Jesus in the Fire – The Presidential Prayer Team

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. – Exodus 3:2

Archaeologists were on hand in 2003 at Litchfield Cathedral in Staffordshire, England, as contractors were excavating a portion of the cathedral floor to construct a retractable altar platform. Among the archaeologists was one who was ready to retire, when, to the amazement of all present, they discovered a broken piece of a triptych face down in the ground. On examination, it was a depiction of the archangel Gabriel at the annunciation of the coming birth of Christ to the Virgin Mary. Any plans the archaeologist had for retirement, were excitedly placed on hold.

Moses was eighty years old when God called him out of his comfortable life as a shepherd. Every year, desert areas have brush fires. But what Moses was seeing on that day, was not an ordinary brush fire. One writer, reflecting on today’s verse on Knowing Jesus, said, “I am sure he did not expect to find himself standing on holy ground, nor hear the voice of God thunder from the flames, ‘I AM THAT I AM.’ Yet on that day: ‘The Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses 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.’”

Was this Angel of the Lord in the blazing fire Jesus? In Judaism, “I am” claims attributes of deity. He was identifying Himself as God, according to the commentary in Got Questions. Of Himself, Jesus declares in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” Jesus is every bit as much God as is the Father. References to the Angel of the Lord are typically understood to be of Jesus.

Although hesitant as an old man, Moses followed the call of God on his life. The Lord was not finished with Moses yet. Whatever your age, God may still have something for you to do to serve Him. Whatever it is, He has prepared this for you beforehand (Ephesians 2:10) and gives you the power to do it (Philippians 2:13). Pray for Christians in government to do their work as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23), drawing others to the Savior in the process.

Today’s Verse: Exodus 3:2

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended for further reading: Exodus 3:1-12

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ²There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹²And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”