The Call at the Bush
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
What is your life’s greatest achievement?
“Popular interpretation puts the emphasis on the marvel of a bush unconsumed in the midst of enveloping fire . . .
A desert bush with its leaves and twigs, cobwebs and birds’ nests is combustible, a natural fuel supply for the desert Bedouin. Yet this fire rejects the bush as its fuel resource and blazes on unfading and completely self-sustained.
God was not primarily trying to show Moses the bush, but [rather] His glory that can ignore, yeah reject the fuel potential of the bush and yet burn on.
God is introducing not the burning bush but the fuel-less fire.”
R. Arthur Matthews, Born for Battle: Studies on Spirtual Warfare, page 156
As with salvation, so too with mission – it’s all about the fire, not the bush.
The miracle is not in the bush that does not burn, but in the flame that does not go out.
Parallels between the First Exodus and the End Time Exodus
Both are preceded with God’s call into mission to serve and to save.
Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’
Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”
Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
Jerry Seinfeld
So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?
Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”
So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do.
So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.
And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
Refuse to focus on your inadequacy. Rejoice in God’s all sufficiency.
“You need not go to the ends of the earth for wisdom, for God is near. It is not the capabilities you now possess or ever will have that will give you success. It is that which the Lord can do for you.
We need to have far less confidence in what man can do and far more confidence in what God can do for every believing soul. He longs to have you reach after Him by faith. He longs to have you expect great things from Him.
He longs to give you understanding in temporal as well as spiritual matters. He can sharpen the intellect. He can give tact and skill. Put your talents into the work, ask God for wisdom, and it will be given you.” EG White, Christ’s Object Lessons, page 146.