Meeting God. Exodus 3:1-10 Even writing such a title is done with a trembling hand. Although the Lord God is my Father, I am aware that He is the Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, with all power in heaven and earth coming from Him. Some things are not fully understood when we are young. I am past the age of Moses when he saw an extraordinary sight. A burning bush would not be so unusual, but a fire in the middle of a bush that does not burn up certainly is. God uncommonly used common things to carry out His will with me. The everyday things of life that are, in some ways, extraordinary remind me that God is always present. He is omnipresent. In the ordinary activities of life, God is with us. He still is—Emmanuel.
The Lord knew Moses was in Midian, shepherding sheep for forty years, and that he was learning what was right and unlearning what was wrong. Solitude has a way of directing our attention to important things rather than the noisy, trivial matters that continually demand our focus. The contrast between being an Egyptian prince and a shepherd of sheep would have been startling for Moses at first. As time went on, he would have realized how much more there is to life than what we eat and drink, what we do, or the clothes we wear. What people thought of him would have become of little importance as he grew into a man of faith.
He made a choice forty years earlier to believe in God and associate with God’s people, but he took an action that was wrong. He usurped authority that belongs only to God. Our right is not to decide who should live or die and when. As a shepherd, he could do that with mindless sheep, choosing which ones would be used only for food and which ones would be used for what they could produce in wool. In that process, he would have learned to look ahead and plan what should be done and what the likely outcome of his choices would be.
We don’t fully learn a lesson the first time we hear instructions. When we experience the consequences of our choices and can share what we believe and why, as well as what we do and why, we hopefully learn the lesson. God prepares us to serve Him in ways that fit each individual Christian. Whether we learn the lessons He teaches well enough to be trusted with service for Him depends on us. We can hear and read the truth in the Bible, but how we apply that truth to ourselves and what we do with what we know is the key to a meaningful, fruitful, and joyful life. Instead of catching Moses’ attention with a lightning flash or a storm of wind and rain that would scare him, the Lord appeared to him through the fire in a bush. The fact that a bush was burning but not consumed did not frighten Moses, but it did pique his curiosity. When he got close enough, God’s voice calling him by his name twice changed his attitude and demeanor. This was no ordinary event! It was a divine visitation from Jehovah, the Eternal One, the Creator and Supreme Authority of the universe! There was no doubt in his mind that it was the “LORD,” not his imagination.
Wherever God is present becomes holy ground, and the dirt and dust of earth have no place there. The shoes on his feet had to be removed, so there was no contaminating barrier between them. Whenever we enter God's presence and speak to Him or He to us, it is a sanctified place—holy ground. The bush, in its humble and stationary place, perhaps would remind Moses, who had forty years to meditate on God and Israel's life, bound in slavery in Egypt. The fire in "the midst" of the bush would remind him that despite their situation, God was also there.
Moses had come to the desert in the strength of life and mature years. However, there was still much he needed to learn. Before meeting God in the bush, he had years of training at home. He likely learned from his marriage the value of another person and our need for an equal to develop our personal and social skills. From Zipporah, he would have learned how to give and receive love—and criticism. Interaction with her would have taught him the importance of small things and our needs for others. He would have learned from his two sons' patience as they reacted and responded differently to what he taught and expected. Every person is different, and there is no single template to guide us in training and teaching a child. We are to "train up a child in the way he shall go," not necessarily how I expect him to go. Moses was to be a father to a nation. He needed to learn how to be a father within his own family.
The desert itself was part of the training process that God used to bring Moses into. When the sheep were brought in the dark of early morning to the pasture before the heat of the day, he would have learned how to "lead them on softly." He would have learned the value of "coming apart into a desert place to rest awhile." People, like sheep, need to be led - not driven. They must rest at appropriate times. But Moses also, during those hours of watching the sheep, had plenty of time to meditate on what he saw around him and what he thought inside himself. His intellect would have guided him to - and through, those questions of life that everyone asks. "Why am I here?" "Is there a God?" "What is He like?" "How can I know Him?" "Does he know and care about me?"
Then, one day, after forty years of training, God spoke. In just a few minutes of hearing God's voice, everything changed. God does not scorn the humble, and He is with His suffering people whether they realize it or not. Moses understood the answers to his questions in mere moments. "I AM the God of the promised covenant." "I have seen the affliction of My people." "I know their sorrows." "I am come down to deliver." "I have seen the oppression." What glory, what assurance, what joy in such a few words from the Great I AM! No wonder Moses covered his face and refused to look up!
God not only clearly identified Himself in a single sentence as the One who, over four hundred years earlier, had established a lasting covenant with the patriarchs, but that covenant was still ongoing with the people Moses had chosen to be associated with. This carried much more significance than he had realized about the importance of his decision forty years earlier. He had aligned himself with the children of Israel and the God of the children of Israel. In that covenant, he had a role to play. God made it clear that the terms of the covenant were still in effect. Moses had learned and was now prepared. God knew that. Now Moses knew it too.
Moses had also learned about his own heart during those forty years. He knew what he was and wasn't. He had figured out what truly mattered to a man and was now ready to understand what mattered to God. God desired a kingdom, a nation of worshipping people who would enjoy His fellowship, and He could enjoy theirs. When God calls someone, it is a personal matter, and we are expected to respond individually. Moses' question, "Who am I that I should go...?" showed that his uncertainty didn't disappear quickly. He should have asked, “Whose am I?”
When we enter the presence of God and speak to Him or He speaks to us, that is a sacred place and is “holy ground.” “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge… the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Awe, reverence, respect, and humility are all proper attitudes when we approach God in prayer or when He approaches us through His word. For a fragile, mortal human being to be singled out by God is an overwhelming experience, as we realize that the God of eternity knows us by name. He understands our personality, strengths and weaknesses, capabilities, and limitations. Our attitude, body language, and expressions reveal us completely before Him.
No wonder Moses covered his face and wouldn’t look up! God revealed Himself and immediately showed Moses what it is like to be in the presence of the Holy God and how to behave when we communicate with Him, who holds our breath in His hand. Frivolous and casual words are unacceptable when we speak to God. Obedience and submission of body, soul, and spirit to Him are to be expected of us.
God clearly identified Himself in one sentence as the One who, over four hundred years earlier, had established a covenant with the people Moses had chosen to identify with. This placed a much greater burden on his decision forty years earlier than he had realized. He didn’t just join himself to the children of Israel but to the God of the children of Israel and the sacred covenant he was part of. In these words, God made it clear that the covenant's terms were still in effect.
We must never take lightly any of God’s interactions with us, whether small or great. The fact that we become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ places us in a position of great blessing, privilege, and responsibility. God chose us to advance His work, and the commission He gave is still relevant. No matter who the people are that He sends us to, when God outlines His purposes for us, He makes it clear what He intends to do through us.
When one feels their inadequacy, it is a good sign of a humble person God can use. Trust and humility go hand in hand, and humility brings hope. Moses was unsure how to explain God to the Hebrews, who had turned to other gods, and he feared their reaction to him and his message from God because of their unbelief.
This attitude still exists among our people today. We've strayed so far from God as a nation that phrases like "Your God and my God are different, but that doesn't matter so long as you're sincere" are quite common. Others say, "You have your faith, and I have mine, and we will all 'get there' in our own way." Some things we have to trust God to do in His own way. Moses was assured, and we can be too, that God said, "Certainly I will be with thee... I have sent thee."