Exodus 3:6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

The thing that jumps out at me here is that Moses had a proper fear, a deep respect, for God. Modern thinking might insist that was superstition, and it is certainly true that Moses’ theology was hardly developed, as we would think of it today. However, we have lost a great deal through consigning the supernatural to superstition. The German and Austrian theologians of the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries worked hard to “rationalize” religion, refusing to accept that God is transcendent and, on many levels, completely beyond our understanding. The devil certainly rejoiced at that! It was the same demonic “school of thought” that produced the “Critical Theory” that is poisoning politics today. All of life is interrelated! Moses had no such poison in his system, so when he realized he was being addressed by the God of his ancestors, he hid his face in fear and respect. Over time he got used to it, and even in this encounter he gets to the place of arguing back at God, but the foundation was there. He would not have become the great leader of Israel without it. Today we speak of loving God, which is not wrong, but it cannot be a casual love that takes God lightly. As Jesus said, we need to “Be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) If we don’t have an appropriate fear of God, we won’t appreciate the miracle of His grace that caused Him to send His Son to take the penalty for our sins and open the way for us to become His children by faith. Some people need nothing more than to be scared witless!

This is an area where I have struggled a bit. I grew up in a loving household, learning from infancy about the love of God, and at age five I proclaimed my love for Jesus, though I wasn’t baptized until age seven. That was a huge blessing, but I took too much for granted, and my fear of the Lord was sadly undeveloped. It was only when I was 24, a married father, that the Lord showed me the state of my soul, and I fell to my knees, crying out, “My Lord and my God.” I realized my intense and personal need for salvation, and that there was absolutely no way I could earn it for myself, and I threw myself on His grace and mercy. That was the best thing that could have happened to me! In a sense, it was my “burning bush experience.” I had no doubt of the reality of God, and I realized I was totally unworthy to approach Him on my own. That was exactly what Moses experienced here. I haven’t had as many open conversations with God as Moses seems to have had, but He speaks to me often, particularly through the Bible, and I am more certain that He is real than that I am! I am to love Him with all that I am, but I must never let that love, that familiarity, in any way degrade the respect, the adoration, the total obedience, that He is due.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You’ve brought me through over the 77 years of my life, and for all You will take me through until You take me home. May my commitment, my obedience, be absolute, not because I could possibly do it on my own, but because You are strong enough to do it in and through me. Thank You. Hallelujah!