Exodus 3-6

When I think of Moses and the Burning Bush I think of this story from Luis Palau….

During my first semester at Multnomah School of the Bible, Torchbearers founder Major Ian Thomas spoke at our chapel service. He talked about how it took Moses 40 years in the wilderness to learn that he was nothing. Then one day Moses was confronted with a burning bush–likely a dry bunch of ugly sticks–yet Moses had to take off his sandals. Why? Because God was in the bush!

Major Thomas said, ‘God was telling Moses, ‘I don’t need a pretty bush or an educated bush or an eloquent bush. Any old bush will do as long as I’m in the bush. If I’m going to use you, it won’t be you doing something for me, but me doing something through you.’

I was that kind of bush: a useless bunch of dried up sticks. I could do nothing for God. All my reading and studying and modeling myself after others was worthless unless God was in the bush. Only he could make something happen.

When Thomas closed his message, I ran back to my room and in tears prayed in my native Spanish. My spiritual struggle was finally over! I’d let God be God and let Luis be dependent on him.

I love the way Moses and God talk back and forth to each other in these chapters; it is, in some ways, a very human conversation. I think this dialogue shows us that prayer is just that: a conversation. I also like the way Moses questions: “Who am I?” and God answers back “I am who I am.” We often question who we are, just as Moses did. We are often unsure of ourselves. However, God is not unsure of himself. God knows who he is. We do not need to be self-confident, but we can be God-confident.

Is it not odd that when Moses asks God for a sign that God will be with him on his mission to free the Israelites from Pharaoh, the sign God gives is that Moses will worship God “on this mountain” after he has brought the Israelites out of Egypt? What good is a sign that is not revealed until after you need it? Is this an example of God showing a sense of humor? What do you think?

Another, to me, humorous part of this text is where God calls the promised land “the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusties”. To this list my professor, Dr. Richard Elliott Friedman, would always add something like: “mosquito bites, up-tights, over-sights, etc.”

In chapter 4, Moses continues to argue with the Lord and finally Moses asks God to send someone else. I find this very encouraging. The “stained-glass saints” of the Hebrew Scriptures were obviously formed from broken glass; they were all imperfect people, even the great ones like Moses. This gives me hope that maybe God can use me even when I resist him. God condescends to Moses’ need and gives him the assistance of his brother Aaron to speak for him. I believe God condescends to our needs as well and gives us whatever we need to accomplish our life missions for him.

At the end of chapter 4 there is the strange story of the Lord trying to kill Moses while Moses is on his way to tell Pharaoh to “let my people go”. Why would God try to kill his servant whom he has just sent forth to do his bidding? Apparently, this happens because Moses has failed to circumcise his son. His wife Zipporah saves the day by circumcising their son, and then she does something seemingly weird: she touches Moses’ feet with her son’s bloody foreskin. The word “feet” as used here may be a euphemism for genitals. In any case, it would seem that the blood of this “sacrifice” covers Moses and Moses’ sin and God does not kill him. Any way you look at it, this is one of the strangest stories in the Bible!

In chapter 5, we see that it is not going to be easy for the Israelites to get away from Pharaoh, in spite of the fact that the Lord has promised to be with Moses and help him. Pharaoh rejects Moses’ request to take the Israelites into the wilderness to worship. Instead, Pharaoh makes the Israelites’ forced labor even harder. The Israelites, understandably, complain to Moses about this, using a very picturesque phrase: “You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials…”

Moses turns around and complains to God, “O Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me?” You have got to hand it to Moses for his honesty before the Lord. Do we ever speak so honestly to God? Something makes me think that God likes this kind of honesty, as opposed to very pious sounding prayers.

We see in chapter 6 that God does not give up on Moses or the Israelites, and God will not give up on us: so long as we stay in conversation with him. Unfortunately, the Israelites do not listen to Moses in the same way he listens to God. “But they would not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.” We need to be careful not to let our circumstances keep us from listening to what God has to tell us.

Furthermore, if God appoints us to carry his word to others (and who has God not appointed to do this?) then we need to make sure we communicate all of God’s word. God tells Moses: “tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am speaking to you.”

Many of us, unfortunately, feel the same way Moses did: “Since I am a poor speaker, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

I suspect it is not our job to worry too much about the reception of God’s message. It is simply ours to show and tell.

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