Series: Champions Of Grace Moses Lesson 5

                                                                                                                                                           The Burning Bush 

Exodus 3:2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 

In lesson 4 we talked about Moses being a simple shepherd for 40 years in the Midian wilderness.        In this time of shepherding, we discussed how God takes those places in our lives where we feel self-sufficient and transforms them into supernatural places. 

I quickly want to note that in that 40 year period, Moses was married to a woman named Zipporah. 

This is important to note because it gives us a wonderful insight to what God was carefully working in Moses life. You see, Zipporah's name means little sparrow. This so reminds us of Jesus words, "Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father." What a tender verse about the tender heart of God, that not even a sparrow can fall to the ground without the presence of God. What we learn from this is simply that in Moses marriage to this precious woman, God was working a deep tenderness into Moses heart. Moses learned to tenderly love something more than his own pride and reputation, and that was a woman who loved him through all the turmoil of dying to self, and who faithfully encouraged him in the daily cares of looking after sheep. Zipporah played a beautiful part in Moses transformation into a shepherd after God's own heart. 

THEN came that day! After 40 years of faithfully keeping sheep in the wastelands of Midian, he saw a bizarre sight, a bush that was burning but not consumed. In his fascination, Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." Carefully approaching the bush, as he stared in horrible fascination, God suddenly spoke to him out of the burning bush. In one amazing instant Moses knew he was in a supernatural encounter with God.

Before we continue this story in lesson 6, I want us to take a moment to realize that in looking at this burning bush, Moses saw many things, though I am sure at the time he did not perceive it all. This burning bush had many things to reveal about God and the workings of God. For the time being I only want to look at 3. 

The burning bush was a revelation of God's faithfulness to preserve His people.

The bible says the bush was on fire but not consumed. How come the bush was not consumed?

Because God was in the midst of the bush. One of the magnificent truths the burning bush is revealing is God's faithfulness to preserve His people. You see, the Israelites had been in the fiery furnace of Egypt for four hundred years. Yet, the reason they were not consumed is because God had been in their midst all this time. Though they did not see Him and questioned, "Where is God? Why is He not with us? Why is He not delivering us?" He had been dwelling among them through all their affliction, the evidence being, they were not devoured by fiery furnace of Egypt. 

Here is what I want us to understand: in our own fiery trials, we may not always sense the presence of the Lord. We may be asking, "Where is God? Where is the Lord?" Yet, just the fact that we are not consumed by the trial is the evidence that God is in the midst of us; that the strength of God is sustaining us. In my walk with the Lord I have learned that grace has 2 sides, a delivering side and a sustaining side. Everyone longs for that side of grace that delivers us from the fiery trial, but often God wants to use the fiery trial to work something of His nature and strength into our lives. He doesn't deliver us from the trial, but sustains us in the trial. It is all part of learning to walk in the strength of the Lord. When the work is complete that the trial was designed to accomplish, He delivers us. 

The bush was a revelation of God's refining presence.

Only God's refining presence was powerful enough to disintegrate the spirit of Egypt that thrived in Moses life. When God would use Moses to deliver His people, there wasn't anything about Moses life that would magnify the strength of Egypt. We have to remember when Moses delivered the daughter's of Ruel from the shepherds of Midian, Zipporah went and told her father, "A Egyptian delivered us." Everything about Moses persona magnified the strength of Egypt. However, after 40 years of dwelling in God's refining presence, when Moses finally stood before Pharaoh, all the King of Egypt saw standing in his royal court was a simple shepherd, somewhere from the desert of Nowhere. But what a shepherd! With a simple shepherd's rod, Moses would annihilate the mightiest empire in all the earth! But let's not jump ahead of ourselves. 

The bush was a revelation of the deep strength God had worked into Moses life.

You see, the burning bush was on fire but not consumed. This bush was under tremendous pressure, but not devoured. This was a picture of Moses and his ministry. You see, there would be times in Moses ministry that he would fall under tremendous pressure. For example, in his early ministry he found himself with a Red Sea in front of him, six hundred enemy chariots racing toward him, and if that wasn't enough, he was surrounded by three million Israelites on the brink of panic. Talk about a pressure situation! At that particular time at the Red Sea I am sure there wasn't another man on the face of the earth that could have stood under that pressure. However, at that time Moses was not standing in his own strength, but in the strength of God. Think about it: in Exodus chapter two, Moses did not have the strength to stand before Pharaoh the first time, but 40 years later, in the strength of God, he is standing strong against everything Pharaoh can throw at him. 

Friends, the only reason why the people of God were not destroyed at the Red Sea is because they had a leader who stood in the incredible strength of the Lord. And here is what we need to understand: it took God 40 years in a desert to cultivate this strength into Moses being. It took God 40 years in a wilderness to forge this strength into Moses life. Like Moses, God knows are calling and the strength it is going to take to walk in that calling. He is carefully and patiently working that strength into our lives. 

Now before we continue with this story in lesson 6, there is one more truth I want us to recognize. 

Exodus 3:3-5 And Moses said, "I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush...

What I want us to recognize is that God did not speak to Moses until he saw that Moses had turned aside to see the burning bush. In other words, it was when God saw He had his complete attention that the call of God came to Moses.

Moses turning aside to see speaks of a deep work the Lord accomplishes in our life in the wilderness places. Often it is in the wilderness where God brings us to the place where we turn aside from the distractions of the world. Often it is in the desert places where God separates us from all the other things that distract us from the fullness of His will for our lives. 

Most everyone has dreams for their life at one time or another. Something that we wish to become or something we wish to accomplish. Yet, sometimes God has to extinguish our dreams so He can give us His dream. Sometimes God has to eradicate the vision we have for our life so He can give us His vision for our life. Like that burning bush, God wants His holy calling to burn within us, but sometimes that cannot happen until He vanquishes those aspirations in our life that have nothing to do with His will. Like Moses in Egypt, we cannot really turn aside and see the fullness of His calling until He has removed those other things that our distracting our focus.

Please allow me to share with you a personal example. When I was fifteen years of age, I fell in love with music, particularly, the guitar. After high school, I desired to go to college or some type of musical institute and become an instrumentalist. The desire was sincere, yet, I did not have any money and my parents were in a financial strait. It seemed impossible. Then I heard about the Army's G.I. Bill. It would cover most my tuition. I joined the Army and signed up for the G.I. Bill with a glorious dream of going to Guitar Institute of Technology afterward. Praise be to God, shortly after I was discharged from the Army, I got saved. I immediately fell in love with the Lord and I put my dream on hold in order to attend a bible college in Pennsylvania. I wanted to spend a couple of years focusing on my relationship with the Lord and grow in the knowledge of His Word. Yet, it was in my second year of bible school that the Lord began to graciously speak to me about my future. I remember the day He tenderly spoke to my heart, "You will never use your G.I Bill. You will never go to the Guitar Institute. I have another plan for your life." To this day I remember the painful struggle. I well remember the arguments I had with the Lord: "What do you mean that isn't your plan for my life?! Do you know what I endured for 3 years to get that G.I. Bill?! I endured 3 years of strict, disciplined military life! I endured the hard rigors of military training to get that G.I. Bill! What do you mean 'I will never use that G.I. Bill?!"

Yet, God would not change His mind. Eventually I yielded to my Savior, surrendered my dream to the Lord, and finally came to peace with it. 

Needless to say, a short time later I had my own burning bush experience with the Lord.

God began to kindle within me the desire to serve Him in fulltime ministry. Soon, I was invited by the school's president to join the teaching staff after I graduated. It was then I turned aside and was able to see all that God had for me in the ministry. 

I also learned something else. Often when you embrace God's will and walk in it, He will ignite His dreams into your life. He will set your heart ablaze with His passions for your life. I am reminded of Nehemiah 2:12 where Nehemiah states, I told no one what God had put in my heart to do. Nehemiah knew this burning passion to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem came from God. 

My friends, when God sets your heart ablaze with His dreams for your life, you will be a man or woman with flaming passion. God's dream for my life was and still is to teach His Word. After almost 30 years of teaching, I cannot tell you how many times I walked into the classroom with God's Word blazing in my heart. There is nothing wrong with being passionate about your God-given dreams.