God’s Message From The Bush. The Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing flame of fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was on fire, yet it was not consumed. Exo 3:2
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Nation Israel Delivered and Organized
ISRAEL IN EGYPT, Exodus 1:8-12:36
2. The Deliverer Raised up and Called, Exodus 2:1-4:31
5. How did God summon him from the unconsumed bush?
THE BURNING BUSH
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro (Reuel) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.
The Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing flame of fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was on fire, yet it was not consumed.
So Moses said, “I must turn away [from the flock] and see this great sight–why the bush is not burned up.”
When the LORD saw that he turned away [from the flock] to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Then God said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet [out of respect], because the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The LORD said, “I have in fact seen the affliction (suffering, desolation) of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters (oppressors); for I know their pain and suffering.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand (power) of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a land [that is] good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]–to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and then bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
And God said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve and worship God at this mountain.”
GOD’S MESSAGE FROM THE BUSH
The learning of Egypt was not sufficient to equip Moses for his life-work. He is taken to the solitudes of the wilderness. That is God’s college. All who have done the greatest work in the world have graduated there-Elijah at Horeb, Ezekiel at Chebar, Paul in Arabia, and John in Patmos. God’s workers may take their arts course in the universities, but must take their Divinity course alone with Him. Often in the middle of daily duty we come on the outshining of his Presence. Let us be on the outlook for it, and take off our shoes.
This burning bush has generally been taken as the emblem of the Church amid the fires of tribulation; but there is a deeper meaning. The fire was the token of God’s presence. The bush was unconsumed, because God’s love is its own fuel. Notice the successive steps: “I have seen;” “heard;” “know;” “am come down;” “will send.” The “cry” of the previous chapter is answered by the “coming down” of this. See Luk 18:7.
Comments by
WILLIAM MACDONALD
Believers Bible Commentary
On
Exodus 3:1-12
III. THE CALL OF MOSES (Chaps. 3, 4)
A. The Revelation of Jehovah to Moses (Chap. 3)
3:1-4 In tending the flock of Jethro, Moses learned valuable lessons about leading God’s people. When he went to Horeb (Mount Sinai), the Lord appeared to him in a bush that burned with fire but . . . was not consumed. The bush suggests the glory of God, before which he was told to stand with unshod feet. It might also foreshadow Jehovah’s dwelling in the midst of His people without their being consumed. And some have even seen in it the destiny of Israel, tried in the fires of affliction but not consumed. We should all be like the burning . . . bush—burning for God, yet not consumed.
3:5 The Lord promised Moses that He would deliver His people from Egypt and bring them into a land of abundance—that is, Canaan—inhabited by the six heathen nations listed in verse 8. The word “holy” occurs here for the first time in the Bible. By removing his sandals, Moses acknowledged that the place was holy.
3:6 God reassures Moses that He is the God of his forefathers—Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Cole shows the importance of this revelation:
Moses brings no new or unknown god to his people, but a fuller revelation of the One whom they have known. Not even Paul’s words to the Athenians on the Areopagus are a fair parallel here (Act 17:23). The only true parallel is the continuing Self-revelation made by God in later centuries, culminating in the coming of Christ. Yet in its day the Mosaic revelation, while a fulfilment of patriarchal promises, was as new and shattering to Israel as the coming of the Messiah was later to prove to be.
3:7-12 Moses protested God’s sending him to Pharaoh, citing his own inadequacy. But the Lord assured Moses of His presence and promised that he would yet serve God on this mountain (Mount Sinai) with a liberated people. J. Oswald Sanders remarks:
His inventory of disqualifications covered lack of capability (3:11), lack of message (3:13), lack of authority (Exo 4:1), lack of eloquence (Exo 4:10), lack of special adaptation (Exo 4:13), lack of previous success (Exo 5:23), and lack of previous acceptance (Exo 6:12). A more complete list of disabilities would be difficult to conjure up. But instead of pleasing God, his seeming humility and reluctance stirred His anger. “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses” (Exo_4:14). In point of fact, the excuses Moses advanced to show his incapacity were the very reasons for God’s selection of him for the task.
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