Exodus 3:4 ESV
When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Never before had Moses seen anything like that: “…the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed” (Exo 3:2 ESV)! How God appeared to Moses was not only spectacular but also gives us an insight into His manifest presence in and among men. Ordinarily, Moses could have run away at such an awesome sight in that solitary place. Think about this again: how be it that the bush was “burning”, yet it was not being “consumed” into ashes? That points to the fact that there are God-ordained experiences where a “burning” can occur but cause no destruction! What Moses said and did next shows a commendable approach to divine encounters.
Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned” (Exo 3:3 ESV). Hallelujah! Notice, curiosity to search into the seen-but-the-unknown experience, opened the door to Moses’ next dimension of encounter with God. Yes, as in our text, the Word says, “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.'” Hallelujah! Notice again, the LORD spoke with Moses only when He saw that Moses had turned aside to see what was happening. If curiosity had not driven Jethro’s son-in-law closer to see, what started as an unusual sight would possibly not have resulted in the deliverance of an entire generation from captivity.
Elsewhere, the presence of the Lord Jesus with some two disciples caused a burning without destruction (Luk 24). They testified to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luk 24:32 ESV). Beloved, what God was to Moses (in bringing about a burning without consuming) and Jesus was to the two disciples, the Holy Spirit is to us. Yes, in Christ, we are to be spiritually “aglow and burning with the Spirit” (Rom 12:11 AMPC), without being ‘destructive’ to our own selves or others in the Body of Christ. In the same way Moses’ curiosity and courage to see led the way to a more intimate encounter with God, approach every divine awakening with such an attitude. You never know what God may do or say next!
Pst. Emmanuel