Exodus 3 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Burning Bush

¹ Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 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. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ And now, behold,the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰ Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

REFLECTION

• If time allows, read the whole chapter. Then read the passage for today.
• Moses is shepherding his father-in-law’s sheep. In the distance he saw a bush in flames, but the bush mysteriously didn’t burn up. He walked closer, perhaps expecting a miracle, only to have a more unique encounter than he ever imagined. He interacted with the living God.
• What has your experience of God been like? When have you felt like you have heard God speaking to you?
• When God asked Moses to remove his sandals from his feet, God was reminding Moses that where God is, that place becomes holy. In addition, in the ancient near east, a servant takes off his shoes to show deep respect to his master.
• God is holy. What difference does that make in your life and how you think about the Holy Spirit in and with you?
• Moses heard from God when he paid attention. Like Moses, we often encounter God when we pay attention to what’s going on around us. Find a quiet place and spend a few moments in utter silence, paying attention to those aspects of your life that you often neglect: people, situations, quiet moments, creation, and so on. As you do this, look for God to interact with.
• PRAY: Ask God to reveal himself to you today in a fresh way, a way that he has never revealed himself before.