Exodus 3: The Burning Bush

“Exodus 3: The Burning Bush,” Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide (2002), 43

“Exodus 3,” Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide, 43

The Burning Bush

Have you ever been given an assignment you felt you could not successfully complete because you felt inadequate? If you have had this experience, why did you try? If you haven’t, what would it take for you to try? Exodus 3–4 tells about when the Lord called Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt. We read that Moses felt he wasn’t good enough to deliver his people, and then we read what the Lord did to reassure and help him. What does Ether 12:27 teach you about the Lord’s promise to you as well as to Moses?

Understanding the Scriptures

Exodus 3

Kept (v. 1)Watched over

Consumed (v. 2)Burned up

Draw not nigh hither (v. 5)Do not come closer

By reason (v. 7)Because

Token (v. 12)Sign

Visited (v. 16)Watched over

Beseech (v. 18)Ask, plead

I will stretch out my hand (v. 20)I will use my power

Sojourneth (v. 22)Stays

Exodus 3:11–16—“I Am That I Am”

“I Am That I Am” is a form of “Jehovah,” one of the names of Jesus Christ. Moses and the Israelites understood the name to mean that God is eternal and not created by man, as were other gods of the day. This name was a way for the Lord to identify himself as the all-powerful true and living God. The Israelites came to greatly reverence this name and declared that speaking it was blasphemy.

Whenever this name occurs in the Old Testament’s Hebrew text, Jehovah is most often translated as “LORD.” In the New Testament a group of Jews sought to kill Jesus because He testified that he was the “I Am” who spoke to Moses and other prophets (see John 8:58). This New Testament reference confirms that Jesus Christ is Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament.

Studying the Scriptures

Do activity A as you study Exodus 3.

Learn More about God

Exodus 3 tells us about God revealing himself to Moses and calling him to be a prophet. By studying chapter 3 we not only learn about what Moses was called to do, but we also learn something about God Himself.
1. Describe what you learn about God from what He said and did in Exodus 3.
2. How might the truths you learned about God from this chapter help someone who is in the bondage of sin (as Israel was in bondage to Egypt) or who is required to accomplish a difficult task (as Moses was).