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GOD AND HUMAN CONCEPTION

GOD AND HUMAN CONCEPTION. EXODUS 3:1-15. INTRODUCTION. It is a common trend to think of God in human and universal terms Moses ’ encounter with God at Horeb sparks a startling self revelation of God that stands in immeasurable superiority to all human conception put together.

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GOD AND HUMAN CONCEPTION

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  1. GOD AND HUMAN CONCEPTION EXODUS 3:1-15

  2. INTRODUCTION It is a common trend to think of God in human and universal terms Moses’ encounter with God at Horeb sparks a startling self revelation of God that stands in immeasurable superiority to all human conception put together.

  3. PRELUDE TO THE GREAT REVALTION • The burning bush that did not burn up • God revealed himself as the Covenant God (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). • Moses feared to look at God.

  4. GOD COMMISIONS MOSES • Exo 3:7 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 taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; • Exo 3:8 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. • Exo 3:9 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. • Exo 3:10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

  5. MAGNITUDE OF THE COMMISION • Delivering Israel out of a world renown monarch Egypt without military force • Going back to Egypt where he fled from after killing an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-15). • Moses was shepherd, a class of people despised by Egyptians (Genesis 46:34).

  6. MAGNITUDE OF THE COMMISION • Canaanite – Pedlar, merchant, trafficker • Hittite – Fear, terror. • Amorite – Mountaineer, carrying a sense of publicity, i.e. prominence • Perizzite – inhabitant of the open country, i.e to encompass, bind around. • Hivite – Villager i.e permanent settlement • Jebusite (Jebus – aboriginal name of Jerusalem) – trodden, i.e threshing place, figuratively, to produce wealth, fruit, increase.

  7. MOSES’ SELF- PERCEPTION AND GOD’S ANSWER (v11-12). • Moses: Who am I? (A wanted fugitive and a despised shepherd). • God: I will be with you.

  8. THE BIG QUESTION WHO IS GOD? (WHAT IS HIS NAME – V13)?

  9. SOME HUMAN CONCEPTS ABOUT GOD • Egyptian thought - Not one God, but many gods • Hebrew thought – One God known by many titles, e.g. Adhonai, El Shaddai, and Elohim are prominent. • Some contemporary thoughts: • Creator? • Moral principle? • All powerful? • Traditional deities.

  10. I Am Who I Am/JHWH (JEHOVAH/YAWHEH)(v13-15) • Jehovah – actually a misleading representation of the only name (as distinct from titles) of God in the Old Testament. • It is uncertain what vowels should be attached to the Hebrew consonants JHWH that make up the divine name. • At a late date it became a matter of binding fear to even pronounce the divine name, so that the actual pronunciation of the divine name is not known to this day. • There are only reasonable grounds for thinking that the name was Yawheh.

  11. JHWH/JEHOVAH • In reading the Scriptures, the Jews substituted the divine name with the noun adhoani (Greek – Kyrios ). • Significant of New Testament designation of Jesus as Kyrios i.e the Jehovah of the Old Testament. • The Formulation “Jehovah”arose by attempts to insert the vowels of adhonai into the consonants JHWH, thereby producing a name that never was!

  12. JHWH/JEHOVAH • Prior to Moses, the name JHWH had not been used as a meaningful understanding of the divine nature (Exodus 6:2-3) • Exo 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: • Exo 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. • E.g. Genesis 17:1 – God revealed himself to Abram as El Shaddai (God Almighty). • Patriarchs used the name JHWH simply as a label, not as a revelation of the nature of God.

  13. SIGNIFICANCE OF A NAME • The Egyptian society, where the Israelites lived, worshipped many gods. So there was need to know which god. • In Hebrew context names both identified those to whom they were attached and also gave a clue to their character (1 Samuel 25:25). • So the name of God identifies him and gives us a clue to his character.

  14. I Am Who I Am(Exodus 3:14) • The theological significance of Yahweh is opened to Moses at Horeb. • The name of God is related to the Hebrew verb that consists of the four letters (JHWH) that form the root of the verbs “to be” and “to become”. Thus: • “To be actually present” or “a present reality” • “I am actively present” or “I make to be actively present”. • Thus “I am who I am” could mean either “I am actively present as and when I choose” or “I bring to pass whatever I choose”

  15. GOD LINKES HIS NAME TO ETERNITYExodus 3:15 • “this is my eternal name (or this is my eternal name forever), and this is my memorial unto all generations.” • Eternity is an attribute that befits only God. • If we could understand eternity fully, we could also understand God fully. • As it is, eternity is beyond human conception and so is God. • Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. • Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

  16. GOD’S ETERNITY, OUR ADVANTAGE • If God could be defined or explained fully, then he would be limited to such definitions or explanations. Consequently, he would not be God. • Anything that can be defined or explained is limited to that definition or explanation. • But God cannot be defined in human or universal language because he is beyond that. • Hence the believer’s life, faith, hope, and love go beyond human conception (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 13:13).

  17. GOD’S ETERNITY, OUR ADVANTAGE • “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). • Where our efforts end, there would our hope finish. • But now we have something, a Being, beyond all human capabilities to act, think, or even imagination (Ephesians 3:20). • God is beyond all human conception. • Where all fails, we can look up to God because he is different and above all

  18. THE PROBLEM WHO AM I?

  19. THE SOLUTION I will be with you (Exodus 3:12) I am with you always … (Matt 28:20) I AM WHO I AM

  20. APPLICATION • Take God the way he says he is and begin to live a life of breaking through all negative limitations. • Move from “who am I” to “who he is”. • Just take him as he is. • Focus on Him, not on yourself. • LET GOD BE THE GOD HE SAYS HE IS IN YOUR LIFE

  21. GOD BE WITH YOU!

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