Back to all lyrics
Artwork for Fire That Would Not Burn Away

Exodus 2:11-4:17

Fire That Would Not Burn Away

Lyrics · Exodus

Fire That Would Not Burn Away

Exodus 2:11-4:17

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Exodus collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Exodus
Collection
Exodus
Musical styles
Electronic
[Verse 1] Moses saw an Egyptian strike a brother in the sand, He killed the man and hid him, then fled Pharaoh's searching hand. Midian gave a well, a wife, a child, and years away, While Israel groaned in bondage and the covenant heard their pain. [Pre-Chorus] On Horeb with the sheep alone, A bush held fire but kept its form. [Chorus] Fire that would not burn away, Holy ground beneath his feet that day. The God of Abraham had seen the slaves and heard their cry, And sent a hesitant shepherd back to stand before the throne. [Verse 2] Moses hid his face as the voice called out his name, The LORD revealed "I AM" and spoke of freedom from the chains. A rod became a serpent, a hand turned white then whole, Yet Moses feared his speaking and resisted still the call. [Bridge] Aaron would become the mouth, the rod would bear the sign, The elders would be gathered, Pharaoh would refuse in pride. Egypt would be struck at last and Israel leave with spoil, For the God who spoke from flame had come to claim His people. [Final Chorus] Fire that would not burn away, Holy ground beneath his feet that day. The God who heard the groaning had remembered every name, And sent the exiled shepherd back through Egypt's gate. [Outro] He took the rod of God, And turned his face toward Egypt.

Named in this songMosesPharaohHorebAbrahamAaronEgypt

About the passage

Exodus 2: The child drawn from the water becomes a fugitive

Moses enters Exodus through a chain of preservation that repeatedly turns Pharaoh's policy against itself. His mother places him in a waterproofed ark among the reeds, his sister watches, and Pharaoh's daughter recognizes exactly what kind of child she has found and saves him anyway. The result is almost comic in its reversal: Moses' own mother is paid from the royal household to nurse the Hebrew boy marked by royal decree. Adulthood is rougher. Moses kills an Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew, discovers that the act is known, and flees when Pharaoh seeks his life. In Midian he again intervenes for people being pushed aside, builds a household, and still calls himself a stranger. The chapter closes with Israel groaning, and God hearing, remembering, seeing, and attending before Moses knows he will be sent.

Study Exodus 2 in depth

Exodus 3: A name, a presence, and a commission

A burning bush draws Moses aside, but the strange fire is only the threshold. The ground becomes holy because God is present, and the voice identifies itself with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before turning directly to Israel's suffering. God has seen, heard, and known the oppression, and Moses is sent into that answer. His first question is about himself; the reply is "I will be with thee." His next question concerns the name he is to carry, and the answer joins "I AM" to the ancestral covenant rather than replacing it. Moses is then told to gather Israel's elders, approach Pharaoh, and ask for a wilderness sacrifice. Resistance is announced in advance, as are the wonders, the eventual release, and the valuables Israel will carry away. The commission arrives with both opposition and outcome already in view.

Study Exodus 3 in depth

Exodus 4: The reluctant messenger and the dangerous journey home

Moses keeps finding reasons the commission may fail, and Exodus keeps answering them without pretending the task is comfortable. Signs address his prediction that Israel will not believe. God's promised presence with his mouth answers his concern about speech. When Moses finally asks for someone else to be sent, the exchange turns sharper, yet Aaron is provided as spokesman without removing Moses from responsibility. The journey back to Egypt then becomes unexpectedly dangerous. A brief, difficult encounter involving circumcision and threatened death is resolved by Zipporah's action, but the chapter refuses to explain every pronoun and motive. At the mountain Aaron meets Moses, the brothers gather Israel's elders, and the audience Moses expected to lose does the opposite: the people believe that the LORD has seen their affliction, and they bow in worship.

Study Exodus 4 in depth