Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that the, the bush was on fire. It didn't burn up. Moses thought, I'll go over and see this strange sight, why the bush does not burn up. When the Lord saw that he had gone over to, look, God called to him from within the bush. Moses. Moses, okay, here we go. You guys know this story. A lot happens on this mountain, to be honest with you. Next week we're gonna find ourselves back at the foot of this mountain after the Exodus, uh, with God's gonna come down with such thunder and and power that it says that the mountain shakes and so will the people. Y'all remember how much we enjoyed Will Coleman just last month when he delivered the goods? Was anybody here for that? Oh my goodness. We get to hear from Will Coleman next week tell us about these 10 commandments that God delivered. So, oh man, I'm just telling you, wait, the kids call the neighbors. You want to be here for that? I can't wait to hear what he says. But why would God speak? Let's ask the questions. Why would God speak to Moses like this? Can we just say out loud, burning bush? Kind of weird? Why? Well, uh, I, I could tell you that this is like the first of this story, the part of the story where we're gonna just see like the supernatural stuff start to show that God is in charge of everything. I could tell you that all throughout the book of Exodus, fire is a symbol of God's presence. But mostly what I want you to see is that God's just trying to get his attention. I think it's a test on the mountain. You gotta pay attention. The rabbis love this. By the way, how long does it take to notice that a bush is burning and it's not burning up? Do you know what that means? It's not burning up. It means it's burning, but the leaves aren't crinkling. The the, the branches aren't falling off. How long does it take, Moses? Are you paying attention? That's what this is. That's what this has become. Now, he doesn't know what's going on yet. You listen, I understand that what some of you are fighting right now because you, maybe because you suffered from it like, like chronically, but some of you are fighting right now, a big old dose of cynicism. 'cause you think like you've got this figured out. And it doesn't mean like I, I I hear you, I get you. I want you to know when we read this story, let's not be overly like biblically. I dunno. Let's just not be overly spiritual about it, okay? Moses is not the hero you think he is at this point of the story. Moses does not look at that bush and go, behold a bush burneth. I shall go and see if why it does it that Lord, I am open to whatever thy speaketh to me. No, no, that's not what it was. It, he even called it a strange sight. Moses is going, man, I'm here every day for 40 years. I ain't never seen that. And so he goes and he sees and he checks it out. And that's when God speaks to him. Now, listen to me. If you see a bush like spontaneously combust in the desert and that doesn't get your attention, and then that, that bush is burning, but it doesn't fall apart and, and isn't consumed and That doesn't get your attention, that bush starts speaking to you. That'll get your attention, folks. But I need you to know something. I I, that's an old joke. Listen to me. That bush wasn't speaking. It says the angel of the Lord. Ooh, this is where it gets pretty deep. What's the angel of the Lord? Angel means messenger of the Lord. The angel of the Lord was the angel of the Lord, was this mysterious Old Testament figure that would sometimes show up and deliver a message. But there are times when you, when you, there were times that the angel of the Lord talked like he was the Lord. Like hearing this story, he'll say, I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So the wait, stay with me. So this one who is speaking however he and Moses are now interacting. I don't know. I don't know. But however, they, so this one who is speaking was sent by God and is God, who's he talking to? There are many scholars and theologians at this point. None of us know, but they will suggest this could be like a pre-Christmas pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus, son of God in the story. I can't tell you that, but it makes sense to me. I mean, I'm not gonna argue against it. Listen, y'all, you gotta understand Jesus didn't come into existence that night in Bethlehem. We're clear on that, right? He's the eternal second person of the Trinity. All I know is that God is speaking and God calls him by name. And here's some research that I do think makes sense. MRI scans, I've told you this before. Your parts of your brain will light up. Strategic parts of your brain will light up when you hear your name, not somebody else's name, not some other word. But when you hear your name, your brain is on. It is ready. Moses. Moses, here I am Lord. Does that sound familiar? By the way, anybody who was here last week, it's the exact same language that he used with Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, I am here. Here I am Lord. It's the same, it's the same word. Uh, I'm here, I'm ready. And so now God begins to, to reveal something to him and God begins to speak to him. And to be honest with you, um, the first thing he gets is a lesson in holy etiquette. You guys know the story? He says at this point in the Hebrew, it's really forceful because in the Hebrew he says, uh, you better not take another step. Son, stop right there and take your shoes off. He's already teaching Moses about holiness. He's gonna keep teaching all of us about holiness. But right here he says, take your shoes off. Why? Holy ground. Here's the question. Why was it holy ground? Had there been some ceremony that made that patch of dirt holy? Was it like a really nice piece of, of marble? It had a great, you know, rug on it and just looked, just looked. Is that it? Why was the ground holy? Because God was there. It was the presence of almighty God. I need you guys to know something. We're gonna see this all the way throughout the series. God wants to dwell with his people and we messed it up at the beginning. And so for the rest of the story, God is going to have to redeem and to restore and to make it possible for us to even be with him. And we're gonna see this thing that happens on the mountain, man. It's gonna start happening all over the place. God will meet us in the most ordinary of places if we get deep enough into the scriptures and we will, he starts showing up like in homes and boats on hillsides beside a well. God just shows up in the most ordinary of places. Now I know some of you're going well, yeah. So if he's speaking that burning bush thing, sure would've been great. I'd love for him to do that with me. Well, let's just remember that Moses is now about to get like one of those once and forever assignments. So I'm gonna, I'm, I'm, you know, I'm gonna give God room to pack a little more zing in his message because this is a very big deal. By the way, I'm sure God is very relieved that I'm giving him wiggle room, don't you think? Yeah. No, no, that's, that's not what I meant at all. What I mean is it makes sense to me that this is an over the top kind of an invitation. 'cause this is an over the top kind of assignment. He's got his attention, something is about to happen. And so what does he do? He speaks to him. But y'all now let's just, I just gotta tell you this. I believe God is speaking to you. I think he's speaking to us.