We are in Exodus chapter three with our word for today. סוּר change direction, turn aside, go off, retreat, abandon, fall down, desist, depart. It is used 296 times in the Old Testament. We find our word used in a bad sense when one leaves God’s path or deviates from God’s direction. Deuteronomy 5:32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not תָסֻ֖רוּ turn aside to the right or to the left. Deuteronomy 9:12, 16 Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have סָ֣רוּ turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves… When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had סַרְתֶּ֣ם turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. Psalm 14:3 All have סָר֮ turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Daniel 9:5 We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have וְס֥וֹר turned away from your commands and laws. It is also used in a positive sense to turn toward what is good or better than where you were going. This is how it is used in our chapter today. Exodus 3:1-4 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And 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 it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will אָסֻֽרָה־נָּ֣א turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he סָ֣ר turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Our word is connected to an emphatic particle נָּ֣א this is to emphasize Moses actions so the translation “I will turn aside” is a good one. Moses turned away from his flock intentionally to see this miraculous thing. Notice that it wasn’t until he did this that God noticed and then started communicating to Moses. It is easy for us to stay busy and keep our eyes focused on our physical wealth, which is what the flock was back in those days. We can miss what God is doing around us and what God may be calling us into.
God certainly has interesting ways to get our attention and calling us into his service. Acts 22:6-8 About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’...‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. God doesn’t always have to get our attention in these dramatic ways. I’ll close with how he got Elijah’s attention. The most important thing is to be ready for God’s leading and serve him in his local church while you’re waiting for his direction. Because like with Moses God is watching to see if we are paying attention to what he is already doing before he shows us more of himself and his purposes. 1 Kings 19:11-13 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
