November 15, 2023 – Does the Bible Say…? 

Does the Bible say the bush was not consumed by the fire?

“During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God. God heard their groaning, God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, God saw the Israelites, and God understood. 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 mountain of God, to Horeb. The angel of theLord 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! So Moses thought, “I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” Genesis 2:23-25

There are a lot of reasons to envy Moses — he parted the Red (Reed) Sea — he bested one of the most powerful rulers of his time — he was in charge of a nation that had no home but a lot of people to tell him how to keep them in line — well that last one may not have been so good. But Moses is considered to be “The Prophet” of the Prophets in Jewish history. And throughout his lifetime, he talked with G-d on a number of occasions (in fact he had the opportunity to argue with G-d — and win).

Moses is a complicated individual. From being saved from certain death by his crafty mother and the mothering instincts of one of Pharaoh’s daughters, to murdering an Egyptian for abusing one of his kinsmen, he came out of obscurity to become one of Israel’s greatest leaders. The story of G-d calling him from the burning bush gives us some insight into his character — for he was not afraid to argue with G-d.

I just want to ask Moses what it looked like to see a bush that was on fire, but the fire was not consuming the bush. The Bible describes the voice of G-d as thunder, or the earth trembling. The Bible gives us many descriptions, but there are some things that happen that just seem to be an afterthought. What was it like to speak to the creator of all things through a mysterious fire? What did G-d’s voice sound like and did the earth shake when G-d spoke? What would you ask Moses if you had the chance?

Pastor Dave