The Angel of the Lord Appears in a Burning Bush -- Exodus 3:1-2

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

So Moses stays in Midian, marries Zipporah, daughter of Reuel, has a son they name Gershom and he works as a shepherd taking care of his father-in-law’s flock.  In this particular text, Zipporah’s father is referred to as Jethro, not Reuel.  Why is that?  The commentators are all over the place on this one.  First there is the possibility that people had more than one name as per the ancient Near Eastern practice.  (That would mean Jethro and Reuel were one and the same.)  Then there is the idea floated by some that Reuel was really a title or a “family patriot” who actually gives the younger women his blessing.  As the chief patriarch (grandfather, or great-grandfather), he arranges or approves the marriages for the female descendants of his clan.  (This would mean that Jethro was Reuel’s son.)

The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia tells us that the different names of Jethro puzzled the Talmudists (authors of the Talmud, comprising some of Judaism holy books).  Some of them thought that his real name was "Hobab," (whom we will come across much later in the Scriptures) and that Reuel was his father; others thought that his name was "Reuel," interpreting it "the friend of God”.  Some modern scholars hold that his own name was "Reuel," and that "Jethro" was a title, meaning "his Excellency". According to Simeon b. Yoḥai, a famous 1st-century sage in ancient Israel and active after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, he had two names, "Hobab" and "Jethro".  The Jewish Encyclopedia goes on to say that it is, however, generally accepted that he had seven names: "Reuel," "Jether," "Jethro," "Hobab," "Heber," "Keni" (compare Judges 1:16; and 4:11), and "Putiel".  Somewhere in these options lies the truth and one day we’ll know.

In any case, Moses leads his father-in-law’s flock to the west end of the Midianite wilderness or desert and comes to Mount Horeb, the “mountain of God”.  This is the first time we come to hear the name of this mountain, but it is understood to be another name for Mount Sinai from which God (much later) gave the law to Moses and the Israelites.

It is there the “angel of the Lord” appeared to him.  This is the third record that we have to one called the “angel of the Lord”.  The first was in Genesis 16 when he appeared to Hagar.  The second was in Genesis 22 when he appeared to Abraham.  And now he appears many years later to Moses.  The term is used later in Scripture as well.  There is much that has been written about who this angel is and a search on Google will give you much of that.  Generally speaking, especially as his presence progresses through Scripture, there is agreement that this “angel”, for many reasons, is none other than the Lord or God Himself.

We then have here the famous reference to the “burning bush” (a misnomer) in which the angel of the Lord appears.  In actuality the bush was not burning at all.  The Scriptures correctly state there was a “blazing fire” in the midst of the bush, but it did not consume the bush.  It is understood that the bush was a thorn bush (with all the symbolism that can present and which many draw on) and because of the very dry desert environment and the acacia (thorn) being brittle, it is possible for it to easily be lit by any small spark, which would start a blaze.  The event was very rare and Moses was clearly attracted to it.  The equivalent for us would be to see what we think was a log fire but the logs were never burning.  Upon closer examination, we could detect that in fact what we thought was a wood fireplace, was a gas fireplace being fed by a continuous supply of natural gas.  The logs are never consumed.

So what then is the application for us today?  Let me suggest that we need to stop long enough and ask ourselves the following questions: “Am I aware of the ‘burning bushes’ that God places in my life, especially in my desert?  Do I realize His presence in them and am I attracted to it?  Do I realize the continuous availability of His power and sustenance to my life?  Am I dependent on it?”

I challenge you today to realize that without Him, you have no power to live a victorious life.  With Him, and in Him, and through Him, you have already won against the enemy.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Moses Marries in Midian -- Exodus 2:18-22

When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "Why have you come {back} so soon today?"  So they said, "An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock."  He said to his daughters, "Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat."  Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses.  Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land."

With Moses’ help, the daughters of the Midianite priest named Reuel returned to the house from their water-fetching duties much earlier than usual.  So Reuel asked them, “How come?”  Their reply was most interesting.  “It was an Egyptian,” they said that not only helped them, but they felt Moses had “delivered” them from the hands of the shepherds.  Moses must have still been wearing some of his expensive Egyptian royalty fashions.  But more interesting is that it seems he continued to play the role of a “deliverer” as he did for his Hebrew brothers back in Egypt when he smote an Egyptian in their defense.  Seems, from what we will learn later about his purpose in life, being a deliverer was indeed what God had in mind for him.  What he did in Egypt and what he did by the well in Midian was simply a foretelling of not only what he himself would be called upon to do for his people the Israelites living in bondage, but also of what the ultimate Deliverer, Jesus Christ, would do for the world.

So what does the father of the girls do?  He asks, “Well, where is he?  Why did you leave him there?  Go get him and have him eat with us.”  Yes, that’s Middle Eastern hospitality at its best that still continues today.  But Reuel, I am sure, had something more in mind.  Surely this Egyptian would make an excellent husband for one of his daughters.  So, the text says he had Moses “invited” to join them.  Moses was the ‘deliverer’ and the family had to “invite” him in.  I don’t know about you, but I sense a slight parallel here to how we are to “invite our savior” in to join us.  Like Moses, who had already delivered the young women from the shepherds, Jesus has already delivered us from our sins by what He did on the cross.  We need to first recognize it and then “invite Him in” to our daily lives as our “Deliverer” and Lord.

And what does Moses do?  The Scripture says He was “willing to dwell with the man”.  Moses stayed as Jesus wants to stay with you and me.  And if that’s not enough, Moses takes a bride from among Reuel’s daughters.  That’s what Jesus does – when He comes to stay within, we become part of His Bride, His Body -- the Church.  The parallels are there to be appreciated if we so choose, but never to be exaggerated beyond the obvious.

The woman that Moses married was Zipporah.  We’ll hear more about her later, but for now suffice it say that the meaning of her name is “a little bird”.  Well, we’ll see about that soon enough.  And speaking of his new in-laws, we’ll soon come across more implications of names and who’s who in this whole clan – watch out for Jethro vs. Reuel (later in Exodus) vs. Hobab (in both the books of Numbers and Judges).  But that can wait.

For now, let’s focus on the facts we know.  Zipporah gave Moses a son whom Moses named Gershom.  Moses called him that because ‘Gershom’ means being a “sojourner in a foreign land”.  That’s how Moses felt about his situation at the time.  And here any parallelism between Moses and Christ may seem to break down, but perhaps not totally.

A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place.  And that place is often seen as foreign ground.   Jesus certainly came to earth from His heavenly home and sojourned among us for thirty-three years.  But He is coming back.  The rest of us, including Moses, started off here on this earth and when we leave it, we’re headed elsewhere.  In a way, we’re all sojourners.  There is much good we can and must do while we’re here, but ultimately, for the Christian, this is indeed a foreign land.

Before we return to Moses, we would do well to think about our own personal temporary residence.  How can we make it better?  How can we occupy until He takes us home or until He returns?  At the least, we should never forget that our real citizenship is elsewhere.  I pray that God, no matter what your circumstances are, will give you courage and patience to serve Him well until such time.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken. 

 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.