Exodus 3:3

3 Moses said, "What's going on here? I can't believe this! Amazing! Why doesn't the bush burn up?"

Exodus 3:3 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 3:3

And Moses said, I will now turn aside
From the place where he was, and the flock he was feeding, and get nearer to the bush, which seems to have been on one side of him and not directly before him: and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt;
inquire into, and find out, if he could, the reason of this strange and amazing sight; how it could be that a bush should be on fire and yet not burnt up, which might have been expected would have been destroyed at once; for what is a thorn or bramble bush to devouring flames of fire, as these appeared to be?

Exodus 3:3 In-Context

1 Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
2 The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn't burn up.
3 Moses said, "What's going on here? I can't believe this! Amazing! Why doesn't the bush burn up?"
4 God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Yes? I'm right here!"
5 God said, "Don't come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.