A friend identified a brilliant red ornamental bush in a photo of Debbie and me as a burning bush (euonymus alata). His knowledge of botany was impressive. Even more impressive than the fiery red display of euonymus alata is the burning bush of Exodus 3:2-3. A bush burning but not consumed; what a “great sight” (v. 3)! It got Moses’ attention, and it gets ours, too.

The burning bush reminds us of the presence of God. God was present as He spoke to Moses from the midst of the bush (Exod. 3:4). God could have made His presence known another way, but he used a burning bush on that occasion. He had previously made His presence known through visions and dreams (Gen. 28:10-22; Heb. 1:1). Even as God’s word announced His presence to Moses, His inspired word announces His presence to us today (Heb. 1:2). God is everywhere, seeing and knowing all things: “‘Am I a God near at hand,’ says the LORD, ‘And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the LORD; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the LORD” (Jer. 23:23-24). Jonah learned it is impossible to flee from God’s presence and His will (Jonah 1). Do not run from God’s presence; run to Him and abide with Him in Christ (Matt 11:28-30).

The burning reminds us of the holiness of God. Because God is holy, when we approach Him, it must be in holiness (symbolized by the removal of shoes, Exod. 3:5). Christians stand on holy ground, communing with God. Therefore, God calls us to “come out and be separate” and to “touch no unclean thing” for Him to receive us (2 Cor. 6:17-7:1). We must be holy “in all our conduct” because God is holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16). We cannot live in the presence of God if we are living in sin.

The burning bush reminds us that Scripture is the word of God. Concerning God’s message to Moses from the burning bush, Jesus said, “have you not read what was spoken to you by God” (Matt. 22:31-32; Acts 7:31). But, those Sadducees did not “know the Scriptures” and, as a result, twisted them to suit their false teaching of no resurrection (Matt. 22:29). We must get this point: Jesus said God is speaking to you when you read the Scriptures. One cannot successfully claim faith in Jesus while rejecting what the Scriptures say. To deny and reject the Scriptures is to deny and reject the very word spoken to us by God. Moses tried unsuccessfully to resist the word of God by offering excuses why he was not the one to lead Israel out of Egypt, but God had spoken (Exod. 3:11-4:17). We will not succeed resisting God’s word, either. We must submit and obey God in faith (Matt. 7:21-23; Lk. 6:46).

The burning bush reminds us of the deliverance of God. God was about to free His people from their bondage (Exod. 3:7-10). Israel’s deliverance foreshadowed God’s salvation of sinners from sin’s bondage by the blood of Christ. Sinners are “freed from sin” when they “obey from the heart” the gospel (Rom. 6:17-18). Salvation by “faith only” is false. Obedience from the heart is the occasion when God will “see the blood” and forgive sins by the death of Jesus (Exod. 12:12-13; Rom. 6:3; Acts 22:16; Rev. 1:5).

The burning bush teaches us lessons of truth and holiness. May we remove every defilement of sin and obey God “in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24).

-Edited reprint, The Spirit’s Sword, July 12, 2009 

18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. 20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged (Col. 3:18–21, NKJV).

A growing number of educators, societal-influencers, and politicians are vigorously undermining the God-given family structure with their transgender ideology. One writer noted, “Nancy Pelosi and her fellow gender-inclusive enthusiasts have taken a bold and much-disparaged move to erase language that expresses the reality of familial relationships. In the name of inclusivity, words like “father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law” have been targeted for erasure from House proceedings” (Kimberly Ells, “The endgame of transgender ideology is to dismantle the family,” mercatornet.com). Wives (feminine gender) and husbands (masculine gender) form marriages, not the fornication of same-sex unions (1 Cor. 6:9-10). Gender is natural and biological. It is not fluid; a personal perception of oneself. Children are the natural result of marriage’s union of male and female (Gen. 1:28; 2:24; 4:1-2). It is not bigotry to recognize these fundamental truths. Sin and moral chaos result when God’s truth is discarded, not the utopia offered by refusing to retain God and His truth in our knowledge (Rom. 1:21-32). -Sword Tips #2167