Why the Bush Didn’t Burn
Exodus 3:1 – Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountian of God, to Horeb. 2 – The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked – and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!
verse 3 – So Moses thought, “I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” 4 – When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 – God said, “Do not approach any closer! Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
In my early years in ministry and in marriage our first home was a tiny one bedroom house that was heated with a wood stove. I had no prior experience with wood stoves so, with the help of church members, I learned to split wood and start fires. Small branches, bark, and paper were great for getting a decent flame going so that the larger pieces of wood would ignite and produce a steady burn to heat our little home. I can only imagine what an amazing sight it would be to see the small branches ablaze but not burning up. Normally they would be the first to be consumed while the large wood pieces took longer but in Moses’ case, the bush that would take seconds to consume wasn’t being consumed at all.
The fragility and invincibility of the bush was an amazing thing for Moses to witness. When he turned aside to see why such a thing could be happening, the ‘why’ revealed Himself to Moses. The ‘why’ was God. God made the fragile bush invincible to the flames. Moses was to learn that the invincible God was going to deliver the fragile Israelites from the Egyptians.
God said – “And now indeed the cry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them. So now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” – Exodus 3:9, 10.
Check out these words from the Apostle Paul – “We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body.” – 2 Corinthians 4:8-10.
May Jesus be visible in our bodies as we endure suffering and challenges. May our bodies become the holy ground where the Spirit of the invincible God dwells so that people will know that God is the reason why we are not consumed.
Jesus said – “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage – I have conquered the world.” – John 16:33.
Where two are gathered 