As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier that I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11 NASB
Moses’ burning bush is a foreshadowing of the fire of the Holy Spirit spoken of in the gospels.
It is clear from the context in Matthew that the fire of Holy Spirit is for burning up the chaff in our lives. The chaff is all the junk in our lives: lies that we have believed, wrong attitudes that we have fostered, strongholds that have held us captive, etc. After the fire of the Holy Spirit burns up all that junk in our lives, we can have that renewed mind talked about in Romans 12.
The renewed mind is a mind renewed to the will of God, the promises of God and the purposes of God. This is exactly what happened to Moses; his mind was renewed to the purpose of God to deliver the Israelites out of bondage. Once our mind is renewed to God’s plans and purposes, He can place a mighty call upon our lives, just like He did to Moses.
Once Moses’ mind was renewed to God’s, God gave him the authority (the staff speaks of authority) and the power (signs and wonders) to accomplish the calling upon his life. Remember Moses had tried (and failed!) to accomplish the task in his own strength before he fled Egypt. It is only after the renewing of his mind, that God could trust Moses with His authority and His power to get the job done.
What I want you to see is that Moses was already serving the Lord when he “turns” to see the burning bush, the fire of the Holy Spirit. Moses was already shepherding (pastoring) his Father’s flock in the wilderness “near the mountain of God” when he sees a “marvelous sight.” The scripture says, “The angel of the Lord appeared to him.” That was God’s invitation to His servant Moses.
How did Moses respond to God’s invitation? He “turned.” Twice the scripture emphasizes that Moses “turned.” Why is that important? Because the word repentance means “to turn.”
If you put all these pieces together, it is a beautiful picture of the Fire Anointing of the Holy Spirit. Moses was already faithfully serving God as a shepherd. The Lord appeared to him with an invitation to burn up the chaff in his life. Moses repented and received a renewed mind. That is the whole point of the Fire Anointing; it burns up whatever does not line up with God’s plan and purposes!
Then God placed a call upon Moses’ life that was bigger than he could do on his own. God commanded him to “go” and lead His people out of bondage. Again, the calling is an invitation to a deeper relationship with God. Because when God asks us to do the impossible, then He empowers us to do it!
In Moses’ case, God gave him a staff, symbolizing His supernatural authority. And God gave him, His supernatural power to do signs and wonders.
In our case, Jesus commissioned His believers to “go” into all the world with His authority and His power to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast demons. Wow! Who can be trusted with Jesus’ power and authority? Those who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and FIRE!!!