The Bush That Did Not Burn Up

On a mountainside, a bush is blazing. Flames dance through every branch. But the leaves are not curling. The branches are not turning black. The fire keeps burning, and the bush does not burn up. And out of the fire, a voice calls a name. “Moses. Moses.”

Moses has been in Midian for many years. Once he was a prince of Egypt. Then he killed an Egyptian and ran for his life. Now he is a shepherd, looking after the flock of his father-in-law Jethro. One day he leads the sheep far across the wilderness and comes to Horeb, called the mountain of God. There, the angel of the Lord appears to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bush. Moses thinks, “I must go over and look at this strange sight. Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”

When God sees him turn aside to look, he calls from the bush. “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am.” “Don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hides his face, because he is afraid to look at God. Then God says, “I have seen how my people are suffering in Egypt. I have heard them crying out. I know their pain. And I have come down to rescue them, and to bring them into a good and spacious land. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh, to bring my people out of Egypt.”

Moses has one question. “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?” And God doesn’t tell him who he is. God tells him who will be with him. “I will be with you.” Moses asks again. “When I tell the Israelites the God of their fathers has sent me, and they ask me, What is his name, what shall I say?” And God answers with words people have pondered ever since.

“I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you. This is my name for ever.”

But Moses still isn’t sure. “What if they don’t believe me?” So God gives him signs. “What is that in your hand?” “A staff.” “Throw it on the ground.” Moses throws it down, and it becomes a snake, and Moses runs from it. “Now reach out and take it by the tail.” He does, and it is a staff again. God gives him two more signs: his hand turns white with a skin disease and is healed again, and water from the Nile will turn to blood when poured on the ground. Still Moses hesitates. “Lord, I have never been good with words. I am slow of speech.” “Who made your mouth? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go. I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.” And Moses says, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

God is angry with Moses. But even now, he makes a way. “What about your brother Aaron? He speaks well. He is already on his way to meet you. You will tell him what to say, and he will speak for you. And take this staff in your hand.” So Moses goes. He says goodbye to Jethro and sets out for Egypt with his wife and sons, carrying the staff of God. Aaron meets him in the wilderness, and they hug. In Egypt, they gather the elders of Israel. Aaron speaks, Moses shows the signs, and the people believe. When they hear that God has seen their misery, they bow down and worship.

The name God gives here is connected with the Hebrew verb to be, and the four Hebrew letters of the divine name, Y H W H, are often called the Tetragrammaton. Out of deep reverence, Jewish tradition for many centuries has avoided saying that name aloud, reading Adonai, which means my Lord, in its place. That is why many English Bibles print the word Lord in small capital letters wherever the Hebrew has God’s personal name.

The burning bush. You’ll find it in Exodus chapters 3 and 4. Moses asked, Who am I? And God answered, I will be with you. So here’s a question to carry with you. What is God asking you to do that feels too big, and will you trust that he will go with you?