Exodus 3

Long before the moment in The Ten Commandments when Charlton Heston proclaimed, “Let my people go,”¹ we find a less impressive Moses in a field tending sheep for his father-in-law. Remember that Moses escaped the decree that all sons born to the Israelite slaves in Egypt should be killed at birth. He was found in the river by Pharaoh’s daughter, and he grew up in Pharaoh’s palace. Years later, he witnessed a fellow Hebrew being beaten by an Egyptian. In a fit of rage, Moses killed the abuser and fled Egypt. Now we find Moses not with his people of origin or the people of his childhood but “on the west side of the wilderness”² tending sheep. Then 

“the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet was not consumed” (Ex. 3:2).

In awe and intrigue, Moses approached the bush.

“Moses, Moses!” God said.
“Here I am,” replied Moses.

“Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground,” he said. “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 (3:4–6).

In this encounter, Moses received God’s commission to call his blood relatives out of slavery, cast plagues on their captors, and lead the journey to the promised land, guided by pillars of fire and cloud. But Moses’s mighty acts were preceded by a humbling moment of reverence before the living God.

God began by calling Moses by name. It was personal. It was inviting. But as we see in the very next sentence, it was neither casual nor safe. “Do not come near,” God said. The fire Moses encountered was not a comforting fireplace blaze such as we might use to warm ourselves on a cold day. In the Old Testament, fire was used to signify God’s holiness and, more specifically, his anger toward sin.³ Was God giving mixed signals here? Was he inviting Moses or telling him to keep his distance? Yes! Exodus 3 gives us a perfect example of this incredible paradox that is held together only by sheer grace: God invites his people to approach him, even join him on mission, in spite of the fact that we are completely and incredibly unworthy of such an invitation.

Moses’s response of humility toward his God was the rite of passage needed for the future plans God had in store for him. Moses removed his shoes, taking on a servant’s position, ready for whatever his Lord would ask.⁴ For some of us, reverence may look like a deeper surrender to the will and ways of God. Like Moses, maybe you have a confusing backstory filled with poor decisions that plague you or the shame of family estrangement. Reverence through humility means accepting that God’s calling on your life holds greater authority than the voices of doubt and insecurity in your mind. Are you willing to be an instrument in God’s hands despite your perceived inadequacies? Reverence means humbly saying yes to God’s will not because of your worthiness but because you trust his wisdom and power.

Laura Story is a Grammy- and Dove Award-winning singer-songwriter, known for her certified platinum song “Blessings.” She serves as a worship leader at Perimeter Church and is also a Bible teacher and author of several books, including Stand in Awe and When God Doesn’t Fix It. Laura lives with her husband, Martin, and their four children in Atlanta, Georgia.

1. The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecille B. DeMille (Paramount Pictures, 1956).
2. R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (IVP Academic, 1973), 62.
3. Cole, Exodus, 64-65.
4. Cole, Exodus, 65.