Moses' fiery bush

Yesterday we started looking at Exodus 3. I shared the following about a theophany, almost every one is looking for an encounter with a Spiritual Reality. As we approach this we need to ask a few questions about encountering God or being encountered by God: How do we do it?, What is it?, Why is it possible?, and When do we know it has happened? To answer those questions God gives us this text.

Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday. The bush tells us how it happens, but the fire tells us what is happening. When you encounter God—you are crossing the threshold of the holy. RC Sproul said,

“The composition of the earth at this spot was no different from the earth on the rest of the desert floor. The sacred character of this spot was not intrinsic but extrinsic. That is, it was made sacred by a super-added presence. The event that occurred there loaned an extraordinary dimension to the ordinary. The common space had become uncommon by virtue of God’s appearance at that spot.”

God not only became visible, but he outwardly manifested himself as holy.

Why fire? There are many places in the Bible where God is revealed in fire—the mountain, the fire by night, the smoking pot, and the fact that God is called a consuming fire. Why fire? Think about water or clay—you can take a pot of water or a ball of clay and move it or form it or shape it, but not fire. Fire is not shaped by the one touching it—fire shapes the one touching, in fact fire is unyielding and relentless and it will consume you. Fact is, verse 6 tells us that “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”

As you read through the narrative of Exodus 3 you see Moses making excuse after excuse—in verse 11 he asks, “Who am I?” and then in verse 13 he asks, “Who are you?” I don’t even know your name. God says, “I AM WHO I AM.” Did you hear that? He was not “I am who you want.” God is a Spiritual Reality because He is there and He is not made up. He doesn’t fit into our little boxes—if you have Him all figured out—your God is too small.

He is the God of fire—fire is beautiful and attractive, but at the same time it is dangerously lethal and scary. Play with fire and you’ll get…burned. Our God is not constructed by man—He is only known because He has revealed Himself. He is totally holy and at the same time He is totally loving. The gods that we construct are one of the other, but not both—either he is demanding and scary and not attractive, or he is totally attractive and not demanding. God burns with holiness. He has zero tolerance for evil, and yet He burns with love that refuses to stop until He has made us His own—even if it cost Him His life on the cross.

Now, the bush tells us how, the fire tells us why, but the Angel of the Lord, in verse 2, tells us why it is possible. When you read this you discover that there is something that the writer wants us to see. There is a bigger issue than the burning bush—it goes deeper. When Moses goes over to see the bush the angel of the Lord tells him to “Do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” On the Mountain no one could approach God and if they did they were to be killed—even an animal that touched it was to be put to death.

God is telling Moses—you are standing in the fatal zone, but what is interesting is Moses was not consumed. He makes excuses, he whines, he complains, but is not consumed. Why wasn’t he destroyed in the fatal zone? The answer lies in the bush. Before we answer that question, let me ask you another one—how can we approach the Holy of holies and not be consumed? Why can we approach God and not be killed on the spot? We can do it because we have Someone who stands in our place—a mediator who paid the price for our sins. Jesus stood between us and appeased the wrath of God by dying for our sins. Now what you need to see is Moses was able to stand in the fatal zone for the exact same reason.

What seems to be confusing in this text is to see verse 2, “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.” But from that time on the voice coming from that bush is the voice of God. Is it an angel or is it God speaking? Another thing we need to notice is that every time a human fell down to worship at the presence of an angel—the angel told them to stop doing that because they were not God, but this angel does not do that. Why not? This angel was no ordinary angel—He was not an angel at all—He was the Angel of the Lord and many times in Scripture, that is a reference to Christ Himself.

There in that burning bush—standing between Moses and a Holy God was the pre-incarnate Jesus—God in the flesh. Years later Jesus would say, “Before Abraham was I am.” The Jews wanted to kill Him because they knew what He was saying. Those words that dripped from Jesus’ lips had been on His lips before—they came to the ears of Moses. They simply mean—I depend on nothing for my existence—everything depends on me for its existence.

It is through Jesus that we are able to encounter a holy consuming fire and not be consumed—we are not consumed because we are transformed by His atonement provided on the cross. When you come to God through Jesus Christ you encounter a God of fire, a god of intimacy, and a God that is ravishingly beautiful.

The Call tells us how we can know that we have had this encounter.Have you obeyed His call to go? Every single time God encounters someone in the Bible—He sends them out. Abraham, Isaiah, the disciples, and in our text—Moses. God never gives you an experience with Him without also sending you out. The call to go is the reason for the encounter—here is the beauty of it. God encountered Moses at the bush, but when he sent Moses out—Moses became the bush. He demonstrated the beauty and grandeur of God. You will know that you have had a genuine encounter with God by the way it changes your life. The glory of God that was once separated by the veil is now in our lives and we will never be the same.

Our God was so holy that He had to become a man to die for our sins to pay the price, but He is so full of love that He willingly and gladly did it. We should burn with the holiness of God and we should burn with the love of God. When we are encountered by God the only reason we are not consumed is because of the merits and finished work of Jesus. Turn aside and worship Him and be forever changed.