After 40 years in the desert, Moses, now an old man of about 80, is visited by God. And notice how God appeared to him: through a bush that burned but was not consumed. The way that God appears here declares something already before any words are spoken. Fire is a symbol of the presence of God in Scripture. It carries with it the idea of holiness and even judgement. It symbolises the purging holiness of God. But what we see here is that although the bush is burning it was not being consumed. God was calling Moses to bear his presence just as the bush did and like the bush, Moses would not be consumed. This is the same for us, as God’s people. We bear God’s presence but will not be consumed by it, for God is present with his people not in judgement but in grace. This is difficult for us to understand and accept. It is like literally being on fire and yet somehow believing that the fire will do no harm! The moment we begin to ‘bear God’ many of us struggle with a sense of condemnation. God comes upon us like a fire upon a bush and we are awakened to his holiness, but the enemy makes us believe that we are thereby condemned. But that is not what God is doing now. This is the ‘year of the Lord’s favour’. Judgement is not on the agenda. If you have been awakened to God’s holiness then it is God’s favour upon you. If his holiness magnifies your sense of depravity it is only to make his grace burn all the brighter in you.
Ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit today.
Read Exodus 3:1-5 & Luke 4:16-21 & Acts 2:1-4
