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, 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.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Exodus 3:1-12 NIV
‘Place’ matters.
The Israelites were in Egypt. After the death of Joseph and his brothers, they were becoming increasingly oppressed by the Egyptians. Exodus 1 tell us that the Egyptians became slave-masters over them, to oppress them with forced labour. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. So driven by a deep fear, the king of Egypt ordered a genocide.
Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
Exodus 1:22 NIV
Amidst this generation, only Moses survived. Rather than being thrown into the Nile, his mother placed him in a basket on the Nile. He was discovered by Pharoah’s daughter, who asked his own mother to nurse him. In Exodus 2:10, we read that when Moses grew older, his mother took him to Pharoah’s daughter and he became her son.
Moses grew up as an Egyptian prince, but it was never fully realised. In Exodus 2:11-15, we read:
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
Exodus 2:11-15 NIV
Following this, Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel, a priest of Midian, and had a son named Gershom, which means ‘foreigner’, because he had become ‘a foreigner in a foreign land’ (Exodus 2:22).
He worked as a shepherd, and in Exodus 3, we read that Moses had led his flock to the far side of the wilderness.
This is a long way from being the prince of Egypt; Moses now identified as a foreigner. He probably felt isolated. His plan for saving the Israelites did not work; the timing was wrong. The method he had used – murder – was wrong. The people he was trying to save did not recognise him or his mission. He did not have words to convince them; his princely training was useless. The Egptians had then tried to kill him! Everything had gone wrong.
Perhaps you feel this way: You are at the edge of the wilderness. You feel alone. Your hopes and dreams have been dashed. Everything has gone wrong. Perhaps you are unsure of who your community is. Unsure of friends or family. Unsure of the meaning or purpose of life. Unsure of your voice, your words, and who hears you. Unsure of God and His presence in your life, and your health issues, financial issues, or family issues.
Whatever it may be, you may feel alone, in despair, and at the edge of the wilderness.
If you are feeling like this, this story is for you. See how God encounters Moses and restores him from the wilderness:
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.”
Exodus 3:2-3 NIV
At the edge of the wilderness, God called out to Moses from a burning bush. As Moses approached the burning bush, God told him to remove his sandals, as he was standing on holy ground (Exodus 3:5). God reminds us that even in this deserted area, at the edge of the wilderness, His presence is there. Nowhere is out of His reach; not even the edge of the wilderness. In this moment of Moses’ wilderness, God was there. And this is the same today; no matter what ‘wilderness’ we encounter physically, spiritually, emotionally, or circumstantially, God is present. Nowhere is beyond His reach.
Out of the fire, God called Moses by name; He established relationship. Even though Moses felt like a foreigner, and not known, he was not a foreigner to God. God knew him by name. There are overtones of Isaiah 43:1:
But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
exodus 43:1
We are never beyond God’s reach; not only does he know where we are, He also knows who we are. We are not alone. He knows you by name. You are His.
God identified Himself to Moses. He knew where Moses was, He knew who Moses was, and then He made Himself known to Moses. When questioned by Moses throughout Exodus 3, God patiently and graciously answered each one of Moses’ questions. He is not a God of confusion. The ground is holy because God is there.
When Moses realised that was God, he hid his face. Seeing this, God spoke words of restoration over Moses. Words can heal, restore, and equip.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Exodus 3:7-10
As God spoke these words, they must have resonated with Moses. He had a passion for the Israelites and a desire for justice, which was what drove him in his purpose and his vision to do what he did in Exodus 2:11-12. He saw the Israelites being beaten by the Egyptians, and even though he grew up as a prince of Egypt, he was a Hebrew. He saw their suffering and had wanted to rescue them from their oppression. So, as God spoke these words, Moses might have felt wretched, thinking, ‘This is what I was trying to do, but it went horribly wrong.’
God told Moses that He was sending him to Pharaoh to bring His people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. This might have been a shock to Moses, because things did not work out well the previous time.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Exodus 3:11
Who am I? I tried. I failed. I have no purpose, no vision, no voice. Who am I, Lord?
You may also resonate with Moses at times in your life when God has challenged you to act, to say something, to do something, to go somewhere, to share Him with others in word or in deed, especially when you have experienced failure in these areas in the past. When you’ve run away from what you knew was right. When you’ve sinned. When you’ve said hurtful things.
So when God tells you to do something again, you might have the same response: ‘Who am I, God?’
But God gives us this assurance:
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Exodus 3:12
God affirmed Moses’ compassion for His people (v7-5). He affirmed a purpose for Moses (v10). And God told Moses that He would be with him (v12).
God knew Moses had failed in the past. God knew that Moses was a murdering sinner. God knew that Moses was full of self-loathing and self-pity. God knew everything about Moses. But God still accepted him, and gave him all the validation he would ever need – His presence.
It is as if He is saying, ‘I know what you have done; I know your all your failings. I know how you feel, and I know your pain. But you still have a part to play in my rescue plan. And you will be okay, because, Moses, I will be with you’.
And this is still true today. God is interested in the restoration of His people and He gives repeated opportunities to us sinners.
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
MAtthew 18:21 -22
God is not interested in a number; He is interested in restoration. God wanted to restore Moses, and God wants to restore all humankind into a loving relationship with Him.
‘Moses, I will be with you.’
When Moses heard those words, he realised it was not about him, it was about God. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you are a prince of Egypt, an eloquent speaker, a mighty fighter, or a rich ruler – those are things that matter to the world. What matters is that God is with you.
Jesus has died and risen again, and we can know the assurance of God’s presence all the time:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
MAtthew 28:18 -20
Like Moses, we the followers of Jesus are inspired into service for Him, telling others about Him in every aspect of life. And like He did to Moses, God promises that He will be with us always.
You may wonder, ‘How do I know God’s presence? How do I know He is there?’
The same way that Moses did: by His Spirit, and through His Word. And not only did God restore Moses, affirm and inspire him, but He also fully equipped him in every aspect of his life.
What a wonderful, loving, and gracious God!
Nowhere on this planet, visible or invisible, is beyond God’s reach. When our plans, dreams and hopes are in tatters, God still has plans, dreams and hopes for us. Even when we make mistakes, God can still use us and give us a role in His rescue plan. It is God with us that enables things to happen; not our ability, our skill sets, or our achievements. Moses was restored, equipped and inspired, not because he was once the prince of Egypt, but because God was with him. Moses needed this assurance several times, and each time God gave it to him.
And surely, I am with you always, till the very end of the age.