Moses
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God was preparing him to become a spiritual shepherd of his sheep,
even of his people Israel. He had been fully qualified as a general, to
stand at the head of armies, and now the Lord would have him learn the
duties, and perform the offices of a faithful shepherd of his people, to
tenderly care for his erring, straying sheep. As Moses led the flock to
the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb, “the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a
bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the
bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and
see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw
that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the
bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said,
Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
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whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God
of thy 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 upon God.
And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which
are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters;
for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of
the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a
good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto
the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the
Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold,
the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me; and I have also seen
the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.—Come now,
therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring
forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
The time had fully come when God would have Moses exchange
the shepherd’s staff, for the rod of God, which he would make powerful
in accomplishing signs and wonders, in delivering his people from
oppression, and in preserving them when pursued by their enemies.
“And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh,
and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And
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he said, Certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto
thee, that I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth the people
out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said
unto God, Behold when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall
say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and