Before we begin, just a little bit of background on the time this story takes place to hopefully give it more understanding. A new king (Pharaoh) has just taken over rule in Egypt, who is fearful of the Israelites because of their strength and numbers. Because of his fear, he has instituted a rule to have all baby boys born to be killed. Moses was born during this time and his mother knew he would be killed if he stayed with her so she placed him in a basket and allowed him to float downstream. Fortunately for her and Moses, he ended up being adopted by Pharaoh's daughter and raised as one of her children. After he grew up, he fled from Egypt to the land of Midian. As our story begins, Moses is around 80 years old, grew up Egyptian, and has spent the past 40 years working in the desert.
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, and he led the flock around the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush. Moses looked, and saw that the bush was burning but was not being consumed. And Moses said, "I must turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside, God called out to Moses from the bush, "Moses, Moses, here I am." Then the Lord said, "Do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses his hid face because he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, and land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" And God said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."
This is a story I've heard since childhood, but the more times I've read it this week the more and more I have found that it is absolutely loaded with spiritual truth and application. Let's look at a couple of those here, and possibly a few more later in the week. This story can be found in Exodus 3:1-12 if you would like to read it all there.
In the beginning of the story, Moses is performing a regular mundane job of tending the flocks of his family. He had no special training, high paying, or high influence job. But God chose to use him, a regular guy with an ordinary job to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. Do you believe that God can still ordinary people to do extraordinary things today?
Keep in mind that Moses had 40 years of experience living and working in this wilderness so there must have been something striking to cause Moses to stop his work and decide to seek out this particular bush fire in greater detail. God knew something small or common would not get the attention of Moses, so he used something miraculous to grab his attention. Does God still use miracles or other big things today that cause us to shift our focus off ourselves, our career, or something in our lives, and onto Him? Just like God used this miraculous burning bush, he will do what whatever is necessary to get our attention today.
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, and he led the flock around the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush. Moses looked, and saw that the bush was burning but was not being consumed. And Moses said, "I must turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside, God called out to Moses from the bush, "Moses, Moses, here I am." Then the Lord said, "Do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses his hid face because he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, and land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" And God said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."
This is a story I've heard since childhood, but the more times I've read it this week the more and more I have found that it is absolutely loaded with spiritual truth and application. Let's look at a couple of those here, and possibly a few more later in the week. This story can be found in Exodus 3:1-12 if you would like to read it all there.
In the beginning of the story, Moses is performing a regular mundane job of tending the flocks of his family. He had no special training, high paying, or high influence job. But God chose to use him, a regular guy with an ordinary job to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. Do you believe that God can still ordinary people to do extraordinary things today?
Keep in mind that Moses had 40 years of experience living and working in this wilderness so there must have been something striking to cause Moses to stop his work and decide to seek out this particular bush fire in greater detail. God knew something small or common would not get the attention of Moses, so he used something miraculous to grab his attention. Does God still use miracles or other big things today that cause us to shift our focus off ourselves, our career, or something in our lives, and onto Him? Just like God used this miraculous burning bush, he will do what whatever is necessary to get our attention today.
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