VBS: The Burning Bush

First, let’s take a look at the passage we’re going to be discussing. This is a very familiar portion of Scripture. It can be found in Exodus 3:

Exodus 3:1: “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”

Before we go any further let’s put this passage into context. We need to understand what is actually going on before we can see the full significance of this event.

Centuries before Moses was born, the Lord appeared to his ancestor Abraham. God told Abraham that his descendents would be enslaved for hundreds of years, but then the Lord would come and deliver them:

Genesis 15:13: “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

All of these things came to pass. In the day’s of Abraham’s grandson Jacob a mighty famine arose. The Lord used Jacob’s son Joseph to save their lives by bringing all of them to Egypt:

Genesis 46:1: “And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
5 And Jacob ruse up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
7 His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his son’s daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.”

So the entire family of Jacob ended up in Egypt. At first things went well but then that changed:

Exodus 1:6: “And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burndens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Ramses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve them with rigor:
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor.”

As the Lord told Abraham, the children of Israel became a nation of slaves. Things got so bad that Pharaoh commanded all males born to the Israelites be killed:

Exodus 1:22: “And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.”

It was into these circumstances that Moses was born. I don’t have the time here to recount that entire story – how the Lord miraculously spared his life and how he ended up being raised in the royal household of Pharaoh.

What I want to focus on is Moses. He knew that the Israelites had been slaves for centuries. It’s very likely that he knew about the prophecy – that after four hundred years the Lord would visit His people and deliver them. He knew that the Lord had saved him from an early death and caused him to be raised in the royal household. In short, he knew he was a special person, called for a special mission. Notice what Hebrews had to say about Moses:

Hebrews 11:24: “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.”

As tempting as it would have been for Moses to live out his days in Pharaoh’s household, he chose instead to reject that lifestyle and serve God. He would rather suffer with God’s people than “enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season”. Moses was determined to use his life to serve God. He had no interest in living a life of sin and self-gratification.

Not only did Moses have faith in God, but he also believed that he had been chosen to deliver the Israelites out of bondage. This is what Acts has to say about it:

Acts 7:22: “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.”

Moses believed that he was the Lord’s chosen vessel – that God had saved his life for a reason and intended to use him to rescue the Israelites. So when Moses was 40 years old he went out to visit his people and saw an act of injustice being done. He responded by defending the Israelite and killing the Egyptian – and as a result he was forced to flee the country. The Israelites were not delivered and Moses lost everything.

If this had happened to me I would have been crushed. Had I been in Moses’ place I would have expected that to be my defining moment – the day when the Lord rose up and rescued His people. After all, I was the chosen one! I was hand-picked by God – only instead of delivering them, disaster struck. I was run out of the country. On top of that the Israelites now despised Moses. Look at the way they reacted to him the following day:

Acts 7:26: “And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, he are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
27 But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?”

It was a complete, total, abject failure. No one was rescued, nothing good happened, and Moses was forced into exile. I’ve seen no indication that God commanded Moses to kill the Egyptian. Moses may well have taken things into his own and and been presumptuous; I don’t know. I do think he meant well and was genuinely trying to free the Israelites. But it didn’t end well.

Moses then spent the next forty years in the desert, tending sheep:

Acts 7:29: “Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons.
30 And when the forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.”

It’s worth noting that being a shepherd would have meant something special. You see, to the Egyptians, shepherds were an abomination:

Genesis 46:33: “And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
34 That ye shall say, Thy servants trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.”

So not only did Moses fail to deliver the Israelites, not only was he forced to flee into a foreign country, but he also spent the next forty years in the desert tending sheep – a profession his people back home believed was an abomination. Moses had hit rock-bottom and he stayed there for a long, long time.

If all of these things had happened to me I would have been convinced that my life was over. By this point Moses was 80 years old. I would have been thinking that I’d had my chance to deliver the Israelites, and in my haste and presumption I blew it. My life had come and gone and all I had to show for it was a bunch of lousy sheep. I was a complete, utter failure. God had forgotten about me.

But that was not the case. When most people turn 80 their life is coming to an end, but Moses was just getting started. God had a plan for him:

Exodus 3:6: “Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I knew their sorrows;
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing whith milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”

It’s pretty clear that Moses wasn’t expecting this! The first thing he told God was that He must have gotten the wrong number:

Exodus 3:11: “And Moses said unto God, who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.”

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the rest of the story – how the Lord used a mighty hand to free the Israelites, and how His plagues devastated the land of Egypt. What is worth noting is that the Israelites were delivered right on time – not a day early or a day late:

Exodus 12:40: “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.”

(As a side-note, one might ask, why does Genesis 15 say 400 years while Exodus 12 says 430 years? It’s worth nothing that Genesis 15 says they would be afflicted for 400 years, while Exodus 12 says that their stay in Egypt lasted 430 years. The Israelites were in Egypt for quite some time before trouble started; it wasn’t until Joseph and his generation had died that the slavery began.)

In other words, despite everything that had happened, the Israelites were still rescued right on time – down to the very day. God’s plan hadn’t been ruined. He still intended to use Moses, and He did. Moses’ long wait in the desert was a part of the plan – God was simply waiting for the right time. When that time came He called Moses and used Him to deliver the Israelites.

The point of all this can be summed up as follows:

Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

As we go about our daily lives, it’s easy to lose track of this vital truth. All things work together for good – even the times when we completely blow it. Joseph made that very point to his brothers, who had sold him into slavery:

Genesis 50:15: “And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

Selling their brother into slavery was a horrible thing to do – but God used that act of sin to save all of their lives.

That is not to say that sin has no consequences; it certainly does. After Joseph’s brothers sold Joseph into slavery they lived in fear for years, and when Joseph’s father finally died they were terrified that Joseph would finally get their revenge. But what they meant for evil, God used for good. Our sin does have consequences, but God is greater than our sin, and is able to forgive us.

There may be times when we find ourselves in the desert tending sheep, as one year after another goes by. We may think that God has forgotten about us, and that there is just no way we could ever be used again. We may be tempted into despair. But God loves us dearly.

Our lives are lived by grace, not works. We don’t have to earn favor with God – He gives to us freely, thanks to the death of Jesus. He just wants us to ask forgiveness for our sins and walk humbly with Him. He doesn’t want us to despair, but to believe.

Sometimes it may seem like not much is happening in our lives; sometimes it may feel like God has forgotten us, but He hasn’t. If we walk with him, and have faith, our sorrows will be turned into joy, and our bitterness into laughter. Sometimes we may have to wait much longer than we’d like to wait. After all, Moses did spend forty years keeping sheep in the desert. But no one who has ever waited on God until the very end has ever been disappointed. Isaiah makes that promise clear:

Isaiah 40:27: “What sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to him that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

If you are weary, and cast down, and tired, then don’t despair. Don’t give up. Just wait upon the Lord. The Lord doesn’t promise to immediately remove the difficult circumstances (although He will do that when the time is right, for no trial lasts forever). What He does promise is to renew your strength – to give you what it takes to get through it, to His honor and glory. He may not take away the 40 long years in the desert, but He will give you the grace to endure them – and there is joy on the other side.