Moses – 4
When Moses was on HOLY GROUND, in other words, when he had enquired why the bush does not consume, God speaks.
The first thing that God has to establish is that HE is consistent so introduces Himself as the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, notice here that the wording is very specific, “I AM the God of your fathers” What God is saying here is I have proved Myself faithful in the past to your forefathers, and I will be faithful to you. These forefathers had all had a personal encounter with a living God and now it was Moses’ turn to face the same living God and we read in Exodus 3:6 that Moses was afraid to look on the face of God and so hid his face. The truth is that none of us can look on the face of God and live, Charles Wesley, the Methodist hymn writer and poet, wrote ‘then let me see His face and die’.
I cannot see thy face, and live,
Then let me see thy face, and die!
Now, Lord, my gasping spirit receive.
Give me on eagle wings to fly,
With eagle eyes on thee to gaze,
And plunge into the glorious blaze.
Picture the scene, a bush burning and not being consumed, a man with no shoes on rooted to a spot a distance away and a voice that says “I AM”, what would you or I do? I hope we would be like Moses and listen to voice, the voice that says:-
“Moses I AM sending you so that you can lead My people out from their oppression”. Moses is understandably reluctant and says in Exodus 3:11 “who am I that I should go to Pharaoh” and in Exodus 3:12 God replies “Certainly I will be with thee”.
Surely this is all the assurance that Moses needs and surely this is all the assurance that we need, “I will be with thee”, a God who is committed to the willing servant who has enquired of God and who has come onto God’s HOLY GROUND. Moses still has questions and asks God “when I come to the oppressed who shall I say has sent me, what is His name?” Exodus 3:13-14. God’s answer is very simple, “I AM THAT I AM, I AM has sent me to you”.
When we are called by God, and all of us are called by God if we have enquired of God and come onto God’s HOLY GROUND, that is we have accepted and have entered into a living dialogue with God, a life’s journey of exploration and understanding that God IS I AM. The question is have we, like Moses, been willing to turn aside and enquire why the bush is not being consumed? so that God has been enabled to communicate to us so that we can go and rescue those in captivity, those who are oppressed and weighed down by life and its demands. We need to have an answer to the question “who has sent you, what is His name?”.
The answer is “I AM has sent me”, the great truth of this I AM was later worked out in Jesus who continually referred to Himself as I AM.
Have we turned aside and enquired why the bush does not burn? Have we enquired of God what He is called and have we embraced the answer and assurance that comes with the answer of the great I AM.
It is the acceptance and knowledge that the I AM is consistent through time, that He will give us confidence to speak for Jesus in a world that needs to be rescued by a loving God who has seen our afflictions, who has heard our cry, who has come down into our midst to deliver us in order to bring us up into a place that is flowing with milk and honey, a place of freedom in Christ that will satisfy and enable us to truly live, and live for Jesus.
