"This is the popular scene from Cecil Demille's "Ten Commandments". I remember watching this movie almost every year growing-up during Easter-Passover time. When I became a Christian in 1996 (first year in college), this movie meant more to me.
I thought this scene depicts how we can have that personal relationship with God/Jehovah/Allah just by learning how to listen to Him in a daily basis....
The site above has some notes I took in a conference called "Hear & Obey". Feel free to comment on your personal answer on "How can we hear God today?".....
"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, [even] to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush [was] not consumed. 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. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy ground. Moreover he said, I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which [are] in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who [am] I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this [shall be] a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this [is] my name for ever, and this [is] my memorial unto all generations. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and [seen] that which is done to you in Egypt: And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. -Exodus 3
Related Sites: The Burning Bush by Chuck Missler Commentaries , blueletterbible.org "
[STREAM] Exd 3; Exd 4; Exd 5; Exd 6; Exd 7:1-5 "
Do you know why God used the bush? I didn't know until your comment and I decided to research it. According to this audio teaching (Blue Letter Bible-Chuck Missler Commentaries ) I found, which I'll send to you by email. The "burning bush" was just a symbol of sin being consumed by fire and it never burnt, which is a symbol of God's grace (e.g. "Amazing Grace).-comment I made on youtube
Related Sites:
"..."And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt" (Ex. 3:2,3). Here was a wonder which all the magicians of Pharaoh could not produce. Here was something which must baffle all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Here was a manifestation of God Himself. The Hebrew word here for "bush" occurs in only one other passage, namely, Deuteronomy 33:16, where we read, "And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush." In this verse the word for "dwelt" is "shall-chan." It was, then, the Shekinah glory which was now displayed before the wondering eyes of Moses. This, we take it, is the meaning of "the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame" here manifested in the Shekinah-glory.
The "Angel of the Lord" was none other than the Lord Jesus in theophanic manifestation, for in verse 4 He is denominated "Lord" and "God." This sets forth a truth of vital moment to the servant of God. Before Moses can be sent forth on his important mission he must first behold the ineffable glory of the Lord. To serve acceptably we must work with an eye single to God’s glory, but to do this we must first gaze upon that glory. It was so here with Moses. It was thus with Isaiah (Isa. 6). It was the same in the case of the great apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:3, etc.). Make no mistake fellow-laborer, a vision of the glory of God is an essential prerequisite if we are to serve Him acceptably.
Ere considering the Lord’s words to Moses, let us first turn aside and view the "great sight" of the Burning Bush. We are satisfied that there is much here of deep significance; may God grant us discernment to understand and appreciate.
Spiritually the Burning Bush speaks of the Gospel of God’s grace. The symbol used was unique and startling. A bush burned with fire, and yet the bush (in that and desert a most inflammable object) was not burnt. Here was a mysterious phenomenon, but it set forth a mystery far more profound—the former natural, the latter moral. Fire in Scripture is uniformly the emblem of Divine judgment, that is, of God’s holiness in active opposition against evil. The final word on the subject is, "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). Here, then, is the deeper mystery: How can God, who is ‘a consuming fire’—burning up all that is contrary to His holy nature—reveal Himself without consuming? Or, to put it in another form: How can He who is "of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13) have to do with men, other than in judgment! Nothing but the Gospel contains any real solution to this problem. The Gospel tells of how grace reigns, not at the expense of righteousness, but "through righteousness, unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 5:21).....
"Gifts of Prophecy: Hearing from God by Ben Goodman and Stu Schulz
This past Saturday (March 24th of 2007), I (Sal) sat on a teaching given by Ben Goodman and Stu Schulz. Both of them have the "gift of prophecy", which was very credibile.
I: STU'S
A. Stu led the session by asking everyone present, "Everyone who hears from God raise your hand?" (prett much everyone did). Then he asked, how? It was awesome to see and hear the different individual responses...
-visions/pictures
-phrases/bible verses
*best indicator to measure
-thought/emotions/temptations
-experiences
-holy spirit speaks clearly
-dreams (one of mine)
-audible voice (Ben and Stu get this)
B. Stu shared how His prophetic word comes out through...
1. Spirit of Prophecy
-Worship Time because of His presence being invited
2. Gifts of Prophecy
3. Office of Prophecy
C. "What Can Kill You?" (what can destroy the prophetic word"
1. Fear of Man
2. Fear of being wrong
3. Fear of judgment
II: BEN
A WARNING he shared to those doing prophetic ministry or any type of ministry (e.g. counseling) is to "NOT take sides of the "victim" that we can relate (e.g. racism for me, chemical dependence, etc...) to"
*this is something that hit me personally as I've had some past mistakes (see ministry challenges)
He also taught about "not everything spoken" (from God) is meant for sharing. For example-super sensitive issue s (e.g. sexual orientation, sexual past, chemical dependency history, etc..) that are meant for individuals for interceding/praying for. If in doubt, talk to your pastor or church leader for advice. We just don't want any "church gossip" going around a particular church members' "super-sensitive" issue.
Other topics he shared are...
A. Character
1. Overcome fear (e.g. "man"-people) is doing what we are afraid of. Pride is one thing that keeps us down-"what would people think". Private worship time with God helps decrease that fear.
2. Love
a. 1 Corinthians 13
3. Money
4. Stereotypes/Expectations
5. Don't envy others
6. All Scripture is God breathed!
7. Pursue feedback
8. Attitude towards authority
9. Fellowship/mingling w/church family
10. Smile
11. Practice in small/homegroup settings!
"... material, Neale Donald Walsch was deeply inspired by the message that "the purpose of life is to recreate ourselves anew in the highest version of the grandest vision we ever had about ourselves." In order to take action with the messages and guidance of the conversations, Neale wanted to make the truths and lessons from the CwG book not only functional, but also universally available. Therefore, he formed ReCreation, the Foundation for Personal Growth and Spiritual Understanding. Incorporated in 1995, the Foundation was established as a non-denominational, 501C-3 non-profit. ."
-Author:
"...is a modern day spiritual messenger whose words continue to touch the world in profound ways. With an early interest in religion and a deeply felt connection to spirituality, Neale spent the majority of his life thriving professionally, yet searching for spiritual meaning before beginning his now famous conversation with God. His With God series of books has been translated into 34 languages, touching millions of lives and inspiring important changes in their day-to-day lives.. Neale Donald Walsch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Biography
Walsch was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 10, 1943, and brought up as a Roman Catholic by a family who encouraged his quest for spiritual truth. He studied The Bible, the Rig Veda and the Upanishads. He says his books are not channelled, but rather that they are inspired by God and that they can help a person relate to Him from a modern perspective. The God in his books, for example, says that "there is nothing you have to do." Walsch believes in a panentheistic God, who tries to communicate Himself as being unselfish. Walsch's vision is an expansion and unification of all present theologies to render them more relevant to our present day and time. He created Humanity's Team as a spiritual movement whose purpose is to communicate and implement his New Spirituality beliefs, particularly that we are all one with God and one with life, in a shared global state of being...
-Movie:
Conversations with God Movie Trailer
-Reviews: Conversations with [an occult]"God" "The quotes below reflect the mystical teachings of the occult Theosophical and "New Thought" movements.1 Each is part of a dialogue between author Neale Donald Walsch and a spiritual entity (spirit guide or demon) that calls itself "God." The result is a seductive occult message spoken with divine authority.
Apparently, millions of people believe these twisted messages came from our God. That’s not surprising, since Walsch’s books were promoted on the New York Times bestsellers list for years. Nor should we expect to be immune to the timeless pattern of deception that caused the decay of ancient Israel. The prophet Jeremiah could well be speaking to us today:
"Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. . . . you have taught rebellion against the LORD." (Jeremiah 28:14-15)
Because these books touch so many lives, and because their message reflects the global and spiritual philosophy of many educators and politicians in this country, we need to discern the source, understand the deception, and heed God’s guidelines:
"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." (Colossians 2:6-8)
Viewing the conversations between Walsch and his god from a Christian perspective, I believe that he received the politically correct answers through a blend of two increasingly popular occult practices: channeling and automatic writing. As he explains in Book 2,
DVD
The Art of Hearing God
"Video overview for The Art of Hearing God course "
"..When praying for people, ask the Holy Spirit what He wants to do in that person's life. Listening for His answer to act upon...
Word of Knowledge - Basic Training
"Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken". "So let them go to their churches; let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that relationship with Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" shouted his angels. "Keep them busy in the non essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,"he answered."Tempt them to spend,spend,spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles".
"Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work! Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."
"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs,sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so the husbands will believe that external beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. Ha! That will fragment those families quickly!"
"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders.Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy! And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions. It was quite a convention. The evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get more busy and more rushed, going here and there."
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