I was (and still am) reading through Exodus the other day and I came to the passage about the burning bush. Now, MANY of us know the story, but I want to give you a run down because there is something here I didn't even know what there.
God gets angry!! ...well, it says that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. I'm sorry...but I would NOT want to be in his position!!
So, how do we learn from Moses and avoid his mistake??
Exodus 3:1-4:17 is the whole passage. I'll give a quick summary and then we'll look at the specific portion I'm talking about.
Moses is herding sheep. He was in fact watching after his father-in-laws flock. He saw a bush that was burning, but not consumed. Being male, seeing fire, but not seeing the destruction of what was on file, he was naturally distraught and went to see what was going wrong. (My interpretation of his motivations!)
God tells Moses to take off his sandals because he's on holy ground. God tells Moses who He is (the God of Abraham, etc.) and God tell Moses that He has seen the affliction of his people and that He was going to deliver them.
We now have a string of questions/complaints from Moses that God patiently answers.
Q1: Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? (3:11)
A1: I will be with you. (3:12)
Q2: If I go to the people of Israel and say to them that the God of the fathers has sent me and they say, "What is his name?" what do I say? (3:14)
A2: Say that , "I Am" has sent you. (3:14)
A2 part 2: God then goes on to reassure Moses of some other things that will come up and gives him the exact words that he should use. (3:15-22)
Complaint 1: They won't listen and they will say that I didn't really see you. (4:1)
A3: God gives Moses three miracles that he will be able to do to prove that God spoke to him. Turn his staff into a snake, make his hand leprous (and turn it back to normal), and pour water over dry ground and it turns to blood. (4:2-9)
Complaint 2: I don't speak well!! (4:10)
A4: This is worth seeing all of it verbatim. "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." (4:11-12)
God basically said, "Dude! I made your mouth and the only people who can speak can do so because I have them them that way. So don't worry about it. Since I've said you will do it, I will make sure it can happen. Trust me and obey me!"
In all this time we've seen a very patience God. In fact, God has multiple times gone above and beyond Moses' questions and complaints. The kicker is what is next though.
Exodus 4:13, "But he said, 'Oh my Lord, please send someone else.'" which is followed immediately with, "Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses..."
Do you see it? It wasn't when Moses asked logistical questions. God wasn't angry when Moses pointed out: his unworthiness, his apprehension about explaining the name of God, how the children of Israel would question him, or even when he doubted his own abilities. It was after God had proclaimed all that he would do for Moses, and when God capped it off with a "I have made you and I will make this happen" statement. After all of that, when Moses still wanted out, then God was angry.
It is not doubts, fears, and questions that make God angry. It is when we fully understand the power of God and who God is and then we want to walk away anyway. Whether this is doubting God, fearing people, or feeling inadequate: none of those things should be the case once God has given us a "I have made you and I will make this happen" statement!!!!!
Boy, wouldn't it be nice to have a burning bush experience??? Wait? What did you say? Well, yeah I can read about it, but that was Moses' experience....well, yeah. But that was David's experience. True, that was cool too, but that was Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel's experiences. Abraham, Noah, Ruth, Esther, Joshua, Paul, Peter, John, Polycarp, etc., etc.,
That's right. Those are other people with other experiences. But they are in the Bible, in our documented church history, and in your life to provide examples of the power of God. Christians: we know the power of God. We have heard testimony of it and many of us have seen it in our lives and in the lives of others. Who, then, are we to say, "Oh my Lord, please send someone else!"
To God be the glory!
God gets angry!! ...well, it says that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. I'm sorry...but I would NOT want to be in his position!!
So, how do we learn from Moses and avoid his mistake??
Exodus 3:1-4:17 is the whole passage. I'll give a quick summary and then we'll look at the specific portion I'm talking about.
Moses is herding sheep. He was in fact watching after his father-in-laws flock. He saw a bush that was burning, but not consumed. Being male, seeing fire, but not seeing the destruction of what was on file, he was naturally distraught and went to see what was going wrong. (My interpretation of his motivations!)
God tells Moses to take off his sandals because he's on holy ground. God tells Moses who He is (the God of Abraham, etc.) and God tell Moses that He has seen the affliction of his people and that He was going to deliver them.
We now have a string of questions/complaints from Moses that God patiently answers.
Q1: Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? (3:11)
A1: I will be with you. (3:12)
Q2: If I go to the people of Israel and say to them that the God of the fathers has sent me and they say, "What is his name?" what do I say? (3:14)
A2: Say that , "I Am" has sent you. (3:14)
A2 part 2: God then goes on to reassure Moses of some other things that will come up and gives him the exact words that he should use. (3:15-22)
Complaint 1: They won't listen and they will say that I didn't really see you. (4:1)
A3: God gives Moses three miracles that he will be able to do to prove that God spoke to him. Turn his staff into a snake, make his hand leprous (and turn it back to normal), and pour water over dry ground and it turns to blood. (4:2-9)
Complaint 2: I don't speak well!! (4:10)
A4: This is worth seeing all of it verbatim. "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." (4:11-12)
God basically said, "Dude! I made your mouth and the only people who can speak can do so because I have them them that way. So don't worry about it. Since I've said you will do it, I will make sure it can happen. Trust me and obey me!"
In all this time we've seen a very patience God. In fact, God has multiple times gone above and beyond Moses' questions and complaints. The kicker is what is next though.
Exodus 4:13, "But he said, 'Oh my Lord, please send someone else.'" which is followed immediately with, "Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses..."
Do you see it? It wasn't when Moses asked logistical questions. God wasn't angry when Moses pointed out: his unworthiness, his apprehension about explaining the name of God, how the children of Israel would question him, or even when he doubted his own abilities. It was after God had proclaimed all that he would do for Moses, and when God capped it off with a "I have made you and I will make this happen" statement. After all of that, when Moses still wanted out, then God was angry.
It is not doubts, fears, and questions that make God angry. It is when we fully understand the power of God and who God is and then we want to walk away anyway. Whether this is doubting God, fearing people, or feeling inadequate: none of those things should be the case once God has given us a "I have made you and I will make this happen" statement!!!!!
Boy, wouldn't it be nice to have a burning bush experience??? Wait? What did you say? Well, yeah I can read about it, but that was Moses' experience....well, yeah. But that was David's experience. True, that was cool too, but that was Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel's experiences. Abraham, Noah, Ruth, Esther, Joshua, Paul, Peter, John, Polycarp, etc., etc.,
That's right. Those are other people with other experiences. But they are in the Bible, in our documented church history, and in your life to provide examples of the power of God. Christians: we know the power of God. We have heard testimony of it and many of us have seen it in our lives and in the lives of others. Who, then, are we to say, "Oh my Lord, please send someone else!"
To God be the glory!
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