The Burning Bush: Moses and the Fire That Did Not Burn

Fire in the Middle of Nowhere

The Bible says Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock far into the wilderness. He led the sheep to the back of the desert, to God’s mountain, called Horeb.

There, in the middle of everything, he saw something strange: a bush was on fire. It burned and blazed. But the bush was not burned up at all.

Moses said to himself, "I will go over and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." A fire that gives light and heat but does not eat the thing it burns, that was not like any fire he had ever seen.

He started walking toward it, to see what kind of fire this could be.

A bush is burning in the middle of nowhere, and it does not burn up. Moses is walking over to see it close up.

What do you think he felt as he got closer? What would you do if you saw a fire like that?

Turn the page and see what happened next.

When the Lord saw that Moses came over to look, God called to him from inside the bush. "Moses! Moses!"

And Moses answered, "Here I am."

The fire was talking to him. It knew his name.

God said, "Do not come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Moses is standing on holy ground, with his sandals off, hiding his face. The voice in the fire has called him by name and said who it is.

What would go through your mind if a fire called to you and knew your name?

Turn the page. There is more that God told Moses.

The Lord said, "I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry. I have come down to deliver them and to bring them to a good and large land."

Then God said to Moses, "Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh. You will bring my people out of Egypt."

Moses asked, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the people out of Egypt?"

God said, "Certainly I will be with you."

Then Moses asked another question. "When I go to the people and tell them the God of their fathers sent me, they will ask, “What is his name?” What should I tell them?"

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "You shall tell this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"

It is a strange, mysterious name. The God who burns in a bush that does not burn up, calls himself the one who simply is.

How to Talk About This Story With Your Child

This story does not explain itself, and that is all right. A bush on fire that does not burn, a voice that stops a shepherd in the desert, a name that tells us almost nothing we can hold onto: "I AM WHO I AM."

You do not need to explain the meaning of that name to a child. The mystery is part of the story. A child can feel it: something real and enormous was talking to Moses that day, and it knew him by name.

One detail worth noticing is how the chapter opens: Moses was doing an ordinary thing, keeping sheep far from anywhere. The fire did not appear because Moses was special that day. The fire appeared in the middle of his ordinary work.

You can leave it at that. The story does its own work.

Pray Together

You do not have to use these exact words. You can tell God what you think about the story in your own words. Or you can pray this together:

Thank You, God, for the story of the burning bush. Thank You that You see people who are suffering, and that You are with them even in the middle of ordinary days. Help us remember that You are always with us, and that nothing about You is small. Amen.

Moses was keeping sheep in the wilderness when he saw a bush on fire that was not burned up. He went to look, and the fire called his name.

"Take off your sandals," God said, "for you are standing on holy ground." God told him he had seen the suffering of his people and was sending Moses to bring them out of Egypt.

And when Moses asked for God’s name, God answered, "I AM WHO I AM."

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