#LENT2019 Day 2: Exodus 3:1-12

(For our lent devotional, we’ll be going through the book of Exodus with the rest of our church and be looking at the hand of God carrying the Israelites through their captivity and oppression as well as their sin and unbelief. Keep up with us as we look at how much God loves His people and never leaves us alone.)

first, read: Exodus 3:1-12

How real is God to you?

Today’s reading is on the burning bush. If you really think about it, it’s a little crazy how God is shown here, and there’s so much about God to be unpacked just from the way He makes himself known in the place to Moses. Moses, in the midst of the mountain Horeb (which means “desolate, wasteland”), a non-religious wilderness, sees a burning bush. In specific, he sees a bush that’s burning, but isn’t getting burned— as in, he sees a flame within a bush that burns without consuming the bush. Moses is surprised and curious, and goes towards it. When God sees that Moses is acting on curiosity and coming towards the fire, he calls out to him,

“Moses, Moses!”

And Moses replies,

“Here I am.”

God doesn’t shove himself on Moses. God appears where He is, clearly for Moses. But God does not impose himself. He waits until Moses, seeing the unexplainable, approaches the bush and turns to take a better look. He uses Moses’ curiosity to meet him. And upon Moses’ approach towards the burning bush, God starts talking to him. He says to Moses,

“Take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He continues and says, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hides his face in fear of God.

Before we go into anything, there’s something to be said about how God approaches Moses. God approaches Moses with fire. It’s not the last time that God speaks to him and makes his presence known in fire, either. Now, God is everywhere. He’s so big, He fills the whole universe. This universe, this world, and in it, we were made out of God— and He is still in our midst. But God here uses His creation, fire, to clothe the supernatural. And clearly, seeing that the bush wasn’t burning, God exists outside the rules of nature. He is not limited to the laws that bind together this world, but uses it as a vehicle to show His presence.

Now, at this point, Moses has seen a miraculous, inexplainable sight, he’s heard a voice while alone, and has had this voice identify itself as God. He has seen and heard— literally. He is in the thick of the presence of God. And upon having experientially encountered God, hides his face, because Moses knows that whatever He’s in front of is far greater and more powerful than he himself can comprehend.

God uses Moses’ moment of curiosity to call upon him, where a conversation (isn’t that incredible? Man being given an opportunity to talk to God? Yet we don’t value it enough) happens between him and God about leading the Israelites out of captivity. God says to Moses,

“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, a land flowing with milk and honey… Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Moses gets called by God to bring Israel out of Egypt. This is ground-breaking. See, in Moses’ life, Pharaoh was a God— that had just kicked him out. Moses was fleeing from Pharaoh, who was trying to kill him. He had grown up in the care of the princess of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh was a person that was a beneficiary but also a scary, hostile ruler, and after Moses had killed an Egyptian for the sake of an Israelite who was getting beat, Moses was fleeing from the man that had paid for his entire life before. Fast-forward to now, an older, wiser Moses, now also a husband and father, was bare-footed before the burning bush, listening to God tell him to go back and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. And Moses asks:

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Moses says he can’t do it. But God in His graciousness sees Moses, loves him, and says,

“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.”

God makes a promise to Moses— this desolate wasteland, Horeb, is the beginning of Moses’ call, but it will also be the sign of faithfulness when God brings him back here to serve Him. In response to Moses’ fear, doubt and disbelief, God says,

“I will be with you.”

There is so much to apply here, but the main thing to apply is how God approaches Moses as well as where Moses is in his heart when he hears God speak to him. Many times in our lives, we will go years doubting God’s presence and existence. We’ll say to God, “Sure, you’ve been present in our parents’ lives, and sure, maybe I’ve experienced you (?? maybe?) at a retreat before, but I don’t see you with me now.” And we go on living our lives like God doesn’t exist, like the supernatural is not real, and like God has no authority to intervene in our lives. But God doesn’t force Himself upon us— he waits for us to approach, calls to us and has us experience His presence, and when difficult things come our way, he lets know: He is here.

Today, as we reflect on these verses, let’s remember the unimposing yet all-powerful, crazy, burning-bush God that in His majesty meets us where we’re at and lets us know He is with us. Let’s reflect on the God that doesn’t shield us from what is coming but assures us that we won’t ever be alone. Today, let’s be challenged to allow ourselves to grow closer to this crazy God that sees our poverty and is enough for us, now and through every season of our lives.

Have you prayed to Him? He hears you. Have you opened up His Word? He sees you. He loves you, and He’s waiting on you to approach, to fill you with His presence and meet you where you’re at— if you let Him. Let’s allow Him in today.

Love,

janedo