Advent Day 5: Exodus 3:1-22

Read Exodus 3:1-22.

Ponder

• As you read over today’s passage, where do you see images of light? Of darkness? 

• Scholars and even the early Christian martyr Stephen (Acts 7) point to Moses as a savior who pointed to the greater salvation God was going to provide in Jesus. How do you see that in these verses? 

• What have been some “burning bush” moments in your journey with God—moments of decision, of calling, of repentance? How have you responded? 

• What steps can you take today to be open to whatever God may call you to in the future? 

Meditate

Centuries had passed since that dark day in the garden. Even as the world seemed to descend into chaos again and again, God kept shining light into the darkness.

He brought a great flood to deal with the wickedness that characterized the world, but saved one righteous man and his family who trusted the salvation God provided—a boat in a world that had never seen rain. 

He called Abram, an old, childless man with an old, barren wife, and promised to bless all the nations of the earth through their line.

He called forth a nation, a people for his own possession, and led them to Egypt, where they became enslaved. 

And he provided a rescuer who would lead those people out of Egypt: Moses. 

Moses had grown up in Pharaoh’s palace, taken in to live among royalty when he was just a baby. As a man, he’d wandered out to visit the Hebrews—described as “his own people” in Exodus 2:11—saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew and rashly killed the Egyptian man. Afraid, Moses had fled to Midian where he married and tried to go on with his life. 

Until one day when tending his father-in-law’s sheep, Moses encountered a burning bush, a bright light he couldn’t ignore. God was working to rescue his people once again, and this disgraced man in hiding had an important role to play in the story. 

Moses was quick to point out that many other more qualified people could have rescued the Israelites from Egypt, but only one was truly qualified to rescue us from the depth of our sin: Jesus. Only he could live the sinless life, die the sacrificial death and defeat death and grave with his miraculous resurrection.

Even as he called out to Moses from a burning bush, God knew that the rescue plan he was inviting Moses into would always point to a greater one. Our creator would also be our redeemer, saving us from our sin. 

Thanks be to God.