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International S. S. Lessons

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 14, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 28.

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International S. S. Lessons.

"So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."—Neh. 8:8

LESSON IX.—SUNDAY, MAY 27, 1894.

MOSES SENT AS A DELIVERER.

[NOTE.—The questions which follow are merely suggestive for the student on the leading points of the lesson; it is presumed that the thorough student will think of many more as he studies the subject. References, where verses alone are given, always refer to the lesson scripture printed above. All other references are given in book, chapter, and verse. The text printed is that of the Revised Version, not because it is especially preferred, but because it is not found in every family, as is the common version.]

Lesson Scripture, Ex. 3:10-20.

  1. Come now therefore, and I will send thee [Moses] unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
  2. 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?
  3. And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the 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.
  4. 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 they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
  5. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
  6. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
  7. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, hath appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;
  8. And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
  9. And they shall hearken to thy voice; and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, hath met with us; and now let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.
  10. And I know that the king of Egypt will not give you leave to go, no, not by a mighty hand.
  11. And I will put forth my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go.
  12. Golden Text: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee." Isa. 41:10.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

  1. Note the principal events between this and our last lesson. Note 1.
  2. Whom did the Lord call to send unto Pharaoh? Verse 10.
  3. What was Moses' response? Verse 11.
  4. What assurance and pledge did God give Moses to strengthen him for this work? Verse 12.
  5. What question did Moses ask? Verse 13.
  6. Who should Moses say had sent him? Verse 14. Note 2.
  7. Who else did God say Moses should tell them had sent him? Verse 15.
  8. What did the Lord say of his name?
  9. What did he instruct Moses to do immediately? Verse 16.
  10. What promise did he repeat? Verse 17.
  11. Of what did he assure Moses before he started on his mission? Verse 18.
  12. What reasonable request was he to make first of Pharaoh?
  13. How did the Lord say Pharaoh would regard his request? Verse 19.
  14. How would he be induced to let Israel go? Verse 20. Note 3.

NOTES.

1. Our last lesson closed with the flight of Moses into Midian. There he remained, keeping the flock of Jethro, the priest of Midian, for forty years, during which time he married one of Jethro's daughters. While near Horeb the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a bush burning with fire, which was not consumed, this symbol representing the affliction of Israel in Egypt, which did not destroy them. Here the Lord reveals himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and tells him that he remembers the affliction of his people in Egypt, and that he has come to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them into a good land, flowing with milk and honey. Here our lesson begins, about 1493 B.C., Usher's Chronology. It is interesting to know that about this same time the city of Athens was founded by Cecrops, the city of Troy a little later. Egypt was in the height of its glory, especially in the magnificence of its architecture and the development of art.
2. I AM That I am, or, I am What I am.—"The words express absolute, and therefore unchanging and eternal, Being. The word I AM in Hebrew is equivalent in meaning to Jehovah, and differs from it very slightly in form. This is much obscured by our substitution of Lord for Jehovah."—Cook. So Moses should say that the personal, self-existent, unchangeable, invisible, living God had sent him, the one who had promised to deliver them 400 years before; as the next verse expresses it, The Lord, the I AM, the God of your fathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, God's wondrous name or memorial, expressing his character, by which he will be remembered in all ages.
3. In all the dealings of God with Pharaoh, the Lord's great mercy is shown. The first request that Moses was to make was simply for a three days' journey into the wilderness. As afterward shown, this was reasonable, because they could not sacrifice the gods of the Egyptians before their eyes without bringing upon themselves unnecessary persecutions. But the Lord foresaw that Pharaoh would not even comply with this request, yet God would give him every opportunity before he brought his sorest judgments upon that proud, wicked, and haughty kingdom which had rejected him. The fourth to the tenth chapters speak of the various plagues which the Lord brought upon Egypt; how Pharaoh hardened his heart under one judgment after another, until the Lord withdrew his Spirit from him and left him to entire hardness of heart. The last great plague was the slaying of the firstborn, under which the children of Israel were released. It will be noticed that in the Revised Version it is not said that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart until the plague of the boil. And the Lord hardening his heart simply means that Pharaoh had so rejected the mercy of God that the Spirit of the Lord was utterly withdrawn from him. It would seem that in the great mercy which the Lord had shown him, despite all the persecution that had been brought upon God's people, he would naturally have yielded his heart to the Lord. Pharaoh symbolized the wicked world; and those whom the world persecutes are fitly symbolized by the children of Israel in Egypt. But God remembers them even as he remembered Egypt, and as Christ was then with Moses to deliver his people, so is he with us now to deliver us.