Fire Stories: Moses And The Burning Bush! | Exodus 3:1-15, Isaiah 43:2

We are kicking off a new series called “Fire Stories.” You’ve probably heard of Moses even if you’ve never cracked open a Bible. Today you will learn more about him, his journey and where he is now as we pick up his story of shepherding. God is with us no matter what deep waters we find ourselves in.

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Transcription:

Hi. Welcome to the Bible for Busy People. You’re just in time. We’re about to gather around the fire. Hope you brought a marshmallow to roast because we are kicking off a series called Fire Stories in the Bible. Today we’re gonna dive into the story of Moses and the burning bush. But to get there, first we have to visit the Nile River. You’ve probably heard of Moses, even if you’ve never cracked open a Bible in your life, back in the Old Testament. The Pharaoh ruled over the Egyptians and had the Israelites as his slaves. He worked them almost to death; he was a cruel master. They worked all of the time. He showed very little mercy, and yet the Israelites kept multiplying, God kept blessing his people. And so one day, Pharaoh said to the Hebrew midwives, when the boys are born, kill them. Throw them in the Nile River to drown them, but you can let the girls live. Can you imagine what a horrible edict to hand down to the midwives of Israel? Absolutely tragic. Well, Moses’ mom was an Israelite woman, and she gave birth to a boy. The midwife did not do what the Pharaoh said, and she noticed he is a very special child. And so Moses’ mama hid him for a while, and finally God gave her the faith and the determination and the courage to put him in a little basket cradle on the Nile River and release him. And Moses’s sister watched to see what would happen. And the daughter of Pharaoh found him, and adopted him, and raised him as an Egyptian. Later on, as Moses grew up, he found out that he was an Israelite, and saw that his people were oppressed, and he was so devastated by that. And one day, I can’t get into the whole story cuz we don’t have time, he murdered a fellow Egyptian for mistreating a slave. And then he fled and became a shepherd. And those are the Cliffs notes on Moses. 

So we’re gonna pick it up in his season of shepherding here in Exodus chapter three. If you’re like me, you’re thinking, there’s gotta be a book called Moses in the Bible. No. His story is featured in Exodus. So here we go, Exodus chapter three. “One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. ‘This is amazing.’ Moses said to himself. ‘Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.'”

“When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush.” Can you imagine what the Lord’s voice sounds like? “‘Moses! Moses!’ ‘Here I am!’ Moses replied. ‘Do not come any closer,’ the Lord warned. ‘Take off your sandals for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord told him, ‘I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.'” Do you know that the Lord God is aware of your suffering today, and how much he loves you? “‘So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey. The land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.’ But Moses protested to God. ‘Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?’ God answered.” This is our takeaway verse. “‘I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you, when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.'” 

I WILL be with you. We are going to go straight to another verse in the Old Testament. We’re gonna hop right into Isaiah chapter 43, verse two, because this was not just a promise for Moses. It was for all of God’s people. Listen to this. “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you.” Okay. Whoa, Lord. I didn’t even notice something until we just read that verse. This was not part of my plan. Wow. Just as the burning bush did not consume the God who lit it up, the fire that you are going through today is not gonna consume you. I have never seen that before. Literally that just came to me. It must have been straight from the Lord’s heart to mine and now to you. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That fire you are walking through, that fire that’s threatening to burn up your faith. That river that is just threatening to drown out all of your dreams. Neither has a chance because the Lord God sees your suffering. He has heard your cries and he will rescue you. Now today, that might mean he will give you a peace that passes understanding, but just remember, you and I, we don’t see the cover of the puzzle box. God does. He’s the one with all the pieces. So keep giving your pieces of understanding to him and let him put the puzzle together. Lord, I just wanna take a moment to thank you for being with us today. You’re alive and we can sense it. Thank you that you’re with us in the fires and in the floods. We praise your holy name. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Until next time, you are loved. 

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