Human Response 105: Turn Aside to See

Exodus 3:3-4 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

Moses was in the back of the desert near Sinai when the Angel of the Lord (the preincarnate Son of God) appeared to him in a burning bush, but the bush was not burned up. Verse 2 calls Him the Angel; verse 4 says the Lord saw and God called. This appearance caught Moses’ attention and curiosity. Why was the bush not consumed? Many have pointed out the symbolism: God is with His people in their suffering (burning), but neither God, nor His people, nor His promise is burnt up (consumed).

This great sight caused Moses to turn aside to see. When he paused to look, God in the flame called to him. Moses responded correctly, in faith, knowing it was God calling, ”Here am I.” God got his attention; Moses looked; God called; Moses responded. This is how it worked with Isaiah, and Peter, and others. Many former Muslims in Asia report God appearing in a dream, leading them to a missionary or a Christian; then they hear the Gospel and are converted to Christ. What happened? They turned aside to see.

The Lord still works similarly in our daily lives today. Something happens, God came to our attention, and then we turn aside to see. We stop what we are doing, pause for a moment in prayer, open the Bible, or go to church. Then God calls us by the Gospel and we respond in faith. Every week we turn aside from daily activity to go to church and we end up hearing from God. Every day we turn aside to spend a few moments with the Lord in the Word and in prayer. The Lord is actually showing up and getting our attention more often than we realize. Therefore we turn aside regularly. It seems God approves of resting one day out of seven. Turn aside!