StandSample

A Heart Ablaze

I wonder if in the midst of mayhem at the Red Sea Moses thought back to his first encounter with the Lord. Did Moses remember the moment when he met the great I AM at the burning bush in the wilderness? That dramatic revelation of the Lord left him awestruck and changed the trajectory of his life. I just wonder if Moses’s heart burned hot with a fiery awe, like with the burning-bush experience, when he beheld Pharaoh’s army fast on his heels?

Hands down, that is one of my all-time favorite stories in the Bible. I’m drawn to it, just as Moses was magnetically attracted to the burning bush, because of the revelation we receive here of God’s glory and holiness. There is no other God; He alone is the almighty creator and sustainer of life. In our day and age, we’ve lost a holy reverence and awe of our majestic God, in whose presence we must bow down, take off our sandals, and hide our faces. What we see at the burning bush is a revelation of the Lord that brought about a transformation in Moses.

Stop for a minute and imagine Moses with his hands lifted up to the Holy One at the burning bush. The brilliance of God’s majesty seared his inner being, and he was undone. In this encounter, the Lord allowed Moses a glimpse of His glory.

There is a holy awe of God in the Exodus passage that stops me in my tracks, reminding me of the immense mystery and majesty of our great God. Once you’ve beheld the One and Only, what else matters? Once you’ve experienced a revelation of the Lord, who holds your next breath and takes it away all at the same time, what is a man that you should fear him? I have to believe that after this encounter, there was no contest in the heart of Moses. The Lord God Almighty had no rival for Moses’s heart. Who was Pharaoh in comparison? Let me express this simply: before we can stand before man, our hearts must first burn before God.

I believe that the revelation of God’s power and glory at the burning bush prepared Moses to face the Red Sea.

So much about the Lord is learned from this encounter. First of all, God disclosed His name as the great I AM. This name explains His being. He is the self-existent one, who owes His existence to none other. Just let the term self-existent roll around in your mind for a minute. Our God, the Creator of all things, owes His existence to no one. He is uncreated and without beginning or end. Therefore, He is without limits or measure. He is all we need!

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