EHP Day 18-Meeting the Burning Bush God Part 1
Exodus 3:1-5
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
Our God, we are told, is a consuming fire (Heb.12:29). He also can inhabit fire designed not to consume but to miraculously, and unmistakably, communicate (cf. Acts 2:3). When He does, we do well to turn aside, take off our dirty sandals, and listen. To a God with a message and to a God who knows our name, our circumstances, and our usefulness to His purposes.
Moses desired discovery. Why was the scrub bush not reduced to a charred stump? Have you ever wondered why God chose to gain Moses’ interest in this way? The bush itself—least among the wilderness growths—had little value, yet enflamed with the presence and voice of God. “God called him out of the bush.” Moses would not soon forget this remarkable encounter with a nearly worthless shrub, the unlikely instrument of a God whose holiness could consume if someone with sin ventured too close.
But there was a way to come closer, or at least to belong in the presence of God. “Take your sandals off your feet.” Ancient eastern practice insisted on removing one’s sandals as a confessional act, one which acknowledges the need for a sovereign’s grace and blessing, and readiness to hear from the one who is greater. Each day, we too have the opportunity to draw near, on ground made holy by the presence of God. With hearts that need grace, with ears ready to hear what the Fire has to say about His purposes in our lives. Here we are…
Journal Notes