Moses and the Burning Bush: God in the Ordinary
Exodus 3:1–14
The Story
Moses had fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian and spent forty years shepherding in Midian. One day near Horeb — the mountain of God — he saw a bush burning with fire but not consumed. He turned aside to look. God called from the bush: "Moses! Moses!" He answered: "Here I am." God told him to remove his sandals, for the ground was holy. God said: "I am the God of your father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have seen my people's misery in Egypt. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring them out." Moses asked what name to give if the people asked who had sent him. God replied: "I AM WHO I AM. Tell them 'I AM' has sent you."
Did You Know
Moses was approximately eighty years old when he encountered the burning bush — his public ministry had not yet begun. God spent forty years in Egypt educating Moses and forty years in the desert humbling him before putting him to work. The preparation was longer than most people's entire lives. The burning bush was not the beginning of the story; it was the end of the preparation.
Takeaway
The burning bush was not extraordinary because it was on fire — desert fires were common. It was extraordinary because it was not consumed. God's presence does not destroy what it inhabits; it transforms it. Moses had to "turn aside" to see it — the miracle was available to anyone passing by, but only the one who turned toward it discovered what it meant.
Context
When God said "I AM WHO I AM," He gave Moses the divine name YHWH — the most sacred name in Judaism, spoken so rarely that its original pronunciation was eventually lost. Jesus would later claim this name seven times in the Gospel of John with "I am" statements. The voice from the burning bush and the voice of Jesus are speaking the same name.