Do You Want A Burning Bush Encounter With God?

Exodus 3   The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. ³ So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. ⁸ So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. ⁹ Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

The Mission of Moses

¹⁰ Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. ¹⁶ Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ They will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. ²⁰ So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. ²¹ I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. ²² But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Just yesterday in our text we from the last chapter of Genesis we read the words of Joseph as he reassured his brothers that God had used their sinful act, selling him into slavery in Egypt and indeed caused it to work for their good. Joseph says:   “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. ²¹ So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

In today's text we see the entire nation of Israel has become slaves in Egypt. They were indeed preserved through the famine, but even though God used that circumstance for their good and God forgave the sin, there was a consequence for their sinful act.The entire nation of Israel was now in slavery as Joseph had been. We need to understand in our own lives that there are consequences to our sin. Even though God forgives us and will use the circumstances to change us, there are consequences we live with. The natural consequences of sin are not God's continued punishment. Hebrews 8:12 tells us what God does concerning our sin and His response to it when we repent.

"FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE."

God does not continue to punish us for sins that we confess and repent of. We live with natural consequences of our sins, not God's punishment. God  will however continue to use everything in our lives for our good as we submit to Him, using even those circumstances caused by our actions and decisions to transform and conform us to Christ's image.

There is so much in this text today that we surely could spend weeks and still not thoroughly cover it all. I just want to share a few things that stood out to me. As we read the account of Moses seeing the burning bush and then having this encounter with and speaking directly to God, I wonder how many people envy the experience Moses had. How many wish that they could have a miraculous encounter with God and wish God spoke a clear call and mission to them?  Many believers, followers of Christ go through much of their life not knowing what God has truly called them to. They may attend church regularly and even serve both within and outside the church. But, they are not walking fully in what God has called and gifted them to do in the kingdom. Many long for a burning bush encounter where God speaks His will for their lives.

There is another fire that speaks to us and reveals God's call and His will for our lives. It is the fire of the Holy Spirit. God speaks to each of us and reveals His will and His plan for our lives. If we are not willing to listen to the voice of God as He speaks through the Holy Spirit we probably wouldn't listen if we had a burning bush encounter. God is calling us to come aside and listen to Him. Our time with God needs to include times of listening as He reveals His will and His call on our lives. There is a difference between the burning bush and the fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The bush was not consumed. The Holy Spirit Fire of God is a consuming fire and if we will yield to Him all of our self will be consumed. 

As I read what God says to Moses about his mission.  I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”...  “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”... I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’...I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. ²⁰ So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. ²¹ I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. ²² But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians.” 

It sounds like the whole process from start to finish might take a few weeks. After all God is the one doing it. If God had revealed to Moses all that was in store, that the deliverence and coming into the promise would take over 40 years do you think Moses would have signed on? He was reluctant even as it was. In our own lives we or at least I often want more information before I am willing to begin. I am not satisfied knowing God has called me to something and promised to complete it. I want to know each step of the way. God tells us all we need to know. If we will trust Him and allow Him to lead we don't need to know every step, just the next one. To live like that and walk in faith with God requires two things of us. First we need to fully trust God and give Him complete control over our lives. For me I am okay with that. I have seen the results of doing things my way. They are less than impressive.

To walk with God in faith also requires that we remain in constant communication with Him. We can't remain satisfied talking with God on occasion. We need to do more even than speak with Him a couple times a day. If we are to walk with God, fully submitted to and in step with Him we need to hear His voice continually. We need to hear Him in our quiet times alone with Him but, we also need to hear His voice when we are among crowds of people, in the chaos of our every day lives. We need to learn to listen with the ears of our spirit. It is not something we can learn to do by reading a book or listening to great teachers or preachers. Hearing God's voice is not something that another person can impart to us. It's not wrong to read what those who walk successfully in this say. It's not wrong to listen to messages shared by great teachers. It's not wrong even to have some one pray for us to receive more of God in our lives. In the end though it really comes down to a decision we need to make. We need to yield to the Holy Spirit, trusting Him to lead. We need to choose to listen to God's voice and we need to choose to not only hear but obey. We need to take the step He calls us to take and trust Him to lead and reveal the next step in His time. When Jesus called His disciples they didn't ask where they were going they followed Him.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, I do choose to trust You completely. I choose to yield to the leadership of the Holy Spirit in my life. I trust You completely, knowing the promise of Jeremiah 29:11-13

 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord,

and the truth of Isaiah 55:8-9

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Holy Spirit, Fire of God consume me. I submit to You. I trust You to show me where to walk, what to do and what to say. Now, today and every day until Your voice calls me home to You.   Amen