And when the
LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of
the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw
not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon
thou standest is holy ground - Exodus 3:4-5
Exodus Chapter 3 marked the beginning of Moses' walk with God. It marked the beginning of his ministry. While at the backside of the desert, on Mount Horeb grazing his father-in-law's flock, he stumbled on something very strange (for so it seemed to him). It was the kind of strange things that you hear about only in fairy tales. It was an awesome and frightening sight; the sight of a bush on fire but not being consumed. "No, definitely something must be wrong. How can this be? A non-destructive fire! The trees and grasses are still lush, green and standing; the flowers, bright and blossoming. This is against the natural ministry of fire which is to destroy everything on its way. This must be magic of a sort. I will go closer to have a better look and be sure my eyes are not playing a trick on me". This must have been Moses' thoughts of the strange sight of the Burning Bush he saw.
It did
not occur to him that he was about to commence a destiny-changing encounter
with God Almighty. An encounter that would change the course of his life and
that of his Jewish brethren for good. He never realized that he was already
face to face with God Almighty, the Maker and Sustainer of the universe, the
Giver of Life, The Ancient of days. Just like Moses, many do come face to face
with situations God has set up to call their attention to Himself without
knowing it. Similarly, people stumble daily on their Burning Bushes without realizing it is
heaven calling for their attention.
Moses
only wanted to see the "strange sight" better so he can
comprehensively narrate to people what he saw. He would not want to miss any
detail. It will sure make a very good news headline; The Un-consuming Fire:
Bush Burns But Not Destroyed? Looking at the whole scenario today in the
light of our contemporary society, he
must have wished that he had a video camera to help substantiate his story because
people will hardly believe that such thing did ever happen. Determined to behold
this mystery better, he started moving closer and closer. But before he could
get too close, another strange thing happened. A voice called out to him from
within the fire, ‘“Moses, Moses!” And
he said, “Here I am” (Exodus 3:4,
NKJV).
Moses
came to an abrupt halt, more intrigued, “so, someone is inside this fire? Whoever this invisible being is must
have kindled this fire and is powerful enough to keep it from consuming things.
He must be a great man, in fact a Supernatural” he must have thought and he
was right. God who spoke to him from within the fire is Almighty. He has the
power to disable the destructive power of any fire. That is the only way you
can explain what happened that day. He did it for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
in the fiery furnace. Remember the story of these three innocent and faithful
Hebrew youths who were thrown into a burning furnace and how God joined them in
the fire and miraculously deliver them (Daniel 3:1-26).
And
these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst
of the burning fiery furnace... "Look!" He answered, "I see four
men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the
form of the fourth is like the Son of God" - Daniel 3:23-24, NKJV.
That was the first lesson for
Moses at the burning bush. That God can suspend the power of fire. God went
down with these faithful Hebrew youths into the fire meant to destroy them.
Being a Consuming Fire, He calmed the man-made fire so the
fire lost its destructive power and heat. Can you imagine fire without heat?
That is what the power of God can do.
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