Moses-The Burning Bush
Moses – The Burning Bush
Exodus 3:1-6
When God has a big job to get done, he doesn’t always pick the greatest person to do it. He simply chooses a person who will become available to him for the task that he has that needs done. In tonight’s Scripture, the task to liberate God’s people didn’t go to a great military or political figure, but to a man that was not even favored by his own people, in fact he had very little, if any, contact with them for 40 years, but he was the man that God wanted to do the job. He chose Moses because he knew that Moses was able to be used.
Moses had a rather dubious background. Just think of all the things he had gone through before God chose him. He had been born of Hebrew parents, but had been raised in Pharoah’s mansions. Pharoah’s daughter had found him floating in the river and had taken him in to be raised by her. His natural and adopted heritages had to have many conflicts socially, economically, and spiritually. His early life was full of these type of conflicts.
Though he was raised an Egyptian, Moses’ heart would not ever allow him to fully give up his natural heritage as a Hebrew. It was inevitable that these two worlds would eventually find a major battlefield in his heart. He chose to favor his heart over his mind at a critical point in the conflict.
Moses interceded in an incident between an Egyptian and a Hebrew, killing the Egyptian. Overnight he became a fugitive from the justice system of Egypt and an alien from the hearts of the Hebrews. He had broken the Hebrew code of ethics and the Egyptian law and lost their trust. He fled from this organized society to hide out, but God still wanted to use him.
God spoke to Moses in a very unique way. On an isolated mountainside, God talked to Moses out of a bush that was burning, but was not being consumed. This was something different. They tell us that the site of a burning bush in that area was not that uncommon, as the sunlight reflected off of various rocks and stones that littered the area causing the bushes to catch fire. This one was different, though, as the bush did not burn up. This bush was spared and it caught Moses’ attention. As Moses approached the bush, he wasn’t aware of it, but he was about to receive three very significant messages from God.
First, Moses was made aware of the angel of the Lord being present in the bush. God’s call to a great task is always accompanied by a realization that God is there. God was there with Moses that day, he was there with Paul on the Road to Damascus, and he is with us today in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Second, Moses’ attention was drawn to the bush by the presence of an angel and the flaming fire. This showed Moses the message of God’s miraculous power to preserve through all kinds of adversities and troubles. Also, his immutable nature of remaining unchanged is shown to us through this event.
A third thing that Moses learned was that God is a God of overwhelming grace. Though his justice had been experienced by those who disobeyed him, it could not overshadow his love for his chosen people. God’s greatest message is always one of love and grace.
God’s revelation to Moses was intended for more than to just give him an awareness of his presence, it was to inform him of a mission.
God immediately made Moses aware that the ground he was standing on was holy ground. This is a fact that is true in the life of every servant directly called of God. People do not select the ministry as a vocation, they are selected by God for the ministry.
God had felt the opposition of his people. He knew their suffering. He knew what they were going through. He knew of all the injustices that were being done to them. He felt their pain and agony. God knows the same thing about us today.
God’s challenge was for Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage into the land that he had promised Abraham. God’s promises are as strong and as sure as his own character.
Moses could only see problems with the task God had set out for him. He thought of so many reasons that he could not accomplish the task God had for him. He came up, just like us, with excuse after excuse, but God knew that Moses was HIS man. God would give him the power and authority to get the job done. The ministry was God’s – not Moses’. God would accomplish what he wanted done.
God still calls for servants to lead sinners out of the life of bondage. The excuses of Moses are still used by people today. But by the authority of God, his present-day servants can still go forward to have victory.