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Episode 452: In this enlightening episode, Jeff and Chris delve into the story of Moses encountering the burning bush. They discuss the significance of the angel of the Lord appearing in the bush and revealing the name of God as "I am who I am." They explore the parallels between Moses and Jesus, highlighting how Moses served as a precursor to Jesus in many ways. They also emphasize the power of sharing personal stories and God's story as a way to spread the message of faith and transformation.
Whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or you’re just starting to ask questions, there’s a seat for you here.
Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.
Subscribe, bring your questions, and get to know the Bible one conversation at a time. Head over to TheBibleGuys.com for more information!
You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey, everybody, my name is Chris and I'm Jeff, and we're the Bible Guys. And technically we just sort of given that. We just gave that name to ourselves. We sure did so we couldn't agree on a name for our podcast. Yeah yeah, yeah, well you know, it just it just depends on what was available in a lot of ways, right, and Jeff and Chris's show of fun. It's inappropriate. Yeah, yeah, it was. Well, goodness, gracious, what was that? You just reminded me of Joey and And come on, friends, who's the girl that Janie? We said, Joey and janis is day of Fun? There you go. Any Friends fan would love the fact that I just said, you just pulled it out. I know that you you don't watch Friends. So anyways, we had a hard time finding a name for the podcast. We did, we did, and then we were trying to think, well, what is this show about. Well, it's about the Bible, and who are we We're just a couple of guys. Yeah, that's how it came out. Yeah. Yeah, So people think we named it because we think we're experts about the Bible, right or not? What just a couple of guys talking about the Bible and fun and practical ways. Yeah, that's right, in fun and practical ways. There you go, says the ruling. Well, hey, Jeff, today, Desiree has asked us to do a segment called mail bags. Mailbags. Okay, mail bags is from Angela B. And she said, you both possessed such an impressive depth of knowledge, and I continually learn from you. What are some of the most particular or absurd facts? Peculiar? Oh, it is peculiar facts you can share, Angela B. So, first of all, thank you Angela B. For writing in how nice Yes? And she wrote in nice things yes. So it doesn't say impressive depth of knowledge of the Bible. It just says impressive depth of knowledge. So what is peculiar or absurd? How about this? I know you'll know the answer to this, okay, but our listeners may not. What is a rhinoceros's horn made out of hair? Yes? Hair, It's made out of the same stuff that your hair is made out of, which is crazy because it could take a car out yeah, and it's made out of hair. Yeah, that's incredible. Well, I've got one. Did you know honey never spoils? Yes? I did know that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, honey never spoils. So there's honey that's like three thousand years old and you can still use it. Yeah, that is incredible. Crazy. Yeah, three thousand years old. That's that's something i'd be leery. Yeah, I would try it. I know you wouldn't try it, so funny. What are some peculiar facts that stand out in your mind? Okay, I have one. Did you know that bananas are technically berries? What that's true? Look it up? Is it really? Yeah? Yeah? I was just in Tanzania and there's all these bananas hanging around and I said, uh, I wonder what kind of fruit of bananas? I mean, I know it's a banana, but what is it? Is it? And one of the guys goes, oh, bananas are berries. I was like, no, they're not. I looked it up. Bananas are berries? But did you know that strawberries aren't berries? Does this blow your mind? Yes? I know what is the strawberries? I don't know. Oh, well that's not a very good fact. You don't know. Well, let me look it up. I'll look it up and see it. Okay, how about this one, listeners, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember. They're fruits. They're just like an aggregate fruit. And it's because they come from a flower like a gotcha right right, So it's no, they're not apples, but they come from that that class because they come from a flower. Okay. Well, I think I've told you this peculiar fact before. But again, whenever I say this fact to somebody knew they have no idea. Okay, so you know, we always use in our English language this phrase. We say the whole nine yards, the whole nine yards? And you know where that's from, because do you remember that? No, you don't know this. I don't know where this comes from. Okay, so check this out. You've used it. Okay, So take a guess if you were to guess, where would we Why would Why do people say the whole nine yards? Why? I don't know. It references something about being complete, but I don't know what it means. No, this is this is true that you can google this or actually there's a whole history up behind it. In World War One, a ream of bullets was twenty seven feet long. Oh, when they would unload an entire load onto an enemy, they said, we gave them the whole nine yards. Wow. Yeah, and then that is just carried on. Well that's that's that's a gruesome little fact. So well, if they missed, then maybe it's not it's I guess it's about war. But yeah, okay, I have one more, and this is a gruesome little fact. Did you know that a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus? What you know the planet Venus? Yes, a day on because it doesn't rotate, because it moves so slowly around to get all the way around takes longer than to go all the way around the sun. So the sun right, because a year, as you went all the way around the sun. But a day is a rotation on its axis. It moves so slowly on its axis it takes longer for a day than it does for a year. Why is that cool? That's one of the coolest little weird facts. So Angela b be, I bet that blew your mind. Yeah, no, doubt, isn't that crazy? I think I think that's a good one to end on. You need to end on a high note. I know that's a good one. George Stanza, I'm out of here. Everybody who've loved Seinfeld knows that. So George just decided that anytime that he uh you know, peaks, that he should leave on a high note. So you live in the middle of the middle of a conversation and he'll say something. Every last he goes, well, I'm gone, and it just gets up the leaves. It's so funny. There you go. So weird stuff, weird stuff's rattling around in our heads. Yes, right, yes, that's it. Well those are some weird facts. Uh yeah, Well, Angel B thank you for writing in and also if you decide to write into us, we would love to use any of your questions or at least consider them, so please you know, info at the Bible guys dot com. You can go ahead and email us, or you can comment on YouTube and respond and things like that. There you go. Okay, Well, now that we got all the important stuff out of the way, we're going to get into the really important stuff. We're moving on now. Moses grows up in Pharaoh's house in the home of the Princess. Yeah, we sort of skipped a lot here. Yeah, perhaps hat Stepsuit's palace. She would have been raised as a very signif or he would have been raised as a very significant leader, potential heir to the throne, maybe even probable heir to the throne. But then later Moses, while he's growing up, he goes and sees and visits to Hebrew people. He actually kills a guy. Yeah right, So there's a there's a slave driver that's beating a Hebrew and it just made Moses mad, and he gets down. He fights the guy and kills him and then buries him in the sand. Nobody sees it, so he gets away. But from this point on then he feels like he needs to run, he needs a hide. Eventually, I guess they find a body of whatever. Moses runs and he's hiding out in the desert outside of a meeting because he's afraid Pharaoh is gonna kill him. And it's in that context that he is watching some sheep. And here's what the Bible says, says one day Moses was tending the flock of his father in law, Jethrow, not Jethrow Bodine. It's a different jeth Row. Oh really, yes, it's totally different, different era. Everything good to know different era his father in law Jethro, the priests the Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the Mountain of God. There, the Angel the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush, and Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. And this is amazing. Moses said to himself, why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it. When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush. Moses, Moses, here I am, Moses replied, do not come any closer. The Lord warned, take off your sandals, for your standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord told him, I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I've heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their sufferings, so I've come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It's a land flung with milk and honey, the land where the Canaani, Hittites, Amorites, Parizites, high Bites, and Jebusites now live, all the other Wites, all the Heites. Look, the criyer of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have now seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go for I'm sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people out of Egypt. But Moses protested to God, who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt? And God answered, I'll be with you, and this is your sign that I'm the one who has sent you. When you've brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain. But Moses protested, if I go to the people of Israel and tell them the God of your ancestors has sent me to you, they will ask me what is his name? Then what should I tell them? God replied to Moses, I am who I am? Say this to the people of Israel. I Am has sent you to me. God also said to Moses, or sent me to you. God also said to Moses. Say this to the people of Israel. Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is his eternal name, my name to remember for all generations. Now go and call together all the elders of Israel and tell them the Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me. He told me, I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you. I have promised to rescue you from the oppression in Egypt, and I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey, the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Parasites, high Bites, and Jebusites now live. You're supposed to go to fifteen. I was supposed to go to fifteen. Yeah, and seventy. Well, I gave two bonus versus, bonus versus, that's right, So we're supposed to stop there. Okay, So yeah, so we're talking about the first part of Moses's encounter, he's in the middle of the conversation with the burning bush. It says, the Angel of the Lord appeared in the burning bush. And yet at the same time it says, God says to Moses, I am who I am, which we know is the name for God, right, right, So maybe perhaps it was the angel that got Moses's attention, you know, kind of like, uh, the President will now see you, right and then and then all of a sudden, the President walks in. So I've always wondered about that, you know. So almost almost every single time that the term the Angel of the Lord shows up, it's Jesus. It's a Christophany. Okay, that's that's what that is. Yeah, okay, So so when it comes up as the Angel of the Lord, it's usually a Christophany. So I think that christophany meaning it's a pre incarnate appearance of Jesus before Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem. There's a number of times where Jesus shows up in the in the Old Testament narrative, and this is likely one of them. Yeah, he shows up well, most prominently in the burning furnace, right with Shadwig me shaking medical that's right, the Angel of the Lord. Yeah, so so okay, so that's uh. This is a very famous moment because Moses is, you know, first of all, confronted with God himself, which is pretty amazing, and then God gives his famous name that he gives to himself, I am who I Am. Later on, Jesus says this in the garden, doesn't he When they come to arrest him and they say, are you the one they call Jesus and he says, I am right, and he's all fall down. They all fall down, and it says and it says that there was actually a significant number of guards. People believe there might have been up to two hundred guards. And then Jesus says, I am, and they fall down because of the power of that name, which is pretty incredible. I mean, like people gloss over that. I haven't heard too many sermons about the words I am, you know, being so powerful that they bowl people over. And yet this is it. This is where you know, you know, it is first spoken. And and here's what's really great is that Moses and his humility, says who am I you know, like I'm a nobody. I can't. I'm not worthy. I don't have a big name, you know, I'm a nobody. And then what God says is, hey, you don't have to be a nobody or you don't have to be a somebody, because I'm the somebody, and he says, I'm with you. And if you think about it, that is every single task that God asks us to do. Right, So if God wants to work and let's just say, you know, let's just say it's the smallest of things. And God nudges you and says, I want you to help the neighbor down your street in this way, whether it's assistance or financial assistance, or or maybe speak truth to them. Heck, it doesn't have to be any assistance. He could just be helping in that manner. And we always say to ourselves, well, who am I to do such a thing? Who am I to step out? Who am I to you know, be used in such a manner. And then God's response to us is the same that he gives to Moses, which is like, hey, you don't have to be a somebody. I'm the somebody. I'm with you, so go exclamation mark right, That's what he says. Go exclamation mark, and then I will be with you. And so just it's just a great sermon for us to keep in mind that every time God calls you, he's going to equip you to everything that he's called you with, right, and his calling is almost always to go go to that person, go with my message. Right. That that's usually what God calls us too. So I think it's great when he names himself here Moses is like, hey, nobody's gonna listen to me. Now, think about this. He's the first son right in Egypt. Now he's hiding because he did kill a guy, right, but he's he's the first son, and he has a tremendous amount of power. And the people of Israel may or may not have known that this Jewish kid was or this Hebrew kid was the leader there, but certainly he could have stepped up and and and in his own authority said, hey, listen, God came to me. And but he said they're not listening to me, and he needed some backing. And you want to know who am I talking to? Now? It's funny he's arguing with a burning bush that's claiming to be God. So there's that, right, It's a little odd, but he definitely has a sense that, hey, this is holy ground. Take off your sandals. There's something about that, right when we need to be aware of when we're holy. I think it's important for us to acknowledge holy moments. And so he takes off his sandals, and then God declares, you know, well, my name is I Am. And that term Yahweh is usually translated as Lord, right, And there's a great note there about that. It's called the tetragrammaton you. Ever, so the four letter name of God, what the Hebrews did is they took out the consonant or the vowels, and just left in the consonants because they didn't want to make a mistake of saying the holiest name of God. They didn't want to actually write it, they didn't want to say it, they didn't want to hear it because it was so holy. And so that's where you get the four letter name of God here. That then is almost always translated as Lord in English. But even then they would not say yahweh, right, They said add and I, which is another way to say the word Lord. Right. And so just the view of how holy God is that the Hebrew people didn't feel worthy to even actually say the real name of God. And so for God to step up to Moses and go, well, tell him this is my name, right, that's really really significant. It's a huge thing. So I think that the respect is great, all these things, but it's really powerful because Jesus, when Jesus says that in the garden, there is no more powerful name that the Hebrews could possibly know. They wouldn't even write it, let alone say it right, right, And Jesus boldly declares it there. And so it's interesting if this Angel of the Lord was Jesus, he was there when it was declared to Moses, and then at the who eventually becomes the giver of the law, and then Jesus, the bringer of Grace, declares the same name. Right. It's really phenomenalous. It's fabulous. But yeah, and that's another thing too, is that there's a lot of comparisons. Uh, you know, it's interesting because I just preached this at our church just a couple of weeks ago. So we just happened to finish up a series called the Baddest Men of the Planet, and we chose some really uh you know, awesome men from the Old Testament, and Moses was one of them. And and and as I was, you know, preparing for the message, I thought to myself, isn't it interesting? And again we're I'm sort of skipping ahead. But but but so many things that are tied to the events of Moses Jesus brings into play. And I won't get into it, but like the passover is a pretty pretty big thing, right. Uh, you know, the bronze serpent in the wilderness, right, Uh, you know, the I Am moment. There's so many different things. Uh, you know the picture, the picture of releasing from bondage, you know, from both physically and spiritually, striking, striking the rock. Yes, there's so many things that that that that are. I mean, Moses was foundational to even even us today. We're connected to Moses in big ways. Yeah, Jesus was an incredible reflection of and Moses I think was a was a hint of Jesus. Right, So these two go back and forth. But Jesus did say at one point he said, I didn't come to abolish the law, right, I came to fulfill it. And I think you even see that a lot in the person of Moses. Jesus fulfilled a lot or or expanded a lot on even the actions and the things that Moses did. And yeah, so it's it's really really incredible how God is giving us a hint of what's coming through Moses. Yeah, that's really cool. So so, uh, Moses is being challenged to go back to do something he doesn't want to do, and just like you said, he's if he's the firstborn son. It also reminds me I'm trying to look for sermons in this thing. Oh and I started thinking about I started thinking about when we're fearful, when we don't, when we when we when we have like a shadow mission, because we're going to eventually see that Moses comes out with after all his excuses, he's going to say, I just don't want to go right now. I'm not sure if we're going to skip over that or not. I'm not sure. I think we I think we're going to read some of those, okay, because because really he doesn't want to go. And I've always thought about this. I've always thought, I wonder if he doesn't want to go because of his history with the palace, right, so he doesn't want to go back with the message, let my people go. You know, hey, hey, can you do me a favor? Can you let go all of your slave force, a million people who have built your cities and built your statues. Can you go ahead and just let them, you know, go and be free and just sacrifice all that, you know. So, but it's more than that. It's it's it's it's the it's the history of the palace and and all those kind of things. And I thought to myself, geez, that is a very very difficult task. And sometimes when God asks us to do his difficult task, it's not even necessarily the task that we're afraid of. It's actually some shadow mission that we have. It's some deep rooted fear of like what will people think of rejection? Yes, that's what I'm trying to get to, Right, there's these feelings, of these human feelings that we just don't want to give into. We'll be embarrassed if we stand up for Christ. Right, We'll be labeled as unpopular if you're in high school a lot of times. Right. So there's these other things that are attached to it that we can sort of read between the lines and place in Moses's story. Yeah, and then you find God saying to him, hey, I went on and read those two extra verses sixteen and seventeen, and this is useful. Then he says, so now go and call together all the elders of Israel and tell them the Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me. It's interesting a lot of times when we feel like God's telling us to go, we reject it and we go, oh, I'm not qualified. I'm not a pastor. I don't know enough about the Bible. I don't know enough about those things. But God did not tell Moses go tell him something you don't know. God said, go tell him what you saw, right, And so one of the greatest things you can do is just share the story. So you are not an expert, perhaps on the whole Bible, but you are an expert on your story, right, right, So learning how to tell your story in the context of God's story in you is incredibly important. You know, I just got back from Tanzania. We come into a village it looks like the Garden of Eden, and it was a village that was completely and totally overrun by witchcraft. There were dueling witch doctors that were doing some really horrible things there, and the people were terrified. A woman from several villages over decided to begin praying for this village. She'd go walk through the village. There are a couple hundred people who live there in a beautiful village, but very very dark. And so she's walking through, she meets another young woman named Nancy January. So, now this is what six months ago. She leads Nancy to Jesus. Over a couple of days and leads her to Christ. And Nancy then begins to have a heart broken heart for her village. But she's not an expert. She's a new Christian, but she wants to learn how to tell people about Jesus. So over the next three months January February March, the first Lady keeps coming back and talking to Nancy. Well, this first Lady is a fairly new Christian, she's only been a believer for eighteen months. But she comes and on the third month that she comes back to meet with Nancy, she teaches her the idea that hey, one of the most powerful stories is your story. What God has done in you? What was your life like before? How did you meet Jesus and how did you surrend your life to Jesus and what has he done since? So you need to learn how to share your story and share God's story. The fact that God paid the price for our sins and he offers it forgiveness as a free gift, and everyone who calls the name Lord will be saved. It was very simple, share your story, share God's story. That was in March. Since March, Nancy has led one hundred and fifty people to Jesus. One hundred and fifty people in this village of two hundred people, all consumed by which doctors and demon worship. So when we come in this village, they're singing praises. They feel free. They're telling stories about how they've been set free from all the suppression and it's Jesus that set them free. And Nancy told us about Jesus. Well, when it's all done that day when we were there, Nancy's father came forward and gave his life to Christ. Another woman from the village came forward and gave her life to Christ. And one of the witch doctor ladies came forward and gave her life to Christ. In the moment while I was there in this village, right, it was incredible. But I was sitting there looking at Nancy while she was talking briefly, and I thought, she has really short hair. Well, the only people, the only women who have really short hair in Tanzania are schoolgirls because everybody has to have the same short haircut because of bugs and stuff like that in the schools. And so I got to thinking, I don't think Nancy's an adult woman. So after we're all done, I go to Nancy. I said, Nancy, hold are you and she goes, oh, I'm seventeen. So this seventeen year old girl stood up to the evil forces of witch doctors and demons with only the knowledge of her story and that Jesus saves people, that's all. She's not a theologian, and she's radically God used her to radically transform that village. And so I see this here, and God told Moses go and just tell him what you saw. And man, I think the devil beats us so many times where we start to feel like, well, I can't share my faith because I'm not an expert. You're an expert on your story. Just go tell yourself, go tell people what you've seen that that's all, and that God can do what God needs to do with your story. Yeah, that's great, isn't it great? Yeah, that's awesome. Well, hey, that is a great closing thought because that's our time and so hopefully we'll see you tomorrow as we pick up this story on the Bible. Guys,