The story of God speaking to Moses out of the burning bush is found in Exodus 3 in the Bible. This strange and miraculous event marked a pivotal moment in Israel’s history, as God called Moses to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt.
The background to this story is that the Israelites had been living in Egypt for over 400 years. Over time they had become slaves to the Egyptians and were oppressed under cruel bondage. The Bible says the Israelites groaned because of their hard labor and cried out to God to save them (Exodus 2:23). God heard their cries and was now ready to fulfill His promise to Abraham to make his descendants into a great nation and bring them into the Promised Land (Genesis 12:1-3).
Moses was living in Midian after fleeing Egypt for murdering an Egyptian slave master. One day, while tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, Moses came to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai. There the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in flaming fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up (Exodus 3:2).
When Moses approached the burning bush to investigate this strange sight, God called out to him from the midst of the bush and told him to remove his sandals, for he was standing on holy ground (Exodus 3:4-5). God then identified Himself to Moses as the God of his ancestors – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
At this point, the reason God spoke to Moses from the burning bush was to commission him as the one who would lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt. God told Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them” (Exodus 3:7-8). God then declared that He was sending Moses to Pharaoh to bring His people the Israelites out of Egypt.
This call and commission from God while speaking out of an ordinary, yet burning bush, marked the beginning of Moses’ leadership over Israel. Through this miracle, God made known His power and glory to Moses in a visual way. By speaking out of the burning bush, God emphasized that He was not simply in one location, but could speak and be present anywhere at any time. The miracle authenticated God’s commissioning of Moses, showing that it was not Moses’ own doing or initiative.
There are several important reasons highlighted in Exodus 3 as to why God chose to speak to Moses out of the burning bush at this pivotal moment in Israel’s history:
- To indicate His power and glory to Moses in a visual and miraculous way (Exodus 3:1-3)
- To mark the ground as holy by His presence and command Moses to remove his sandals (Exodus 3:5)
- To identify Himself to Moses as the God of His fathers – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:6)
- To make known His concern for the suffering of His people in Egypt (Exodus 3:7-9)
- To declare that He was sending Moses to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10)
- To reassure Moses by His promise to be with him in this task (Exodus 3:12)
In commissioning Moses from the burning bush, God emphasized that He is not a distant or uninvolved God, but He sees, hears and knows His people’s suffering and oppression. He cares and acts to save them.
The miraculous sign of the burning bush reinforced that it was the one true glorious God who was speaking to Moses and sending him out. God chose that visual sign to arrest Moses’ attention and drive home the weightiness and authority of His call on Moses’ life.
This awe-inspiring miracle was burnt into Moses’ mind and memory as a sign of God’s power and confirmation of his leadership calling. The burning bush encounter was a pivotal reassurance for Moses throughout the challenges he would face in bringing God’s people out of slavery and into freedom.
In summary, the main reasons highlighted in Scripture for God speaking to Moses out of the burning bush were:
- To reveal His power, presence and glory to Moses in a miraculous visual way
- To commissions Moses as the leader who would bring Israel out of Egypt
- To emphasize His compassion and care for His people’s suffering
- To authenticate this call by associating it with a profound miraculous sign
- To reassure Moses of His empowering presence in the enormous task ahead
The burning bush encounter stands today as a stirring example of when the invisible God made Himself known in visible form to call and commission His servant Moses. Through this miraculous sign, God made clear that He is not a distant, uncaring or powerless God, but actively works to see His people saved from oppression and suffering. As with Moses, God still longs to reveal Himself and His call to people today through His word, by His spirit and through providential signs and events great and small.
The story of God speaking to Moses from the burning bush continues to point people to the power and compassion of the one true living God, who sees, hears and acts on behalf of his people.
In conclusion, God chose to speak to Moses out of the burning bush because it was a striking miraculous sign to indicate His power, confirm His commissioning of Moses as leader and prophet, and reassure Moses of His supernatural presence and enablement to carry out His will to save His people from suffering and oppression.
The burning bush remains a stirring example of the invisible God revealing Himself in visible form – not as a random occurrence but to accomplish His redemptive purposes on earth. This awe-inspiring sign authenticated God’s call of Moses while underscoring His compassion for people’s suffering and His power to save.
The flames that did not consume the bush foreshadowed the redeeming fire of God’s presence which destroys bondage without destroying the people bound. The God of the burning bush still reveals Himself to call and empower His servants to participate in His mission of redemption in the world today.
The burning bush signifies that when the glorious presence and fire of God comes to dwell with the lowly and oppressed, it is not for their destruction but to set them free to walk in God’s purposes. The flames of God’s love refine and redeem when He enters the ordinary bushes of our lives.
As with Moses, God’s commission may come when we are going about mundane routines and overlook the holy moments around us. Yet God uses everyday occasions to arrest our attention and call us by name to walk in His redeeming work.
The flames of the burning bush remind us of a God who is willing to meet us in the familiar and routine to transform the ordinary into the miraculous. May our eyes, like Moses’, be opened to glimpse His fiery presence in our midst, powerful to set us aflame for His purposes.
When Moses approached, God spoke to him personally and specifically. He sees, knows and calls each of us by name. No individual is overlooked in God’s redeeming work.
As Moses was compelled to remove his sandals on holy ground, we too must lay aside that which keeps us standing at a distance from God’s presence. Only when we draw close to His refining fire can we hear His commission.
In the burning bush, God made known that no earthly shackles or chains can hold His people when He wills to set them free. His redemptive purpose will triumph, and the flames of oppression will not overtake those who call on His name.
The burning bush teaches us key principles about how God chooses to work in the world: through the unlikely, in unexpected ways, out of ordinary moments, through personal encounter and by extraordinary signs, to accomplish His great purposes of redemption.
Like Moses, we may feel unequipped for the enormity of what God asks. But He does not call the qualified, rather He qualifies the called. Our flames of inadequacy are no match for the all-consuming fire of His empowering presence.
Before the bush, Moses could only glimpse a part of God’s plan. Yet he stepped out in obedience on the basis of what little he knew and understood. And as he faithfully walked the path of God’s commission one step at a time, the full redemptive purposes were revealed and fulfilled.
We don’t have to comprehend the full plan of God to take our first steps in His calling. Like Moses, we simply need to know the One who is calling us and the next thing He bids us do.
The burning bush incident shows us that the great redemptive works of God usually start small – as a flicker within an ordinary bush. But when fanned into flame by the Spirit’s wind, it ignites a fire that cannot be contained and changes the course of history.
May we be those who embrace the flames when God calls us by name, stand in reverent awe at the revelation of His power and glory in our midst, and walk faithfully wherever He leads – even if all we see at first is an ember.
For within the heart of every fire lit by the God of the burning bush lies the potential for more than we could ever ask or imagine.
In summary, the burning bush represents God’s desire to make Himself known to us. Often it is when we are engaged in the routine and mundane that God shows up in unexpected ways. We must have eyes to see Him and a humility to draw near when He calls us by name. His glory is revealed not to destroy us but to set us free and empower us to participate in His redemptive work. Like Moses, we only need to obey what we know now and God will unfold His purposes step by step as we walk faithfully with Him.