Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn’t burn up.Moses said, “What’s going on here? I can’t believe this! Amazing! Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”
God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
He said, “Yes? I’m right here!”
God said, “Don’t come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground.”
Then he said, “I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.
God said, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
“The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I’ve seen for myself how cruelly they’re being treated by the Egyptians. It’s time for you to go back: I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt.”
I’m struck that it was only when Moses took the time to stop and look that God called out and spoke to Him.
Could it even be a possibility that God is doing amazing things round and about us all the time, but we are simply too busy getting on with our lives to stop, look, listen and receive. From a personal perspective this is why I find DREAM so helpful because in the midst of life, we are given space and permission to stop, look, listen, observe etc.
Moses was out of site and out of mind as far as the world could see…but God never forgot him. God had a plan for his life.
I take great comfort in that. No matter what sort of a mess I get into God still has a plan with me in mind….sometimes I just wish He would tell me..or is it that I am not listening properly. I’m open to a burning bush…but I’m not sure the neighbours will cope!
I love the fact that Moses had to walk through to the very end of the wilderness to find God. I suspect that walk probably reflected the spiritual walk that Moses had walk too. But it was only through the walk through the wilderness that he met his God
It’s also great that Moses didn’t really recognise the sign that it was God initially. He saw something ordinary (as I understand it bushes burning in the heat of the sun were not unusual then) but at the same time extra-ordinary and he didn’t get it. I often wonder how much I miss when I see the ordinary in a cursory way and don’t stop and think about the what God’s involvement in the ordinary is.
I also love the way that Moses journey through the physical and spritual wilderness was to prepare him for what lay ahead….years in the desert leading a people towards their ‘burning bush’ with all the strife that went with it!
watch Prince of Egypt with your kids it really brings the story alive – if youre a visual person like me that is!!
God said, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey….. I just love this and think this is a promise for our nation UK. It seems right now for so many of us that God maybe deaf to our cries for deliverance but if we go by this passage then he has heard our cries and he has also heard their (the nation) cries too!! Having just watched Prince Caspian it struck me that Aslan seems to take his time to sort out the mess but Lucy kept on believing he would turn up…………I am challenged everyday to keep trusting God is up to something!!
I seem to often be the opposite of a burnign bush – burning up (or out) but not blazing very brightly.
I want to be a burning bush. It’s what a long for dream to be too.
A visible pointer to the presence of God in an otherwise seemingly ordinary world.
Maybe I need to take my shoes off and stand on holy ground more.
That idea of taking off my shoes and standing on holy ground resonates with me as well.
My wife mentioned it last night and it has stuck with me. I do wonder if sometimes we don’t approach God with the right attitude. Maybe we need to be more humble when we approach Him in our gatherings and services.
“But it was only through the walk through the wilderness that he met his God.”
Steve, I think this is really perceptive. I have just read “The Shack” an amazing, unputdownable book about a guy who has to go to a place of deep wilderness and immense pain in order to turly discover and encounter the love of God in a fresh, powerful and life-changing way. Myabe we have to sometimes go back” before we can “move forward” in our spritual journey.
“Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.” – fear? shame? humility? humbleness? devotion? impact? shock? motion? … … how often do I “hide” my face or “close my eyes” to avoid/block/circumvent a truthful, real encounter?
awesome isn’t how we “turn a blind eye” look the other way and all that and God takes a long good look at us and it is always with love and compassion – a bit challenging for my usualy suspicion and judgemental tendencies!
Linda
The concept of God taking his time to hear the cries of his people is very much one from our perspective not his. He acts when the time is right but I so often have found it to be long after I would have wanted or expected him to. Basically because the wilderness seems too barren painful and lonely. Maybe its only then that I am ready and willing to allow God\’s love access.
I\’m struck here by how clear cut and deliberate God\’s response is and yet again it involves someone who has probably given up thinking he would or could ever amount to anything.
I am also aware that God is completely consuming that bush not just a bit of flame and yet it is not being destroyed.
I am really struck by the humility Moses showed by taking off his sandals. It made me think about how we approach God. Too often it seems that we bring God down to our level and forget that he is I am who I am. Somethimes we dont spend the time to come reverently into Gods presence. It seems that we come crash bang into his presence, unaware of who God really is. How often do I take off my sandals? How often do I spend realising that when I approach God I am on holy ground? The challenge is to change my attitude, realise how awesome God is and that he is beyond my understanding and approach the throne of God with the reverence due.