Monday, June 17

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Monday

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.  There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.  “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”  When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”  “Here I am!” Moses replied.  “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.  - Exodus 3:1-6

This account in Exodus 3 is a great story with some valuable lessons for your life and mine. Before we draw our lessons, let's make sure we have our facts straight.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

We need to understand our chronology here. It is easy for you and I to read the first few verses of Exodus 3 and think that everything that took place in those passages happened quickly.  But you would be wrong. The first christian martyr, Stephen (Acts 7) tells us that Moses was in Egypt for 40 years before he killed the Egyptian and had to run for his life. He was then in the wilderness (Midian) for 40 more years. 

So, Moses is out with the sheep and he notices a shrub on fire. I suspect, spending so much time out in the desert he had seen shrubs on fire before. But this was a unique phenomena. The bush was flaming but it wasn't really burning!  So, Moses is intrigued and goes over to see what the story is with the bush. 

Up to this moment, Moses has known about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and he has believed in God in a general way, but he has not yet encountered God personally...that is about to change.

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"  And Moses said, "Here I am."

God didn’t speak to Moses until He has Moses’ attention.  I'm sure that Moses did not understand all that what was happening in this moment, and he certainly did comprehend that this burning bush was actually the physical representation of the self-existing, eternal flame that is God Almighty.  He simply went over to have a closer look (the text says he “turned aside”) and God did the rest.

How often do we fail to “turn aside” when God is trying to get our attention?  How many burning bush moments do we miss in our lives because we are distracted or preoccupied?  God’s Word doesn’t touch our heart the way that it might because we don’t give it our attention.  The burning bush was a spectacular phenomenon that captured Moses’ attention; but it changed nothing until Moses received the Word of God there.

"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 

Why did God tell him to "take off His shoes" you ask? Certainly, if his shoes were dirty, so were his feet.  What is the point?  In ancient middle-eastern cultures, taking off your shoes was a sign of respect, much like it is in eastern cultures still today.  Perhaps it would be the equivalent to a man taking off his hat when the flag approaches, or taking off your hat for prayer or when you come into church. It was a gesture of reverence and respect. 

Then God said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

This may sound strange to us, but this is a common response when you encounter the Almighty. When Isaiah saw the Lord He was afraid and cried out “Woe is me, I am ruined!” (Isaiah 6).  When the disciples witnessed Jesus calm the storm they were afraid. 

When we see God for who He is...when we see His purity and goodness it is like the light being turned on in our heart.  For the first time we see our sin for what it really is and we know that we deserve to be consumed by God!   We shrink away because we know that we do not deserve to be in God's presence.

For the first time in his life, Moses encounters the living God.  He covers his face in fear, but God has not come to destroy Moses, He has come to call him to a life-changing journey.  When God calls, it might be confusing and at times even scary, but it is always for our good and for His glory!

Jeff Frazier