#7 – Exodus 3:1-6
A Dramatic Encounter with G-d
Divine Appointment
Decades have passed since Moses fled Egypt. We picture a sun-weathered man, now pushing 80,[1] tending his father-in-law’s sheep in the western Arabian wilderness. At Mount Horeb[2] he has a personal encounter with divinity for the first time. And it is quite a story!
The saga begins with Moses’ attention being drawn to a blazing bush that is not consumed by the flames. In the midst of the fire is “the angel of the L-RD.”[3] Then we are told “When the L-RD saw that he turned aside to see, G-d called to him out of the bush,[4] ‘Moses, Moses!’”
Many religious systems have impersonal deities. But the G-d of the Bible not only is personal, He desires relationship. The Creator who knows both the number and names of the stars[5] also knows each of our names.[6] King David one day will marvel in Psalm 8:
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4)
There is purpose to this “divine appointment.” After warning Moses he is on holy ground, G-d introduces Himself – once again demonstrating how personally He relates to individuals. “I am the G-d of your father, the G-d of Abraham, the G-d of Isaac, and the G-d of Jacob.”[7]
He is in the process of becoming “the G-d of Moses” as well. Understanding dawns. Moses is not merely witnessing the unusual (an on-fire bush which doesn’t turn to ash). He is in the presence of the Almighty. Fearful of looking at G-d (and who wouldn’t be?), he hides his face.[8]
Fear factor/Misery Index
The fear mentioned in these verses is Moses’ very appropriate response to finding himself in the presence of the Holy One of Israel. We may consider two aspects of fearing G-d. One is a powerful reverential awe which we see here as Moses hides his face.[9] Indeed, God will later affirm to Moses, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”[10]
It is this “fear of the L-RD” that the Psalms connect with so many benefits such as goodness[11] and blessing.[12] Proverbs tells us “the fear of the L-ORD is the beginning of wisdom”[13] and connects fearing G-d with riches, honor, and life.[14]
That’s the good kind of fear! But a second fear of our holy G-d is the terror sinners experience when they face Him as judge. Scripture describes “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries . . . The Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”[15]
Where is G-d?
That question is easy to answer in this passage. G-d has made a dramatic entrance into our story in a highly unusual way! And Moses is about to discover how radically his life will shift as a result.
[1] Exodus 7:7 tells us Moses was 80 when he spoke with Pharaoh.
[2] Here Horeb is called “the mountain of God.” The same description is given to Mount Sinai in Exodus 24:13. The two names are used interchangeably in the Tanakh; see Deuteronomy 29:1, 1 Kings 8:9, and Psalm 106:19 as examples.
[3] This is the first of 56 references to “the angel of the L-RD” in the Tanakh. A study of these passages reveals a singular personage (“the angel” not “an angel”) closely identified with G-d. For example, in Genesis 16:10-11 “the angel of the L-RD” speaks to Hagar. In verse 13 Hagar indicates she “called the name of the L-RD who spoke to her ‘the G-d who sees.’”
[4] Exodus 3:4. This is not G-d’s first appearance in fire; see Genesis 15:12-18. How G-d reveals Himself to mankind makes an interesting Bible study.
[5] Isaiah 40:26.
[6] More than that, He knows even the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30)!
[7] Exodus 3:6a. By reiterating “the G-d of _____” He emphasizes His personal relationship with Moses’ father and the Patriarchs.
[8] Exodus 3:6b. What a contrast to the Moses who later will ask G-d to reveal His glory to him (Exodus 33:18).
[9] Isaiah’s response to his vision of the “high and lifted up” L-RD was, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).
[10] Isaiah 33:20.
[11] Psalm 31:19.
[12] Psalm 112:1; 115:13; 128:1-4.
[13] Proverbs 9:10.
[14] Proverbs 22:4.
[15] Hebrews 10:27, 30b-31.
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