ANOTHER forty years had passed in the life of Moses— forty years in God’s school in the land of Midian—in the desert, and on the mountain sides. And doubtless many needed lessons had been learned in this time of quiet and solitude. But now the time has come when God is going to use the man whom He has been thus preparing for a stupendous work.
One day when Moses had led his flock to the far side of Sinai’s desert, and had reached Horeb, “the Mount of God,” he saw a sight that filled him with wonder. It was a bush that was burning, and yet was not consumed; and in the flame of fire that was ascending, he saw an angel of the Lord. He said to himself, “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” As he drew near to look upon it, there came a voice that made him tremble, and fear to look longer on the bush. It was the voice of the Lord, telling Moses that He was the God of his fathers; the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The Lord told him also not to come near; and to put the shoes off his feet, for the ground on which he stood was holy. This made Moses bide his face. But God had something more to say to him. He told Moses that He had heard the groans and cries of his people and had seen their affliction; and He knew their sorrows, and now He had come down to deliver them.
How very wonderful all this was! And here, amid the wonders of the burning bush, Moses gets his call from God; for the Lord said, “Come, I will send thee into Egypt.”
Moses was the one whom God had chosen to lead His suffering people out of the land of their bondage, and in this striking manner He communicated His mind to him.
Forty years before, one of his brethren had thrust him away, saying, “Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us.” Now God tells him He will send him to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush.
And now, dear young reader, what may we learn from the burning bush, which burned and was not consumed? Was it not like God’s people Israel, who were passing through the furnace of affliction, and still were preserved; for God was with them, even as the angel of the Lord was in the midst of the bush ! How beautiful it is that He tells His people Israel they are His, and bids them “Fear not!” He says to them, “When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” Isa. 43:1-21But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. 2When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (Isaiah 43:1‑2). Thus He walks with His own, and they are kept—even in the midst of the furnace.
ML 07/13/1902