Moses Meets the one, true God

Exodus 3: 1-6

“1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said further, “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.”

Moses, a Jew, was raised by the Pharaoh's daughter as her own son.  Moses had killed an Egyptian man that he had seen beating a Jewish man and fled to a place known as the wilderness.

In this scripture, Moses is tending the flock of his wife’s father who is a Midian priest.  The Midianites are thought to have worshipped a multitude of pagan gods, including Baal and Ashteroth.  We do not know if Moses was participating in the worship of these deities at that time in his life, but there is the probability that he was.

Moses led the flock beyond the wilderness near Mount Horeb, known later as the mountain of God because that is the site where Moses received the ten commandments from God.  

In the wilderness, near Mount Horeb, Moses met the one true God,  the God of his ancestors.

And the life of Moses was never the same.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)