When everything seems lost and it seems like no-one can help, the most powerful promise keeper who cares for his people arrives, and that changes everything. hear about an amazing arrival as we explore Exodus chapter 3.
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Transcript
G'day and welcome to stories of a faithful God for kids, the podcast where we discover who
Speaker:God really is and what he's really like.
Speaker:Thanks for being really patient for this
Speaker:episode.
Speaker:I had a few things come up last week that took
Speaker:up much more time than I'd hoped, but we're here now.
Speaker:If you have any questions about today's episode, don't forget to go to faithfulgod.net
Speaker:and send them in.
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Speaker:you listen to this podcast.
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Speaker:Do you listen by yourself with your family? With some astronauts?
Speaker:Go to the contact page of faithfulgod.net and tell me how you listen to the podcast.
Speaker:Adults, if you're listening, don't forget there's a deep dive episode over on stories of
Speaker:a faithful God that'll help you go a bit further and deeper in knowing God.
Speaker:There's also our first ever bonus episode there where I chat with my friend and minister
Speaker:about a few things.
Speaker:Now on with the show, have you ever been
Speaker:scared or in trouble and you needed someone to help you?
Speaker:Maybe you got lost at the shops or you hurt yourself?
Speaker:Maybe something big's happened in your life, like school is really hard, or you have to
Speaker:move house, or there are really hard things happening with people in your home.
Speaker:We all go through hard things at times, and when they come, sometimes you might feel
Speaker:really alone, like there's no one there to help you, and that can be really hard.
Speaker:Other times, though, there's someone who sees you and listens to you and understands what
Speaker:you're going through, and they come to help.
Speaker:That can be the best feeling in the world.
Speaker:At the end of the last episode, things were really bad for the Israelites.
Speaker:They were stuck in Egypt, being treated really horribly as slaves.
Speaker:They cried out for help even though they didn't seem to know who to cry to.
Speaker:Today, someone sees them and listens to them and comes to help.
Speaker:Get ready for our next episode of stories of a faithful God for kids.
Speaker:Earlier on, it had looked like Moses was going to be the great savior of his people.
Speaker:He was a Hebrew or Israelite who joined the egyptian royal family.
Speaker:He had power and greatness.
Speaker:But then it all went wrong.
Speaker:He had to run away because people wanted him dead.
Speaker:He's ended up as a shepherd, living with different people in a different land.
Speaker:It turns out Moses is not the savior the Israelites need.
Speaker:One day, Moses decides he needs to get his father in law's sheep to some fresh grass.
Speaker:So he leads them across the desert to a place where there's some good food.
Speaker:He gets to a mountain.
Speaker:And you know what?
Speaker:Until I started this podcast, I don't think it had ever really clicked for me.
Speaker:Just how many people and places in the Bible have more than one name?
Speaker:The mountain he gets to is called Mount Horeb, but you might know it by its other name, Mount
Speaker:Sinai.
Speaker:What happens next is one of the most famous
Speaker:parts of the whole Bible.
Speaker:It starts when Moses sees something rather
Speaker:strange.
Speaker:I'll read it from Exodus, chapter three, verse
Speaker:two.
Speaker:It says there at Mount Sinai, the angel of the
Speaker:Lord appeared to Moses in flames of fire coming out of a bush.
Speaker:As if that's not weird enough, Moses keeps looking at the bush.
Speaker:It's still on fire, but it isn't burning or going black.
Speaker:And Moses is like, whaaat? I gotta check this out.
Speaker:I mean, he spends his whole day looking at sheep, right?
Speaker:Anything different would be interesting, but this is pretty weird and amazing.
Speaker:Even though he wants to get in really close, as he moves towards it, it turns out that the
Speaker:first thing he has to do is stop.
Speaker:Let me read it to you.
Speaker:From verse four, the Lord saw Moses, was coming to look at the bush, so God called to
Speaker:him from the bush, Moses, Moses.
Speaker:And Moses said, here I am.
Speaker:Then God said, do not come any closer.
Speaker:Take off your sandals.
Speaker:You are standing on holy ground.
Speaker:You say, Moses can't just walk up to God like
Speaker:a friend, or like he's an interesting thing to look at, which Moses actually realizes as soon
Speaker:as he understands who's speaking to him.
Speaker:In verse six, God says, I am the God of your
Speaker:ancestors.
Speaker:I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
Speaker:the God of Jacob.
Speaker:Moses covered his face because he was afraid
Speaker:to look at God.
Speaker:God is so different and better and more
Speaker:important than us.
Speaker:And Moses reacts in exactly the right way.
Speaker:What's God doing here? Has he come to punish Moses for his sin?
Speaker:Thankfully, no. Instead, he's come in kindness and care.
Speaker:He's come to help.
Speaker:He's come to save you.
Speaker:See, even if the Israelites back in Egypt felt like no one had heard them, God has.
Speaker:And he cares about them.
Speaker:He's their God.
Speaker:The God who spoke to the first three Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Speaker:The God who made promises to them about saving them and taking them to a new land.
Speaker:God says he's seen his people, he's heard his people, he's concerned for his people.
Speaker:In verse seven, the Lord said, I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt, and
Speaker:I have heard their cries when the egyptian slave masters hurt them.
Speaker:I am concerned about their pain.
Speaker:Remember we talked about how great it is when
Speaker:someone gets it? They understand what you're going through and
Speaker:don't just ignore you.
Speaker:Well, God seen and understood and is concerned
Speaker:about his people.
Speaker:And he doesn't just sit back and worry.
Speaker:No, what he says next is like the best news in the whole world.
Speaker:In verse eight, he says these amazing words.
Speaker:I have come.
Speaker:That's a shiver down the spine moment.
Speaker:The God of the universe has arrived.
Speaker:What's he gonna do? This is what he says.
Speaker:He says, I have come down to save them from the Egyptians.
Speaker:I will bring them out of that land.
Speaker:I will lead them to a good land with lots of
Speaker:room.
Speaker:This is a land where much food grows.
Speaker:This is the land of these people.
Speaker:The Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,
Speaker:perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
Speaker:He's going to take them from slavery to
Speaker:freedom, from having virtually nothing to having heaps, from being owned by other people
Speaker:to being people who own land, good land.
Speaker:Land perfect for farming and enjoying and
Speaker:working and resting.
Speaker:God had told Abraham that his descendants
Speaker:would be in Egypt for about 400 years, but then he'd save them.
Speaker:And now that times come, because he loves them and cares for them and hates them being
Speaker:treated so badly, he says in verse nine, I have heard the cries of the people of Israel.
Speaker:I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them.
Speaker:He even has a special job for Moses.
Speaker:In verse ten, God says to him, so now I am
Speaker:sending you to the king of Egypt.
Speaker:Go bring my people, the Israelites, out of
Speaker:Egypt.
Speaker:Oh, so exciting.
Speaker:Except Moses isn't so sure.
Speaker:He kind of looks around and says, ah, me,
Speaker:really? Who am I?
Speaker:I can't do that.
Speaker:In verse eleven, Moses says, I am not a great
Speaker:man.
Speaker:Why should I be the one to go to the king and
Speaker:lead the Israelites out of Egypt? And he's kind of right, isn't he?
Speaker:He had been a great man back in Egypt, but now he's wanted for murder there.
Speaker:Now he's a nothing, a nobody, a stranger in a faraway country.
Speaker:And God's like, yeah, I know.
Speaker:What's your point?
Speaker:Because it doesn't matter who Moses is.
Speaker:He isn't the savior.
Speaker:God is.
Speaker:God's the one who's going to do all this.
Speaker:Throughout the Bible, God uses all sorts of people.
Speaker:He uses kids, sinners, nobodies at one stage, he even makes a donkey talk and uses the
Speaker:donkey.
Speaker:It's not that they're great, it's that God's
Speaker:great.
Speaker:So God says in verse twelve, I will be with
Speaker:you.
Speaker:This will be the proof that I'm sending you.
Speaker:You will lead the people out of Egypt.
Speaker:Then all of you will worship me on this
Speaker:mountain.
Speaker:Spoiler alert, that actually happens.
Speaker:So Moses has asked, who am I? And God's replied, it doesn't matter.
Speaker:I'm going to be with you.
Speaker:So Moses asks, okay, so who are you?
Speaker:Then in verse 13, he says, when I go to the Israelites, I'll say to them, the God of your
Speaker:ancestors sent me to you.
Speaker:What if the people say, yeah, what is his
Speaker:name? What should I tell them?
Speaker:Names in the Bible often have special meanings.
Speaker:They tell you something about the person.
Speaker:The name Jesus means God saves.
Speaker:Moses isn't just asking for a name.
Speaker:He's asking for God to tell him something
Speaker:really important about himself.
Speaker:And because God wants his people to know him,
Speaker:he answers in verse 14, he says, I am who I am.
Speaker:When you go to the people of Israel, tell them I am sent me to you.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:What on earth does that mean?
Speaker:Well, partly it could mean I am like I exist.
Speaker:I'm not.
Speaker:Pretend I'm real.
Speaker:I think there's more to it than that, though.
Speaker:I think it invites us to ask for more information, like I am what I am who.
Speaker:What's important about you? God.
Speaker:Thankfully, God's going to show what's important about him throughout Exodus hell,
Speaker:show the Israelites hell, show the Egyptians hell.
Speaker:Even show us.
Speaker:One thing he wants us to remember right from
Speaker:the beginning, though, is that hes a great promise maker.
Speaker:Remember, he made wonderful promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them a big
Speaker:family and new land and lots of blessings.
Speaker:He also made a promise to them that we're
Speaker:actually a part of.
Speaker:He said he'll bless the whole world through
Speaker:them.
Speaker:And God wants everyone to remember that he's
Speaker:made those promises.
Speaker:So he joins those guys to his name, makes them
Speaker:part of his name.
Speaker:In verse 15, he says to Moses, this is what
Speaker:you should tell the people.
Speaker:The Lord is the God of your ancestors.
Speaker:He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
Speaker:And he sent me to you.
Speaker:This will always be my name.
Speaker:This is how people from now on will know me.
Speaker:God doesn't just want to be remembered as a
Speaker:promise maker, though.
Speaker:He wants people to know that he's the promise
Speaker:keeper, the powerful promise keeper, the powerful promise keeper who cares for his
Speaker:people.
Speaker:So he repeats who he is, how much he cares for
Speaker:them and how he's going to save them, just like he promised.
Speaker:But then he adds another promise to show his power and how much he cares for them.
Speaker:He wants his people to know that they're not just going to sneak out the back door of
Speaker:Egypt.
Speaker:They're going to leave like a victorious army.
Speaker:In those days, when an army defeated a country or city, they'd go in and grab all the gold
Speaker:and jewels and expensive stuff they could find.
Speaker:It's called plundering.
Speaker:Except the Israelites won't have to do any
Speaker:fighting.
Speaker:God will do the fighting for them.
Speaker:And he'll be so successful that the Egyptians are just going to give them all their
Speaker:treasure.
Speaker:Let me read it to you from verse 19.
Speaker:God tells Moses to ask the king to let them go.
Speaker:Then he says, but I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go.
Speaker:Only a great power will force him to let you go.
Speaker:So I will use my great power against Egypt.
Speaker:I will make miracles happen in that land.
Speaker:After I do this, he will let you go.
Speaker:And I will cause the egyptian people to think
Speaker:well of the people of Israel.
Speaker:So when you leave, they will give gifts to
Speaker:your people.
Speaker:Each hebrew woman will ask her egyptian
Speaker:neighbour and any egyptian woman living in her house for gifts.
Speaker:Ask for silver, gold and clothing.
Speaker:You will put those gifts on your children.
Speaker:When you leave Egypt.
Speaker:In this way, you will take with you the riches
Speaker:of the Egyptians.
Speaker:God is going to prove himself to be the
Speaker:powerful promise keeper who cares for his people.
Speaker:Do you know that the Bible says that we were slaves, all humans everywhere?
Speaker:Not slaves to Egypt or any other people or country.
Speaker:No. Something much worse than that.
Speaker:Much more deadly.
Speaker:The Bible says that we were slaves to sin, slaves to rebelling against God.
Speaker:We had no way of stopping ourselves from sinning, no way of stopping being selfish.
Speaker:There weren't any people who could rescue us.
Speaker:It's caused so much pain and sadness in this
Speaker:world because everyone wants to be in charge.
Speaker:Everyone wants to be God.
Speaker:Everyone wants to tell others what to do instead of listening to the true God.
Speaker:And in the end, if that kept going, God would have to deal with us, give us what we deserve
Speaker:forever.
Speaker:Everything looked lost and hopeless until God
Speaker:came.
Speaker:God, the son, came to earth.
Speaker:Jesus, he didn't have to, but he'd promised to.
Speaker:God is the promise maker and the promise keeper.
Speaker:Jesus came with power to defeat sin and defeat death and free us from slavery.
Speaker:God is the powerful promise keeper.
Speaker:Jesus came to save us when we were hurt and
Speaker:lost and couldn't help ourselves.
Speaker:God is the powerful promise keeper who cares
Speaker:for his people.
Speaker:Jesus has lots of names and titles, but there
Speaker:was one name that really made people sit up and listen.
Speaker:He said to a group of people before Abraham was I am.
Speaker:He's saying that God who spoke to Moses from the bush called I am the one who rescued his
Speaker:people, who did all those amazing things.
Speaker:I'm him.
Speaker:How good is it that God came to powerfully save, just like he'd promised?
Speaker:If you trust Jesus as your king and savior, you are saved forever.
Speaker:Back on Mount Sinai, Moses had just heard all the wonderful things that God's going to do
Speaker:through him.
Speaker:There's just one problem.
Speaker:Moses doesn't want to go, but that's a story for next time.
Speaker:Don't forget to go to faithfulgod.net and tell me how you listen to the show.
Speaker:Bye for now.
Speaker:Thanks so much for listening, adults.
Speaker:If you think this podcast is helpful for your kids and for others, please show your
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Speaker:Thanks so much to everyone who already has donated.
Speaker:You make all this possible.
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Speaker:for now.
Speaker:Rain.
