Graduate 111: The Burning Bush

[A Narrative Sermon Outline]

I fell in love with the account of the burning bush during my time in Oxford. In the course of my studies, I came to a new and profound appreciation of the immanence of God--His presence in the world, in our midst, though it seems we so rarely have the eyes to see it. Elizabeth Barrett Browning writes, "Earth's crammed with Heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees takes off his shoes."

That's absolutely right--Earth's crammed with Heaven, and every common bush afire with God.

All the world is shrouded by, but, a thin veil. Lift up a corner of it and what will you see?--fire, light, energy, Spirit, power. It's all there; we just don't see it. C.S. Lewis wrote, in a well-known passage, in his sermon, "The Weight of Glory": "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship...".

The bush may not even be the most compelling illustration of this point. Moses spent regular time conversing with God on Mount Sinai. To be in the very presence of Almighty God must have torn that veil to shreds. The people noticed and responded: "Never mind the bush. Moses' face is on fire," and they compelled him to wear a cloth veil because the radiance of God was too much for them to handle. (Exodus 34:29-35)

What an utterly thrilling picture of God's presence and power in this world. But I want to look at the burning bush from a slightly different angle today. Really, I don't want to make a different point, but to make the same point in a different way. During Advent, I wrote up a series of short reflections on several Old Testament passages and was particularly struck when I came to Exodus 3. I hope that you may be encouraged as I was.

The basic story is pretty straight-forward. Moses has been working and living in Midian as a shepherd. One day God shows up in a burning bush and tells Moses to go to Egypt and lead His people out of bondage. Moses doesn't want to go at first; he's afraid and makes all sorts of excuses, but God finally compels him to go. Part of what I want to focus on is why Moses was afraid. Have you ever thought about it? Was he afraid of the Egyptians? Was he worried that the people wouldn't follow him? What was it? In fact, I think that if we consider carefully Moses' fears, we will gain some insight into our own fears--more-so than if we just stop at "He was afraid."

So here's the scene:

"Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, "I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up." When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He also said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God." (3:1-6)

The Scripture says that Moses was afraid, but I'll bet he was also exhilarated. He was about eighty years old at this point. As far as we know, this is the first time that God has spoken to him. Imagine, if you can, being suddenly ripped out of your daily routine in this way; Moses knows that something big is going to happen--God's either going to strike him dead or give him some big project. After all, God doesn't show up at the side of the road on just any day.

If you want to extend your imagination a little farther, maybe Moses had been hoping and praying for this day. He probably knew something of his Hebrew heritage. (2:11) He knew of this God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Like many of us (Christians) he may have been waiting for a call, hoping for a call, praying for a call. Now it's come, and this is what God says:

"And the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; further, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them." " (3:7-9)

Everything sounds great up to this point, but I think this is the moment when Moses' heart falls and his mouth goes dry: "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." (3:10)

What's going through Moses' head at this moment? Have you ever had an experience like that? You're praying, "Lord, please send me. Lord, please use me. Lord, please send me. Lord, please use me." And then God shows up and says, "I want you to go there," and your immediate reaction is, "Oh no, Lord God, anywhere but there." Have you ever had that experience? A lot of people don't pray for God to lead them--they don't want to surrender their lives to God--just because they are afraid that God will send them there.

I think that's exactly what's going through Moses' head at this moment. I can imagine him praying for the last several years, "Lord, please send me. Lord, please use me. Lord, please send me. Lord, please use me." And then God shows up and says, "I want you to go to Egypt," and his immediate reaction is, "Oh no, Lord God, anywhere but there."

(**) Why would he not want to go to Egypt? Well, you may recall that his departure from that country was not exactly a very happy one. Actually, he fled the country because he was wanted for murder. He killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew slave. For that, Pharaoh tried to have him killed. On top of that, while one might have expected that the Hebrew people would have been grateful to Moses--maybe in his more wild imaginings, that they would have hailed him as a liberator and risen up behind him as their leader to deliver them from bondage--instead they rejected him. "Who made you a prince or a judge over us?" they said. (2:14)

Have you ever found yourself running from your past? Ten years, twenty years, even thirty years after the event, the memory still haunts you? The embarrassment, the shame, the sense of failure--meeting you unexpectedly on lonely nights when you stare at the ceiling for hours, trying to fall asleep but unable to do so. Running over the events again and again, you wish and will, sometimes amidst tears, that the events would finally disappear into the past. Forty years might be barely enough time to get over it--to feel that the past really is past, that the consequences of those failures are finally beyond you and can't reach you any longer. Forty years might be barely enough time to feel like you've really gotten a new life and are really a different person.

For forty years, Moses has, perhaps, tried to put his life in Egypt behind him. He has poured himself into his life in Midian. And on most nights, the sting of those memories is either very dull or absent altogether.

And then God shows up and ruins everything. "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." (3:10) Have you been there? Having barely escaped the fire, have you ever found God calling you right back into it?

You can bet that Moses' mind is racing at this point. In a moment all the memories that he has tried to put behind him are flooding back into his mind--the pain, the hurt, the agony. Whereas he was first thrilled to be speaking to God, now he feels revulsion. He doesn't want to be used by God; he just wants to slip back into obscurity--to escape the past, to lead his small and insignificant life. But how to go about this. One can't just say, "No," outright to the God of the universe. One has to go about the task more subtly. And aren't we adept at making clever excuses as ways to get out of following God's call? Moses is an expert and master of the craft.

"But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" " (3:11)

First, Moses pulls the humility-card. This is a classic. If you can get out of following God and look humble while doing it ("Who am I...?), that's a bonus. In effect, Moses claims to be a no-body who is not fit for the task that God has called him to. But God doesn't buy it.

"And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you; when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." " (3:12)

Notice the "sign" that God offers--that after Moses has brought the people out of Egypt, they will worship on this mountain. That's not exactly the kind of guarantee that Moses is apt to appreciate. He (and most of us if we were in his place) would prefer some sort of guarantee that we can have ready and on hand and don't have to wait for. In fact, this is just what Moses asks for, in effect:

"Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" " (3:13)

Of course, we should take this question seriously as its stated. It's a very straight-forward question. But there's also a layer of subtext that, I suspect, is not lost on God. In the cultures of the ancient Near-East, names were extremely important. Names were closely tied to the essence of an individual--be he human or supernatural. Many people believed that if you knew the names of spirits or deities, you could call them, compel them to obey your wishes, and control them in very useful ways. This belief plays a part in the book of Genesis, in the account of Jacob wrestling the angel. He asks the angel for his name and the angel refuses to give it to him, but blesses him instead.

Here, Moses asks for the name of God. And God gives him His name, but its not what Moses might have expected.

"And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " And God furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations." "

"I AM WHO I AM". Another way of translating that is, "I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE." In effect, God says to Moses, My name is: YOU CANNOT CONTROL ME. Maybe Moses had in mind that he would appear before the people of Israel and call on God to appear before them in some powerful way that would force them all to acknowledge that he was God's appointed servant so that they would give him no trouble. Maybe he thought that if he ran into Pharaoh, who still wanted to kill him, he would just call God like a genie from a lamp to take care of the situation for him. But God makes clear to Moses, by revealing His name, that He will not be manipulated or controlled; he will not bow to Moses or stand by at his every beck and call.

How often do we try to treat God like that? How often do we try to make God work for our plans and projects instead of surrendering to what He has in mind for us and our lives? Throughout Scripture, God reveals that He is faithful and trustworthy, but he will not be manipulated. He will not surrender Himself to our control; and He will not surrender Himself to Moses' control. He makes that clear and then reiterates His instructions:

" "Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey." ' And they will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the kind of Egypt, and you will say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please , let us go three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.' But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. So I will stretch out My hand, and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. And I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians." " (3:16-22)

Of course it all sounds very good. But remember, the main things on Moses' mind right now are the fear and shame and humiliation that have been quietly festering for forty years in the wilderness of Midian. Maybe he thought he had dealt with the issues of his past, but all he really had done was shove them into a far back corner of his mind and try to ignore them. Because of that, he's not able, really, to hear God's invitation for the great and incredible opportunity that it is. All he can think of is how he's going to get out of this while still saving face.

Have you ever noticed how your unresolved issues get in the way of being able to enter whole-heartedly into God's call for you? You want to be able to say, "Yes!" to God, but fear and anxiety and doubt get in the way. They take a strangle-hold of your spirit and confidence, like so many weeds.

This is where Moses is at at this point. So he makes yet another excuse.

"Then Moses answered and said, "What if they will not believe me, or listen to what I say? For they may say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.' " And the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff." Then He said, "Throw it on the ground" So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. But the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail"--so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand--that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." And the LORD furthermore said to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom." So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, "Put your hand into your bosom again." So he put his hand into his bosom again; and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. "And it shall come about that if they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. But it shall be that if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground." " (4:1-9)

Do you see how far God is going to accommodate Moses? And that probably only makes Moses more frustrated; because what Moses is really trying to do is to get out of having to go to Egypt, but God keeps on taking away his excuses. It is a question worth considering when we find ourselves unable to "discern God's will" for us--is it that God is not being adequately clear or that we are simply not willing to listen? Most Christians will admit (or will feel compelled to admit) that God's call should be enough. But God is even willing to go beyond that and to grant signs and assurances. But it's a very serious thing to continue to flout God even when he has given us those assurances, as Moses begins to see.

"Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." " (4:10)

Moses is really stretching at this point. Again, he's trying to pull the humility-card and going to almost comic lengths to do so. Moses was raised in Pharaoh's house; that means he would have received the best education available to Egyptians at that time, which would have included lessons in rhetoric. Very likely Moses was an excellent speaker. But don't we also sometimes go to the extreme of out-and-out lying about ourselves in order to avoid doing what we don't want to do?

Of course, Moses' excuse sounds even more ridiculous when considered alongside the point that God makes about the origin and source of man's voice and abilities.

"And the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say." " (4:11-12)

Any sensible person would have backed off at this point and recognized that he was treading on dangerous ground; but not Moses. That's how single-minded and focused he is right now. That is the blindness that comes from fear.

"But he said, "Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever Thou wilt." "

Moses still doesn't go so far as to say, "No," to God. Notice what else he doesn't do: he also doesn't admit how fearful he is. Have you been there? You try to make excuses to God and to yourself, you try to justify your disobedience, and you simply refuse to admit to God and yourself that the reason you refuse to simply follow God's call is that you're scared. Throughout this entire dialogue, Moses has not admitted to the real reason behind his refusal to simply submit to God. Instead he has tried to maneuver around God, manipulate God, and even lied to God. Maybe, if he's really good at it, he's able to convince himself that he's only being humble; but is it really "humility" if it involves treating God like that? God presents Moses with nothing short of the opportunity of a life-time, and all Moses can think about is how to get out of the situation, or else manipulate God in order to fulfill his own ends. Have you been there?

And God is so patient and accommodating--up to a point. But God will only take so much of our insults and disrespect. Moses reaches that point and God finally puts a stop to his masquerade.

"Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, "Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. And you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and it shall come about that he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him. And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs." " (4:14-17)

If this scene were set in a more modern context, one might imagine a phone conversation between some uncooperative middle-manager and the president of the company. When the president has had enough of the manager's excuses, he lays out the bottom line: "This is the way it's going to be, Moses. No more argument. I want you on the first plane to Egypt, Monday morning, and that's final!" *Click.*

That's the end of the debate. That's the end of the discussion. That's the end of the manipulation and feigned humility and sycophancy. Moses has received his instructions. Now he must decide whether he will obey. Have you been there? --where you know, with perfect clarity, that God is calling you to go there? But there's still the choice to be made: will you obey? And everything inside you is screaming that you should not do it, that you should run away, that going that way will only lead to hurt and pain and more agony. But there's the other side of you that knows that God is calling you--the call is unmistakable. What will you do?

A good idea would be to do what Moses does. He gets some accountability.

"Then Moses departed and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." " (4:18)

Maybe Moses was asking his father-in-law for permission as a last-ditch effort to find an excuse. After all, if his father-in-law said, "No," then it couldn't possibly be in God's will for him to go. But Jethro approves; and anyway, I think there's another way of looking at this verse.

Jethro was a sharp guy. [We see that clearly demonstrated in chapter 18.] I suspect he was kind of like my dad; nothing gets past him and he won't allow you to get away with anything. So even though Moses may not have been too sure about his commitment to following God, he knew that if he told Jethro about his plans to return to Egypt, (and this is sometimes the way we think) then it would definitely happen. If a week passed and Moses hadn't left yet, then Jethro would come around asking tough questions like, "Weren't you supposed to be gone by now?" and "Why haven't you left yet?" and "What are you waiting for?" Moses was probably more worried about getting the evil eye from his father-in-law than he was about getting on the wrong side of God.

Strangely enough, that's sometimes how we think about the world. And, yes, it's rather backwards, but if it actually gets us doing God's will, we can probably look on those people as a blessing and gift from God. The important thing for Moses is that it represents a concrete, practical step in the process of obedience. And it gets a response from God; He shows up again. This is how I picture it happening:

Moses has received the blessing from his father-in-law, Jethro, to return to Egypt. Mustering the courage to actually commit to that by telling his father-in-law probably took a bit of work. Yet, amidst the back-and-forth still going on in his own mind and heart, he managed to ask permission and now he knows that he will be on his way. And, maybe, for the rest of that day, he feels alright. The decision has been made; it is going to happen.

But everything changes at night, as anyone whose been in this kind of situation will tell you. Zipporah lies asleep, as do their two sons. But Moses is still awake. He's been awake for what seems like hours. He rolls back and forth in bed, trying to quiet the voices in his head long enough to drift to sleep. But sleep is the farthest thing from him at this point. His pillow (if they had pillows) is soaked with sweat... and also with tears. Quietly he agonizes over the decision that he has made and the path that he faces.

"What am I going to do?" he wonders to himself. "I've already committed to this; I can't back out now. But what am I going to do? How could I be so stupid to think that I could get away with this. As soon as I cross the border of Egypt, they'll arrest me. There'll be a trial and probably flogging and maybe torture and finally death. And that's not even the worst of it.

"Oh, God, I remember when I was a prince--when everything I wanted was given to me; when nothing that I wanted was ever denied me. And then I made that stupid, stupid choice. I still can't believe that I did that--that I actually murdered someone. Me! Lord God, how can you use me. I've been a failure and an embarrassment my whole life.

"I remember how they looked at me. The disappointment. The anger. The way they turned their backs on me. Oh, Lord God, I can't face that again. I can't face their condemnation, their contempt. I'll take the flogging and the torture and the death, but don't make me face their resentment.

"Even my own people rejected me. Here, I had tried to help them and it blew up in my face. I can't help them. I can't help anybody. Why?--Why, Lord God, did you have to choose me?"

Maybe, in the quietness of that lonely moment, Moses was able to admit what he would not admit when he faced God at the burning bush. "God, I'm afraid. I'm so afraid. I am paralyzed, petrified, mortified by fear."

Have you been there?

Notice what happens next. God shows up. Out of the blue--no spectacular displays or fancy fireworks. I imagine, just a still, small voice.

"Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt for all the men who were seeking your life are dead." " (4:19)

Did you catch it? Let me say it again: "Go back to Egypt for all the men who were seeking your life are dead."

Now there are two ways in which I like to think about this moment--one of which is irreverently comical and the other of which I find deeply moving. You will forgive me if I take the time to develop both ways.

The first way I imagine this moment recalls a scene from a movie I never actually saw: "Meet the Parents" (2000). I didn't see the movie because I'm not a fan of Ben Stiller, but there's a scene from the trailer that I still remember and find amusing. The basic plot of the film centers on this couple, Greg and Pam, that are soon-to-be-married, and the first time that Greg meets his future in-laws. Tension is high and gives way to very comical situations as, among other things, Pam's dad, Jack, former CIA, brutally sets about testing the mettle and quality of his future son-in-law. The funny scene comes at their first meeting. Introductions are made and Jack comments in a friendly manner, "What are you driving there, a Ford?" "Oh, yeah--" Greg begins, but Jack interrupts him with a slighting tone and look: "It's an interesting color? You pick it?" To which Greg naturally (and untruthfully) replies, "Oh, no. No. The first guy picked it. Why?" To which Jack replies, "Well, they say geniuses pick green. ... But you didn't pick it."

The dynamics of this interaction are hilarious to watch. Jack and Greg both know how terrified Greg is. They both know that he wants to make a good impression. And by the end of the scene, they both know that Greg did pick out the car color and that he just lied to try and impress Jack; but he's been tricked--and he knows it, and Jack knows it and Pam knows it, and they all know that there's no way that he can get out of it without looking like a fool.

That's one way that I imagine this situation between God and Moses. God comes to Moses and says, "I want you to lead my people out of Egypt." Moses doesn't want to go, but he also doesn't want to admit that he's afraid, so he makes all sorts of ridiculous excuses and goes to great lengths just to get out of the situation. In the end, he is compelled to go and commits to going, and it is only after all that is said and done that God shows up, as if with a smug expression and a slight smirk to say, as if in an afterthought--"by the way, all the people who were wanting to kill you are already dead." God had already taken care of everything. God wasn't leading Moses into a situation in which he would be at the mercy of the Egyptians. God had already taken care of that.

And in that moment, I'll bet, Moses knew that he really was a coward; and, what's more, he knew that God knew that he was a coward. God knew all along; he hadn't fooled God for a second with all his feigned humility and excuses.

And Moses probably thought to himself, "If only You had told me at the beginning." Imagine, if God had appeared to Moses in the burning bush and said, "Moses, I have a mission for you. All the people who wanted to kill you in Egypt are dead, so I want you to go and lead my people out." Then Moses could have stood with confidence before God and said, "Yes, Lord, I will follow you in obedience as all people should--without asking for guarantees or assurances, but trusting wholly in your steadfast love and abiding faithfulness." And the Bible would have recorded that Moses was the most incredible man of faith in the history of the human race and people would have praised Moses for his willingness to follow God and trust in him whole-heartedly, etc., etc.

But of course, if that had been how it happened, then Moses never really would have been trusting in God at all. Or he would have trusted God only so long as he was perfectly comfortable with the situation--as long as he felt that the situation was something that he could handle.

The Bible records that, "Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth." (Numbers 12:3) And I'm pretty sure that the humility being described was not the fake kind of humility of people pretending to be less than they are or feigning self-abasement. Certainly Moses had plenty of that, as we've seen. But then God got a hold of him and really humbled him. Moses was afraid--and God knew it. And God allowed Moses to make his excuses and to think that he was fooling God; and in doing so, Moses made a fool of himself before God. In that, he was truly humbled. He came to understand that there is no pretense before God.

That's where true humility comes from--from recognizing who we really are before God and avoiding all pretense and pretending. When we pretend to be more than we are or holier than we are or even more humble than we are--God sees through it and, from his love for us, he will not allow us to continue making fools of ourselves in that way.

This is one way that I like to look at that moment when God reveals to Moses that all the Egyptians who wanted to kill him are dead. It emphasizes the lesson of humility that Moses learned (and that we need to learn). We can spend so much time and effort and energy trying to put on a show and convince people and convince God and convince ourselves that we are someone other than who we are; we make excuses for disobeying God and try to explain it away in terms of inadequacy or lack of calling or something else or anything else. But when we do that, we prevent God from being able to work in us as we are. And the truth is that God wants to work with us--even amidst our inadequacies and fears and doubts and uncertainties and failures and embarrassments. If we will only stop hiding those from Him and meet Him face-to-face, then our lives will be transformed (--for the better, if that isn't obvious).

But there is another way of looking at this moment in the life of Moses that may cut even more deeply. Have you been where Moses may have been on that night? Agonizing about how to manage the tasks to which God has called you? Have you ever silently screamed to God, "Why!?!" We can work ourselves into such a state; and we saw how fear prevented Moses from really hearing God's invitation. All he could think about was how to weasel his way out of God's call.

Imagine, then, the absolute relief that must have washed over Moses when he heard those words: "all the men who were seeking your life are dead."

I hope you can see, now, why I claim that the main thing that was motivating Moses' fear was the fear of those who wanted to kill him. Go back up to the paragraph marked with the (**) to see where I make that claim. It's very important to me as a teacher that you understand where I got this idea; it won't do for you to simply take my word for it. I realize that there is no point in the biblical text in which it says, explicitly: "Moses did not want to return to Egypt out of fear of those who wanted to kill him. He was running from that memory for some forty years." The Scripture is not that explicit. But when we see him making all those excuses, its appropriate to ask the question "Why?" And then for God to show up after Moses has already committed to obediently following God's call, and then tell him that He has taken care of those who wanted to kill Him--that is so in keeping with the character of God that it convinces me that that is what was holding Moses back.

Remember, earlier when I asked, "Why didn't God tell Moses about that at the beginning?" This isn't the only place in Scripture where that kind of pattern is manifest.

God told Noah to build an ark years before he sent the flood; for possibly decades, Noah worked on building an enormous boat that, to all appearances, was completely useless. It was only after he built it that the flood came. (Genesis 6ff)

When God called Abram to leave his home and his family and all his earthly security, He did not tell him where he was to go. He only told him to follow and after he was committed, showed him where to go. (Genesis 12ff)

When the nation of Israel prepared to enter the promised land, they had to cross the Jordan river. He instructed the priests to step down the steep banks into a flood-stage rushing river and then he would part the waters. He only parted the waters after the priests had stepped into the river. (Joshua 3)

During a terrible famine, God sent the prophet Elijah to a widow in Zarephath so that she could take care of him. When he asked her for food, she told him that she had only enough flour and oil to prepare the last meal for herself and her son before they died of starvation. The prophet told her, "make me a little bread cake from [the ingredients] first, and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.' " (1 Kings 17) She obeyed and God provided for her.

One day, God appeared to a man named Moses and called him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Moses was afraid to go, but after he committed himself, God revealed that He had already taken care of what Moses most feared and promised to continue to be with him and protect him.

That's the pattern of how God works. He calls on us to trust Him. If we are only trusting in ourselves, then we will only last as long as we can handle the situations we face. But if we are to accomplish the great things that God has for us, then we must enter situations that are bigger than what we can control--that involve more than we can handle. And if we are to enter those situations successfully, we must trust in the God who is able to handle those situations and who is in control. Only then can we follow in the footsteps of Moses.

"So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand." (4:20)

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Have you ever been where Moses was at? Do you have unresolved issues with the past--memories that still haunt you and sap your ability to trust in God? Maybe you sense God calling you to minister to people who you once knew--people that you have been trying, for the longest time, to forget. Maybe it's somebody that you hurt; one of the hardest things to do in life is face the people that we have hurt. Maybe it's somebody who hurt you; maybe the anger that wells up in you at the thought of them is too much for you to even consider trying to face them. Maybe it's something else.

Some people simply choose not to pray to God because they are afraid that he will send them there. Maybe there is deepest, darkest Africa. (For those Africans who are reading, maybe there is deepest, darkest America.) Maybe you would be overjoyed to accept God's call to a foreign country; but if God calls you to minister to your family or to your relatives--or to those, particular relatives--or to those troublesome neighbors, well, that's a different matter.

Maybe you know where God is calling you, but the fear of what that would mean for your life is just too much for you to handle. You want to obey, but you can't muster the courage, and you are filled with self-loathing and self-contempt because you know that you are living in disobedience to God.

How do you resolve these issues, these fears, these struggles? Probably the first step is to be honest. Don't hide behind false humility or feigned self-deprecation. Don't pretend like you have it all together when you don't.

Only after you stop pretending, can God begin to work on you and with you. And be assured that He will. He loves you. Jesus offered a long list of those who are broken and hurting and in pain and fear and doubt and uncertainty. You know what he said of them? He said, "They are blessed." (Matthew 5) And if you will only stop pretending and present yourself openly and transparently before God, He will not condemn you, but rather lavish upon you His abundance and grace and love and peace and joy--as much as you can handle and more.

And as you live and walk with God, you'll discover what Moses discovered--that God has already taken care of everything. That doesn't mean that everything will be smooth sailing, easy, and trouble-free. Moses faced a whole lot of challenges. But every time he trusted in God, God took care of him. And we saw in the account of the bush that God was taking care of things even before Moses knew that they needed to be taken care of.

It is so easy to lose sight of God's goodness. We get too focused on this world and lose sight of what God is doing. And when we lose sight of God we stop trusting in Him. So we need to be constantly returning to and giving attention to God. Remember, that he is not distant and far off. Rather, he is right here with you. If you could only lift a corner of that veil, you would see a world bright and overflowing with the presence of God. Lift the veil over here--yes, God is here. Lift the veil over there--yes, God is there. Not just one bush, but every bush is afire with God. May we know that in our heart of hearts. May we remember it every moment of every day. May we see it all around us, and respond appropriatel--by taking off our shoes.

Earth is crammed with heaven!

This is holy ground!

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.