Exodus 3:1 says, “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.” One day Moses led the flock to the back side of the desert. This indicates that we can be called only when we are at the back side of our situation, never when we are at the front. I believe that Moses led the flock to the back side of the desert because he was looking for the best pasture. He might have been dissatisfied with the familiar places, and he might have desired a new place. Thus, he went to the back side.
If we would receive God’s calling, we also must be in the proper place. This place is firstly the back side of our situation. If you are a teacher, God cannot call you at the front side of your teaching profession. You must be at the back side. In the same principle, if you are a businessman, you must go to the back side of your business in order to be called by God.
To be at the back side means that we are not content with our present situation. For years Moses fed the flock on the front side of the desert. But one day, discontented and dissatisfied, he decided to go to the back side to see what was there. If you are dissatisfied with your occupation or with your marriage, this dissatisfaction may turn you to the back side. Every one who has been called by God can testify that he was called at the back side.
In the calling of Moses, who came to whom? Did Moses come to God, or did God come to Moses? I would say that both were traveling, and they eventually met at a certain spot. God traveled there from the heavens, and Moses traveled there from where he was living. Thus, it is difficult to say who came to whom. According to our experience, we one day came to a certain place, and there we met God.
When Moses went to the back side of the desert, he “came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.” Many times the back side of our situation turns out to be the mountain of God. Moses, however, did not know that the mountain of God was at the back side of the desert. Nevertheless, as Moses was slowly making his journey with the flock to the mountain of God, God was already there waiting for him.
In verse 5 God said to Moses, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy sandals from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy soil” (Heb.). The “holy soil” in this verse refers to land untouched by man. This indicates that God’s calling occurs in a place where there is no human interference. God’s calling always comes to one who is on virgin soil, soil touched only by God. This means that every genuine calling comes in a place where there is no human manipulation or opinion. If we would be called by God, we must be in a place reserved wholly for Him.
On this holy soil there is a thorn-bush. Verse 2 says, “And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thorn-bush: and he looked, and, behold, the thorn-bush burned with fire, and the thorn-bush was not consumed” (Heb.). The thorn-bush represents Moses himself. The fact that God called from the midst of a thorn-bush indicates that the place of God’s calling is within us. God does not call us from the heavens; He calls from within us. Some may wonder whether this principle applies in the case of Saul of Tarsus. Initially, Saul was called by the Lord out of heaven, but eventually this calling became something within Saul. The Lord who called him came into him, into the “bush” from Tarsus.
Our experience bears witness to the fact that the place of God’s calling is within us. Every one who has truly been called by God can testify of this. At the beginning it might have seemed as if God were calling from the heavens. Eventually, however, it became clear that God was calling from within the “thorn-bush.”
Verse 2 speaks also of “a flame of fire.” This refers to the glory of God’s holiness. In the Bible God’s holiness is likened to fire. Whenever God calls someone, He calls him in the glory of His holiness. By calling a person in such a way, God separates him unto His holiness.
Apparently God’s calling occurred at the back side of the desert; actually it took place at the mountain of God and, particularly, on holy soil. Experientially, it was from within the midst of a thorn-bush, and, ultimately, it was from the flame of fire. This was the place of God’s calling of Moses: at the back side, on the mountain, on holy soil, in the midst of a thorn-bush, and in a flame of fire. In the fire God was calling Moses. In fact, God was the flame of fire, for the voice which called Moses came out of the fire. Hence, it was the fire that was speaking, that was calling. We all need to be in such a place. Then God’s calling will come to us.
To be called by God is not simply a matter of consecrating ourselves to the Lord, attending a Bible school or seminary, and then being ordained after graduation. Such a “calling” means nothing in the eyes of God. God’s calling takes place at the back side of our life in the world, on the mountain of God, and in a place where there is no human interference. Furthermore, we are called by God in the glory of His holiness from within the midst of a burning thorn-bush.