The story of Moses, particularly the “burning bush” event found in Exodus 3, is connected to a great task God wants to accomplish. It is also a story of preparation and encounter. It was a unique event because it was spectacular. Moses met God and talked with Him in an unusual way – the burning bush that never consumed!
Moses, in that particular event, understood clearly his mission and purpose. It is a great task ahead – to bring the Israel nation out of Egypt to the land of Canaan (Exodus 3:10).
In preparing for a great task ahead, let us learn important points:
1. Encounter with God
The encounter of Moses with God was unique and different if we compare it to other encounters in the Old Testament. There is the sequence of the scene. First, there is a burning bush in which God’s way to get the attention of Moses. Moses was attentive to the move of God. Second, God spoke and Moses listened and responded. God said, “Moses, Moses.” Moses answered, “here I am.” Third, God emphasized the importance of His presence, when He said, “you are standing on holy ground.”
In order for us to experience a real encounter with God: be attentive to His move; be a good listener; and be open to His presence.
2. Embrace God’s Concern
If we go back a little bit in chapter 2, especially in verses 23-25, “During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”
Again, in chapter 3 verse 9, the phrase “the cry of the Israelites has reached me” is similar to the “groaning” in the previous passage. The “concerned” of God is linked to the great task – bring them out of Egypt.
3. Experience God Deeper
The conversation of Moses with God in Exodus 3:13-14 tells us the “unusual” name of God. Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
The Ellicott’s Commentary elaborates what God mean when He said, “I AM WHO I AM.” “My nature, cannot be declared in words, cannot be conceived of by human thought. I exist in such sort that my whole inscrutable nature is implied in my existence. I exist, as nothing else does—necessarily, eternally, really. If I am to give myself a name expressive of my nature, so far as language can be, let me be called “I AM.”
To understand and experience God in a deeper way, one must have the desire to know more about God’s nature and power. It is to really experience who really God is.