond to guilt, shame, and the need to prove ourselves to God? [40:24]
