He led a whole nation out of the longest captivity on record through the wilderness and into a promised land that actually had strong nations occupying it including giants, and all this without the sophistication that our modern day provides.
At the time of Moses’ birth, a law had been passed in the land by the Pharaoh ordering for all Israelite male children less than three years to be killed. However, his mother took a risk and hid the little boy for three months until she could hide him no more. Understand that this wasn’t just any ordinary country; this was Egypt where chances of the baby going unnoticed were almost none existent. Nevertheless Moses’ mother chose to stick it out and trust God in this matter. It is very interesting to see that God not only honoured that trust by saving the boy’s life, He actually made a way for the boy to be adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter and he ended up in his household.
How can a foreigner grow up in the palace as a prince unless the hand of God is upon that person for a unique purpose? God must have hidden him there for a time. In the course of time, we see Moses flee to Median in fear after killing an Egyptian man. Moses had actually acted out of zeal, because at that time, he thought he had figured out his life’s purpose. It was no longer enough for him to sit in the palace and to enjoy all the luxuries of Egypt. Purpose was knocking at the door of his heart.
Having great zeal without knowledge caused him to miss God’s set season and so we see him ending up in Jethro’s house and settling for a new occupation; a shepherd tending to his father-in-laws sheep.
Later in Exodus Chapter three, we encounter Moses leading the sheep to the backside of the desert and comes to Horeb which the Bible calls the mountain of the Lord. There, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. As he looks, he notices a burning bush but strangely it isn’t getting consumed. As Moses turns around to get a closer look of this great sight, the Bible says God calls him out of the bush saying “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”
Here we see Moses’s call. In it, we see amazing truths about God. Firstly, God introduces Himself “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” God will not leave room for guess work when He calls you.
He does not stop at that but goes on to reveal Himself as the Lord God. The Lord of Hosts. The word Lord actually translates master, owner and controller. He is going to rescue His children from under the firm grip of Pharaoh King of Egypt.
Secondly, He says “I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.” God is all knowing (Isaiah 40.28) and everywhere at all times (Ps. 139.7-10).
We see that God is clear about the issue at hand and what He is going to do about it.
He is going to deliver His children out of Egypt to a land He has prepared for them and not just any land but the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. God has the big picture figured out. He has developed a plan and can tell the end from the beginning (Rev. 1.8).
It’s at this point that we see God inviting Moses to be part of this great rescue by saying
“Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
I believe that each one of have has had or will have a ‘burning bush experience’ in our lifetime. There will be an occurrence that catches your attention and will never leave you the same. To some, it comes as a challenging situation, to others it might be an opportunity, but the guarantee we have is that each one of us will have one. How we choose to respond to this unusual event will determine the course of our lives.
It is important to note that before that eye-catching, heart pounding, life changing experience whether good or bad, God has already gone ahead of us. He knows the big picture and his plan will guarantee victory on any day. At this point it really doesn’t matter what kind of challenge is at hand, God has already figured out everything and made provision to deal with all possible eventualities.
He then will invite us to be a part of this Journey. All he asks of us is to trust him, to call upon His name and let Him reveal His purposes and plans to us (Jeremiah 33.3). We are not part of our family, work place, church by chance. I believe there is purpose to wherever God has planted us. He says to Jeremiah, “Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, I knew you and called you a prophet to the nation”. I strongly believe this is the same with many of us.
Purpose will be tagged to a place and a time. We read in the book Acts 17:26 “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,”
As a nation, we can never grow in the greatness of God copying others or living out of position. I believe like the various parts of the human body, if everyone found their place and functioned to the best of their ability, the whole body would be healthy.
The question is who are you? And what has God called you to accomplish in life? This is a good time of the year to reflect through these things, to put your fears aside and to make the long awaited move into your rightful position. Like Moses, God has planned a great work and testimony ahead of you.