Exodus 3:1-3
“The Burning Bush”
Exodus 3:1-31 – 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.
2 – 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. 3 – So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 – When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”5 – “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
6 – Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
There are a few things that I would like to point out from this passage of scripture and then I will be done.
In verse 4 the Bible says:
4 – When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
1. God spoke to Moses when He had Moses’s attention
We see in verse 1 that Moses was busy tending the flock of Jethro his Father-In-Law.
Now before Moses was a shepherd in the backside of the desert, as a little boy he was adopted by Pharaohs Daughter and he was trained by the best.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family.
21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
Then the time came when Moses was on the run and he ran to the backside of the desert and now we find him taking care of sheep.
Imagine that he went from being in the palace to taking care of sheep in the backside of the desert.
He had been taking care of sheep at the backside of the desert for 40 years.
Even though Moses was faithful taking care of the sheep and his responsibilities, God didn’t speak to Moses until He had his full attention.
Sometimes during the busyness of ministry and the responsibility of taking care of our ministries, we can forget to listen to the voice of God for direction for our lives.
We can get so focused on getting the ministry done for God, that we can forget to listen to God for direction for our lives.
So, God set the bush on fire the bush got Moses attention and then God speaks.
The exciting thing about our South Africa Conference is, yes we have family coming from all over the world, yes we are going to celebrate God’s faithfulness and yes we are going to have powerful services, but this is also a time where we don’t have to focus on building our ministries and we can listen for the call and direction of God.
Conference can be a burning bush experience, where God gives direction to our lives as an individual, Where God can speak to us directly as a person and He can show us as an individual what He has for us.
Like I said, yes, we are going to have some powerful services, hang out with family and celebrate the faithfulness of God, but let’s also go to conference with our full attention on God and the direction that He has for our lives.
2. Moses’s servant-hood and openness took him to his calling
The next thing that I see is that Moses’s servant-hood took him to his calling.
Moses was serving and tending sheep in the backside of the desert.
Now the heavy thing is, at one time he was in pharaohs palace chilling, but now he finds himself in the backside of the desert taking care of sheep.
He had been taking care of these sheep for 40 years.
He could have thought man don’t my Father in law know who I am, I used to be in Pharaohs palace and now he has me taking care of sheep.
No Man – I am out of here.
He wasn’t like that, being that Moses had the heart of a servant he was willing to take on the task of taking care of sheep.
Moses had he heart of a servant and it was because of his servanthood that he walked into the burning bush.
If Moses wouldn’t have been serving and taking care of sheep in the backside of the desert, he wouldn’t have ever come across the burning bush.
Not only was Moses a servant, but he was also open.
Moses could have thought “I have been taking care of these sheep for over 40 years now and I guess this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life.
If God had something different for me, I am sure it would have happened by now.”
After all I am 80 years old and if God had something different for me, I am sure it would have happened in my younger days.
He had been doing the same the for 40 years and he could have had gotten comfortable. He could have kept doing business as usual, after all he probably had a daily routine.
I feed the sheep, I take them for a walk, I clean them and then I came back the next day and do the same thing.
I feed the sheep, I take them for a walk, I clean them and then I came back the next day and do the same thing.
I feed the sheep, I take them for a walk, I clean them and then I came back the next day and do the same thing.
I mean come on he had been doing this for 40 years. How many know when you do something for such a long time it can become routine?
Now even though Moses could have gotten stuck in a routine and settled for what he had been doing for such a long time, he didn’t he was still willing to be open to a move of God.
When Moses saw the bush burning, he could have said wow that is a nice fire and gone about his everyday routine.
He had been tending sheep for a while, I am sure he had seen a few bushes before in the desert, and he may have even seen this exact bush before.
So, if Moses was stuck in his everyday routine or if he was satisfied with doing business as usual, he would have looked at the bush and said wow that is a nice fire and kept on doing what he had to do.
Tending the flock could also mean he went about his everyday business.
Even though Moses was up in age and had been doing the same thing for a while, he was still open to a move of God in his life.
Is there anyone here that is still open to what God wants to do in our lives?
Yes, we may have our daily routine down, we may know our everyday responsibilities like the back of our hand and our ministry is set to autopilot, but are we still open to the voice of God’s direction in our life?
This conference can be a time where God gives you and I a fresh direction for our lives and the new things that He wants to do.
I guess the question is do we have time to stop what we are doing and go over to the bush?
3. The direction connected him to the promise
The powerful thing about this passage of scripture is that God spoke to Moses in a way that connected him to what God had promised those who went before him.
In verse 6 the Bible reads:
6 – Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
God had given Abraham a promise years before the burning bush.
Genesis 12:2-3
2 – “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 – I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
When God appeared to Moses from the burning bush, it wasn’t to reveal a new plan, it wasn’t to reveal a new vision, it wasn’t even to reveal a new promise, but it was a reminder of the promise or the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
I really believe at this conference God wants to speak to us, confirm to us and show us the part we play in order to fulfill what God has promised our forefathers.
The exciting thing is we all have a part to play in helping the vision come to pass.
We all have a role to play in seeing the promise that God has given our forefathers come to pass.
Now for some it may be preaching, for some it may be pastoring, for some it may be a missionary, but also for some it may be a school teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a business man, a leader, a evangelist, a manager at your job, or an engineer.
I am not sure what role you play but we all have a role to play to help fulfill the promise that God has given our forefathers and that is to reach Treasures out of Darkness.At this conference we will get marching orders on how we as South Africa and we as individuals will help fulfill the promise that God has given our ministry.
Are we excited?
Are we open?
Are we expecting?
