Exodus 3

The Explanation

Moses is forty years old when this story begins. Well, actually eighty. He fled from Egypt long ago, after killing an Egyptian, and now he lives in the desert. Every day the same: sheep, sand, silence. He works for his father-in-law Jethro and takes the flock deep into the wilderness, all the way to a mountain called Horeb.

There he sees something strange. A bush is on fire. That in itself is not so odd in a dry desert. But this bush keeps burning without burning up. The leaves stay green, the branches do not turn to ash. Moses thinks: I have to get closer, I want to see this.

Then he hears his name. Twice. "Moses! Moses!" It is God Himself calling from the fire. God says: stop, do not come closer. Take off your sandals, because this ground is holy. Holy means: set apart, belonging to God.

God introduces Himself: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses covers his face. He does not dare to look.

Then God says something that Moses has probably wanted to hear his whole life. "I have surely seen the affliction of my people. I have heard their cry. I know their sorrows." God has not forgotten Israel. He has come down to deliver them and to bring them to a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And then comes the sentence that turns Moses' quiet life upside down. "I will send you to Pharaoh." Moses? The man who ran away? He stutters: "Who am I?" God answers simply: "I will be with you."

Moses asks one more thing. If the people ask who sent me, what is Your name? God says: "I AM WHO I AM." And: "Yahweh, the God of your fathers." That is God's name forever.

What Does This Mean?

God's name "I AM" is mysterious. It means something like: I am always there, I am who I am, and I will be who I will be. God does not change. He does not disappear. He is not one god among many. He simply is.

Notice that God saw and heard the suffering of His people long before Moses noticed anything. The Israelites in Egypt may have thought: God has forgotten us. But God says three times that He has seen it, heard it, knows it. He was never gone. He was waiting for the right moment.

And there is something else strange. God is almighty. He could free Israel with one word. Why does He want a stuttering shepherd for it? That is a question the Bible does not fully answer. But apparently God likes to work through people. He calls them by name.

The Common Thread

The name "I AM" comes back later in the Bible. Jesus once said to the Jews: "Before Abraham was, I AM." The people there understood exactly what He meant, and they picked up stones. Because Jesus was using God's own name for Himself.

The burning bush also points forward. God comes down to deliver. That is exactly what Jesus does. Not from Egypt, but from something even bigger: from sin and death. Moses is a picture of Jesus, but smaller. Jesus is the true Deliverer, who does not stutter and does not run away.

And that promise, "I will be with you," runs through the whole Bible. At the very end Jesus says: "I am with you always, to the end of the age."

For You

Perhaps you sometimes think God does not see you. That your prayers get stuck in the ceiling. This story says the opposite. God saw Israel's tears when nobody else did. He hears you too.

And maybe you think you are too small, too shy, too clumsy for God to use. Moses thought exactly the same. God did not say: you are actually really great. He said: I will be with you. That is enough.

Try this week to take off your sandals inside, so to speak. Meaning: when you open the Bible or pray, remember that you are talking to the holy God. Not a buddy in the sky. The real God who spoke from the fire.

Talk About It

Why do you think God chose someone like Moses, who had run away and could barely speak, instead of a strong king?

What would you have said if God had called your name from a burning bush?

Praying Together

Lord God, You are the I AM. You see us, You hear us, You know our sorrows. Thank You that You are holy and near at the same time. Help us to listen when You call our name. And when You ask us to do something, remind us that You go with us. In Jesus' name, amen.