Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Exodus 3-4
Key Verse
Exodus 4:5 — “That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.”
Devotional Thought
The burning bush asks something of us before it asks anything of Moses: it asks us to turn aside. Moses was working—keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, leading the sheep to the backside of the desert, to Horeb, the mountain of God. He was not seeking a vision. He was doing his job. But when he saw the bush burning and not consumed, he said, “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight.” Only when the LORD saw that he turned aside did God call, “Moses, Moses.” In this early June season, when the days are long and ordinary work presses in, the question is whether we will turn aside when God interrupts. He rarely shouts over the noise of our busyness; He waits for us to notice.
Then God speaks, and what He says is astonishingly personal. He does not merely announce His power; He says, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people… and have heard their cry… for I know their sorrows.” The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not distant from the brick pits of Egypt. He is attentive to groaning. And His answer to that sorrow is not a lightning bolt from heaven but a commission to a shepherd: “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh.” God’s deliverance ordinarily comes through ordinary people who are willing to go.
Moses, of course, does not feel ordinary enough. He protests five times: Who am I? What is Your name? They will not believe me. I am not eloquent. Send someone else. God answers each objection not with flattery but with His presence. “Certainly I will be with thee.” “I AM THAT I AM.” “What is that in thine hand?”—a rod, which becomes a serpent and then a rod again. “Who hath made man’s mouth?” The signs of the rod, the leprous hand, and the water turned to blood were not given to make Moses impressive but to make God’s power credible to a suffering people.
Even the strange, uncomfortable scene at the inn, where Zipporah circumcises her son and touches Moses’ feet with the foreskin, reminds us that the man who would lead Israel must first be obedient in his own household. God’s call is not a license for neglect of covenant at home. And when the LORD’s anger kindled at Moses’ final refusal, it was not because God needed a perfect spokesman but because unbelief was shrinking back from a trustworthy promise. Aaron would be his mouth; God would be with both their mouths. The people believed, bowed their heads, and worshipped. That is what happens when we turn aside and let God speak.
Reflection
- What burning bush—what ordinary place or interruption—has God placed before you this week that you have been too busy to turn aside and examine?
- When you say, “Who am I?” or “I am not eloquent,” are you measuring the call by your own resources rather than by the presence of the One who says, “Certainly I will be with thee”?
Prayer
O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I AM THAT I AM, we bow before You as the people of Israel bowed on that day. You have seen our affliction and heard our cry; You know our sorrows. Forgive us for the times we have walked past the burning bush, too hurried to turn aside. Quiet our hearts to notice Your voice. When You call us to hard things, remind us that Your presence is our sufficiency, not our eloquence or our strength. Sanctify our homes and our hands. Make us willing to go where You send, and teach us what to say, for the sake of Your covenant and the deliverance of Your people. Amen.