Exodus 3:1-15

The Burning Bush

1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of ¹Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to ²Horeb, the ³mountain of God.

2 ⁴The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a ⁵bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

3 So Moses said, "⁶I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up."

4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, ⁷God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."

5 Then He said, "Do not come near here; ⁸remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."

6 He said also, "⁹I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." ¹⁰Then Moses hid his face, for he was ¹¹afraid to look at God.

7 The LORD said, "I have surely ¹²seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because * of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.

8 "So I have come down ¹³to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a ¹⁴good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ¹⁵the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

9 "Now, behold, ¹⁶the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

The Mission of Moses

10 "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, ¹⁷so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."

11 But Moses said to God, "¹⁸Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"

12 And He said, "Certainly ¹⁹I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: ²⁰when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ²¹you shall worship God at this mountain."

13 Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"

14 God said to Moses, "²²I AM WHO I AM "; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, '²³The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My ²⁴memorial-name to all generations.

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Exodus 3:1-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 2

In this chapter we are informed how that the Lord appeared to Moses in a bush on fire, but not consumed, Ex 3:1-6, declared unto him that he had seen and observed the afflictions of the children of Israel, and was determined to deliver them, Ex 3:7-9, that he gave him a call to be the deliverer of them, answered his objections to it, and instructed him what he should say, both to the elders of Israel and to Pharaoh, Ex 3:10-18, and assured him, that though at first Pharaoh would refuse to let them go, yet after many miracles wrought, he would be willing to dismiss them, when they should depart with great substance, Ex 3:19-22.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 24

1. Exodus 2:18; Exodus 4:18; Exodus 18:12; Numbers 10:29
2. Exodus 3:12; Exodus 17:6; Exodus 33:6; 1 Kings 19:8
3. Exodus 4:27; Exodus 18:5; Exodus 24:13
4. Genesis 16:7-11; Genesis 21:17; Genesis 22:11, 15; Ex 3:4-11, 16; Judges 13:13-21; Acts 7:30
5. Deuteronomy 33:16; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 7:30
6. Acts 7:31
7. Exodus 4:5
8. Joshua 5:15; Acts 7:33
9. Genesis 28:13; Exodus 3:16; Exodus 4:5; Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37
10. Acts 7:32
11. Judges 13:22; Revelation 1:17
12. Exodus 2:25; Nehemiah 9:9; Psalms 106:44; Isaiah 63:9; Acts 7:34
13. Genesis 15:13-16; Genesis 46:4; Genesis 50:24, 25; Exodus 6:6-8; Exodus 12:51
14. Exodus 3:17; Exodus 13:5; Numbers 13:27; Deuteronomy 1:25; Deuteronomy 8:7-9; Jeremiah 11:5; Ezekiel 20:6
15. Genesis 15:19-21; Joshua 24:11
16. Exodus 2:23
17. Genesis 15:13, 14; Exodus 12:40, 41; Micah 6:4; Acts 7:6, 7
18. Exodus 4:10; Exodus 6:12; 1 Samuel 18:18
19. Genesis 31:3; Exodus 4:12, 15; Exodus 33:14-16; Deuteronomy 31:23; Joshua 1:5; Isaiah 43:2
20. Exodus 19:1
21. Exodus 19:2, 3; Acts 7:7
22. Exodus 6:3; John 8:24, 28, 58; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8
23. Exodus 3:6, 13
24. Psalms 30:4; Psalms 97:12; Psalms 102:12; Psalms 135:13; Hosea 12:5

Footnotes 10

[a]. Or "rear part"
[b]. Lit "the"
[c]. Lit "Let me turn"
[d]. Lit "great"
[e]. Lit "hand"
[f]. Or "serve"
[g]. Related to the name of God, "YHWH," rendered LORD, which is derived from the verb "HAYAH, to be"
[h]. Related to the name of God, "YHWH," rendered LORD, which is derived from the verb "HAYAH, to be"
[i]. Related to the name of God, "YHWH," rendered LORD, which is derived from the verb "HAYAH, to be"
[j]. Lit "to generation of generation"