Exodus 3:1-6 (ESV)
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his 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 flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." 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." Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God."
Have you ever wondered, "Why did the Lord appear to Moses in a burning bush?" We're not told explicitly. So, technically, the most defensible answer to that question is that we do not know why. However, that's also the most boring answer, and, to be frank, it's a copout. It's a bush that speaks and is on fire without being burned up, for crying out loud! Don't you think we should at least try to understand why God would do something so unusual? What's more, I believe God's reasoning behind why he appeared to Moses in that way is revealed in the course of events. And, as I will try to show in what follows, I believe the purpose of the burning bush was for it to be a living illustration that helped Moses understand God's plan for his life.
Here's what I mean.
Moses was an inauspicious man (cf. Ex. 3:11) with no message of his own (cf. Ex. 3:13) who was not only untrustworthy due to his past (cf. Ex. 4:1), but he could not speak without some kind of aide (cf. Ex. 4:10), and he was perfectly content to remain right where he had been for forty years (cf. Ex. 4:13). Yet, despite all of his faults, God chose an aging shepherd to lead an entire nation out of bondage.
God's appearance to Moses in a burning bush illustrated man's powerlessness and the Lord's powerfulness. You see, the marvel of that moment wasn't the plant (obviously) but the fact that, unlike every other fire that had ever been lit, that particular flame which had engulfed that particular bush chose not to consume it (cf. Ex. 3:2). Instead, God's blazing presence made a backcountry weed into a first-rate marvel that had to be seen (cf. Ex. 3:3). Likewise, God would take Moses—i.e., a lowly desert shrub—and allow his power to rest upon him. And just as the fire did not consume the bush, God's power would not destroy Moses; instead, it would transform him into such a marvel that every person in Egypt would fix their eyes on him. They will watch as this shepherd-turned-prophet performs many wonderous works in their presence (cf. Ex. 3:20). Ultimately, the Egyptians would end up bearing witness as this fiery tumbleweed from Midian floors a towering oak nourished by the Nile, bringing a mighty nation crashing to its knees.
And that is the way of things. God takes the so-called "simple things" of this life and uses them—i.e., us—to perplex and confound the wise (cf. 1 Cor. 1:27). Moses learned that the way that God works is by calling and equipping people that no one in the right mind would ever choose. In fact, Moses wasn't the only one who learned this principle. The apostle Paul had to learn this lesson as well.
When Paul was confronted with his own shortcomings, he implored the Lord three times that his "thorn in the flesh" be removed (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:8). And how did Jesus respond? "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Or another way of reading that is, "Paul, no. I will not remove that thorn because I am already strong enough for you. That thorn will ensure you will rely upon me all the more." But rather than bemoan his fate, Paul explains, "I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Do not miss the apostle's point: Paul gladly admitted that he was strongest when he was weakest. He had learned that the less reliant he became on his own abilities, the more reliant he became upon God's abilities. Thus, paradoxically, a Paul with the thorn was better off than a Paul without the thorn.
For Moses, he was nothing but a desert bush. For Paul, by his own admission, he was nothing but a jar of clay (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7). Yet, despite their unremarkable natures, both men were used mightily by God. Moses was lit on fire, and all the world saw the light. Paul was a vessel for the treasures and mysteries of God, and all the world was turned upside down (cf. Ac. 17:6). For us, well, what are we? Without God, we are nothing. But, oh, what wonderful things we can do with God. Thus, dear Christian, what makes us special is not who we are but who we are with the power of God that rests upon our shoulders and the promises that dwell within our hearts. Our world needs more people like Moses, who burn for the Lord. And our planet needs believers like Paul, who proclaim the truths of the Scriptures.