Good morning. Moses led an interesting life. When he was born, he should have immediately been killed (this by the Pharoah’s decree). But his mother saved him. Set adrift in the Nile, he could have drowned, but the Pharoah’s daughter found him and claimed him. Raised as royalty, he could have ruled, but his thoughts of his Hebrew lineage wouldn’t allow it. Guilty of murder, he could have been executed, but he ran away leaving his royal prospects behind. As a common shepherd, well along in years, he should have lived his final days in quiet: but then he saw that bush.
The bush in question was on fire. That alone would have been remarkable and would likely have caused Moses to investigate, but this fire was different. This burning bush was on fire, but the fire wasn’t consuming it. Now that was strange and required investigation!
The account in Exodus 3:1-3 reads like this: Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
God could have used any number of ways to get Moses’ attention, but He chose to send an angel to Moses in the appearance of fire that burned but didn’t consume its fuel. I wonder why?
God’s message to Moses was that His people, the people of His covenant with Abraham, were enslaved in Egypt and were being badly abused. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. Exodus 3:7
Perhaps the bush that was on fire but not being burned up was an image of God’s people. The fiery ordeal of slavery and abuse was a reality, but God would not let His people be destroyed by it.
Perhaps the bush that was on fire but not being burned up was an image of Moses’ own life. He had been through much, all kinds of fiery hardship, but there he was, still standing, and he was to be God’s chosen instrument to rescue His people.
Perhaps the bush that was on fire but not being burned up was an image of each of us, and of every person of faith who has lived since that time when God called Moses.
We are ordinary folks, as common as a bush in open country. We face all manner of trials and hardships as we make our way through our days on this earth. There are times when we may feel that we are in the midst of the fire. There may be times when the challenges seem to be insurmountable, and we may wonder how we will survive.
God’s message in the burning bush is that when He is with us, we will make it. It doesn’t mean that we won’t feel the heat from time to time, but we will make it.
Jesus reminded His disciples of a “burning bush” kind of outlook when He said to them, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
Another truth that guided Moses through his “burning bush” experience, and God’s plan to use him as His instrument to rescue His people, was that the words that came from the burning bush promised Moses that he would never be alone. It was God’s promise that He would always be with him, and it is God’s promise that He will always be with us.
“For I am the Lord your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, ‘Do not fear;
I will help you.’” Isaiah 41:13
There may be times when we need a reminder that with God all things are possible. When we feel as though we can’t manage, we simply can’t endure, we remember the bush that was on fire but not burned up. What seems impossible for us is quite ordinary for our Father God.
It is my hope that we all carry that truth with us into this New Year!
Vern