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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 3:1

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Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, [even] to Horeb.

1. Moses acts as his father-in-law’s shepherd. According to P (Exo 7:7) Moses was now 80 years of age, and some 40 years had elapsed since his flight from Egypt (Exo 2:11). But we must not attempt to fit the narratives of J and E to the chronological scheme of P (cf. on Exo 2:23).

Jethro ] The name of Moses’ father-in-law in E (Exo 4:18, ch. 18). In J (Num 10:29), as also in Jdg 4:11 (RVm.), he is called Hobab. See on Exo 2:18.

behind (i.e. to the west of) the wilderness ] where there was good pasture. We do not know exactly where the ‘wilderness’ mentioned was; but the change of place from the E. or S. of the Peninsula (Exo 2:15) at least brought Moses to ‘Horeb.’ ‘On the approach of summer all the Bedawin leave the lower country, where the herbage is dried up, and retire towards the higher parts, where the pasture preserves its freshness much longer’ (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 482, quoted by Kn.).

the mountain of God ] i.e. a sacred mountain. So Exo 4:27; Exo 18:5; Exo 24:13 (all E); 1Ki 19:8 . It is possibly so called proleptically, in virtue of the sanctity acquired by it from the subsequent law-giving (ch. 19); but more probably (Ewald, Hist. ii. 43, 45, 103; Di.; W. R. Smith, Rel. Sem. 2 p. 117 f.; Sayce, EHH. 188; DB. iv. 536 b ; Burney, Journ. of Theol. Studies, ix. (1908), p. 343 f.; and others), as being already an ancient sacred mountain. Lofty mountains towering towards heaven were often regarded as sacred by the Semites; and the very name ‘Sinai’ suggests at once that it is derived from Sin, the name of the moon-god in Babylonian. Antoninus Placentinus ( Itin. c. 38) describes how c. 570 a.d. a white marble idol, representing the moon-god, was worshipped on the traditional Sinai by the native Arabs at every new-moon.

Horeb ] the name used by E (here, Exo 17:6, Exo 33:6), by the Deuteronomist (Deu 1:2; Deu 1:6; Deu 1:19; Deu 4:10; Deu 4:15; Deu 5:2; Deu 9:8; Deu 18:16; Deu 29:1), and in 1Ki 8:9 = 2Ch 5:10 , 1Ki 19:8; Mal. 3:22; Psa 106:19 ; J and P always speak of ‘Sinai’ (see on Exo 19:1). The two names are almost interchangeable; both denote the mountain of the law-giving (comp. Deu 4:15 with Exo 19:18; Exo 19:20); and there is apparently no place where ‘Horeb’ occurs, in which ‘mount Sinai’ or ‘the wilderness of Sinai’ (‘Sinai’ alone, except in poetry, occurs only in Exo 16:1) could not have been used. As Di. rightly says, ‘the names vary only according to the writers, or, as in Sir 48:7 , in the parallel clauses of the same verse.’ Still, it is unlikely that the two names denote exactly the same place; and probably ‘Horeb’ is a slightly wider term than ‘Sinai,’ and denotes not the mountain only, but the mountain with the circumjacent district (in Deu 4:10; Deu 9:8; Deu 18:16, it must denote not ‘ mount Sinai,’ but the ‘ wilderness of Sinai’ (see on Exo 19:1), i.e. the area in front of it, where the people were standing). The name Horeb (if Semitic) means probably either dry ground, or desolation.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1 5. The vision of the burning bush. Cf. Act 7:30-35.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Exo 3:1 to Exo 4:17 . Moses commissioned by Jehovah at Horeb to deliver His people. The dialogue between Jehovah and Moses, as in other cases (cf. Delitzsch on Gen 12:1), must be pictured, not as one audible externally, but as giving expression, in words which are naturally those of the narrators, to Moses’ mental communings with God, through which he was gradually taught by Him that, in spite of the difficulties which he saw before him, he was nevertheless to be His appointed agent for accomplishing Israel’s deliverance (cf. the dialogue in Jeremiah 14-15). See further, on the sense in which God is to be understood as ‘speaking’ to a man, the Introduction, p. xlvii f.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Jethro his father-in-law – Or brother-in-law. The word in the Hebrew is a word signifying relative by marriage. When Moses arrived in Midian, Reuel was an elderly man Exo 2:16; 40 years later (Exo 2:23 note), Reuels son, Jethro, had probably succeeded him.

The backside – i. e. to the west of the district. Among the Hebrews the East is before a man, the west behind him, the south and north on the right and left hand.

Desert – Or wilderness, not a barren waste, but a district supplying pasturage. The district near Sherm, on the west of the gulf of Akabah, where Jethro may have resided, is described as barren and parched; on the west and east are rocky tracts, but to the northwest lies the district of Sinai, where the pasturage is good and water abundant. The Bedouins drive their flocks there from the lowlands at the approach of summer. From this it may be inferred that the events here recorded took place at that season.

To Horeb – More exactly, toward Horeb. Moses came to the mountain of God, i. e. Sinai, on his way toward Horeb, a name given to the northern part of the Sinaitic range. Moses calls Sinai mountain of God by anticipation, with reference to the manifestation of God. There is no authority for assuming that the spot was previously held sacred (see Exo 5:5); but it has been lately shown that the whole Peninsula was regarded by the Egyptians as specially consecrated to the gods from a very early time.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Exo 3:1-6

A flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

Moses at the burning bush

I. The story of Moses is the story, at first, of failure. Two great streams of influences moulded his life–the one drawn from the Egyptian surroundings of his early days, and the other drunk in with his mothers milk and his mothers teaching. On the one side he had before him the revelation of the world in its majesty and power, brute energy and magnificence, massive purpose and force, and splendid genius, with a kind of weird and magical faith in the dim powers of the unseen–those speechless-eyed deities of Egypt looking for ever into his face; and, along with these, a rugged sense of the responsibility of human life. And then, from the Hebrew side, another strain of thought. There came belief in the governing providence of God; there was belief in something more than might and majesty of force, and brute power; something like a belief that the weak might yet become strong–for the early history of that people was the history of the individual, or of the tribe waiting, not for his power upon the tokens of brute force, but waiting, rather, for his power upon the evolution of their history under the providence of God. But where he expected amongst people of his kin to find aspirations after better things, and responsiveness to his own spirit, he met only with chillness, coldness, and refusal to follow. Then came his exile in Midian–an exile from all his early dreams and hopes, an exile from the splendid position he had in Egypt, an exile from the future which glowed before him, and an exile, too, from the confidence he had that there was the power capable of lifting the hearts of his people and making them fit to strike a blow for freedom.

II. Look, now, at the vision which restored him to faith and energy.

1. A revelation of permanence. The bush was not consumed; it held its own life amidst the devouring flame. Moses feeling was one of suffering from that which, after all, is so common an experience of life–from the temptation to cry, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. It was something at such a moment to find that the revelation was to him one of permanence, where everything had slipped from his grasp. A while ago young dreams were his; a while ago, in his manhood, a noble purpose was his; and now all is gone, the temptation is to sit down and take a cynical attitude, and say, with a world where all things change, and where nothing abides, the safest and the wisest course is to laugh at existence, and take up either the language of despair, which wails out vanity of vanities, or the easy cynicism which treats life as a joke. But to the man in that state came a revelation of permanence. In the midst of all this change of things there is something which abides. Do not believe the answer to the cry of your heart, that all things perish, that the powers of decay touch everything in your life. There is in the unconsumed bush, there is in the change and policy of the world, an element of permanence.

2. A revelation of purity. The place whereon thou standest is holy ground. In our first thought we think of permanence in material things. We see intellectual and moral things pass away and the materials remain; but the revelation of faith, the revelation of God, the revelation of all noble impulses of men, is everlastingly this: it is in the elements of purity that the powers of permanence are concerned. Mark you that the revelation given to Moses was not simply of the burning bush. Thrust thine hand into thy bosom; and he thrust it in, and drew it out leprous. Thrust thine hand into thy bosom again; and he did so, and drew it out clean. What significance is here to remind him that the cause of his failure lay not in the want of high purpose and high moral methods! The failure was not the failure of Moses purpose, it was not the failure of his high hopes; there was permanent power, possibly, but there was a leprous stain within the breast of the patriot, and he understood it so; for when at last his dream was nearly accomplished, and he had led the people out from beneath the tryannies of the Pharaohs, and had planted them in the wilderness, then he drew from the throne of God that real law, that holy code, and he gave it to them graven as the image of eternity upon permanent stone, and said this is the law of the longevity of the people; these ten commandments, engrafted into the peoples life, made part of their aspirations, part of their feelings, part of their intellectual powers, part of their whole social life, will guarantee their permanence. It shall be your life if ye will observe to do these things. The vision had taught him that permanence was to be found in purity.

3. A revelation of personal power and love. Behind the purity is a personal God. We might pause a moment and say, Why is this? If I have this moral law, and if the possession of this righteous strength gives permanence, why this personal God behind? The answer is simple. You and I may think there is energy in law; but, after all, law is merely a name given to certain causes and effects and sequences. There is no inspiration necessary in law. To tell Moses, indeed, that here this people could live, that there was no reason why Israel should die, that the element of permanence might be there if only the element of righteousness was there, would be to mock Moses, who might have said, All my patriotic hopes are gone; here I get the answer of permanence, but I do not get the guarantee of it. I get no inspiration as to whether any one cares. Lo! the answer is given: God cares; these people that seemed God forsaken, have yet God as their God; righteousness is not a dead letter, righteousness is an expression of a living will, and an expression of a living will moulding human life to achieve some great and final thing. Thus he began to see that he was not struggling merely against the nerveless hearts of men, but living and loving hearts were co-operating with his, and the aspirations which had dawned within his breast were not simply his own weak thought, but were the answers back to the purposes of God; for in the best sense it is true that the aspirations of man are the aspirations of God; and when you realize that, then you begin to see how needed is the guarantee which Moses asked, Give me strength; what am I that I should go? Because He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob–the God of this people who seemed to be no people; therefore their resurrection is possible.

III. The revelation was not for Moses alone. You remember the scene in Alton Locke, where the poet would go to the Southern Pacific, and there find inspiration for his song, and a shrewd Scotchman took him into the slums of a great city, where the squalor and dinginess of life existed, and said to him that the poet sees poetry everywhere–the poetry is there if you will turn your poets eye upon it. So also is religion. There is in every common bush the light of God, and only those who see it draw off their shoes. It is the old story again. God is near, God is in this place, and we knew it not. You may say that the vision, and that faith which the life which has surrounded you, has slowly dimmed and numbed, and you say, There is no revelation for me; my heart, my mind, is a wilderness now; there were little fruits and flowers in the garden of my early life, and I hoped to dedicate my life, and consecrate my services, to God–perhaps as a minister of His Church, perhaps in a high calling in the State; but now I have grown confused with new and strange thoughts, that rise sirocco-like; new things have swept away the old, and have left me no verdure and flowers in their place; I am in a wilderness, and there is no revelation of fire for me. Pardon me, there is. Alter your views. Do you never feel a sense of dissatisfaction? did ever cross your mind the law of self-condemnation, and have you not said, I meant to make more of my life in this place of study, and meant to have worked for a purpose; and now I am dissatisfied? Where I meant to be a living agent, I have only become an idle dreamer. I look back upon a wasted and unprofitable life, and say, Woe is me! all the bright, hopeful views have gone, and my life is like a shipwrecked thing. Is not that pain, which is the witness of your failure, the fire of God? He lets it burn, that it may burn away the base thing, and that you may see in the voice of noble discontent the possibility of stepping up once more to the dream of your early life, and by the strength of God achieving it. But we forget to turn aside to see the great sights about us. Give your hearts leisure sometimes to meet with God, and God will meet with you. Give your souls the opportunity of letting the light of Gods vision shine sometimes with a possibility of reflection upon your own, life, and the fire will glow, and the bush will burn, and the revelation will begin. (Bp. Boyd Carpenter.)

The vision and the voice

I. The vision.

1. The vision was miraculous.

2. Moses had this vision when he was in solitude.

3. It was symbolic–

(1) Of Israel in Egypt.

(2) Of the Church in the world.

(3) Of the truth of the gospel.

(4) Of ourselves, who have the religious life within us.

II. The voice.

1. It revealed the majesty and grandeur of God.

2. It revealed the special providence of the great God–the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

3. It proclaimed the faithfulness of God.

4. It demanded reverence. (T. Jones.)

Moses as the bush

This narrative is a chain of glorious wonders. We see here–

I. An old man called to go out on the great errand of his life. The education of Moses for the great mission of his life lasted eighty years. God never sends forth fruit until the season is fitted for the fruit, and the fruit for the season; when the hour was ready for the man, and the man for the hour, then God sent forth Moses.

II. The burning bush from which that call was sounded.

1. This was a sign to indicate the peculiar presence of God.

2. It was also a symbol of His people, eminently adapted to encourage the prophet in undertaking their cause.

III. The angel who uttered this call. We see at the first glance that He is Divine; we next learn that He is an angel; we further find, from a chain of Scripture proofs, that He is Christ.

IV. The covenant under which the angel gave him his commission. It was the same covenant that had been given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

V. The angels name. That name asserts–

1. His real existence.

2. His underived existence.

3. His independent existence.

4. His eternity.

VI. The effect to be wrought by the remembrance of his name.

1. It was intended to inspire profoundest reverence for the Being to whom it belongs.

2. It reveals the infinite sufficiency of a Christians portion.

3. It gives encouragement to evangelical enterprise. (C. Stanford, D. D.)

Moses education and life-work

I. How was the earlier history of Moses an education for the great work of his life? In order to free his people from their bondage, Moses needed sympathy and faith; and the Bible gives us three phases of his life, wonderfully adapted to educate him in these qualities.

1. His education in the Egyptian court.

2. His attempt to convince the people of their brotherhood.

3. His flight into the wilderness.

II. How did this vision explain to Moses the work of his life?

1. The vision of God prepared him for the work of his life. It showed him the everlastingness of God, and his own unworthiness to do Gods work. But the voice upheld him amid the overwhelming sense of his nothingness, and made him feel his vocation.

2. The vision of God gave endurance in fulfilling that work. Even should his work seem to fail, he had a grasp on eternity which would keep him strong and true. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)

The Divine call and its sign

I. The call of the chosen leader. Moses was already a believing man, walking in favour and fellowship with God, and in sympathy with his down-trodden people. We must carefully distinguish between Moses decision for God, and Gods disclosure of duty to Moses. The one took place in his early manhood; the other was deferred till the threshold of old age, when God gave the charge of the story before us, and the servants self-denying choice was rewarded by the sovereigns honourable commission. The two experiences differ, you see, as conversion from service, as personal consecration from official appointment, as entrance on a life of holiness from entrance on a life of work.

1. And here comes our first lesson–a lesson for all who, like Moses, await Gods call–the lesson, namely, of faith and of self-restraint. Are we struck with the fact that of the hundred and twenty years assigned to Moses, eighty were spent in preparation, and only forty in work? But it is Gods way. What seems a time of uselessness as regards the world may be a time of probation as regards yourself. And the time of probation, if quietly endured and conscientiously improved, may issue, ere God has done with you, in a work of deliverance on the earth, whose concentration, rapidity, and success may amply explain the preceding delay.

2. Take a second lesson at this point in passing–a lesson of diligence. I know not how God means to meet and to summon you, if, as in Moses case, He has special service in store for you; but I am sure of this, that revelations of special service are given only in the midst of conscientious application to ordinary duty.

3. Learn here yet a third truth–a lesson of constant watchfulness. For though Moses was at the time unexpectant, he was not upon that account heedless. His mind was in sympathy with the spiritual and eternal, and his eye was kept open to discern it: Be sure that, for all his industry in his worldly calling, the mood of Moses was such that no indication or hint could escape him from the world that is unseen and Divine. And let us take that spirit along with us, if, like Moses, we would find the lights and the beacons of God on our path–a spirit of devout and careful attention, of inquiry, and of vigilant thought.

4. The lesson of reverence is needed too. While the secret of the Lord is for those that seek Him, it is also for those that fear Him.

5. Holy diffidence. Much of the best work with which the Church has been served has been rendered by men who, like Moses, were at first overcome by the thought of it, and would fain have drawn back had Providence permitted. Take the example of the great pioneer of the Church in Scotland–the leader of its glorious exodus from the superstition and tyranny of popery to the heritage which God had prepared for it, in the light wherewith His Spirit illumines, and the liberty wherewith His truth makes free. When Knox was called to the pastorate of the church of St. Andrews, and the first step was disclosed to him of a road that led onwards to service and fame, we read that a strange thing happened. The audience were gathered, the service was proceeded with, the wish of the people was announced by the officiating minister, and echoed back as he spoke by the cries of the people themselves. But when Knox rose to speak in return, he broke clown into tears, left the meeting-place abruptly, and enclosed himself in the privacy of his house; and from that day, as the chronicler tells of him, till the day he presented himself to preach, his countenance and behaviour did sufficiently declare the grief and the trouble of his heart, for no man saw any sign of mirth from him, neither had he pleasure to accompany any man for days together. Such feelings of diffidence and misgiving will a true man feel whensoever he is honoured with special service; nor, if he is wise, will he seek to repress it.

II. The revelation of the changeless God. Nothing will establish the Church, nothing will support and encourage its leaders in times of trial such as those through which Israel was passing, like the thought of the changelessness of God, and in especial the changelessness and eternity of His love, of which trials, however grievous, and temptations, however scorching, form only a brief and a passing phase. The processes God employs may be many, but the principle He acts on is one. The manifestations He makes of Himself may be various, but the character that underlies them is the same. (W. A. Gray.)

Man in relation to mystery

I. That sometimes men meet with mystery in the pursuit of their daily calling.

1. This vision was unexpected.

2. This vision was educational.

II. That sometimes mystery is associated with things of a very ordinary character. A bush. The smallest, the most trivial, the apparently unmeaning things, events of life, are full of mystery, contain a heavenly presence, a Divine voice, will teach a reflective spirit, will become an impulse to a higher life–avocation. The bushes of life are full of mystery. The world is a great secret–is vocal with messages of freedom to listening souls.

III. That mystery should be investigated with the utmost devotion of soul. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.

1. There must be devotion in opposition to levity.

2. There must be devotion in opposition to curiosity. Why this devotion?

(1) Because mystery is holy.

(2) Because mystery is authoritative. It commands us to take off our shoes. Its authority is Divine; will be recognized by true manhood.

IV. That sometimes good men are favoured with a grand unfolding of Mystery. I am the God, etc.

1. God observes the conduct of men in relation to mystery. And the Lord saw that he turned aside to see. What a subduing, inspiring thought, that God knows all the efforts of our souls in their investigation of mystery.

2. God speaks to men who are anxious to investigate mystery. God called to him out of the midst of the bush. God speaks–allows us to investigate.

3. God reveals Himself as the great solution of all mystery. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Desert revelations

I. Let us contemplate the element of wonder in the history.

1. This was the crowning preparation and call of Moses for his lifes work.

2. This was to be the beginning of a new stage in the life and history of the chosen people, and of the history of the Divine unfolding.

II. Some of the elements of wonder here are old.

1. The Angel Jehovah was not a created Being. The designation is evidently used in a special sense, because, He speaks as God Himself and receives Divine homage. Here it means the Divine as self-revealing; the Infinite bringing Himself into relations of knowledge with a limited and finite creature, and into relations of covenanted grace and mercy. It is God to whom we can get near, understand, grasp, love, serve, obey.

2. The Angel Jehovah was God of the fathers. But He was revealed to them as El Shaddai, God Almighty.

3. But what He had been to the fathers He still was. The fathers God! The God of our dead! The sanctities of home life go into and along with our religion.

4. There was still another old element in the wonder; and that was the Fire. This was the same element which appeared amid and upon the cherubic symbols, darting hither and thither like flashing sword in the sunshine at the gate of Eden, and which we read of as the Presence, the faces of Jehovah; and as the glory of the Lord.

III. But to the wonder which was old there were elements added which are new. God reveals Himself here under a new name. An old word is vitalized with a new meaning, and is laid at the foundation of a dispensation. He will be known in all the Mosaic times and institutions, not as El Shaddai, but as Jehovah, I am that I am. He is the one self-existent, unchangeable, ever-living God of ages. From everlasting to everlasting God. But the name is adopted and comes into use, specially in relation to the deliverance from Egypt and the constitution of the nation. So it means, the Sovereign Ruler and Ordainer of the Ages, who has become a Righteous Deliverer and Redeemer. (W. H. Davison, D. D.)

The burning bush

1. Observe the substance of the figure. Not a fine tall tree, a cedar or a cypress, but a bush–a mere bush. Such is the image of the Church–poor and humble. It was at one time in the ark, and there was a wicked Ham, at another in the family of Abraham, and there was a mocking Ishmael. It was now in Egypt, consisting of slaves and brickmakers. Jesus had not where to lay His head, His followers were the common people, His apostles were fishermen.

2. Observe the condition of the bush. It burned with fire. Fire denotes suffering. Christians must have tribulation in the world. They are never to consider fiery trials as strange things. Of how many can God say, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction?

3. Mark the bushs preservation. The bush was not consumed. Sometimes the Church has burned in the fire of persecution, and sometimes of derision. But with what result? Whilst kingdoms and empires have passed away, and not a wreck of them is left but some vestiges in ruins, lingering in monumental mockery of the boasts of men, the Church still stands, as she is destined ever to do, in the light and strength of her omnipotent and faithful Lord. And this is as true of every individual believer as of the whole Church collectively. (A. Nevins, D. D.)

The bush as an emblem

Some also see in this bush an emblem of–

1. The awfulness of Gods offended justice (Deu 4:21; Mal 3:2).

2. The incarnation and sufferings of Christ, the bush representing His human nature (Isa 53:2), the flame of fire shadowing forth His Divine nature (Deu 4:24), and the union of the flame with the bush denoting the union of the Divine with the human nature.

3. Those dreadful sufferings by which sin should be expiated–Christ enduring the fierce flames of the wrath of God, yet not consumed (Heb 9:28). (A. Nevins, D. D.)

Was this a great sight?

1.It was the great I Am who exhibited it.

2. It afforded a bright gleam of hope to Israel, that their bondage was nearly over (verses 7, 8).

In order to see this great sight, we must turn aside–

1. From the world (1Jn 2:15; 2Co 6:17).

2. Carnal reasoning (1Co 2:14; Joh 3:9).

3. All known sin (Eph 4:17-18; 2Pe 1:9). (A. Nevins, D. D.)

The God of Moses

Here we have an account of God s disclosure of Himself to Moses; we have that which is the root out of which Moses whole conception of God and His government grew. Laying aside all preconceptions and prejudices, let us see what sort of a portrait this chapter gives us:

1. It shows us a self-revealing God; a God who discloses Himself to the human race, and communicates with them.

2. This God is one who is not indifferent to the woes and sufferings of His people.

3. He is a God of deliverance.

4. In working out this deliverance, He chooses human and imperfect instruments.

5. The very name by which God at once reveals and conceals Himself suggests the similitude between the Old Testament and the New Testament revelations. I am, says Jehovah to Moses; you must trust Me and walk by faith in My assurance, and not in an intellectual comprehension of My character and My purposes. I am, says Christ to Philip; you must trust in Me, and walk by your faith in Me: not by an understanding of what the Father is who hath sent Me, or a comprehension of what the Father purposes to accomplish in and by you. In a sense the Egyptian inscription, the Athenian altar, and Herbert Spencers definition are true; God is the Unknown and Unknowable. The intellect tries in vain to draw aside the veil; but love and sympathy pass behind it. Philosophy in vain endeavours to analyse and interpret mother-love; but the child in simplicity and faith reposes on it. The God of Moses and the God of the twelve disciples are alike in this–that They are the incomprehensible I am; to be loved, trusted, obeyed, rested on, but never to be measured, fathomed and understood. Sometimes from my hill-side home among the Highlands of the Hudson I see, fifty miles away, obscured by haze and overhanging clouds, and partially veiled, perhaps, in mist or rain, the distant outline of the Catskill range; and then the veil is drawn aside, the turbaned mist is lifted off their foreheads, and that which before was dim and indistinct stands out against the dark background of sky in clear, intelligible outline, yet leaving all the dress of grey rock and green tree and foaming cataract, and dark gloom, and flitting sunshine breaking through the trees, to the imagination; for at best it is only an outline I can see. So in the Old Testament I look upon the outline of my God veiled in cloud; in the New Testament the cloud is lifted, the mist is cleared away, and through an atmosphere like that of the most perfect October day I look on the same outline, distinct and beautiful against a heavenly background: and still it is but an outline that I see of the mystery and majesty of the nature I shall never know, never be able even to explore, until I stand in His presence and am invited to know Him even as I am known. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)

Moses and the burning bush; or, a picture of a true student and the Bible

1. That Gods purposes are punctual in their accomplishment (see Gen 15:1-21.). The clock of time had now struck the four hundred years, and God forthwith began to redeem His pledge.

2. That Gods purposes, in relation to our world, are generally accomplished by the agency of man.

3. That the men whom God employs for the carrying out of His purposes, He qualifies by a special revelation.

4. That this special revelation which He vouchsafes, is frequently symbolical in its character. All nature is a symbol. Truth in symbol is palpable, attractive, impressive. The burning bush was a symbol. But what did it symbolize? Gods presence.

I. Observe moses directing his earnest attention to the divine revelation.

1. Moses directs his attention to it, under an impression of its greatness.

2. Moses directs his attention to it, in order to ascertain its import. It is ever so with a true student of the Bible. He will seek to find out the reason of things.

II. Observe Moses holding intercourse with god through the divine revelation.

1. Gods communications depended upon his attention. Only he who looks and inquires, hears in the Bible the voice of God.

2. Gods communications were consciously personal to him.

3. Gods communications were directive and elevating.

III. Observe Moses realizing the profoundest impressions through the divine revelation. Hid his face, etc.

1. These impressions are peculiarly becoming in sinful intelligences. The Bible is designed to produce reverence for God.

2. These impressions are necessary to qualify men for Gods work.

3. These impressions are consonant with the highest dignity and enjoyment. He that is consciously least is always greatest. (Homilist.)

The burning bush

I. The locality. How many noted Scriptural events took place on mountains!

1. It seems as if they were above the common herd of man.

2. They are difficult of access. All religious duties must be connected with difficulty.

3. They were mostly places of solitude.

II. The spot. A bush.

1. Its insignificance.

2. Its incongruity. What apparent connection between God and a bush?

3. Its intrinsic worthlessness.

III. The phenomenon.

1. The bush burned with fire. Gods glory appeared in it, humble as it was.

2. The bush, though burning, was not consumed. (Homilist.)

Moses encouraged by the burning bush

Some would have us learn, that it is Gods glory makes the Church beautiful, and gives the poor bush its excellence and power; others, that the burning fire represents the afflictions to which we are subject as Christians, which exist, but do not consume the soul. We may, indeed, profitably extract any such lessons; they all help us on our way. But I think the appearance was only intended to encourage Moses. He was sent forth to go to Pharaoh, but complained of his own inability. God showed him that it was not the power of the instrument that was to prevail, but the influence of the Spirit which animated it; even as it was not the bush which was remarkable, but the fire which dwelt in it. (Homilist.)

The betraying bush; or, the Church in the world

Remember also, that you may attain the end of your being in any place; that you may adorn with moral beauty the very humblest sphere; that you may confer upon your position greater dignity than any position could possibly confer upon you. When we read the histories of the worlds brightest characters, we seem to forget altogether the social ranks to which they belonged; the dazzling brightness of their heroism, their valour, their truth, makes their outward surroundings of no account; the one prominent fact which forces itself upon our attention is, that they acquitted themselves like men, and won the admiration of all succeeding ages. Who ever stops to reflect that John Bunyan was a tinker; that Paul the apostle was a tent-maker; that Jesus of Nazareth was a carpenters son? Be it ours, therefore, not to murmur at our circumstances, but to make the most of whatever circumstances in which we may be placed. Let us learn from this scene how to conduct ourselves in Gods presence. Of course, God is present everywhere, our conduct should therefore be an habitual recognition of this solemn fact. Still there are times and places in which we come into Gods special presence. When we open Gods book, and meditate upon its contents, and endeavour to profit in the study of it, His presence breathes in every page, and speaks words of mercy, warning, and encouragement to our souls. Ah! my friends, it makes one sad to think, how men can treat their Bible as if it were mere trash; how men can repeat their prayers, as if they were useless forms; how men can hear the gospel, as if it were a worthless tale!

I. The Church in the midst of the world. The primary reference in the text is to the Jewish Church in Egypt. There is an uncompromising antagonism, an eternal conflict, between the Church and the world. And the Church being comparitively small in number, engages in this conflict at great odds. Hence it frequently seems as if she must be eventually overcome. The spirit of this world is in direct opposition to the principles which the Church is commissioned to hold forth. The morality which it propagates is a standing protest against the worlds most cherished notions. Is it likely that such teaching as this should provoke no opposition? It has provoked opposition of the strongest, keenest, deadliest kind. I shall not detain you with any account of the horrible persecutions which the Church has passed through during the last eighteen centuries of its history. But in spite of all, the Church has proved itself invincible; though persecuted, it has not been cast down; though burned with fire, it has not been consumed. Nay, we can say even more. The very trials to which the Church has been exposed, have only helped to develop its powers, to widen its influence, to make it what it is at the present day. The bush has been set on fire. True. But what then? The fire itself has been for its benefit; fanned into a mighty conflagration, it has shone all the more brilliantly in the midst of the worlds darkness.

II. God in the midst of the Church. The glory which appeared in the bush is a fit emblem of Gods presence in the Church–His life-giving presence–His protecting presence–His conquering presence. God is in the heart of every true member of the Church, God is the source of his spiritual life, God is the secret of his spiritual power. Gods presence is the Churchs chief defence. It is not strange that she has been so firm, so immovable, so enduring, when we consider the mighty Being, whose power has protected her. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. But this great fact–this ever-abiding presence of God in the Church–suggests a still more precious thought; for it is a guarantee for the Churchs future; its future safety, its future triumphs, its future glory. (D. Rowlands, B. A.)

The burning bush

Moses was not engaged in any unworthy work, or any career of sin. He was tending the flock of his father-in-law, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God. Here, perhaps, he had been often before, but as he led the flock along that familiar track, suddenly there came to him, in the calm and quiet of that lonely place, this wonderful revelation of the Lord, which became a point of departure in Moses own heart and history, and in the history of the people of God. So, I say, that which makes life worth living is this–we will come to the point at once–the great glory of our life is that God comes into it and reveals His presence; that God opens our eyes to see that there is more in the world than simply our daily calling, our flock of sheep, and our temporal interests; that life is more than a days work, no matter how diligently and conscientiously performed, and a nights sleep. God, the personal God, is here to greet our own eyes with the kindling glory of the manifestation of His own presence. He will change our life, its whole current, its whole outcome. And I would like at the outset to waken up an expectation in those who are rather apt to think that the day is gone by for them either to expect or to receive such visions and revelations of the Lord. My friends, Moses was an old man when this took place. Therefore let not those growing old, either in years or in cares, give in or sink down. Many a long day and year Moses had trudged about this very region, when suddenly one year, one day, one hour, one particular moment, he lifted up his eyes, and, as we all know now, Lo! there was God. In the midst of all the ordinary humdrum and; routine of life I see something. There is a glimmer, a something extraordinary somewhere, sometime, and I open my eyes. I was often there before, and saw nothing; but now there is a gleam, a light, an Epiphany. My very soul is engaged, led on, and on, and on, until the end of it is God as man speaking to me, lifting up my life by the grappling-hooks of His own purposes, and using and glorifying it and me for ever and ever. I want to show, for example, that you might have had a man, another shepherd, and that man might have been going on for seventy or eighty years of age like Moses, and he never would have seen this revelation. He would have got so down to the level of a shepherds life and a shepherds experience that when he saw the bush burning he would have got some natural explanation for it, and passed on. It would have come too late in the day for him to say, That is worth looking at. It is a little extra blush on that bush; but it cannot be a fire, it is only an extra glow of the sunlight on the furze. I do not think I ever sew it just so before, though. Meantime the sheep give a bleat, and he turns his face away, and on he goes. Oh, it is hard to waken up some of us! We are so unlike Moses. No; old as he was, he was as curious as a bairn. He had still the faculty to open his eyes and see wonderful sights, and clap his hands, and wonder what they were. May God take away the oldness of some of us, and give us the freshness of youth! It will be the beginning of salvation. Open your eyes! The world is not done, and you are not done. Your days are only in the beginning, and if you only get your eyes open to see what is here, they will never close again. When once God shows Himself to us in Christ, we, at last, have our eyes open. Curiosity! a human thing;–and God pulled Moses by that little thread–curiosity. And this great chain cable came after it–faith, clear, strong faith in a personal God, speaking to him, and giving him a personal message and mission. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. Now, turn aside; get off the track, oh man; step out of your way; turn aside. Go, go, go along this new course; it is not far to go. Do not sit still and let things go past. It is a wonderful world; it is a wonderful church; all life is just bursting with wonder, if you will only turn aside. But not everybody sees the burning. Everybody sees the bush. It is only Moses that becomes aware of the glory on the grass; the silence that is in the starry sky; the sleep that is among the lonely hills. The world is more than mud or atoms brought together fortuitously, or in any other way. The world is a burning bush. It is so far earth–solid, material. I can handle it, and become a man of science, and say, What is in it? And, God help me, I can become so much a mere scientist as only to see the bush and leaves and berries, and the shape of the leaves and the shape of the stem, and tell you how it grew, and then say, There is no flame. Just so; there is a way of looking at that bush, man–a way of looking at the bush that puts out its light, or your light, which is the same thing. There could have been a kind of man come tramping along here with the sheep, and with one single look he would have quenched that flame; and the same damnable thing may be in you and me. We may look at nature, and look at our own bodies, and look at Christ in the Bible; and look at the Bible itself, with such a blank look and stare of unbelief that God withdraws Himself, and never comes back. Never! There is a way of looking, a trick in the eye, that is an abomination to God, and He simply withdraws. Everything is a burning bush. Nature is such a burning bush. Nature is full of the supernatural, everywhere ready to burst forth, but you must not push forward, but stand back if you wish to see it. The more we push in irreverently, the more it flies from us. Our own bodies–a burning bush! Have you ever thought of that? Here is the physical, the material, the natural, but in it and on it the immaterial, the spiritual, in a true sense, the metaphysical. Streaming out of it, and above it, and beyond it, is that which lifts itself up from the mass of blood and brain and bone, and says, I, I am. Then, again, here is a burning bush for you–the Bible. So much of it natural: the boards, and that means the binder; the print, and that means the printer; the thoughts, and that means the thinker–like any other book. Like any other book, but, God be praised, more than any other book. For the glory, the voice, the Thus saith the Lord, comes out from this, that comes from no other book. Such a burning bush is the Church of Christ, and I speak not now of her survival of fiery trials. Now, a congregation, a Church, either in the large sense or the sectional sense of the word, is just like any other corporation or society. It has its laws and purposes, and there is so much in it of mans planning and guiding and ordering. Yet a Church is not a mere guild like any other; a corporation of people like any other gathering. No, no, no! It is like them as that bush is like any other bush; but, man, there is a glory in it, there is a wonder in it! The Lord is in this place. In all places–all places–where I record My name, there will I come, and I will bless them. Oh, Thou that dwellest in Thy Church, shine forth. For some of us it is becoming only a bush, an institution like any other. And I see coming to us Christ Himself as a burning bush. There He lies, a baby, like your own, my good woman; but, unlike your own, there is a glory, there is a flame. Wherever you come across Him, as babe, or as boy, or as man, or as crucified, there is the flame, there is the extra superadded something, and that something is the eternal and uncreated Godhead. Worship Him, wherever you meet Him, from Bethlehem right on to the cross, on to the glory. Worship Him–God in human flesh. Turn aside and see this great sight: why human nature can exhibit this mystery–why the bush is not burnt. But further, all this came to Moses, humanly speaking, this wonderful revelation, because of reverence. Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. He was near enough. I can quite well understand that very likely no man more than Moses would feel, Oh, I would like to see this great sight, and get to the bottom of it. But he could not, and we should not. God has set bounds to the inquiries of the human spirit, not cramping bounds, but wise and safe ones. So with many other difficulties. How am I at once body and spirit? But I am warned by this, that many men who have gone into that question in order to find out about it have put out their eyes. They come back from the examination of the human frame, from wonder upon wonder, they come back and say, We have found no spirit, no breath of God; all that has no warrant from our researches. Out you go with your researches! And they go to this Bible and say, It is a very wonderful Book, and we have examined it in the spirit of frank, candid, and fearless inquiry. We have not scoffed at the Book, nor scorned it; we have examined it in the spirit of frank and fearless inquiry, and we find the glory is gone. It is just so. There is only one method–the reverent; and one result–and that is to know God better and bow down flatter before Him. You cannot take away the hyphen that holds the burning and the bush together. When even Moses would have gone forward to see why, he was kept back, and his thoughts turned in more profitable directions. So you are forbidden to go nearer; you are near enough to see and to know and to bow down and to give an intelligent, wholehearted adoration and worship of obedience. And any spirit that enters into you and me, and makes me go beyond the point where Moses had to pull up, is a dangerous spirit, alike in method and result. (J. McNeill.)

The call of Moses

I. The occasion of the call.

1. Solitude.

2. God is watching a man.

3. God doesnt call until the man turns aside to see.

II. The source of the call. A bramble that does not burn away.

III. Results of the call.

1. Reverent self-surrender.

2. Transformation of life. (E. Judson.)

The manifestation of God

I. The manifestation of God in the purity of its nature.

1. Purity is essential to the being of God.

2. Purity is essential to the government of God.

3. Purity is essential to the worship of God.

II. The manifestation of God in the severity of its operation–the bush was burned with fire. Every impurity must be consumed, and every obstacle to the kingdom of God must be destroyed. This severity is evident–

1. In the chastisements of the godly, and–

2. In the utter destruction of the impenitent.

III. The manifestation of God in its gracious intention–and the bush was not consumed.

1. God in Christ is a Saviour.

2. The operations of the Holy Spirit purify the soul, but do not destroy the man. (British Weekly.)

The burning bush

I. The circumstances in which Moses was, when the Lord appeared to him in the desert. Keeping sheep. What a contrast to his employments in youth! Yet probably this was the happiest part of his life. Time for reflection and for poetical musings.

II. The nature of the appearance.

1. The emblem in which the Church was held forth–Bush. If numbers and splendour are the mark of a true Church as its properties, where should we find for many ages the Church of God? Seldom in the Old Testament, never in the New. The Church of God was once enclosed in the ark; at this time it consisted of a number of slaves and brickmakers.

2. The condition in which it was found. Burning with fire. Grievously oppressed and persecuted.

3. Its preservation. Not consumed. The blood of the martyrs has ever been the seed of the Church.

4. The cause of this security. The angel of the Lord was in the midst of it.

III. The attention it awakened. Let us, like Moses, turn aside, and contemplate His revelations.

IV. Gods prohibition, or rather, regulation. A check on curiosity. Be satisfied with the facts of Christianity, without the philosophy of them. Be content with the use of things, rather than attempt to dive into their nature and their qualities. Take the religious controversies, which have occupied so much time, and which have injured so many fine tempers; and what have they commonly turned to, but things too deep for human reasoning to fathom, too lofty to be soared to without presumption, or too insignificant to merit regard?

V. Gods address. All along, from the beginning, God has shown favour to some for the sake of others. Under the law He was called–The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. because the covenant made with them was for Israel: in him they were blessed, and for his sake they received all things. But now the covenant made for the spiritual Israel, was made with a far more glorious character; it was set up from everlasting–from the beginning, ere the earth was. His name is Jesus: it is in Him that we are accepted; it is in Him that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places; it is for His sake that we receive all things. And therefore, while of old His style was, The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is now, under the gospel, The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are two things derivable from this address of God, when He says, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first is, that unquestionably, therefore, Moses had some knowledge of a future state. He does not say, He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; their spirits are with Me now; their renewed bodies shall be, by and by, as certainly as they are now in the dust. You observe, also, that God sustains His relationship to those of your connections, who are gone before.

VI. Let us observe the impression made upon moses. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

1. Here you see, first, that Divine manifestation always produces self-diffidence and abasement.

2. You see, also, how little we can physically bear. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; the splendour would be too much for the eye, the sounds too much for the ear; the poor frame would break down under that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. (W. Jay.)

Gods Bible not consumed

This book, do you see it? Not a leaf, not a word, not a letter of it, but has been burned ten thousand times–on parchment, papyrus, and paper; in many a language and many a land it has fed the furnace and lit the fire. It has been piled by thousands and thousands at a time in huge bonfires, and offered amid the yells of triumphant crowds, a holocaust to gods of wood and to the triple-crowned idol of the papal throne! The bush has burned with fire. But the bush was not consumed. This Book is ubiquitous; never a land under heaven that has it not, never a language among men that does not contain it. Paganism, I tell you, has had it trampled into dirt by beasts; popery has burnt it at the hands of the common hangman; sceptical science has branded and seared it as with hot iron; infidelity has torn it into shreds; and atheism, of the modern type, has besmeared its pages with mud and filth whose fumes are insupportable–but the bush is not consumed! Lo! the bush burned with fire. But the blessed Saviour declares that the servant shall be as his Lord. What has been done to Him in the world, He says, shall be done to you also, Christian believer. Then the burning bush is a lively image of the Christian too. Now I desire to leave one final thought with you. Why did not the fire burn the bush? Because the Lord was in it. He had made it His temporary dwelling-place. Why did not the fire burn the Christ? Through wrath and rage of man and devil, through cross, and death, and hell, He passed unscathed. Why? Because of the Divine in Him. Because the bush of that clay temple of humanity was the tabernacle in which dwelt the Deity. Why has not the fierce, horrible, and perpetual fires of persecution and testing succeeded in destroying the Christian Church? Because God is in it. In it the tabernacle of God is with men. Christ walks amid the golden candlesticks; the Father dwells where His name is recorded, and the very life-breath of the Church is the living Spirit of God. (J. J. Wray.)

The burning bush

I. An emblem.

1. This bush had God in the midst of it (verse 4), and the Church has God in the midst of her (Psa 46:5).

2. This bush, burning in the night, gave a great light in the wilderness; and the Church of God gives a great light in this dark world.

3. The bush burns, but is unburnt. The Church suffers, but stiff survives.

II. A miracle. The first miracle we read of was wrought upon fire. Fire had been more worshipped than any of the elements of nature: from the Moloch of the Ammonites to the Juggernaut of the Hindoos, no idol has had such crowded temples or costly offerings. God struck His first blow at the favourite idol. He will not give His honour to another, nor His glory to graven images. He will not have a rival–He cannot have an equal. All the miracles of Egypt were wrought against idolatry. Each was a blow struck at some favourite idol. In Babylon another blow was struck at fire, in the case of the three Hebrew youths.

III. A magnet. I will draw near and see, etc. Since the fall, man has ever been more alive to the gratification of his curiosity than the welfare of his soul. Plain truths, though big with importance to him, he neglects; but mysteries in nature, providence, and revelation, he industriously pries into.

IV. A monitor. It is true, that now we are not ordered to keep at a distance, but draw near; instead of timidity, there is to be boldness; instead of a burning bush a throne of grace; and instead of a God upon whose face we cannot look, there is an incarnate God upon whose face we can look. Yet this monitor teaches us this most important truth–that we can come to God acceptably, only when we come in His own way; and Gods way is through Christ, with reverence and godly fear. (T. Macconnell.)

The burning bush.

I. The learned shepherd.

1. Humility. From a palace he stoops to this lowly life.

2. Patience. For forty years he thus laboured.

3. Fidelity. Led his father-in-laws flock.

Involved seeking out the best pasturage: folding, and guarding, etc. A good servant in his own house, before God made him a master in Israel. Faithful in little, etc.

II. The great sight.

1. Where it appeared. In the wilderness. God there also.

2. When it appeared. In the time of Israels sorrow, and Moses toil.

3. Wherefore it appeared.

(1) Because the day of deliverance was near.

(2) To instruct the mind of Moses, and excite his curiosity.

(3) To represent the state of the Israelites.

A Church in the furnace of affliction. The bush not consumed, though the fire was hot. Israel flourishing in trial. It was not only a wonder, but a sign. A great sight, but not merely a something to look at and investigate; but also to learn from.

III. The present God. He dwelt in the bush (Mar 12:26; Luk 20:37; Act 7:35; Deu 33:16). God in the bush showed His relation to His people.

1. With them in trouble.

2. Sustains them in trouble.

3. With them a source of instruction.

Learn–

1. To cultivate high qualities in lowly callings.

2. Seek our comfort in affliction from an ever-present God. (J. C. Gray.)

The burning bush

1. As an emblem it instructs.

2. As a miracle it astonishes.

3. As a magnet it attracts.

4. As a monitor it warns. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

A great sight

1. Occasioned by a Divine agency.

2. Illumined by a Divine presence.

3. Given for a Divine purpose. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Great sights

1. Desired by the world.

2. Sought by the pleasure-seeker.

3. Found only by the Christian.

4. The inspiration of a good life. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The moral preparation and condition necessary for the beholding of heavenly visions

1. We must turn aside from the gaiety of the world.

2. From the futility of merely human reasonings.

3. From the commission of moral evil in daily life.

4. From following the instruction of incompetent teachers.

5. They are largely dependent upon our personal willingness of soul–God speaks to all men who reverently turn aside to hear Him. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

God calls truth-seekers by name

Moses,–Nathaniel.

1. To indicate His delight in them.

2. His favour toward them.

3. His hope of them.

4. To prepare them for further revelations. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The name of a good man vocal on the lips of God

1. An honour.

2. A destiny.

3. A prophecy.

4. A vocation. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The truth-seekers response

1. His personality.

2. His place.

3. His willingness.

We should always respond to the calls of heaven. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The souls tutoring aside to see often leads to visions of God

1. In His Book.

2. In His works.

3. In His providences,

4. In His Church and sanctuary. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Soul visions

1. Obtained by prayer.

2. Refreshing to the soul.

3. Strengthening to manhood.

4. Related to human suffering. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The neighbourhood of Horeb

The southern end of the peninsula of Sinai, to which the sacred narrative now takes us, consists of a confused mass of peaks (the highest above 9,000 feet), some of dark green porphyry, but mostly red granite of different hues, which is broken by strips of sand or gravel, intersected by wadies or glens, which are the beds of winter torrents, and dotted here and there with green spots, chiefly due to perennial fountains. The great central group among these mountains is that of Horeb, and one special height in it Sinai, the mount of God. Strangely enough, it is just here amidst this awful desolateness that the most fertile places it the wilderness are also found. Even in our days part of this plateau is quite green. Hither the Bedouin drive their flocks when summer has parched all the lower districts. Fruit-trees grow in rich luxuriance in its valleys, and the neighbourhood is the best watered in the whole peninsula, running streams being found in no less than four of the adjacent valleys. It was thither that Moses, probably in the early summer, drove Reuels flock for pasturage and water. Behind him, to the east, lay the desert; before him rose in awful grandeur the mountain of God. The stillness of this place is unbroken; its desolateness only relieved by the variety of colouring in the dark green or the red mountain peaks, some of which shine in the sunlight like burnished copper. The atmosphere is such that the most distant outlines stand out clearly defined, and the faintest sound falls distinctly on the ear. All at once truly a strange sight presented itself. On a solitary crag, or in some sequestered valley, one of those spiked, gnarled, thorny acacia trees, which form so conspicuous a feature in the wadies of the desert, of which indeed they are the only timber tree of any size, stood enwrapped in fire, and yet the bush was not consumed. (A. Edersheim, D. D.)

The bush and the fire

In the brier we have a symbol of the people of Israel. From this time till the cursing of the fig-tree, which had no fruit on it but only leaves, the chosen people of God are frequently and variously referred to under the figure of a bush or tree. Here they are represented as a low, contemptible brier, in contradistinction to the tall majestic trees, which proudly rear their heads to the clouds, and are gazed at and admired by the world. Hence the brier was symbolical of Israel, as a people despised by the world. The fire is always used in the Scriptures as a symbol of Divine holiness. And this is the case here; for the record expressly says that the presence of God was made known in the fire. The burning brier, therefore, was a symbol of the community of God, in which the holiness of God had its abode. The brier was burning in the fire, but it was not consumed, although from its nature it deserved to be consumed, and could easily be so. It was a miracle that it was not consumed. And thus was it also a miracle of mercy, that the holiness of God could dwell in a sinful community without consuming it. But in the midst of the thorns of the natural life of the community there was hidden a noble, imperishable germ, namely, the seed of the promise, which Jehovah Himself had prepared. It could not, indeed, be set free without the pain of burning, but by that burning it was made holy and pure. There was also another fact of great importance represented by this symbol, viz., that the fire of Divine holiness, which burned in Israel, without consuming it, served also as an outward defence. Hitherto, every one who passed by might ridicule, injure or trample on the insignificant bush, but henceforth whoever touched it would burn his own fingers. (J. H. Kurtz, D. D.)

A beautiful conjunction of the natural and supernatural

A bush burned into a sanctuary! Though the heavens cannot contain the Great One, yet He hides Himself under every flower, and makes the broken heart of man His chosen dwelling-place. So great, yet so condescending; infinite in glory, yet infinite in gentleness. Wherever we are, there are gates through nature into the Divine. Every bush will teach the reverent student something of God. The lilies are teachers, so are the stars, so are all things great and snell in this wondrous museum, the universe! In this case it was not the whole mountain that burned with fire; such a spectacle we should have considered worthy of the majesty of God; it was only the bush that burned: so condescendingly does God accommodate Himself to the weakness of man. The whole mountain burning would have dismayed the lonely shepherd; he who might have been overwhelmed by a blazing mountain was attracted by a burning bush. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Honest vocations

Forty years was Moses a courtier, and forty years after that a shepherd. That great men may not be ashamed of honest vocations, the greatest that ever were have been content to take up with mean trades. The contempt of honest calling in those which are well born argues pride without wit. There can be no fitter disposition for a leader of Gods people than constancy in his undertakings, without either weariness or change. He that hath true worth in himself and fatalliarity with God finds more pleasure in the deserts of Midian than others can do in the palace of kings. While he is tending his sheep God appears unto him. God never graces the idle with his visions. (Bishop Hall.)

Solitude a preparation for service

Writing of his father, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Julian Hawthorne says: The knights-errant of old watched their armour previous to embarking on their enterprise; the young Indian chiefs were made to undergo a period of solitude and fasting before being admitted to full standing. Bunyan wrote his book in Bedford jail; and Hawthorne, in Salem, withdrew himself from the face of man, and meditated for twelve lonely years upon humanity. He came forth a great original writer. He was destined to do a great work, and to theft end were needed, not only his native abilities, but an exceptional initiation, or forty days in the wilderness. (H. O. Mackey.)

Usefully employed

Satan loves to meet men idle. God delights to honour diligence and fidelity. (William Jay.)

Exile profitings

James Douglas, son of the banished Earl of Angus, afterwards well known by the title of Earl of Morton, lurked during the exile of his family in the north of Scotland, under the assumed name of James Innes, otherwise James the Grieve (i.e., Reve or Bailiff)

. And as he bore the name, says Godscroft, so did he also execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the lands and rents, the corn and cattle, of him with whom he lived. From the habits of frugality and observation which he acquired in his humble situation, the historian traces that intimate acquaintance with popular character which enabled him to rise so high in the State, and that honourable economy by which he repaired and established the shattered estates of Angus and Morton. (Sir Walter Scott.)

Put off thy shoes.—

Reverence

I. The essence of reverence lies in our forming a true estimate of our place among the powers around us, and so understanding aright and habitually feeling what is our relation to them. Now, to do this–

1. We must apprehend something of the mystery of life in ourselves and in others.

2. We must recognize the distinction of the different grades of being in those in whom life is, and seek to find and to keep our own due place in that mighty and marvellous scale of existences.

II. We must bow down before him who is the fountain of all life, the life of all who live. This adoration of the soul before Him is the central point of the grace of reverence, and its influence pervades and adjusts all our other relations, both towards Himself and towards the other creatures of His hand.

III. It is a question of the deepest moment to us all how, in an age one special temptation of which is clearly to lose its reverence, the gift can be kept quick and living in ourselves.

1. The first step must be the keeping guard against whatever tends to irreverence. All that professedly robs life of its mystery does this. So, even more directly, does all that robs revelation of its awfulness. Receiving Gods Word as Gods Word, striving to do it, striving to overcome temptations to doubt, not by crushing them out, but by turning them into occasions of prayer and of adoration, these efforts, and such as these, will keep us in an irreverent age from the great loss of irreverence.

2. Above all, we must pray for reverence as the gift of God; for such prayer not only draws down a certain answer, but even by its own action tends to put our spirits in the frame of reverence. (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

Access to God

1. Accesses by honest hearts to the place of Gods appearing may be rash.

2. Such hasty and unadvised accesses, God forbids unto His servants.

3. Due preparations must be made by creatures in their accesses to God.

4. Places have been and may be relatively holy, for Gods appearance in them.

5. So far to use them holily as in reference to Gods presence is the duty of all (verse 5). (G. Hughes, B. D.)

The reception of the Christian mysteries

Here is an intimation, that clearness of intellect is not that upon which mainly depends the right perception of Gods revelation of Himself. Moral fitness, rather than subtilty of intellect, is needed for receiving rightly this revelation of Himself. This, indeed, is but what we might reasonably expect; for as the Christian revelation, by its own profession, is not a mere intellectual abstraction, but in its nature and foundations is essentially moral, the evidence on which it rests cannot, as in abstract science, be addressed purely to the intellect. To receive it rightly, the will must assent to it no less than the understanding; a pure and teachable spirit is the main distinction of that temper in which we should approach the mysteries of the Christian revelation.

I. From this, then, it follows, first, that man is responsible for his belief;–responsible, that is, just as he is for any other branch of moral conduct: that it is, indeed, a part of his trial, and a great one, whether he will believe: that, as a right belief is the only source of moral purity, so a wrong belief, where a true revelation is offered to us, is the undoubted fruit of moral evil: and hence, that as in all other parts of his probation, it is out of the power of fallen man by his own might and strength to do that which is right, so especially is it out of his power to believe; but that, as in all other parts of his probation, so too in this, obedience is within the power of redeemed man, through that blessed help of Gods most Holy Spirit which will not be withheld from those who seek for it.

II. And this leads us on to the second part of our inquiry; for to be thoroughly convinced of the certainty of this connection, is one of the first means of maintaining a fit temper for receiving these great mysteries. So long as we in any degree deem of them as of subjects into which we are to obtain a peculiar insight by our own reasonings, we shall find it impossible to repress that pride of intellect, which, whilst it flatters us with apparent discoveries, does, in fact, most effectually shut out the light of truth. We must be content to be learners, not discoverers, in the school of faith; receiving a revelation, not reasoning out conclusions: and this temper we cannot maintain, unless we come into Gods presence remembering that, so far only as He gives us to know Him can we know aright; for that we need perfect purity to see Him as He is, and that we are compassed about with infirmity. Then only when the thought of His holiness and of our corruption bows us to the earth, shall we receive His teaching with the simplicity of children; fixing on the ground those eyes which were ready to gaze too rashly at the wonders of His presence, and be ready, indeed, to put off our shoes from our feet, feeling that the place whereon we stand is holy ground. To this conviction, moreover, we should bear a constant watchfulness, lest allowed sin in any form, lest boldness of spirit, or slothfulness in our use of holy things, impair the reverence of our souls. To these means must be added further as perhaps the greatest instrument of all for preserving the unsullied clearness of a reverend faith, that we be deep and constant students of Gods holy Word. We need not fear, with Bishop Andrewes, to speak of the Word as one of those arteries which convey the Spirit to us. In a two-fold way does the faithful study of the Scripture, by increasing in us the gift of the Holy Ghost, secure our receiving rightly the mysteries of God: first, since it is the especial province of the Spirit to reveal these mysteries, those will the most surely grow in light who grow in grace;they who the most humbly seek His teaching will be the most surely led on into all truth. There is a teaching of the Spirit; we may, as children, give up ourselves to Him, and humbly trust He will enlighten us. And then, secondly, besides the increase of this direct teaching, we are thus made the fitter recipients of His instruction; for since, as we saw before, the due reception of these mysteries depends more on moral than on intellectual fitness, they who by a growth in grace are growing in holiness, are indeed taking the surest way to purge the eyes of their understanding, so that they may see without speck or dimness what the Lord has revealed of Himself (Psa 119:99-100). (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

Reverence in Gods presence

The impression that God is here, ought ever to have a solemnizing effect upon our minds, and repress everything like carelessness, listlessness, or levity. Had we a proper sense of the Divine majesty resting upon our spirits, would it be possible that we could give way to that profane heedlessness of mind which often steals over us? Would one short hours attendance betray us into slumber? Would a crowd of worldly or sensual thoughts intrude into our minds? Could the eye find leisure to roam over the assembly, and upon the dress or deportment of others? Could a scornful or simpering countenance by significant smiles communicate its contemptuous or frivolous emotions to another? Assuredly not. (G. Bush.)

Holy ground

This admonition may be understood in various ways.

I. As a check to vain curiosity. Let us be satisfied, in religious matters, with what the Holy Spirit has made plain.

II. As an incentive to humility in the presence of God. We should offer outward tokens of respect and reverence when we come to worship in His holy house.

III. As a proof of the sanctity of Gods presence. All places set apart for the worship of God are holy ground, God will be sanctified in all that come near Him. (Preachers Analyst.)

Lessons

1. All ground is holy which has been consecrated by valour, virtue, piety, or love. The island of Erromanga, where Williams died; the banks of Avon and of Doon, where the two greatest bards of England and Scotland were born; the patriot-fields of Marathon, Morgarten, and Bannockburn; the moors of Drumclog and Airsmoss, where the Covenanters fought and fell; the peaks of Lochnagar and Ben Cruachan; the bald and sovereign head of Mont Blanc; these, and ten thousand such spots as these, are holy ground; and if men do not, like Moses at the bush, put off their shoes while standing there, yet may they uncover their heads, and feel that in doing reverence to the great of old and to the works of nature, they are doing homage to something which has in it a large portion of the Divine, which is Godlike, although not God.

2. Let us, in a figure, put off our shoes as we draw near, even here, unto God. Let us strip ourselves of the high buskins of pride, of the light sock of indifference and idle mirth, of the luxurious slippers of sensual sin, and of the hard shoes of rude presumption; and let us, with naked and trembling feet, and with covered face, but, at the same time, with all holy boldness and filial love, in the sanctuary and at the Lords table, the presence of that God who is a consuming fire.

3. What an overpowering reflection is that, of us all having one day to draw in a very close degree near to the presence of God. Conceive a mortal, although winged being, after long wandering through the universe, caught in a current too mighty for his pinions, and which he feels is hurrying him into the very heart of the burning sun! Conceive his horror as he sees the orb becoming larger and larger,and feels it becoming hotter and hotter; and how in vain he struggles to turn upon his way, and shun that ocean of fire which is to consume him. But on, on, on, he is precipitated, and the imagination shrinks back as she sees the contact and hears the shriek of the extinguished wretch. Thus may a guilty soul after death feel itself approaching its Maker; resisting the attraction, but resisting in vain, drawn ruthlessly within the circle of that eye of fire, and exclaiming as it sinks in terror, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But even the saint shudders sometimes at the thought of meeting a Being so tremendous, and would on his death-bed shudder more, did not at one time a merciful stupor deaden his sensibilities, and were it not that at another the thought of God is swallowed up in the image of Christ. (G. Gilfillan.)

Holy ground

All places are holy, but some are especially so:–

1. Because they are hallowed by the supreme residence of God.

2. By happy memories.

3. By holy friendships.

4. By moral conquest. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The humility and reverence of an accepted worshipper

It has been said that God is everywhere present, and therefore should everywhere be honoured alike; it has been said, that the mind and the heart are everything, and that the posture of the body is nothing. In opposition to these refined speculations of modern days, it were sufficient to hold up the authority and command of the Word of God. But we may properly remark, in addition to this, that though the Almighty is everywhere present, He may be present at some times and in some places, in a peculiar manner. Our blessed Lord Himself has declared, Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. It is again contended, that the mind and the affections may be equally lifted up to God in any posture; sitting or lying down, as well as kneeling: and to a certain extent this remark may be perfectly true. If the mind and affections be equally interested in the two cases; if the devotion be equally pure and the obedience equally sincere, then the acceptance of the service may be equal. But how can the obedience in these two cases be equally complete and sincere, when we know that God has enjoined, in His holy Word, a reverent posture of devotion–a posture, which we find all good men, in all ages, scrupulously observing? A carelessness of posture is an act of positive disobedience. Nor is it easy to believe, that the feelings of devotion are equally pious and sincere. Does not nature herself, when the soul is overwhelmed, teach us to humble and prostrate the body? There may be, in many instances, sufficient reasons for declining this bodily service; there may be infirmity, there may be other reasons; but where there are not, such service would seem to be indispensable to the devout and accepted worshipper. Let me not appear to be countenancing the practices of those, whose religion chiefly consists in outward form: let it not be supposed, that any corporeal homage is of the smallest avail, unless it proceed from an earnest and a pious heart: so far otherwise, that to bow down unmeaningly in the presence of the Lord, is an act of insufferable hypocrisy. Yet we must not, from such abuses as these, draw arguments against a positive duty; we must not conclude, as some are perverse enough to do, that every outward appearance and form are hypocritical. Such a conclusion is not only weak, but wicked. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God: be jealous of thy ways; be narrowly attentive to thy demeanour; be watchful of the affections and imaginations of thy heart: thou goest for a holy and mighty purpose, see that it be answered; see that thou be accepted in thy deed; see that thou return with a blessing on thy head. (J. Slade, M. A.)

Value of reverence

All that delicate perception of what is due from man to man upon which the high-bred courtesy of life depends, is closely linked to a reverential spirit. Society, when robbed by irreverence of the shrinking consideration for others which a sense of the mystery of redeemed life within them can alone make real, has already lapsed half-way to barbarism. Man becomes ready to sacrifice man in the chase for wealth, or honour, or pleasure, or power; and class grows to be parted fatally from class, by the selfish enjoyment of those who possess, and the selfish discontent of those who lack what they see others have. Family life, too, suffers the same wrong; its tender kindliness cannot long survive the death of reverence. And all this, observe, reaches far beyond the surface of mere manners. For it affects all those exertions and sacrifices for others which require a high ideal standard to call them out; it leads men to be contented with poor and immediate results measurable by the direct gain or loss of money, pleasure, or power. It dwarfs, too, almost all the actings of the intellect. In such a state of society the highest art can scarcely more exist than verdure without dew, or life without an atmosphere. Science, too, will soon feel the loss, for no one ever penetrated deeply into natures secrets unless a deep reverence for that which he explored taught him to be of a humble spirit–made him a true learner, and not a self-conceited theorist–kept him ready to follow out hints, and to lift the veil which God has cast over even His natural works with a hand which almost trembled under a sense of the mightiness of the mysteries it was revealing. But pre-eminently is this true as to the reception of Gods revelation of Himself. For here above all is the receptive faculty injured by the lack of reverence. As to this the ancient voice which broke the silence of the mount of Horeb sounds yet in the ear of every man who would turn aside to see the awful sight, Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. The humility, the patience, the docility, without which there can be no clear intuition into the mystery of Gods nature and ways, cannot survive in the irreverent heart. The scorner is, in Gods Word, but another word for the atheist. (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

The earth holy ground

1. The whole earth is holy ground, because here Gods perfections are everywhere so conspicuously displayed. Wherever I go or stay, I will think that Jesus has lived upon the earth, and that nowhere, in thought or in deed, can I sin where it is not holy ground. Besides, in the lives of every single one of us have there been holy experiences, and we have single spots on the earths surface, which make for us the whole earth holy. Either that place is most holy to us where we first saw the light, or where our ancestors dwell or have dwelt, or where the years of our childhood glided joyously by; can we see it again, visit it, without tears in our eyes and thanks in our hearts; without looking up to heaven? Is not that place holy to us, where the most important earthly relations were formed; where we found a partner for life in marriage? Is not that place holy to us, where we experienced some good fortune we had longed for, sent to us by the Giver of all good; deliverance from danger, the safe return of relatives and friends? Alone wandered Jacob through a wild pathless waste. In weariness and grief he closed his eyes. But how completely was he comforted by the vision of that ladder let down from heaven, and of his Lord speaking to him in accents of blessing! Holy to him was that place! And should not that place be holy to us where the Lord, faithful, earnest, ay, severe, appeared to us in the purifying flame of affliction? These places we think of, as though the events connected with them happened of themselves. Shall we not remember that God is over all, and that He is near in joy and sorrow; in danger, which He allows, but out of which He delivers us? If we do this, earth will more and more become to us holy ground, the very gate of heaven; and more and more holy will be our lives from the constant feeling of Gods nearness and presence.

2. The earth is holy ground, because God is worshipped upon it. As God revealed Himself to man from the beginning, there never has been a period when some of His creatures, however small the number, have not known and worshipped Him aright. The patriarchs builded altars to Him and called on His holy name. Few and small, at first, were these streams of the knowledge and the worship of God. Behold, how mightily He has extended them I And the time will come, He confidently awaits it, when the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth, as the waters fill the sea. Perfect in heaven stands the Kingdom of God, to which our race after a long pilgrimage will attain. But because of our high destination holy is the earth on which we have journeyed thither. And is not our fatherland holy ground? Yes, so we proclaim it: and that without comparing it with any other land, Yes, ye children, holy is your home, because of the edifying life of your parents. Yes, ye residents of this city, there is within the enclosure of your own walls, outside of the churches where God is worshipped, many a spot, upon which He approvingly smiles. Look, then, at this: this earth on which you dwell and walk, is a holy place. It is so because of the worship of God; because of the faith and piety which have been displayed upon it. Recognize this fact, and let it inspire you with fervent enthusiasm, or with wholesome reverence; this earth can be made holy or profane by yourselves.

3. The earth is holy ground, because of what daily transpires upon it, and because of what will yet transpire upon it, intimately linking it to the world of spirits. What is more frequent than birth and death? Not less holy than birth is death itself. (J. E. Rankin.)

From curiosity to reverence

Many a man has been led through the gate of curiosity into the sanctuary of reverence. Moses purposed but to see a wonderful sight in nature, little dreaming that he was standing as it were face to face with God. Blessed are they who have an eye for the startling, the sublime, and the beautiful in nature, for they shall see many sights which will fill them with glad amazement. Every sight of God is a great sight; the sights become little to us because we view them without feeling or holy expectation. It was when the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see that He called unto him and mentioned him by name. This is indeed a great law. If men would turn aside to see, God would surely speak to them. But we do not do this. We pass by all the great sights of nature with comparative indifference, certainly, as a general rule, without reverence. The sea wants to speak to us, but we listen not to its sounding voice; the stars are calling to us, but we shut them out; the seasons come round to tell their tale, but we are pre-occupied with trifling engagements. We must bring so much with us if we would put ourselves into healthful communion with nature: we must bring the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and the understanding heart: we must, at all events, be disposed to see and hear, and God will honour the disposition with more than expected blessing. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Religious awe

Curiosity must not become familiarity. The difference between the creature and the Creator must always be infinite. Is not all ground holy? Is not God everywhere? Certainly so; yet it hath pleased God to mark special lines and special places as peculiarly holy. We are not to treat all places alike. Every successful appeal to mans reverence redeems him from vulgarity. When a man loses his sense of religious awe, he has exhausted the supreme fountain of spiritual joy. He then measures everything by himself: he is to himself as God, and from the point of self-idolatry he will speedily sink to the point of self-despair. It is only the good man who can be satisfied from himself, and this is only because goodness has its very root in God. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Cultivate reverence

Cultivate the spirit of reverence. For ours is an age of iconoclasm, overthrowing ancestral traditions, dethroning venerable beliefs, making the sacred common, dissolving the sacramental in the physical equation of correspondence with environment; in brief, shattering the very instinct of homage. And this is peril indeed! For, as Emerson says, No greater calamity can befall a nation than its loss of worship. Bad as heathenism is, irreligion is worse. Better superstition than atheism. Young man, believe me; no man is ever so great as when he kneels. Be it yours to have the same lowly reverence which so beautifully marked such illustrious scientists as a Galen, who regarded his professional life as a religious hymn in honour of the Creator; a Copernicus, on whose tombstone, in St. Johns of Frauenburg, is the following epitaph: Not the grace bestowed on Paul do I ask, not the favour shown to Peter do I crave; but that which Thou didst grant the robber on the cross do I implore; a Kepler, who concludes his treatise entitled Harmony of the Worlds thus: I thank Thee, my Creator and Lord, that Thou hast given me this joy in Thy creation, this delight in the works of Thy hands; I have shown the excellency of Thy works unto men, so far as my finite mind was able to comprehend Thy infinity; if I have said aught unworthy of Thee, or aught in which I have sought my own glory, graciously forgive it; a Newton, who never mentioned the name of Deity without uncovering his head. (G. D. Boardman.)

Reverence

When a boy in Princeton College, it was my inestimable privilege to be the pupil-assistant of Professor Joseph Henry, the illustrious Christian scientist, in his original experiments. When for the first time electric signals were sent from point to point, the earth itself being used for the return current, Professor Henry put me at one end of the circuit, while he stood directing the experiments at the other. I can well remember the wonderful care with which he arranged all his principal experiments; when he approached the solution the experiment was repeated and repeated over and over again, and all its variable conditions altered and recombined in every form. Then often, when the testing moment came, that eminent scientist would raise his hand in adoring reverence, and call upon me to uncover my head and worship in silence, Because, he said, God is here. I am about to ask God a question. (A. Hodge.)

Lowering the standard of reverence

It is very easy to lower our standard of reverence for anything. We have only to speak of it habitually in a light way. There is nothing like it to take the life out of the most precious texts of Scripture. We may repent of such a sin with bitter weeping, but those words can never be to us again what they were before. We may have cut down a bridge we shall some day vainly long to cross. A gentleman of keen wit used often to point his remarks with some apt quotation from the Bible. A friend who greatly admired him was present in his last hours, and asked with deep sympathy what was the future outlook. Very gloomy, indeed, was his response. Surprised and deeply pained, he hastened to quote some precious promises suited to the solemn hour. I have spoiled them all for myself, was his answer. There is not one but is associated with some jest. His light went out in darkness, though his name was on the church roll. What a lesson is here for all who are willing to be taught by it! Lay it to heart. (Christian Age.)

Unclogged feet

Put off thy shoes of sensuality, and other sins. Affections are the feet of the soul; keep them unclogged. (J. Trapp.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER III

Moses keeping the flock of Jethro at Mount Horeb, the angel of

the Lord appears to him in a burning bush, 1, 2.

Astonished at the sight, he turns aside to examine it, 3,

when God speaks to him out of the fire, and declares himself to

be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 4-6;

announces his purpose of delivering the Israelites from their

oppression, and of bringing them into the promised land, 7-9;

commissions him to go to Pharaoh, and to be leader of the

children of Israel from Egypt, 10.

Moses excuses himself, 11;

and God, to encourage him, promises him his protection, 12.

Moses doubts whether the Israelites will credit him, 13,

and God reveals to him his NAME, and informs him what he is to

say to the people, 14-17,

and instructs him and the elders of Israel to apply unto Pharaoh

for permission to go three days’ journey into the wilderness, to

sacrifice unto the Lord, 18;

foretells the obstinacy of the Egyptian king, and the miracles

which he himself should work in the sight of the Egyptians, 19, 20;

and promises that, on the departure of the Israelites, the

Egyptians should be induced to furnish them with all necessaries

for their journey, 21, 22.

NOTES ON CHAP. III

Verse 1. Jethro his father-in-law] Concerning Jethro, See Clarke on Ex 2:18. Learned men are not agreed on the signification of the word chothen, which we translate father-in-law, and which in Ge 19:14, we translate son-in-law. It seems to be a general term for a relative by marriage, and the connection only in which it stands can determine its precise meaning. It is very possible that Reuel was now dead, it being forty years since Moses came to Midian; that Jethro was his son, and had succeeded him in his office of prince and priest of Midian; that Zipporah was the sister of Jethro; and that consequently the word chothen should be translated brother-in-law in this place: as we learn from Ge 34:9, De 7:3, Jos 23:12, and other places, that it simply signifies to contract affinity by marriage. If this conjecture be right, we may well suppose that, Reuel being dead, Moses was continued by his brother-in-law Jethro in the same employment he had under his father.

Mountain of God] Sometimes named Horeb, at other times Sinai. The mountain itself had two peaks; one was called Horeb, the other Sinai. Horeb was probably the primitive name of the mountain, which was afterwards called the mountain of God, because God appeared upon it to Moses; and Mount Sinai, , from seneh, a bush, because it was in a bush or bramble, in a flame of fire, that this appearance was made.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

1401

Jethro was either the same with Reuel, or his son, who, upon his fathers death, succeeded into his office. See Exo 2:18. To the backside of the desert, to its innermost parts, which were behind Jethros habitation, and the former pastures, whither he went for fresh pastures.

The mountain of God; so called, either as a high or eminent mountain; or from the vision of God here following; see Act 7:30; or by anticipation, from Gods glorious appearance there, and giving the law from thence, Exo 18:5; 19:3; see also 1Ki 19:8. Horeb, called also Sinai, Exo 19:1; Act 7:30. Or Horeb was the name of the whole tract or row of mountains, and Sinai the name of that particular mountain where this vision happened, and the law was delivered. Or Horeb and Sinai were two several tops of the same mountain.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. Now Moses kept the flockThisemployment he had entered on in furtherance of his matrimonial views(see on Ex 2:21), but it isprobable he was continuing his service now on other terms like Jacobduring the latter years of his stay with Laban (Ge30:28).

he led the flock to thebackside of the desertthat is, on the west of the desert[GESENIUS], assumingJethro’s headquarters to have been at Dahab. The route by which Mosesled his flock must have been west through the wide valley called bythe Arabs, Wady-es-Zugherah [ROBINSON],which led into the interior of the wilderness.

Mountain of Godsonamed either according to Hebrew idiom from its great height,as “great mountains,” Hebrew, “mountains ofGod” (Ps 36:6); “goodlycedars,” Hebrew, “cedars of God” (Ps80:10); or some think from its being the old abode of “theglory”; or finally from its being the theater of transactionsmost memorable in the history of the true religion to Horebrather,”Horeb-ward.”

Horebthat is, “dry,””desert,” was the general name for the mountainous districtin which Sinai is situated, and of which it is a part. (See on Ex19:2). It was used to designate the region comprehending thatimmense range of lofty, desolate, and barren hills, at the base ofwhich, however, there are not only many patches of verdure to beseen, but almost all the valleys, or wadys, as they arecalled, show a thin coating of vegetation, which, towards the south,becomes more luxuriant. The Arab shepherds seldom take their flocksto a greater distance than one day’s journey from their camp. Mosesmust have gone at least two days’ journey, and although he seems tohave been only following his pastoral course, that region, from itsnumerous springs in the clefts of the rocks being the chief resort ofthe tribes during the summer heats, the Providence of God led himthither for an important purpose.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian,…. Who was either the same with Reuel or Raguel, spoken of in the preceding chapter; or, as others think, a son of his, the father being now dead; seeing it was now forty years since Moses came into Midian, Ac 7:30. Demetrius c, an Heathen writer, expressly says that Jothor a son of Raguel, and Zipporah or Sepphora, as he calls her, was his daughter, whom Moses married: now this was the business Moses was chiefly concerned in during his stay in Midian; keeping the sheep of his father-in-law, in which great personages have have employed, and who have afterwards been called to the kingly office, as David; and this was an emblem of his feeding and ruling the people of Israel, and in it he was an eminent type of Christ, the great shepherd and bishop of souls: no doubt there were other things besides this in which Moses exercised himself in this course of time, and improved himself in the knowledge of things, natural, civil, and religious, and which the more qualified him for the important work he was designed for: it is thought that in this interval he wrote the book of Genesis, and also the book of Job:

and he led the flock to the backside of the desert; of Sinai or Arabia, on the back part of which, it seems, were goodly pastures; and hither he led his flock to feed, which was about three days’ journey from Egypt, Ex 5:3 or rather into the desert d, for Horeb or Sinai was not behind the desert, but in it:

and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb; so called either because of the appearance of God at this time, after related, or because of his giving the law and making the covenant with the people of Israel there; and it should be observed that that transaction was past when Moses wrote this book. Hither he led the sheep, they delighting in mountains, hence sometimes mountainous places are called

, e, because sheep delight to feed upon them f.

c Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 29. p. 439. d , Sept. “in desertum”, Syr. Samar, so Noldius, p. 11. No. 76. e Homer. Odyss. 11. prope finem. f , Theocrit. Idyll. 3.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

When Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, he drove them on one occasion behind the desert, and came to the mountains of Horeb. , lit. “ he was feeding: ” the participle expresses the continuance of the occupation. does not mean ad interiora deserti ( Jerome); but Moses drove the sheep from Jethro’s home as far as Horeb, so that he passed through a desert with the flock before he reached the pasture land of Horeb. For “in this, the most elevated ground of the peninsula, you find the most fertile valleys, in which even fruit-trees grow. Water abounds in this district; consequently it is the resort of all the Bedouins when the lower countries are dried up” ( Rosenmller). Jethro’s home was separated from Horeb, therefore, by a desert, and is to be sought to the south-east, and not to the north-east. For it is only a south-easterly situation that will explain these two facts: First, that when Moses returned from Midian to Egypt, he touched again at Horeb, where Aaron, who had come from Egypt, met him (Exo 4:27); and, secondly, that the Israelites never came upon any Midianites on their journey through the desert, whilst the road of Hobab the Midianite separated from theirs as soon as they departed from Sinai (Num 10:30).

(Note: The hypothesis, that, after the calling of Moses, this branch of the Midianites left the district they had hitherto occupied, and sought out fresh pasture ground, probably on the eastern side of the Elanitic Gulf, is as needless as it is without support.)

Horeb is called the Mount of God by anticipation, with reference to the consecration which it subsequently received through the revelation of God upon its summit. The supposition that it had been a holy locality even before the calling of Moses, cannot be sustained. Moreover, the name is not restricted to one single mountain, but applies to the central group of mountains in the southern part of the peninsula (vid., Exo 19:1). Hence the spot where God appeared to Moses cannot be precisely determined, although tradition has very suitably given the name Wady Shoeib, i.e., Jethro’s Valley, to the valley which bounds the Jebel Musa towards the east, and separates it from the Jebel ed Deir, because it is there that Moses is supposed to have fed the flock of Jethro. The monastery of Sinai, which is in this valley, is said to have been built upon the spot where the thorn-bush stood, according to the tradition in Antonini Placent. Itinerar. c. 37, and the annals of Eutychius (vid., Robinson, Palestine).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Burning Bush.

B. C. 1491.

1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

The years of the life of Moses are remarkably divided into three forties: the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh’s court, the second a shepherd in Midian, the third a king in Jeshurun; so changeable is the life of men, especially the life of good men. He had now finished his second forty, when he received his commission to bring Israel out of Egypt. Note, Sometimes it is long before God calls his servants out of that work which of old he designed them for, and has been graciously preparing them for. Moses was born to be Israel’s deliverer, and yet not a word is said of it to him till he is eighty years of age. Now observe,

I. How this appearance of God to him found him employed. He was keeping the flock (tending sheep) near mount Horeb, v. 1. This was a poor employment for a man of his parts and education, yet he rests satisfied with it, and thus learns meekness and contentment to a high degree, for which he is more celebrated in sacred writ than for all his other learning. Note, 1. In the calling to which we are called we should abide, and not be given to change. 2. Even those that are qualified for great employments and services must not think it strange if they be confined to obscurity; it was the lot of Moses before them, who foresaw nothing to the contrary but that he should die, as he had lived a great while, a poor despicable shepherd. Let those that think themselves buried alive be content to shine like lamps in their sepulchres, and wait till God’s time come for setting them on a candlestick. Thus employed Moses was, when he was honoured with this vision. Note, (1.) God will encourage industry. The shepherds were keeping their flocks when they received the tidings of our Saviour’s birth, Luke ii. 8. Satan loves to find us idle; God is well pleased when he find us employed. (2.) Retirement is a good friend to our communion with God. When we are alone, the Father is with us. Moses saw more of God in a desert than ever he had seen in Pharaoh’s court.

II. What the appearance was. To his great surprise he saw a bush burning, when he perceived no fire either from earth or heaven to kindle it, and, which was more strange, it did not consume, v. 2. It was an angel of the Lord that appeared to him; some think, a created angel, who speaks in the language of him that sent him; others, the second person, the angel of the covenant, who is himself Jehovah. It was an extraordinary manifestation of the divine presence and glory; what was visible was produced by the ministry of an angel, but he heard God in it speaking to him. 1. He saw a flame of fire; for our God is a consuming fire. When Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt was promised to Abraham, he saw a burning lamp, which signified the light of joy which that deliverance should cause (Gen. xv. 17); but now it shines brighter, as a flame of fire, for God in that deliverance brought terror and destruction to his enemies, light and heat to his people, and displayed his glory before all. See Isa. x. 17. 2. This fire was not in a tall and stately cedar, but in a bush, a thorny bush, so the word signifies; for God chooses the weak and despised things of the world (such as Moses, now a poor shepherd), with them to confound the wise; he delights to beautify and crown the humble. 3. The bush burned, and yet was not consumed, an emblem of the church now in bondage in Egypt, burning in the brick-kilns, yet not consumed; perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed.

III. The curiosity Moses had to enquire into this extraordinary sight: I will turn aside and see, v. 3. He speaks as one inquisitive and bold in his enquiry; whatever it was, he would, if possible, know the meaning of it. Note, Things revealed belong to us, and we ought diligently to enquire into them.

IV. The invitation he had to draw near, yet with a caution not to come too near, nor rashly.

1. God gave him a gracious call, to which he returned a ready answer, v. 4. When God saw that he took notice of the burning bush, and turned aside to see it, and left his business to attend it, then God called to him. If he had carelessly neglected it as an ignis fatuus–a deceiving meteor, a thing not worth taking notice of, it is probable that God would have departed, and said nothing to him; but, when he turned aside, God called to him. Note, Those that would have communion with God must attend upon him, and approach to him, in those ordinances wherein he is pleased to manifest himself, and his power and glory, though it be in a bush; they must come to the treasure, though in an earthen vessel. Those that seek God diligently shall find him, and find him their bountiful rewarder. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. God called him by name, Moses, Moses. This which he heard could not but surprise him much more than what he saw. The word of the Lord always went along with the glory of the Lord, for every divine vision was designed for divine revelation, Job 4:16-21; Job 32:14-15. Divine calls are then effectual, (1.) When the Spirit of God makes them particular, and calls us by name. The word calls, Ho, every one! The Spirit, by the application of that, calls, Ho, such a one! I know thee by name, Exod. xxxiii. 12. (2.) When we return an obedient answer to them, as Moses here, “Here am I, what saith my Lord unto his servant? Here am I, not only to hear what is said, but to do what I am bidden.”

2. God gave him a needful caution against rashness and irreverence in his approach, (1.) He must keep his distance; draw near, but not too near; so near as to hear, but not so near as to pry. His conscience must be satisfied, but not his curiosity; and care must be taken that familiarity do not breed contempt. Note, In all our approaches to God, we ought to be deeply affected with the infinite distance there is between us and God, Eccl. v. 2. Or this may be taken as proper to the Old-Testament dispensation, which was a dispensation of darkness, bondage, and terror, from which the gospel happily frees us, giving us boldness to enter into the holiest, and inviting us to draw near. (2.) He must express his reverence, and his readiness to obey: Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, as a servant. Putting off the shoe was then what putting off the hat is now, a token of respect and submission. “The ground, for the present, is holy ground, made so by this special manifestation of the divine presence, during the continuance of which it must retain this character; therefore tread not on that ground with soiled shoes.” Keep thy foot, Eccl. v. 1. Note, We ought to approach to God with a solemn pause and preparation; and, though bodily exercise alone profits little, yet we ought to glorify God with our bodies, and to express our inward reverence by a grave and reverent behaviour in the worship of God, carefully avoiding everything that looks light, and rude, and unbecoming the awfulness of the service.

V. The solemn declaration God made of his name, by which he would be known to Moses: I am the God of thy father, v. 6. 1. He lets him know that it is God who speaks to him, to engage his reverence and attention, his faith and obedience; for this is enough to command all these: I am the Lord. Let us always hear the word as the word of God, 1 Thess. ii. 13. 2. He will be known as the God of his father, his pious father Amram, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his ancestors, and the ancestors of all Israel, for whom God was now about to appear. By this God designed, (1.) To instruct Moses in the knowledge of another world, and to strengthen his belief of a future state. Thus it is interpreted by our Lord Jesus, the best expositor of scripture, who from this proves that the dead are raised, against the Sadducees. Moses, says he, showed it at the bush (Luke xx. 37), that is, God there showed it to him, and in him to us, Matt. xxii. 31, c. Abraham was dead, and yet God is the God of Abraham therefore Abraham’s soul lives, to which God stands in relation; and, to make his soul completely happy, his body must live again in due time. This promise made unto the fathers, that God would be their God, must include a future happiness; for he never did anything for them in this world sufficient to answer to the vast extent and compass of that great word, but, having prepared for them a city, he is not ashamed to be called their God, Heb. xi. 16; and see Act 26:6; Act 26:7; Act 24:15. (2.) To assure Moses of the fulfillment of all those particular promises made to the fathers. He may confidently expect this, for by these words it appears that God remembered his covenant, ch. ii. 24. Note, [1.] God’s covenant-relation to us as our God is the best support in the worst of times, and a great encouragement to our faith in particular promises. [2.] When we are conscious to ourselves of our own great unworthiness we may take comfort from God’s relation to our fathers, 2 Chron. xx. 6.

VI. The solemn impression this made upon Moses: He hid his face, as one both ashamed and afraid to look upon God. Now that he knew it was a divine light his eyes were dazzled with it; he was not afraid of a burning bush till he perceived that God was in it. Yea, though God called himself the God of his father, and a God in covenant with him, yet he was afraid. Note, 1. The more we see of God the more cause we shall see to worship him with reverence and godly fear. 2. Even the manifestations of God’s grace and covenant-love should increase our humble reverence of him.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

EXODUS – CHAPTER THREE

Verses 1-6:

“Moses kept the flock” of his father-in-law. The text indicates this was his regular occupation. At least three different names are given in the KJV for Moses’ father-in-law: (1) Reuel, Ex 2:17; (2) Jethro; and (3) Hobab, Nu 10:29; Jg 4:11. There is no contradiction in these names. “Reuel” means “friend of God,” and appears to be a personal name. “Jethro” means “excellence,” and appears to be a title. “Hobab” means “beloved.” This name occurs only twice in the Scriptures. In Jg 4:11, the KJV refers to Hobab as the “father-in-law” of Moses. The ASV translates this as “Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses.” The text and translation occurs in Nu 10:29.

The Hebrew word translated “father-in-law” generally means the wife’s father. However, among the Orientals words of relationship are often used loosely. In Ex 4:25, 26 Zipporah uses this word to refer to Moses. In Ge 19:12, 14 the term applies to Lot’s son-in-law. It is also translated “son-in-law” in Jg 15:6; 19:5; 1Sa 18:18, 23, 26, 27.

“Horeb” appears to be the same as “Sinai.” Designation of Horeb as “the mountain of God” implies there may have already been there a sanctuary where Jethro and perhaps Moses worshipped God.

The “Angel of the Lord” is “The Angel of Jehovah.” This is likely the Second Person in the Godhead, Jesus Christ.

“Bush” is seneh, denoting a thorny shrub, a species of acacia indigenous to that region. It is accompanied by the definite article. This indicates that Moses had spoken of it so often that his hearers knew the one of which he spoke.

“A flame of fire” denotes a literal flame. Some seek to explain this phenomenon by natural means, that it was a bush with brightly colored leaves or fruit. This, however, is inconsistent with the text. A bush with brightly-colored leaves or fruit would not have attracted Moses’ attention. There is no reason to suppose this was anything but what the text declares: a bush which burned with literal fire, but which was not consumed.

“Lord” is Jehovah, the God of the Covenant. When He saw that Moses had turned aside from his work to investigate the burning bush, Jehovah called to him by name.

The sanctity of Jehovah’s presence is evident in His command that Moses remove his shoes in recognition of this fact.

The Voice that spoke from the burning bush identified Himself to Moses as the Covenant God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “Father” is used collectively, to include all Moses’ pious ancestor.

Moses was filled with reverential fear at Jehovah’s Presence. He hid his face, a natural and instinctive action. Elijah did the same year’s later at this same location, 1 Kings 19:13. The angels before God’s throne in Heaven do likewise, Isa 6:2.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. Now Moses kept the flock. We have already said that he was occupied as a shepherd for a long time (viz., about forty years) before this vision appeared to him. The patience, then, of the holy man is commended by his continuance in this work; not that Moses had any intention of boastfully celebrating his own virtues, but that the Holy Spirit dictated what would be useful to us, and, as it were, suggested it to his mouth, that what he did and suffered might be an example for ever. For he must have had much mental struggle at this tedious delay, when old age, which weakens the body, came on, since even in those days few retained their activity after their eightieth year; and although he might have lived frugally, yet temperance could not protect even the most robust body against so many hardships, because it is given to very few persons to be able thus to live in the open air, and to bear heat, and cold, and hunger, constant fatigue, the care of cattle, and other troubles. God, indeed, miraculously supported the holy man in the performance of his arduous duties; but still the internal conflict must have gone on, — why does God so long delay and suspend what he so long ago determined? It was, then, no ordinary virtue which overcame these distracting assaults, which were constantly renewing his anxiety; whilst, in the mean time, he was living poorly, in huts and sheds, as well as often wandering over rough and desert places, though from childhood to mature manhood he had been accustomed to luxury; as he here relates, that, having led his flock across the Desert, he came to Horeb, which certainly could not have been effected without his experiencing the cold as he lay on the ground by night, and burning heat by day. The title of “the mountain of God” refers (35) by anticipation to a future period, when the place was consecrated by the promulgation of the Law there. It is well known that Horeb is the same mountain which is also called Sinai, except that a different name is given to its opposite sides, and, properly speaking, its eastern side is called Sinai, its western, Horeb. (36) Since, then, God appeared there and gave so many manifest signs of his heavenly glory, when he renewed his covenant with his people, and furnished them with a rule of perfect holiness, the place became invested with peculiar dignity.

(35) κατὰ πρόληψιν. — Lat

(36) Horeb appears to have been the general name of the whole mountainous district, of which Sinai formed a part. This solution fully meets the objection of certain modern cavillers, who have argued, at least, against the identity of the author of the Pentateuch, if not against its inspiration, on the ground that the same events are recorded as having taken place sometimes on Horeb, sometimes on Sinai. Vide Hengstenberg on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch, Ryland’s Transl., vol. 2, p. 325; Fisk’s Memorial of the Holy Land, p. 146.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

ISRAELS BONDAGE. MOSES AND THE EXODUS

Exo 1:1 to Exo 15:21.

DR. J. M. Grays five rules for Bible reading: Read the Book, Read the Book Continuously, Read the Book Repeatedly, Read the Book Independently, Read the Book Prayerfully, are all excellent; but the one upon which I would lay emphasis in this study of Exodus is the second of those rules, or, Read the Book Continuously. It is doubtful if there is any Book in the Bible which comes so nearly containing an outline, at least, of all revelation, as does the Book of Exodus. There is scarcely a doctrine in the New Testament, or a truth in the Old, which may not be traced in fair delineation in these forty chapters.

God speaks in this Book out of the burning bush. Sin, with its baneful effects, has a prominent place in its pages; and Salvation, for all them that trust in Him, with judgment for their opposers, is a conspicuous doctrine in this Old Testament document. God, Sin, Salvation, and Judgmentthese are great words! The Book that reveals each of them in fair outline is a great Book indeed, and its study will well repay the man of serious mind.

Exodus is a Book of bold outlines also! Its author, like a certain school of modern painters, draws his picture quickly and with but few strokes, and yet the product of his work approaches perfection. How much of time and history is put into these three verses:

And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the Children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them (Exo 1:5-7).

These three verses contain 215 years of time, and all the events that crowded into that period would, if they were recorded, fill volumes without end. And, while there are instances of delineation in detail in the Book of Exodus, the greater part of the volume is given to the bolder outlines which sweep much history into single sentences.

In looking into these fifteen chapters, I have been engaged with the question of such arrangement as would best meet the demands of memory, and thereby make the lesson of this hour a permanent article in our mental furniture. Possibly, to do that, we must seize upon a few of the greater subjects that characterize these chapters, and so phrase them as to provide mental promontories from which to survey the field of our present study. Surely, The Bondage of Israel, The Rise of Moses, and the Exodus from Egypt, are such fundamentals.

THE BONDAGE OF ISRAEL.

The bondage of Israel, like her growth, requires but a few sentences for its expression.

Now, there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the Children of Israel are more and mightier than we; Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pit horn and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the Children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the Children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour (Exo 1:8-22).

There are several features in Egypts conduct in effecting the bondage of Israel which characterize the conduct of all imperial nations.

The bondage began with injustice. Israel was in Egypt by invitation. When they came, Pharaoh welcomed them, and set apart for their use the fat of the land. The record is,

Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Raamses, as Pharaoh had commanded (Gen 47:11).

There they flourished until a king arose which knew not Joseph. Then a tax was laid upon them; eventually taskmasters were set over them, and those who came in response to Pharaohs invitation, Come unto me and I will give you the good of the, land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land, were compelled by his successors to take the place of slaves. It seems as difficult for a nation as it is for an individual to refrain from the abuse of power. A writer says, Revolution is caused by seeking to substitute expediency for justice, and that is exactly what the King of Egypt and his confederates attempted in the instance of these Israelites. It would seem that the result of that endeavor ought to be a lesson to the times in which we live, and to the nations entrusted with power. Injustice toward a supposedly weaker people is one of those offences against God which do not go unpunished, and its very practice always provokes a rebellion which converts a profitable people into powerful enemies.

It ought never to be forgotten either that injustice easily leads to oppression. We may suppose the tax at first imposed upon this people was comparatively slight, and honorable Egyptians found for it a satisfactory excuse, hardly expecting that the time would ever come when the Israelites should be regarded chattel-slaves. But he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. It is doubtful if there is any wrong in mans moral relations which blinds him so quickly and so effectually as the exercise of power against weakness.

Joseph Parker, in speaking of the combat between Moses and the Egyptian, says, Every honorable-minded man is a trustee of social justice and common fair play. We have nothing to do with the petty quarrels that fret society, but we certainly have to do with every controversysocial, imperial, or internationalwhich violates human right and impairs the claims of Divine honor. We must all fight for the right. We feel safer by so much if we know there are amongst us men who will not be silent in the presence of wrong, and will lift up a testimony in the name of righteousness, though there be none to cheer them with one word of encouragement.

It is only a step from enslaving to slaughter. That step was speedily taken, for Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river (Exo 1:22). Unquestionably there is a two-fold thought in this fact. Primarily this, whom the tyrant cannot control to his profit, he will slay to his pleasure; and then, in its deeper and more spiritual significance, it is Satans effort to bring an end to the people of God. The same serpent that effected the downfall of Adam and Eve whispered into Cains ear, Murder Abel; and into the ears of the Patriarchs, Put Joseph out of the way; and to Herod, Throttle all the male children of the land; and to the Pharisee and Roman soldier, Crucify Jesus of Nazareth. It remains for us of more modern times to learn that the slaughter of the weak may be accomplished in other ways than by the knife, the Nile, or the Cross. It was no worse to send a sword against a feeble people, than, for the sake of filthy lucre, to plant among them the accursed saloon. Benjamin Harrison, in a notable address before the Ecumenical Missionary Conference held in the City of New York years ago, said, The men who, like Paul, have gone to heathen lands with the message, We seek not yours but you, have been hindered by those who, coming after, have reversed the message. Rum and other corrupting agencies come in with our boasted civilization, and the feeble races wither before the breath of the white mans vices.

Egypt sought to take away from Israel the physical life which Egypt feared; but God has forewarned us against a greater enemy when He said, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. * * Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him. If in this hour of almost universal disturbance the sword cannot be sheathed, let us praise God that our Congress and Senate have removed the saloona slaughter-house from the midst of our soldiers, and our amended Constitution has swept it from the land.

THE RISE OF MOSES.

I do not know whether you have ever been impressed in studying this Book of Exodus with what is so evidently a Divine ordering of events. It is when the slaughter is on that we expect the Saviour to come. And that God who sits beside the dying sparrow never overlooks the affliction of His people. When an edict goes forth against them, then it is that He brings their deliverer to the birth; hence we read, And there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of the house of Levi, and the woman conceived and bare a son (Exo 2:1-2),

That is Moses; that is Gods man! It is no chance element that brings him to the kingdom at such a time as this. It is no mere happening that he is bred in Pharaohs house, and instructed by Jochebed. It is no accident that he is taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. It is all in perfect consequence of the fact that God is looking upon the Children of Israel, and is having respect unto them.

Against Pharaohs injustice He sets Moses keen sense of right. When Moses sees an Egyptian slay an oppressed Israelite, he cannot withhold his hand. And, when after forty years in the wilderness he comes back to behold afresh the affliction of his people, he chooses to suffer with them rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. God never does a better thing for a nation than when He raises up in it such a man. We have heard a great deal of Socrates wisdom, but it is not in the science of philosophy alone that that ancient shines; for when Athens was governed by thirty tyrants, who one day summoned him to the Senate House, and ordered him to go with others named to seize Leon, a man of rank and fortune, whose life was to be sacrificed that these rulers might enjoy his estate, the great philosopher flatly refused, saying, I will not willingly assist in an unjust act. Thereupon Chericles sharply asked, Dost thou think, Socrates, to talk in this high tone and not to suffer? Far from it, replied the philosopher, I expect to suffer a thousand ills, but none so great as to do unjustly. That day Socrates was a statesman of the very sort that would have saved Athens had his ideas of righteousness obtained.

Against Pharaohs oppression He sets Moses Divine appointment. There were many times when Moses was tempted to falter, but Gods commission constrained his service. When Moses said, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh? God answered, Surely I will be with thee. When Moses feared his own people who would not believe in his commission, God answered, Thus shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel, I AM hath sent you. When Moses feared that the Israelites would doubt his Divine appointment, God turned the rod in his hand into a worker of wonders. And, when Moses excused himself on the ground of no eloquence, God replied, Go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say. With any man, a conviction of Divine appointment is a power, but for him who would be a saviour of his fellows, it is an absolute essential.

Pastor Stalker, speaking to the subject of a Divine call to the service of soul-winning, said, Enthusiasm for humanity is a noble passion and sheds a beautiful glow over the first efforts of an unselfish life, but it is hardly stern enough for the uses of the world. There come hours of despair when men seem hardly worth our devotion. * * Worse still is the sickening consciousness that we have but little to give; perhaps we have mistaken our vocation; it is a world out of joint, but were we born to put it right? This is where a sterner motive is needed than love for men. Our retreating zeal requires to be rallied by the command of God. It is His work; these souls are His; He has committed them to our care, and at the judgment-seat He will demand an account of them. All Prophets and Apostles who have dealt with men for God have been driven on by this impulse which has recovered them in hours of weakness and enabled them to face the opposition of the world. * * This command came to Moses in the wilderness and drove him into public life in spite of strong resistance; and it bore him through the unparalleled trials of his subsequent career. How many times he would have surrendered the battle and left his fellows to suffer under Pharaohs heels, but for the sound of that voice which Joan of Arc heard, saying to him as it said to her, Go on! Go on!

Against Pharaohs slaughter God set up Moses as a Saviour. History has recorded the salvation of his people to many a man, who, either by his counsels in the time of peace or his valor in the time of war, has brought abiding victory. But where in annals, secular or sacred, can you find a philosopher who had such grave difficulties to deal with as Moses met in lifting his people from chattel slaves to a ruling nation? And where so many enemies to be fought as Moses faced in his journey from the place of the Pyramids to Pisgahs Heights?

Titus Flaminius freed the Grecians from the bondage with which they had long been oppressed. When the herald proclaimed the Articles of Peace, and the Greeks understood perfectly what Flaminius had accomplished for them, they cried out for joy, A Saviour! a Saviour! till the Heavens rang with their acclamations.

But Moses was worthy of greater honor because his was a more difficult deed. I dont know, but I suppose one reason why Moses name is coupled with that of the Lamb in the Oratorio of the Heavens, is because he saved Israel out of a bondage which was a mighty symbol of Satans power, and led them by a journey, which is the best type of the pilgrims wanderings in this world, and brought them at last to the borders of Canaan, which has always been regarded as representative of the rest that remaineth for the people of God.

THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT

involves some items of the deepest interest.

The ten plagues prepare for it. The river is turned into blood; frogs literally cover the land; the dust is changed to lice; flies swarm until all the houses are filled; the beasts are smitten with murrain; boils and blains, hail, locusts and darkness do their worst, and the death of the first-born furnishes the climax of Egyptian affliction, and compels the haughty Pharaoh to bow in humility and grief before the will of the Most High God (chaps. 7-12).

There is one feature of these plagues that ought never to be forgotten. Without exception, they spake in thunder tones against Egyptian idolatry. The Nile River had long been an object of their adoration. In a long poem dedicated to the Nile, these lines are found:

Oh, Nile, hymns are sung to thee on the harp,

Offerings are made to thee: oxen are slain to thee;

Great festivals are kept for thee;

Fowls are sacrificed to thee.

But when the waters of that river were turned to blood, the Egyptians supposed Typhon, the God of Evil, with whom blood had always been associated, had conquered over their bountiful and beautiful Osiristhe name under which the Nile was worshiped.

The second plague was no less a stroke at their hope of a resurrection, for a frog had long symbolized to them the subject of life coming out of death. The soil also they had worshiped, and now to see the dust of it turned suddenly into living pests, was to suffer under the very power from which they had hoped to receive greatest success. The flies that came in clouds were not all of one kind, but their countless myriads, according to the Hebrew word used, included winged pests of every sort, even the scarabaeus, or sacred beetle. Heretofore, it had been to them the emblem of the creative principle; but now God makes it the instrument of destruction instead. When the murrain came upon the beasts, the sacred cow and the sacred ox-Apis were humbled. And ~when the ashes from the furnace smote the skin of the Egyptians, they could not forget that they had often sprinkled ashes toward Heaven, believing that thus to throw the ashes of their sacrifices into the wind would be to avert evil from every part of the land whither they were blown. Geikie says that the seventh plague brought these devout worshipers of false gods to see that the waters, the earth and the air, the growth of the fields, the cattle, and even their own persons, all under the care of a host of divinities, were yet in succession smitten by a power against which these protectors were impotent. When the clouds of locusts had devoured the land, there remained another stroke to their idolatry more severe still, and that was to see the Sun, the supreme god of Egypt, veil his face and leave his worshipers in total darkness. It is no wonder that Pharaoh then called to Moses and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; but it is an amazing thing that even yet his greed of gain goads him on to claim their flocks and their herds as an indemnity against the exodus of the people. There remained nothing, therefore, for God to do but lift His hand again, and lo, death succeeded darkness, and Pharaoh himself became the subject of suffering, and the greatest idol of the nation was humbled to the dust, for the king was the supreme object of worship.

He is a foolish man who sets himself up to oppose the Almighty God. And that is a foolish people who think to afflict Gods faithful ones without feeling the mighty hand of that Father who never forgets His own.

One day I was talking with a woman whose husband formerly followed the habit of gambling. By this means he had amassed considerable wealth, and when she was converted and desired to unite with the church, he employed every power to prevent it, and even denied her the privilege of church attendance. One morning he awoke to find that he was a defeated man; his money had fled in the night, and in the humiliation of his losses, he begged his wifes pardon for ever having opposed her spirit of devotion. Since that time, though living in comparative poverty, she has been privileged to serve God as she pleased; and, as she said to me, finds in that service a daily joy such as she at one time feared she would never feel again. Gods plagues are always preparing the way for an exodus on the part of Gods oppressed.

The Passover interpreted this exodus. That greatest of all Jewish feasts stands as a memorial of Israels flight from Egypt as a symbol of Gods salvation for His own, and as an illustration of the saving power of the Blood of the Lamb.

The opponents of the exodus perished. Our study concludes with Israels Song of Deliverance, beginning, The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation, and concluding in the words of Miriam, Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. See Exo 15:1-21. Such will ever be the end of those who oppress Gods people and oppose the Divine will.

When one studies the symbolism in all of this, and sees how Israel typifies Gods present-day people, and Moses, their deliverer, Jesus our Saviour, and defeated Pharaoh, the enemy of our souls, destined to be overthrown, he feels like joining in the same song of deliverance, changing the words only so far as to ascribe the greater praise to Him who gave His life a deliverance for all men; and with James Montgomery sing:

Hail to the Lords Anointed

Great Davids greater Son

Who, in the time appointed,

His reign on earth begun.

He comes to break oppression,

To set the captive free,

To take away transgression,

And rule in equity.

He comes, with succor speedy,

To those who suffer wrong;

To help the poor and needy,

And bid the weak be strong;

To give them songs for sighing,

Their darkness turn to light,

Whose souls, condemned and dying.

Were precious in His sight.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 3:1-6

MAN IN RELATION TO MYSTERY

I. That sometimes men meet with mystery in the pursuit of their daily calling. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro. Very often, in the pursuit of daily work are good and heroic menwho are in the path of Providencecalled upon to witness great sights, such as are not permitted to weak, restless, and unthinking souls. The daily avocation of a good man may lead into mysteryor break into heavenly vision at any pointwhich shall conduct him into a higher sphere of toil. The calling may be humble, it may not be that of preacherstudentphilanthropist, but simply that of shepherd; yet, if prosecuted in quietudein prayerful spiritwith an outlook toward Godit is not far from the mystery of the burning bush. God always rewards diligent and faithful mengives them great sightsof truthof hopecalls them to a higher servicerenders them conscious of a Divine companionshipholds converse with them.

1. This vision was unexpected. There was nothing to indicate its adventthe desert was silentunbroken by the sound of heavenly messengerthe bush casually attracted the attention of Moses. As a rule, the Divine Being does not warn men of vision and mysteryelse they would make unusual preparation to welcome it. The design of mystery is to testappealto the normal condition of our manhood, hence the need of always having our moral nature in the calm, quiet exercise of its power, ever ready for communion with the spirit-world.

2. This vision was educational. It taught Moses the solemnity of lifethe crisis of his nations sufferingthe solution of his own past historythe destiny of his prior trainingin the palace and in the desertit gave him a glimpze into his great futureit showed him that his life was deeply allied to that of his brethrento the divine administration of Heaven. The symbolism of the vision was most impressiveit would awe his soulhe was in personal contact with God which is always educational to man. He is made conscious of a Divine commission to his future workthis a source of strengthcomfortinspiration to him. This communion with the mystery of the burning bush was most importantgave a new impetus to his beingawakened new thoughtsemotionsprayerswhich never died away from the great temple of his soul. The vision was educational to him in the very truest sense of the word.

II. That sometimes mystery is associated with things of a very ordinary character. Out of the midst of a bush. Here it is associated with a bush of the desert. The flame did not descend and rush along the great mountains, near the lonely shepherd, lighting up the desert with a grandeur altogether magnificent: this might have been more tragicmore wildimposingbut it would not have been so divinely educational as this unconsumed bushMoses would have been startledwould have fledthe turbulent energies of his soul would have been awakened. Whereas this vision was calmit made him peacefulit was full of the heavenlyit elevated his spirit to sublimityit was progressivethe bush burningthen the voice directing him how to approachand lastly the revelation of its indwelling Divinity. Thus, the instruction in this case would be more gradualeffective. God knows the best methods of communication with human souls. And so it is now. The smallestthe most trivialthe apparently-unmeaningthingsevents of lifeare full of mysterycontain a heavenly presencea divine voicewill teach a reflective spiritwill become an impulse to a higher lifeavocation. The bushes of life are full of mystery. The world is a great secretis vocal with messages of freedom to listening souls.

III. That mystery should be investigated with the utmost devotion of soul. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.

1. There must be devotion in opposition to levity.

2. There must be devotion in opposition to curiosity. Why this devotion:

(1) Because mystery is holy. It is holy groundthe Divine indwelling in the bush consecrates itit leads to moral elevationmust therefore command reverence.

(2.) Because mystery is authoritative. It commands us to take off our shoes. Its authority is Divinewill be recognised by true manhood.

IV. That sometimes good men are favoured with a grand unfolding of mystery. I am the God. &c.

1. God observes the conduct of men in relation to mystery. And the Lord saw that he turned aside to see. What a subduinginspiring thoughtthat God knows all the efforts of our souls in their investigation of mystery.

2. God speaks to men who are anxious to investigate mystery. God called to him out of the midst of the bush. God speaksallows us to investigate. It would have been a poor modesty on the part of Moses had he not tried to understand the meaning of the sight before himso we may look into mysteryand the longer we gazethe more we shall see and hear of itHeaven will direct our thinkings and inquiries. Mystery has a definite bearing upon individual life. Moses.

3. God reveals Himself as the great solution of all mystery. I am the God of thy fathers. God is the explanation of all mystery. He teaches listeninghumbledevout souls the secrets of lifes burning bushes.

THE BURNING BUSH UNCONSUMED

I. Make some remarks on the Burning Bush, by way of Illustration. A Shepherds life friendly to contemplation. Why this appearance?To give Moses the most sublime conception of the glory and majesty of the Supreme Being, and to fit him for his future mission. Nothing could be more conducive to this, than the fire in the bush. Among the Hebrews, and ancient nations, fire was considered a very significant emblem of Deityin this instance it would represent the majestypuritypower of Godit would show that He was going to bring terrordestruction upon His enemies, and lightcomfortsalvation to His people. The burning bush an emblem:

1. Of the state of the Israelites in their distress. Consider their trialspersecutionsseverelikely to consume themyet Israel was not diminishedthe burning bush a fit emblem of them.

2. Of the state of the Church in the wilderness of the worldby the Church we mean all true Christians, independent of sect This world a wildernessnothing in it to suit the taste of a spiritual mindthe Church must pass through the wilderness to reach Canaanhas many enemies. It has passed through the fires of persecutionhas never been consumed in numbersor piety.

3. Of the state of every true Christian. What is true of the Church is true of the individualtrials not so generaltempted by the powers of darknessfire of afflictionyet is unconsumed.

II. Consider why the bush was not consumed! The reason obvious Jehovah was in the midst of it. This true in the emblematical signification of the bush:

1. Jehovah was present with Israel.

2. With the Church in all ages.

3. With Christian life in all its grief. Learn:

1. Religion does not exempt from suffering.
2. The certainty of Divine protection in trial [Lay Preacher].

MOSES AND THE BURNING BUSH; A PICTURE OF A TRUE STUDENT AND THE BIBLE

The circumstances connected with this incident suggest four general facts.

1. That Gods purposes are punctual in their accomplishment. God declared to Abraham that his seed should go into a strange landthat they should be slaves thereand come out with great substance. The clock of time had now struck the 400 years, and God began to redeem His pledge.

2. That Gods purposes, in relation to our world, are generally accomplished by the agency of man. The Almighty could have emancipated the Jews by His own immediate volition, or he might have selected other instrumentality than human; but He elected man for the work. This is Gods plan of raising humanitywiseloving.

3. That the men whom God employs for the carrying out of His purposes, He qualifies by a special revelation. The work to which Moses was now called required dauntless heroismself-sacrificepowerhe was to confront Egypts proud king. Whence was he to derive the power? This power of the human mind depends upon the thoughts and ideas it receives from the Divine, as the vitality and power of the branch depends upon its connection with the root: all moral mind is powerless without ideas from God. Hence this special Revelation

4. That this special revelation, which he vouchsafes, is frequently symbolical in its character. Frequently made thus to the Jews. All nature is a symbol. Truth in symbol is palpableattractiveimpressive. It symbolised Gods presence. Observe the Student:

I. Directing His earnest attention to the Divine Revelation. And Moses said I will turn aside, &c.,

1. Moses directs his attention to it, under an impression of its greatness. A marvellous objecta bush burning, away from the habitation of menbursting into flame at onceignited by no visible handunconsumed. This is but a faint shadow of the marvellousness of the Biblethe fact of its existenceits contents.

2. Moses directs his attention to it in order to ascertain its import. Why the bush is not burnt. So the student of the Bible must not be satisfied with a mere acquaintance with the forms and circumstances of the Bible, he will enquire into their import.

II. Holding intercourse with God through the Divine Revelation. God called to him. &c.

1. Gods communications depended upon his attention. The Bible is the great organ of Divine intercourse; but it is the devout student only who looks and inquiresthat hears in it the voice of God. Gods communications were consciously personal to him. Moses. There are few in these days who hear the voice of God to them in the Bible,

3. Gods communications were directive and elevating. Draw not high.

III. Realising the profoundest impressions through the Divine Revelation. And Moses hid his face.

1. These impressions are peculiarly becoming in sinful intelligencies.

2. These impressions are necessary to qualify men for Gods work.

3. These impressions are consonant with the highest dignity and enjoyment [Homilist].

THE ANGEL IN THE BURNING BUSH

Here we see:

I. An old man called to go out on the great errand of his life. The education of Moses lasted 80 years. EgyptMidian. When the brightness of his life was gone, and the hopes of his youth were dead; when his fiery spirit was tamed into patience, and his turbulent passion stilled into repose, at last he came out of school. Man in hasteGod never; the former looks to resultsthe latter to preparations.

II. The Burning Bush from which that call was sounded.

1. It was a sign to indicate the peculiar presence of God.

2. Gods people.

III. The angel who uttered this call.
IV. The covenant under which the angel gave him his commission.
V. The angels name. I am that I am. He asserts His seal existenceHis underived existenceHis independent existenceHis eternityunchangeablenessineffability.

VI. The effect to be wrought by the remembrance of His name.

1. Profoundest reverence.

2. It reveals the infinite sufficiency of a Christians portion.

3. It gives encouragement to evangelical enterprise [Symbols of Christ].

I. The employment in which Moses was engaged. Kept the flock.

II. The sight which he witnessed. And the Angel of the Lord.

III. The resolution he made. I will now turn aside.

IV. The prohibition he received. Draw not nigh, &c.

V. The announcement he heard. I am the God of thy father [Expository Outlines].

I. The Learned Shepherd.

1. Humility.
2. Patience.
3. Fidelity.

II. The Great Sight.

1. Where.
2. When.
3. Wherefore it appeared.

III. The Present God:

1. With them is trouble.

2. Sustains them is trouble.

3. A source of Instruction [Class and the Desk].

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Exo. 3:1. Moses:A faithful Song of Solomon

2. A diligent worker.
3. A true worshipper.

Solitude:

1. Needful for toil.
2. Useful for moral preparation.
3. Favourable for heavenly visions.

The desert:

1. The sheepfold of a Priest.
2. The School of Providence.
3. The Temple of the Eternal.

It is not a subsidence into commonplace that we find in this verse; it is going into the severest and most useful of schoolsthe school of lowliness, meditation, self-measurement, and fellowship with God. Fiery natures must be attempered by exile and desertion. We must exchange rough and romantic chivalry for the deep, calm, vital revelation which emancipates and purges the spiritual nature of mankind [City Temple].

Gods determination to deliver His Church and people is soon followed by the execution thereof.
Gods instruments of deliverance are not altogether laid aside, although they are long in preparation.
It is Gods use to take shepherds of flocks to make them shepherds of men.
Gods great instruments may be servant-shepherds, not masters of their own flock.
Church deliverers, God orders to be nurtured, sometimes under priests, amongst strangers.
The Divine Being leads good men to places the most favourable to heavenly visions.
Shepherds seeking pasture for their flock, may find better for themselves.
Places are rightly called by Gods name, wheresoever He appears.
Deserts are sometimes ordered for saints to meet God in.
Those who descend from riches to poverty, from the palace to the desert, should be patient in their temper and toil.
Came to the mountain of God. It was here:

1. That God appeared to Moses in the bush.
2. That He manifested His glory at the delivery of the Law.

That Moses brought water out of the rock.

4. That, by lifting up his hands, he made Joshua to prevail against Amelek.
5. That he fasted twice forty days and forty nights.
6. That from thence he brought the tables of the Law.
7. That Elijah was vouchsafed a glorious vision.

Even to Horeb. We know not the precise place. Tradition, reaching back to the sixth century of the Christian era, fixes it in the same deep seclusion as that to which, in all probability, he (Moses) afterwards led the Israelites. The convent of Justinian is built over what was supposed to be the exact spot where the shepherd was bid to draw his sandals from off his feet. The valley in which the convent stands is called by the Arabian name of Jethro. But, whether this or the other great centre of the peninsula, Mount Serbal, be regarded as the scene of the event, the appropriateness would be almost equal. Each has at different times been regarded as the sanctuary of the desert. Each presents that singular majesty which, as Joseph us tells us, and as the sacred narrative implies, had already invested the Mountain of God with an awful reverence in the eyes of the Arabian tribes, as though a Divine Presence rested on its solemn heights. Around each, on the rocky ledges of the hill-side, or in the retired basins, withdrawn within the deep recesses of the adjoining mountains, or beside the springs which water the adjacent valleys, would be found pasture or herbage, or of aromatic shrubs for the flocks of Jethro. On each, in that early age, though now found only on Mount Serbal, must have grown the wild acacia, the shaggy thornbush of the Seneh, the most characteristic tree of the whole range. So natural, so thoroughly in accordance with the scene, were the signs in which the call of Moses made itself heard and seen; not in any outward form, human or celestial, such as the priests of Heliopolis were wont to figure to themselves as the representatives of Deity; but out of the midst of the spreading thorn, the outgrowth of the desert wastes, did the Lord appear unto Moses [The Jewish Church, by Dean Stanley].

Exo. 3:2. The burning bush:

1. As an emblem it instructs.
2. As a miracle it astonishes.
3. As a magnet it attracts.
4. As a monitor it warns. When a workman is busily engaged in his work, we say he is in the midst of it. For the same reasons, God, whose workmanship the Church is, is said to be in the midst of the Church.

A beautiful conjunction of the natural and the supernatural. A bush turned into a sanctuary. Though the heavens cannot contain the Great One, yet he hides Himself under every flower, and makes the broken heart of man his chosen dwelling-place. Wherever we are, there are gates through nature into the divine. Every bush will teach the reverent student something of God. The lilies are teachers, so are the stars, so are all things great and little in this wondrous museum, the universe [City Temple].

The burning bush gave light in the wilderness, and so ought the Church to do in the world.
This Angel of the Lord is afterwards called Jehovah and God (ch. Exo. 4:6). The shekinah, or luminous glory, was not only Jehovah Himself, but was the Angel-Jehovah. The very word Angel, signifies messenger, or one sent; and though it generally designates a personal being, yet as a term of office it may be applied to any medium by which God makes communications to man. This Angel was

1. Eternal.
2. Omnipotent.
3. Self-existent.
4. Commanded the moral activities of men.

This Angel in the bush a prophecy of the Saviours incarnation.
After long-expected deliverances, God appears at length to help.
God sometimes mercifully appears to men, and comes to their deliverance, as in a flame of fire.
Gods sweet appearances are usually in desert conditions. Gods visions of old have had real demonstrations by eye-witnesses.
Gods bush habitation is in order to show good will unto His Church.

God can interdict the power of fire to consume (Daniel 3.)

God works miracles upon lower creatures, in order to show the Church His power.
The preserving and sustaining influence of true religion.

Exo. 3:3. Many a man has been led through the pale of curiosity into the sanctuary of reverence. Moses purposed but to see a wonderful sight in nature, little dreaming that he was standing, as it were, face to face with God. Blessed are they who have an eye for the startling, the sublime, and the beautiful in nature, for they shall see many sights which shall fill them with glad amazement. Every sight of God is a great sight; the sights become little to us because we view them without feeling, or holy expectation [City Temple].

St. Austin, who came to Ambrose to have his ears tickled, had his heart touched. It is good to hear, howsoever. Come, said Latimer, to the public meeting, though thou comest to sleep; it may be, God will take thee napping. Absence is without hope. What a deal lost Thomas by being but once absent [Trapp].

A great sight:

1. Occasioned by a Divine agency.
2. Illumined by a Divine Presence.
3. Given for a Divine purpose.

Great sights:

1. Desired by the world.
2. Sought by the pleasure-seeker.
3. Found only by the Christian.
4. The inspiration of a good life.

The moral preparation, and condition necessary for the beholding of heavenly visions

1. We must turn aside from the gaiety of the world.
2. From the futility of merely human reasonings.
3. From the commission of moral evil in daily life.
4. From following the instruction of incompetent teachers.
5. They are largely dependent upon our personal willingness of soul. God speaks to all man who reverently turn aside to hear Him.

Unusual apparitions of God may well put the best men upon self-reasoning.
Observing hearts are inclined more to turn into the inquiry of Gods discoveries than from them.
All revelations from God should be carefully looked into.

Exo. 3:4. God sees our first desire to investigate the truth, and our earliest effort towards a religious life.

God calls truth-seekers by nameMoses,Nathaniel.

1. To indicate His delight in them.
2. His favour toward them.
3. His hope of them.
4. To prepare them for further revelations.

The name of a good man vocal on the lips of God

1. An honour.
2. A destiny.
3. A prophecy.
4. A vocation.

The truth-seekers response:

1. His personality.
2. His place.
3. His willingness. We should always respond to the calls of heaven.

The souls turning aside to see often leads to visions of God.

1. In His Book.
2. In His works.
3. In His Providences.
4. In His Church and sanctuary.

Such visions:

1. Obtained by prayer.
2. Refreshing to the soul.
3. Strengthening to manhood.
4. Related to human suffering.

God looks to them who turn into His discoveries, with a purpose to show them more.
God gives to His servants not only a vision, but a voice for them to know His mind.
God doubly calleth where he doubly loveth, and stirreth into double duty.
Those who are truly called by God, ought to be willing to offer themselves either to do, or suffer His pleasure.

Exo. 3:5. All places are holy, but some are especially so:

1. Because they are hallowed by the supreme residence of God.
2. By happy memories.
3. By holy friendships.
4. By moral conquest.

There must be an occasional pause in the investigation of truth, and in the devotion of our religious life.
Curiosity must not merge into familiarity.
Put off thy shoes of sensuality, and other sins. Affections are the feet of the soul; keep them unclogged [Trapp].

The putting off the sandals is a very ancient practice in worship; Pythagoras enjoins it. The rabbis say that the priests perform their service with bare feet, in token of purity and reverence. Among the Greeks, no person was admitted to the Temple of Diana, in Crete, with shoes on. All Mohammedans, Brahmins, and Parsees worship barefooted to the present day [Dr. Nevin].

May we all learn to tread Jehovahs court with unshod feet.
We must come to God; we must not come too near Him. When we meditate on the great mysteries of His word, we come to Him; we come too near Him when we search into His counsels. The sun and the fire say of themselves, Come not too near; how much more the light which none can attain to. We have all our limits set us. The Gentiles might come into some outer courts, not into the innermost; the Jews might come into the inner court, not into the temple; the priests and Levites into the temple, not into the holy of holies; Moses to the hill, not to the bush. The waves of the sea had not more need of bounds than mans presumption. Moses must not come close to the bush at all; and where he may stand, he may not stand with his shoes on [Bishop Hall].

The access of honest hearts to the place of Gods appearance may be rash.
Such hasty and unadvised access God forbids unto His servants.
Due preparation must be made by those who wish access to God.

Exo. 3:6. The Divine Being here reveals Himself as:

1. The God of individual men.
2. The God of Families.
3. The God of the immortal good.

There is something inexpressibly beautiful in the idea that God is the God of the father, and of the son, and of all their descendants; thus the one God makes humanity into one family [City Temple].

God does not say, I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but I am. The Patriarchs still live so many years after their dissolution. No length of time can separate the souls of the just from their Maker [Henry and Scott].

Let a man but see God, and his plumes will soon fall [Trapp].

Gods gracious discoveries may prove terrible to those who are not acquainted with them.

Consciousness of self-guilt is enough to make creatures hide from God. Like instances:1Ki. 19:13, Isa. 6:2.

Men fear to look upon God:

1. Because of the greatness of His Majesty.
2. Because of the awfulness of His revelations.
3. Because He is the Arbiter of their destinies.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Exo. 3:1. No vessels that God delights so much to fill as broken vessels, contrite spirits. He resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Jas. 4:6. The silver dews flow down from the mountains to the lowest valleys. A humble soul that lies low, oh, what sights of God has he! what glories does he behold, when the proud soul sees nothing. He that is in the low pits and caves of the earth sees the stars of the firmament, when they who are upon the tops of the mountains discern them not [T. Brooks].

Exo. 3:2. The Church has been subject to much persecution. The first was under the Emperor Nero, thirty-one years after our Lords ascension. Multitudes were apprehended; they were covered by the skins of wild beasts, torn to pieces by devouring dogs; fastened to crosses, wrapt up in combustible garments, that, when the daylight failed, they might, like torches, serve to dispel the gloom of night. For this tragical scene Nero lent his own gardens; and thus the shrieks of women burning to ashes supplied music and diversion for their circus. The second was under Domitian, in the year 95, and forty thousand are supposed to have perished. The third began in the third year of Trajan in the year 100. The fourth under Antonius. The fifth began in the year 127, under Severus, when great cruelties were committed. The sixth began in the reign of Maximus, in 2357. The seventh, which was the most dreadful ever known, began in 250, under the Emperor Decius. The eighth began in 257, under Valerian. The ninth was under Aurelian in 274. The tenth began in the nineteenth year of Diocletian, in 303. In this dreadful persecution, which lasted ten years, houses filled with Christians were set on fire, and whole droves were twisted together with ropes and cast into the sea. It is related that seventeen thousand were slain in one month, In this fiery persecution it is believed that not fewer than one hundred and forty-four thousand Christians died by violence, besides seven hundred thousand that died through the banishments, or the public works to which they were condemned [Beaumont].

Persecutions are beneficial to the righteous. They are a hail of precious stones, which, it is true rob the vine of her leaves, but give her possessor a more precious treasure instead [Aron].

The Church has sometimes been brought to so low and obscure a point that, if you will follow her in history, it is by the track of her blood; and, if you would see her, it is by the light of those fires in which her martyrs have been burnt. Yet hath she still come through, and survived all that wrath, and still shall till she be made perfectly triumphant [Leighton].

A Roman Catholic king, who was bitter in his opposition to the Protestant cause, had been speaking of its downfall, and how it would be brought about A celebrated Protestant replied, Sire, it assuredly behoves the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to strike them; but may it please you also to remember that it is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.
As the flowers of water betony, with the leaves and sprigs, though they die often, and yearly; yet the root is aye-lasting from which they come and to which they belong: so though discipline and the outward beauty of the Church change and often die, yet the Church is aye-lasting and of all continuance.
Like as when trees are hewn down, much more imps (offshoots) do spring up than the boughs wore that were cut off; so now, after the slaughter of many godly men, more did run into the Gospel, and that day by day, than ever did; yea, and the blood of the slain bodies was a certain watering of the now plants springing up in the Church; so that a martyr in suffering doth not suffer for himself alone, but also for every man. For himself, he suffereth to be crowned; for all men he suffereth, to give them an example; for himself to his rest; for every man to his welfare.
As the fiery bush that Moses saw in the Mount Horeb, which bush, for all that it was on a flaming fire, yet did it not consume; or as the shining worm, that being cast into the fire, doth not perish nor consume, but contrariwise, is thereby purged of filth and more beautiful than if it were washed with all the waters of the world; even so such Christians as are cast into the fire of affliction are not consumed, but purged, tried, and purified.

Far seen across the sandy wild,
Where, like a solitary child,
He thoughtless roamd and free,
One towering thorn was wrapt in flame
Bright without blaze it went and came,
Who would not turn and see? [Keble].

Exo. 3:3-5. It is recorded of one Sir William Champney, in the reign of King Henry III., that, living in Tower-street, London, he was the first man that ever builded a turret on the top of his house, that he might the better overlook all his neighbours: but it so happened that not long after, he was struck blind, so that he who would see more than others, saw just nothing at all. A sad judgment! And thus it is just with God, when men of towering, high thoughts must needs be prying into those arcana Dei (the hidden secrets of God), that they should be struck blind on the place, and come tumbling down in the midst of their so serious inquiry. At the ascension of Christ, it is said that he was taken up in a cloud; being entered into His presence chamber, a curtain, as it were, was drawn to hinder His disciples gazing and our further peeping; yet, for all that, a man may be pius pulsator, though not temerarius scrutatorhe may modestly knock at the door of Gods secrets, but, if he enter further, he may assure himself to be more bold than welcome.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE TEXT OF EXODUS
TRANSLATION

3 Now Mo-ses was keeping the flock of Je-thro his father-in-law, the priest of Mid-i-an: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Ho-reb. (2) And the angel of Je-ho-vah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (3) And Mo-ses said, I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. (4) And when Je-ho-vah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Mo-ses, Mo-ses. And he said, Here am I. (5) And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (6) Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of I-saac, and the God of Jacob. And Mo-ses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. (7) And Je-ho-vah said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people that are in E-gypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; (8) and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the E-gyp-tians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Ca-naan-ite, and the Hit-tite, and the Am-or-ite, and the Per-iz-zite, and the Hi-vite, and the Jeb-u-site. (9) And now, behold, the cry of the children of Is-ra-el is come unto me: moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the E-gyp-tians oppress them. (10) Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pha-raoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Is-ra-el out of E-gypt. (11) And Mo-ses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Is-ra-el out of E-gypt? (12) And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee; that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of E-gypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. (13) And Mo-ses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Is-ra-el and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? (14) And God said unto Mo-ses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Is-ra-el, I AM hath sent me unto you. (15) And God said moreover unto Mo-ses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Is-ra-el, Je-ho-vah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of I-saac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (16) Go, and gather the elders of Is-ra-el together, and say unto them, Je-ho-vah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of I-saac, and of Jacob, hath appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in E-gypt: (17) and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of E-gypt unto the land of the Ca-naan-ite, and the Hit-tite, and the Am-or-ite, and the Per-iz-zite, and the Hi-vite, and the Jeb-u-site, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. (18) And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Is-ra-el, unto the king of E-gypt, and ye shall say unto him, Je-ho-vah, the God of the Hebrews, hath met with us: and now let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Je-ho-vah our God. (19) And I know that the king of E-gypt will not give you leave to go, no, not by a mighty hand. (20) And I will put forth my hand, and smite E-gypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go (21) And I will give this people favor in the sight of the E-gyp-tians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: (22) but every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall despoil the E-gyptians.

EXPLORING EXODUS: CHAPTER THREE
QUESTIONS ANSWERABLE FROM THE BIBLE

After careful reading of Exodus 3, propose a topic or theme (13 words) for the entire chapter.

What work did Moses do in Midian? (Exo. 3:1)

Who was Moses father-in-law? What other names are given to him (Compare Exo. 2:18; Exo. 4:18; Exo. 18:1)

Which side of an area is the backside? (Exo. 3:1; Exo. 26:12; Exo. 26:22)

What mountain is Horeb? (Exo. 3:1; Exo. 19:20; Exo. 33:6; Exo. 34:2). Why is it called the mountain of God? (Compare Deu. 4:10-13; Exo. 19:20 to Exo. 20:3).

What appeared unto Moses? (Exo. 3:2) What was unusual about the sight? At what place was this appearance?

Who was the angel of the LORD? (Exo. 3:2; Exo. 3:6; Compare Gen. 22:11-18; Gen. 31:11-13; Jdg. 6:11-16).

What was Moses reaction upon seeing the burning bush? (Exo. 3:3)

Who called out of the midst of the bush? (Exo. 3:4)

10.

With what words did God call to Moses? (Exo. 3:4)

11.

What two preliminary commands did God give Moses from the bush? (Exo. 3:5)

12.

What significance is there in removing the sandals? (Compare Jos. 5:15)

13.

What made this spot holy ground? (Exo. 3:5)

14.

Why did God introduce himself to Moses as the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, . . .? (Exo. 3:6; Gen. 15:13-18)

15.

What does Exo. 3:6 reveal about the faith of Moses father? What was the name of Moses father? (Exo. 6:20)

16.

What argument did the Lord Jesus draw from Exo. 3:6? (Luk. 20:37-38)

17.

How did Moses feel about looking upon God? How did he show his feelings? (Exo. 3:6)

18.

What had the LORD seen and heard? (Exo. 3:7; Exo. 3:9)

19.

By what term did the Lord refer to the Israelites in Exo. 3:7?

20.

What was Gods purpose in coming down? (Exo. 3:8). Why does God need to come down? Isnt He everywhere? (Compare Jer. 23:23-24)

21.

What is meant by saying that the land was flowing with milk and honey? (Exo. 3:8; Compare Deu. 8:7-8).

22.

How many nations occupied the land that God was bringing the Israelites into? (Exo. 3:8; Compare Deu. 7:1).

23.

To whom was Moses sent? (Exo. 3:10)

24.

What was Moses mission? (Exo. 3:10)

25.

What was Moses first excuse when God told him to lead Israel out? (Exo. 3:11)

26.

What were Moses four other excuses that he later gave? (Exo. 3:13; Exo. 4:1; Exo. 4:10; Exo. 4:13)

27.

What reassurance did God give to encourage Moses to do his job? (Exo. 3:12)

28.

What was the token, or sign, that God promised to Moses, to verify that God had indeed sent him on this mission? (Exo. 3:12)

29.

How could this be a sign to reassure Moses during the performance of his work, when Moses could not possibly see the fulfillment of the sign until his work was done? (Exo. 3:12; Compare Joh. 2:18-22).

30.

How and when did Israel serve God upon this mountain? (Exo. 3:12; Exo. 19:1-3)

31.

What question did Moses assume that Israel would ask him when he told them that God had sent him to them? (Exo. 3:13)

32.

What does the question concerning Gods name suggest about Israels religious knowledge and faithfulness in Egypt?

33.

What was the name God gave for Himself? (Exo. 3:14)

34.

What significance and implications can you perceive in this name for God? (Compare Isa. 57:15; Rev. 1:4; Joh. 8:58).

35.

Why the repeated stress on the fact that God was the God of their fathers? (Exo. 3:15)

36.

What had God promised to Abraham that made Abraham so important and prominent? (Exo. 3:15; Gen. 15:13-14; Gen. 22:18).

37.

What name for God is solemnly given in Exo. 3:15?

38.

What is indicated by Gods calling His name my memorial? (Exo. 3:15; Compare Psa. 97:2; Psa. 102:12; Psa. 135:13).

39.

How long was the memorial to be known? (Exo. 3:15)

40.

Whom was Moses to go and gather together? (Exo. 3:16)

41.

What is the significance of God visiting them? (Compare other passages on visiting, such as Gen. 21:1; Gen. 50:24; Rth. 1:6; Psa. 106:4; Luk. 1:68).

42.

What promise of God was to be declared unto Israel? (Exo. 3:17)

43.

How would the Israelites respond to Gods promise? (Exo. 3:18)

44.

Who was to go with Moses unto the king of Egypt? (Exo. 3:18). Did it work out that way? (Exo. 5:1-2)

45.

What request was Moses to make to the king? (Exo. 3:18; Compare Exo. 5:1-2)

46.

What did God predict about the kings response to Moses request? (Exo. 3:19)

47.

Explain No, not by a mighty hand. (Exo. 3:19)

48.

What did God promise (or threaten) to do to Egypt? (Exo. 3:20)

49.

How did God fulfill the threat stated in Exo. 3:20? See Exo. 7:3 ff.

50.

What would Egypt do after all God’s wonders had been done in its midst? (Exo. 3:20)

51.

What would God give to the Israelites in the sight of the Egyptians? (Exo. 3:21)

52.

What does “Ye shall not go out empty” mean? (Exo. 3:21; Exo. 12:35-36)

53.

From whom were the women to ask (borrow) valuables? (Exo. 3:22)

54.

What did these valuables consist of? (Exo. 3:22)

55.

Where were the valuables to be placed? (Exo. 3:22)

56.

How extensively were the Israelites to take valuables from the Egyptians? (Exo. 3:22)

EXODUS THREE: THE CALL OF GODS MAN

Facts About Gods Call:

Comes in unexpected ways; Exo. 3:2

Comes in keeping with past revelations; Exo. 3:6

Must be heard with reverence; Exo. 3:5

Given to help man; Exo. 3:7-8

Sends us to BIG jobs; Exo. 3:8.

Comes to the fearful; Exo. 3:11.

Comes with Gods directions; Exo. 3:16.

Comes with reassurance; Exo. 3:17.

Sends us against human opposition; Exo. 3:19.

10.

Comes with divine help; Exo. 3:20.

EXODUS THREE: AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

Preparations for an encounter with God

Awareness; Exo. 3:3.

Humility; Exo. 3:5-6.

II.

Purposes of an encounter with God

To deliver the afflicted; Exo. 3:8-10.

To bless the afflicted; Exo. 3:8; Exo. 3:17.

III.

Power of an encounter with God

Power to answer objections; Exo. 3:13-17.

Power to overcome resistance; Exo. 3:18-20.

EXPLORING EXODUS: NOTES ON CHAPTER THREE

What was Moses main occupation in Midian? (Exo. 3:1)

He kept the flock (sheep, goats, small cattle) of Jethro, his father-in-law. Literally, he was keeping the flock, indicating the continuance of this occupation. Often this work was considered the work of women or children, and men would not do it. What a contrast this was to Moses previous lifestyle in Egypt!

Who was Jethro? (Exo. 3:1)

He was Moses father-in-law, the same person called Reuel in Exo. 2:18. See notes on Exo. 2:16-18. The name Jethro also occurs in Exo. 4:18 and Exo. 18:1 ff. Critics like Martin Noth assume that the use of the two names Jethro and Reuel indicate separate sources and traditions lying behind our exodus narrative.[113] But even he admits that it is impossible to discover the origin of the different names given to the priest at a later date. It seems to us that there is no solid evidence for the existence of any sources, and that we can confidently hold to the clear Biblical assertions that Moses gave us all the law (Joh. 7:19; Neh. 10:29).

[113] Exodus, p. 37.

Which side is the back side of the desert? (Exo. 3:1)

To the Hebrews the backside of anything was the west side. (Americans have a different idiom, and say back east.) It appears that Jethro lived in the S.E. part of the Sinai peninsula. Moses drove the sheep westward (or northwestward) through a wilderness to the patchy pasture areas around Horeb.

What is the mountain of God?

The expression may mean only the great mountain. Tradition reaching back many centuries identifies this mountain as Mt. Sinai, or Jebel Musa (meaning, Mt. of Moses), in the southern Sinaitic peninsula. We see no cause to reject this view.

Perhaps the mountain was called the mount of God because God here afterwards came down and gave the ten commandments and other laws (Exodus 19-24). Moses wrote Exodus after the law was given at Sinai. Therefore, Sinai was indeed the mount of God to those who first read Exodus.
Josephus[114] says that men had the opinion that God dwelt at that mountain, and therefore shepherds had not before pastured there before Moses came. It is possible that the mountain was regarded as a holy mountain by the superstitious residents even before God called Moses there. But such superstitions are neither certain nor significant.

[114] Antiquities, II, xii, 1; III, v, 1.

The term mount of God (or similar terms) is also found in Exo. 4:27; Exo. 18:5; Exo. 24:13; Num. 10:33; 1Ki. 19:18.

What does Horeb mean?

The name Horeb comes from a verb meaning to be dry. This well describes much of the rugged, granitic, mountainous, desert area around Sinai. The name refers to Mt. Sinai, or, more probably, the entire region thereabout. The name Horeb is found in Exo. 33:6; Exo. 17:6; 1Ki. 8:9; 1Ki. 19:8; and numerous other passages.

Who appeared to Moses at Horeb? (Exo. 3:2)

The angel of the LORD appeared to Moses. The word angel means messenger. But this messenger was none other than God himself. See Exo. 3:4; Exo. 3:6. Deu. 33:16 speaks of Gods blessings as coming from the good will of him that dwelt in the bush. The angel of the Lord was the same personality that later came into the world as Jesus of Nazareth, the one whom John calls the WORD (Joh. 1:1). He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not (Joh. 1:10).

Keil and Delitzsch[115] make the helpful comment that the transition from the angel of Jehovah (Exo. 3:2) to Jehovah (Exo. 3:4) proves the identity of the two; and the interchange of the names Jehovah (LORD) and Elohim (the Hebrew word for God) in Exo. 3:4 precludes the idea of Jehovahs being merely a national God of the Hebrews.

[115] Op. Cit., p. 439.

Was the bush really burning?

Certainly it was. Exo. 3:2 says that the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. This bush was a kind of thorn bush (Heb., seneh) common in that district.

We ask this question only because some modern commentators seek to do away with the miraculous feature of the burning bush. They suggest that it had brilliant flowers that looked like flame; or sunlight was falling on it so as to produce an effect of flame.[116] And even more radical idea is that the vision was only an inner experience in Moses mind, and that one standing next to Moses would have seen nothing unusual.[117] Noth supposes it was some manifestation similar to St. Elmos fire.[118]

[116] Cole, op. cit., p. 64.

[117] The Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 1 (Nashville; Broadman, 1969), p. 328.

[118] Op. cit., p. 39.

How did God address Moses at the bush? (Exo. 3:4)

He called his name twice, Moses, Moses, in a way reminding us of Gods call to Abraham in Gen. 22:11 : Abraham, Abraham.

Note the interchange of divine names in Exo. 3:4 : The LORD (Jehovah) saw, but God (Elohim) called. Jehovah is Gods covenant name with his people. Elohim is the general term for God as the mighty one, creator, and ruler.

Why take off the shoes? (Exo. 3:5)

This was an act of reverence and humbleness before God. The special manifestation of Gods presence made the spot holy ground. Removing the shoes is still practiced in the East. Moslems remove their shoes upon entering any of their holy places. Joshua put off his shoes when he stood before the captain of the Lords host (Jos. 5:15).

10.

How did God describe himself to Moses? (Exo. 3:6)

As the God of thy father (Amram?), of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. This verse implies Moses had some knowledge of the patriarchal history in Genesis.
God described himself as one who remembers, sees, hears, and helps his people.
The word father (singular) may refer to Moses father, Amram, about whom we know almost nothing. Or it may be a collective use of the term, and refer to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are named in the second part of the verse. Moses receives communication from no new or unknown God, but only a fuller of revelation from Him whom his people had known before.

Our Lord Jesus presented this passage as a proof of the resurrection of the dead to the Sadducees (Mat. 22:32; Mar. 12:26; Luk. 20:37). God said to Moses, I AM the God of Abrahm (not, I was). When God spoke to Moses, Abraham had been dead over five hundred years. But Abraham was not dead to God; for all live unto Him. On the basis of this assertion of the continued existence of Abrahams soul after his physical death, Jesus said that ultimately soul and body will be reunited by a resurrection of the body.

11.

Why did Moses hide his face? (Exo. 3:6)

People are always fearful to look on God when they really see His holiness and glory. (Isa. 6:1; Isa. 6:5; Jdg. 13:22; Luk. 5:8; 1Ki. 19:13)

12.

Why was God now coming down to deliver Israel? (Exo. 3:7-8)

Because He had seen their affliction, and heard their cry, and knew their sorrow. God is a God of personal feelings and tenderness.

Also the time of which God had foretold to Abraham was nearly fulfilled. They shall afflict thy seed four hundred years (Gen. 15:13). God keeps His promises, and keeps His schedule.

13.

To what kind of a land would God bring Israel? (Exo. 3:8).

To a broad, or large, land. This is indicated by the enumeration of the six (or seven) tribes which then inhabited the country.

To a good land, a land flowing (oozing) with milk and honey. This means that it was a land of pastures, where flocks giving milk could be raised. It would be a land of flowers, from which bees would make honey. The phrase flowing with milk and honey is repeated in Exo. 3:17; Exo. 13:5; Jer. 11:5. The goodness of the land is also described in Deu. 8:7-8.

Sinuhe, an Egyptian fugitive who fled into the land of Canaan, or a nearby area, about 1960 B.C., described the land in a way similar to that by which God described it to Moses:

It was a good land, named Yaa. Figs were in it, and grapes. It had more wine than water. Plentiful was its honey, abundant its olives. Every (kind of) fruit was on its trees. Barley was there, and emmer. There was no limit to any (kind of) cattle.[119]

[119] The Story of Sinuhe, translated by John A. Wilson, in Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton U. Press, 1955), p. 19. Used by permission.

14.

What peoples would be displaced from the promised land by Israel? (Exo. 3:8)

Six nations are named. This is the first reference to these since Gods promise to Abraham in Gen. 15:18-21. They are named frequently after this. See Exo. 3:17; Exo. 13:5; Deu. 7:1; Jos. 24:11. Each of these nations is said to be greater and mightier than thou (Deu. 7:1).

This group of nations is often said to number seven. Collectively they are called the Canaanites, even though one tribe called Canaanites was a distinct group among the seven. Gen. 10:15-19 reveals that six of them (the Perizzites are not mentioned) were descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. While they were distantly related by blood, these nations were not a United Nation or a United States. They had wars between themselves. Their society was based on a city-state system. Prominent among the city-states in Canaan were Hazor, Jericho, Gezer, Megiddo, Jerusalem, Shechem, and Hebron. Cities such as these ruled as much territory as they could control. The Egyptians had general control over all of Palestine at this time, but when the Egyptian troops were absent, the Canaanite city-states were not very loyal subjects.

Morally, the Canaanites had become very degenerate. Their cup of iniquity had become full and running over (Gen. 15:16). They offered their children as sacrifices (Deu. 9:5; Deu. 18:9-10). Sometimes fornication was part of their religious ritual (Num. 25:1-2).

Here are a few facts about these seven Canaanite nations:

(1) The Canaanites (the separate tribe) settled into the land about 1900 B.C.[120] They gave their name to the whole land, which included Phoenicia and the Mediterranean coastal area of Syria. Their areas included Jericho, Tyre, Sidon, Byblos (in Phoenicia).

[120] Kathleen Kenyon, Archaeology in the Holy Land. Second Ed. (New York: Praeger, 1956), pp. 160161.

(2) The Hittites were immigrant peoples from the Old Hittite empire (18001450 B.C.) in Asia Minor to the north. See Gen. 23:10.

(3) The Amorites were the most numerous and dominant of the Canaanites. They had settled into Canaan and nearby lands about 2300 B.C., probably from the Syrian and Arabian deserts. They destroyed most of the urban settlements which had existed in the land before their arrival.[121] They occupied the Northern part of Moab, north of the Arnon river, among other areas (Num. 21:26).

[121] Kenyon, op. cit., pp. 135137.

(4) The Perizzites are not identifiable. The term may mean villagers.

(5) The Hivites dwelt around Gibeon (about five miles NW of Jerusalem) and around Shechem. See Jos. 11:19; Jos. 9:3-7; Gen. 34:2. They may be the same people as the Horites, or Hurrians, who were people from the mountains north of Mesopotamia, who settled into Palestine about 2000 B.C.

(6) The Jebusites occupied Jerusalem. (Jdg. 1:21; 2Sa. 5:6; Jos. 15:63)

(7) The Girgashites (Jos. 24:11; Deu. 7:1) are obscure.

15.

Could Moses have disobeyed Gods call to deliver Israel?

Certainly. See Exo. 3:10. But, like Paul, he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision (Act. 26:19).

16.

Why was Moses hesitant to go and bring forth Israel? (Exo. 3:11)

Why should he say, Who am I? Undoubtedly, any human would have been frightened by such a commission. Especially would this have been true of Moses, who is said to have been meek above all men on earth (Num. 12:3). Whatever may have been Moses reason for hesitancy, the scripture does not criticize him at this point, and we shall certainly not do so either.

17.

What were Moses five excuses to God?

Who Am I? (Exo. 3:11)

What shall I say when they ask, What is his (Gods) name? (Exo. 3:13)

They will not believe (Exo. 4:1).

I am not eloquent (Exo. 4:10).

Send someone else (Exo. 4:13).

18.

What was Gods reassurance to Moses? (Exo. 3:12)

Certainly I will be with thee. Years later Moses gave the same reassurance to Israel and to his successor Joshua (Deu. 31:8; Deu. 31:23).

The Hebrew word translated I will be is ehyeh. This word is the very word which God gave for Himself as His name in Exo. 3:14 (I Am . . .). Gods name thus means that he is the existing one, the being one, the eternal.

19.

What was Gods token of assurance that he had sent Moses? (Exo. 3:12)

The token, or sign, was that Israel and Moses would serve God upon that very mountain before which Moses then stood, after God had brought them forth from Egypt! Moses was being called from the burning bush before Mt. Horeb; he would return to Horeb with Israel.
This token required faith to accept. We might feel it took more faith to believe the promise of the sign than it would take to go and attempt to lead Israel out. But the sign itself was such a daring and confident assertion that it would inspire confidence and courage. Compare 2Ki. 19:29.

This token to Moses reminds us of the sign Jesus offered in Joh. 2:18-19 : Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise IT [my body] up. Such a daring challenge demonstrates confidence within the one saying it, and inspires confidence in those who hear.

20.

Why would the Israelites ask Moses about Gods name? (Exo. 3:13)

Probably because they had forgotten Gods name Jehovah, or the LORD, or Yahweh (YHWH). The name had been used in Abrahams time (Gen. 15:2; Gen. 22:14), and long before then (Gen. 4:26). But it had been neglected in Egypt.

In patriarchal times, new revelations of the ancestral God were sometimes accompanied or illustrated by a new title for God (Gen. 16:13; Gen. 22:14; Gen. 35:7). Thus Israel might be conditioned to expect to hear a new name for God. But they received only the old name with new power and events associated with its meaning.

It is not surprising that Israel wanted to know Gods name. Can you conceive of knowing someone without knowing a name for that person? Manoah wanted to know Gods name so that he could render him honor (Jdg. 13:17). Jacob wanted to know the angels name (Gen. 32:29).

21.

What is Gods name? (Exo. 3:14-15)

His name is I AM THAT I AM. This probably is better translated, I will be who (or what) I will be, since the verbs express future or continuing action. The Greek O.T. translated it, I am the being one (ego eimi ho on). The famous archaeologist Wm. F. Albright rendered the name, I am he who causes (things) to be.[122] Certainly Jehovah is the one who makes all things happen, but most scholars feel that this translation is too abstract and subtle to be the only meaning.

[122] Wm. F. Albright, From The Stone Age to Christianity (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1957), pp. 259261.

The name LORD (Jehovah, or Yahweh) in Exo. 3:15 is derived from the verb translated be or am. Thus the name points God out as he who is, and was, and is to come. See Rev. 1:4; Rev. 1:8; Isa. 57:15. The possible implications in this name are as infinite as God himself. See notes on Exo. 6:3.

In the same way that God is Father is the eternal I AM, Jesus is also called I Am (Joh. 8:58). Jesus is the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). In fact, the very one who was speaking to Moses at the bush later came unto us in human form as Jesus of Nazareth.

Interestingly, the Jewish historian Josephus would not tell his Roman readers what Gods name which God told Moses was.[123] Modern Jews still will not utter aloud the name Yahweh (Jehovah, the LORD). They avoid it so that they may not possibly use Gods name in vain. But God expressly told Moses to say the name to the children of Israel. Exo. 4:1 says that the Israelites would utter the name. Nowhere does the O.T. hint that the name dare not be spoken by our lips. Of course, it should be used reverently or not at all.

[123] Antiquities, II, xii,4.

22.

What is Gods memorial? (Exo. 3:15)

His name YAHWEH (Jehovah, or LORD) is his memorial. Sing praises unto Jehovah, O ye saints of his. And give thanks unto his holy memorial name (Psa. 30:4; A.S.V.). See also Psa. 97:12; Psalm 100:12; Psa. 135:13; Hos. 12:5. By that name His person, nature, and works are to be recalled. Alan Cole says that the name YHWH ultimately came to mean to the Jews what the name Jesus has come to mean to Christians, a shorthand for all Gods dealings of grace.[124]

[124] Op. cit., p. 70.

Surely if Gods name YAHWEH is to be remembered throughout all generations, the Jews perverted this truth in refusing to utter it.

23.

Whom was Moses to gather and speak to? (Exo. 3:16)

He was to gather and speak to the elders of Israel. The Israelites had very little formal governmental organization. The older men ruled in each location and family to the extent that their personalities and situations made possible.

24.

What does visit mean? (Exo. 3:16)

This word is often used in the Bible of some particular saving act of God toward his people. See Luk. 1:68; Gen. 21:1; Rth. 1:6; Exo. 4:31.

Joseph had prophesied before his death that God would visit Israel, and they would go up from Egypt (Gen. 50:25). Moses words about Gods visiting them surely point to a fulfillment of Josephs words, even though Joseph had been dead over three hundred and fifty years.

For notes on Exo. 3:17, see under Exo. 3:8.

25.

Would Israel believe Moses words? (Exo. 3:18)

Yes. Exo. 4:29-31 reports that Moses and Aaron did gather the elders and spoke to them, and they did believe, at least at first.

26.

Who was to go in and speak to Pharaoh? (Exo. 3:18)

Moses, with the elders. As it worked out, only Moses and Aaron went. See Exo. 5:1; Exo. 5:3.

27.

What would Pharaoh understand the words God . . . hath met with us to imply?

The words almost suggest hostile confrontation: Our God has confronted us, and said to worship him, or else . . .! Exo. 5:3 tends to confirm this idea. Also Exo. 4:24.

28.

Where would the three-days journey lead them? (Exo. 3:18)

The place is not specified. Certainly all of the proposed locations for Mt. Sinai are much farther than three days journey from Egypt. Probably no specific place was in mind. God foreknew Pharaoh was not going to release Israel, whether the request was for a brief or a long trip. By making the request small, the refusal of Pharaoh would display the harness of his heart. Moses later enlarged his demand, for Pharaoh to grant them entire departure from the land (Exo. 6:10). From the outset of this confrontation, nothing was stated positively about Israels coming back after three days.

The request to Pharaoh was politely worded: Let us go, we pray thee. Actually Pharaoh had no right to detain them. Israel had entered Egypt by invitation, and surely had the right to leave when they wished.

29.

What did God predict about Pharaohs response? (Exo. 3:19)

Pharaoh would refuse to let Israel go, and would never grant it unless compelled by a mighty overpowering hand.
This is the first reference to Pharaohs responses to Israels request for departure. And right here at the outset the blame and the root of the trouble is placed where it belongs, on Pharaoh, not on God.
That Pharaoh expected Israel would never return is suggested by his insolent response.

30.

How did God stretch out his hand? (Exo. 3:20)

This figure of speech compares God to a warrior extending his arm in readiness for combat. The record of Gods stretching out his hand to deliver Israel is the story of the ten plagues in Exodus 7-13. By strength of hand Jehovah brought you out from this place (Exo. 13:3; Exo. 7:4; Exo. 6:1).

31.

Why were the Israelites to collect jewels from the Egyptians? (Exo. 3:21-22)

The use of the word spoil in Exo. 3:22 suggests it was an act of triumph over Egypt, taking as it were the spoils of battle from the vanquished.

The jewelry could be looked upon as payment by the Egyptians for unpaid wages to the Israelites for many years of slave labor. However, the scripture does not suggest this as a justification for the act.

Note in Exo. 3:22 that some Egyptian women sojourned in the houses of the Hebrews. Not all the Egyptians shared the hateful feelings of their king toward Israelites.

Borrow in Exo. 3:22 simply means ask. No hint of returning the items is implied.

The promise to give the Israelites favor in the eyes of the Egyptians was fulfilled. See Exo. 11:2-3; Exo. 12:35-36.

It is interesting to note that the Israelites placed these jewels upon their sons and daughters. While the Egyptians were burying their dead first born, the Israelites were adorning their children with Egyptian jewelry.

The jewelry was partly used later in making the vessels of the tabernacle (Exo. 35:22). Alas, some of it went into the golden calf (Exo. 32:2).

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

III.

(1) Moses kept the flock.The natural occupation of one who had thrown in his lot with the Midianites.

Jethro, his father-in-law.Rather, his relation by marriage. The word is one of very wide use, corresponding with the Latin affinis. It is even applied to a husband, as in Exo. 4:25. The supposition that it means father-in-law has led to the identification of Jethro with Reuel, which is very unlikely. He was more probably Reuels son, and Mosess brother-in-law. His father having died, he had succeeded to his fathers position, and was at once priest and sheikh of the tribe.

To the backside of the desert.Heb., behind the deserti.e., to the fertile tract which lay behind the sandy plain stretching from the Sinaitic range to the shore of the Elanitic gulf.

The mountain of Godi.e., Sinai. See Exo. 18:5; Exo. 19:2-23, &c.

Even Horeb.Rather, towards Horeb, or Horeb way. Horeb seems to have been the name of the entire mountain region; Sinai of the group or mass known now as Jebel Musa.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

JEHOVAH IN THE BURNING BRAMBLE, Exo 3:1-6.

1. Now Moses kept the flock Rather, Was feeding the flock . The Hebrew word expresses a continued occupation. Reuel-Jethro, or Reuel the excellent, was priest of Midian, and father of Zipporah and Hobab. See Concluding Note, chap. 2.

To the backside That is, the western side, for in the Hebrew orientation the spectator is always supposed to face the east, which is hence called “the front,” while the south is the “right hand,” as in 1Sa 23:19, margin, and the north is “the left hand,” as in Gen 14:15. Moses led his flock westerly or northwesterly, through the desert strip, to the elevated ground of Horeb, where were the most fertile valleys of the peninsula, and where there was water when the lower lands were dry . The desert of Arabia is not a hot, sandy plain, like the deserts of Africa, but a very uneven, rocky, gravel-covered tract, which, except in summer, furnishes fair pasturage for flocks . Perhaps the approach of midsummer caused this movement . The mountain of God. So called from God’s subsequent manifestation there; or, as the Targumists express it, “the mountain on which was revealed the glory of Jah . ” Moses wrote this after the giving of the law at Sinai .

Horeb This was the name of the whole mountain cluster of which Sinai was a single summit. The two words are used interchangeably to denote the Mount of the Law; but before Israel reached the mountain district, as here and after they left it, as in Deuteronomy, when they were encamped in the plains of Moab it is called Horeb, since at a distance the special summit is not particularized; but while before the Mount of the Law it is always (except only in Exo 33:6) called Sinai, since, while among the mountains, it was necessary to specify the particular peak intended . Moses smote the rock in Horeb (the district) before they reached Sinai, the mountain . Exo 17:1-6. (ROBINSON, Bib . Res. , 1:120 . )

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Call of Moses ( Exo 3:1 to Exo 4:17 ).

What has gone before was preparatory to what follows. It is now that the main story of the book begins, which will take us from God’s call to Moses, to the establishment of the covenant at Sinai and the erecting of God’s earthly Dwellingplace, over a period of about two years.

But note the care that has been taken over the training of this man we see before us. He does not know it but he has been fully prepared by God. In Egypt he has been trained in statecraft and law, he has been involved with those who ran a great and powerful nation, and has no doubt had his share in the running of it. He has learned the discipline of power. But what is equally important in Midian he has been trained in desert lore. He now knew where water was to be found in the desert, he knew the secrets of the wilderness of Sinai, he knew the ways that led through that mountainous wilderness and which ways could take a multitude of people and which could not, and apart from his brother-in-law Hobab who was clearly famous for his desertcraft, whom he was able to call on for help (Num 10:29, Hobab would have done it for no one else), none was better aware of how to survive in that sometimes dreadful place. No one had been better trained and equipped to be a trek leader than he.

God Appears To Moses In A Flaming Bush ( Exo 3:1-5 ).

a Moses is feeding the flock and comes to the mountain of God (Exo 3:1).

b The Angel of Yahweh appears to him in a flaming fire in the midst of a bush (Exo 3:2 a).

c Moses sees the bush burning and that it is not being consumed (Exo 3:2 b).

c Moses says that he will turn aside and see why this wonder of a burning bush not being consumed (Exo 3:3).

b Yahweh sees that he has turned aside and calls to him from the midst of the bush (Exo 3:4)

a He is not to approach but to take of his shoes because he is on holy ground (Exo 3:5).

Note the parallels. In ‘a’ Moses comes to the holy ‘mountain of God’, in the parallel he is not to approach but take of his shoes because he is on holy ground. In ‘b’ the Angel of Yahweh appears in flaming fire in a bush, in the parallel Yahweh speaks to Moses from the bush. In ‘c’ Moses sees that the bush is not consumed, in the parallel he turns aside to see why the bush is not consumed.

Exo 3:1

‘Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.’

Moses was now well settled into the family tribe of Reuel and here is seen fulfilling responsibilities for the flocks. There may well have been others with him keeping the flock, possibly even some of the daughters We have to recognise that we can only speculate as to the make up of the group to which he belonged for we are told nothing. No mention is made of what had happened to the seven daughters, or why Moses should be the shepherd here rather than be involved in other activities of the group. It may be that he was filling in between these other activities, and was accompanied by some of the daughters.

“Led the flock to the back of the wilderness.” He seems to have wandered some distance from the normal pasturage, possibly because of shortage of good pasture. This need to travel some distance may explain why he had been put in charge of them at this time. He had to drive the sheep from the Midianite encampment as far as Horeb, so that after first passing through a wilderness he reached the pasture land there. In this, the most elevated ground of the peninsula, fertile valleys could be found in which fruit-trees grew, and water abounded even in the bad times. It is still the resort of the Bedouin when the lower areas dry up. And he had been involved in this and similar wilderness activity for forty years.

“To the mountain of God.” This is probably the writer’s description in the light of what he knew was to come, both in this chapter and later. In the analysis above the parallel is that it is holy ground. It may suggest that it was already looked on as a sacred mountain, but this is not evidenced elsewhere. That God would choose it for a revelation of Himself is sufficient to justify the description. The mountain of God was Mount Sinai (Exo 24:13) which is in the wilderness of Sinai.

“To Horeb.” It may be that Horeb was the area around the mount but including the mount, for ‘Sinai’ is always qualified by either ‘the wilderness of’ or ‘Mount’ to distinguish the two (except for Exo 16:1 where it is used loosely, and in poetry in Deu 33:2; Jdg 5:5; Psa 68:8; Psa 68:17), whereas Horeb was usually geographically referred to as a place. There is only once a mention of ‘Mount Horeb’, and that may even be a different local peak (Exo 33:6 but see also 1Ki 19:8, although the latter may arise from the same problem as we have, interpretation). This suggests that Mount Sinai and Horeb, while closely identified, are not to be seen as synonymous expressions, with Horeb having a wider meaning and including the plain beneath the Mount. Indeed the area of Horeb clearly stretched even further afield (Exo 17:6). There may also be some truth in the idea that Sinai was the Canaanite name for the mountain and Horeb the Midianite name, but that would not fully account for the differing usage. But it may be that the Canaanites tended to think only of the particular impressive mountain while the Midianites thought in terms of the whole place where they wandered.

Exo 3:2

‘And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush, and he looked, and behold the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed.’

God appears as ‘the angel of Yahweh’. This is another connection of the book with Genesis. It parallels the use of the term in Gen 16:7-13; Gen 22:11-18; Num 22:22-35 compare Gen 21:17). Ishmael would go on from such an appearance to found a nation. In the Pentateuch the phrase always refers to God directly as openly revealing Himself at a time of crisis in covenant matters. So now in this time of crisis Yahweh is revealing Himself in a direct way to Moses. He too is going forward to found a nation. This mention of the Angel of Yahweh stresses the direct relationship of His action with the covenant, and relates back to 2:24. The Angel of Yahweh was the manifestation of the God of the covenant of their fathers.

Here we have the first use of Yahweh in Exodus. This is because as their covenant God He is now stepping into their situation to act in accordance with His covenant.

“Appeared in a flame of fire.” Many attempts have been made to explain this naturally. Bushes do sometimes burst into flame in hot countries, and Moses may well at first have thought that that was what was happening here. But the point that is made, and presumably impressed Moses, was that it went on burning without consuming the bush and did not die out. It was not the natural phenomenon that he was used to. The undying flame was a fit picture of the ‘I am What I am’, the ever existing and present One, by which Yahweh revealed Himself and His nature..

God appearing in fire is common in both Old and New Testaments (see Gen 15:17; Exo 13:21; Exo 19:16; Exo 19:18; Exo 20:18; Exo 24:17; Exo 40:38; Deu 4:11; Eze 1:27; Eze 8:2: Act 2:3 ; 1Ti 6:16; Rev 21:23; Rev 22:5). To the ancients such a manifestation was a combination of the inexplicable and beneficial, dangerous and yet vital. It had no form and yet could be seen even in the darkness. It benefited man and yet could consume him. It was glorious and awe-inspiring and then in a moment it could be gone. In manifestation it brought home something of the significance of the divine.

“Out of the middle of a bush.” It may well have been God’s intention that Moses was to see in the sparse desert bush a picture of afflicted Israel. The idea would then be that God was among His people in an undying flame, just as the lampstand in the Tabernacle would later represent the same. It may be of some significance in regard to this that the lampstand later represented a tree, with the burning flames at the tips. By then the thorn bush had potentially become a fruit tree (Exo 25:31-40).

Exo 3:3

‘And Moses said, “I will turn aside now and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”

Moses had seen many bushes burn briefly but not one that went on and on burning incessantly. So he decided that he must take a closer look. The words may simply have been passing through his thoughts, or they may have been spoken to those who were with him. But either way he somehow knew that he must approach the bush alone.

Exo 3:4

‘And when Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “I’m here.” And he said, “Do not draw near here. Take your sandals off from your feet for the place on which you stand is sanctified ground.’

Note that it was ‘Yahweh’ Who saw that he turned aside to see, but ‘God’ Who called to him from the bush. It was important to link this visit of the Angel of Yahweh (Exo 3:2) with the God Who was so concerned about Israel. This use of ‘God’ very much emphasises His oneness. The introduction of the name Yahweh signalled the commencement of new covenant activity. We can compare how in Genesis, when Ishmael was to be restored to the covenant community it was ‘the Angel of Yahweh’ Who met him (Genesis 16), but when he was leaving the covenant community for ever he was helped by ‘the Angel of God’ (Gen 21:17). This is a reversal of that situation. Now it was Moses, who had been so long away from the covenant community and covenant matters, and had lived among strangers under the hand of ‘God’, who was being reintroduced into the covenant community. Thus the reintroduction of the name of ‘Yahweh’ Who was thus making His name known once again.

God called Moses twice by name. Thus did Moses know that this was personal, something for him and for him alone. Compare Gen 22:11; 1Sa 3:10. The repetition of the name always stresses urgency.

It is difficult for us to appreciate the trauma of this moment. Moses had often wandered in the wilderness. He had possibly often approached this mountain. He had fairly regularly seen bushes burning spontaneously, although never one that continued to do so like this without apparently being affected by it. But a voice was something different, especially a voice that revealed its divine source in what it commanded. We can only imagine the stunned shock. The incredulity. The fear. Moses was but a man like we are, although later he would become more familiar with the voice (compare Num 7:89).

“Do not draw near.” God was there, and it would have been dangerous to come too close, for God was revealed as a consuming fire.

“Take off your sandals.” Compare Jos 5:15; 2Sa 15:30. Later the priests performed their duties barefoot (note that there is no mention of shoes or sandals in Leviticus 8 and the toe at least is accessible (Lev 8:23)). Indeed in many religions men took of their shoes when entering the Sanctuary. The point was that the dirt on men’s sandals must not defile the place where God is. It is a symbol of the otherness of God. The washing with water at the laver would have a similar purpose. It did not ‘cleanse’ (‘shall not be clean’ is a constant refrain after washing with water) but prepared the way for cleansing by removing earthiness as man approached God in solitariness.

“Sanctified ground.” That is, ground that was set apart at that time as uniquely untouchable and holy except by God’s grace, because God was there. His presence made all He came in contact with holy and exclusive (compare Exo 19:12-13). No man could be allowed to approach such things lightly.

In his youth he had possibly known what it was to come into the presence of Pharaoh, the necessary preparation, the washing, the grooming, and then the solemn approach into the inner throne room. That preparation had been awesome. But he recognised that this was something even more traumatic. For this was unearthly, terrifying, in a way that Pharaoh had never been. Here was an unearthly presence. And he would divest himself of his sandals, and sink to his knees and wonder what was to happen to him.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Israel’s Justification ( Exo 1:1 to Exo 15:21 ) The emphasis of Exo 1:1 to Exo 18:27 is Israel’s justification before God through the sacrificial atonement of the Mosaic Law. The Passover was the time when God cut a covenant with the children of Israel, and the Exodus testifies to His response of delivering His people as a part of His covenant promise of redemption. Israel’s justification was fulfilled in their deliverance from the bondages of Egypt. Heb 11:23-29 highlights these events in order to demonstrate the faith of Moses in fulfilling his divine commission. These events serve as an allegory of the Church’s covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ and our subsequent deliverance from the bondages and sins of this world.

The Exodus Out of Egypt Exo 1:1 to Exo 18:27 describes God’s judgment upon Egypt and Israel’s exodus from bondage. In comparing the two Pharaoh’s discussed in this section of the book it is important to note that the pharaoh who blessed the people of Israel during Joseph’s life was himself blessed along with his nation. In stark contrast, the Pharaoh who cursed God’s people was himself cursed with the death of his own first born, as well as his entire nation. God watches over His people and blesses those who bless them and He curses those who curse them (Gen 12:3).

Gen 12:3, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Moses’ Divine Commission In the story of Exo 3:1 to Exo 4:17, God breaks the silence of four hundred without a divine visitation to His people. God now calls Moses to bring His people out of Egyptian bondage and into the Promised Land.

Divine Commissions in the Holy Scriptures – We often find a divine commission at the beginning of the story of God’ servants in the Scriptures. We see in the book of Genesis that Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob each received their commissions at the beginning of their genealogies which divide the book of Genesis into major divisions. We also see how Moses received his divine commission near the beginning of his story found within Exodus to Deuteronomy. Joshua received his commission in the first few verses of the book of Joshua. Also, we see that Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel each received a divine commission at the beginning of their ministries. The book of Ezra opens with a divine call to rebuild the Temple and the book of Nehemiah begins with a call to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which callings Ezra and Nehemiah answered. In the New Testament, we find Paul the apostle receiving his divine commission in Act 9:1-22 at the beginning of the lengthy section on Paul’s life and ministry.

Each of these divine callings support God’s original commission to Adam in the story of Creation to be fruitful and multiply, a charge to produce righteousness offspring upon the earth, for these men were called to bring the about the multiplication of godly seeds. The patriarchs were called to multiply and produce a nation of righteousness. Moses was called to bring Israel out of bondage; but he missed his calling to bring them into the Promised Land. Joshua was called to bring them in to the land. Esther was called to preserve the seed of Israel as was Noah, while Ezra and Nehemiah were called to bring them back into the Promised Land. All of the judges, the kings and the prophets were called to call the children of Israel out of sin and bondage and into obedience and prosperity. They were all called to bring God’s children out of bondage and destruction and into God’s blessings and multiplication. The stories in the Old Testament show us that some of these men fulfilled their divine commission while others either fell short through disobedience or were too wicked to hear their calling from God.

One reason why these prophets received such a mighty visitation is understood in a comment by Kenneth Hagin, who said that when the Lord gives us a vision or a word for the future, it often precedes a trial, and is used to anchor our soul and take us through the trial. [17] If we look at the lives of the three Major Prophets, this is exactly what we see. These three men faced enormous trials and objections during their ministries. Their divine commissions certain were the anchor of their souls as it gave them strength and assurance that they were in God’s will despite their difficulties. We see such dramatic encounters in the lives of Moses and Saul of Tarsus, as God gave them their divine commissions for a work that was difficult and even cost them their lives.

[17] Kenneth Hagin, Following God’s Plan For Your Life (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1993, 1994), 118.

Note the New Testament reference to this passage in Act 7:33-34:

Act 7:33-34, “Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.”

Exo 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

Exo 3:1 Comments – Note that Moses has went from the most honoured position in Egypt to the most despised occupation of Egyptians, shepherding. In Gen 46:34, a shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians.

Gen 46:34, “That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.”

Exo 3:1 Comments – It is very common that the Lord pulls young Christians aside for periods of solitude. It is during these times that God teaches His children in order to prepare them for the work that He has called them to. Moses’ time in Arabia was not wasted time, but a time for the Lord to teach him the ways of God. Note these insightful words from Frances J. Roberts regarding Paul’s visit to Arabia:

“O My beloved, ye do not need to make your path (like a snow plow), for lo, I say unto thee, I go before you. Yea, I shall engineer circumstances on thy behalf. I am thy husband, and I will protect thee and care for thee, and make full provision for thee. I know thy need, and I am concerned for thee: for thy peace, for thy health, for thy strength. I cannot use a tired body, and ye need to take time to renew thine energies, both spiritual and physical. I am the God of Battle, but I am also the One who said: They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And Jesus said, Come ye apart and rest a little while.

“I will teach you, even as I taught Moses on the back side of the desert, and as I taught Paul in Arabia . So will I teach you. Thus it shall be a constructive period, and not in any sense wasted time. But as the summer course to the school teacher, it is vital to thee in order that ye be fully qualified for your ministry.

There is no virtue in activity as such neither in inactivity. I minister to thee in solitude that ye may minister of Me to others as a spontaneous overflow of our communion. Never labor to serve, nor force opportunities. Set thy heart to be at peace and to sit at My feet. Learn to be ready, but not to be anxious. Learn to say ‘no’ to the demands of men and to say ‘yes’ to the call of the Spirit…Come away, My beloved, and be as the doe upon the mountains; yea, we shall go down together to the gardens.” [18]

[18] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 145-6.

Exo 3:2 Comments – The angel that spoke to Moses was manifested as a flame of fire (see Act 7:30, Heb 1:7).

Act 7:30, “And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.”

Heb 1:7, “And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.”

Exo 3:5 Comments – The only other time when the Lord told man to take off his shoes was when the Captain of the Lord of Hosts met Joshua to lead him into the Promised Land.

Jos 5:15, “And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”

Exo 3:5 Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament – Note the New Testament reference.

Act 7:33, “Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.”

Exo 3:6 Comments – God revealed Himself unto Moses as “the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”.

Exo 3:6, “Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.”

This revealed to Moses that his office and ministry was to bring God’s people out of Egyptian bondage. Moses’ name, which means, “drawn out”, indicates his ministry and anointing of bringing out God’s people from bondage. However, unto Joshua the Lord revealed Himself as the “Captain of the Host of the Lord”. This name indicated that Joshua was to walk under this anointing as a warrior and lead God’s people into battle.

Abraham was a stranger in the land of Canaan. Therefore, God revealed Himself to Abraham as a stranger in this land so that Abraham would better understand his office and calling.

Exo 3:6 Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament – Note references to Exo 3:6 in the New Testament:

Mat 22:32, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Mar 12:26, “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?”

Luk 20:37-38, “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.”

Act 3:13, “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.”

Act 7:32, “Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.”

Exo 3:7 Comments – God heard the cry of the children of Israel when they were in bondage in Egypt. However, they had been in Egypt for four hundred thirty (430) years, and it was not until the bondage became so intense that they cried out to God in tears. In fact, their firstborn were being thrown into the Nile River, and this moved them to prayer with tears. This is the prayer that moved God to deliver them from their bondage.

I bring out this point because there are a number of examples in the Scriptures where God does not move until a person sows in tears. For example, we see that Rachel was barren until she cried out to her husband, “Give me children, or else I die.” (Gen 30:1), and “God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb” (Gen 30:22). We see how Hannah was barren for years, until she cried before the Lord, “she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. She vowed a vow” (1Sa 1:10-11). God gave her a son. It was the intense cries of the Sodomites that brought God’s judgment upon those wicked cities, “And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it.” (Gen 18:20-21)

Exo 3:8 “unto a land flowing with milk and honey” Comments – We find in Exo 3:8 the first use of the phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey,” a phrase that will be used twenty times in the Old Testament to refer to the Promised Land, with fifteen of those uses in the Pentateuch, one use in Joshua, and another four uses in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. We can quickly observe that milk was a sweet drink, containing lactose, and honey was the sweetest of foods to eat. The word “flowing” means abundance, of more than what is needed. Thus, it implies an overflow of blessings into the lives of other people and other nations.

We can also note a common factor in the nutritional benefits of milk and honey. Milk is necessary in a new born for develop of its immune system. Honey is found to assist and give support to an immune system because of the plant pollen that is used to make it.

Exo 3:9 “ the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me ” Comments – Perhaps not every individual Israelite cried out to God for deliverance; but enough of them cried out to Him that it moved the heart of God to deliver them.

Exo 3:10 Comments – Egypt is a symbol of being in bondage to pleasures and worldly lusts (Rev 11:8).

Rev 11:8, “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”

Exo 3:10 Comments – The Lord told Moses to perform a great task. He revealed His name to Moses. As revealed in these next chapters, the Lord is going to equip Moses and show him how to perform this great task. Moses will use the name of God to perform this task.

Exo 3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

Exo 3:11 Comments – Moses immediately looks at his own ability. It had failed to deliver the Hebrew children forty years ago in Exo 1:11-15. Rick Joyner calls this a form of false humility in Moses that is actually the same pride that caused man to fall in the Garden of Eden. [19]

[19] Rick Joyner, The Call (Charlotte, North Carolina: Morning Star Publications, 1999), 143-4.

Exo 3:12 Comments – Note the New Testament reference to Exo 3:12 in Act 7:7, “And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.”

Exo 3:14 Word Study on “I AM” Strong says the Hebrew word ( ) (H1961) is a verb that literally means, “to be, to become, to come to pass.” The Hebrew name for God, YHWH ( ) (H3068), which means, “the self Existent or Eternal One,” is a derivative of this verb.

Comments – In this passage of Scripture, God reveals Himself in a more personal way to Moses than He had ever revealed Himself to any other man on earth, including Abraham (see Exo 6:2-3).

This name for God reveals that God is neither subject to time nor space. He is eternal, and does not live in the present, as man does. God sees the past, present, and future all at once.

Joh 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

Afterwards, God reveals three of His divine aspects to Moses and the children of Israel at a time when the people needed this aspect of God’s blessing. In other words, as the people of Israel faced needs in their wilderness journey, God revealed Himself by His names. We see these three aspects of the Lord in:

Exo 15:25-26 “I am the Lord that healeth thee”

Exo 17:15-16 – The Lord thy victor or banner

Exo 31:13 “I am the LORD that doth sanctify you”

This order follows Heb 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

A person must first have a personal experience with God. Then, the Lord begins to reveal Himself to those who seek Him.

YHWH:

Exo 6:2-3, “And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”

The Lord our Healer:

Exo 15:25-26, “And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee .”

The Lord our Banner:

Exo 17:15-16, “And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it

Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

The Lord who Sanctifies:

Exo 31:13, “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you .”

Jealous:

Exo 34:14, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous , is a jealous God:”

Exo 3:14 Comments – The Lord is the very “life that exists in creation.” He is even the life within the enemies of God. He is ‘the beginning andthe end of all things.” [20] He is the Lord of Hosts and the Prince of Peace, the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb of God. He is “I AM” because He is our God of the present. We cannot know Him as the God of the past or future, but we must seek him daily in order to abide with him. He is our life and without Him we would die. He is our light and without Him we would walk in darkness. [21]

[20] Rick Joyner, The Call (Charlotte, North Carolina: Morning Star Publications, 1999), 59.

[21] Rick Joyner, The Call (Charlotte, North Carolina: Morning Star Publications, 1999), 59-63.

Exo 3:15 Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament – Note New Testament references to Exo 3:15:

Mat 22:32, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Act 7:32, “Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.”

Exo 3:19 Comments Exo 3:19 can be interpreted in two ways.

(1) The Hand of God This verse is usually understood to say that the king of Egypt will not let the children of Israel out from bondage except by the mighty hand of the Lord.

Brenton, “But I know that Pharaoh king of Egypt will not let you go, save with a mighty hand.”

DRC, “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, but by a mighty hand.”

NIV, “ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.”

(2) The Hand of Man This verse can also be interpreted to mean that no one has the strength or power to make Pharaoh let the children of Israel out from bondage. John Durham gives the following paraphrase of this verse, “The Pharaoh will have no thought of granting such a wish and could not even be forced to do so by any power men could muster.” [22] We find additional support for this view in Exo 6:1, “Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.”

[22] John I. Durham, Exodus, in Word Biblical Commentary: 58 Volumes on CD-Rom, vol. 3, eds. Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker (Dallas: Word Inc., 2002), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 3.0b [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2004), notes on Exodus 3:19-20.

Exo 3:21-22 Comments The Wealth of the Egyptians – Where did the Egyptians attain all of this wealth? Much of this gold and silver came into the nation of Egypt during the time of Joseph, when the Lord used Joseph to obtain its wealth. Here, we see how God is providing the needs of the children thru Joseph (Exo 11:1-3; Exo 12:35-36).

Exo 11:1-3, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.”

Exo 12:35-36, “And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.”

Exo 4:1-3 Comments – God Gives Moses a Rod to Perform Miracles – Many evangelists have preached to the heathen. When they gave no response to accept Jesus, the preacher performed signs and wonders in Jesus’ name, just as Moses performed signs and wonders with the rod so they might also believe. In fact, when Jesus preached in Judea to the many Pharisees and others who challenged His ministry, He operated in the gifts of the Spirit, while in His Galilean ministry He preached to people who received His message, so that they were healed because of their faith in Him.

Exo 4:15 Word Study on “Aaron” Gesenius says the Hebrew name “Aaron” ( ) (H175) means, “mountainous.” Strong says it means, “light bringer,” and is derived from an uncertain origin. BDB says, “light bringer.” PTW interprets this word to mean “enlightened, rich, mountaineer.” Hitchcock reads, “a teacher; lofty; mountain of strength.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Burning Bush

v. 1. Now Moses kept, was pasturing, the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, whose given name was Reuel, Exo 2:18; and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, beyond the wilderness which separated the country of the Midianites from the Sinaitic mountain range, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb, named so here on account of its later importance in the history of Israel. Even after the lower valleys are dried up, the upper regions of these mountains are still green with rich pastures.

v. 2. And the Angel of the Lord, the Son of God Himself, appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, the fire being a symbol of the purifying affliction and of the chastening justice of God. And he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. The obvious miracle of a desert thorn-bush which was burning, while at the same time the flames left it intact, drew and held his attention.

v. 3. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. It was an appearance or vision decidedly worth investigating.

v. 4. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. So the Angel of the Lord of

v. 2. is here identified with Jehovah, with God Himself, who addresses Moses with words of solemn warning.

v. 5. And He said, Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. The places where the Lord deigns to appear to sinful men are ever afterward set apart in their eyes and may not be desecrated by irreverent behavior, for man owes to God the highest degree of veneration. Throughout the Orient, the custom of removing the shoes before entering into a place dedicated to divine service, whether true or false, is still observed.

v. 6. Moreover, He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. This was the formal declaration of majesty and power. Where deliverance, salvation, is required, there the Angel of the Lord, Jehovah, the mighty God Himself, must come to the rescue of weak and sinful men. But where God is present and visits His children in mercy, there the safety of all those that put their trust in Him is assured. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. Sinful man cannot endure the sight of the holy God, and the eye is naturally overcome by the splendor which reflects the glory of the Lord.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

THE CALL AND MISSION OF MOSES.

EXPOSITION

Exo 3:1-22

THE MISSION OF MOSES. After forty years of monotonous pastoral life, affording abundant opportunity for meditation, and for spiritual communion with God, and when he had attained to the great age of eighty years, and the hot blood of youth had given place to the calm serenity of advanced life, God at last revealed Himself to Moses “called him” (Exo 3:4), and gave him a definite mission. The present chapter is’ intimately connected with the next. Together, they contain an account of that extraordinary and indeed miraculous interchange of thought and speech between Moses and God himself, by which the son of Amram was induced to undertake the difficult and dangerous task of freeing his people, delivering them from their bondage in Egypt, and conducting them through the wilderness to that “land flowing with milk and honey,” which had been promised to the seed of Abraham more than six centuries previously (Gen 15:18). Whatever hopes he had entertained of being his people’s deliverer in youth and middle life, they had long been abandoned; and, humanly speaking, nothing was more improbable than that the aged shepherd, grown “slow of speech and of a slow tongue” (Exo 4:10)his manners rusticisedhis practical faculties rusted by disusehis physical powers weakenedshould come forth from a retirement of forty years’ duration to be a leader and king of men. Nothing less than direct supernatural interposition couldone may well believehave sufficed to overcome the natural vis inertiae of Moses’ present character and position. Hence, after an absolute cessation of miracle for more than four hundred years, miracle is once more made use of by the Ruler of the Universe to work out his ends. A dignus vindice nodus has arisen; and the ordinary laws of that Nature which is but one of his instruments are suspended by the Lord of All, who sees what mode of action the occasion requires, and acts accordingly.

Exo 3:1

Moses kept the flock. The Hebrew expresses that this was his regular occupation. Understand by “flock” either sheep or goats, or the two intermixed. Both anciently and at the present day the Sinaitic pastures support these animals, and not horned cattle. Of Jethro, his father-in-law. The word translated “father-in-law” is of much wider application, being used of almost any relation by marriage. Zipporah uses it of Moses in Exo 4:25, Exo 4:26; in Gen 19:12, Gen 19:14, it is applied to Lot’s “sons-in-law;” in other places it is used of “brothers-in-law.” Its application to Jethro does not prove him to be the same person as Reuel, which the difference of name renders improbable. He was no doubt the head of the tribe at this period, having succeeded to that dignity, and to the priesthood, when Reuel died. He may have been either Reuel’s son or his nephew. The backside of the desert, i.e. “behind” or “beyond the desert,” across the strip of sandy plain which separates the coast of the Elanitic Gulf from the mountains, to the grassy regions beyond. He came to the mountain of God, even Horeb. Rather, “the mountain of God, Horeb-way,” or “towards Horeb.” By “the mountain of God” Sinai seems to be meant. It may be so named either by anticipation (as “the land of Rameses” in Gen 47:11), or because there was already a sanctuary there to the true God, whom Reuel and Jethro worshipped (Exo 18:12).

Exo 3:2

The angel of the Lord. Literally, “an angel of Jehovah.” Taking the whole narrative altogether, we are justified in concluding that the appearance was that of “the Angel of the Covenant” or” the Second Person of the Trinity himself;” but this is not stated nor implied in the present verse. We learn it from what follows. The angel “appeared in a flame of fire out of the midst of the thorn-bush”not out of “a thorn-bushwhich may be explained by there being only one on the spot, which however seems improbable, as it is a common tree; or by Moses having so often spoken of it, that, when he came to write to his countrymen, he naturally called it “the bush,” meaning “the bush of which you have all heard.” So St. John says of the Baptist (Joh 3:24) that “he was not yet cast into the prison, meaning, prison into which you all know that he was cast. Seneh, the word translated “bush,” is still the name of a thorny shrub, a species of acacia, common in the Sinaitic district.

Exo 3:3

I will turn aside. Suspecting nothing but a natural phenomenon, which he was anxious to investigate. The action bespeaks him a man of sense and intelligence, not easily scared or imposed upon.

Exo 3:4

When the Lord saw God called. This collocation of words is fatal in the entire Elohistic and Jehovistic theory, for no one can suppose that two different writers wrote the two clauses of the sentence. Nor, if the same term was originally used in both clauses, would any reviser have altered one without altering both. Out of the midst of the bush. A voice, which was the true voice of God, appeared to Moses to proceed out of the midst of the fire which enveloped the thorn-bush. An objective reality is described, not a vision. Moses, Moses. The double call implies urgency. Compare the call of Samuel (1Sa 3:10).

Exo 3:5

Draw not nigh. The awful greatness of the Creator is such that his creatures, until invited to draw near, are bound to stand aloof. Moses, not yet aware that God himself spoke to him, was approaching the bush too close, to examine and see what the “great thing” was. (See Exo 3:3.) On the general unfitness of man to approach near to holy things, see the comment on Exo 19:12. Put off thy shoes. Rather, “thy sandals.“ Shoes were not worn commonly, even by the Egyptians, until a late period, and would certainly not be known in the land of Midian at this time. The practice of putting them off before entering a temple, a palace, or even the private apartments of a house, was, and is, universal in the Eastthe rationale of it being that the shoes or sandals have dust or dirt attaching to them. The command given to Moses at this time was repeated to Joshua (Jos 5:15). Holy ground. Literally, “ground of holiness “ground rendered holy by the presence of God upon itnot “an old sanctuary,” as some have thought, for then Moses would not have needed the information.

Exo 3:6

The God of thy father. “Father” here is used collectively, meaning forefathers generally, a usage well known to Hebraists. (Compare Exo 15:2, and Exo 18:4.) The God of Abraham, etc; i.e. the God who revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and entered into covenant with them (Gen 15:1-21; Gen 26:2-5; Gen 35:1-12). The conclusion which our Blessed Lord drew from this verse (Mat 22:32) is not directly involved in it, but depends on his minor premiss, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Moses hid his face. A natural instinctive action. So Elijah, on the same site (1Ki 19:13) and the holy angels before God’s throne in heaven (Isa 6:2). In the religious system of Rome, the augurs when discharging their office, and all persons when offering a sacrifice, veiled their heads. (See Liv. 1.18; Virg. Aen. 3.405; Juv. 6.390.)

Exo 3:7

I have surely seen. Literally “Seeing I have seen”an expression implying continuance. On the force of the anthropomorphic terms “seeing, hearing, knowing,” as used of God, see the comment on Exo 2:24-25. Taskmasters. Not the general superintendents of Exo 1:11, but subordinate officials, who stood over the labourers and applied the rod to their backs. (See above, Exo 2:11.)

Exo 3:8

I am come down. Another anthropomorphism, and one very common in Scripture (Gen 11:5, Gen 11:7; Gen 18:21; Psa 18:9; Psa 144:5, etc.), connected of course with the idea that God has a special dwellingplace, which is above the earth. To bring them up. Literally correct. Palestine is at a much higher level than Egypt. (Compare Gen 12:10; Gen 13:1; Gen 37:25; Gen 39:1; Gen 42:2; Gen 46:3, Gen 46:4; Gen 50:25.) A good land and a large. The fertility of Palestine, though not equal to that of Egypt, was still very great. Eastward of Jordan, the soil is rich and productive, the country in places wooded with fine trees, and the herbage luxuriant. Vast tracts in the spring produce enormous crops of grain, and throughout the year pasturage of every kind is abundant. “Still the countless flocks and herds may be seen, droves of cattle moving on like troops of soldiers, descending at sunset to drink of the springs-literally, in the language of; the prophet, “rams, and lambs, and goats, and bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. The western region is less productive, but by careful cultivation in terraces may be made to bear excellent crops of corn, olives, and figs. Palestine proper to a modern European seems small, being about the size of Belgium, less than Holland or Hanover, and not much larger than Wales. It contains about 11,000 square miles. To an Israelite of the age of Moses such a land would appear sufficiently “large;” for it was considerably larger than the entire Delta of Egypt, whereof his nation occupied the smaller half; and it fell but little short of the entire cultivable area of the whole land of Egypt, which was the greatest and most powerful country known to him. It may be added that the land included in the covenant which God made with Abraham (Gen 15:18-21), and actually possessed by David and Solomon (1Ki 4:21), was a “good land and a large,” according even to modern notions, including (as it did) besides Palestine the whole of Syria, and thus containing an area of from 50,000 to 60,000 square miles. The phrase flowing with milk and honey, first used here, and so common in the later books (Num 13:27; Deu 26:9, Deu 26:15; Deu 31:20; Jer 11:5; Jer 32:22; Eze 20:6, etc.) was probably a proverbial expression for “a land of plenty,” and not intended literally. See what the spies say, Num 13:27

The enumeration of the nations of Palestine here made is incomplete, five only of the ten whose land was promised to Abraham (Gen 15:19-21) being expressly mentioned. One, however, that of the Hivites, is added. We may suppose that they had succeeded to the Kenizzites or the Kadmonites of Abraham’s time. The only important omission is that of the Girgashites, who hold their place in most other enumerations (Gen 10:16; Gen 15:21; Deu 7:1; Jos 3:10; Jos 24:11, etc.), but seem to have been the least important of the “seven nations,”and are omitted in Jdg 3:5.

Exo 3:9

This is a repetition, in substance, of Exo 3:7, on account of the long parenthesis in Exo 3:8, and serves to introduce Exo 3:10. The nexus is: “I have seen the oppressionI am come down to deliver themcome now, therefore, I will send thee”

Exo 3:11

And Moses said Who am I, that I should go, etc. A great change had come over Moses. Forty years earlier he had been forward to offer himself as a “deliverer.” He “went out” to his brethren and slew one of their oppressors, and “supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them” (Act 7:25). “But they understood not” (ibid.) They declined to accept him for leader, they reproached him with setting himself up to be “a ruler and a judge” over them. And now, taught by this lesson, and sobered by forty years of inaction, he has become timid and distrustful of himself, and shrinks from putting himself forward. Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh? What weight can I, a foreigner, forty years an exile, with the manners of a rough shepherd, expect to have with the mighty monarch of all Egyptthe son of Rameses the Great, the inheritor of his power and his glories? And again, Who am I, that I should bring forth the children of Israel? What weight can I expect to have with my countrymen, who will have forgotten mewhom, moreover, I could not influence when I was,in my full vigourwho then “refused” my guidance and forced me to quit them? True diffidence speaks in the words usedthere is no ring of insincerity in them; Moses was now as distrustful of himself as in former days he had been confident, and when he had become fit to be a deliverer, ceased to think himself fit.

Exo 3:12

Certainly I will be with thee. Literally, “Since I will be with thee.” Moses had excused himself on the ground of unfitness. God replies”Thou wilt not be unfit, since I will be with theeI will supply thy deficienciesI will impart all the qualities thou needestand this shall be a sign unto thee of my power and faithfulnessthis shall assure thee that I am not sending thee upon a fruitless errandit is determined in my counsels that not only shalt thou succeed, and lead the people out, but after that,when thou hast so donethou and they together shall serve me on this mountain.” The “sign” was one which appealed to faith only, like that given to Hezekiah by Isaiah (1Ki 19:1-21 :29), but, if accepted, it gave a full assurancethe second step involved the firstthe end implied the meansif Moses was of a certainty to bring the Israelites to Sinai, he must first lead them out of Egypthe must in some way or other triumph over all the difficulties which would beset the undertaking.

Exo 3:13

What is his name? It is not at all clear why Moses should suppose that the Israelites would ask him this question, nor does it even appear that they did ask it. Perhaps, however, he thought that, as the Egyptians used the word “god,” generically, and had a special name for each particular godas Ammon, Phthah, Ra, Mentu, Her, Osiris, and the likewhen he told his people of “the God of their fathers,” they would conclude that he, too, had a proper name, and would wish to know it. The Egyptians set much store by the names of their gods, which in every ease had a meaning. Ammen was “the concealed (god),” Phthah, “the revealer,” Ra,”the swift,” etc. Hitherto Israel’s God had had no name that could be called a proper name more than any other. He had been known as “El,” “The High;” “Shad-dai,” “The Strong;” and “Jehovah,” “The Existent;” but these terms had all been felt to be descriptive epithets, and none of them had passed as yet into a proper name. What was done at this time, by the authority of God himself, was to select from among the epithets one to be distinctly a proper name, and at the same time to explain its true meaning as something more than “The Existent”as really “The Alone Existent”the source of all existence. Henceforth this name, which had previously been but little used and perhaps less understood, predominated over every other, was cherished by the Jews themselves as a sacred treasure, and recognised by those around them as the proper appellation of the one and only God whom the Israelites worshipped. It is found in this sense on the Moabite stone, in the fragments of Philo-Byblius, and elsewhere.

Exo 3:14

I AM THAT I AM. No better translation can be given of the Hebrew words. “I will be that I will be (Geddes) is more literal, but less idiomatic, since the Hebrew was the simplest possible form of the verb substantive. “I am because I am” (Boothroyd) is wrong, since the word asher is certainly the relative. The Septuagint, , explains rather than translates, but is otherwise unobjectionable. The Vulgate, sum qui sum, has absolute exactness. The idea expressed by the name is, as already explained, that of real, perfect, unconditioned, independent existence. I AM hath sent me to you. “I am” is an abbreviated form of “I am that I am,” and is intended to express the same idea.

Exo 3:15

The Lord God. In the original Jehovah elohey“Jehovah, God of your fathers,” etc. The name is clearly an equivalent of the “I AM” in the preceding versa The exact mode of its formation from the old root hava, “to be,” is still disputed among the best Hebraists. This is my name for ever. Henceforth there will be no changethis will be my most appropriate name so long as the world endures”The Existent””The Alone Existent””He that is, and was, and is to come” (Rev 1:4, Rev 1:8; Rev 4:8; Rev 11:17; Rev 16:5). My memorial. The name whereby I am to be spoken of.

Exo 3:16

Gather the elders. It is generally thought that we are to understand by “the elders” not so much the more aged men, as these who bore a certain official rank and position among their brethren, the heads of the various houses (Exo 6:14, Exo 6:25; Exo 11:1-10 :21), who exercised a certain authority even during the worst times of the oppression. Moses was first to prevail, on them to acknowledge his mission, and was then to go with them to Pharaoh and make his representation (Exo 3:18). I have surely visited you. The words are a repetition of those used by Joseph on his deathbed (Gen 50:24), and may be taken to mean, “I have done as Joseph prophesiedI have made his words good thus far. Expect, therefore, the completion of what he promised.”

Exo 3:18

They shall hearken to thy voice. Moses thought they would despise himturn a deaf ear to his wordslook upon him as unworthy of credit. But it was not so. The hearts of men are in God’s hands, and he disposed those of the elders to receive the message of his servant, Moses, favourably, and believe in it. (See Exo 4:29-31.) Thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt. This future is perhaps one of command rather than of prophetic announcement. The elders do not seem to have actually made their appearance before Pharaoh. (See Exo 5:1-4.) They may, however, have authorised Moses and Aaron to speak in their name. The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us. Through our representative Moses. “Met with us” is undoubtedly the true meaning. That we may sacrifice. There was reticence here, no doubt, but no falseness. It was a part of God’s design that sacrifice, interrupted during the sojourn in Egypt for various reasons, should be resumed beyond the bounds of Egypt by His people. So much of his purpose, and no more, he bade Moses lay before Pharaoh on the first occasion. The object of the reticence was not to deceive Pharaoh, but to test him.

Exo 3:19

I am sure. Literally, “I know,” a better rendering, since, “I am sure” implies something leas than knowledge. No, not by a mighty hand. Or “not even by a mighty hand.” Pharaoh will not be willing to let you go even when my mighty hand is laid upon him. (See Exo 8:15, Exo 8:19, Exo 8:32; Exo 9:12, Exo 9:35; Exo 10:20, Exo 10:27.) “But by strong hand” (marg.) is a rendering which the rules of grammar do not permit.

Exo 3:20

I will stretch out my hand. To encourage Moses and the people, to support them in what was, humanly speaking, a most unequal contest, this important promise is made. It is a confirmation, and to some extent, an explanation of the pledge, already, given, “Certainly I will be with thee” (Exo 3:12). It shows how God would be with himhe would smite Egypt with all his wonderswhat those would be was left obscure. He would come to his people’s aid, and openly assert himself, and afflict and strike terror into their enemies-until at last even Pharaoh’s stubborn spirit would be broken, and he would consent to let them go.

Exo 3:21, Exo 3:22

The “spoiling of the Egyptians” has called forth much bitter comment. (See Kalisch, note on Exo 3:22.) It has been termed a combination of “fraud, deception and theft””base deceit and nefarious fraud””glaring villainy,” and the like. The unfortunate translation of a verb meaning “ask” by “borrow” in Exo 3:22, has greatly helped the objectors. In reality, what God here commanded and declared was this:The Israelite women were told on the eve of their departure from Egypt to ask presents (bakh–sheesh) from their rich Egyptian neighbours, as a contribution to the necessary expenses of the long journey on which they were entering; and God promised that he would so favourably incline the hearts of these neighbours towards them, that, in reply to their request, articles of silver and of gold, together with raiment, would be freely and bounteously bestowed on themso freely and so bounteously, that they might clothe and adorn, not only themselves, but their sons and daughters, with the presents; and the entire result would be that, instead of quitting Egypt like a nation of slaves, in rags and penniless, they would go forth in the guise of an army of conquerors, laden with the good things of the country, having (with their own good-will) “spoiled the Egyptians.” No fraud, no deceit, was to be practisedthe Egyptians perfectly well understood that, if the Israelites once went, they would never voluntarily returnthey were asked to give and they gavewith the result that Egypt was “spoiled.” Divine justice sees in this a rightful nemesis. Oppressed, wronged, down-trodden, miserably paid for their hard labour during centuries, the Israelites were to obtain at the last something like a compensation for their ill-usage; the riches of Africa were to be showered on them. Egypt, “glad at their departing,” was to build them a bridge of gold to expedite their flight, and to despoil herself in order to enrich her quondam slaves, of whom she was, under the circumstances, delighted to be rid.

Exo 3:22

Borrow. The Hebrew word means simply “ask” (, LXX.; postulabit, Vulg.). Of her neighbours. The intermixture to some extent of the Egyptians with the Hebrews in Goshen is here again implied, as in Exo 1:1-22 and Exo 2:1-25. And of her that sojourneth in her house. Some of the Israelites, it would seem, took in Egyptian lodgers superior to them in wealth and rank. This implies more friendly feeling between the two nations than we should have expected; but it is quite natural that, after their long stay in Egypt, the Hebrews should have made a certain number of the Egyptians their friends.

HOMILETICS

Exo 3:1, Exo 3:2

The Burning Bush.

All nations have seen in fire something emblematic of the Divine nature. The Vedic Indians made Agni (fire) an actual god, and sang hymns to him with more fervour than to almost any other deity. The Persians maintained perpetual fires on their fire-altars, and supposed them to have a divine character. Hephaistos in the Greek and Vulcan in the Roman mythology were fire-gods; and Baal, Chemosh, Moloch, Tahiti, Orotal, etc; represented more or less the same idea. Fire is in itself pure and purifying; in its effects mighty and terrible, or life-giving, and comforting. Viewed as lightits ordinary though not universal concomitantit is bright, glorious, dazzling, illuminative, soul-cheering. God under the Old Covenant revealed himself in fire, not only upon this occasion, but at Sinai (Exo 19:18; Exo 24:17), to Manoah (Jdg 13:20), to Solomon (2Ch 7:1-3), to Ezekiel (Eze 1:4-28), to Daniel (Dan 7:9, Dan 7:10); under the New Covenant, he is declared to be “a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29), “the Light of the world” (Joh 8:12), “the True Light” (Joh 1:9), “the Sun of Righteousness.” Of all material things nothing is so suitable to represent God as this wonderful creation of his, so bright, so pure, so terrible, so comforting, To Moses God reveals himself not merely in fire, but in a “burning bush.” In this respect the revelation is abnormalnay, unique, without a parallel. Surely this was done, not merely to rouse his curiosity, but to teach him some lesson or other. It is well to consider what lesson or lessons may have been intended by it. First, Moses would see that “the ways of God were not as man’s ways;” that, instead of coming with as much, he came with as little, display as possible; instead of showing all his glory and lighting up all Sinai with unendurable radiance, he condescended to appear in a small circumscribed flame, and to rest upon so mean, so poor, so despised an object as a thorn-hush. God “chooseth the weak things of the world to confound the strong;” anything is sufficient for his purpose. He creates worlds with a word, destroys kingdoms with a breath, cures diseases with clay and spittle or the hem of a garment, revolutionises the earth by a group of fishermen. Secondly, he would see the spirituality of God. Even when showing himself in the form of fire, he was not fire. Material fire would have burnt up the bush, have withered its fair boughs and blasted its green leaves in a moment of time; this fire did not scathe a single twig, did not injure even the most delicate just-opening bud. Thirdly, he might be led on to recognise God’s tenderness. God’s mercy is “over all his works,” he will not hurt one of them unnecessarily, or without an object. He “careth for cattle” (Jon 4:11), clothes the lilies with glory (Mat 6:28-30), wilt not let a sparrow fall to the ground needlessly (Mat 10:29). Lastly, he might learn that the presence of God is “consuming” only of what is evil. Of all else it is preservative. God was present with his people in Egypt, and his presence preserved them in that furnace of affliction. God was present in each devout and humble heart of his true followers, and his presence kept them from the fiery darts of the Wicked One. God would be present through all time with his Church and with his individual worshippers, not as a destroying, but as a sustaining, preserving, glorifying influence. His spiritual fire would rest upon them, envelop them, encircle them, yet would neither injure nor absorb their life, but support it, maintain it, strengthen it.

Exo 3:3

The impulse to draw nigh.

Moses saw a strange sight; one that he had never seen before; one that struck him with astonishment. His natural impulse was to inquire into its cause. God has implanted in us all this instinct, and we should do ill if we were to combat it. Natural phenomena are within reason’s sphere; and Moses, who had never yet seen a supernatural sight, could not but suppose, at first beholding it, that the burning bush was a natural phenomenon. That he approached to examine is an indication that he was a man of spirit and intelligence; not a coward who might have feared some snare, not careless and unobservant, as too many country folk are. He drew near to see more clearly, and to use his other senses in discovering what the “great thing” wasacting like a sensible man and one who had had a good education.

Exo 3:4-6

The prohibition, and the ground of it.

Suddenly the steps of the inquirer are arrested. Wonder upon wonder! a voice calls to him out of the bush, and calls him by his own name, “Moses, Moses!” Now must have dawned on him the conviction that it was indeed a “great thing” which he was witnessing; that the ordinary course of nature was broken in upon; that he was about to be the recipient of one of those wonderful communications which God from time to time had vouchsafed to his forefathers, as to Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Hence his submissive, child-like answer, “Here I am.” (Compare 1Sa 3:4, 1Sa 3:6.) Then came the solemn prohibition, “Draw not nigh hither.” Man, until sanctified, until brought into covenant, must not approach near to the dread presence of the Supreme Being. At Sinai Moses was commanded to “set bounds” to keep the people off, that no one might “go up into the mount, nor touch the border of it” (Exo 19:12). The men of Bethshemesh were smitten with death, to the number of 50,070, for looking into the ark of the covenant (1Sa 6:19). Uzzah was slain for putting forth his hand to touch it, when he thought that there was danger of its falling (2Sa 6:7). God, under the Old Covenant, impressed on man in a multitude off ways his unapproachableness. Hence all the arrangements of the Temple; the veil guarding the sanctuary, into which only the high-priest could enter once in the year; the main temple-building, only to be entered by the priests; the courts of the Levites, of the Israelites, and of the Gentiles, each more and more remote from the Divine Presence. Hence the purifications of the priests and of the Levites before they could acceptably offer sacrifice; hence the carrying of the Ark by means of staves forming no part of it; hence the side-chambers of the Temple, emplaced on “rests” in the walls, “that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house” (1Ki 6:6). It was so needful to impress on men, apt to conceive of God as “such an one as themselves,” his awful majesty, purity, and holiness, that artificial barriers were everywhere created to check man’s rash intrusion into a Presence for which he was unfit. Thus reverence was taught, man was made to know and to feel his own unworthiness, and, little by little, came to have some faint conception of the absolute perfectness and incomprehensible greatness of the Supreme One. Further, God being such as this, each place where he makes himself manifest, becomes at once holy ground. Though “heaven is his throne, and earth his footstool,” and no “place” seems worthy of him or can contain him, yet it pleases him, in condescension to our infirmities and our finiteness, to choose some spots rather than others where he will mare himself known and make his presence felt. And these at once are sacred. So was the mount to which Moses went up; so was Shiloh; so was Araunah’s threshingfloor; so was Jerusalem. And so in our own days are churches and the precincts of churches. God’s presence, manifested in them, albeit spiritually and not materially, hallows them. And the reverent heart feels this, and cannot but show its reverence by outward signs. In the East shoos were put off. With us the head should be uncovered, the voice hushed, the eye cast down. We should feel that “God is in the midst of us.” So felt Moses, when God had proclaimed himself (Exo 3:6), and not only bared his feet as commanded, but shrouded his face in his robe “for he was afraid to look upon God.” All his own sinfulness and imperfection rushed to his thought, all his unworthiness to behold God and live. Jacob had once seen God “face to face,” and had marvelled that “his life was preserved” (Gen 32:30). Moses shut out the awful Vision. So Elijah, on the same site, when he heard the “still small voice”(1Ki 19:13); and so even the seraphim who wast continually before God’s Throne in heaven (Isa 6:2). Consciousness of imperfection forces the creature to stand abashed in the presence of the Creator.

Exo 3:7-10

The call of Moses.

With face covered, but with ears attent to hear, Moses stands before God to learn his will. And God takes him, as it were, into counsel, not only calling him to a certain work, but revealing to him why he is called, what exactly he is to do, and what will be the issue of his enterprise.

1. WHY HE IS CALLED. He is called because the affliction of Israeltheir sufferingsfrom the constant toil, from the brutal taskmasters, from the cruel Pharaoh, from the apparent hopelessness of their positionhad reached to such a point that God could allow it to go on no longer. There is a point at which he will interfere to vindicate the oppressed and punish the wrong-doers, even if the oppressed are too much crushed, too downtrodden, too absolutely in despair, to cry to him. Their case calls to him; their “blood cries from the ground.” But in this instance actual despair had not been reached. His people had “cried to him.” And here was a second reason why he should interfere. God is never deaf to any prayers addressed to him for succour; he may not always grant them, but he hears them. And if they are sustained, and earnest, and justified by the occasion, he grants them. Such was the case now, and Moses was called because of the extreme affliction of the Israelites, and because of their prolonged and earnest cry to God under it.

2. Moses is told WHAT HE IS TO DO. He is to “bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Exo 3:10); and, as a preliminary step, he is to “go to Pharaoh” (ibid.). Thus he is directed to return to Egypt forthwith, and to put himself into communication with the new king who had succeeded the one from whom he had fled. So much is made clear to him. He, an exile for forty years, and a mere hireling shepherd of the desert during that space, is to seek an interview with the great monarch of all Egypt, and to plead the cause of his people before himto endeavour to induce him to “let them go.” A difficult enterprise, to say the least; humanly speaking, a hopeless one. How should a king be induced to allow the departure of 600,000 able-bodied labourers, whose condition was that of state slaves, who could be set to any work which the king had in handto keep cattle, or make bricks, or build cities, or erect walls, or excavate canals? What inducement was to be offered to him to make the sacrifice? Such thoughts would naturally occur to Moses under the circumstances, and would naturally have risen to his lips but for the distinct announcement made with regard to the further point.

3. WHAT WOULD BE THE ISSUE OF THE ENTERPRISE. The Divine declaration, “I am come down to deliver them, and to bring them up out of that land into a good land and a large,” was so definite and clear a statement, so positive a promise of success, as to override all objections on the score of the task being an impossible one. God “had come down to deliver” his people, and would undoubtedly do it, whatever opposition was raised. Thus, to counteract the despondency which the consideration of the existing facts and circumstances was calculated to produce, there was held forth before Moses the positive assurance of success; the certainty that God would make good his word; would, however difficult it seemed, lead his people forth, deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptian, and make them the masters of another land, large and good, flowing with milk and honey, into possession of which they would enter through his might and by his irresistible assistance.

Exo 3:11

Fitness of Moses to be God’s instrument in delivering Israel.

The fitness of Moses to be Israel’s deliverer will appear if we consider, first, What were the qualities which the part of deliverer required; secondly, how far they were united in him; and thirdly, what reasons there are for believing that, at the time, they were not united to the same extent in any other person.

1. NECESSARY QUALITIES OF THE DELIVERER. As having to deal, in the first instance, with a great king and his court, it was necessary that the Deliverer should be familiar with the habits of the court, should be able to assume its manners, speak its language, and not unwittingly infringe its etiquette. Not being set merely to petition, but to requireto prefer demandsit was requisite that he should feel himself, socially, on a par with the monarch, so as not to be timid or abashed before him, but able without difficulty to assert himself, to use freedom of speech, to talk as prince with prince, and not as mere courtier with monarch. Again, as having to meet and baffle Egyptian priests, and further, to be not only the Deliverer, but the Teacher and Educator of his nation, it was to the last degree necessary that he should be “learned in all the wisdom” of the time; that he should have had as good an education as any other man of the day; be able to foil the priests with their own weapons; and, after delivering his people out of bondage, be capable of elevating them, instructing them, advancing them from a rabble of slaves into an orderly, self-sufficient, fairly-enlightened, if not highly-civilised, nation. Once more: a moral fitness was necessary. The Deliverer needed to have high aspirations, a bold spirit, fervent zeal, and yet to have all these under control; to be calm, quiet, serf-contained, imperturbable in danger, persevering, prompt, considerate. Moreover, he needed to be a religious man. Anyone not upheld by high religious principle, anyone not possessed of deep and true faith, would have fallen away in some of the trials through which the nation had to pass; would have desisted, or murmured, or “lusted after evil things” (1Co 10:6), or waxed proud and wanton, or grown weary of seemingly interminable wanderings, and settled down in Arabia or even returned to Egypt.

2. MOSES‘ POSSESSION OF THESE QUALITIES. Moses was familiar with the customs of the Egyptian court, having been brought up in the household of a princess, and been himself a courtier until he was nearly forty years of age. Though he had subsequently spent forty years in the desert, this would not unfit him; since, in the first place, Egyptian manners and customs were unchanging; and secondly, life in the desert is at no time a bad school of manners. Arabian shepherds are not like European ones. As much politeness is often seen in the tent of a Bedouin as in the drawingroom of an empress. Moses probably thought that his forty years of seclusion rendered him less suited for the atmosphere of a court, but he was probably mistaken. What he may have lost in polish he gained in simplicity, directness, and general force of character. Moses,, again, could speak with the Pharaoh almost as an equal, since as the adopted son of a princess he had born accounted a prince, and may even, before his flight, have met Menephthah in the royal palace on terms of social equality. On the education and “wisdom” of Moses we have already descanted, and it will scarcely be questioned that in these respects he was eminently fitted for the part assigned to him by Providence. His character, too, as chastened and ripened in Midian, made him exceptionally fit. Audacity, high aspirations, strong sympathies, a burning zeal, had shown themselves in the conduct that led to his exile. These had been disciplined and brought under control by the influences of desert life, which had made him calm, self-contained, patient, persevering, considerate, without quenching his zeal or taming his high spirit. And of his religious principle there is no question. If he angered God once by “speaking unadvisedly” (Psa 106:33; Num 20:10), this does but show that he was human, and therefore not perfect. Apart from this one occasion his conduct as leader of the people is, as nearly as possible, blameless. And his piety is everywhere conspicuous.

3. NO ONE BUT MOSES POSSESSED THE NECESSARY QUALITIES. With the limited knowledge that we possess, the negative is incapable of positive proof. But, so far as our historical knowledge goes, there is no one who can be named as possessing any one of the necessary qualities in a higher degree than Moses, much less as uniting them all. No Hebrew but Moses had had, so far as we know, the advantages of education and position enjoyed by Moses. No Egyptian would have been trusted by the Hebrew nation and accepted as their leader. No one who was neither Egyptian nor Hebrew would have had any weight with either people. Thus Moses was the one and only possible deliverer, exactly fitted by Providence for the position which it was intended he should take: raised up, saved, educated, trained by God to be his instrument in delivering his people, and so exactly fitted for the purpose.

Exo 3:11-12

Moses’ timidity notwithstanding his fitness.

It is not often that those are most confident of their powers who are fittest for God’s work. Great capacity is constantly accompanied by a humble estimate of itself. Jeremiah’s reply when God called him was: “Ah! Lord God, I cannot speak, for I am a child” (Jer 1:6). Newton seemed to himself a child gathering shells upon the shores of the ocean of Truth. The exclamation of Moses, “Who am I that I should go,” etc. has been echoed by thousands. If, however, God’s call is clear, the voice of self-depreciation is not to be much listened to. He knows best whether we are fit to work out his purposes, or no. Whether the call is to be an ordinary minister, or a missionary, or a bishop, or a civil leader, the foremost in a political movement, or a general at the crisis of a war, or anything else, too much timidity ought not to be shown. There is cowardice in shrinking from responsibility. If the call be clearly from without, not courted by ourselves, not sought, not angled for, not assignable to any unworthy motive, then it is to be viewed as God’s call; and the proper answer is “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” Unfit as we may think ourselves, we may be. sure that he will not leave us to ourselveshis grace will be sufficient for ushe will give us all the strength we need.

Exo 3:13-15

God’s revelation of himself under the name Jehovah, and the meaning of it.

At first sight the name by which God shall be called may seem unimportant, as it is unimportant whether a man be called Tully or Cicero. But, originally, each name that is given to God is significant; and according as one name or another is commonly used, one idea or another of the Divine nature will be prevalent. Hitherto God had been known mainly to the Semites as El, Eliun, Elohim, “Exalted, Lofty,” or Shaddai, “Strong, Powerful.” Another name known to them, but rarely used, was JHVH, “Existent.” (The vocalisation of the name has been lost, and is uncertain.) God was now asked by Moses under what name he should speak of him to the Israelites, and was bidden to speak of him as JHVH. What, then, was the full meaning of JHVH, and why was it preferred to the other names? Probably as a security against polytheism. When words expressive of such attributes as exaltation, strength, knowledge, goodness, beautifulness, even creative energy, are made into names of God, there is a temptation at once to extend them from the one to the many, from the possessor of the attribute in the highest degree to others who possess it, or are supposed to possess it, in a high degree. Thus all such words come to be used in the plural, and the way is paved for polytheism. But if God is called “the Existent,” this danger disappears; for there are but two kinds or degrees of existence, viz; self-existence, and created, dependent existence. “The Existent” must mean “the Serf-Existent,” who must necessarily be One. Hence JHVH never had a plural. The only way by which an Israelite could become a polytheist was by deserting Jehovah altogether and turning to Elohim. In vindicating to himself the name Jehovah, “He who exists,” or “He who alone exists,” God declared himself to be

l. eternal;

2. uncaused;

3. unconditioned

4. independent;

5. self-sufficient.

He placed a gulf, profoundnot to be bridgedbetween himself and every other being. He indicated that all other gods were unrealitiesbreath, vapour, shadows of shades; that he alone was real, stable, to be trusted; and that in him his worshippers might have “quietness and assurance for ever.”

Exo 3:16

The Divine injunction to gather the elders.

God here added another injunction to those which he had previously given (Exo 3:10), as to the modus operandi which Moses was to adopt. He was to go to the children of Israel, but not immediately or as the first step. Before making any appeal to them he was, in the first instance, to “gather the elders of Israel together.” In this is involved a principle of very general application. When great designs are on hand, consultation should first be with the few. With the few matters can be calmly and quietly discussed, without passion or prejudice; questions can be asked, explanations given. And the few will have influence with the many. This was the whole idea of ancient government, which was by a king, a council, and an assembly of the people, which last was expected to ratify the council’s decision. Direct appeal to the masses is, as much as possible, to be avoided. The masses are always, comparatively speaking, ignorant, stolid, unimpressible. Great ideas take root and grow by being first communicated in their fulness to a “little flock,” who spread them among their companions and acquaintance, until at length they prevail generally. So our Lord called first the Twelve, and then the Seventy, and made known his doctrine to them, leaving it to them to form the Church after his ascension.

Exo 3:17, Exo 3:18

The promises to the elders, and to Moses.

The elders were promised two things:

(1) that they should be brought forth out of the affliction of Egypt, and

(2) that they should be established in a good land, “a land flowing with. milk and honey” Ordinary menmen who are, spiritually speaking, backward and undevelopedrequire to be stirred to action by comparatively low motives. Escape from present suffering and unpleasantness, enjoyment of happiness in the futurethese are practically the two chief moving powers of human action. Neither of them is a wrong motive; and Moses was instructed to appeal to each by a special promise. So may the preacher rightly do with his congregation, the minister with his flock, the father with his children. As long as men are what they are, appeals to the lower motives cannot be dispensed with at first. Care must, however, be taken that before each one, as he becomes fit for it, higher motives are setsuch as duty, the love of goodness for goodness’ sake, andlast, not leastthe highest motive of all, the love of God, our Creator, Sustainer, Sanctifier, “in whom we live, and move, and have our being.” Moses was promised at this point, to stimulate him to action, immediate success. He had doubted whether his people would listen to him, or regard him as anything but a dreamer. He is told, “they shall hearken unto thy voice.” A great comfort to every one who feels that he has a mission is the acceptance of it by others. Each man, more or less, misdoubts himself, questions his own ability, sincerity, singleness of heart. The seal of an apostleship is the success of the apostolic efforts (1Co 9:2). Direct promise of success at the mouth of God was, to one so faithful as Moses, as powerful to cheer, encourage, and sustain, as success itself.

Exo 3:19, Exo 3:20

Pharaoh’s obduracy, and God’s mode of overcoming it.

There are stubborn hearts which no warnings can impress, no lessons teach, no pleading, even of God’s Spirit, bond. With such he “will not always strive.” After they have resisted him till his patience is exhausted, he will break them, crush them; overrule their opposition, and make it futile. God’s will surely triumphs in the end. But it may be long first. God is so patient, so enduring, so long-suffering, that he will permit for months, or even years, the contradiction of sinners against himself. He will not interfere with the exercise of their free-will. He will warn, chide, chasten, afflict, contend with the sinner; try him to the uttermost; seek to lead him to repentance; give him chance after chance. But he will not compel him to submit himself; man may resist to the last; and even “curse God and die” at war with him. The final success in such a struggle cannot, however, rest with man. God “will not alway be chiding, neither keepeth he his anger for ever.” At the fitting time he “stretches forth his hand and smites” the sinner, strikes him down, or sets him aside, as the storm-wind sets aside a feeble barrier of frail rushes, and works his own will in his own way. Mostly he works by natural causes; but now and again in the history of the world he has asserted himself more openly, and has broken the power and chastised the pride of a Pharaoh, a Benhadad, or a Sennacherib, in a miraculous way. Such manifestations of his might produce a marked effect, causing, as they do, “all the kingdoms of the earth to know that he is the Lord God, and he only” (2Ki 19:19).

Exo 3:21, Exo 3:22

God brings good out of evil.

Had Pharaoh yielded at the first, the Egyptians would have seen the departure of Israel with regret, and would have in no way facilitated it. The opposition of the king and court, the long struggle, the ill-usage of the Israelites by the monarch who so often promised to release them, and so often retracted his word, awoke a sympathy with the Israelites, and an interest in them, which would have been altogether lacking had there been no. Opposition, no struggle, no ill-usage. Again, the plagues, especially the last, thoroughly alarmed the Egyptians, and made them anxious to be quit of such dangerous neighbours. “Egypt was glad of their departing, for they were afraid of them” (Psa 105:38). But for Pharaoh’s obduracy the plagues would not have been sent; and but for the plagues the departing Israelites would not have been looked upon by the Egyptians with the “favour” which led to their going out laden with gifts. Thus Pharaoh’s stubbornness, though it led to their sufferings being prolonged, led also to their final triumphant exit, as spoilers, not as spoiled, laden with the good things of Egypt, “jewels of silver and jewels of gold,” and rich apparel, the best that the Egyptians had to offer. History presents an infinitude of similar cases, where the greatest advantages have been the result of oppression and wrong. Extreme tyranny constantly leads to the assertion of freedom; anarchy to the firm establishment of law; defeat and ill-usage by a conqueror to the moral recovery of a declining race or nation. Each man’s experience will tell him of the good that has arisen to him individually from sickness, from disappointment, from bereavement, from what-seemed at the time wholly evil. God brings good out of evil in a thousand marvellous ways; at one time by turning the hearts of oppressors, at another by raising the tone and spirit of the oppressed; now by letting evil run riot until it produces general disgust, anon by making use of adverse circumstances to train a champion and deliverer. Countless are the evidences that God causes evil to work towards good; uses it as an instrument-evolves his own purposes, in part, by its means, vindicating thus his absolute lordship over all, and showing that evil itself, though it fight against him, cannot thwart him.

HOMILIES BY J. ORR

Exo 3:1-5

Moses at the bush.

We do not now see burning bushes, or hear voices calling to us from their midst. The reason is, that we do not need them, The series of historical revelations is complete. Revelation in the sense of the communication of new truthof truth beyond the range of our natural faculties, or not capable of being derived, under the guidance of God’s Spirit, from revelations already givenis not to be expected. The Bible is the sum of God’s authoritative revelations to the race. This bush, e.g; still burns for us in Scripture, where at any time we can visit it, and hear God’s voice speaking out of it. But in another sense, revelation is not obsolete. It is not a tradition of the past, but a living reality. It has its objective side in the continuous (non-miraculous) revelation going on in nature (Psa 19:1; Rom 1:19, Rom 1:20) and history (Act 17:26, Act 17:27); and in the tokens of a supernatural presence and working in the Church (Mat 28:20; 1Th 1:3-10; Rev 2:1). And it has its subjective side in the revelation (mediate) of Divine things to the soul by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:17), and in the manifestation of God to the heart in private spiritual experience (Joh 14:21, Joh 14:23; Rom 5:5; Rom 8:16). The veil between the soul and the spiritual world is at all times a thin one. The avenues by which God can reach devout minds are innumerable. The Word, sacraments, and prayer are special media, the Divine Spirit taking of the things of Christ, and showing them to the soul (Joh 16:15), illuminating, interpreting, applying, confirming. But, in truth, God is “not far from every one of us” (Act 17:27); and by events of providence, in workings of conscience, through our moral and spiritual intuitions, enlightened and purified as these are by the Word, by numberless facts of nature and life, he can still draw near to those who tarry for him; meets them in ways as unexpected and surprising as at the burning bush; awes them by his wonders; flashes to them the messages of his grace. Viewing this revelation at the bush as a chapter in spiritual history, consider

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF IT. The revelation came to Moses

(1) unexpectedly;

(2) while in the way of dutyhe “kept the flock;”

(3) in a solemn place”mountain of God,” a natural oratory and place of sacred reputeand probably while revolving solemn thoughts;

(4) from a most unlooked-for quartera common bush; and at first

(5) impersonally. The bush burning had no apparent relation to Moses more than to another. It was there for him to look at, to inquire into, if he chose. It invited, but did not compel, or even ask for, his attention. All which circumstances are significant.

1. The Divinity is ever nearer to us than we think. So Jacob, as well as Moses, found it. “Surely God is in this place, and I knew it not” (Gen 28:16).

2. Revelations are not to be expected, save in the way of duty.

3. God may be met with anywhere (Joh 4:24), but some places are more favourable for communion with God than othersthe closet (Mat 6:6), the sanctuary (Psa 73:16, Psa 73:17), natural solitudes (Mat 16:23). And revelations have usually a relation to the state of mind of those who receive themanswering questions, resolving perplexities, affording guidance, adapting themselves to psychological conditions (cf. Job 2:12, Job 2:13; Dan 2:29; Dan 9:20, Dan 9:21; Dan 10:2-6; Act 10:3, Act 10:10; 1Co 12:9; Rev 1:10). It is in every way likely that Moses’ thoughts were at that moment deeply occupied about Israel’s future.

4. God‘s discoveries of himself are marked by great condescension. Lowliness of situation is no bar to the visits of the King of Heaven, while humility of heart is indispensable to our receiving them. He who dwelt in the bush will not refuse the dwelling place of the contrite heart (Isa 57:15). God’s most wonderful discoveries of himself have been made through “base things of the world, and things which are despised” (1Co 2:1-16 :28). The highest example of this is Christ himself, of whose incarnation the angel in the bush may be regarded as a prophecy. “He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness,” etc. (Isa 53:2).

5. God‘s revelations act as a moral test. This applies to the objective revelationto the tokens of the supernatural strewn everywhere around us in life and history, as well as to Nature and the Bible. We may pass them unheeded, or we may draw nearer to inquire. The Bible invites attention by the supernatural in its history, as well as by its teachings. It is only when we draw nearer to it that the Word becomes personal, and seizes on the conscience with spiritual power. Attention on man’s part is rewarded by further self-discovery on God’s.

II. ITS INTEREST FOR MOSES. We may connect his turning aside to see (verse 4)

1. With an appeal to his faculty of wonder. This is one function of miracleto arrest attention, and awaken in the witness of it a powerful consciousness of the Divine presence.

2. With a general habit of devout inquiry. It may be true that “many a man has been led through the pale of curiosity into the sanctuary of reverence” (Parker); but it is also true that to a merely curious disposition God usually reveals little, and to an irreverent one nothing. The habit of inquiry is as valuable, if one’s ultimate aim is in all things to become acquainted with God and his will, as in science and philosophy, or any other form of the pursuit of knowledge; but let inquiry be devout. “Search the Scriptures” (Joh 5:39). Ponder thoughtfully events of providence and facts of history. Study Nature with an eye to spiritual suggestionsto underlying spiritual analogies. Give to whatever you read or hear, which seems to have truth or value in it, the attention it deserves. Inquiry throws the mind into the attitude most favourable for receiving Divine revelations. Moses was not called by name till he “turned aside to see.”

3. With the perception that in this circumstance God was specially calling him to inquire. As Moses gazed, he would be prompted to ask about this bushWhat means it? What invisible power is here manifesting itself? Why is it burning at this place, and at this time? What mystery is contained in it? Has it a message for me? And he would not be long in perceiving that it must be burning there with the special view of attracting his attention. And is it not thus that the Divine usually draws near to us? Attention is arrested by something a little aside from the course of ordinary experience, and the impression it makes upon us produces the conviction that it is not unintended; that it is, as we say, “sent;” that it has a meaning and message to us we do well to look into. Every man, at some point or another in his history, has felt himself thus appealed to by the supernatural. The impression may be made by a book we feel drawn to read, or by something we read in it; through a sermon, through some event of life, by a sickness, at a deathbed, by the sayings and doings of fellow-men, or in hours of solitude, when even Nature seems peopled with strange voices, and begins to speak to us in parables. But, originate as it may, there is plainly in it, as in all special dealings of God with us, a call to inquire, to question ourselves, to ask whether, from the midst of the mystery, God may not have some further message for our souls.

III. THE SIGHT ITSELF. The bush that burned (verse 2) was

1. A token of the Divine Presence. Moses would soon feel that he was standing in presence of the Unseen Holy.

2. A significant emblem. It represented the Israelites in their state of affliction, yet miraculously surviving. Possibly, in the questionings of his spirit, Moses had not before sufficiently considered the “token for good” implied in this astonishing preservation of the nation, and needed to have his attention directed to it. It was a clear proof that the Lord had not cast off his people. If Israel was preserved, it could only be for one reason. The continued vitality, growth, and vigour of the nation was the infallible pledge of the fulfilment of the promise.

3. An answer to prayer. For what could be the meaning of this portent, but that the long, weary silence was at length broken; that the prayer, “O Lord, how long?” was at last to receive its answer? Faith can see great results wrapped up in small beginnings. For nothing in God’s procedure is isolated. Beginnings with God mean endings too.

IV. THE PERSONAL CALL. As Moses wondered

1. The revelation became personal. He heard himself addressed by name, “Moses, Moses” (verse 4). Solemnised, yet with that presence of mind which could only arise from long habituation to the idea of an invisible spiritual world, he answered, “Here am I.” This was to place himself unreservedly at God’s disposal. Mark the order

(1) God revealing (verse 1);

(2) man attending (verse 2);

(3) the revelation becoming Personal (verse 3).

Then followed the direction (verse 5), “Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes,” etc. Thus Moses was instructed:

2. As to the right attitude towards God‘s revelations.

(1) Self-surrender;

(2) reverence;

(3) obedience.

Moses doubtless obeyed the injunction he received. These qualities meet in all true religion: humility in hearing what God has to say; submission of mind and heart to it when said; readiness to obey. Glance for a moment at the requirement of reverence. One can understand how in the tumult of his feelings at the momentin the very eagerness of his spirit to hear what further God had to say to himMoses should be in danger of neglecting the outward tokens of the reverence which no doubt he felt; but it is instructive to observe that God recalls his attention to them. We are thus taught that reverence becomes us, not only in relation to God himself, but in relation to whatever is even outwardly connected with his presence, worship, or revelation. e.g; in our dealing with Scripture, in the use of Divine names and titles, in the ritual of Divine service. The attitude of the spirit is doubtless the main thing; but a reverent spirit will seek for itself suitable forms of expression; and respect for the forms is itself a duty, and an aid in the education of the sentiment. Those are greatly to be censured who, presuming on a supposed special intimacy with God not granted to others, venture to take liberties, and allow themselves in a demeanour and in a style of expression to the Almighty at the least irreverently familiar, and not unfrequently bordering on profanity. Raptures of piety, however sincere, do not justify us in forgetting that in communion with God we stand on “holy ground.”J.O.

Exo 3:1-5

The bush and its suggestions.

Glean here a few of the general suggestions of the passage:

I. REVELATION. The appearance at the bush suggestive

1. Of the supernatural in Nature. Bushes are aglow all around us, if only we had eyes to see them. Christ’s teaching an illustration of the spiritual suggestiveness of Nature. “Consider the lilies” (Mat 6:28). The parables.

2. Of the supernatural in common life. “Moses kept the flock of Jethro.” The Higher Presence may be with us in the humblest occupations.

3. Of the supernatural in the Church

(1) As a whole;

(2) Individual believers.

The bush, burning but not consumed, an emblem of Israelof the Churchenduring in tribulation.

4. Of the higher supernatural of positive revelation. Authoritative revelation is suspended, but the sum of its results is given in Scripture. The Bible is the Bush of revelation, to which the student of Divine things will do well to direct his attention.

II. PREPAREDNESS. Cultivate with Moses

1. A spirit of duty (Exo 3:1).

2. A spirit of devout inquiry (Exo 3:3).

3. A spirit of humility and reverence (Exo 3:5, Exo 3:6).

To such a spirit, God

1. Reveals himself.

2. Addresses calls to his service (Exo 3:4).

3. Gives work to do.

4. Honours in its work.J.O.

Exo 3:2

The bush in history.

The bush had primary reference to Israel, and the fire in the bush represented Jehovah’s fiery presence in the midst of his people

1. For their protection. A fire flaming forth to consume the adversaries.

2. For their purification.

God was in the fires that tried them, as well as in the power that upheld them. The fire was thus a figurative representation at once of destroying punishment and of refining affliction. But the bush, while burning, was not consumed. This involves the principle that nothing, however weak and perishable in itself, with which God connects his presence, or which he wills to continue in existence, can by any possibility be destroyed. From this point of viewa thoroughly legitimate onethe emblem admits of various applications, and directs our attention to a series of supernatural facts yet greater than itself, and well deserving our turning aside to see.

1. There is the obvious application to the Church, which to a thoughtful’ mind, pondering as it should the facts of history, is a veritable repetition of the wonder of the bush “burning but not consumed.” The bush is an emblem of the Church in the other respect of outward plainness and unattractiveness. And it is noteworthy that the times when the Church has forgotten her calling to be meek and lowly in heart, and has aspired to great outward splendour, and been ambitious of worldly supremacy, have invariably been times of marked decline in purity and spirituality. She fares best when content with modest outward pretensions.

2. A second application is to the nation of the Jewsalso a “sign and wonder” in history (see Keble’s hymn, “The Burning Bush’).

3. A third is to the Bible. What enmity has this book encountered, and what fierce attempts have been made to disprove its claims, destroy its influence, sometimes even to banish it from existene! Yet the miraculous bush survives, and retains to this hour its greenness and freshness, as if no fire had ever passed upon it.

4. Yet another application is to individual believers, against whom, while tried by fiery trials (1Pe 4:12), neither the enmity of man, the assaults of Satan, nor providential afflictions and calamities (Job 1:1-22.) are permitted to prevail, but who, under all, enjoy a support, a peace, a comfort, plainly supernatural”dying, and behold we live” (2Co 6:9). Flippant observers may see in these things nothing worthy of peculiar attentionnothing which cannot be explained by ordinary historical causes; but sober minds will not readily agree with them. They will regard the facts now referred to as truly “great sights,” and will, like Moses, reverently turn aside to inquire into them further.

Note

1. The true glory of the Church is God in her midst.

2. The outward weakness of the Church enhances the wonder of her preservation.

3. The Church has most reason to glory in those periods of her history when she has been most despised and persecuted (Mat 5:11; 2Co 12:9; 1Pe 4:14).J.O.

Exo 3:6

The God of the fathers.

“I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham,” etc. In these words

I. GOD CONNECTS HIMSELF WITH THE DEAD PATRIARCHS. They imply

1. Continued existence; for God, who says here, not “I was,” but “I am, the God of thy father,” is, as Christ reminds us, “not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mat 22:32). The personal relation was not dissolved. The patriarchs still lived to him.

2. The resurrection of the body. This will not appear a far-fetched inference, if we consider the nature of the Bible hope of immortality. The Bible has little or nothing to say of an abstract “immortality of the soul.” It nowhere regards the disembodied state as in itself desirable. The immortality it speaks of is the immortality of the “man”of man in his whole complex personality of body, soul, and spirit. This implies a resurrection. The life forfeited by sin was a life in the body, and so must be the life restored by Redemption. The covenant-promise could not fall below the hopes of the heathen; and even Egyptian theology held by the notion of a revival of the body, as essential to perfected existence. Hence the practice of embalming, with which compare the care of the body by the patriarchs.

II. CONNECTS THIS REVELATION WITH FAST REVELATIONS, AS ONE OF A SERIES. It introduces what is to be said as the fulfilment of what had been already promised.

III. CONNECTS HIMSELF WITH THE EXISTING GENERATION. The God of the fathers is, in virtue of the promise, the God of the children.J.O.

Exo 3:7-11

God’s sympathy with the oppressed.

I. GOD IS EVER IN SYMPATHY WITH THE OPPRESSED, AND AGAINST THEIR OPPRESSORS (Exo 3:7, Exo 3:9). This is now, thanks to the Bible, made as certain to us as any truth can be. God’s sympathy may be viewed

1. As implied in his moral perfection.

2. As certified to us by the pity of our own hearts. He who put pity in these hearts must surely himself be pitiful. Yet, so much is there in the world which bears a different aspect, that

3. It needs revelation to assure us of itto put the fact beyond all doubt. And the revelation has been given. No student of God’s character in the Bible can doubt that he compassionates.

(1) His words declare it.

(2) His deeds attest it.

(3) The Cross demonstrates it.

And, whatever mystery surrounds God’s ways at present, he will one day make it plain by exacting a terrible retribution for all wrongs done to the defence-less (Psa 12:5; Jas 5:4).

1. Comfort for the oppressed. Not one of their sighs escapes the ear of God.

2. Warning to the oppressor.

II. GOD IS PECULIARLY IN SYMPATHY WITH THE OPPRESSED, WHEN THE OPPRESSED ARE HIS OWN PEOPLE (Exo 3:7, Exo 3:10). Israel was God’s people

1. As Abraham‘s seedchildren of the covenantfar gone indeed from righteousness, yet beloved for the fathers’ sake (Rom 11:28).

2. As retaining, in however corrupt a form, the worship of the true God. They were his people, in a sense in which the worshippers of Osiris, and Thoth, and the other gods of Egypt, were not.

3. As containing many true believers. There was a spiritual Israel within the naturalan “holy seed” (Isa 6:13)”a remnant, according to the election of grace” (Rom 11:5). Therefore, because Israel was God’s people, God was deeply interested in them. He knew their sorrows. He was zealous on their behalf, as One whose own honour was concerned in what they suffered. And as in all their affliction he was afflicted (Isa 63:9), so when the time came, he would avenge them of their adversaries. Believers have the same consolation in enduring trial (2Th 1:4-10).

III. GOD‘S SYMPATHY WITH THE OPPRESSED IS SHOWN BY HIS MERCIFULLY INTERPOSING ON THEIR BEHALF. As he interposed for Israelas he has often interposed for his Church sinceas he interposed for the salvation of the world, when, moved by our pitiable state under sinafflicted and “oppressed of the devil” (Act 10:38; Act 26:18; Eph 2:2; Col 1:13)he sent his Son that “we should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (Joh 3:16). His sympathy with his Church is shown, not only in the comforts he imparts, and the grace by which he upholds, but in the deliverances he sends; on which remark

1. God has his own times for them.

2. Till the time comes, his people must be content to wait.

3. When it comes, no power can hinder the execution of his purpose.

4. The deliverance will bring with it compensation for all that has been endured”a good land,” etc. The ultimate compensation, when God has brought his people up out of the Egypt of all their afflictions, and planted them in the land of perfected bliss, will be such as to clear his character from all imputations of injustice and unkindness.J.O.

Exo 3:10-12

Insufficiency.

A very different Moses this from the hero who was formerly so ready, even without a call, to undertake the work of Israel’s deliverance. Probably failure in that first attempt led him to doubt whether he was the instrument ordained for so great a task. He may have concluded he was not, and learned his first lesson of acquiescence in the Divine will, by surrendering the hope. Or, he may have thought himself rejected for his fault. In any case, Moses had now much juster views of the magnitude of the work, and of his natural unfitness to undertake it. Who was hea man of lonely, self-retired spiritthat he should brave the power of the Pharaohs, or think of bringing Israel out of Egypt?

Learn

1. Conscious unfitness for our work is one of the best preparations for it, The greatest of God’s servants have had this feeling in a remarkable degree. They needed to be “thrust forth” to the harvest (Mat 10:38, Or.).

2. Conscious unfitness for work grows with the clearness of our apprehensions of the Divine call to it. The nearer we are brought to God, the less we feel fit to serve him (Isa 6:5).

3. God‘s call and promise are sufficient reasons for undertaking any work, however deep our consciousness of personal unfitness. “Our sufficiency is of God” (2Co 3:6). The sign in Exo 3:12 was a pledge to Moses that God would “make all grace to abound toward” him (2Co 9:8).J.O.

Exo 3:15-16

The Name.

The request of Moses to know the name of the Being who had filled him with such unutterable awe (Exo 3:6), rested on ideas deeply rooted in ancient modes of thought. The “name” with us tends to become an arbitrary symbola mere vocable. But this is not the true idea of a name. A real name expresses the nature of that to which it is given. It is significant. This idea of the name is the ruling one in scientific nomenclature, where names are not imposed arbitrarily, but are designed to express exactly the essential characteristics of the object or fact of Nature for which a name is sought. The man of science interrogates Natureallows it to reveal itself. He stands before his fact, asking”Tell me, I pray thee, thy name?” (Gen 32:29), and the name but expresses the properties which come to light as the result of the interrogation. Hence, as science progresses, old names are superseded by new ones-the former no longer proving adequate to the stage at which knowledge has arrived. This illustrates in some degree the ancient idea of a name, and the desire that was felt at each new stage of revelation for a new name of God. God’s Name is the revelation of his attributes or essencethe disclosure of some part or aspect of the fulness of his Deity. The vocable is valueless in itselfits significance is derived from the fact of revelation of which it is the memorial. To know God’s absolute Namethe Name, if one might so speak, wherewith he names himself, would be to wrest from him the secret of his absolute existence. And Jacob was rebuked when, in this sense, he sought to wrest from God his Name (Gen 32:29). God’s revealed Name expresses that of his Nature which is communicable and comprehensiblehis attributes in their relations to the intelligence and needs of the creature. Each of his names is but part of the wholea ray. The whole Name is given in the completed revelation. (An illustration of the extent to which in ancient times name and reality were held to interpenetrate each other is furnished by the practice of conjurationthe name being viewed as so truly a living part of the Being, so bound up with his essence and qualities, that to know it was to obtain a certain power over him.)

I. THE NAME ASKED (Exo 3:13). Moses expected that this would be the first question the people would ask him”What is his Name?”

1. It was natural to expect that a Being announcing himself, would do so by some name, either a name by which he was already known, or a new one given in the revelation.

2. It was probable, in analogy with past history, that the name would be a new one, and would serve

(1) As a memorial of the revelation;

(2) As an exponent of its signfificance;

(3) As a clue to God’s purpose in it; and

(4) As a name by which God might suitably be invoked in the new crisis of their nation’s history.

And

3. It was certain that the people would ask this question, familiarised as they were in Egypt with the practice of invoking the gods by the one or other of their many names which bore particularly on the wants and circumstances of the worshippers. To Moses, however, this request for the Name had a much deeper significance. It originated, we may believe, in the felt inadequacy of all existing names of God to syllable the deep and powerful impression made on him by this actual contact with the Divine. Cf. Jacob at Peniel (Gen 32:24 30). God in that hour was nameless to the spirit of Moseshis experience of God went beyond any name he knew for him. A multitude of ideas crowded on him, and he could not fix or express them. Language thus fails us in moments of extraordinary experience, not always because none of the words we know would suit our purpose, but because language tends to become conventional, and the profounder meaning which lies in words gets rubbed off them. The name which God gave was after all not a new one, but an old name with new life put into it.

II. THE NAME GIVEN (Exo 3:14, Exo 3:15). God grants his servant’s request. The name is given first explicatively,“I am that I am” (Exo 3:14), then as a denominative“Jehovah” (Exo 3:15); while he who gives it expressly claims for himself, as formerly (Exo 3:6), that he is the God of the old covenantsthe “Jehovah God” of the fathers (Exo 3:15, Exo 3:16).

1. The name, as above remarked, while new in this relation, is itself an old one. This is already implied in the expression”Jehovah God of your fathers” (Exo 3:16); and is proved by its occurrence in the earlier history, and by the name of Moses’ own motherJochebed (Exo 6:20), “she whose glory is Jehovah.” This old and half-obsolete name God revives, and makes it the key-word of a new era of revelation.

2. He who assumes the name is the “Angel of Jehovah” of Exo 3:1. The Angel”a self-presentation of Jehovah entering into the sphere of the creature, which is one in essence with Jehovah; and is yet again different from him” (Oehler). The soundest view is that which regards the “Angel” as the Pre-incarnate Logosthe Divine Son.

3. The name was eminently suitable and significant. The ideas awakened in Moses by the revelation he had received would be such as theseGod’s living Personality; his enduring Existence (the same God that spoke to the fathers of old, speaking to him at Horeb); his covenant-keeping Faithfulness; his Self-identity in will and purpose; his unfailing Power (the bush burning unconsumed); his Mercy and Compassion. All these ideas are expressed in the name Jehovah, which represents the highest reach of Old Testament revelation. That name denotes God as

1. Personal.

2. Self-existent.

3. Eternal.

4. Independent of his creatures.

5. Self-identical.

6. Self-revealing and gracious.

Hence

1. Changeless in his purpose.

2. Faithful to his promises.

3. Able to fulfil them.

4. Certain to do so.J.O.

Exo 3:16-22

The two messages.

I. THE MESSAGE TO THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL (Exo 3:16-18). Moses was to go first to the elders of the people. Firstbefore he went to Pharaoh; and firstbefore communicating with any of the people. This arrangement was

1. Necessary. The people’s consent must be obtained to their own deliverance. God would have them co-operate with him

(1) Freely.

(2) Intelligently; would carry them with him as free agents in all he did.

This applies to the higher Redemption. Men cannot be saved without their own consent. We must, in the sense of Php 2:12, work out our own salvationmust co-operate with God, by freely adopting and falling in with his method of grace. There must be free choice of Christ as our Saviour, free compliance with the directions of the Gospel, free co-operation with the Spirit in the work of our sanctification.

2. Wise. The elders were the representatives of the people. They had a claim to be approached first. They were men of experience, and were better able to judge deliberately of the proposals laid before them. They had exceptional facilities for diffusing information, while communication with them would have the additional advantage of greater privacy. If Moses could satisfy the elders of his Divine commission, and could gain their intelligent consent to his proposals, the consent of the people would readily be forthcoming. So Paul, in going up to Jerusalem, communicated the Gospel he had received “privately to them which were of reputation,”to “James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars” (Gal 2:2-9). And it was not till Jesus had been decisively rejected by the authorities in Jerusalem that he commenced a popular ministry in Galilee. Learn lessons

(1) Of the respect due to constituted authorities.

(2) Of the value of representative institutions.

(3) Of the need of prudence and caution in the initiation and conduct of public movements.

3. Kindly. No time was to be lost in carrying to the Israelites the tidings of approaching deliverance. The message brought to them was a true gospel. Mark its nature. It told how God had seen their affliction, and had visited them, and would redeem them from bondage. This gives no sanction to Ewald’s theory, that the Exodus had its origin in a powerful movement in the nation itself”the most extraordinary exertions, and most noble activities of the spirit wrestling for freedom.” The narrative says nothing of this mighty spiritual movement, but represents the people as lying hopeless and helpless till God visited them; their help did not come from themselves, but from God. The two views well illustrate the two ways of conceiving the possibility of man’s deliverance from the woes that oppress him. The onethe humanitariantrusts to recuperative powers inherent in the race, to its own “extraordinary exertions” and noble spiritual activitiesand predicts for it a glorious future wrought out by its own efforts. The otherthe Christianhas no such hope. It views the race as lying in a state of moral and spiritual helplessness, and recognises the necessity of a salvation coming to it from without. “We look,” says Neander, “upon Christianity, not as a power that has sprung up out of the hidden depths of man’s nature, but as one which descended from above, when heaven opened itself anew to man’s long-alienated race; a power which, as both in its origin and essence it is exalted above all that human nature can create out of its own resources, was designed to impart to that nature a new life, and to change it in its inmost principles.”

II. THE MESSAGE TO PHARAOH (verse 18). Moses, with the elders, was to go to Pharaoh, and demand of him that the Hebrews be allowed to take a three days’ journey into the wilderness, there to sacrifice to Jehovah. Note on this request

1. Its honesty. The ultimate design was to lead Israel out of Egypt altogether. If this first request was studiously made moderate, it was not with the intention of deceiving Pharaoh, but that it might be the easier for him to grant it. The demand was made in perfectly good faith. What was asked sufficed to test the king’s disposition. Had Pharaoh yielded, no advantage would have been taken of his compliance to effect a dishonourable escape from Egypt. New announcements would doubtless have been made to him, rewarding him as amply for obedience to this first word of God as afterwards he was punished for disobedience to it, and informing him further of the Divine intentions.

2. Its incompleteness. For this demand bore on the face of it that it was not the whole. It told Pharaoh his immediate duty, but beyond that left matters in a position requiring further revelation. Whatever was to follow the three days’ journey, it was certain that “the God of the Hebrews,” who had met with them, would never consent to his worshippers being sent back again to bondage. That Pharaoh must plainly enough have perceived, and Moses made no attempt to dissemble it. Learn

(1) God’s counsels are revealed to men bit by bit.

(2) When present duty is revealed to us, we ought to act on that, though ignorant of all that is to follow.

(3) God partially hides his counsels from men, that the spirit of obedience may be tested.

(4) The gravest consequences may hang on first acts of obedience or disobedience.

III. PHARAOH‘S REJECTION OF GOD‘S MESSAGE (verses 18-22.)

1. It was foreseen by God (verse 19). Yet

2. It did not hinder the execution of God’s purpose (verse 20). Whether Pharaoh willed or not, the Exodus would take place. If not with his consent, then against it, and “by a mighty hand.” Pharaoh’s disobedience would be overruled

(1) To God’s glory. The clay cannot escape from the hand of the potter (Jer 18:6; Rom 9:21). If Pharaoh will not be made a vessel unto honour, he will be moulded into a vessel unto dishonour, and made to subserve God’s purpose in another way (Exo 9:16).

(2) To his own hurt (verse 20). His disobedience would bring on him wrath and destruction. “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!” (Isa 45:9).

(3) To the enrichment of the people (verses 21-22). The Egyptians would be glad in the end to give the Hebrews whatever they wished. So would they “spoil the Egyptians.” Believers’ trials tend to their ultimate enrichment (2Co 4:18). And it is the saints of God who shall yet inherit the earth. Learn also that whatever is valuable in the world’s learning, science, literature, or art, is not to be despised, but to be freely appropriated by the Church, and used in God’s service.J.O.

HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG

Exo 3:1-5

The burning bush.

I. OBSERVE THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH GOD FINDS MOSES. He is still with Jethro, although forty years have passed since their first acquaintance. Though a fugitive, he had not become a mere wanderer.

1. He continues, however, in a comparatively humble position. His marriage to Jethro’s daughter and his long stay in the country do not seem to have brought him much external prosperity. He has not reached even the modest point of success in the eyes of a Midianite shepherd, viz. to have a flock of his own. But this very humility of position doubtless had its advantages and its place in the providence of God with respect to him. With all the lowliness of his state, it was better to be a living man in Midian than to have been Main as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. God had brought him out of a king’s house, so that he might be freed from all the temptations of soft raiment, and also to make manifest that, although among courtiers, he was, not of them. But if during his stay in Midian he had increased in pastoral wealth, and become a second Job (Job 1:3), then, like Job, he might have had to go into humiliation because of his wealth. It was well for him that while he had the care of property, he had not the cares of it (Jas 1:10, Jas 1:11).

2. God finds him engaged in faithful service, leading his flock far into the desert that they might find suitable pasture. God comes to those who are diligently occupied in some useful work, even if it be as humble and obscure as that of Moses. He does not come with his revelations to day-dreamers; they are left to build their castles in the air. They who despise common and daily work, on the pretext that they are fitted for something much better, will at last be thrown into the corner among the refuse. “Let those that think themselves buried alive be content to shine like lamps in sepulchres, and wait till God’s time comes for setting them in a candlestick” (Mat 4:18-22, Mat 9:9; Luk 2:8).

II. GOD APPROACHES MOSES WITH A SUDDEN TEST. “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush” i.e. the flame of fire became a messenger of God to Moses. We are told in Psa 104:1-35. that God is he who makes the clouds his chariot, walks upon the wings of the wind, makes the winds his messengers, and flaming fire into his ministers (Heb 1:7). And so here God sends this flame of fire, encompassing and attacking the bush, in order to discover what sort of man Moses is. Certain features of his character, viz. his patriotism, his hatred of oppression, his prompt action to serve the weak, have hitherto been exhibited rather than tested. He had shown what sort of man he was in the ordinary experiences of life, such experiences as might come to any of us. But now he is face to face with an extraordinary experience, a sudden and unexpected test. The burning bush was to Moses what both miracles and parables were to those who came into contact with Jesus. To some the miracles were mere wonders; to others they revealed an open door of communication with God. To some the parables were only aimless narratives, mere story-telling. To others the Divine Teacher was able to say, “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 13:11). And, in a similar way, when Moses came suddenly upon the burning bush, there was also a sudden revelation of the state of his heart. He did not treat the phenomenon as a delusion; did not begin to suspect his own sanity; did not seek his kindred, that they might come and gape at this new wonder. It was impressed upon his mind exactly as it was meant to be impressed. He asked the very question that above all others needed to be askedwhy this bush was not consumed. For observe that it was something which in ordinary circumstances would be easily and quickly consumed (Exo 22:6; Ecc 7:6; Mat 6:30). It was not some metal well used to the fire, but a bush actually burning yet not burning away. And as this burning bush was thus a test to Moses, so the record of it is also a test to us. Let us suppose the question put all round, “What would you have done if you had been there?” We know well the answer that would come from one class of minds: “There was no such thing; it was all Moses’ own imagination.” Thus the test comes in. As God tested Moses in exhibiting the burning bush as his messenger, so he tests us by the record of this and all other unusual occurrences with which the Scriptures are crowded. If we say at once concerning the burning bush and all that is supernatural that it is but delusion, then God’s way to our hearts and our salvation is blocked at once. We must be loyal to fact wherever we find it. The very evidence of our own senses, and the accumulated testimony of honest and competent witnesses, are not to be sacrificed to so-called first principles of rational inquiry. The right spirit is that shown by Peter and his companion in the house of Cornelius. They saw with their own eyes that the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his household; and Peter made his inferences and his action to depend on this indisputable fact (Act 10:44; Act 11:18). When Moses turned aside to see the great sight his eye was single; he did not quibble and despise; and therefore his whole body was filled with light.

III. GOD MEETS A PROPER INQUIRY WITH PROPER TREATMENT. Moses is approaching the burning bush to investigate the difficulty by his natural faculties, when God at once arrests him, making known his own presence, and enjoining such outward marks of reverence as became the place and the occasion. And Moses, as we might expect, is immediately obedient. Those who have in them the spirit that seeks for truth, the spirit of faith and right inquiry, will also show a spirit ready at once to respond to the presence of God. Moses must have had those principles in his life which pointed on to perfect purity of heart. That purity he had in its beginnings, or he would not have gained such a sense of God’s presence as was here bestowed on him. Note next, that God does not proceed to answer the inquiry of Moses. There was really no occasion to answer it. When Moses knew that the presence of God had to do with the miracle, he knew enough. To know exactly how God had done it was beyond him. Even God cannot explain the inexplicable. The secrets of creation cannot be penetrated by those who lack creative power. Man can make machines; therefore the man who makes a machine can explain the purpose and the parts of it to another man. Human beings are the parents of human beings; but as they have no power to make intelligently any living thing, so they cannot understand either how living things are brought into existence or sustained in it. God calls Moses now, not to explain why. the bush is burning, but to subdue his mind into appropriate reverence and expectation. The search for truth must not degenerate into curiosity, nor be pursued into presumption.

IV. THOUGH GOD LEAVES THE INQUIRY FORMALLY UNANSWERED, YET THE BURNING BUSH DOES SERVE SOME FURTHER PURPOSE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF INSTRUCTION. There was much teaching in this burning bush. If the aim had been merely to arrest the attention of Moses, then any wonder would have served the purpose. But the wonders of God not only test; they also teach. They must be something unusual, or they would not test sufficiently; they must be something more than merely unusual, else they would not teach. The bush was Israel in the flame of Egypt. That bush had been burning now a century, more or less, yet it was riot consumed. All that was essential to its nature, its growth, and its fruitfulness still remained. What was permanent in Israel was no more affected than the tree is by the fading and falling of its leaves in autumn. The leaves die, but the tree remains. Its roots are still in the soil and the sap still in the trunk. Thus, by this exhibition of the burning bush, God brought before Moses the great truth that, however natural forces may be gathered against his people, and however they may be intensified in their attack, there is nevertheless a power from on high which can resist them alla secret, countervailing power in which we may ever put our trust. And this power is not only for preservation in the midst of affliction, but for ultimate deliverance from it. The power by which God can keep the bush from being consumed, is a power by which he can take it out of the fire altogether. Believe in this power, and trust it more and more, and God will lead you into sublime conclusions, and endow you with most precious privileges.Y.

Exo 3:6

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Having wakened the mind of Moses into full activity, given him a revelation of supernatural power, and brought him altogether into a state of the greatest reverence and awe, God proceeds to a revelation of himself in a particular aspectan aspect which required and repaid the most earnest attention. Notice that, unlike the revelation of the name I AM (Exo 3:13), it was unsolicited.

I. CONSIDER THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS NAME TO MOSES AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

1. It was a confident reference to the past. Moses might look back on his own career, or that of he people to whom he belonged, with a measure of shame, doubt, humiliation, and disappointment; but God could point back to all his dealings with men as consistent, glorious, and worthy of all remembrance.

2. It provided a certain kind of mediatorship in the knowledge of God. It gave the best way for Moses and Israel to think of God, at that particular time. It was as if God had said to Moses, “You are to gain your chief sense of my nearness to Israel and abiding interest in them by thinking of my actual, repeated, and recorded dealings with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” No devout Israelite could become acquainted with that section of Genesis, from the time when God first appeared to Abram down to the death of Jacob, without feeling that the God of these three men was even a more prominent figure in the history than they are themselves. We could as easily leave out the name of Abraham from the narrative, as leave out the name of God. What we are told of Abraham is nothing, save as the effect and expression of the will of God. Abram is as a mere name, till God comes in contact with him. It is not so much a life of Abraham we are reading, as a history of how God’s purposes and power became manifest in his experience.

3. It kept before Moses the connexion of God with the lives of individuals. God made separate appearances to each of these three men, dealing with them according to their Circumstances and their character. He showed his continual and unfailing observation of their lives, by revealing his presence at every critical point.

4. There was a connexion of peculiar importance which God had with some individuals rather than with others. He was the God of Adam, of Enoch, and of Noah; why not have associated himself with these illustrious names? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stood towards Israel in the relation of one who had made large promises, allowed himself to become the source of large expectations, and imposed strict requirements. He was not only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, taken separately, but Of these three men, bound together in a very peculiar way. Not only did they stand in a lineal succession, Abraham being father to Isaac, and IsaActs father to Jacob, but that succession was contrary to natural expectations and customary arrangements. IsaActs was the son of Abraham, but also a son born when the resources of nature were exhausted. Jacob was the son of Isaac, but also the younger son, on whom, contrary to custom, the privileges of the firstborn alighted. Thus it became impossible to describe God as the God of Abraham and Ishmael, though in a certain sense he was the God of Ishmael (Gen 17:20). Nor could he be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau, though assuredly he was the God of Esau also. The only name which would indicate to Moses all he had to bear in mind, was the name which God here employs.

5. He was the God of these men in spite of great defects of character and great blots on conduct. They were men in whom he found much that was evil, much that indicated a low moral state, but he found in them all, and particularly in the first of them, a spirit of faith which enabled him to begin, as from a certain definite point in history, that work which is to end in all nations of the earth being blessed. Already he had made a great nation out of Abrama persecuted and oppressed nation indeed, but none the less a great one. And had he not spoken to Abram concerning this very bondage in Egypt? (Gen 15:13, Gen 15:14). Some such revelation as this at Horeb, to some deliverer or other, might now be expected. It must surely have been often a perplexity to Moses, what had become of this God who had done so much for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

II. CONSIDER THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS NAME TO US, We are not mere spectators of the way in which the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob approved himself as also the God of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt and in the wilderness. To speak of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is only another way of speaking of the God of those who really believe in him. Whenever a real believer ponders this name, then it becomes one of precious associations; it leads by the very mention of it, further and further onwards in subjection to the invisible. But after all, this name, so deeply impressed on Moses, is chiefly valuable to us as suggesting a name far richer in meaning and in power. We have a look into the past which Moses had not. He looked backward and saw God’s dealings with Abraham, and found in them everything to inspire faith in God and expectation from him. We look backward and see, not only Abraham, but Christ; not only Isaac, but Christ; not only Jacob, but Christ. When we look back to these men of Genesis, we see faith standing out like an isolated mountain in the midst of a plain; but we see much also that we would rather not see. Whereas, when we look back to Christ we see not only a full believer, but a flawless life. In him there stands the chief of those that walk by faith, the facile princeps of themhe who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. His faith was such a full, exalted element of his character, that it needs much effort on our part to grasp the fact that, while here below, Jesus, as much as all the rest of us, needed to walk by faith, and was constantly compelled to struggle with unbelief. The great Jehovah is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; also the God of Paul and every true apostle. Suppose Moses could have had the spirits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appear to him in Horeb, and assure him that the God of the burning bush was the God who had dealt with them in the days of their flesh; would not this have Been reckoned a most confirming and exhilarating testimony? And we, practically, have a testimony of this sort. We read of Jesus regarding God as his Father, habitually and in the most appropriating way. We have his actual experience for our comfort, our inspiration, and our guide. If an Israelite was asked what God he believed, tried to serve, and had his. highest expectations from, his best answer was, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” So we, if asked a similar question, can give no better answer than “The God of Christ and the God of Paul: the God who has ever been the same through all vicissitudes of his Church; ever loving, faithful, and sustaining,”Y.

Exo 3:7-9

A large promise for a great need.

I. THE GREAT NEED. It is a need carefully observed by God and well known to him. This has been recorded already, although hardly so emphatically, in Exo 2:23-25. It is one thing to have intelligence of God’s interest communicated by some third person; quite another to hear the words of pity warm and tender from God himself. Moses and many of the Israelites may have thought that they knew the need only too well, bitter as their experiences had been; but, with all their experiences, they knew not that need as God knew it, looking down from heaven, seeing all things with his searching eye, and having a correct and complete knowledge of them. It is with great force that God represents himself seeing as well as hearing. Hearing indicated that he noted the representation of their troubles and needs which the people themselves made; seeing indicated the investigation he made for himself. God was not dependent upon the complaints of the people for his knowledge of their troubles. The cries of men are not always worthy of pity, any more than the cry of a spoilt child. Such cries can only be left unheeded, with the hope that they may end in wisdom and submission. But the cry of Israel was the cry of the oppressed, the cry of God’s people; and, as God saw their state, there was ample evidence of the oppression and the cruelty. When he came down to meet Moses at Horeb, he needed not to listen to a long account of Israel’s troubles; he came not in order that he might inquire, but because of what he already fully knew.

II. THE LARGE PROMISE. God may be long unmanifested, but, when he appears, it is with indubitable proofs of his presence; he may be long silent, but when he speaks, it is with statements and promises worthy of himself. He does not merely utter an expression of sympathy with suffering Israel; that expression is only the starting word of a large undertaking for the future. He repeats, emphatically, the essence of all he had ever said to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning their posterity. He has distinctly in view, not only the removal of a burden, but a future of liberty, independence, and blessedness. Thus it became manifest that the deliverance had not come earlier in time because the matter of deliverance was not the only thing in question. It had to be considered how liberty should be used when acquired. Israel needed a leader, and the leaders whom God approves are not made in a day. Israel had to wait while Moses went through his eighty years of varied discipline, Then, moreover, the people were going into a good land and a large, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of rich pastures and great fertility, a land inhabited by six strong and warlike nations; and therefore they must not go as a handful of people. Thus, while the people were going through these great afflictions, groaning as if in despair, God was doing two things of the greatest moment. He was training Moses and increasing Israel in numbers. What a lesson to us in the midst of our afflictions, with all their consequent murmuring and unbelief! If God seemed to have little to do with Israel during these years of oppression, it was that he might have all the more to do with them, manifestly, in the years to come. Little did either Moses or Israel dream how closely God would keep to them in the future. By the word of God to him here, the thoughts of Moses were brought as at one bound from the darkness of midnight to the blaze of noonday. God does not confine himself to telling Moses that he will deliver Israel. Deliverance for its own sake was as nothing; it was for the sake of what lay beyond it. He does not say that he will deliver, and wait till the time of deliverance comes, to speak of the glories and blessings of Canaan. All these things had been spoken of generations before. God was but taking, as it were, out of some muniment-room, his old plan, first shown to Abraham; unfolding it, and showing also to Moses that it still remained in all its integrity.Y.

Exo 3:10-12

The first difficulty: Who am I?

Divine promises are not long kept separated from human duty. Scarcely has God presented to Moses this welcome, almost dazzling prospect for Israel, when there breaks upon his ear an announcement of his own connection with it, and that in the most trying and responsible position. That he was to have some sort of connection with the liberation of Israel Was just what he might expect. God assuredly had not chosen to visit him so far from Egypt, and in that solitary place, simply to give him the good news and leave him there. And now a duty indeed is laid upon him, the duty of duties; he who has not been near Israel for forty years is to be the chief agent in their deliverance.

I. CONSIDER THE RECEPTION WHICH MOSES GIVES TO GOD‘S ANNOUNCEMENT. Observe

1. The point on which Moses expresses no doubt. He says no word of doubt as to the possibility of Israel being delivered from Egypt. The achievement is from the human point of view a great one, and how it is to be managed he has not yet the slightest clue, but he does not doubt that it will be managed. He might have asked, “How can a thing so great as this be done, and the thraldom of generations utterly cast off?” but he had profited already by the lesson of the burning bush, and no such question crossed his lips. For whether is easier, to preserve a bush amid the fierce flames, or to deliver a nation from bondage? The power that can do the one can do the other.

2. The point on which he is full of doubt. “Who am I?” etc. His mind is turned at once to his own qualifications. And what wonder? It was a great leap from being a shepherd in the wilderness to being an ambassador to. a king, and a leader of men. The fact that Moses questioned his personal ability and personal worthiness is, though it may not at first appear so, a great indication of his very fitness for the post. He did not jump at the chance of distinction. He had a remembrance of his bad odour in Egypt. He had lived, too, at court, and knew how hard it is to get at kings. We can hardly call this doubt of Moses blameworthy, for he was spoken to as a sinful man, and God did not expect from him at this first opening of the interview a response such as could only come fittingly from an angel, ready at once to fly on any errand of the Almighty. A Gabriel would not have said, “who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?” for angels cannot be spoken of as either humble or proud. But Moses was deeply conscious of his own faults. Indeed, if he had not been, God would not have chosen him. Men of a different sort, self-complacent and self-confident, were the last God would have looked to in such circumstances. The men he wants are such as feel keenly all natural defectssensitive, may be, to criticism and harsh words of every kind; men, too, who for their own inclination, love the quiet and shady nooks of existence, and do not care to leave them, save under the pressure of some manifest public claim or some persistent voice of God to the tender conscience within. Such men are generally called, upon their first emergence into public, presumptuous, meddlesome, and fanatical; and they have to lay their account with these hard names. They are apt to meet with a great deal of gratuitous counsel, given on the grounds of what is called common sense. Moses well knew the difficulties that would come in his way. The one thing he had yet to learn was that God knew him far better than he did himself.

II. CONSIDER THE ENCOURAGEMENTS GOD GIVES TO MOSES. There is no word of rebuke in any way, but immediate and abundant encouragement.

1. The emphatic assurance of God‘s presence and companionship. The “I” of Moses is met by the “I” of God. Moses was to go to Pharaoh strong in the consciousness that the God who sent him was also with him. There would not be about him anything that ambassadors usually hadrich personal adornments, pomp of attendance, great profusion of presents, distinguished earthly rank. But the absence of these things only makes more manifest the presence and dignity of the invisible God. The less of earth was seen, the more of heaven; the less of man, the more of God. If God be for us, who can be against us? If God be with us, what need we care who forsake us? Because Moses felt his own deficiencies, compared with the greatness of the work before him, God gave him this promise, and the fulfilment of it gave both needed and sufficient strength during all his conflict with Pharaoh. What about our relation to Christ’s promise, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world?” The mournful truth with respect to us may be that we do not feel, either the greatness of the work before us, or our utter lack of strength to do it. We must know the burdens and the bonds, the smitings and the contumely, the sighing and the crying, of spiritual Egypt, before we can appreciate the necessity and graciousness of Christ’s parting promise to his people.

2. God adds something even more noticeable than the promise of his presence. We do not say it is more important, but it is certainly more noticeable. He makes an intimation of a very helpful token to be exhibited in the future. Moses needed no more tokens of God’s power at present; he had a sufficient token in the burning bush. If this had failed to impress him, neither could he have been persuaded by any additional wonder. But God gave to Moses a word which would keep in his mind the prospect and hope of a great sign in the time to come. What a thought to take with him through all the dismal succession of the plagues, through all the steady progress towards deliverancethat somehow or other God would bring the large host of Israel in this very mountain; to this lonely place where few people lived, because few could live! Moses would need a token by-and-bye even more than he bad needed one now. His greatest difficulties were to be, not with Pharaoh, but with Israel; not in getting them out of Egypt, but in leading them onward to Canaan. Some difficulties doubtless he would expect, but all the stubbornness, waywardness and carnality of Israel he did not yet foresee. So the Apostle found his greatest difficulties and sorrows, not from those who stoned him at Lystra, imprisoned him at Philippi, and conspired against him at Jerusalem; but from the fornicators, the litigious, the schismatical, the deniers of the resurrection at Corinth; from the pliable yielders to Jewish bigotry, in Galatia; in short, from.all who, having professed to receive the truth, acted in a way incompatible with their professions; and thus we see God keeping Moses, as it were, ahead of the people. He was forty years ahead of them already. The creature comforts of Egypt, for which Israel lusted so in the wilderness, were no temptation to him, seeing he had become used to the wilderness. And so, when he came again to Horeb, with all this vast host in his charge, it was to rejoice in the strength that came from a fulfilled promise of God.

III. CONSIDER THE EXPECTATION FROM ISRAEL WITH WHICH GOD LOOKS FORWARD TO THE GIVING OF THIS TOKEN. Not only will God bring Israel to this mountain, but when they reach it, it will be to serve him. He says very little; only, “Ye shall serve God,” but that little would be enough to set Moses thinking. And yet, with, all his anticipations, they must have fallen far short of the reality. One small word from the lips of God has behind it a fulness of meaning far beyond present thoughts. We learn, by the time we come to the end of this book, that serving God meant gathering in solemn and timid awe around the smoking mount; meant for Moses himself forty days and nights of retirement with Jehovah; meant the construction of the Tabernacle with all its holy contents according to the pattern shown in the mount. What a difference in the knowledge, the obligations, and the outlook of the Israelites when they left Sinai! And if the word “service,” looked at in the light of past experience, was a word of meaning so large with respect to them, is it not incumbent on us to do all we can for ourselves to fill the great terms of the Christian dispensation with the fulness of their meaning? Faithatonementthe blood of Christregenerationloveholinessheaven: let these words represent to our minds an ever-growing, a devout and correct experience of the great body of the truth as it is in Jesus.Y.

Exo 3:13-17

The second difficulty: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-what is his name?

Moses feels that when he goes among his brethren, one of their first questions will be as to the name of this God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Consider

I. HOW IT WAS THAT THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH A QUESTION WAS SUGGESTED TO HIS MIND. All the deities of the other nations had names, and doubtless the gods of Egypt were well known by name to the Israelites. Part of the glory of each nation came from the fact that it was under the protection and favour of so renowned a being as its God. The feeling of Moses in asking this question may be illustrated from the clamour of the Ephesian mob against Paul. The Ephesians felt that it was a great deal to be able to say that Diana had a special interest in them. And so it seemed to Moses a reversal of the proper order of things to go to his brethren with no more indication of the Being who had sent him, than that he had been historically connected with Abraham, IsaActs and Jacob. Moses could not believe that his own people would rest contented with such a representation as this; indeed, we may very reasonably go further, and assume that he himself was anxious to know the name of this unnamed God. He was not yet filled with the light and power of the pure monotheistic conception. Certainly he had just felt what real might there was with the God of his fathers, and probably there was no shadow of doubt in his mind that this God was powerful far beyond any of the rest; but he had yet to learn that he was God alone, and that all other deities, however imposing, were nothing more than the fictions of degraded and wayward imagination. When we bear in mind that Moses was only at the beginning of his personal acquaintance with God, then we shall see that there was nothing wonderful or unreasonable, from the point of his attainments at the time, in asking such a question. Observe also that the very question is a revelation of how ignorant the Israelites were of God. How clear the proof is that the thought of God, as Jehovah, came down from above, and did not rise out of the corrupted hearts of men. When we have much to do with persons, it is a matter of necessity to have names for them, and if they give us none, we must make them for ourselves. But the Israelites had no transactions with God, save as he came down and pressed his presence upon them; and even then all that they could see was such power as became manifest to the senses. It is very certain that if God had not revealed this name, there was no faculty among the Israelites to invent it.

II. THE GIVING OF THE NAME. We must bear in mind the purpose for which the name was given. The question at once suggests itselfWould God have given this name, if he had not been asked? To this perhaps the best answer is that the difficulty out of which the question rose was sure to be felt, even if the question itself was not asked. Some name of the kind assuredly became needed for distinguishing purposes. It was a name as helpful to the people of idolatrous nations as to Israel itself. An Egyptian or a Philistine could say, “The Hebrews call their God Jehovah.” What the Israelite understood by the name in itself, is, we may fairly say, a point impossible to settle. The wisdom of God is certainly evident in giving a name which, while it so well served a temporary purpose, remains still to suggest matters which no lapse of time can ever render indifferent. It is vain to discuss the form of the expression, with the aim of tying it down to mean some particular aspect of the Divine nature, to the exclusion of others. Far better is it for Christians to take itand thus, surely, devout Israelites would take itas suggesting all that it is fitted to suggest. There is the name; some will put into it more, and some less, but no one can pretend that he has filled it with the fulness of its import. It would be very helpful for the Israelites always to bear in mind the occurrence of the first person in this great distinguishing name. The God of Abraham, IsaActs and Jacob, is one who can say “I.” He is not represented by some dumb idol, voiceless save through the traditions of those who worship it. He who says “I am” thus registers in Holy Writ an expression which will have meaning and suggestiveness in every language under heaven. What an intimation is given to us of the permanent value of the expression when we come upon it so suddenly in the discussion between Jesus and the Jews! They had spoken haughtily concerning great names in the pastthe dead Abraham and the dead prophets; when straightway, as by the breath of his mouth, Jesus shrivels up the glories of all mere mundane history by his declaration, “Before Abraham was, I am.” (Joh 8:58.) Abraham and all the rest of us have come into existence. But Jesus is one who, even here below, with the knowledge of what happened at Bethlehem, has that in him whereby he can say, “I am.”

III. THE GIVING OF THIS NAME MADE IT NEEDFUL TO REITERATE AND EMPHASISE THE NAME ALREADY GIVEN. There is nothing to indicate that the name for which Moses asked was to be mentioned to the Israelites unless they applied for it. The real necessity and value of it belonged to the future rather than the present. The name already given was the name of urgent importance for the present need. It could not for a moment sink into the background even before the name “I am.” The one thing needful for Israel, at this time, was to get them into the past, and to bring before their minds with all possible freshness and impressiveness, the actions, the purposes and the claims of the God who had dealt with Abraham, IsaActs and Jacob. Of what avail is it to know that there is an eternal immutable God, unless we, in our mutability, in our melancholy experiences of time, are brought into helpful connection with him? We may ponder over the name Jehovah without coming to any knowledge of the God of Abraham, IsaActs and Jacob; but if we only begin by a devout consideration of the narrative concerning these men, then assuredly we shall come at last to a profitable and comforting knowledge of God. There are many good purposes to be served by studying the differences between created and uncreated existence, and by making ourselves acquainted with those subtle speculations concerning the Divine nature which have fascinated and too often tantalised the greatest intellects among men; and yet all these are as nothing unless from our acquaintance with them we advance, still searching and seeking, to a personal knowledge of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is well to have our minds lifted up to lofty conceptions; it is better still, coming to the Father through Christ, to have our hearts nourished, gladdened and consoled.Y.

Exo 3:18-22

The coming liberation: God indicates the method of it.

In this conversation between God and Moses, recorded in chaps, 3. and 4; we observe that God is occupied with something more than simply answering the questions of Moses. Answering these questions, he then goes on to give his own instructions besides. God’s instructions to us, for right service, do not depend on our questions. These must be answered, that stumblingblocks may be taken out of the way; but when they are removed, then we must wait and listen, to find out the exact path according to the Divine will. Thus in the passage before us, God indicates to Moses the really critical part of the great enterprise. The questions of Moses show that it is in Israel, in himself and in his brethren, that Moses looks for the great difficulties. But now God would point out to him that the real struggle is to be in breaking down the proud, despotic resolution of Pharaoh. There was no occasion for Moses to doubt the concurrence of his own people. Nothing very taxing or trying is yet asked from them. “They shall hearken to thy voice.” But, when they had hearkened, Moses had to go from them to a man who would not hearken, either to him or to God who had sent him. Observe

I. THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPROACHING PHARAOH. Moses was not left to approach Pharaoh in any way that might seem best to himself. God ordered who the suppliants were to be, and what the exact petition they were to present.

1. The suppliants. They are Moses and the elders of Israel. There is a due, general and dignified representation of the whole people. Moses is to go, not only as the messenger of God, but undeniably as the spokesman of his enslaved brethren. God assures him that he will win the companionship and support of the older and experienced men among them. It is not to be some hot, rebellious crowd of youths that will seek to break in upon Pharaoh. A representative body, most if not all of them well up in years, and headed by a man of fourscore, are to approach him in a dignified way, respectful to him and respectful to themselves. Those who are the advocates of a righteous cause must not spoil or dishonour it by a rash, provocative and boisterous line of conduct. Pharaoh is to be made conscious that he is dealing with those who have every right and competency to speak. If he meets them in an angry, unyielding spirit, he will be left with no chance of finding excuse for himself in the spirit in which he has been approached.

2. The petition. The petitioners are to ask for only a small part of what is really required. The request has been called by some a deceptive one. It is wonderful how quick the worldly mind is, being so full of trickery and deceit itself, to find out deceit in God. If this had been purely the request of Israel, then it would have been deceitful, but it was emphatically God’s request, and it served more purposes than one. In the first place, the character of the boon desired indicated to Israel, and especially to these responsible men the elders, what God was expecting from them. He who had told Moses, in direct terms, concerning the service in “this mountain” (Exo 3:12), was now intimating to them, indirectly, but not less forcibly, something of the same kind. God has more ways than one of setting our duties before us. Secondly, the request was a very searching test of Pharaoh himself. It was a test with regard to the spirit and reality of his own religion. If to him religion was a real necessity, a real source of strength, then there was an appeal to whatever might be noble and generous in his heart not to shut out the Hebrews from such blessings as were to be procured in worshipping Jehovah their God, and the request searched Pharaoh’s heart in many ways besides. God well knew beforehand what the result would be, and he chose such an introductory message as would most completely serve his own purposes. These threatened wonders were to start from plain reasons of necessity. We must constantly bear in mind the comprehensiveness of the Divine plans, the certainty with which God discerns beforehand the conduct of men. If we keep this truth before us we shall not be deceived by the shallow talk of would-be ethical purists concerning the deceptions found in Scripture. We must not argue from ourselves, wandering in a labyrinth of contingencies, to a God who is above them all.

II. GOD NOW SEEKS TO MAKE CLEAR TO MOSES THAT WHAT PHARAOH EMPHATICALLY REFUSES TO GRANT AT FIRST, HE WILL BE COMPELLED TO GRANT AT LAST. Thus God makes luminous another important point in the future. That future now stretches before Moses, like a road in the dark, with lamps fixed at certain intervals. Between the lamps there may be much darkness, but they are sufficient to indicate the direction of the path. God had lighted one lamp to assure Moses of a favourable reception by his own people; another to show the kind of treatment which would have to be adopted towards Pharaoh; a third to show the complete success of this treatment; and a fourth shining all the way from Sinai, to make plain that in due course Moses and his liberated brethren would arrive there. God was quickly adding one thing after another, to increase and assure the faith of his servant, and make him calm, courageous, and self-possessed in the prosecution of a momentous enterprise. Only let Moses be faithful in certain matters that are comparatively little, such as making a prompt return to Egypt, and then delivering his messages, first of all to Israel and afterwards to Pharaoh; and God will take care of all the rest. At the beginning Pharaoh will thunder forth a decided and apparently decisive “No!”but in spite of all his present resolution, the end will see Israel hurried out of the land by a nation smitten with universal bereavement and terror. And, to make this point clearer still, God gives to Israel the marvellous assurance that Egypt will rush from the one extreme of pitiless extortion to the other of lavish generosity. God would secure to Israel much of its own again, even in the secondary matter of external possessions. The Egyptian wealth that had been gained by oppressing the people would be largely disgorged. They were not to go out as impoverished fugitives, but as bearing the rich spoils of God’s own great battle. Thus does God invite his servant to bear in mind this mighty compelling force. Pharaoh is great and rich and strong, but God is about to do things in the midst of his land which will force him to confess that there is One far greater and far stronger than himself.Y.

HOMILIES BY G. A. GOODHART

Exo 3:1-6

Forty years since, Moses (Exo 2:11) had “turned aside” from court life in Egypt to see how his brethren the children of Israel fared amid the furnace of trial. The old life seems like a dream, so long ago; the old lance (Exo 4:10) grown unfamiliar. The annual routine; flocks to be driven to distant-pasturage at the approach of summer. God’s hour at hand just when least expected.

I. THE PROPHETIC VISION. When God calls to the prophetic office, there is usually some vision or appearance, through which the call is emphasised and its significance suggested. Cf. Isa 6:1-7; Jer 1:11-13; Eze 1:4; Mat 3:16 to Mat 4:11; Act 9:3-6. So here:

1. The vision. A dry acacia bush on fire, not very singular. What is singular is that the bush seems to flourish amidst the flame! The mystery explained, Act 9:2,Act 9:4. The bush is in the midst of the flame, but the angel of Jehovah is in the midst of the hush.

2. Its significance. Israel “a root out of a dry ground.” In the furnace of affliction, yet flourishing amid the furnace (cf. Exo 1:12). When Moses had “turned aside to see” forty years before, he had supposed that his brethren would have recognised in him their deliverer; had not sufficiently recognised himself that it was God’s angel in their midst who was really preserving them. Trouble, sorrow, persecution may consume and practically annihilate; whole peoples have been killed off and left hardly a trace in history. Though “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” yet there is no specially conservative power in suffering; it is only when God is with men that they can “walk through the fire and yet not be burned” (cf. Isa 43:2).

II. THE DIVINE REVELATION.

1. Preliminary condition: Act 9:4. “Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see.”

(1) Revelations are not for the unobservant. God will give us eye-guidance if we will have it (Psa 32:8), but we must be alert to catch his glance.

(2) Revelations are not for the cowardly; where one turned aside to see, nine might have turned aside in sheer terror to escape seeing. He that would hear God’s voice must fight with and overcome his fears, otherwise he is likely to be classed with the unbelieving and the abominable (Rev 21:7, Rev 21:8).

2. The call heard and answered. To the man ready to receive it the call comes. God is going to reread his own name to Moses, but calls Moses first by his name. The conviction that God knows us is the best preparation for learning more about him. Moses is on the alert; eager to listen, ready to obey.

3. Reverence secured: Act 9:5. Interviews with God need preparation. Even when God calls, man cannot hear his voice aright save in the hush of utter reverence. To attain this for those who are in the body, material aids must not be despised; so long as men possess senses there must be a sensuous form for even the most spiritual worship.

4. God declares himself: Act 9:6. Cf. Mat 22:32. God in the midst of the nation, as in the midst of the bush, was preserving it in its entirety. Not like a bundle of green twigs, the relics of a perished stem. Stem and twigs, the ancestral stock no less than the offspring, all alike preservedkept by him who can say, “I am their God.” Application:Has God ever declared himself to us? If not, whose the fault? Have we been on the outlook to catch his signs? Have we used due reverence in listening for his voice?Have we been ready to obey even the lightest indication of his will? Attention, reverence, obedienceall needed if we would hear God speak. We must be as Moses wasself stifled, the world silenced, a-hush to hear the Divine voice.G.

HOMILIES BY H. T. ROBJOHNS

Exo 3:1-10

The Burning Bush.

“Behold the bush,” etc. Exo 3:2. A very astonishing event; yet amply evidenced to us by those voluminous arguments which now more than ever establish the authenticity of Exodus; but in addition to this, we have here the special endorsement of the Truth Incarnate. See Mar 12:26. [Examine this passage critically, and consider how full and valid the endorsement is! No mere acceptance of received legend.]

I. THE TIME. A solemn undertone in Mar 12:1. A great soul wandering under the starlight of a partial revelation.

1. In the life of the Church. A time of trial; Israel like leaves in autumn, like the foam of the sea, and that for long. Of deepening trial, see Exo 1:1-22. Deliverance apparently impossible. The government of the new Pharaoh now firm and strong. For evidence of depression see Exo 6:9.

2. In the life of Moses. Eighty years of age. Act 7:23, Act 7:30. Yet hardly any history of the man. In fact we have no continuous history. Died at 120. First forty years? Blank. So with second and third. A history of four crises! Birth; decision; entrance on service; death.

Learn:

(1) Crises in all lives. Divergent roads] Crises fix what we are to be and do. Illustrate from life. Watch for them. Pass them on your knees. “Hold up my goings,” etc.

(2) God determines them. This came on Moses unexpectedly. Where? On the line of common duty. “He led the flock,” etc. “So, rest in the Lord,” etc.

(3) Leave life to God.

II. THE SCENE. The following should be carefully observed, with the view of vivifying and realising this story of Divine manifestation. The scene was laid

1. In the desert. See Stanley’s ‘Sinai and Palestine,’ pp. 12-14, for the general characteristics of the desert.

2. In the Midian section of the desert. For exact definition of this, see “Midian,” in Smith’s ‘Bibl. Dict.’ 356a.

3. In the Horeb range. Horeb designates the range of mountains about Sinai; Sinai the solitary grandeur of Jebel Mdsa. ‘Desert of the Exodus,’ p. 118.

4. At Sinai. Probably in Er Rahah, the wide wady north of Sinai, with the mighty pile of Ras Sufsafeh towering on the south.

5. Generallyamid mountains: where oft, as on the sea at night, God seems so near. His face towards the sun, Sinai in grand altitude of shade before him, Moses saw the brightness and heard the word of the Loges, the manifested God.

III. THE VISION. Observe here two elements:

1. The subjective. Moses’ state of mind. This would be determined by the known circumstances of Israel, and by his own: he was away from his people, seemingly out of the covenant, the Divine promise forgotten.

2. The objective. A lowly plant; not a tree. Fire. No consuming; no smoke, no ashes, no waste. In the Fire (Act 7:4) the Angel-God of the Old Testament. Symbol of the Church of all time. Isa 43:2, Isa 43:3.

IV. THE FIRST EFFECT. Intellectual curiosity. “I will now why the bush,” etc. This attention was better than indifference, but was probably nothing more than an intelligent curiosity. Still, this was not enough.

V. THE CHECK: Isa 43:4, Isa 43:5. The attitude of the mind should be that of reverent attention, face to face with Divine manifestations. “The word of the Lord always went along with the glory of the Lord, for every Divine vision was designed for Divine revelation.” This the more necessary because over every revelation there is a veil. Hab 3:4. Distance becomes us. “Draw not nigh hither]” So in Science, Psychology, History, the revelation of the Christ. The aim not to satisfy the curiosity, but to enlighten and empower the conscience, and direct the life.

VI. THE DRAWING into covenantal relations, notwithstanding the momentary check. This by making known

1. The Divine Name: Hab 3:6. The God of thy father; of the immortal dead too; therefore thy God. The effect of this tender revelation: “Moses hid his face,” etc.

2. The Divine sympathy. “I know.” Sense of the Divine Omniscience alone is an awful pressure from above on the soul; but there is a restoration to equilibrium, by a pressure from beneath supporting, i.e. by a sense of Divine sympathy”their sorrows.” See Maurice, ‘Patriarchs and Lawgivers,’ p. 162.

3. A Divine salvation. “I am come down to deliver.”

4. Possibility of Divine service. “Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh:” Hab 3:10.R.

Exo 3:13-15

The proper Name of God.

“This is my name for ever,” etc.(Exo 3:15.) This incident of the burning bush teems with subjects susceptible of homiletic treatment. We name a few of the more important, which we ourselves do not linger to treat.

1. THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF THE CHURCH Exo 3:2.

2. THE DOCTRINE OF THE ANGEL–GOD. Note in Exo 3:2-4 that “The Angel of Jehovah,” “Jehovah,” and “God,” are one and the same.

3. THE RESTRICTION OF JUDAISM CONTRASTED WITH THE FREEDOM OF THE GOSPEL: Exo 3:5. For valuable hints on this, see ‘Moses the Lawgiver,’ by Dr. Taylor of New York, pp. 46, 47.

4. THE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: Exo 3:6, comp. with Mat 22:31, Mat 22:32.

5. SHRINKING AT THE DIVINE CALL. The reluctance of Moses; his four reasonsincompetence, Mat 22:11; ignorance of the proper name of God, Mat 22:13; incredulity of the people, Exo 4:1; want of speaking power, Exo 4:10and how they were severally overcome.

6. OUR LIFE WORKPreparation for it and possible late discovery of it: Exo 4:10. It is in connection with the second disability of Moses that the Deity gives his proper name. Note, that whilst Elohim and other names are generic, this name “Jahveh,” or more commonly “Jehovah.” is the distinctive proper name of God. See Isa 42:8, in Hebrews As a foundation it will be needful to exhibit, in a popular way, the connection between the Hebrew form for “I am” and “Jehovah.” See exegesis of verses 14, 15 above, and also the valuable Dissertation on the Divine Name, by Russell Martineau, M.A; in Ewald’s ‘History of Israel,’ Eng. ed. vol. 2.433. The writer of the hymn, “The God of Abraham praise!” speaking of “Jehovah, great I Am,” showed that he had perceived the etymological relation. The fundamental idea in the name is that of “Being,” but around that idea plays many a prismatic light, something of which will now be exhibited. There are associated with “I am,” “I am what I am,” “Jahveh,” the following ideas:

I. EXISTENCE. How calm and solemn is this Divine affirmation in the silence of the desert, as in it God protests against being confounded with

1. Idols. Material or intellectual. Over against the teaching of the atheist positivist, pantheist agnostic, polytheist, God places his “I am.“

2. Mere phenomena. Who can separate always surely in nature between reality and appearance; or within the realm of mind, between certainty and illusion or delusion? But behind all phenomena is the ExistenceGod.

II. ETERNITY. The Existence is absolute, without any limit of time; so much so, that many are anxious to translate “Jahveh,” or “Jehovah,” everywhere by “The Eternal” See same idea of God in Rev 1:4-8. In opening out the eternity and consequent immutability of God, we expound it, not metaphysically, but experimentally, that is, in relation to the actual experience of men, who need beyond everything the assurance of an unchanging Saviour and Father to trust, and love, and serve”the same yesterday, to-day,” etc.

III. CAUSATIVE ENERGY. “Jahveh,” or “Jehovah,” is from Hiphil, the causative form of the verb. Carries, then, in itself, not only the meaning “To be,” but “To cause to be.” The idea is not however merely, having once for all caused existence, but that of constantly creating. Note this mighty causative force operating

1. In nature, which is the momentary work of the ever-present God.

2. In creating a people for his praise, as now about to do in the desert of Sinai.

IV. PERSONALITY. The transcendently sublime egoism, “I am!” It is not necessary that we should be able to answer the question, What is a person? to know what personality is, or to be sure that there is personality in God. On this point see Wace’s Boyle Lectures on “Christianity and Morality,” p. 62, and, indeed, the whole of lecture

4. on “The Personality of God.” “The question of immediate practical importance is, not what God’s nature is, but how we may feel towards him, and how we may suppose him to feel towards us. The simple and perfectly intelligible answer given to these questions by the Jews was, that they could feel towards God in a manner similar to that in which they felt towards other beings whom they considered persons, and that he felt similarly towards them.” Our true knowledge of personality is quite independent of our ability to define it in words. This meeting of the personality in Moses with the personality in God constituted for Moses a crisis in his history. So is it everthe confronting of my spirit by the Spirit of God is the supreme moment of existence.

V. FIDELITY. The words in Rev 1:14 may be read: “I shall be what I shall be.” From future to future the same; not like the gods of the heathen, fitful, capricious. What God was to the fathers, that he will be to children’s children; not a promise broken or a purpose unfulfilled.

VI. COVENANTAL GRACE. Evidence that “Jahveh,” or “Jehovah,” is the covenantal name of God is accumulated in abundance in Smith’s ‘Bib. Dict.’ under word “Jehovah,” (sect. 5.) p. 957. To the many striking illustrations there, add, that Jesus is equivalent to JoshuaJehovah that saves.

VII. MYSTERY. God we may apprehend, never comprehend; touch, as with the finger, never grasp or embrace. “I am what I am.” Job 11:7-9; Psa 77:19; Hab 3:4.R.

Observe generally on the name:

1. It was then new: Exo 6:3. Not absolutely new, but practically so.

2. It became sacred. The Jew never pronounced it. This savoured of superstition, and its ill effect is to be seen in the suppression of the name Jehovah, even in our English Bibles, and in the substitution for it of LORD in small capitals. We will enter into their reverence without showing their superstition. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.”

3. The name is a root-designation in the revelation of God. Assumed universally in Judaism and Christianity, see Maurice’s ‘Patriarchs and Lawgivers,’ pp. 165, 166.

4. The name sets forth objective truth. “This is my name for ever.” It is the sign-manual of the Almighty across nature, in providence, on the cross. The name gives us a true idea of the Deity.

5. The name should be subjectively cherished. “This is my memorial to all generations,” God’s forget-me-not in the believer’s heart. The name by which he would be remembered.R.

HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART

Exo 3:3-10

I. How MOSES MET WITH GOD.

1. The marvel was marked and considered. He might simply have glanced at it and passed on; but he observed it till the wonder of it possessed his soul. There are marvels that proclaim God’s presence in the earth today. Creation, the Bible, Christ’s saving work. The first step towards conviction is to consider them.

2. “He turned aside to see.” It was a matter to be inquired into and probed to the bottom.

3. God meets the earnest, sincere spirit: “When the Lord saw,” etc; “God called unto him.” The eunuch reading in his chariot, and Philip, etc. We cannot turn aside to consider these things with a sincere desire for light, and not meet at last with him who is Light. To all true seekers God will reveal himself.

II. WHAT FITS FOR GOD‘S SERVICE.

1. We must rise from a mere seeking after God to the knowledge that we are known of God: his heart was thrilled by the cry, “Moses! Moses!” The cry proclaimed not only that God knew him, but that he was his God. The ‘Lord claimed him in that cry as his servant, his son. Have we heard it? If not, we do not know God as the living God, as our God, and how can we serve him?

2. The sense of God’s holiness and majesty, hallowing all things for us (Exo 3:5). The depth of our trust and our love may be measured by the depth of our adoration.

3. The vivid realisation of what God has done in the past (Exo 3:6). That is God’s revelation of himself. The story of the past must yield strength to the present.

4. The assurance that God’s purpose of redemption is behind our efforts: that we speak and labour because he has surely risen to redeem (Exo 3:7-10).U.

Exo 3:11-17

Hindrances to service and how God removes them.

1. THE HINDRANCE FOUND IN THE SENSE OF OUR OWN WEAKNESS (Exo 3:11, Exo 3:12).

1. Moses knew the pomp and pride of the Egyptian court. He remembered how Israel had rejected him when he was more than he was now. Once he had believed himself able for the task, but he was wiser now: “Who am I?” etc. He might serve God in the lowly place he held, but not there. Moses in this the type of multitudes. God’s call for service is met on every hand by the cry, “Who am I that I should go?”

2. How God meets this sense of weakness.

(1) By the assurance of his presence. It was not Moses only that should go, but God also. The conviction that he is with us, and that we speak for him, makes the meekest bold, the weakest strong.

(2) By the assurance of success: “Ye shall serve God upon this mountain.“ He is armed with faith and hope. From self let us look to God and his pledged word.

II. THE HINDRANCE FOUND IN THE SENSE OF OUR IGNORANCE (Exo 3:13-17).

1. His own thought of God was dim. How then could he carry conviction to the hearts of the people? The same lack of clear, living thought of God keeps tongues tied to-day.

2. How it may be removed.

(1) God is THE UNCHANGING ONE. He had revealed himself to their fathers: he was all this still. It was his memorial for ever. Grasping this thought, all the past is God’s revelation.

(2) He takes with him a gospel for present need (Exo 3:16, Exo 3:17), and these two things will be God’s full revelation. We must make men apprehend the revelation which God has given of himself in the past, and proclaim him as the God of to-day. “I have surely visited you, and I will bring you up out of the affliction.”U.

Exo 3:18-22

I. THE REMOVAL OF MOSES‘ FEAR. His mission will be successful.

1. He will win the people’s trust for God. They will not refuse to hear.

2. Their elders will accompany him into Pharaoh’s presence: his request will become the people’s.

3. The Lord will lead them out laden with the spoils of Egypt. Going on God’s errand there is no possibility of failure. The fears which rise as we measure the greatness of the task and our own strength vanish when we look up into the face of God.

II. OPPOSITION WILL BE MET WITH, BUT IT WILL ONLY HEIGHTEN GOD‘S TRIUMPH. “I am sure that the King of Egypt will not let you go and I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders.”

1. We are not to expect that we shall sail over an unruffled sea, and that labour for Christ will be a continuously triumphal progress. “In the world ye shall have tribulation.”

2. It is the occasion of the revealing of God’s mighty power. Trial is God’s school for deepening and purifying trust in himself. The triumph of Christianity in the first ages a consecration of the Church and a proof to the world of the Divine origin of our faith.

III. THE PLAN GOD FOLLOWS IN EFFECTING HIS PEOPLE‘S DELIVERANCE.

1. A small demand is made: permission to go three days’ journey into the wilderness. Great promises are given to the Church, but it does not now demand that the silver and the gold should be yielded for the service of God, and that the mighty should come down from their thrones and give them to his saints. It asks only for liberty to serve God and to declare his will.

2. The world’s refusal brings down God’s judgments; and then comes the glory and the enrichment of the sons of God.U

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Exo 3:1. Jethro his father-in-law, &c. See note on ch. Exo 2:18. What we render, the back-side of the desert, the Vulgate has the inner parts of the desert; where, probably, there was the best pasture: and so the Chaldee renders it, the best pastures of the desert. Horeb might be called the mountain of GOD, either from God’s appearance there now, or because of his giving the law from it afterwards. Some suppose that it is so called, from its great height; as, Psa 36:6 the great mountains are called in the original, the mountains of God. Josephus has preserved a tradition, that it was given out in the times before Moses, that a Divinity had often appeared on this mount. Horeb and Sinai were two tops of the same mountain; which accounts for their being so frequently named the one for the other; as, Act 7:30. St. Stephen calls that Sinai, which Moses here calls Horeb. Some suppose, that Moses, during his forty years’ continuance with Jethro, wrote the book of Genesis, as well as that of Job.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

C.The call of Moses. His refusal and obedience. His association with Aaron and their first mission to the people of Israel

Exodus 3, 4

1Now Moses kept [was pasturing] the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back side of [behind] the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a [the] bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3And Moses said, I will now turn aside [Let me turn aside] and see this great sight, why the bush Isaiah 4 not burnt. And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I. 5And he said, Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off [from] thy feet, 6for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover [And] he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of 7Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And Jehovah said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which [who] are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of1 their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the 9Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10Come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth [and bring thou forth] my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, 11And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12And he said, Certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a [the] token unto thee that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought [bringest] forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 13And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? 14And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. 15And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, God [the God] of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations [lit. to generation16 of generation]. Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, Jehovah, God [the God] of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob hath appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited [looked upon] you, and seen that [and that] which is done to you in Egypt. 17And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. 18And they shall [will] hearken to thy voice; and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, Jehovah, God [the God] of the Hebrews, hath met2 with us, and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God. 19And I am sure [know] that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no [even] not3 by a mighty hand. 20And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in he midst thereof; and after that he will let you go. 21And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall come to pass that, when ye go, ye shall not 22go empty. But [And] every woman shall borrow [ask] of her neighbor and of her that sojourneth in her house jewels [articles] of silver and jewels [articles] of gold and raiment [garments]; and ye shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[Exo 3:7. may be rendered more literally from before, the people being represented as followed up in their work by the taskmasters.Tr.].

[Exo 3:18. is taken by Rosenmller, after same of the older versions, as = vocatur super nos. But, as Winer remarks, ita tamen intolerabilis tautologia inest in verbis . The LXX. translate which makes better sense, but is grammatically still more inadmissible, as is thus made = .Tr.].

[Exo 3:19. is rendered by the LXX., Vulg., Luther, and others, unless. But this is incorrect. The more obvious translation may indeed seem to be inconsistent with the statement in the next verse, after that he will let you go. But the difficulty is not serious. We need only to supply in thought at first in this verse.Tr.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Exo 3:1. Jethros residence therefore was separated from Horeb by a wilderness, and is to be sought not north-east, but south-east of it. For only by this assumption can we easily account for the two-fold fact that (1) Moses, in his return from Midian to Egypt, again touches Horeb, where Aaron, coming from Egypt, meets him (Exo 4:27), and that (2) the Israelites, in their journey through the wilderness, nowhere come upon Midianites, and in leaving Sinai the ways of Israel and of the Midianite Hobab separate (Keil). Horeb here is used in the wider sense, embracing the whole range, including Sinai, so that the two names are often identical, although Horeb, strictly so called, lay further north.Mountain of God.According to Knobel, it was a sacred place even before the call of Moses; according to Keil, not till afterwards, and is here named according to its later importance. But there must have been something which led the shepherd Moses to drive his flock so far as to this mountain, and afterwards to select Sinai as the place from which to give the law. The more general ground for the special regard in which this majestic mountain-range is held is without doubt the reverence felt for the mountains of God in general. The word might be taken as = pasture, and the passage understood to mean that Moses, in profound meditation, forgetting himself as shepherd, drove the flock far out beyond the ordinary pasture-ground. Yet Rosenmller observes: On this highest region of the peninsula are to be found the most fruitful valleys, in which also fruit trees grow. Water in abundance is found in this district, and therefore it is the refuge of all the Bedouins, when the lower regions are dried up. Tradition fixes upon the Monastery of Sinai as the place of the thorn-bush and the calling of Moses.

Exo 3:2. The Angel of Jehovah.According to Exo 3:4, it is Jehovah Himself, or even God Himself, Elohim.9The Bush.Representing the poor Israelites in their low estate in contrast with the people that resemble lofty trees, Jdg 9:15. According to Kurtz, the flame of fire is a symbol of the holiness of God; according to Keil, who observes that Gods holiness is denoted by light (e.g. Isa 10:17), the fire is rather, in its capacity of burning and consuming, a symbol of purifying affliction and annihilating punishment, or of the chastening and punitive justice of God. But this is certainly not the signification of the sacrificial fire on the altar of burnt-offering, the holy fire, or of the fiery chariot of Elijah, or of the tongues of fire over the heads of the apostles on the day of Pentecost. Fire, as an emblem of the divine life, of the life which through death destroys death, of Gods jealous love and authority, has two opposite sides: it is a fire of the jealous love which visits, brings home, purifies, and rejuvenates, as well as a fire of consuming wrath and judgment. This double signification of fire manifests itself especially also in the northern mythology. That light has the priority over fire, Keil justly observes. While then the fire here may symbolize the Egyptian affliction in which Israel is burning, yet the presence of Jehovah in the fire signifies not something contrasted with it, meaning that he controls the fire, so that it purifies, without consuming, the Israelites; but rather the fire represents Jehovah himself in His government, and so the oppression of the Egyptians is lifted up into the light of the divine government. This holds also prophetically of all the future afflictions of the theocracy and of the Christian Church itself. The Church of God is to appear at the end of the world as the last burning thorn-bush which yet is not consumed.

The is (Deu 4:24) in the midst of Israel (Deu 6:15). Keil.

Exo 3:3-5. Turn aside.Comp. Gen 19:2.Moses, Moses.Comp. Gen 22:11. An expression of the most earnest warning and of the deepest sense of the sacredness and danger of the moment. The address involves a two-fold element. First, Moses must not approach any nearer to Jehovah; and, secondly, he must regard the place itself on which he is standing as holy ground, on which he must not stand in his dusty shoes. The putting off of the shoes must in general have the same character as the washing of the feet, and is therefore not only a general expression of reverence for the sacred place and for the presence of God, like the taking off of the hat with us, but also a reminder of the moral dust which through ones walk in life clings to the shoes or feet, i.e. of the venial sins on account of which one must humble himself in the sacred moment. On the custom of taking off the shoes in the East upon entering pagodas, mosques, etc., see Keil, p. 439.

Exo 3:6. Of thy father.The singular doubtless comprehends the three patriarchs as first existing in Abraham.10 Moses, in his religion of the second revelation, everywhere refers to the first revelation, which begins with Abraham; and thus the name of Jehovah first acquires its new specific meaning. The revelation of the law presupposes the revelation of promise (Romans 4; Galatians 3).And Moses covered his face.In addition to the two commands: draw not nigh, put off thy shoes, comes this act, as a voluntary expression of the heart. Vid. 1Ki 19:13. Sinful man cannot endure the sight of the holy God (Keil). Also the eye of sense is overcome by the splendor of the manifestation which is inwardly seen, somewhat as by the splendor of the sun. Vid. Revelation 1.

Exo 3:8. I am come down.Comp. Gen 11:5. A good land, i.e. a fruitful. A large land, i.e. not hemmed in like the Nile Valley. Flowing, i.e. overflowing with milk and honey; rich, therefore, in flowers and flowery pastures. On the fruitfulness of Canaan, comp. the geographical works.Into the place.More particular description of the land. Vid. Gen 10:19; Gen 15:18.

Exo 3:11. And Moses said unto God.He who once would, when as yet he ought not, now will no longer, when he ought. Both faults, the rashness and the subsequent slowness, correspond to each other. Moses has indeed learned humility in the school of Midian [Keil]; but this humility cannot be conceived as without a mixture of dejection, since humility of itself does not stand in the way of a bold faith, but is rather the source of it. After being forty years an unknown shepherd, he has, as he thinks, given up, with his rancor, also his hope. Moreover, he feels, no doubt, otherwise than formerly about the momentous deed which seems to have done his people no good, and himself only mischief, and which in Egypt is probably not forgotten. As in the Egyptian bondage, the old guilt, of Josephs brethren manifested itself even up to the third and fourth generation, so a shadow of that former rashness seems to manifest itself in the embarrassment of his spirit.

Exo 3:12. The promise that God will go with him and give success to his mission is to be sealed by his delivering the Israelites, bringing them to Sinai, and there engaging with them in divine service, i.e., as the expression in its fullness probably means, entering formally into the relation of worshipper of Jehovah. The central point of this worship consisted, it is true, afterwards in the sacrificial offerings, particularly the burnt offering, which sealed the covenant. This first and greatest sign involves all that follow, and is designed for Moses himself; with it God gives his pledge of the successful issue of the whole. It must not be overlooked that this great promise stands in close relation to the great hope which is reviving in his soul.

Exo 3:13. It is very significant, that Moses, first of all, desires, in behalf of his mission, and, we may say, in behalf of his whole future religious system, to know definitely the name of God. The name, God, even in the form of El Shaddai, was too general for the new relation into which the Israelites were to enter, as a people alongside of the other nations which all had their own deities. Though he was the only God, yet it was necessary for him to have a name of specific significance for Israel; and though the name Jehovah was already known by them, still it had not yet its unique significance, as the paternal name of God first acquired its meaning in the New Testament, and the word justification, at the Reformation. Moses, therefore, implies that he can liberate the people only in the name of God; that he must bring to them the religion of their fathers in a new phase. expresses not solely the objective manifestation of the divine essence [Keil], but rather the human apprehension of it. The objective manifestation cannot in itself be desecrated, as the name of God can be.

Exo 3:14. Can it be that means only I am He who I am? that it designates only the absoluteness of God, or God as the Eternal One? We suppose that the two s do not denote an identical form of existence, but the same existence in two different future times. From future to future I will be the samethe same in visiting and delivering the people of God, the faithful covenant-God, and, as such, radically different from the constant variation in the representations of God among the heathen. This his consciousness is the immediate form of his name; transposed to the third person, it is Jehovah. Hence also the expression: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, is equivalent in meaning. When the repetition of this name in Exodus 6 is taken for another account of the same fact, it is overlooked that in that case the point was to get an assurance that the name Jehovah would surpass that of Almighty Godan assurance of which Moses, momentarily discouraged, was just then in need.11

Exo 3:15. My name forever.Forward into all the future, and backward into all the past ().

Exo 3:16-18. Moses is to execute his commission to Pharaoh not only in the name of Jehovah, but also in connection with the elders of Israel, in the name of the people. The expression elders denotes, it is true, primarily the heads of tribes and families, but also a simple, patriarchal, legal organization based upon that system.Now let us go three days journey. The phrase . is diplomatically exactly suited to the situation. Strictly, they have a perfect right to go; but it is conditioned on Pharaohs consent. Knobel says: The delegates, therefore, were to practice deception on the king. This is a rather clumsy judgment of the psychological process. If Pharaoh granted the request, he would be seen to be in a benevolent mood, and they might gradually ask for more. If he denied it, it would be well for them not at once, by an open proposal of emancipation, to have exposed themselves to ruin, and introduced the contest with his hardness of heart, which the guiding thought of Jehovah already foresaw. Moses knew better how to deal with a despot. Accordingly he soon increases his demand, till he demands emancipation, Exo 6:10; Exo 7:16; Exo 8:25; Exo 9:1; Exo 9:13; Exo 10:3. From the outset it must, moreover, have greatly impressed the king, that the people should wish to go out to engage in an act of divine service; still more, that they should, in making their offering, desire to avoid offending the Egyptians, Exo 8:26. But gradually Jehovah, as the legitimate king of the people of Israel, comes out in opposition to the usurper of His rights, Exo 9:1 sq. Moses, to be sure, even during the hardening process, does not let his whole purpose distinctly appear; but he nevertheless gives intimations of it, when, after Pharaoh concedes to them the privilege of making an offering in the country, he stipulates for a three days journey, and, in an obscure additional remark, hints that he then will still wait for Jehovah to give further directions.

Exo 3:19. Even not by a mighty hand.Although God really frees Israel by a mighty hand. Pharaoh does not, even after the ten plagues, permanently submit to Jehovah; therefore he perishes in the Red Sea.

Exo 3:20. Announcement of the miracles by which Jehovah will glorify Himself.

Exo 3:21. Announcement of the terror of the Egyptians, in which they will give to the Israelites, upon a modest request for a loan, the most costly vessels (Keil: jewels). The announcement becomes a command in Exo 11:2 sq. On the ancient misunderstanding of this fact, vid. Keil, p. 445 sq., and the references to Hengstenberg, Kurtz, Reinke; also Commentary on Genesis, p. 29. Egypt had robbed Israel by the unwarranted and unjust exactions imposed upon him; now Israel carries off the prey of Egypt. A prelude of the victory which the people of God will always gain in the contest with the powers of the world. Comp. Zec 14:14 (Keil).12

Footnotes:

[1][Exo 3:7. may be rendered more literally from before, the people being represented as followed up in their work by the taskmasters.Tr.].

[2][Exo 3:18. is taken by Rosenmller, after same of the older versions, as = vocatur super nos. But, as Winer remarks, ita tamen intolerabilis tautologia inest in verbis . The LXX. translate which makes better sense, but is grammatically still more inadmissible, as is thus made = .Tr.].

[3][Exo 3:19. is rendered by the LXX., Vulg., Luther, and others, unless. But this is incorrect. The more obvious translation may indeed seem to be inconsistent with the statement in the next verse, after that he will let you go. But the difficulty is not serious. We need only to supply in thought at first in this verse.Tr.].

[Footnotes 4-8 are incorporated in Exodus 4]

[9][See a full discussion on the Angel of Jehovah in the Commentary on Genesis, p. 386 sqq., where the view is maintained that this Angel is Christ himself. This is perhaps the current opinion among Protestants. But the arguments for it, plausible as they are, are insufficient to establish it. The one fatal objection to it is that the New Testament nowhere endorses it. When we consider how the New Testament writers seem almost to go to an extreme in finding traces of Christ in the Old Testament writings and history, it is marvellous (if the theory in question is correct) that this striking feature of the self-manifestation of God in the Angel of Jehovah should not once have been used in this way. Hengstenberg indeed quotes Joh 12:41, where Isaiah is said to have seen Christ. But the reference is to Isa 6:1, where not the Angel of Jehovah, but Jehovah himself, is said to have been seen. But, what is still more significant, when Stephen (Act 7:30) refers to this very appearance of the angel in the bush, he not only does not insinuate that the angel was Christ, but calls him simply an angel of the Lord. Moreover, just afterwards he quotes Deu 18:15 as Moses prophecy of Christ, showing that he was disposed to find Christ in the Mosaic history. Other objections to the identification of the Angel of Jehovah with Christ might be urged; but they are superfluous, so long as this one remains unanswered.Tr.]

[10][More naturally, Moses own father, or his ancestors in general. So Keil, Knobel, Murphy, Kalisch.Tr.]

[11][Comp. Introduction to Genesis, p. 111 sqq. From so bald a term as He is or He will be (the exact translation of , or rather of ), one can hardly be expected to gather the precise notion intended to be conveyed. We doubt, however, whether, if we are to confine the conception to any one of those which are suggested by the sentence: I am He who I am, we should be right in understanding, with Lange, immutability as the one. This requires the second verb to refer to a different time from the first, for which there is no warrant in the Hebrew. Quite as little ground is there for singling out the notion of eternity as the distinctive one belonging to the name. Self-existence might seem more directly suggested by the phrase; but even this is not expressed unequivocahy. Certainly those are wrong who translate uniformly the Eternal. The word has become strictly a proper name. We might as well (and even with more correctness) always read the supplanter instead of Jacob, and the ewe instead of Rachel.There can be little doubt, we think, that Von Hofmann (Schriftbeweis I., p. 86) has furnished the clue to the true explanation. The comparison of other passages in which there is the same seemingly pleonastic repetition of a verb as in our verse ought to serve as a guide. Especially Exo 33:19 : I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. It is true that Lange attempts to interpret this expression in accordance with his interpretation of the phrase now before us; but he stands in opposition to the other commentators and to the obvious sense of the passage, which evidently expresses the sovereignty of God in the exercise of his compassion. Comp. Exo 4:13; 2Ki 8:1, and perhaps Eze 12:25. By this pleonastic expression, and then by the emphatic single term, He is, is denoted existence ; or rather, since the verb is not used to denote existence in the abstract, so much as to serve as a copula between subject and predicate, the phrase is an elliptical one, and signifies that God is sovereign and absolute in the possesion and manifestation of his attributes. Self-existence, eternity and immutability are implied, but not directly affirmed. Personality is perhaps still more clearly involved as one of the elements. As contrasted with Elohim (whose radical meaning is probably power, and does not necessarily involve personality), it contains in itself (whether we take the form or ), as being a verbal form including a pronominal element, an expression of personality: I amHe is. Jehovah is the living God, the God who reveals Himself to His people, and holds a personal relation to them.Tr.]

[12][The various explanations of this transaction are given by Hengstenberg, Dissertations on the Pentateuch, p. 419 sqq. Briefly they are the following: (1) That God, being the sovereign disposer of all things, had a right thus to transfer the property of the Egyptians to the Israelites. (2) That the Israelites received no more than their just due in taking these articles, in view of the oppressive treatment they had undergone. (3) That, though the Israelites in form asked for a loan, it was understood by the Egyptians as a gift, there being no expectation that the Israelites would return. (4) That the Israelites borrowed with the intention of returning, being ignorant of the Divine plan of removing them from the country so suddenly that a restoration of the borrowed articles to their proper owners would be impossible.These explanations, unsatisfactory as they are, are as good as the case would admit, were the terms borrow and lend, derived from the LXX. and reproduced in almost all the translations, the quivalents of the Hebrew words. But the simple fact is that the Israelites are said to have asked for the things, and the Egyptians to have given them. The circumstances (Exo 12:33 sqq.) also under which the Israelites went away makes it seem every way probable that the Egyptians never expected a restoration of the things bestowed on the Israelites.Tr.].

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

The last account of the Lord’s personal and particular manifestation of himself, which we met with before the one related in this Chapter, was that to the Patriarch Jacob. Gen 46:2-4 . A period of more than two hundred years before. Here we read of the Lord’s appearing to Moses in a flame of fire in a bush. The Lord begins in this method his manifestations to Moses’ calls to him by name out of the midst of the bush: proclaims his own glorious and incommunicable name: declares himself to be the covenant God of Israel: assures him that he hath seen Israel’s sorrow, and heard their groans; that he will deliver his people and bring them up out of Egypt: appoints Moses as their deliverer: prepares him to expect difficulties, but assures him of an happy issue. These are among the principal things contained in this Chapter.

Exo 3:1

Horeb is the same as Sinai. Wherever Jesus manifests himself to his people, this is the mountain of God. And even Sinai leads to Christ. Gal 3:24 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Exo 3:2

It is the office and function of the imagination to renew life in lights and sounds and emotions that are outworn and familiar. It calls the soul back once more under the dead ribs of nature, and makes the meanest bush burn again, as it did to Moses, with the visible presence of God.

J. Russell Lowell.

References. III. 2. A. M. Mackay, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 20. G. F. Browne, ibid. vol. liv. 1898, p. 76. P. McAdam Muir, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 246. E. E. Cleal, ibid. vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 267; see also ibid. vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 44. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, the Books of Exodus, etc., p. 19. R. J. Campbell, Sermons Addressed to Individuals, p. 207. J. M. Neale, Sermons For Some Feast Days in the Christian Year, p. 83; see also Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p. 251. III. 2, 3. J. M. Neale, Sermons For Some Feast Day in the Christian Year, p. 74. A. G. Mortimer, The Church’s Lessons for the Christian Year, Part II. p. 299.

Exo 3:3

It is good to come to the place of God’s presence, howsoever; God may perhaps speak to thy heart, though thou come but for novelty. Even those who have come upon curiosity have been oft taken.

Bishop Hall.

See also Keble’s lines on the Fifth Sunday in Lent.

What we mean by wondering is not only that we are startled or stunned that I should call the merely passive element of wonder…. We wonder at the riddles of nature, whether animate or inanimate, with a firm conviction that there is a solution to them all, even though we ourselves may not be able to find it. Wonder, no doubt, arises from ignorance, but from a peculiar kind of ignorance, from what might be called a fertile ignorance.

Max Mller.

What must sound reason pronounce of a mind which, in the train of a million thoughts, has wandered to all things under the sun, to all the permanent objects or vanishing appearances in the creation, but never fixed its thought on the supreme reality; never approached like Moses ‘to see this great sight’?

John Foster.

Burning But Not Burnt

Exo 3:3

The story of Moses is the story, at first, of failure. Two great streams of influences moulded his life: one drawn from the Egyptian surroundings of his early days, the other from his mother’s teaching. On the one side he had the speechless-eyed deities of Egypt looking for ever into his face; on the other he had his belief in the governing providence of God. He looked to find amongst his own people aspirations after better things, and responsiveness to his own spirit; he met only with coldness, and refusal to follow. Then came his exile in Midian an exile from all his early dreams and hopes, from the position he had in Egypt, from the future which flowed before him.

I. The Vision and its Results. The vision was the revelation that restored him to faith and energy. The revelation was threefold. It was a revelation ( a ) of permanence, ( b ) of purity, ( c ) of personal power.

( a ) A revelation of permanence, for the bush was not consumed; it held its own life amidst the devouring flame.

( b ) A revelation of purity, for before he could enter into the deep meaning of that vision, a Voice had bidden him ‘put his shoes from off his feet, for the place on which he stood was holy’.

( c ) A revelation of personal power and love, for out of the distance, out of the background of the vision, giving it its heart and life, came the voice of Him who proclaimed Himself through all the changes and vicissitudes of the life of Israel as the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.

II. A Vision for all Time. The revelation was not for Moses alone. Note:

( a ) There is in every common bush the light of God, and only those see it who draw off their shoes.

( b ) We forget to turn aside to see the great sights about us.

( c ) If we give our hearts leisure and earnestly seek to meet with God, God will meet with us.

The Negative Side

Exo 3:3

I have broken up the text in this way that we may see more vividly the special point and largest meaning. Many men turn aside to see why things are; here is a man who turns aside to see why things are not. God disturbs our little law of continuity as if we knew anything about continuity! We were born yesterday, and are struggling today, and tomorrow will be forgotten, and we shape our mouths to the utterance of this great word continuity! We spoil ourselves by using long words instead of short ones.

‘I will turn aside, and see why not.’ If you saw a river flowing up a hill, perhaps you would turn aside and see why it does not, like all other rivers, flow downhill. If you saw an eagle build ing its nest in the middle of the Atlantic, perhaps even you and I might be wakened out of our vulgar narrowness and startled by the ministry of surprise. God has a great surprise ministry.

I. I will turn aside, and see why the wicked are not consumed, and I find an answer in the fact that God’s mercy endureth for ever, of His love there is no end, and that men may be in reality better than they themselves suppose. Not what we see in ourselves, but what God sees in us is the real standard of judgment. We are never so near the realization of the great blessing as when we see nothing in ourselves to deserve it.

II. I will turn aside, and see and inquire why the departed ones do not speak to us and tell us about the other and upper side of things. Who shall say that the departed never speak to us? What is speaking? Which is the true ear, the ear of the body or the ear of the soul? What are these unexplained noises? What are these sudden utterances of the summer wind? Who can interpret this gospel of fragrance, this apocalypse of blossom, this mystery of resurrection? Who knows what voices sweep through the soul, and what tender fingers touch the heart-strings of the life? Who is it that whispers things to the heart? Who is it that said, Be brave, take up your work, never stand still till the Master appear? Who is it, was it, how could it be? I will turn aside, and see this great sight, and I will believe that more is spoken to us than the ear of the body can hear.

III. What a rebuke this is as a text to all our little notions about cause and effect! The Lord is always surprising people by unexpected revelations; the Lord is always perplexing the mind by tearing human calculations to rags; again and again through Pentecostal winds there roars this glorious gospel, The Lord reigneth. Personality is greater than law; consciousness is the true continuity; God is the Master, and if He pleases to turn the sun into darkness He will do it, aye, and the moon into blood, and she shall be melted as into a crimson flame.

Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. 1. p. 239.

References. III. 3. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon Sketches, p. 94. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Burning Bush, p. 1.

Exo 3:4

‘I think, sir,’ says Dinah Morris in Adam Bede (ch. VIII.), ‘when God makes His presence felt through us, we are like the burning bush: Moses never took any heed what sort of bush it was he only saw the brightness of the Lord.’

The more the microscope searches out the molecular structure of matter, the thinner does its object become, till we feel as if the veil were not being so much withdrawn as being worn away by the keen scrutiny, or rent in twain, until at last we come to the true Shekinah, and may discern through it, if our shoes are off, the words I AM, burning, but not consumed.

Dr. John Brown on Art and Science.

References. III. 4. S. Wilberforce, Sermons Preached on Various Occasions, p. 37.

Holy Ground

Exo 3:5

The biography of great men is not confined to public events. It relates the incidents which are private, and describes the experiences which are spiritual and account for visible results. Thus it was with Moses; we must be with him in the wilderness in order that we may understand his conduct at the court of Pharaoh and at the head of the host of Israel.

I. True Sanctity Confined to No Place. To Moses the desert was a temple, and the acacia thorn a shrine. A spot before indistinguishable from any other in that waste, where the flocks found their pasture or the wild beast his lair, became henceforth holy in the memory of this servant of the Lord.

II. The Presence of the Lord Imparts True Holiness. It needs not that princes should lavish their wealth, that architects should embody the conceptions of their genius, that priests should celebrate magnificent rites, that psalms should echo and incense float through aisle and dome, in order that a place should become consecrated and sacred to the service of the Eternal. Where God meets with any soul of man, reveals the majesty of His attributes, the righteousness of His law, the tenderness of His love, there is a holy place.

III. A Divinely Consecrated Service. True holiness is not so much in the place as in the heart. A man’s mission in the world is determined by the counsels and commands received by him in solitude and silence. The holy ground of communion from which God’s servants start imparts its holiness to the long path of their pilgrimage, to the varied scenes of their ministry. Moses could never forget the day of Divine fellowship and revelation from which dated his conscious devotion, his holy service to Israel and to God. In how many great men’s lives do we trace this same connexion between holy communion and holy ministry! Work acceptable to God and beneficial to men would not have been achieved had not the power to perform it sprung from the holy point of contact where the Creator and the created meet.

IV. We may Make a Holy Place. There is no spot which may not become the point of contact between the human spirit and the Divine. In the lonely desert or the crowded city, in the peaceful home or the consecrated church, the Divine presence may be realized and the Divine blessing may be obtained. Earth may be filled with holy places and life with holy service.

Exo 3:5

We must not only have our hearts bubbling over with thanksgiving and joy in our Father’s presence; we must also take off our shoes from our feet, because we are on holy ground. There is a danger in the emotions being too much aroused unless the prayer be truly one of real adoration.

Father Dolling in The Pilot (4 May, 1901).

All concentrates; let us not rave; let us sit at home with the cause. Let us strive and astonish the intruding rabble of men and books and institutions, by a simple declaration of the Divine fact. Bid the invaders take the shoes from off their feet, for God is here within. Let our simplicity judge them, and our docility to our own law demonstrate the poverty of nature and fortune beside our native riches.

Emerson on Self-Reliance.

The Call to Reverence

Exo 3:5

God demanded all the outward forms of a rigid reverence as the first step in that fellowship with Himself to which He was about to summon Moses and the nation Moses was destined to lead and to mould.

I. The fact that the name Jehovah is revealed in immediate connexion with this incident seems to warrant us in reading some reference in this symbol to God’s essential and unsustained existence. Self-origination, unwasting spontaneity, self-sufficing, absolute, and eternal life, that can only be known by contrast to the finite life of the creature these are the meanings of the striking object-lesson.

And the vision perhaps indirectly intimates that God’s mysterious love, like His life, was selfderived, inexhaustible, above all outward conditions. The flame of its unearthly beauty was maintained by an infinite spontaneity of its own. It did not depend for its strength or fervour upon the things it clasped in the embrace of its fidelity and tenderness.

The vision, with its solemn lessons, had probably a most vital bearing upon the future character and history of Moses. It was no unimportant step in training him to that spiritual aptitude for seeing the things of God which made him the foremost of the prophets. Do not think of reverence as one of the second-rate sentiments of the soul, to which no great promises are made. This sense of awe was the threshold to those apocalyptic experiences which brought such privilege and enrichment to his after life.

II. When the New Testament is compared with the Old, it may seem to some minds that the grace of reverence has passed more or less into the background. But if we look beneath the surface a little we shall find that the New Testament is just as emphatic in its presentation of this obligation as the Reverence is the comely sheltering sheath within which all the vital New Testament virtues are nurtured. Only the lower orders of plants produce their seeds upon the surface of the leaf without the protection of floral envelopes and seed vessels. The religious faith is of the rudest and most elementary type, and will bear only ignoble fruit, where faith is without this protecting sheath of reverence for its delicate growths.

Faith without reverence is a pyramid resting upon its apex.

There can be no Obedience that is entirely sincere in its qualities without reverence.

There can be no Resignation to the Divine will apart from habitual tempers of reverence and godly fear.

Irreverence implies partial ignorance of God, and where there is partial ignorance of God the possession of eternal life cannot be rich, free, firmly assured.

T. G. Selby, The Lesson of a Dilemma, p. 123.

References. III. 5. W. J. Butler, Sermons for Working Men, the Oxford Sermon Library, vol. ii. p. 190. R. D. B. Rawnsley, Plain Preaching to Poor People, 3rd edition, p. 1. J. Fraser, Parochial and other Sermons, p. 248. C. J. Vaughan, Lessons of Life and Godliness, Sermon viii. III. 5, 6. W. R. Shepherd, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 267. III. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2633. G. S. Barrett, Outlines of Sermons on the Old Testament, p. 25. G. B. Pusey, Selections, p. 207. III. 6, 7, 9-14. J. Clifford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lix. 1901, p. 352. III. 7, 8. R. W. Hiley, A Year’s Sermons, vol. i. p. 165. III. 7, 8, 10, 12. C. Brown, The Birth of a Nation, p. 107.

Exo 3:8

If it please heaven, we shall all yet make our Exodus from Houndsditch, and bid the sordid continents, of once rich apparel now grown poisonous Ole’-Clo’, a mild farewell! Exodus into wider horizons, into God’s daylight once more; where eternal skies, measuring more than three ells, shall again overarch us; and men, immeasurably richer for having dwelt among the Hebrews, shall pursue their human pilgrimage, St. Ignatius and much other saintship, and superstitious terror and lumber, lying safe behind us, like the nightmares of a sleep that is past.

Carlyle, Latter-day Pamphlets, No. viii.

References. III. 9, 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2631.

Exo 3:10

‘Among our aristocracy,’ writes Carlyle in his essay on ‘Corn-law Rhymes,’ ‘there are men, we trust there are many men, who feel that they also are workmen, born to toil, ever in their great Taskmaster’s eye, faithfully with heart and head, for those who with heart and hand do, under the same great Taskmaster, toil for them; who have even this noblest and hardest work set before them; to deliver out of that Egyptian bondage to Wretchedness and Ignorance and Sin, the hardhanded millions.’

There are many persons, doubtless, who feel the wants and miseries of their fellow-men tenderly if not deeply; but this feeling is not of the kind to induce them to exert themselves out of their own small circle. They have little faith in their individual exertions doing aught towards a remedy for any of the great disorders of the world.

Sir Arthur Helps.

In strictness, the vital refinements are the moral and intellectual steps. The appearance of the Hebrew Moses, of the Indian Buddh in Greece, of the Seven Wise Masters, of the acute and upright Socrates, and of the Stoic Zeno, in Judea, the advent of Jesus, and in modern Christendom, of the realists Huss, Savonarola, and Luther, are causal facts which carry forward races to new convictions and elevate the rule of life.

Emerson on Civilization.

‘Come now therefore.’

Great men, like great periods, are explosive materials in which an immense force is accumulated; it is always pre-requisite for such men, historically and physiologically, that for a long period there has been a collecting, a heaping up, an economizing, and a hoarding with respect to them, that for a long time no explosion has taken place.

Nietzsche in The Twilight of the Idols.

References. III. 10. E. L. Hull, Sermons Preached at King’s Lynn (3rd Series), p. 81. III. 10, 11. C. M. Short, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 21. III. 10, 20. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Exodus, etc., p. 26.

Exo 3:11

‘For one thing,’ says Carlyle in his fourth lecture on Heroes, ‘I will remark that this part of Prophet to his Nation was not of his seeking; Knox had lived forty years quietly obscure, before he became conspicuous…. He was with the small body of Reformers who were standing siege in St. Andrews Castle when one day in this chapel, the preacher, after finishing his exhortation to those fighters in the forlorn hope, said suddenly, that there ought to be other speakers, that all men who had a priest’s heart and gift in them ought now to speak; which gifts and heart one of their own number, John Knox the name of him, had…. Poor Knox could say no word; burst into a flood of tears, and ran out. It is worth remembering, that scene. He was in grievous trouble for some days. He felt what a small faculty was his for this great work. He felt what a baptism he was called to be baptized withal.’

At the opening of his Ministry at Collace, Dr. A. A. Bonar notes in his diary: ‘I have been thinking of the case of Moses. He trembled and resisted before being sent, but from the moment that he was chosen we never hear of alarm or fear arising.’

Reference. III. 11-13. G. Hanson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 101.

Exo 3:12

He was not a name, then; not a tradition, not a dream of the past. He lived now as He lived then; He who had been with men in past ages, was actually with him at that hour.

F. D. Maurice.

Compare Knox’s urgent letter from Dieppe to his irresolute Scotch friends, in 1557: ‘The invisible and invincible power of God sustaineth and preserveth according to His promise, all such as with simplicity do obey Him. No less cause have ye to enter in your former enterprise than Moses had to go to the presence of Pharaoh; for your subjects, yea, your brethren are oppressed; their bodies and souls holden in bondage; and God speaketh to your conscience that ye ought to hazard your own lives, be it against kings or emperors, for their deliverance.’

References. III. 12. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Lessons for Daily Life, p. 276. III. 13. R. J. Campbell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 177. J. Parker, Wednesday Evenings at Cavendish Chapel, p. 105. III. 13 14. J. Wordsworth, The One Religion, Bampton Lectures, 1881, p. 33.

Exo 3:14

‘Virtue is the adherence in action to the nature of things,’ says Emerson in his essay on Spiritual Laws, ‘and the nature of things makes it prevalent. It consists in a perpetual substitution of being for seeming, and with sublime propriety God is described as saying I AM.’

‘I have been struck lately,’ wrote Erskine of Linlathen to Maurice, ‘by the communication which God made to Moses at the Burning Bush. “I AM” the personal presence and address of God. No new truth concerning the character of God is given; but Moses had met God Himself, and was then strengthened to meet Pharaoh. There is one immense interval between “He” and “I” between hearing about God and hearing God. What an interval!’ God hath not made a creature that can comprehend Him; it is a privilege of His own nature: ‘I am that I am’ was His own definition to Moses; and it was a short one to confound mortality, that durst question God, or ask Him what He was. Indeed, He only is; all others have and shall be.

Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, pt. i. sec. 2.

References. III. 14, 15. J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 35. Cox, “The Tetragrammaton,” Expositor (2nd Series), i. p. 12. Sherlock, Christian World Pulpit, xx. p. 44. Harris, Christian World Pulpit, xvi. p. 272. Kingsley, Gospel of the Pentateuch, Sermon ix. Parker, People’s Bible, ii. p. 32. Roberts, Homiletic Magazine, viii. p. 211. Stanley, Jewish Church, i. p. 94. T. Arnold, Sermons on Interpretation, p. 209.

Exo 3:15

‘Neither Moses, nor the Prophets, nor Christ Himself, nor even Mohammed,’ says Max Mller in the second volume of his Gifford Lectures, ‘had to introduce a new God. Their God was always called the God of Abraham, even when freed from all that was local and narrow in the faith of that patriarch.’

References. III. 15. C. A. Berry, Vision and Duty, p. 1.

Exo 3:19-20

What appears to one side a singular proof of the special interposition of Providence, is used on the other side, and necessarily with equal force, to show that Christianity itself is no special interposition of Providence at all, but the natural result of the historical events by which it was ushered into the world. The Duke of Weimar spoke more safely when he said of the tyranny of the first Napoleon in Germany, ‘It is unjust, and therefore it cannot last’. He would have spoken more safely still if he had said, ‘Last or not last, it is unjust, and being unjust, it carries its own sentence in its heart, and will prove the weakest in the sum of things’. Goldwin Smith, Lectures on the Study of History, pp. 68-69.

When I first heard that Buonaparte had declared that the interests of small states must always succumb to great ones, I said, ‘Thank God! he has sealed his fate: from this moment his fall is certain’.

Coleridge.

References. IV. 1. T. G. Selby, The God of the Patriarchs, p. 163. IV. 1-10. G. Hanson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1897, p. 101.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Moses At Horeb

Exo 3:1

So ends the romance of the young hero! We have often seen brilliant beginnings turn to cloudy endings. A man has come out very sensationally for a day or two, and then has subsided into commonplace and obscurity. But what would Moses have been had he pursued the line upon which he so vigorously commenced? Suppose that from day to day he had gone abroad smiting men, where would the story of his life have ended? It was but a poor way, after all, of attacking the moral confusion of society. It is not much in the way of reform and progress that any man can do with his mere fist. On the whole, therefore, we are glad that a pause has come in the destructive though chivalrous career of this young smiter. It was not amiss, perhaps, for him to knock down one or two men, and to frighten away from the well a number of cowardly shepherds; but as a life course it was morally shallow and politically self-defeating. We must have something more fundamental than we have yet seen, or Moses will be provoking reprisals which no individual arm can resist. It is then not a subsidence into commonplace that we find in this verse; it is going into the severest and most useful of schools the school of loneliness, meditation, self-measurement, and fellowship with God. Fiery natures must be attempered by exile and desertion. They must be taught that the end of merely manual or military reform is unsatisfactory. Men can be held by the throat only so long as they are unable to take revenge; but they may be held by the heart evermore. All true reforms and all beneficent masteries are essentially moral. We must exchange rough and romantic chivalry for the deep, calm, vital revelation which emancipates and purifies the spiritual nature of mankind. This is no anticlimax in the history of Moses! Moses has been looking upon the outside of things; now he must be trained to estimate spiritual forces and values.

“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed” ( Exo 3:2 ).

A beautiful conjunction of the natural and supernatural. A bush burned into a sanctuary! Though the heavens cannot contain the Great One, yet he hides himself under every flower, and makes the broken heart of man his chosen dwelling-place. So great, yet so condescending; infinite in glory, yet infinite in gentleness. Wherever we are, there are gates through nature into the Divine. Every bush will teach the reverent student something of God. The lilies are teachers, so are the stars, so are all things great and small in this wondrous museum, the universe! In this case it was not the whole mountain that burned with fire; such a spectacle we should have considered worthy of the majesty of God; it was only the bush that burned: so condescendingly does God accommodate himself to the weakness of man. The whole mountain burning would have dismayed the lonely shepherd; he who might have been overwhelmed by a blazing mountain was attracted by a burning bush.

“And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I” ( Exo 3:3-4 ).

Many a man has been led through the gate of curiosity into the sanctuary of reverence. Moses purposed but to see a wonderful sight in nature, little dreaming that he was standing as it were face to face with God. Blessed are they who have an eye for the startling, the sublime, and the beautiful in nature, for they shall see many sights which will fill them with glad amazement. Every sight of God is a “great sight”; the sights become little to us because we view them without feeling or holy expectation. It was when the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see that he called unto him and mentioned him by name. This is indeed a great law. If men would turn aside to see, God would surely speak to them. But we do not do this. We pass by all the great sights of nature with comparative indifference, certainly, as a general rule, without reverence. The sea wants to speak to us, but we listen not to its sounding voice; the stars are calling to us, but we shut them out; the seasons come round to tell their tale, but we are pre-occupied with trifling engagements. We must bring so much with us if we would put ourselves into healthful communion with nature: we must bring the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and the understanding heart: we must, at all events, be disposed to see and hear, and God will honour the disposition with more than expected blessing.

“And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God” ( Exo 3:5-6 ).

Curiosity must not become familiarity. The difference between the creature and the Creator must always be infinite. Is not all ground holy? Is not God everywhere? Certainly so; yet it hath pleased God to mark special lines and special places as peculiarly holy. We are not to treat all places alike. Every successful appeal to man’s reverence redeems him from vulgarity. When a man loses his sense of religious awe, he has exhausted the supreme fountain of spiritual joy. He then measures everything by himself: he is to himself as God, and from the point of self-idolatry he will speedily sink to the point of self-despair. It is only the good man who can be satisfied from himself, and this is only because goodness has its very root in God.

In what a tender manner God reveals himself to the lonely shepherd! He does not say, I am the God of majesty, of eternity, whose habitation is unapproachable, and whose power is infinite. He says, “I am the God of thy father.” Could any designation have been more tender? Was it not precisely the best way to arrest the attention and conciliate the confidence of Moses? “I am the God of thy father,” the God of thy home, the God of thy fireside, the God around whose name cluster the tenderest and purest associations of life. Who can stoop so condescendingly as God? Again and again in this conference with Moses, God declared himself to be the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is thus the God of generations, the God of individuals, and also the God of the whole human family. There is something inexpressibly beautiful in the idea that God is the God of the father, and of the son, and of all their descendants; thus the one God makes humanity into one family; we live in different zones, and acknowledge the sovereignty of different political kings, yet all nations are one, in so far as they worship and serve the same living God.

“Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt” ( Exo 3:9-10 ).

In the eighth verse God says, “I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,” and in the tenth verse he says, “I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people.” Is there not a discrepancy here? If God himself came down to do a work, why did he not go and do it personally? One word from him would surely have done more for the cause which he had espoused than all the words which the most gifted of his creatures could have used. Looking at this episode as standing entirely alone, it does undoubtedly appear most remarkable that God did not personally execute what he had personally conceived. The thinking was his, so was the love; all the spiritual side of the case belonged exclusively to God; yet he calls a shepherd, a lonely and unfriended man, to work out with painful elaboration, and through a series of most bewildering and discouraging disappointments, the purpose which it seems he himself might have accomplished by a word. We find, however, that the instance is by no means an isolated one. Throughout the whole scheme of the Divine government of the human family, we find the principle of mediation. God speaks to man through man: he did so throughout the history of the Old Testament, and he does so to-day in the gospel of his Son. Undoubtedly this is most mysterious. To our imperfect understanding, it would seem that the direct personal revelation of his presence and glory would instantly secure the results which are so desirable, and yet so doubtful. It is here that Faith must lead, because Reason cannot see the advantages which to ourselves as men, when employed as ministers of God to each other, to our intellectual progress, and to our moral nature are obvious and inestimable. God educates and glorifies us by making us his servants. We learn the highest wisdom and the highest music by repronouncing the words which we have received from the lips of God. Moreover, this principle of individual selection in the matter of all great ministries is in keeping with the principle which embodies in a single germ the greatest forests. It is enough that God gives the one acorn; man must plant it and develop its productiveness. It is enough that God gives the one idea; man must receive it into the good soil of his love and hope, and encourage it to tell all the mystery of its purpose. So God calls to himself, in holy solitude, one man, and puts into the heart of that man his own gracious purpose, and commissions him to expound this purpose to his fellow-men. God never works from the many to the one; he works from one to the many.

“And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ( Exo 3:11 ).

No wonder that he so inquired. The message seemed to be so much greater than the messenger. Moses herein disclosed the right spirit in which the communications of Heaven are to be received. It is under such circumstances that weakness is strength. When a man can set himself in imagination upon an equality with God, and receive the messages of God as if they were but common words, he is no longer fit to be a minister of light and hope to nations groaning in sorrow, and perishing under oppression. If Moses had not seen the greatness of the proposed ministry, he would not have felt his own inability to discharge it. The idea was too much for him. The proposition blinded him like a sudden and intolerable light Men are the better for this humiliation of their self-esteem. Moses was fully equal to the humble duty which he had undertaken under Jethro his father-in-law, but to go forth as the emancipator of an oppressed nation seemed to overweigh and mock his powers. He works best who magnifies his office. Preachers, teachers, emancipators, and all ministers of good, should see their work to be infinitely greater than themselves, if they would work at the highest point of energy. Let a man suppose his work to be easy, to be beneath him, to be unworthy of his talents, and he will work flippantly, without taxing his strength or making any drain upon the life of his heart. He will not be a worker; at best he will be but a fussy idler in the great field overgrown with the weeds and tares sown by the power of evil.

“And he said, Certainly I will be with thee” ( Exo 3:12 ).

God thus puts himself apparently into a secondary position. Moses is to stand at the front, and, so far as publicity is concerned, to incur the whole responsibility of the proposed movement It was easy for Moses to say that he was prompted of God to make certain representations to Israel and Pharaoh, but how were they to be convinced that Moses was servant and not master? This is the difficulty of all the highest service of life, namely, that the spiritual is invisible, and yet omnipotent; public attention is fixed upon the human agent, and professions of spiritual inspiration and impulse are treated with distrust, if not with contempt, by the most of mankind. It is the invisible Christ who is with the Church. Were he present manifestly, it is supposed that greater results would accrue from Christian service; but the supposition must be mistaken, inasmuch as he to whom such service is infinitely dearer than it ever can be to ourselves has determined the manner of Christian evangelisation. What, then, is the great duty and privilege of the Church? It is to realise the presence and influence of the Invisible. The Church is actually to see the Unseen. There is another vision beside the vision of the body; faith itself is sight; and where faith is complete, there is a consciousness of God’s presence throughout our life and service which amounts to a distinct vision of God’s personal presence and government.

This incident has brought very closely before me the mystery of what may be termed the Spirit of Destiny. Moses has been, as it were, audibly and visibly called to service and invested with authority. A keen pleasure would seem to attach to experiences of that kind. Surely it was a blessed thing to speak face to face with God, and to go straight away from the communing to do the work which had been prescribed. The directness of the interview, the absence of all second causes and instrumentalities has about it a solemnity which profoundly affects the heart. But is my destiny less Divine because it has been revealed to me under conditions which seem to separate widely between the Creator and the creature? Has God only one method of working in revealing to a man what that man’s work in life is intended to be? We do not always see the fountain; sometimes we have to be content to drink at the stream. The danger is lest we imagine the stream created itself, forgetting in our irreligion and folly that the stream is impossible apart from the fountain. A man is sometimes awakened to his destiny by his fellow-men. In other cases a man’s destiny seems to be determined by what he calls his circumstances or his environment. But why this wide and circuitous way of putting the case to the mind? We do not depose God by mistaking the origin of our action; we do but show the poorness of our own judgment, or the want of justice which impoverishes our lives of their best qualities. Every man should put to himself the question What is my destiny? What does God mean me to be and to do in the world? This inquiry should shape itself into a tender and continual prayer which will not cease its intercession until a gracious answer gives assurance to the heart that the will of Heaven has been made clear. It is a most pitiful thing that a man should read of Moses being Divinely called to certain service, and forget that he himself is also a subject of the Divine government. If God called any one man to special work, we are entitled to reason upon the basis of that fact that God has a special work for every man to do. It is in our power to turn such miracles into gracious commonplaces by seeking for their repetition in our own lives. It is impossible that God has called us into existence without having some purpose for us to work at within the limit of time. To be here at all is to be in possession of a destiny. It is, indeed, an awful power with which we are endowed, that we can shut our eyes to destiny which is beckoning us to duty, and can, indeed, so pervert and misinterpret circumstances as to press them into a justification of self-will and apostasy. To know that my life may be called to a unique vocation excites me with very tender and anxious emotion. What if I have mistaken the Divine will? What if I am pursuing the wrong road? What if I have been judging by appearances and neglecting the teaching of reality? Has self-interest determined my action? Has self-indulgence wrought its unholy spell upon my energies and affections? Have I been earnestly listening to hear the voice which teaches men the way of duty and the path of sacrifice? Spirit of the Living God, reveal my destiny to me, though it mean pain and loss, continual discipline of fear, or the blessed experience of daily joy. If I may but know thy purpose, such knowledge shall itself be inspiration and defence.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

MOSES AT THE BURNING BUSH

Exo 2:23-5:14

Our chapter commences with Exo 2:23 : “And it came to pass in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died [the king from whom Moses fled was Rameses II]; and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel, and God took knowledge of them.”

I quote these concluding verses to show that one of the obstacles in the way of Moses’ coming back to Egypt was removed, the death of the king that sought his life. Secondly, to show that God, seeing all the oppression perpetrated upon this race, hears their groanings; that he remembered every promise of every covenant that he ever made. How, when he saw their piteous condition and heard their prayers and groanings, he recalled the covenants that he had made with Abraham. The time was now passing rapidly and the very day was approaching that he promised to deliver them. So we have now to consider how God answers those prayers which they sent up to him. In the first place, he has to prepare an earthly deliverer, and that is Moses. Then he has to prepare the people to receive Moses. He next has to prepare Pharaoh to receive Moses. These are the three great preparations.

Our chapter has to do, first, with Moses. In certain seasons of the year the best pasturage in the Sinaitic Peninsula is to be found on the slopes of the highest mountains. So we find Moses bringing the flocks of Jethro to Mount Horeb. Horeb is a range like the Blue Ridge, and Sinai is a peak of that range. Sometimes the word Horeb is used, and sometimes Sinai. You will notice that this mountain is already called “the Mount of God.” It had that reputation before the days of Moses. Right on the supposed spot where this burning bush appeared was afterward a convent, which is still standing, and in that convent is to be found the great Sinaitic manuscript. See how things connect with that mountain. Now in that mountain God begins to prepare Moses by appealing to his sight and to his hearing and to his heart. The sight was an acacia bush on fire and yet not consumed. This was a symbol of the children of Israel in Egypt; though in the fiery furnace of affliction, they were not destroyed. This truth is set forth in Daniel, where the three Hebrew children were thrown into the fiery furnace, and God was with them and preserved them from destruction. The burning bush is one of the most comforting symbols in all the Bible to the people of God. The thought is expressed in a great hymn: “How firm a foundation, Ye saints of the Lord!” God is always with his people, in sickness, in flood, in fire. He is with them to care for them. This sight attracted Moses, and he drew near to see why that bush did not burn up with such a large fire. Then a voice came from the bush, telling him to take his sandals off; that he was standing on holy ground, and then to draw nigh, telling him who it was talking to him; that he was the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob; that he had seen the awful oppression of the Jewish people in Egypt; that he had heard all their prayers; and now he was come down to deliver them out of all those troubles, and to give them a good country, a land flowing with milk and honey. And thus winds up Exo 3:10 : “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.” He was to select a human deliverer: “I will send thee.”

It is an interesting study, whenever God calls people to do great things, to note the varied attitudes of these people to these calls. God appeared to Isaiah in a vision and Isaiah instantly responded: “Here am I; send me.” God appeared to Jeremiah, and he said, “O Lord God, I cannot go, I am but a little child.” He appears to Moses. Just look at the objection made by Moses: “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Moses takes a look at himself and sees nothing in himself competent to do that great work. We all do that way if we look at ourselves. What was God’s answer to that objection? “Certainly I will be with thee.” If God is with us then any objection based on our littleness of whatever kind is a poor objection. God then gives him a token which is this: that when he had brought those people out, he was to bring them right to that mountain where he was talking, where the bush was burning, right there, to worship him. God practically said, “There is a token that you can bring them out; if I am with you and you get back to this mountain with that great crowd of people assembled at the foot of it, then you will look back and say, Why did I say to God, Who am I that I should do this great deed?”

Moses raises this objection: “When I come to the children of Israel, and say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?” He is looking ahead at difficulties. “When I go back to those millions of slaves and say, The God of your fathers sent me to deliver you, they will say, What is his name? Who is the God of our fathers?” The Lord gives him an answer and takes that objection out of the way: “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” Jehovah means a Covenant-God; & manifesting God; and he tells Moses what to say to them. You gather them together and tell them that Jehovah says, “I come to bring you out of Egypt and to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.” And he says, “They will hearken. Then you take the elders of Israel with you and go to the king of Egypt and make this demand of him: that you may go three days’ journey in the wilderness to make a sacrifice to Jehovah.” Now God forewarned him, saying, “I know that Pharaoh will not give his consent,” and gives him at least one explanation, viz.: “I will harden the heart of Pharaoh that he shall not let them go.” In the next chapter we take up that question of hardening. There are twenty places in this connection where the hardening is mentioned; in ten Pharaoh hardens his own heart; and in the other ten God hardens it. To this you will find some references in Romans II. It is a subject we need to study: how we harden our hearts; and how God hardens them. The reason that God tells Moses that he is going to harden Pharaoh’s heart is to prevent him from being disappointed. He says: “Don’t be discouraged, I have a hand in it myself, and am letting you know about it beforehand. I will bring you forth, and you will say to him, that if he does not let Israel, my firstborn, go, I will take his firstborn.”

Now comes the next objection of Moses: “You tell me to go, but I am nothing. You say you will go with me. When I object that the people will ask for your name you will give me the name and I will tell them what you tell me. But they will not believe, nor hearken unto my voice. They will say Jehovah hath not appeared unto me.” Now Jehovah gives three signs in answer to that objection. (1) “What is this in your hand?” “A rod, a shepherd’s staff.” “Throw it on the ground.” It became a serpent and Moses fled from it. “Take it by the tail,” and it again became a rod in his hand. That is a sign. Egypt is called Rahab; that is, a serpent. Now God is going to attack Egypt on the line of the serpent. Reference to this can be found in Job, and in several of the prophecies. The first sign, then, is the converting, at pleasure, of the rod into a serpent, and of the serpent back into a rod. (2) The second sign is for the benefit of the people: “Put your hand into your bosom.” It becomes white with leprosy. “Put it back into your bosom,” and it becomes whole again. That means that God will heal his people. (3) Now, the third sign was: “Take a little of the water of the Nile; throw it up and it will turn to blood.” That was a stroke at the gods of Egypt. These were the three signs to confirm the fact that Moses was accredited of God to the children of Israel.

Now, we will see the next objection: “Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exo 4:10 ). That meant neither that he was a stammerer, like Demosthenes, nor that he had no ready command of language, like Oliver Cromwell and John Knox, originally, and like Senator Coke when he first started out to be a public speaker. The reply to that objection is: “Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.” In other words, he says, “Your being eloquent or not being eloquent has nothing to do with it. You have to deliver a message. If you had to write a composition that would charm Pharaoh so that he would let the children of Israel go, it would be a different matter.” Moses replied: “Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.” It is hard to understand what Moses meant by that. It has generally been supposed to mean: “Send by anybody you please, so you let me alone.” But I question whether that is the meaning.’ It seems rather to have this meaning: “I have told you my incompetency, and now I will do it if you want me to, but if this business turns out badly, remember that I knew better than you did about it and I protested.” That made the Lord angry. So far as we know he never was angry at Moses but twice; the next time he gets angry it will cost Moses the right to enter the Promised Land in the flesh. But God meets that objection by telling him about Aaron, the older brother. “He is eloquent and he cometh forth to meet thee.” God had sent Aaron to meet him right there at that very mountain. “I will give you an eloquent man, but after a while your eloquent man may introduce a golden calf to your people.”

There was another objection in the mind of Moses, though he did not state it: “I am employed by my father-in-law, having charge of his sheep, and I must close up this business before I can go into Egypt.” So he goes to Jethro and states the case: that he wants to go to Egypt and look into the condition of his people to see if they are alive. But he does not tell what God said. Jethro consents. Every year of my life I strike somebody who is not ready to do the Lord’s will on account of some business he can’t turn loose.

There is still another objection revealed in Exo 4:19 : “All the men are dead that sought thy life.” Moses has waited until God spoke to him again and reveals another objection in his mind. There is still another trouble; he starts with his wife and two children, and he has not complied with the covenant of God. He has not circumcised that last child, and God meets him by the way to slay him, and Moses knows why. His wife knows why. God puts the case before the woman this way: “You have objected to the circumcision of this child, and now if you persist in your objection you will lose your husband. He cannot go to deliver this people and be a covenant-breaker himself.” So she circumcised the child. Moses then sent back Zipporah and the two children to Jethro. When he gets back to Sinai with the children of Israel, Jethro brings them back to him.

You see how in preparing that man to do a work the difficulties, had to be gotten out of the way. When he was in Egypt he knew he was to deliver the people, and in his own way rushed out to bring it about, and met with a repulse which threw him farther off than before. He comes now prepared, and Aaron meets him at Mount Sinai. These two brothers, separated for forty years, start out across that desert to Egypt to deliver millions of people from bondage. I will read what a poet, Dr. W. G. Wilkinson, in his Epic of Moses, says about that. The Epic of Moses, Part 1, page 43, reads thus:

Those two wayfarers through the wilderness

Unconsciously upon their shoulders bore

The trembling weight of boundless destinies;

Not only did the future of their race .

Hang on them, but the future of the world.

From east to west, from north to south, nowhere

Within the round earth’s wide horizon lived

Any least hope for rescue of mankind

Entangled sliding down a fatal slope

That ended in the open-jawed abyss

Of utter ultimate despair and death

Nowhere, save with those Hebrew brethren twain. That on those two Jewish brethren rested the destinies of the world is a fine thought admirably expressed. Don’t forget this book and its value in interpretation.

Moses and Aaron get to the place and they assemble the elders of the people. That doubtless took some little time, as they were scattered. Word was sent rapidly to the heads of the different tribes. In Exo 6:14 , the sons of Simeon and then the sons of Levi are taken up. Then from the heads of the Levites it traces down to Moses and Aaron, showing that Moses and Aaron were not the heads of the tribe of Levi. They were the descendants of one of the heads of the tribe of Levi. So they have no tribal authority over those people, but have a God-given authority. When the heads of all the tribes were assembled, they fairly state the message and naturally, questionings come up: “How do we know that God sent you? What is his name? What signs do you use?” In the presence of all the elders they give all the signs; the elders accept them and report to the people; and the people believe them.

They are now prepared to go to Pharaoh. God has prepared Moses to accept the work; he has prepared the people to accept Moses in the leadership of the work; now he must send Moses and Aaron and the elders of the people to prepare Pharoah to hear them. We will take up their interview. “And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto Jehovah our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.”

And he commanded their taskmasters that the people should do an equal amount of work and gather the straws for themselves, and if they did not succeed their Hebrew officers were to be beaten publicly. They were beaten and they appealed unto Pharaoh, and he referred them to Moses and Aaron. They charged Moses and Aaron with having brought this extra oppression upon them. You see these people are not ready. These head men, just as soon as a little trouble came, were ready to repudiate Moses and Aaron whom they have just accepted as leaders. Moses takes the case to God in prayer; and Jehovah replies to him by telling him that he knew that Pharaoh would not let them go. Now they must go before Pharaoh and demonstrate to him that Jehovah is God, and in the next chapter we will take up this whole transaction between Moses and Pharaoh, or as Paul says, “Jannes and Jambres, the priests that withstood Moses.”

Our next chapter will consider that double hardening. Let each reader look out the twenty passages that refer to the hardening ten in which God hardens Pharoah’s heart, and ten where Pharaoh hardens his own heart. Then we will take up the ten plagues one after another.

QUESTIONS

1. Give circumstances and object of Jehovah’s meeting Moses.

2. What of the symbolism of the burning bush?

3. State in order the several objections of Moses to becoming the deliverer of Israel, and Jehovah’s reply thereto.

4. Meaning of the name: “I am that I am”?

5. Cite from the New Testament the words of Jesus claiming this name.

6. What token did Jehovah give Moses to assure him of success in delivering Israel?

7. What three attesting signs and their significance?

8. What two preachers have great sermons on “What is in thy hand?” and “Take it by the tail,” and what book has the substance of both sermons? Answer: The book is Pentecost’s Deliverance from Egypt, or Bible Readings on the First Twelve Chapters of Exodus.

9. Give and illustrate the heart of the meaning of “What is in thy hand?”

10. What part has eloquence in the salvation of men and distinguish between true and rhetorical eloquence of what says Paul of the latter? Answer: 1Co 2:1-5 .

11. What troubles later came through the “eloquent” brother of Moses?

12. Why did God meet Moses on his way to deliver Israel to kill him, and explain, applying the whole incident in Exo 4:24-26 .

13. Where is the scripture showing that after this incident Moses sent back his wife and children to the father-in-law?

14. What three scriptures seem to indicate the marriage of Moses with Zipporah was unfortunate? Answer: (1) Exo 4:24-26 , shows that his wife had no sympathy for his faith; (2) Num 12:1-2 , shows that she had no sympathy for his sister and brother, and was the occasion of their revolt; (3) Jdg 18:30 , according to the Hebrew text, has Moses, not Manasseh, as the grandfather of the Levite Jonathan, who served as priest for the Danite idolaters.

15.Num 12:1-2 , refers to Zipporah; how do you explain her being called an “Ethiopian”? Answer: The Hebrew word rendered “Ethiopian” in the Common Version is “Cushite,” and the descendants of Cush were not confined to Ethiopia in Africa. Many of them were on the Euphrates and in Arabia. Doubtless Zipporah’s mother was an Arabian Cushite certainly not a Negress.

16. In Exo 3:18 , we have God’s first message to Pharaoh, given at the bush, but give the form of the message repeated to Moses as when later he set out from Jethro’s home

17. How does a prophet, long afterward, and the New Testament still later, use this message to prove that Israel, as a nation, was a type of our Lord? Answer: See Hos 11:1 . and Mat 2:15 .

18. What infidel criticisms have been offered on the morality of “spoiling the Egyptians” as commanded by Jehovah in Exo 3:21-22 repeated in Exo 11:1-3 , and obeyed in Exo 12:33-36 ? Answer: The criticisms were based on the rendering “borrow” in the Common Version of Exo 3:21 , but ASV rendering clears the difficulty. The jewels are given freely because God had given his people favor with the Egyptians that dreadful night when the firstborn were slain. In this way Israel received compensation for years of uncompensated slave labor.

19. What much later story has Josephus about this matter? Answer: He tells that when Alexander the Great was master of Jerusalem the Egyptians presented a claim against the Jews for these borrowed jewels, and the Jews agreed to pay the claim if the Egyptians would settle their claim in offset for the years of enforced and unpaid slave labor.

20. Give an account of the meeting of Moses and Aaron, and why should Aaron come to seek Moses?

21. What great epic of Moses commended to the class and what excellency pointed out as compared with other poems on Biblical themes?

22. Cite the passage in this epic on Moses and Aaron setting forth from Sinai to deliver Israel.

23. Tell of the meeting of Moses and Aaron with the elders of Israel and the result.

24. Tell of the meeting of Moses and Aaron with Pharaoh and the result.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Exo 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, [even] to Horeb.

Ver. 1. To the backside of the desert, ] Here it was that Moses wrote the book of Genesis, and that of Job too, as some conceive, a for the comfort of his poor oppressed countrymen in Egypt, that they might lean upon, and live by faith in, the promises made to the fathers.

a Alsted., Chron.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Exodus
THE BUSH THAT BURNED, AND DID NOT BURN OUT
Exo 3:2 .
It was a very sharp descent from Pharaoh’s palace to the wilderness, and forty years of a shepherd’s life were a strange contrast to the brilliant future that once seemed likely for Moses. But God tests His weapons before He uses them, and great men are generally prepared for great deeds by great sorrows. Solitude is ‘the mother-country of the strong,’ and the wilderness, with its savage crags, its awful silence, and the unbroken round of its blue heaven, was a better place to meet God than in the heavy air of a palace, or the profitless splendours of a court.
So as this lonely shepherd is passing slowly in front of his flock, he sees a strange light that asserted itself, even in the brightness of the desert sunshine. ‘The bush’ does not mean one single shrub. Rather, it implies some little group, or cluster, or copse, of the dry thorny acacias, which are characteristic of the country, and over which any ordinary fire would have passed like a flash, leaving them all in grey ashes. But this steady light persists long enough to draw the attention of the shepherd, and to admit of his travelling some distance to reach it. And then-and then-the Lord speaks.
The significance of this bush, burning but not consumed, is my main subject now, for I think it carries great and blessed lessons for us.
Now, first, I do not think that the bush burning but not consumed, stands as it is ordinarily understood to stand, for the symbolical representation of the preservation of Israel, even in the midst of the fiery furnace of persecution and sorrow.
Beautiful as that idea is, I do not think it is the true explanation; because if so, this symbol is altogether out of keeping with the law that applies to all the rest of the symbolical accompaniments of divine appearances, all of which, without exception, set forth in symbol some truth about God, and not about His Church; and all of which, without exception, are a representation in visible and symbolical form of the same truth which was proclaimed in articulate words along with them. The symbol and the accompanying voice of God in all other cases have one and the same meaning.
That, I think, is the case here also; and we learn from the Bush, not something about God’s Church, however precious that may be, but what is a great deal more important, something about God Himself; namely, the same thing that immediately afterwards was spoken in articulate words.
In the next place, let me observe that the fire is distinctly a divine symbol, a symbol of God not of affliction, as the ordinary explanation implies. I need not do more than remind you of the stream of emblem which runs all through Scripture, as confirming this point. There are the smoking lamp and the blazing furnace in the early vision granted to Abraham. There is the pillar of fire by night, that lay over the desert camp of the wandering Israelites. There is Isaiah’s word, ‘The light of Israel shall be a flaming fire.’ There is the whole of the New Testament teaching, turning on the manifestation of God through His Spirit. There are John the Baptist’s words, ‘He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’ There is the day of Pentecost, when the ‘tongues of fire sat upon each of them.’ And what is meant by the great word of the Epistle to the Hebrews, ‘Our God is a consuming fire’?
Not Israel only, but many other lands-it would scarcely be an exaggeration to say, all other lands-have used the same emblem with the same meaning. In almost every religion on the face of the earth, you will find a sacred significance attached to fire. That significance is not primarily destruction, as we sometimes suppose, an error which has led to ghastly misunderstandings of some Scriptures, and of the God whom they reveal. When, for instance, Isa 33:14 asks, ‘Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’ he has been supposed to be asking what human soul is there that can endure the terrors of God’s consuming and unending wrath. But a little attention to the words would have shown that ‘the devouring fire’ and the ‘everlasting burnings’ mean God and not hell, and that the divine nature is by them not represented as too fierce to be approached, but as the true dwelling-place of men, which indeed only the holy can inhabit, but which for them is life. Precisely parallel is the Psalmist’s question, ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place?’
Fire is the source of warmth, and so, in a sense, of life. It is full of quick energy, it transmutes all kinds of dead matter into its own ruddy likeness, sending up the fat of the sacrifices in wreathes of smoke that aspire heavenward; and changing all the gross, heavy, earthly dullness into flame, more akin to the heaven into which it rises.
Therefore, as cleansing, as the source of life, light, warmth, change, as glorifying, transmuting, purifying, refining, fire is the fitting symbol of the mightiest of all creative energy. And the Bible has consecrated the symbolism, and bade us think of the Lord Himself as the central fiery Spirit of the whole universe, a spark from whom irradiates and vitalises everything that lives.
Nor should we forget, on the other side, that the very felicity of this emblem is, that along with all these blessed thoughts of life-giving and purifying, there does come likewise the more solemn teaching of God’s destructive power. ‘What maketh heaven, that maketh hell’; and the same God is the fire to quicken, to sanctify, to bless; and resisted, rejected, neglected, is the fire that consumes; the savour of life unto life, or the savour of death unto death.
And then, still further, notice that this flame is undying-steady, unflickering. What does that mean? Adopting the principle which I have already taken as our guide, that the symbol and the following oral revelation teach the same truth, there can be no question as to that answer. ‘I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. ‘I AM THAT I AM.’
That is to say, the fire that burns and does not burn out, which has no tendency to destruction in its very energy, and is not consumed by its own activity, is surely a symbol of the one Being whose being derives its law and its source from Himself, who only can say-’I AM THAT I AM’-the law of His nature, the foundation of His being, the only conditions of His existence being, as it were, enclosed within the limits of His own nature. You and I have to say, ‘I am that which I have become,’ or ‘I am that which I was born,’ or ‘I am that which circumstances have made me.’ He says, ‘I AM THAT I AM.’ All other creatures are links; this is the staple from which they all hang. All other being is derived, and therefore limited and changeful; this Being is underived, absolute, self-dependent, and therefore unalterable for evermore. Because we live we die. In living the process is going on of which death is the end. But God lives for evermore, a flame that does not burn out; therefore His resources are inexhaustible, His power unwearied. He needs no rest for recuperation of wasted energy. His gifts diminish not the store which He has to bestow. He gives, and is none the poorer; He works, and is never weary; He operates unspent; He loves, and He loves for ever; and through the ages the fire burns on, unconsumed and undecayed.
O brethren! is not that a revelation-familiar as it sounds to our ears now, blessed be God!-is not that a revelation of which, when we apprehend the depth and the preciousness, we may well fix an unalterable faith upon it, and feel that for us, in our fleeting days and shadowy moments, the one means to secure blessedness, rest, strength, life, is to grasp and knit ourselves to Him who lives for ever, and whose love is lasting as His life? ‘The eternal God, the Lord . . .fainteth not, neither is weary. They that wait upon Him shall renew their strength.’
The last thought suggested to me by this symbol is this. Regarding the lowly thorn-bush as an emblem of Israel-which unquestionably it is, though the fire be the symbol of God-in the fact that the symbolical manifestation of the divine energy lived in so lowly a shrine, and flamed in it, and preserved it by its burning, there is a great and blessed truth.
It is the same truth which Jesus Christ, with a depth of interpretation that put to shame the cavilling listeners, found in the words that accompanied this vision: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He said to the sneering Sadducees, who, like all other sneerers, saw only the surface of what they were sarcastic about, ‘Did not Moses teach you,’ in the section about the bush, ‘that the dead rise, when he said: I AM the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.’ A man, about whom it can once be said that God is his God, cannot die. Such a bond can never be broken. The communion of earth, imperfect as it is, is the prophecy of Heaven and the pledge of immortality. And so from that relationship which subsisted between the fathers and God, Christ infers the certainty of their resurrection. It seems a great leap, but there are intervening steps not stated by our Lord, which securely bridge the gulf between the premises and the conclusion. Such communion is, in its very nature, unaffected by the accident of death, for it cannot be supposed that a man who can say that God is His God can be reduced to nothingness, and such a bond be snapped by such a cause. Therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still living, ‘for all’ those whom we call dead, as well as those whom we call living, ‘live unto Him,’ and though so many centuries have passed, God still is , not was , their God. The relation between them is eternal and guarantees their immortal life. But immortality without corporeity is not conceivable as the perfect state, and if the dead live still, there must come a time when the whole man shall partake of redemption; and in body, soul, and spirit the glorified and risen saints shall be ‘for ever with the Lord.’
That is but the fuller working out of the same truth that is taught us in the symbol ‘the bush burned and was not consumed.’ God dwelt in it, therefore it flamed; God dwelt in it, therefore though it flamed it never flamed out. Or in other words, the Church, the individual in whom He dwells, partakes of the immortality of the indwelling God. ‘Every one shall be salted with fire,’ which shall be preservative and not destructive; or, as Christ has said, ‘Because I live ye shall live also.’
Humble as was the little, ragged, sapless thorn-bush, springing up and living its solitary life amidst the sands of the desert, it was not too humble to hold God; it was not too gross to burst into flame when He came; it was not too fragile to be gifted with undying being; like His that abode in it. And for us each the emblem may be true. If He dwell in us we shall live as long as He lives, and the fire that He puts in our heart shall be a fountain of fire springing up into life everlasting.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

kept the flock. Forty years, Act 7:30.
Jethro = Reuel, Exo 2:18.
Midian. A. descendant of Abraham, by Keturah. Moses was called in this land (Arabia); Mahomet also arose there. backside. Would be the West side, very fertile. First mention of Desert of Sinai is in connection with feeding a flock!
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
Horeb. Never used in New Testament. There “the wisdom of Egypt “had to be unlearned and God made known, Isa 50:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 3
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to mount Horeb ( Exo 3:1 ).
Now no doubt Moses’ experiences there in the wilderness were going to be necessary experiences. Number one, while he was there he was learning the lay of the land. As he was out there as a shepherd following the flocks through the Sinai desert and around Mount Horeb, he became very well acquainted with the area. He knew where all of the wells were. He began to know a little bit about the weather conditions. Really beginning to get a lot of good, practical savvy on survival in the wilderness. These things were all to be helpful for him in the big project that God had for him in leading the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. So he was out there now learning in the school of experience, wilderness or desert survival which would prove to be very handy later.
And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I’m gonna take a look at this, and see why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and he said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Don’t draw near: but put off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I’m come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians ( Exo 3:2-8 ),
So God began to speak to Moses out of the midst of the burning bush. First of all, warning him against approaching any closer. Telling him to remove his shoes, he was on holy ground, declaring Himself, “I am the God of thy father, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Then God declared, “I have surely seen, I have surely heard, for I surely know.” In Hebrew it is, “Seeing, I have certainly seen, knowing I have certainly known, hearing I have certainly heard.” It’s an emphatic in the Hebrew. God declares the fact that He has seen, He has heard, He knows.
These are the characteristics of God emphasized by Jesus Christ in the New Testament, “Your Father sees, your Father hears, your Father knows.” These are characteristics of God that are always challenged by the unbeliever. “Is there any knowledge in the most High? How does God know?” They feel that they can hide from God. They scoff at the idea of prayer. Yet these characteristics are emphasized over and over by Jesus Christ. How your Father loves you, and His ear is open to your cry. How He sees, how He hears, how He knows. It’s more than that. “I have come to deliver.” God just doesn’t see and say, “Oh, my isn’t that terrible.” He doesn’t hear the cry and say, “Oh, what a shame.” But He does something about it. Sometimes our friends offer us great sympathy. They see, they hear, they say, “Oh, my what a shame. That’s so bad, that’s just terrible. Oh my.” “Thanks.” But the Lord said, “I have come to deliver out of the hands of the Egyptians”.
and to bring them out of that land into a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and Jebusites. [And the PLO’s. These glasses.] Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them ( Exo 3:8-9 ).
Some of you have been very oppressed by people. You’ve been lied against. You’ve been rejected. You’ve been hurt. You think, “Nobody knows what I’m going through. Nobody knows what I’m dealing with.” Oh yes, someone knows, “I have seen also the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.”
Come now therefore, and I will send you unto Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt ( Exo 3:10-11 )?
Now forty years earlier, Moses was gung ho for the job. He started out to do it on his own thinking, “Surely they will understand.” But his experience brought him such disappointment, and now the forty years in the wilderness had an extremely mellowing effect upon the guy. Moses, you remember, was of the tribe of Levi. You remember concerning the Levites, the prophecy of Jacob for Levi, “cruel and treacherous, cursed be your anger”( Gen 49:7 ), hot-tempered tribe. Moses had that hot Levite blood coursing through his system, that short, fiery temper. Turned on the Egyptian and killed him.
Now after forty years the fire is gone. He’s not that short-tempered, ready to go to battle anymore. In fact, he has become very meek. When God said, “I want you to go to the Pharaoh to bring My people out of the land,” he said, “Hey, who am I that I should go to the Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Who am I ( Exo 3:11 )?
Interesting question. I think that everyone who is called of God probably asks that question, “Who am I, Lord, that I should be the one to do this?” I think that it is always valuable that we have a sense of our unworthiness as being an instrument through which God might do His work. I think that God had to bring Moses to this place, but Moses carried it a little far. “Who am I?”
God said,
Certainly I will be with you; and this will be the token unto you, that I have sent you: When you have brought forth the people of Egypt, you will serve God upon this mountain ( Exo 3:12 ).
Now he was at Mount Horeb. “When you bring them out of the land, you’re gonna worship Me right on this mountain. This will be the proof.” It was here at Mount Horeb that he received the commandments.
Moses said unto God, Behold, when I am come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent me unto you; and they’ll say unto me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever and ever, this is my memorial unto all generations ( Exo 3:13-15 ).
Now Moses said, “Who shall I say sent me?” God said to Moses, “I am that I am.” Now this really is to Moses. God is declaring to Moses that relationship, “I am”, I am what? “I am whatever you’re going to need.” The name of God, a verb, “to be”. “I am”, because God always wants to be to you whatever your particular need might be. “I am your peace, I am your strength, I am your help, I am your guide, I am your righteousness, I am your salvation, I am your hope.” Whatever you might be, God will become to you whatever is the need in your life. How beautiful that is. “The Becoming One is named Yahweh, The Becoming One”, as God becomes to you whatever your need might be.
Now to the children of Israel, verse twenty-five, “God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, now they’re gonna say, who sent me, to the children of Israel you say, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent Me unto you. This is My name forever and this is My memorial to all generations.” So this is by which God identified Himself to the nation, “The God of your fathers”, or “Jehovah God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them that, Jehovah God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, and the Hivites, and Jebusites, unto a land that is flowing with milk and honey. And they shall hearken to your voice: and you shall come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and you shall say unto him, Jehovah God of the Hebrews hath met with us: now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey in the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God ( Exo 3:16-18 ).
So to the Hebrews He was Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. To Pharaoh He was to be Jehovah God of the Hebrews.
And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go our empty: But ever woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and you shall spoil the Egyptians ( Exo 3:19-22 ).
So God’s saying, teaching them how to rip off the Egyptians. But in reality what they were taking was really the wages that were due to them through the several years of slavery, and servitude in which they were not paid. And so it was just really collecting back wages for all of the years that they had been slaves to the Egyptians. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Exo 3:1. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
It must have been a great change for Moses, after forty years in the court of Pharaoh, to be spending another forty years in the wilderness. But it was not waste time; it required the first two periods to make Moses fit for the grand life of the last forty. He must be a prince, and he must be a shepherd, that he might be both a ruler and a shepherd to Gods people, Israel. He must be much alone; he must have many solitary communings with his own heart; he must be led to feel his own weakness. And this will be no loss of time to him; he will do more in the last forty years because of the two forties thus spent in preparation. And it is not lost time that a man takes in putting on his harness before he goes to the battle, or that the reaper spends in sharpening his scythe before he cuts down the corn.
Exo 3:2. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
How near God seemed in those ages when he could be beheld in a bush or sitting under an oak! And is he not equally near to us if we are but prepared for his presence? Surely pure eyes are scarce, or sights of God would be more frequent, for the pure in heart shall see God.
Exo 3:3-5. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said. Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
God is not to be viewed by curiosity; he is not to be approached by presumption. A holy trembling well becomes the man who would commune with the most holy God. We are not fit for intercourse with God without some measure of preparation, There is something to be put off ere we can behold the Lord.
Exo 3:6. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Partly because of the universal superstition that if God appeared to any man, he would surely die; but in Moses case, perhaps more because of an appreciation of the holiness of God and of his own unworthiness. There is not a man among us but what must do as Moses did if we are in a right state of mind. They that think they are perfect might presume to look, but they that are truly so, as Moses was, would, as he did, hide his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
Exo 3:7. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
Beautiful verse. God had seen and God had heard, as if their griefs had had two avenues to his heart. God seeth not with eyes, and heareth not with ears, as we do, but he speaketh after the manner of men, and he saith by two ways they had reached his very soul: I have surely seen the affliction; I have heard their cries; and then he adds, as if to show the perfection of his sympathy with them: I know their sorrows. Now it is quite true today concerning us and concerning our God, he has seen, he has heard, and he knows I know their sorrows. When the sorrow is known, then God begins to work. He is no passive spectator of the misery of his chosen, but his hand goes with his heart.
Exo 3:8. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me, and when the cry of Gods children goes unto him, depend upon it there will be something moving before long. When a father hears the cries of his children, when a mother hears the cry of her babe, it is not long before there will be a movement of the heart and of the hand. I am sure, brethren and sisters, there have been crises in English history which have been entirely due to the prayers of Gods people. There have been singular occurrences which the mere reader of history cannot understand, but there is a number still alive who wait upon God in prayer, and they make history. There is more history made in the closet than in the cabinet of the ministry. There is a greater power at the back of the throne than the carnal eye can see, and that power is the cry of Gods children.
Exo 3:9-10. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
I do not wonder that Moses opened his eyes when he knew what a poor creature he was for God to say, Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh the very man whose life was sought by Pharaoh I will send thee unto Pharaoh the man that had been rejected by his own people when he took their part Thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. Oh! let us be ready for any commission. If God were to say that he would build up heaven by the poorest and meanest among us, it would not be for us to draw back. Let him do what he wills with us! Oh! for a faith to believe that in the midst of our weakness Gods strength would appear.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

At last the actual call of God came to Moses. It found him fulfilling a daily duty, keeping the sheep of his father-in-law. There can be no doubt that in the silent solitudes of the wilderness he had meditated on the condition of his people. Forty years, however, changes any man. The fiery impetuosity which characterized him at forty had matured into self-restraint and meekness at eighty.
In the mysterious fire manifestation God said to His servant certain things which lie at the foundation of all that is to follow. “I have seen . . . I have heard . . . I know . . . I am come . . . I will send thee.” Small wonder that Moses answered, “Who am IT” Does it seem strange that when God had spoken of Himself Moses should be conscious of himself? It is not strange. The light of the divine glory ever reveals man to himself. Hence the cry, ‘Who am I?” The answer was immediate and full of grace, “Certainly I will be with thee.”
The second difficulty immediately presented itself to Moses. He thought of the people to whom he was being sent and inquired, ‘Whom shall I say has sent me?” In order to act with authority, he was conscious that he himself must know God better. The answer was threefold: first, for himself, “I AM THAT I AM”; second, for Israel, “the God of your fathers”; finally, for Pharaoh, “Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews.” To Moses’ commission for leadership there was a direct communication of His secret. To the people a Name was given that reminded them of a covenant which could not be broken. Pharaoh could know God only through the chosen people. Thus the difficulties of Moses were recognized but set in the light of a great divine revelation.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Gods Message from the Bush
Exo 3:1-12
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 Gods 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. Gods 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 Gods presence. The bush was unconsumed, because Gods 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.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Exo 3:1-14
This narrative is a chain of glorious wonders. We see here-
I. An old man called to go out on the great errand of his life. The education of Moses for the great mission of his life lasted eighty years. God never sends forth fruit until the season is fitted for the fruit, and the fruit for the season; when the hour was ready for the man, and the man for the hour, then God sent forth Moses.
II. The burning bush from which that call was sounded. (1) This was a sign to indicate the peculiar presence of God. (2) It was also a symbol of His people, eminently adapted to encourage the prophet in undertaking their cause.
III. The angel who uttered this call. We see at the first glance that He is Divine; we next learn that He is an angel; we further find, from a chain of Scripture proofs, that He is Christ.
IV. The covenant under which the Angel gave him his commission. It was the same covenant that had been given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
V. The Angel’s name. That name asserts (1) His real existence, (2) His underived existence, (3) His independent existence, (4) His eternity.
VI. The effect to be wrought by the remembrance of His name. (1) It was intended to inspire profoundest reverence for the Being to whom it belongs. (2) It reveals the infinite sufficiency of a Christian’s portion. (3) It gives encouragement to Evangelical enterprise.
C. Stanford, Symbols of Christ, p. 61.
References: Exo 3:1-14.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 57. Exo 3:1-15.-A. M. Fairbairn, The City of God, p. 107. Exo 3:1-22.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 141. Exo 3:2-S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 20; J. Edmunds, Sermons in a Village Church, p. 79; J. Hamilton, Works, vol. v., p. 185; The Weekly Pulpit, vol. i., p. 312; D. J. Vaughan, The Days of the Son of Man, p. 209; H. Varley, Penny Pulpit, No. 369; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 145; J. Jackson Wray, Light from the Old Lamp, p. 231.
Exo 3:2-6
I. The vision. (1) The vision was miraculous. (2) Moses had this vision when he was in solitude. (3) It was symbolic (a) of Israel in Egypt; (b) of the Church in the world; (c) of the truth of the Gospel; (d) of ourselves who have the religious life within us.
II. The voice. (1) It revealed the majesty and grandeur of God. (2) The voice revealed the special providence of the great God-the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (3) The voice proclaimed the faithfulness of God. (4) The voice demanded reverence.
T. Jones, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. v., p. 220.
Reference: Exo 3:2-6.-S. Leathes, Truth and Life, p. 70.
Exo 3:3
I. The story of Moses is the story, at first, of failure. Two great streams of influences moulded his life, the one drawn from the Egyptian surroundings of his early days, the other drunk in with his mother’s milk and his mother’s teaching. On the one side he had the speechless-eyed deities of Egypt looking for ever into his face, on the other he had a belief in the governing providence of God. He expected to find amongst his own people aspirations after better things, and responsiveness to his own spirit, but he met with chilliness, coldness, and refusal to follow. Then came his exile in Midian, an exile from all his early dreams and hopes, from the position he had in Egypt, from the future which flowed before him.
II. The vision was the revelation that restored him to faith and energy. The revelation was threefold. It was a revelation (1) of permanence, (2) of purity, (3) of personal power. A revelation of permanence, for the bush was not consumed; it held its own life amidst the devouring flame. A revelation of purity, for before he could enter into the deep meaning of that vision, a voice had bidden him “put his shoes from off his feet, for the place on which he stood was holy.” A revelation of personal power and love, for out of the distance, out of the background of the vision, giving it its heart and life, came the voice of Him who proclaimed Himself through all the changes and vicissitudes of the life of Israel, as the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.
III. The revelation was not for Moses alone. There is in every common bush the light of God, and only those see it who draw off their shoes. We forget to turn aside to see the great sights about us. If we give our hearts leisure to meet with God, God will meet with us.
Bishop Boyd-Carpenter, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 91.
References: Exo 3:3.-Parker, vol. ii., p. 308. Exo 3:4.-H. Allon, Congregationalist, vol. viii., p. 469.
Exo 3:5
I. The essence of reverence lies in our forming a true estimate of our place amongst the powers around us, and so understanding aright and habitually feeling what is our relation to them. Now, to do this, (1) we must apprehend something of the mystery of life in ourselves and in others; (2) we must recognise the distinction of the different grades of being in those in whom life is, and seek to find and to keep our own due place in that mighty and marvellous scale of existences.
II. We must bow down before Him who is the fountain of all life, the life of all who live. This adoration of the soul before Him is the central point of the grace of reverence, and its influence pervades and adjusts all our other relations, both towards Himself and towards the other creature of His hand.
III. It is a question of the deepest moment to us all how, in an age one special temptation of which is clearly to lose its reverence, the gift can be kept quick and living in ourselves. (1) The first step must be the keeping guard against whatever tends to irreverence. All that professedly robs life of its mystery does this. So, even more directly, does all that robs revelation of its awfulness. Receiving God’s word as God’s word, striving to do it, striving to overcome temptations to doubt, not by crushing them out, but by turning them into occasions of prayer and of adoration, these efforts, and such as these, will keep us in an irreverent age from the great loss of irreverence. (2) Above all, we must pray for reverence as the gift of God; for such prayer not only draws down a certain answer, but even by its own action tends to put our spirits in the frame of reverence.
S. Wilberforce, University Sermons, p. 335.
References: Exo 3:5.-C. J. Vaughan, Lessons of Life and Godliness, p. 114; W. J. Butler, Sermons to Working Men, p. 259; G. Litting, Thirty Children’s Sermons, p. 189. Exo 3:6.-T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iv., p. 214; J. Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year, Lent to Passiontide, p. 336; Old Testament Outlines, p. 25; Congregationalist, vol. vi., p. 428.
Exo 3:7
Quite apart from its religious significance, there is no other historical phenomenon that is to be compared for a moment in interest with this ever-growing wonder of the Jewish race. The light falls clearly and steadily on its history from first to last. The whole connected story lies before us like a mighty river, which from some high mountain summit you can trace from its fountain to the ocean.
I. The history of this people is thus the history of mankind in its central seats of power. It brings with it living reminiscences of the remotest past. In order to understand how strange a phenomenon is this indomitable vitality of the race, a race without a home or a country, compare their history with that of the numberless tribes of other races who have been either migratory or settled. Excepting the Arabs, also Abraham’s descendants, all the other settled contemporary races around Palestine have either died out completely, as the ancient people of Tyre, Edom, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt; or, if migratory, they have been lost and absorbed after a few centuries. The bond that has held the Jews apart from other nations, and yet together, has been their common religion, their common historical glory. When all Eastern Asia held evil to be incurable, and eternal, and Divine, the race of Abraham held that evil was “but for a moment,” and that God’s goodness and justice alone were eternal; and it is they who have taught this lesson to the nations of the modern world.
II. Notice next the tragic side of this wonderful national history. The honour of being the intellectual and spiritual leaders of the world for four thousand years, has been paid for by four thousand years of national martyrdom and humiliation. The terrific penalties announced at the beginning for failure in their national vocation amidst the great nations of the ancient world, have been exacted to the letter. The so-called Christian nations have made their lives for nearly fifteen hundred years one prolonged Egyptian bondage. New Testament Christianity has at last taught us English, at least, to love the nation to whom we owe such priceless blessings. We believe that the time is hastening on when Christ will return to avenge the quarrel of Israel, and to end “the times of the Gentiles” by the restoration of the scattered nation to its old central position in a renovated world.
E. White, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 65.
References: Exo 3:7.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 229. Exo 3:7, Exo 3:8.-M. G. Pearse, Thoughts on Holiness, p. 230. Exo 3:8.-J. W. Burgon, Ninety-one Short Sermons, No. 32.
Exo 3:10
(with Heb 11:27)
I. How was the earlier history of Moses an education for the great work of his life? In order to free his people from their bondage, Moses needed sympathy and faith; and the Bible gives us three phases of his life, wonderfully adapted to educate him in these qualities: (1) his education in the Egyptian court; (2) his attempt to convince the people of their brotherhood; (3) his flight into the wilderness.
II. How did this vision explain to Moses the work of his life? (1) The vision of God prepared him for the work of his life. It showed him the everlastingness of God, and his own unworthiness to do God’s work. But the voice upheld him amid the overwhelming sense of his nothingness, and made him feel his vocation. The everlasting sympathy was with his people in their sorrows, and that thought upholding his sinking weakness, became a clear, strong call to action, and summoned him with the voice of the Eternal to his calling. (2) The vision of God gave endurance in fulfilling that work. “Moses endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” He had received the grand revelation of the name of God, which was to abide with him until his work was done: “I Am that I Am.” This revelation of the name of God made him feel the glory of the vision as an ever-present power. Under that consciousness the sense of his own insignificance faded, his terror of Pharaoh passed away. Even though his work should seem to fail, that mighty vision had given him a grasp on eternity which would keep him strong and true.
E. L. Hull, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 81.
References: Exo 3:12.-Parker, vol. ii., p. 308; T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. vi., p. 17; J. Hiles Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 40.
Exo 3:13
I. Moses on entering upon a great mission naturally inquires the conditions upon which he proceeds. Before going on any of life’s great errands we should know (1) Who has sent us, and (2) What is the business on which we proceed.
II. In the revelation made to Moses, “I AM hath sent me unto you,” we have being distinguished from manifestation. “I AM” is the summary of Being.
III. The answer which Moses received from Almighty God was an immutable authority for the greatest of missions. Only let us be sure that we are doing God’s errand, and Pharaoh and Caesar and all names of material power will fall before us, never again to rise.
Parker, Wednesday Evenings at Cavendish Chapel, p. 105.
References: Exo 3:13.-A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 213.
Exo 3:14-15
In the long bondage of Israel the God of their fathers had become to the most a name, a faint echo, an image ever growing dimmer. They were in a country where countless gods were worshipped, where the forces and products of nature in all their changes were adored. The very conception of Deity was polluted and degraded by being associated with creeping things and monstrous shapes. How wise then that God should be presented to them as “I AM.” “I AM THAT I AM,”-the Being who is, as essential life, inscrutable and unchangeable, and who was also the God of their fathers. God is thus set very high and yet He is brought very near, near in a way to appeal to the heart. To us the two aspects of God possess the same importance and interest. Let us look at them in several different lights.
I. God is the Incomprehensible One, and yet is revealed in His intercourse with men. The conviction of God’s unsearchableness lies at the root of all reverence and awe. Before the “I AM THAT I AM” our spirits lie in deepest adoration and rise into loftiest aspiration. But we need equally the other side. We need a God revealed in the essential features of His character, and it is in His dealings with men who feared and loved Him that He has made Himself known.
II. God is the Independent and Absolute One, and yet He enters into covenant and most definite relationship with men. He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. The great sea of His love has its channel and tides. His infinite love and mercy have their regular fixed ways not less than the sunshine.
III. God is the Eternal One, and yet the God of dying men. Every moment that we have of fellowship with the Eternal God assures us that for us there is no death. The thought of death only makes us cleave the more to the Eternal God.
IV. God is the Unchangeable One, yet the God of men of all different types and temperaments. He is the same Lord over all. Take these three patriarchs, so closely related in blood.
How different they were. Yet God was the God of all the three, for they all agreed in being seekers of God.
J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 35.
References: Exo 3:14.-T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. vi., p. 156; Expositor, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 12, 3rd series, vol. ii., p. 81; C. Kingsley, Gospel of the Pentateuch, p. 132; J. Travers Sherlock, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 44; R. Heber, Sermons Preached in England, pp. 102, 124. Exo 3:14, Exo 3:15.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 61. Exo 3:19, Exo 3:20.-Bishop Armstrong, Parochial Sermons, p. 239. 3-Parker, vol. ii., p. 31.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 3 The Burning Bush and the Call and Commission of Moses
1. The vision of the burning bush (Exo 3:1-3)
2. Jehovah speaks and calls Moses (Exo 3:4-10)
3. Moses answer (Exo 3:11-12)
4. The name revealed (Exo 3:13-14)
5. The commission of Moses (Exo 3:15-18)
6. The promise (Exo 3:19-22)
The two last verses of the preceding chapter form the introduction to the great manifestation of Jehovah in the burning bush and the call of Moses. Gods time had come. He heard their groaning, He remembered the covenant, and looked upon His suffering people. The scene is at Horeb, called here the mountain of God by anticipation. Moses had become a shepherd, that occupation which the Egyptians despised (Gen 46:34). It was part of Gods training by which he became very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth (Num 12:3). In his shepherd character he is the type of Christ.
The burning bush is the picture of the suffering people, the wretched slaves in Egypt . It was a thornbush. Thorns being the results of sin, it typifies the sinfulness and worthlessness of the people. The fire is the symbol of their suffering and tribulation. It has the same meaning as the smoking furnace Abraham saw in his vision. Later God called Egypt the iron furnace (Deu 4:20). The thornbush, however, is not consumed. All the fires of persecution and tribulation could not consume Israel . In the flame of the fire in the midst of the burning bush the angel of the Lord appeared. This was the secret of the preservation of the bush; God was there and kept them. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee (Isa 43:2). He is with all His people in their affliction; He preserves them and carries them through the fire. But the fire is also the figure of Gods consuming and purifying holiness. All that is unholy must be consumed by the fire. Our God is a consuming fire.
The angel of Jehovah, who addressed Moses out of the burning bush reveals His name. It shows that the Angel of Jehovah (God the Son) is God. He calls Himself the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. The triune God is thus revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Abraham, as the Father, in Isaac as the Son and in the experience of Jacob as the Holy Spirit. Our Lord quotes these words and silenced with them the unbelieving Sadducees, who rejected the doctrine of resurrection (Mat 22:31-32). The words Jehovah spoke to Moses are the expressions of His sovereign grace. What had they merited? What could they do to secure His intervention? Nothing whatever. They were in Egypt , a lot of miserable slaves, given more or less to idolatry, a sinful people. It was grace which looked upon them and heard their cry. It was grace which came down to deliver them. The work of salvation He came to do was all His own work. It foreshadows His coming down in incarnation for the work of salvation. Note the five words: 1. I have surely seen the affliction of my people; 2. I have heard their cry; 3. I have known their sorrow; 4. I have come down to deliver them; 5. And to bring them up out of the land into a good land. He is ever the same, Jehovah, who changeth not. He ever sees, hears and knows and acts in behalf of His people. He never leaves nor forsakes.
And when the Lord called Moses to send him to Pharaoh to lead His people forth, he answered, What am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt ? Forty years before in self-confidence he had undertaken the work and had run before he was sent, and now he had learned humility and his weakness. God answered his confessed distrust with the all-sufficient assurance, I will be with thee. When He sends forth He goes along to accomplish His own purposes. What encouragement for all who wait on the Lord and conscious of their own weakness, go forth in service. In response to another question, God reveals His name. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM, and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel , I AM hath sent me unto you. God had made Himself known to Abraham as Jehovah (Gen 15:7). But here He gives the explanation of His name Jehovah. The patriarchs knew the name Jehovah, but the blessed significance of that name was not known to them. He reveals Himself as the Self-Existing One, THE I AM THAT I AM. He is the One, which is, which was, which is to come (Rev 1:4). And this wonderful Name of the Unchanging, Living One, the Eternal, the Name unsearchable in its depths is the Name of our Lord who has redeemed us. When about to act in the deliverance of His enslaved people to lead them out and to bring them in, He makes Himself known as the I AM. Before Abraham was I AM (Joh 8:58). Our ever-blessed Lord is the I AM, who spoke to Moses. And what is Jehovah, the I am for His people? Well has it been said, Jehovah, in taking this title, calling Himself I AM, was furnishing His people with a blank check, to be filled up to any amount. He calls Himself I AM, and faith has but to write over against that ineffably precious name whatever we want.
In Exo 3:15 we have the hint of Jehovahs eternal relationship with His people Israel . He is still and ever will be the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. This is my name forever and this is my memorial unto all generations. Here is the hope for Israel . He hath not cast them away; He is their God still and His gifts and calling are without repentance.
The commission to Moses follows, and Jehovah telling beforehand that the king of Egypt would not let them go also promises Moses that He would smite Egypt and that when the exodus takes place, they were not to go empty-handed. This is in fulfillment of a previous promise (Gen 15:14).
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

am 2513, bc 1491
kept: Psa 78:70-72, Amo 1:1, Amo 7:14, Amo 7:15, Mat 4:18, Mat 4:19, Luk 2:8
his father: Exo 2:16, Exo 2:21, Exo 18:1-6, Num 10:29, Jdg 4:11
the mountain: Exo 3:5, Exo 18:5, Exo 19:3, Exo 19:11, Exo 24:15-17, 1Ki 19:8
Horeb: Exo 17:6, Deu 1:6, Deu 4:10, Psa 106:19, Mal 4:4
Reciprocal: Gen 4:2 – And Abel Gen 31:40 – General Gen 46:32 – shepherds Exo 2:18 – General Exo 4:18 – Jethro Exo 4:27 – the mount Exo 19:2 – camped Num 10:33 – the mount Deu 26:7 – we cried Jdg 1:16 – Moses’ 1Sa 16:19 – with the sheep 1Ki 19:19 – he with 1Ch 17:7 – I took thee Isa 37:9 – Ethiopia Act 7:30 – there Heb 1:1 – at 2Pe 1:18 – the holy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

God Reveals Himself to Moses
Exo 3:1-8
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
As we enter the Scripture for today we find Moses eighty years of age. He had spent forty years in Egypt and forty years with Jethro, his father-in-law in Midian. During all of those years the eyes of God were upon His servant. God saw Moses steadily developing into the man whom He had chosen to lead His people.
At the same time the eyes of God were fixed upon the people of Israel. He knew their burdens, and He shared their sorrows,
1. God works at both ends of the line. While on the one hand God was training Moses to be a deliverer, on the other hand He was bringing Israel to the place where they would accept deliverance. This is always true in Divine leadership. If God sends forth a Philip to speak to the eunuch, He goes before and prepares the eunuch to receive the message. In the work of God there is perfect coordination of events. If the personal worker is sent definitely to some lost soul, that lost soul will be ready to receive the worker.
2. God always has a man. to meet every crisis. As we run our minds over the Scriptures as a whole, it seems to us that an Isaiah, a Jeremiah, an Ezekiel, and a Daniel, a Peter, or a Paul arose in the nick of time to meet distinctive emergencies.
The fact, of course, is that God in His omniscience had been long preparing each of these men for the crisis which He knew was coming. There are no “happen sos” with God. He sees the end from the beginning, and He works accordingly.
3. Men should ever be ready to act when they are commanded from above. Paul said, “I was not disobedient to the Heavenly vision.” In the case of Philip and the eunuch we read, “And he arose and went.”
Moses had been swift to act when he went in the energy of his own strength, but when God spoke to him, and commanded him to go, he was very loathe to obey.
Would that the church had always had an ear open to the call of God.
When God tells you what to do,
Start to do it;
He will surely see you through,
So, pursue it:
If to Him you’re faithful, true,
He your foes will all subdue,
Needed strength He will renew;
Why not do it?
“When God tells you what to say,
Rise and say it;
Do not while the time away,
And delay it:
If God’s message you convey,
And you faithfully obey,
He will prove your rock and stay;
Why not say it?
When God tells you where to go,
Don’t forego it;
Do not wait till more you know,
God will show it:
Grace and help He will bestow,
Bless you as you onward go;
All you are to Him you owe,
Why not show it?
I. ALONE WITH GOD (Exo 3:1)
1. The shepherd-life of Moses. It is refreshing to behold Moses keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law. The shepherd-life is a life of privileges. Moses, mixed in the political, social furor of Egypt, had but little time to fellowship with God. While keeping the flock, he had marvelous opportunities to hear the Lord when He spoke to him. He was a shepherd, and, as he shepherded his flocks he learned many a lesson that proved full of value to him in the days when he shepherded the Children of Israel. The Lord of Moses was also a Shepherd, and we are His sheep.
2. Moses at the backside of the desert. The expression of our verse, “and he led the flock to the backside of the desert” is most meaningful. It is there, in the place uninhabited and quiet, that God found the opportunity to speak in a still small voice to Moses. At the same time, Moses was made ready to hear that voice.
Perhaps, there was a sense of loneliness on Moses’ part. He felt that he was shut in with God, and shut out from many things which the flesh might have enjoyed. When we think of Moses at the backside of the desert, we think of many a lonely heart, sick and worn, or perhaps aged, shut in their little rooms.
Shut in from dale and glen,
Shut in from blooming bowers,
Shut in your lonesome den
Through trying, weary hours.
The world goes on its way
Unmindful of your gloom;
Alone you sit and pray,
Shut in your little room.
Yet, not shut in, alone,
The Lord is with you there,
He fills your heart with song,
He takes away your care.
Shut in you see His face,
His glories you explore;
You roam in realms of grace,
With Him whom you adore.
II. THE MINISTRY OF THE BURNING BUSH (Exo 3:2)
In this verse we read, “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, * * the bush was not consumed.” In this remarkable vision which Moses saw there are three suggested things:
1. A persecuted people. The bush burning was an apt portraiture of a people under oppression. The Children of Israel were indeed in the flames of affliction. They felt that the fire was hotter than they could bear. We need not be surprised, however, because in the world we have tribulation. If they called our Master, Beelzebub, they will call us the same. If they persecuted Him, they will persecute us. The truth is that it is given to us to suffer for His sake as well as to believe on His Name.
2. A preserved people. The bush was burning, but not consumed. This was the history of Israel up to that time. It has been the history of Israel up to this time. Israel has ever been burned, but never consumed. Other types of this same preservation are those of Daniel in the lions’ den, the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, and Jonah swallowed by a great fish, but not digested. Jesus Christ plainly taught that we were safely shielded in Him against every wile of the devil.
3. A protected people. Preserved, yes, but also protected. God will not suffer His own to be destroyed. When we think of Israel during the centuries we can easily see how the hand of God led them out, and led them on. The Jew must ever remain the supreme and unexplained miracle of the age. Without a king, a prince, and without an ephod, they have been preserved on the one hand and protected on the other hand unto this hour. God’s eye has been upon the sparrow; how much more has it been upon His people!
III. A HEART OF INQUIRY (Exo 3:3)
Our key text reads that Moses said, “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
1. Taking time to turn aside. This is such a busy world that very few people are willing to turn aside from the rush in order to see or to hear God. The hymn says, “Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord; Abide with Him always, and trust in His Word.” Too many lives are so filled with this and with that that they forget to hear the voice of God.
2. Seeking to see a great sight. Some one has said that there is many a bush ablaze with the glory of God, but only he sees who takes time to step aside and to take off his shoes.
We wrote a little poem not long ago on this theme:
Day by day I’ll take my place,
Prostrate at the throne of grace,
As I see my Father’s blessing from on high;
There, I’ll cast my ev’ry care,
Leave it at the place of prayer,
And His peace and joy I’ll share
While He is nigh.
There, within my close shut door,
I my Lord will oft adore,
Hid away from ev’ry vexing care and strife:
His dear Name I will repeat,
As I worship at His feet,
In my happy, blest retreat;
He is my life.
3. Inquiry and illumination. Moses stopped to inquire. The result was that God illuminated his mind. Whenever we seek to know God, He is delighted to manifest Himself unto us. Then shall ye know, when ye follow on to know the Lord.
IV. THE OBSERVING CHRIST (Exo 3:4)
Here is the way the verse reads: “And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”
1. Christ is looking and longing for hearts that look and long. What we mean is this; our Lord is watching us to see if we are truly and profoundly interested in the things of God. It is not the outward life that appeals to the Master so much as the inside heart-throbs, the promptings, the yearnings, and the longings of the soul. “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” Man sees things as they appear; Christ sees things as they are.
We wonder, dear young people, if our Lord finds in us that spirit which yearns after Him, the spirit that will turn aside to look and to see,
2. The Lord calling with concentrated animation. When the Lord saw Moses approaching the bush He called out, “Moses, Moses.” A repetition of words always portrays animation and intensity. It was thus that God called unto Abraham as, with lifted sword, he was about to slay his son. God was animated and cried: “Abraham, Abraham, * * lay not thine hand upon the lad!”
3. Christ uttered a warning of sacred significance. He said unto Moses, “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Moses was about to approach into the presence of God, but he knew it not. God was instructing Moses lest he should ruthlessly and unwittingly draw nigh to Him in the energy of his flesh. The prayer the Lord taught His disciples began with “Hallowed by Thy Name.” When we approach Him we must come in the spirit of reverence, and, as it were, with the sandals off our feet.
V. THE REVEALING CHRIST (Exo 3:6)
“Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
1. We have revelation with a pledge of perpetuity. When God said, “I am the God of Abraham” He held His blessings to one, but when He said, “the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” He showed that His pledge of favor was passing from age to age, from generation to generation. There is something, however, even more striking, because Christ said, “I am the God of thy father,” thus linking up Moses with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and therefore with the promises vouchsafed to them. God passes His pledge of protection and blessing from generation to generation, from father to son.
2. We have a revelation with a pledge of the promises of God. God’s promises pass from father to son, the same as do His grace and His mercy. God said unto Abraham, “I will bless thee.” That blessing and everything it contained included every child of Abraham even unto this day. It particularly followed the line of blessing and of promise down through a genealogy of successful sons until Christ, the seed of Abraham, was born of Mary who was also, through her father, Abraham’s seed.
3. We have a revelation of present aid based upon past favors. God seemed to say to Moses, “As I was the Father of Abraham and of Isaac, and of Jacob, so will I be a Father unto you. As I blessed them, I will bless you.” We, therefore, as Christians, have a perfect right to plead God’s past grace as a pledge of present favor. He, who has blessed, will bless; He, who has worked, will work.
VI. A THREEFOLD ASSURANCE (Exo 3:7-8)
Three statements are made in the two verses before us. (1) “The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt.” (2) “I have heard their cry.” (3) “I am come down to deliver them.”
1. “I have surely seen.” What was it that God had seen? He said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt.” The suggestion is that the God who was in Midian was also the God who was in Egypt-a suggestion of the omnipresence of God.
What is it that God sees? Of course, we always think of Him as seeing us in our sins. We know there is not a word under our tongue but He knows it altogether. Yes, He knows every thought. We think of Him as seeing us in our deeds and acts, but the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people.”
These words are suggestive of a sympathetic Christ. His eyes are going throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of the needy. He sees our sorrows, and our struggles, our penury and our pain.
2. “I have heard.” Israel had evidently been praying for God had heard their cry. Their prayers had come by reason of their taskmasters. They had evidently neglected their prayer-life and their fellowship with God until, in the hour of their need, they were driven to Him. The words, “I have heard” give us so much comfort. If He heard Israel, He will also hear us.
3. “I am come.” First, “I have surely seen,” second, “I have heard,” and third, “I am come down to deliver.” Our God is not only a God who sees and hears. He is a God of the stretched-forth hand. He is the God who rescues, the God who helps. As we weigh these words we cannot but think of how our Savior said, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world.” He came into the world because He had seen the ravages of sin.
VII. A THREEFOLD UNDERTAKING (Exo 3:7-8)
There were three things which God promised to do:
1. He promised to deliver them from Egypt. This deliverance seemed almost impossible. To be sure, Israel had grown to great proportions numerically, yet the Egyptians had them wholly under their power. Israel was unarmed, while the Egyptians were armed. Israel was a people of slaves, while the Egyptians were the masters. The impossible, however, to God became possible. The Lord did not hesitate because there was no hope for Israel, humanly speaking. He faced every difficulty, every danger, every impossibility, and with all assurance said, “I am come down to deliver.” There are never any question marks with God when He undertakes.
2. He promised to carry them through the wilderness. Here was another great promise. Deliverance was one thing; carrying them through the wilderness was another thing. Between Egypt and the land of Canaan there was a waste and howling desert infested with wild beasts and every seeming hindrance to travel. There was no water with which to quench thirst, and there was no food with which to satisfy hunger. Once more, however, the Lord faced that which seemed impossible, and said, “I am come * * to bring them up out of that land unto a good land.” God counted the deed as done before the march had begun,
3. He promised to bring them into a good land, a land which flowed with milk and honey. That good land, however, was a land infested with Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The good land, in other words, and the large land, the land of milk and honey, was not a land lying open and ready for their entrance. It was a land possessed by seven nations, strong and mighty. It was a land where the Anakim ruled, where the giants reigned, and where Satan held full possession. This meant nothing to God, for He was able to lead them through, and to lead them in.
AN ILLUSTRATION
GRACE FOR USE, AND NOT TO BE PLAYED WITH
“Grace is not only ‘Donum,’ but ‘Taletum.’ Grace is not given, as a piece of money, to a child to play withal, but as we give money to factors, to trade withal for us.” Everything is practical in the great gifts of God. He plants His trees that they may bear fruit, and sows His seed that a harvest may come of it. We may trifle and speculate; God never does so. When a man imagines that grace is given merely to make him comfortable, to give him a superiority over his fellows, or to enable him to avoid deserved censure, he knows not the design of the Lord in the bestowal of grace, and, indeed, he is a stranger to the grand secret. God works in us that we may work, He saves us that we may serve Him, and enriches us with grace that the riches of His glory may be displayed.
Are we putting out our talents to proper interest? Do we use the grace bestowed upon us? “He giveth more grace,” but not to those who neglect what they have. Men do not long trust ill stewards. Lord, help us so to act that we may render our account with joy and not with grief.-Chas. H. Spurgeon.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

Section 3. (Exo 3:1-22; Exo 4:1-17.)
God’s revelation of Himself.
The glory of the gospel is that God is revealed in it. He is making known for all eternity, and to all His creatures, “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:7.) For us also “all things that pertain to life and godliness are given in the knowledge of Him who hath called us.” (2Pe 1:3.) We had lost such knowledge as we had, or as creation would have afforded us. Now both we and principalities and powers in heavenly places are to learn what puts into our mouths a “new song.” In the section now before us, God, in calling Moses to the work for which He has been preparing him, reveals to him Himself.
1. The shepherd is the fitting type of the divine Deliverer and King. So, afterward, God “chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes great with young He brought him, to feed Jacob His people and Israel His inheritance.” (Psa 78:70-71.) So the beautiful expression in the second chapter of the gospel of Matthew, which speaks of Christ as the Governor who shall “rule” God’s people Israel, is literally “shall be a Shepherd” to them. This is God’s thought. Thus He trains up Moses, after all that he had learned in the palace in Egypt, forty years in the desert in simple shepherd work, until he is fit for the power to be entrusted to him -the meekest man on earth (Num 12:3). And such is the Shepherd God has appointed us (Mat 11:29).
We find, then, Moses, in the course of his service, now at Horeb, the mount of God. Here the angel of Jehovah appears to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And the bush burns with fire, yet is not consumed. There from the bush the Lord addresses him, and, as the angel of the bush, gives him, his commission.
God had before, and in reference to this very captivity in Egypt, revealed Himself under the similitude of fire. The “smoking furnace” had been His symbol when in covenanting with Abraham He passed between the pieces of the sacrifice. It is to the deep sleep which overpowers him there, and the horror of great darkness which falls upon him, that the vision which follows addresses itself. The smoking furnace and the burning lamp are what the deep sleep and the darkness respectively demand; and these the sacrifice secures and the faithfulness of God supplies to His people. If the activity and vigilance of faith fail, the furnace will not fail as the appointed means of purification; while for the darkness the burning lamp is equally provided.
Thus the fiery trial which was trying them in Egypt was in reality God’s remembrance of His covenant with Abraham; and if we look at this thorn-bush, for such it is, it is a very striking picture of the people. The thorns and briars are a figure of those “sons of Belial” of whom David speaks as to be “all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands.” Thorns were a sign of the curse at the beginning; and are, in fact, abortive leaves or branches, easily read as this, -parts of a plant incapable of fulfilling their original purpose. Sinners are thus, in this symbol, naturally connected with the curse upon sin. But the thorn-bush here is not consumed, for the angel of Jehovah, the covenant-God, is in the fire. The tribulation is the means ordained of God in grace to work repentance; and so the grace that takes us up ordains for us all necessary discipline.
The wonder attracts Moses, and he turns aside to see. This is the first design of a miracle -to force men, by the mystery in it, to attention. And those who draw nigh with unshod feet, as Moses did, find in it a “sign” -a thing significant of divine “power” working in man’s behalf. These are the three Scripture terms for miracles: “wonders,” “signs,” “powers.” How many of these offer themselves still in nature and in Scripture, and in what we call “providence,” to engage our interest, if we have but hearts to ponder them! For the Scripture miracles have thus still their evidences, and are proofs still of what they are attached to, -not burdens upon the evidence, as men say.
Here, then, out of this bush God declares Himself to Moses, and to us, the triune God of revelation, God of his fathers, -the self-same God all through.
2. This God is to be known as the God of salvation, for only thus can He be the object of love or worship (Joh 4:22). And for this, it is not enough that He speak the word from heaven: He must “come down to deliver;” words which necessarily carry us on beyond the pillar of cloud in which His presence was manifested then to Israel, to the incarnation and the cross. In this “coming down” of God all the sweetness and power of salvation are. God is declared in it, and the manifestation abides for us in the perpetual humanity of the Lord Jesus. “Christ come in flesh” is thus the test, with the apostle, of the utterance of the Spirit of God. (1Jn 4:2-3.)
Salvation by such an one must be a complete salvation; and it is not complete until the land of promise is their own. Six nations are specified here as to be overthrown, -the full power of evil, and the land is a good land and a large, flowing with milk and honey. It is not a land of straitness, as Egypt is, -and heaven is not conditioned by the needs and struggles of earth. The “river” is not at strife with the desert there. There is all “fatness,” which the word for milk literally means, and all sweetness, as the honey implies. Salvation for us must issue in satisfaction, or it is not salvation. Our Canaan, as we shall later learn, is to be entered upon now by faith.
Moses objects his personal unfitness, but this only brings the assurance that God is with him, so that self-distrust need not be discouragement. Nay, the more complete it is, the more will God’s all-sufficiency be realized. He is solemnly assured, for his encouragement, that the people brought forth by him shall serve God upon that mount; and this is what is the fruit of salvation, and the sign of who hath wrought in it, that it thus brings back to Him in obedience the former slaves of sin.
3. And now we come to what is of the deepest importance -the name of God according to which He takes up, and can alone take up, the people. The question as to this is clearly not of His historical name simply. Names have in the present day so little significance, -stand so much as mere algebraical symbols for unknown quantities, -that we have need to be reminded of the different manner in which Scripture uses them, and indeed in which people of old regarded them. In Scripture, all names appear to have -often a prophetic -significance, of which those who gave them were in general profoundly unconscious, while guided thus by a wisdom quite beyond their own. The names of God especially express what He is Himself, -are a revelation of His attributes; and the question Moses puts in the mouth of the people, “What is His name?” implies, “In what way are we to interpret His present actings? What do they mean? Why is it that He does this?” The answer, therefore, must answer questions such as these, and it should be evident that this will not be given best by God declaring Himself under some new name, but rather by flashing some new significance out of an old one. Thus His present acts will be made only to bring out in fresh glory attributes that were but dimly seen before, and He will be seen to be consistent with Himself all through, while yet more and more revealing Himself.
Thus the difficulty is cleared up where God says afterwards, speaking of the patriarchs, “By My name,” or “According to My name ‘Jehovah’ was I not known unto them.” This is not in the least a denial of the fact that even before the flood “men began to call on the name of Jehovah,” or that Abraham also built his altars to Jehovah, and called upon His name. It means, rather, that the significance of that name had not yet been properly told out. Now it was to be. Israel’s deliverance was to illustrate Jehovah’s name so as to make it His memorial name for all generations; and in it Israel should find their abiding ground of confidence.*
{*What, then, is this name, “Jehovah?” Almost the whole consensus of commentators agree, and I see no possible ground of dissent from it, that it means “He who is.” Thus the connection with “I am,” which the Lord’s words to Moses naturally imply, is clear at once; and in the version I have ventured to give, though with few among moderns perhaps to agree with me, it is equally clear with the first title He takes but a few words before it. Here most read, indeed, with the common English version, “I am that I am.” The Septuagint, however, gives Ego eimi ho on,” I am He who is,” and my own version is substantially the same, though more literal, – “I am I who am.” I must say a few words in justification of this rendering.
The common version makes an apparent disjunction of thought between “I am that I am” and the “I am” that follows it. Although this does not seem in general to be conceded, yet they are surely not the same. “I am” speaks of God as the Living and Unchanging God; “I am that I am” speaks rather of, or implies the Inscrutable One, whose vail cannot be lifted. These thoughts are in no wise the same; nor do they seem connected. “I am that I am” appears rather a rebuke to the question, “What is His name?” than an answer to it. Yet the answer is given immediately in the “I am” that follows.
The first “I am” does not seem part of the name, any more than it would be if it were said, “I am Jehovah;” and this would be, if we judge by the connection, its real equivalent. It is exactly the Septuagint “I am He who Is,” and the rendering “I am I who am,” while strictly literal, brings all into harmony.}
“I am” is the Living, Unchanging, Self-existent One, necessarily independent of all others. As such, He acts from Himself in necessary independence also; and here is the ground of redemption, God acting from Himself, and, therefore, according to what He is Himself. God is showing forth Himself, showing forth the riches of His grace in His kindness toward us, glorifying Himself, letting the light of His glory shine. Is it not worthy of Him? We reason from ourselves to God, and can make nothing of it. We are sinners, and can merit nothing: why should not He punish, how can He do aught but punish, sin? How blessed, then, to hear Him say, “I, even I, am He who blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake.” (Isa 43:25.) Who can deny His right in this, if He chooses to do it, and declares that He has done it?
Jehovah, then, is the living, unchangeable God, acting from Himself, finding in Himself the argument for what He does. How suitable a name for the God of redemption – the covenant-name!
And this is closely connected with what He at the same time declares Himself to be – the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; for as this He fulfils an absolute promise which He had given, and by which He stood pledged, apart from all question of what they were. He was thus plainly acting from Himself, and for His own sake. But this is not all: in connecting Himself with these three men He was surely telling out Himself in a peculiar way. Why just these three? To us now it should be plain at least. Who can read the twenty-second of Genesis without finding in the offerer and the offered there another Father than Abraham, another Son than Isaac? Again too in the epistle to the Galatians, Isaac, the child of the free-woman, is shown to typify those who have now received the adoption – the free-born sons of God, and Abraham here again is the shadow of Him who is our God and Father. The God of Jacob once more declares the divine power which takes up the most intractable material to fashion it into a vessel for the Master’s use: and this is the office of the Holy Ghost. Thus Father, Son, and Spirit are really in some true sense shown in the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; and these are but Jehovah, the God of redemption, fully manifested. How clearly can we understand Him, then, when He says, “This is My name forever; and this is My memorial to all generations.”
Here, then, is the ground of redemption – that upon which a soul can surely rest, revealed in God’s covenant-name. He is the Self-existent One, who acts necessarily from Himself and according to His own nature: “all things were created by Him and for Him.” (Col 1:16.) That this is said of Christ shows at once who Christ is, and how truly He is the full expression of the divine mind. God is revealing Himself, acting for the display of Himself, -the joy and blessing of His creatures. And this is the true thought of His glorifying Himself, not as if glory could be conferred upon Him, or as if He craved or had need of something from His creatures. “Love seeketh not her own “(1Co 13:5), and “God is love.” If He seek His own glory, it is to fill as the sun the heavens with His brightness. This is grace, and the theme of His people’s praise forever.
4. In the accomplishment of His purpose, the Lord reveals the state of the world, -its opposition to Himself, its false trusts, its pride and feebleness. This is the meaning of all this parleying with Pharaoh, and the measured succession of judgments upon the land. His people needed the lesson, and, given in a manner so public, all who would might learn it. God foretells the result, that they may not be discouraged or disappointed. We may learn before experience, if we will, by the Word of God, all that we are and all the world is. How much would we be spared if we would learn thus!
5. As the result of all this, moreover, the wealth of the world passes into the hands of the people of God. “All things are yours,” says the apostle; “whether the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, -all are yours.” (1Co 3:22.) Men out of Christ, as they have right to nothing, so indeed they possess nothing. In the end, it will be found so. “Godliness” it is that “hath promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come.” (1Ti 4:8.) They who go as pilgrims out of the world yet carry with them all the good of the world, and the world that would enjoy it must yield it up to them. To him who belongs to the world the world cannot belong.
6. Moses is still unready. He objects the unbelief of the people, and is hindered by his own. The Lord gives him three signs, witnessing of the power at work in behalf of the people -signs which are to witness for him as the deliverer raised up of God for them. They must have faith in the deliverer in order to find the deliverance; and so it is today: faith in Christ Himself is the first and absolutely necessary thing upon which all else depends.
(1.) The sign of the rod comes first. The rod is the sign of power -“the rod of Thy power” (Psa 110:2) -here, as we know, in the shepherd’s hands, who, as we have seen, is the very type of royalty according to God. Even the iron rod with which Christ will smite His enemies is still represented as in a shepherd’s hands. In all passages, it reads really, “He shall shepherd them with an iron rod.” (Rev 2:27.) Severely as it may smite, love guides it. Woe indeed to those whom everlasting love has thus to smite!
The rod in Moses’ hand is, then, the type of power -divine, and characterized by tenderness and care, as a shepherd’s rod. But Moses is told to cast it on the ground; and out of his hand the rod changes its character -it becomes a serpent. Plainly enough the type can be read here. Who that looks round upon the earth with the thought in his mind of power being in the hands of eternal love but must own to strange bewilderment at finding every where what seems so completely to negative the supposition? Scripture itself puts the question in its full strength: “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee, which frameth mischief by a law?” (Psa 94:20.)
The rod is to all appearance out of the Shepherd’s hand, and “the prince of this world” is now not Christ, but Satan. The claim he once made to universal empire, before the Son of God Himself, has but too much truth in it: and so the dragon is pictured in Revelation with the heads and horns of the imperial beast. (Rev 12:3.)
There is no doubt that there is a special reference to Egypt here, which Moses and the Israelites would readily understand. “The asp played a conspicuous part in Egyptian mythology. It was the emblem of the goddess Ranno, the snake of Neph, the hieroglyphic of ‘goddess,’ and the sign of royalty. From this last use it was called ‘Uraeus,’ from ouro, king, and basiliskos, royal. Egypt was, therefore, not obscurely pointed out as the adversary of God and His people at this time.” -(Murphy’s Exodus.)
But Egypt itself is a type of the world at large, as we have seen; and the meaning, while it includes this, is much broader. Every where, we find the apparent contradiction which sin has wrought. The rod seems not in His hand to whom it belongs, but on the ground, and satanic. But observe the beautiful accuracy of the type, and the comfort prepared for us in it. The rod was cast out of Moses’ hand -did not slip out. God has not lost control of the world after all: of His own will, and for purposes of highest wisdom, He has permitted man’s self-chosen subjection to demon rule. But if the Lord come in, as in the scene at Gadara, Satan is displaced at once: the victim is delivered without an effort. Alas! this only brings out the real foundation of satanic empire, in man’s rejection of the Deliverer. The people pray Him to depart out of their coasts!
“Judgment shall” yet “return unto righteousness” (Psa 94:15), and Satan be vanquished, and cast out of his usurped dominion. Meanwhile, the rod of power is found on the side of love with Him who is the Deliverer from Satan’s tyranny. “He is gone up on high; He has led captivity captive,” and having spoiled principalities and powers, made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Psa 68:18; Col 2:15.) Here is man’s first need met.
(2) The second sign is that of sin and its cleansing; for that is, above all, what marks the condition of man. Leprosy is the Old Testament type of sin in its loathsomeness and malignity, and power to spread. It is shown us in it as no mere accident, or local thing, but a virulent, growing, contagious evil, deeper than the surface, not to be measured by the outward appearance, and absolutely fatal, unless God come in to save. In Moses’ case it is strikingly pictured as that which from the heart affects the hand, not from the hand the heart. The clean hand placed in the bosom is drawn out leprous -white as death. “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Be sure, if the hand be leprous, the heart is not better, but worse: it is the seat of the whole disease. And cleansing must begin accordingly, not with the hand, but with the heart.
So with the type here. Moses’ hand thrust into the bosom becomes leprous; thrust into his bosom again, it is restored. Defilement and cleansing both begin at the heart. What has cleansed the heart? No remedial process is seen in this case, but the way to cleansing is very simply shown. For leprosy in the heart is sin hidden, but leprosy on the hand is sin exposed. The hand plucked out of the bosom makes manifest what is there. And “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jn 1:9.) Here, it is leprosy in the hand that is manifested; not the mere confession of sin being in our hearts or in our natures, but of sin actually committed -a very different thing. We can own easily, and without any conscience, that we are all sinners, but it is for the sins actually committed we feel we are responsible before God.
Repentance and remission of sins God has joined together. (Luk 24:47.) Faith owns the righteous judgment of God, according to His Word, and finds remission of sins preached through Christ by the same infallible Word. Forgiveness it is that purifies the heart, faith working by love (Luk 7:47); and thus the blessedness becomes ours of “the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Psa 32:1.)
(3) The third sign predicts judgment for obstinate unbelief. The stream of life and blessing which is ministered to us here from God becomes wrath and judgment if, after all, His goodness lead not to repentance, -every blessing becoming in the end but judgment if a Saviour’s voice be disregarded. Here, that is given as a sign to Israel which is given as a testimony to Pharaoh afterward. God’s principles are unchanging, and unbelief, even in a believer, will find its judgment, while, by the same Word, as a believer, he is, as to eternal condemnation, free forever.
Thus, as there is salvation for sin, so on the other hand there must be faith in order to salvation. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (Joh 3:36.)
7. But Moses still objects; and evil as is this slowness of heart to respond to the grace of God, that grace nevertheless, still sovereign over it, makes it the occasion of the more perfect display of what is in His heart. Moses cannot yet speak, and God provides now for him one who is to be his mouth-piece to the people. This is Aaron, in God’s mind the designed high-priest of Israel, though not yet revealed as that. It is as Moses’ “prophet” that he is here announced, -his associate and complement in the great work which God had committed to them. Provision is now completely made.
Taking in, however, what in the purpose of God he was, Aaron as the priest is indeed the complement of Moses, and together they are the double type of Christ. In Him, king and priest are united, -redemption by power and by blood: without the latter, there could not be the former. Priesthood alone can interpret the Deliverer: sacrifice alone account for salvation. This, in its true import, Israel has not yet learned: there, Moses is delayed by his need of Aaron; when they look upon Him, they shall not only see One whom they have pierced, but know why He had to stoop to that unequaled humiliation.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

Exo 3:1. Now Moses The years of Mosess life are remarkably divided into three forties; the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaohs court, the second a shepherd in Midian, the third a king in Jeshurun. He had now finished his second forty when he received his commission to bring Israel out of Egypt. Sometimes it is long before God calls his servants out to that work which of old he designed them for. Moses was born to be Israels deliverer, and yet not a word is said of him till he is eighty years of age. To the mountain of God So called, either from the vision of God here following, (see Act 7:30,) or by anticipation, from Gods glorious appearance there, and his giving the law from thence. Even to Horeb Called also Sinai, Exo 19:1. Probably Horeb was the name of the whole tract of mountains, and Sinai the name of that particular elevation where the vision happened, and the law was delivered: or Horeb and Sinai were two different summits of the same mountain.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Exo 3:1. Horeb and Sinai are the same mountain, almost surrounded by two branches of the Red sea. But it has two summits, Sinai on the east, and Horeb on the west. Justinian built a monastery here, and made it the seat of a bishop. They show strangers the identical spot where Moses, by the Lords command, caused the waters to flow. The Mussulmans have this place in very great veneration.
Exo 3:2. Angel of the Lord. Malack, the messenger, the angel of the covenant. Mal 3:1.
Exo 3:5. Put off thy shoes. The ancient priests officiated barefoot. Men in general washed their hands and their feet, and purified themselves before they approached the altar.
Exo 3:6. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face. And not only Moses, but the Israelites in future ages, when entreating the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush to accompany them and to bless their children, assuredly understood this Angel of the Covenant to be the God of their fathers, eternal and uncreated. A succession of the christian fathers, Justin, Hilary, Theophylact, Eusebius, Chrysostom, and Ambrose have so understood it. Tertullian, who flourished at the close of the second century, is ample on this head. Following Irenus and others, he says that He who spake to Moses was himself the Son of God. Qui ad Moysen loquebatur, ipse erat Dei Filius. Contra Judos, cap. 9. He asserts farther, that the Son, from the beginning exercised judgment, overthrowing the proud tower, confounding the language, dispersing the tribes, punishing the whole earth with the violence of the waters, raining on Sodom and Gomorrah fire and brimstone from Jehovah. For he had always descended in human [or angelic] figure to converse with men, from Adam to the patriarchs and prophets, in visions, in dreams, in figures and shadows, always instructing them from the beginning, &c. Adversus Prax. cap. 16. Irenus also affirms that the of the Greeks was the Jehovah of the Hebrews.
Exo 3:8. A good land and large, compared with the Delta or fork of the Nile, in which they had lived. From Beersheba, the south west point, to the colony of Dan, Judges 7., was about 180 miles, and the breadth from the sea to Gilead about 100 miles.
Exo 3:14. I am that I am. EHEYEH asher EHEYEH. I will be that I will be. The Septuaginta read, , I am he who is. Our version follows Jerome. In the next verse, the great, the glorious, and constant name of the Divinity is JEHOVAH, called by the rabbins the Tetragrammaton, because it is composed of four letters, designating the past, the present, and the future. Ex. Ejeh, fuit, he was; erit, he will or shall be; ens, being, existence, he is. St. John has four times given us the same etymon. I am he who is, and who was, and who is to come. Rev 1:4; Rev 1:8; Rev 4:8; Rev 11:17. The reader needs but one remark, to pray that God would write his name on the heart. A multitude of glosses have been examined, but without affording any additional light. See more on Joh 8:58.We may add however, as a collateral, that in the temple of Minerva at Sas in Egypt, in which the kings of that province were interred, and visited by Herodotus, as in his Euterpe, and afterwards by Plutarch, the Greek word , one, or as others read, Thou art, was on that temple, which, no doubt, was anterior to any acquaintance of that nation with the writings of Moses. The same letters, according to Plutarch, were inscribed on the far-famed temple of Delphos.
Exo 3:22. Every woman shall borrow. God foretold that this should be, Gen 15:14. Deu 15:13-14. The men were also to borrow, Exo 11:2. The women of Israel were much employed as servants in the houses of the Egyptians; and that nation worshipped their gods with their persons decorated with jewels. But there is an appearance of guile and deceit in the Israelites, and guile and deceit by Gods command. This arises from our not taking the whole history in a collective view, and from our not being better acquainted with the manners of the east. It was usual for servants to receive a present at the expiration of a servitude. Had the original been translated ask instead of borrow; that is, fairly and openly ask for Gods service, and as the just reward for past labours and sufferings, the difficulty would have been very much removed. It is evident however that there was no deceit in asking those favours, because the Egyptians became at last urgent with them to depart; for they said, we be all dead men. See on Exo 8:26.
REFLECTIONS.
Moses so distinguished in Egypt by his literature, and heroic actions, we here find a humble shepherd in the land of Midian. Here was greatness in exile, and virtue in obscurity; and his wisdom and virtue appear to the greater advantage by his becoming contented and happy with his lot. A man forgets the calamities of greatness in the happier toils of humble life. Making the voyage of immortality, and in the same ship, it is of little moment whether we stand at the helm, or run before the mast. And who can say that by adversity God is not preparing the sufferers for true greatness and eternal joy.
It was in the laborious duties of life, that Jehovah appeared to his servant; so is he wont to bless his people while labouring with their hands. But how awful, how sanctifying was Gods approach, even to his favourite servant. Moses saw the bush ensheeted with flame. Not knowing what unlucky man had kindled the fire, he looked on, expecting to see nothing but the wreck of the fire, and was astonished to see the bush all verdant and irradiated in the flame. Sanctifying awe and amazement seized his soul: a voice called him twice by name and said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham. In this bush we see Israel preserved and flourishing in Egypt; we see the true church flourish and growing in the fiery trial, and her virtues brightened by affliction. We see the good man preserved unhurt in the furnace, for he that dwelt in the bush, ever mindful of his promises, comes down to deliver his people.
We cannot but mark here the faithfulness of God to his covenant and promises made to Abraham. Genesis 15. Forty years had now elapsed, since Moses exile, and Israel had almost forgotten their hope; but God had not forgotten his promise. He awaited, on the one hand, till the iniquity of the Amorites was full; and on the other, till Israel was sufficiently multiplied. Let all men therefore, while labouring under the calamities of life, learn to hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God.
But ministers of religion may find here much instruction; for no man can act for God without a divine call. Parents may devote a son to the sanctuary, and perhaps the vows of their heart may be of the Lord. But the query is, whether the Lord will accept their offering, and whether their motives are pure? Let them tremble, for they may indeed do harm, and make a child unhappy for life. When a man, already regenerate, feels himself pressed in the spirit to call sinners to repentance, he should, intimidated at the greatness of the work, urge his weakness, ignorance and infirmities, with deference to the divine will. Our inability is often an argument of diligence, rather than of totally declining an inward call to do good. And if a man, after urging all his weakness in excuse, finds that he cannot rest without making some efforts to help mankind out of the bondage of sin; he ought to exert himself for God, as his situation and circumstances may direct.
When a man is satisfied of his call, he ought not to be too much discouraged by weakness, infirmities, or the fear of man. Pharaoh was great, but Jehovah was greater; the Egyptians were powerful, but Gods arm was more so. Moses was slow of speech, but God gave him wisdom and eloquence, which baffled all his foes, whether Jews or Egyptians. And what can be more glorious than a life of efforts to emancipate mankind from the darkness and dominion of sin. What more divine than to bring man into a nearer resemblance of his Maker; to do him good in body and soul, for time and eternity! Let men so persuaded of their call, and qualified of God, leave their flocks, and speak boldly to a captive world; and persuade them by every argument to break off their sins, and seek the inheritance of heaven.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Exodus 3
We shall now resume the personal history of Moses, and contemplate him during that deeply-interesting period of his career which he spent in retirement-a period including, as we should say, forty of his very best years – the prime of life. This is full of meaning. The Lord had graciously, wisely, and faithfully, led His dear servant apart from the eyes and thoughts of men, in order that He might train him under His own immediate hand. Moses needed this. True, he had spent forty years in the house of Pharaoh; and, while his sojourn there was not without its influence and value, yet was it as nothing when compared with his sojourn in the desert. The former might be valuable; but the latter was indispensable.
Nothing can possibly make up for the lack of secret communion with God, or the training and discipline of His school “All the wisdom of the Egyptians” would not have qualified Moses for his future path. He might have pursued a most brilliant course through the schools and colleges of Egypt. He might have come forth laden with literary honours – his intellect stored with learning, and his heart full of pride and self-sufficiency. He might have taken out his degree in the school of man, and yet have to learn his alphabet in the school of God. Mere human wisdom and learning; how valuable soever in themselves, can never constitute any one a servant of God, nor equip him for any department of divine service. Such things may qualify unrenewed nature to figure before the world; but the man whom God will use must be endowed with widely different qualifications – such qualifications as can alone be found in the deep and hallowed retirement of the Lord’s presence.
All God’s servants have been made to know and experience the truth of these statements. Moses at Horeb, Elijah at Cherith, Ezekiel at Chebar, Paul in Arabia, and John at Patmos, are all striking examples of the immense practical importance of being alone with God. and when we look at the Divine Servant, we find that the time He spent in private was nearly ten times as long as that which He spent in public. He, though perfect in understanding and in will, spent nearly thirty years in the obscurity of a carpenter’s house at Nazareth, ere He made His appearance in public. And, even when He had entered upon His public career, how oft did He retreat from the gaze of men, to enjoy the sweet and sacred retirement of the divine presence!
Now we may feel disposed to ask, how could the urgent demand for workmen ever be met, if all need such protracted training, in secret, ere they come forth to their work? This is the Master’s care – not ours. He can provide the workmen, and He can train them also. This is not man’s work. God alone can provide and prepare a true minister. Nor is it a question with Him as to the length of time needful for the education of such an one. We know He could educate him in a moment, if it were His will to do so. One thing is evident, namely, that God has had all His servants very much alone with Himself, both before and after their entrance upon their public work; nor will any one ever get on without this. The absence of secret training and discipline will, necessarily leave us barren, superficial, and theoretic. A man who ventures forth upon a public career ere he has duly weighed himself in the balances of the sanctuary, or measured himself in the presence of God, is like a ship putting out to sea without proper ballast: he will doubtless overset with the first stiff breeze. On the contrary, there is a depth, a solidity, and a steadiness flowing from our having passed from form to form in the school of God, which are essential elements in the formation of the character of a true and effective servant of God.
Hence, therefore, when we find Moses, at the age of forty years, taken apart from all the dignity and splendour of a court, for the purpose of spending forty years in the obscurity of a desert, we are led to expect a remarkable course of service; nor are we disappointed. The man whom God educates, is educated, and none other. It lies not within the range of man to prepare an instrument for the service of God. The hand of man could never mould “a vessel meet for the Master’s use.” The One who is to use the vessel can alone prepare it; and we have before us a singularly beautiful sample of His mode of preparation.
“Now, Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.” (Ex. 3: 1) Here, then, we have a marvellous change of circumstances. In Genesis 46: 31, we read, “every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians;” and yet Moses, who was “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,” is transferred from the Egyptian court to the back of a mountain to tend a flock of sheep, and to be educated for the service of God. Assuredly, this is not “the manner of man.” This is not nature’s line of things. Flesh and blood could not understand this. We should have thought that Moses’ education was finished when he had become master of all Egypt’s wisdom, and that, moreover, in immediate connection with the rare advantages which a court life affords. We should have expected to find in one so highly favoured, not only a solid and varied education; but also such an exquisite polish as would fit him for any sphere of action to which he might be called. But then, to find such a man with such attainments, called away from such a position to mind sheep at the back of a mountain, is something entirely beyond the utmost stretch of human thought and feeling. It lays prostrate in the dust all man’s pride and glory. It declares plainly that this world’s appliances are of little value in the divine estimation; yea, they are as “dung and dross,” not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of all those who have been taught in His school.
There is a very wide difference between human and divine education. The former has for its end the refinement and exaltation of nature; the latter begins with withering it up and setting it aside. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2: 14) Educate the “natural man” as much as you please, and you cannot make him a “spiritual man.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit:” (John 3: 6) If ever an educated “natural man” might look for success in the service of God, Moses might have counted upon it; he was “grown,” he was “learned,” he was “mighty in word and deed,” and yet he had to learn something at “the backside of the desert,” which Egypt’s schools could never have taught him. Paul learnt more in Arabia than ever he had learnt at the feet of Gamaliel.* None can teach like God; and all who will learn of Him must be alone with Him. “In the desert God will teach thee.” There it was that Moses learnt his sweetest, deepest, most influential and enduring lessons. Thither, too, must all repair who mean to be educated for the ministry.
{*Let not my reader suppose for a moment that the design of the above remarks is to detract from the value of really useful information, or the proper culture of the mental powers. By no means. If, for example, he is a parent, let him store his child’s mind with useful knowledge; let him teach him everything which may, hereafter, turn to account in the Master’s service: let him not burden him with ought which he would have to “lay aside in running his Christian course, nor conduct him, for educational purposes through a region from which it is well-nigh impossible to come forth with an unsoiled mind. You might just as well shut him up for ten years in a coal mine, in order to qualify him for discussing the properties of light and shade, as cause him to wade through the mire of a heathen mythology, in order to fit him for the interpretation of the oracles of God, or prepare him for leading the flock of Christ}
Beloved reader, may you prove, in your own deep experience, the real meaning of “the backside of the desert,” that sacred spot where nature is laid in the dust, and God alone exalted. There it is that men and things – the world and self – present circumstances and their influence, are all valued at what they are really worth. There it is, and there alone, that you will find a divinely-adjusted balance in which to weigh all within and all around. There are no false colours, no borrowed plumes, no empty pretensions there. The enemy of your soul cannot gild the sand of that place. All is reality there. The heart that has found itself in the presence of God, at “the backside of the desert,” has right thoughts about everything. It is raised far above the exciting influence of this world’s schemes. The din and noise! the bustle and confusion of Egypt do not fall upon the ear in that distant place. The crash in the monetary and commercial world is not heard there. The sigh of ambition is not heaved there. This world’s fading laurels do not tempt there. The thirst for gold is not felt there. The eye is never dimmed with lust, nor the heart swollen with pride there. Human applause does not elate, nor human censure depress there. In a word, everything is set aside save the stillness and light of the divine presence. God’s voice alone is heard – His light enjoyed – His thoughts received. This is the place to which all must go to be educated for the ministry; and there all must remain, if they would succeed in the ministry.
Would that all who come forward to serve in public knew more of what it is to breathe the atmosphere of this place. We should, then, have far less vapid attempts at ministry, but far more effective Christ-honouring service.
Let us now enquire what Moses saw and what he heard at “the backside of the desert.” We shall find him learning lessons which lay far beyond the reach of Egypt’s most gifted masters. It might appear, in the eyes of human reason, a strange loss of time for a man like Moses to spend forty years doing nothing save to keep a few sheep in the wilderness. But he was there with God, and the time that is thus spent is never lost. It is salutary for us to remember that there is something more than mere doing necessary on the part of the true servant. A man who is always doing will be apt to do too much. Such an one would need to ponder over the deeply-practical words of the perfect Servant, “He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.” (Isa. 1: 4) This is an indispensable part of the servant’s business. The servant must frequently stand in his master’s presence, in order that he may know what he has to do. The “ear” and the “tongue” are intimately connected, in more ways than one; but, in a spiritual or moral point of view, if my ear be closed and my tongue loose, I shall be sure to talk a great deal of folly. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.” (James 1: 19) This seasonable admonition is based upon two facts, namely, that everything good comes from above, and that the heart is brim full of naughtiness, ready to flow over. Hence, the need of keeping the ear open and the tongue quiet rare and admirable attainments! -attainments in which Moses made great proficiency at “the backside of the desert,” and which all can acquire, if only they are disposed to learn in that school.
“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, And behold the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” (Ex. 3: 2, 3) This was, truly, “a great sight” – a bush burning, yet not burnt. The palace of Pharaoh could never have afforded such a sight. But it was a gracious sight as well as a great sight, for therein was strikingly exhibited the condition of God’s elect. They were in the furnace of Egypt; and Jehovah reveals Himself in a burning bush. But as the bush was not consumed, so neither were they, for God was there. “The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Ps. 46) Here is strength and security – victory and peace. God with us, God in us, and God for us. This is ample provision for every exigence.
Nothing can be more interesting or instructive than the mode in which Jehovah was pleased to reveal Himself to Moses, as presented in the above quotation. He was about to furnish him with his commission to lead forth His people out of Egypt, that they might be His assembly – His dwelling-place, in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan; and the place from which He speaks is a burning bush. Apt, solemn, and beautiful symbol of Jehovah dwelling in the midst of His elect and redeemed congregation! “Our God is a consuming fire,” not to consume us, but to consume all in us and about us which is contrary to His holiness, and, as such, subversive of our true and permanent happiness. “Thy testimonies are very sure; holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, for ever.”
There are various instances, both in the Old and New Testaments, in which we find God displaying Himself as “a consuming fire.” Look, for example, at the case of Nadab and Abihu, in Leviticus 10. This was a deeply solemn occasion. God was dwelling in the midst of His people, and He would keep them in a condition worthy of Himself. He could not do otherwise. It would neither be for His glory nor for their profit, were He to tolerate ought in them inconsistent with the purity of His presence. God’s dwelling-place must be holy.
So, also, in Joshua 7 we have another striking proof, in the case of Achan, that Jehovah could not possibly sanction, by His presence, evil, in any shape or form, how covert soever that evil might be. He was “a Consuming fire,” and, as such, He should act, in reference to any attempt to defile that assembly in the midst of which He dwelt. To seek to connect God’s presence with evil unjudged, is the very highest character of wickedness.
Again, in Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira teach us the same solemn lesson. God the Holy Ghost was dwelling in the midst of the Church, not merely as an influence, but as a divine Person, in such a way as that one could lie to Him. The Church was, and is still, His dwelling place; and He must rule and judge in the midst thereof. Men may walk in company with deceit, covetousness, and hypocrisy; but God cannot. If God is going to walk with us, we must judge our ways, or we will judge them for us. (See also 1 Cor. 11: 29-32)
In all these cases, and many more which might be adduced, we see the force of that solemn word, “holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, for ever.” The moral effect of this will ever be similar to that produced in the case of Moses, as recorded in our chapter. “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” (Verse 5) The place of God’s presence is holy, and can only be trodden with unshod feet. God, dwelling in the midst of His people, imparts a character of holiness to their assembly, which is the basis of every holy affection and every holy activity. The character of the dwelling place takes its stamp from the character of the Occupant.
The application of this to the Church, which is now the habitation of God, through the Spirit, is of the very utmost practical importance. While it is blessedly true that God, by His Spirit, inhabits each individual member of the Church, thereby imparting a character of holiness to the individual; it is equally true that He dwells in the assembly; and, hence the assembly must be holy. The centre round which the members are gathered is nothing less than the Person of a living, victorious, and glorified Christ. The energy by which they are gathered is nothing less than God the Holy Ghost; and the Lord God Almighty dwells in them and walks in them. (See Matt. 18: 20; 1 Cor. 6: 19; 1 Cor. 3: 16, 17; Eph. 2: 21, 22) Such being the holy elevation belonging to God’s dwelling-place, it is evident that nothing which is unholy, either in principle or practice, must be tolerated. Each one connected therewith should feel the weight and solemnity of that word, “the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” “If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy.”(1 Cor. 3: 17) Most weighty words these, for every member of God’s assembly – for every stone in His holy temple! May we all learn to tread Jehovah’s courts, with unshod feet!
However, the visions of Horeb bear witness to the grace of the God of Israel as well as to His holiness. If God’s holiness is infinite, His grace is infinite also; and, while the manner in which He revealed Himself to Moses, declared the former, the very fact of His revealing Himself at all evidenced the latter. He came down, because He was gracious; but when come down, He should reveal Himself as holy. “Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” (Verse 6) The effect of the divine presence must ever be to make nature hide itself; and, when we stand before God, with unshod feet and covered head, i.e. in the attitude of soul which those acts so aptly and beautifully express, we are prepared to hearken to the sweet accents of grace. When man takes his suited place, God can speak, in the language of unmingled mercy.
“And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. . . . . Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come up unto me; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.” (Ver. 7-9) Here the absolute, free, unconditional grace of the God of Abraham, and the God of Abraham’s seed, shines forth in all its native brightness, unhindered by the “ifs” and “buts,” the vows, resolutions, and conditions of man’s legal spirit. God had come down to display Himself, in sovereign grace, to do the whole work of salvation, to accomplish His promise made to Abraham, and repeated to Isaac and Jacob. He had not come down to see if, indeed, the subjects of His promise were in such a condition as to merit His salvation. It was sufficient for Him that they needed it. Their oppressed state, their sorrows, their tears, their sighs, their heavy bondage, had all come in review before Him; for, blessed be His name, He counts His people’s sighs and puts their tears into His bottle. He was not attracted by their excellencies or their virtues. It was not on the ground of aught that was good in them, either seen or foreseen, that he was about to visit them, for He knew what was in them. In one word, we have the true ground of His gracious acting set before us in the words, “I am the God of Abraham,” and “I have seen the affliction of my people.”
These words reveal a great fundamental principle in the ways of God. It is on the ground of what He is, that He ever acts. “I AM,” secures all for “MY PEOPLE.” Assuredly He was not going to leave His people amid the brick-kilns of Egypt, and under the lash of Pharaoh’s taskmasters. They were His people, and He mould act toward them in a manner worthy of Himself. To be His people – to be the favoured objects of Jehovah’s electing love – the subjects of His unconditional promise, settled everything. Nothing should hinder the public display of His relationship with those for whom His eternal purpose had secured the land of Canaan. He had come down to deliver them; and the combined power of earth and hell could not hold them in captivity one hour beyond His appointed time. He might and did use Egypt as a school, and Pharaoh as a schoolmaster; but when the needed work was accomplished, both the school and the schoolmaster were set aside, and His people were brought forth with a high hand and an outstretched arm.
Such, then, was the double character of the revelation made to Moses at Mount Horeb. What he saw and what he heard combined the two elements of holiness and grace – elements which, as we know, enter into, and distinctly characterise, all the ways and all the relationships of the blessed God, and which should also mark the ways of all those who, in any wise, act for, or have fellowship with, Him. Every true servant is sent forth from the immediate presence of God, with all its holiness and all its grace; and he is called to be holy and gracious – he is called to be the reflection of the grace and holiness of the divine character; and, in order that he may be so, he should not only start from the immediate presence of God, at the first, but abide there, in spirit, habitually. This is the true secret of effectual service.
“Childlike, attend what thou wilt say
Go forth and do it, while ’tis day,
Yet never leave my sweet retreat.”
The spiritual man alone can understand the meaning of the two things, “go forth and do,” and, “yet never leave.” In order to act for God outside, I should be with Him inside. I must be in the secret sanctuary of His presence, else I shall utterly fail.
Very many break down on this point. There is the greatest possible danger of getting out of the solemnity and calmness of the divine presence, amid the bustle of intercourse with men, and the excitement of active service. This is to be carefully guarded against. If we lose that hallowed tone of spirit which is expressed in “the unshod foot,” our service will, very speedily, become vapid and unprofitable. If I allow my work to get between my heart and the Master, it will be little worth. We can only effectually serve Christ as we are enjoying Him. It is while the heart dwells upon His powerful attractions that the hands perform the most acceptable service to His name; nor is there any one who can minister Christ with unction, freshness, and power to others, if he be not feeding upon Christ, in the secret of his own soul. True, he may preach a sermon, deliver a lecture, utter prayers, write a book, and go through the entire routine of outward service, and yet not minister Christ. The man who will present Christ to others must be occupied with Christ for himself.
Happy is the man who ministers thus, whatever be the success or reception of his ministry. For should his ministry fail to attract attention, to command influence, or to produce apparent results, he has his sweet retreat and his unfailing portion in Christ, of which nothing can deprive him. Whereas, the man who is merely feeding upon the fruits of his ministry, who delights in the gratification which it affords, or the attention and interest which it commands, is like a mere pipe, conveying water to others, and retaining only rust itself. This is a most deplorable condition to be in; and yet is it the actual condition of every servant who is more occupied with his work and its results, than with the Master and His glory.
This is a matter which calls for the most rigid self-judgement. The heart is deceitful, and the enemy is crafty; and, hence there is great need to hearken to the word of exhortation, “be sober, be vigilant.” It is when the soul is awakened to a sense of the varied and manifold dangers which beset the servant’s path, that it is, in any measure, able to understand the need there is for being much alone with God: it is there one is secure and happy. It is when we begin, continue, and end our work at the Master’s feet, that our service will be of the right kind.
From all that has been said, it must be evident to any reader that every servant of Christ will find the air of “the backside of the desert” most salutary. Horeb is really the starting post for all whom God sends forth to act for Him. It was at Horeb that Moses learnt to put off his shoes and hide his face. Forty years before he had gone to work; but his movement was premature. It was amid the flesh-subduing solitudes of the mount of God, and forth from the burning bush, that the divine commission fell on the servant’s ear, “Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Ver. 10) Here was real authority. There is a vast difference between God sending a man, and a man running unsent. But it is very manifest that Moses was not ripe for service when first he set about acting. If forty years of secret training were needful for him, how could he have got on without it? Impossible! He had to be divinely educated, and divinely commissioned; and so must all who go forth upon a path of service and testimony for Christ. Oh! that these holy lessons may be deeply graven on all our hearts, that so our every work may wear upon it the stamp of the Master’s authority, and the Masters approval.
However, we have something further to learn at the foot of Mount Horeb. The soul finds it seasonable to linger in this place. “It is good to be here.” The presence of God is ever a deeply practical place; the heart is sure to be laid open there. The light that shines in that holy place makes everything manifest; and this is what is so much needed in the midst of the hollow pretension around us, and the pride and self complacency within.
We might be disposed to think that, the very moment the divine commission was given to Moses, his reply would be, “Here am I,” or “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” But no; he had yet to be brought to this. Doubtless, he was affected by the remembrance of his former failure. If a man acts in anything without God, he is sure to be discouraged, even when God is sending him. “And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Ver. 11) This is very unlike the man who, forty years before, “supposed that his brethren would have understood how that God, by his hand, would deliver them.” Such is man! – at one time too hasty; at another time too slow. Moses had learnt a greet deal since the day in which he smote the Egyptian. He had grown in the knowledge of himself, and this produced diffidence and timidity. But, then, he manifestly lacked confidence in God. If I am merely looking at myself, I shall do “nothing;” but if I am looking at Christ, “I can do all things.” Thus, when diffidence and timidity led Moses to say, “Who am I” God’s answer was, “Certainly I will be with thee.” (Ver. 12.) This ought to have been sufficient. If God be with me, it makes very little matter who I am, or what I am. When God says, “I will send thee,” and “I will be with thee,” the servant is amply furnished with divine authority and divine power; and he ought, therefore, to be perfectly satisfied to go forth.
But Moses puts another question; for the human heart is full of questions. “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?” It is marvellous to see how the human heart reasons and questions, when unhesitating obedience is that which is due to God; and still more marvellous is the grace that bears with all the reasonings and answers all the questions. Each question seems but to elicit some new feature of divine grace.
“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” (Ver. 14) The title which God here gives Himself is one of wondrous significancy. In tracing through Scripture the various names which God takes, we find them intimately connected with the varied need of those with whom He was in relation. “Jehovah-jireh,” (the Lord will provide.) “Jehovah-nissi,” (the Lord my banner.) “Jehovah-shalom,” (the Lord send peace.) “Jehovah-tsidkenu,” (the Lord our righteousness.) All these His gracious titles are unfolded to meet the necessities of His people; and when He calls Himself “I AM,” it comprehends them all. Jehovah, in taking this title, was furnishing His people with a blank cheque, to be filled up to any amount. He calls Himself “I AM,” and faith has but to write over against that ineffably precious name whatever me want. God is the only significant figure, and human need may add the ciphers. If we want life, Christ says, “I AM the life.” If we want righteousness, He is “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” If we want peace, “He is our peace” If we want wisdom, sanctification, and redemption,” He “is made” all these “unto us.” In a word, we may travel through the wide range of human necessity, in order to have a just conception of the amazing depth and fullness of this profound and adorable name, “I AM.”
What a mercy to be called to walk in companionship with One who bears such a name as this! We are in the wilderness, and there we have to meet with trial, sorrow, and difficulty; but, so long as we have the happy privilege of betaking ourselves, at all times, and under all circumstances, to One who reveals Himself in His manifold grace, in connection with our every necessity and weakness, we need not fear the wilderness: God was about to bring His people across the sandy desert, when He disclosed this precious and comprehensive name; and, although the believer now, as being endowed with the Spirit of adoption, can cry, “Abba Father,” yet is he not deprived of the privilege of enjoying communion with God in each and every one of those manifestations which He has been pleased to make of Himself. For example, the title “God” reveals Him as acting in the solitariness of His own being, displaying His eternal power and Godhead in the works of creation. “The Lord God” is the title which He takes in connection with man. Then, as “the Almighty God,” He rises before the view of His servant Abraham, in order to assure his heart in reference to the accomplishment of His promise touching the seed. As Jehovah, He made Himself known to Israel, in delivering them out of the land of Egypt, and bringing them into the land of Canaan.
Such were the various measures and various modes in which “God spake in times past unto the fathers, by the prophets:” (Heb. 1: 1) and the believer, under this dispensation or economy, as possessing the spirit of sonship, can say, “It was my Father who thus revealed himself – thus spoke – thus acted.”
Nothing can be more interesting or practically important in its way than to follow out those great dispensational titles of God. These titles are always used in strict moral consistency with the circumstances under which they are disclosed; but there is, in the name “I AM,” a height, a depth, a length, a breadth, which truly pass beyond the utmost stretch of human conception.
“When God would teach mankind His name,
He calls Himself the great “I AM,”
And leaves a blank – believers may
Supply those things for which they pray.”
And, be it observed, it is only in connection with His own people that He takes this name. He did not address Pharaoh in this name. When speaking to him, He calls Himself by that commanding and majestic title, “The Lord God of the Hebrews;” i.e., God, in connection with the very people whom he was seeking to crush. This ought to have been sufficient to show Pharaoh his awful position with respect to God. “I AM” would have conveyed no intelligible sound to an uncircumcised ear – no divine reality to an unbelieving heart. When God manifest in the flesh declared to the unbelieving Jews of His day those words, “before Abraham was, I am,” they took up stones to cast at Him. It is only the true believer who can feel, in any measure, the power, or enjoy the sweetness of that ineffable name, “I AM.” Such an one can rejoice to hear from the lips of the blessed Lord Jesus such declarations as these: – “I am that bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the resurrection and the life,” “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” “I am the true vine,” “I am alpha and Omega, “I am the bright and morning star.” In a word, he can take every name of divine excellence and beauty, and, having placed it after “I AM,” find JESUS therein, and admire, adore, and worship.
Thus, there is a sweetness, as well as a comprehensiveness, in the name “I AM,” which is beyond all power of expression. Each believer can find therein that which exactly suits his own spiritual need, whatever it be. There is not a single winding in all the Christian’s wilderness journey, not a single phase of his soul’s experience, not a single point in his condition which is not divinely met by this title, for the simplest of all reasons, that whatever he wants, he has but to place it, by faith, over against ” I AM” and find it all in Jesus. To the believer, therefore, however feeble and faltering, there is unmingled blessedness in this name.
But, although it was to the elect of God that Moses was commanded to say, “I AM hath sent me unto you,” yet is there deep solemnity and reality in that name, when looked at with reference to the unbeliever. If one who is yet in his sins contemplates, for a moment, this amazing title, he cannot, surely, avoid asking himself the question, “How do I stand as to this Being who calls Himself, “I AM THAT I AM.’ If, indeed, it be true that HE Is, then what is He to me? What am I to write over against this solemn name, “I AM” I shall not rob this question of its characteristic weight and power by any words of my own; but I pray that God the Holy Ghost may make it searching to the conscience of any reader who really needs to be searched thereby.
I cannot close this section without calling the attention of the Christian reader to the deeply-interesting declaration contained in the 15th verse: “And God said, moreover, unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations.” This statement contains a very important truth – a truth which many professing Christians seem to forget, namely, that God’s relationship with Israel is an eternal one. He is just as much Israel’s God now, as when He visited them in the land of Egypt. Moreover, He is just as Positively dealing with them now as then, only in a different way. His word is clear and emphatic: “This is my name for ever.” He does not say, ‘This is my name for a time, so long as they continue what they ought to be.” No; “this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” Let my reader ponder this. “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.” (Rom. 11: 2) They are His people still, whether obedient or disobedient, united together, or scattered abroad; manifested to the nations, or hidden from their view. They are His people, and He is their God. Exodus 3: 15 is unanswerable. The professing church has no warrant whatever, for ignoring a relationship which God says is to endure ” for ever.” Let us beware how we tamper with this weighty word, “for ever.” If we say it does not mean for ever, when applied to Israel, what proof have we that it means for ever when applied to us? God means what He says; and He will, ere long, make manifest to all the nations of the earth, that His connection with Israel is one which shall outlive all the revolutions of time. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” When He said, “this is my name for ever,” He spoke absolutely. ” I AM” declared Himself to be Israel’s God for ever; and all the Gentiles shall be made to understand and bow to this; and to know, moreover, that all God’s providential dealings with them, and all their destinies, are connected, in some way or other, with that favoured and honoured, though now judged and scattered, people. “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when be separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people, according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.” (Deut. 32: 8, 9)
Has this ceased to be true? Has Jehovah given up His ” portion,” and surrendered “the lot of His inheritance?” Does His eye of tender love no longer rest on Israel’s scattered tribes, long lost to man’s vision are the walls of Jerusalem no longer before Him! or has her dust ceased to be precious in His sight? To reply to these inquiries would be to quote a large portion of the Old Testament, and not a little of the New but this would not be the place to enter elaborately upon such a subject. I would only say, in closing this section, let not Christendom ” be ignorant of this mystery, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved.” (Rom. 11: 25, 26)
Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch

Exo 2:23 to Exo 3:15. The Call of Moses (first account). Exo 2:23 a, J, Exo 2:23 b Exo 2:25 P, Exo 3:1 E, Exo 3:2-4 a, J, Exo 3:4 b, E, Exo 3:5 J, Exo 3:6 E, Exo 3:7-9 a J, Exo 3:9 b Exo 3:14 E, Exo 3:15 Rje.
Exo 2:23 a J. many will refer to the 67 years reign of Rameses II, unless it is a gloss by a scribe (Old Latin omits) or editor (so Baentsch) to suit Ps view of Moses as 80 years old (77). In J (Exo 4:20; Exo 4:25) Gershom is still an infant at the return. It is likely that Exo 4:19 f., Exo 4:24-26, should follow here but have been displaced by the compiler. The death of the king is clearly mentioned as removing the obstacle to Mosess return. But after the solemn call a merely negative reason seems inadequate. If this view be correct, the appearance at the bush will have been placed by J (Exo 3:2) on the way back to Egypt or in Goshen itself.
Exo 2:23 b Exo 2:25. The sequel in P of Exo 1:14. Gods remembering and His covenant are favourite ideas with this writer, and have passed into the devotional language of the Church. In Gen. all the sources agree in linking the patriarchs by bonds of purpose and promise with a God who was their faithful and watchful friend.
Exo 2:25. The last words are strictly and God knew, and are usually taken in an intensified sense of interested and sympathetic knowing, as frequently (cf. Exo 3:7 below). But the omission of the object is strange, and has led some to correct the text. The LXX and made Himself known unto them only requires a slight alteration of the vowel points (p. 35), and gives a good sense.
Exo 3:1-10. The Revelation at the Bush.According to E (Exo 3:1; Exo 3:4 b, Exo 3:6) Moses had led the flock to the back of the wilderness, i.e. the W., since the E. was always regarded as being in front (as the N. is with us), N. and S. being left and right. The flock belonged to the priest of Midian, a term not used elsewhere by E. but which suits the representation of Jethro in Exo 3:18 (E), and need not be a gloss from Exo 2:16 J. Thus, accidentally, Moses came to the mountain of God, and learnt that it was such by the voice of God (out of the midst of the bush is probably a gloss from J). By this discovery, it is implied, Horeb became a sacred mountain, i.e. a place where God was peculiarly at home, and, therefore, where man was specially susceptible to Divine influences, even as the medival candidate for knighthood would be most likely to see visions or hear voices during his midnight vigil before the altar. In primitive thought the tie with locality was no doubt crudely conceived, but not a few OT references show that the association of places with Gods special presence long retained its value, as symbolising and concentrating an aspect of reality to which the abstract doctrine of omnipresence fails to do justice. Moderns, who reckon it unspiritual to call any place sacred, because God is everywhere, may condemn themselves to finding Him nowhere. It has been usual to identify Horeb (Exo 3:1) with Sinai, or at most to distinguish the former as covering the district in which the latter was placed, and to locate the whole region in the Sinaitic peninsula, where Christian tradition has loved to find it. Recently, however, it has been sought by Sayce and others to prove that Sinai was not in the peninsula at all, but N.E. of it, near Edom; and by MNeile to show that, as in regard to other places, the sources differ, and that while Sinai was rear Kadesh, N. of the head of the gulf of Akaba, Horeb was S.E., on the E. shore of the gulf. Horeb is mentioned only by E (here and in Exo 17:6, Exo 33:6) and by D, while J and P refer only to Sinai. Really the evidence is conflicting and obscure, and it matters little which identification is adopted (p. 64).As E told how Horeb became sacred, sowe must supposeoriginally J related here how Sinai also was shown to be holy by the revelation at the bush (Seneh). Fire is constantly a symbol of Gods presence (cf. Exo 13:7, the pillar of fire, Exo 19:18, Exo 24:17, Eze 1:27; Eze 8:2). In view of the large number of undoubted cases, like that of Joan of Arc, in which visions and voices have been authentically reported by the original subjects of the abnormal experiences, it is reasonable to suppose that it was so in this case, though, in view of the long oral transmission, it would be rash to assert it positively. In any event the story embodies a lofty and suggestive symbolism. The unconsumed bramble bush may signify Israel. burnt by the Divine wrath yet spared destruction (cf Keble, quoted by MNeile); or Moses, the fleshly pole or contact-point for the transmission of the stream of redemptive energy, unclean (like Isaiah), yet not slain by the Divine holiness, which was then conceived under quasi-physical representations. Only once (Deu 33:16) is the sacred bush again mentioned in OT (cf. Mar 12:26).The angel of Yahweh is sometimes distinguished from Yahweh and sometimes (as here, Exo 3:2) identified with Him (Gen 16:7*). But the phrase always marks some sensible manifestation of the Divine. As the term is missing in Exo 3:4 and Exo 3:7, probably the angel of is here a gloss due to the reverence of a later age. It is never found in P.The removal of the shoes or sandals (Exo 3:5) was a traditional mark of reverence, arising more probably from ancient custom than from fear of soiling the sanctuary, and is maintained by Mohammedans (Gen 35:2*). The place was already holy ground, and did not merely become so through the manifestation. So now worshippers do not wait for service to begin before removing their hats.Moses is sent by no new God, but by the God of the patriarchs (Exo 3:6). Each advance in revelation or redemption is due to the same Being; and the religious experience of to-day is continuous with the experience of yesterday out of which it has been developed. In Mar 12:26 Christ further draws from this verse the inference that God will not allow death to break the conscious fellowship He has established with His creatures.That Moses hid his face (Exo 3:6) was a sign of reverence parallel with the baring of the feet noted in Exo 3:5 (J). In this source (cf. Exo 3:7) there is a fearless use of human terms (seen, heard, come down) to make Gods relations with man real and intelligible. Such language is for plain people more effectively true than coldly abstract words.In Exo 3:8 we first meet with the phrase, so frequent in J and D, a land flowing with milk and honey, see RV references. Honey, like the present-day Arabic cognate dibs, probably includes the grape-juice syrup, used with food, like jam. The lists of Palestinian peoples (as in Exo 3:8, cf. Gen 15:19-21*, and RV references), are common in JE and D, but have probably often been amplified. The term Canaanite is used (cf. Gen 12:6 J) generally of the pre-Israelitic inhabitants of Canaan, but has a narrower sense, of the dwellers on the sea coast and in the Jordan valley. It is a question whether the inclusion of the Hittites among the peoples conquered by Israel is justified by victories over some Hittite colony (cf. Num 13:29 JE, Genesis 23* P); for the main body of the nation was established N. of the Lebanon and was never subject to Israel. Amorite (p. 53, Gen 14:7*) also is used as a comprehensive term, but properly refers to a distinct people, ruled by Sihon, N.E. of the Dead Sea, and settled early N. of Canaan (Tell el-Amarna Letters, 1400 B.C.). For the Perizzites, see Gen 13:7*. The Hivites belonged to the centre, and the Jebusites held Jerusalem till David took it (2Sa 5:6-9).
Exo 3:4 a. The Heb. is And Yahweh saw . . . and God called, so that the division of the verse between J and E is grammatically natural.
Exo 3:11 f. Mosess First Difficultypersonal unfitness (cf. the cases of Gideon, Jeroboam, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). Once Moses was rash and impulsive. Now he is older and sees the difficulties. All the sources agree in this representation. A fugitive, a shepherd, and unknown, how shall he interview the Pharaoh, or lead Israel? The promise, I will be with thee (omit certainly), draws aside the veil and shows him his Unseen Divine Companion; cf. RV references.The token or sign (Exo 2:12) is but a further promise that on the sacred mount (Exo 2:1*) the people should offer God worship; unless a reference to the rod or the pillar has been displaced.The awkward ye shall serve (Exo 2:12) becomes, by changing the Heb. initial t to y, they shall serve.
Exo 3:13-15. Mosess Second Difficultyignorance of the Name under which Israel was to worship God. This is expressed in two of the sources (E here, and P in Exo 2:6). He must learn the name of the God who was sending him. In ancient religions generally the knowledge of the name was a necessity for prayer or sacrifice (Gen 32:29*), and its meaning was sometimes an indication of the nature of the God. Four points arise here: (i) the original pre-Mosaic meaning of the name Yahweh; (ii.) its meaning for Moses; (iii.) the idea of it in the mind of the author; (iv.) the identification of the author. As to (i.) there has been much discussion, but little agreement. Possibly it may have had reference to nature processesHe who comes down as the rain or the lightning-flash, or He who makes these come down. But the solution of this problem matters little. The greatest words may grow in meaning from the humblest seed of suggestion. Driver considers that there is enough Assyriological evidence to show that a West-Semitic deity, Ya-u, was known as early as c. 2100 B.C. Taking (iv.) next, it is clear that, for the prophetic writer E, the name Yahweh was regarded as unknown both to the Israelites in Egypt and also to the patriarchs. The text here and the usage of this source in Gen. prove this. Indeed, it is possible that the identification of Yahweh with the God of the fathers is due to a later editor, and that the contrast between old and new was originally thought of as a revolution, a passage from the worship of Elim (gods) to the worship of one God, Yahweh, greater than all else, and alone revered in Israel. Besides the link with the past through Jethro (Exo 18:12*) it has been suggested that one or more of the tribes may have been worshippers of Yahweh. (iii.) The diversity of views on the point of translation is shown by the four renderings of RV. For other alternatives, see MNeile, Ex., p. 22, or HDB ii. 199 (Davidson), or EBi. Exo 33:20 (Kautzsch). The third mg., I will be that I will be, is supported by Robertson Smith, Davidson, Driver, MNeile, and others. [The meaning would be more clearly conveyed to the English reader by the translation, I will be what I will be.A. S. P.] It brings out the implications both of the root and tense of the verb hayah. The root denotes rather becoming than being, and the tense (imperfect) marks uncompleted process or activity. AV and RV rendering (I am that I amthe unnamable and in expressible One) involves an amount of reflectiveness alien to the Hebrew mind. And so with others: I am because I am, I am who am. Heb. syntax and thought analogies favour decisively the beautiful rendering adopted above, found as early as Rashi (A.D. 1105), and now preferred by British scholars. The temper of noble adventure which belongs to faith is here shown to spring out of the very Name (i.e. Being) of Yahweh (= He will be): no one can limit the inexhaustibly fresh possibilities of One so named. The question (ii.) of the meaning of the name for Moses is too large for treatment here; but his must have been the parent conception which the historian has so grandly expressed here. In Exo 3:14 read the last clause, I-will-be hath sent me. The spelling Jehovah (at least as early as A.D. 1278) arose from misunderstanding the Jewish practice of placing under the four-lettered word (or tetragrammaton) Yhwh (or Jhvh) the vowels of the word Adonay (Lord) which they pronounced in place of it, out of mistaken reverence based on Exo 20:7 or Lev 24:11; Lev 24:16. The correctness of the form here adopted, Yahweh, is established, not merely by analogy with other names derived from verbs (Isaac, Jacob, etc.), but from the transliterations used by early Christian Fathers, before the tradition of substituting Adonay had become established; Theodoret, reporting Samaritan speech, and Epiphanius have , and Clement of Alexandria has (or , the occurrence in which of all the five vowels prompted certain magical uses).
Exo 3:15. Observe that in Exo 3:14-16 there are three instructions of identical or similar scope in regard to the announcement of the Divine Name. The simplest explanation of the repetition is that Exo 3:16 comes from J. and Exo 3:14 from E, Exo 3:15 being a link verse by the redactor of JE.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

THE BURNING BUSH: MOSES CALLED TO EGYPT
In tending Jethro’s sheep Moses came to Mount Horeb, called “the mountain of God,” because it signified Israel’s relationship with God as under law. It is also called Sinai. Only after Moses’ long years of desert experience does God finally reveal Himself to him, attracting him by the amazing sight of fire raging in a bush without consuming it (vs.2-3). As he goes closer to observe this miraculous sight, God calls him by name, warning him not to come near, but rather to remove his sandals, for He says, “The place where you stand is holy ground” (v.5).
The bush speaks of Israel, and the fire is significant of the persecution they suffered at the hand of the Egyptians. But God is His sovereign power would not allow Israel to be consumed by all the opposition of their enemies. He would allow the fire, but would limit its power. But the fact of this being holy ground intimates a much deeper lesson than this, for it is a reminder of the cross of Christ, where all the awesome fire of God’s judgment fell upon the Lord Jesus because of our sins. But that fire did not consume Him. Animal sacrifices were consumed by fire, but in great contrast, the Lord Jesus bore and consumed all the fire of God’s judgment and has come forth victorious in resurrection. This is truly “holy ground.”
God’s revelation to Moses then is full and real. He speaks of Himself as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (v.6). This is significant of the tri-unity of the Godhead. For Abraham is typical of God the Father, Isaac, of God the Son, and Jacob is significant of the work of God the Holy Spirit in a believer. The Old Testament characteristically uses the expression continually, “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” The New Testament is rather characterized by the expression, “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When God spoke to him, Moses hid his face, being afraid to think of looking at God. Now God speaks to him of His people Israel, and that He had observed their oppression by cruel masters. Moses had seen this forty years before, and God knew it well, but the time has only now arrived when God has decided to deliver them out of the bondage of Egypt and to bring them to a good and large land, “flowing with milk and honey, “– a land at the time inhabited by others (v.8). The reason that the six nations mentioned here were to be dispossessed is intimated in Gen 15:16, where it is said at the time of Abraham, “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet compete.” However, Deu 7:1-6 shows that, at the time of Israel’s entrance into the land, the iniquity of the Amorites was complete. Along with this, the cry of the children of Israel in Egypt had come into the ears of God, and He was about to act.
God had used various circumstances to prepare Moses for this time when He tells him He is sending him to Egypt to deliver Israel from their bondage (v.10). Perhaps by this time he thought he was past the age of being usable by God at all, for he was 80 years (Act 7:30). But God knew that at 40 he was not ready, and 80 is just the right time, for God does not use one because of his strength, but more likely because of his weakness.
Moses feels himself totally incapable of this great work. He says, “Who am I?” Forty years before he had been ready to act: now he does not feel ready at all. For he has had to learn that human strength is nothing, and only when this has been learned is one really ready for the Lord’s service. Therefore, the one sufficient answer to his question is the Lord’s assurance, “I will certainly be with you” (v.12). Without Him all would be hopeless: with Him all is perfectly certain.
However, God adds as a sign that He has actually sent Moses that he and the nation Israel would serve God on this very mountain (Mt.Horeb) when God brought them out of Egypt. No doubt Moses would have desired a previous sign, but God sought to encourage faith in His own Word that would act in view of the future.
Moses was filled with trepidation, as God’s servants usually are when called to do His work. He asks that, when he tells the Israelites that the God of their fathers has sent him, what will he say when they ask as to God’s name. However, the weakness of Moses’ faith does give occasion for God to reveal one great aspect of His name which should encourage every believer. He tells Moses, “I am I who am” (v.14, Numerical Bible). Therefore Moses was to declare, “I Am has sent me to you.” In this name is implied the fact that God is the self-existent, eternally existent One. With Him there is no question of past and future, as there is with us. He is the omni-present One, infinite and eternal. This name is equally applied to the Lord Jesus, who uses the expression many times in the Gospel of John, and seals the matter with the declaration, “Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (Joh 8:58). Wonderful name to fill a believer’s heart with adoration!
God has told Moses that Israel is to know that God’s name is “I Am”, the eternal, self-existent Creator; but they must know also that He is a God who draws near to Israel as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” This is His name forever, and His memorial to all generations (v.15). We have seen that this emphasizes the truth of God’s eternal tri-unity. Thus He is made known to mankind, and He assures Israel of unchanging love and care toward that nation. Moses is therefore told to gather the elders of Israel together and give them this message, that the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob had appeared to him, to declare His knowledge of the sufferings of Israel under the hand of the Egyptians, and that He will bring them back from this bondage to the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey (v.17).
After years of prolonged suffering, Israel would now be ready to listen to Moses, God tells him (v.18). Then he must bring the elders of Israel with him to the king of Egypt and tell him that Lord God of the Hebrews had met with them, and at His direction they were to ask that Israel might take a three days journey into the wilderness with the object of sacrificing to Him. Such a journey involves a complete separation from Egypt (the world), for the three days symbolizes the truth of death and resurrection, because the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the only basis of worship that God can allow.
Yet Moses was forewarned that the king of Egypt would not allow them to go unless he is compelled by a mighty hand. For this reason God would gradually increase the pressure upon Pharaoh, not at first showing the power of His might, but bringing miraculous signs to bear upon Egypt in such a way that their conscience ought to be awakened to seriously listen and obey the living God. finally the affliction from God’s hand would be so dreadful that Pharaoh would be forced to let them go (v.20).
More than this, God would dispose the people of Egypt to give the Israelites many necessities for their journey. They were to ask (not “borrow”) these from the Egyptians (v.22). Of course in their years of slavery they had fully earned all of this, and God would impress on them also that the silver and gold were His: they could therefore receive these things as from His own hand. Compare 1Co 3:21, written to believers, “all things are yours.”
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the {a} mountain of God, [even] to {b} Horeb.
(a) It was so called after the law was given.
(b) Called also Sinai.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

6. Moses’ call 3:1-4:18
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Horeb is another name for Sinai (Exo 3:1). It probably indicates a range of mountains rather than a particular mountain peak. The writer called it "the mountain of God" because it was the place where God later gave the Mosaic Law to Israel. The traditional site of Mt. Sinai and the Horeb range is in the southern Sinai Peninsula. However some Scripture references cast this location into question (cf. Deu 33:2; Gal 4:25). These references suggest that the site may have been somewhere on the east side of the Gulf of Aqabah. [Note: However, see Gordon Franz, "Mt. Sinai Is Not Jebel El-Lawz in Saudi Arabia," a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, 15 November 2001, Colorado Springs, Colo.]
Here the Angel of the Lord is clearly God (Yahweh, Exo 3:2; cf. Exo 3:4; Exo 3:6-7). He was not an angelic messenger but God Himself.
A burning thorn-bush was and is not uncommon in the Sinai desert. [Note: Cassuto, p. 31.] These bushes sometimes burst into flame spontaneously. This bush was unusual, however, because even though it burned it did not burn up (Exo 3:3). The monastery of St. Catherine is supposed to be on the exact site of the burning bush, according to ancient tradition. [Note: See Philip C. Johnson, "Exodus," in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 54.]
Jewish and Christian interpreters have long seen the bush in this incident as a symbol of the nation of Israel ignoble in relation to other nations (cf. Jdg 9:15). The fire probably symbolized the affliction of Egyptian bondage (cf. Deu 4:20). The Israelites suffered as a result of this hostility, but God did not allow them to suffer extinction as a people from it. Because Israel has frequently been in the furnace of affliction throughout history, though not consumed, Jews have identified the burning bush as a symbol of their race. This symbol often appears on the walls of synagogues or in other prominent places not only in modern Israel but also in settlements of Jews around the world. The fire also probably symbolized the presence of God dwelling among His people (cf. Gen 15:17; Exo 19:18; Exo 40:38). God was with His people in their affliction (cf. Deu 31:6; Jos 1:5; Dan 3:25; Heb 13:5).
This was the first time God had revealed Himself to Moses, or anyone else as far as Scripture records, for over 430 years (Exo 3:4). Later in history God broke another 400-year long period of prophetic silence when John the Baptist and Jesus appeared to lead an even more significant exodus.
The custom of removing one’s shoes out of respect is very old (Exo 3:5). It was common at this time in the ancient world and is still common today. [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 1:437-40.] For example, when one enters a Moslem mosque he must remove his shoes.
"God begins his discourse with Moses by warning him not to come near to him because he is holy (Exo 3:5). As we will later see, the idea of God’s holiness is a central theme in the remainder of the book. Indeed, the whole structure of Israel’s worship of God at the tabernacle is based on a view of God as the absolutely Holy One who has come to dwell in their midst. We should not lose sight of the fact, however, that at the same time that God warns Moses to stand at a distance, he also speaks to him ’face to face’ (cf. Num 12:8). The fact that God is a holy God should not be understood to mean that he is an impersonal force-God is holy yet intensely personal. This is a central theme in the narratives of the Sinai covenant that follow." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 245.]
God proceeded to explain the reason for His revelation (Exo 3:7-10). The suffering of His people had touched His heart. He had heard their cries and seen their affliction. Now He purposed to deliver them. The compassion of God stands out in these verses.
"The anthropomorphisms (i.e., the descriptions of God’s actions and attributes in words usually associated with mankind) in Exo 3:7-8 of God’s ’seeing,’ ’hearing,’ ’knowing’ (= ’be concerned about’), and ’coming down’ became graphic ways to describe divine realities for which no description existed except for partially analogous situations in the human realm. But these do not imply that God has corporeal and spatial limitations; rather, he is a living person who can and does follow the stream of human events and who can and does at times directly intervene in human affairs." [Note: Kaiser, p. 316.]

"Is there no discrepancy between these two announcements ["I have come down to deliver," Exo 3:8, and "I will send you," Exo 3:10]? If God has Himself come down to do the work of redemption, what need of Moses? Would not a word from those almighty lips be enough? Why summon a shepherd, a lonely and unbefriended man, a man who has already failed once, and from whom the passing years have stolen his manhood’s prime, to work out with painful elaboration, and through a series of bewildering disappointments, the purposed emancipation? But this is not an isolated case. Throughout the entire scheme of Divine government, we meet with the principle of mediation. God ever speaks to men, and works for them, through the instrumentality of men. Chosen agents are called into the inner circle, to catch the Divine thought and mirror the Divine character, and then sent back to their fellows, to cause them to partake." [Note: Meyer, p. 43.]
The description of Canaan as a land "flowing with milk and honey" (Exo 3:8; Exo 3:17) is a common biblical one. It pictures an abundance of grass, fruit trees, and flowers where cows, goats, and bees thrive and where the best drink and food abound. The operative word in the description is "flowing." This is a picture of a land in contrast to Egypt, where sedentary farming was common. In Canaan the Israelites would experience a different form of life, namely, a pastoral lifestyle. Canaan depended on rainfall whereas Egypt did not; it depended on the Nile River. [Note: Barry J. Beitzel, The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands, p. 49.]
"This formula was at first coined by the nomadic shepherds to denote a land blessed with pastures for cattle producing milk and with trees whose boughs afforded man, without the necessity for hard toil, food as nourishing and as sweet as bees’ honey. In the course of time the signification of the phrase was extended to include also land that yielded rich harvests as a result of human labour." [Note: Cassuto, p. 34.]
Often Moses listed seven tribes as possessing Canaan (e.g., Deu 7:1), but he also named six (Exo 3:8), 10 (Gen 15:19-21), and 12 (Gen 10:15-18) as the inhabitants in various Scripture passages.
The Pharaoh to whom Moses referred here (Exo 3:10) was very likely Amenhotep II who succeeded Thutmose III and ruled from 1450 to 1425 B.C. He ruled during the very zenith of Egypt’s power, prestige, and glory as a world government.
Moses had become genuinely humble during his years as a mere shepherd in Midian (Exo 3:11). Earlier an Israelite had asked Moses, "Who made you a prince or a judge over us?" (Exo 2:14). Now Moses asked the same thing of God: "Who am I that I should . . . bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"
"Some time before he had offered himself of his own accord as a deliverer and judge; but now he had learned humility in the school of Midian, and was filled in consequence with distrust of his own power and fitness. The son of Pharaoh’s daughter had become a shepherd, and felt himself too weak to go to Pharaoh." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 1:440-41. See Frederick Holmgren, "Before the temple, the thornbush: an exposition of Exodus 2:11-3:12," The Reformed Journal 33:3 (March 1983):9-11; and Robert J. Voss, "Who Am I That I Should Go? Exodus 3:11 (Exodus 2:25-4:18)," Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly 80:4 (Fall 1983):243-47.]
"In these verses [11-12], the presentation of the tetragrammaton is only introduced. Moses objected, . . . ’Who am I, . . . that I . . . that I . . . ?’ and God answers, . . . ’the point is I AM with you.’ Who Moses is is not the question; it is rather, who is with Moses?" [Note: Durham, p. 33.]
"As long as a man holds that he is easily able to do some great deed of heroism and faith, he is probably incompetent for it, but when he protests his inability, and puts away the earliest proposals, though made by the Almighty Himself, he gives the first unmistakable sign that he has been rightly designated." [Note: Meyer, p. 45.]
God gave Moses a sign to inspire his courage and confidence that God would make his mission a success (Exo 3:12; cf. Gen 37:5-11). This sign was evidently the burning bush. God also gave Moses a promise that he would return with the Israelites to the very mountain where he stood then. This promise required faith on Moses’ part, but it was also an encouragement to him. As surely as God had revealed Himself to Moses there once, He promised to bring Moses back to Horeb to worship Him a second time with the Israelites. The punctuation in the NASB may be misleading.
". . . the experience of Moses in Exo 3:1-12 is an exact foreshadowing of the experience of Israel, first in Egypt, then in the deprivation of the wilderness, and finally at Sinai." [Note: Durham, p. 30.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

5
CHAPTER III.
THE BURNING BUSH.
Exo 2:23 – Exo 3:1-22
“In process of time the king of Egypt died,” probably the great Raamses, no other of whose dynasty had a reign which extended over the indicated period of time. If so, he had while living every reason to expect an immortal fame, as the greatest among Egyptian kings, a hero, a conqueror on three continents, a builder of magnificent works. But he has only won an immortal notoriety. “Every stone in his buildings was cemented in human blood.” The cause he persecuted has made deathless the banished refugee, and has gibbeted the great monarch as a tyrant, whose misplanned severities wrought the ruin of his successor and his army. Such are the reversals of popular judgment: and such the vanity of fame. For all the contemporary fame was his.
“The children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried.” Another monarch had come at last, a change after sixty-seven years, and yet no change for them! It filled up the measure of their patience, and also of the iniquity of Egypt. We are not told that their cry was addressed to the Lord; what we read is that it reached Him, Who still overhears and pities many a sob, many a lament, which ought to have been addressed to Him, and is not. Indeed, if His compassion were not to reach men until they had remembered and prayed to Him, who among us would ever have learned to pray to Him at all? Moreover He remembered His covenant with their forefathers, for the fulfilment of which the time had now arrived. “And God saw the children of Israel, and God took knowledge of them.”
These were not the cries of religious individuals, but of oppressed masses. It is therefore a solemn question to ask How many such appeals ascend from Christian England? Behold, the hire of labourers … held back by fraud crieth out. The half-paid slaves of our haste to be rich, and the victims of our drinking institutions, and of hideous vices which entangle and destroy the innocent and unconscious, what cries to heaven are theirs! As surely as those which St. James records, these have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Of these sufferers every one is His own by purchase, most of them by a covenant and sacrament more solemn than bound Him to His ancient Israel. Surely He hears their groaning. And all whose hearts are touched with compassion, yet who hesitate whether to bestir themselves or to remain inert while evil is masterful and cruel, should remember the anger of God when Moses said, “Send, I pray Thee, by whom Thou wilt send.” The Lord is not indifferent. Much less than other sufferers should those who know God be terrified by their afflictions. Cyprian encouraged the Church of his time to endure even unto martyrdom, by the words recorded of ancient Israel, that the more they afflicted them, so much the more they became greater and waxed stronger. And he was right. For all these things happened to them for ensamples, and were written for our admonition.
It is further to be observed that the people were quite unconscious, until Moses announced it afterwards, that they were heard by God. Yet their deliverer had now been prepared by a long process for his work. We are not to despair because relief does not immediately appear: though He tarry, we are to wait for Him.
While this anguish was being endured in Egypt, Moses was maturing for his destiny. Self-reliance, pride of place, hot and impulsive aggressiveness, were dying in his bosom. To the education of the courtier and scholar was now added that of the shepherd in the wilds, amid the most solemn and awful scenes of nature, in solitude, humiliation, disappointment, and, as we learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews, in enduring faith. Wordsworth has a remarkable description of the effect of a similar discipline upon the good Lord Clifford. He tells–
“How he, long forced in humble paths to go,
Was softened into feeling, soothed and tamed.
“Love had he found in huts where poor men lie,
His daily teachers had been woods and rills,
The silence that is in the starry sky,
The sleep that is among the lonely hills.
“In him the savage virtues of the race,
Revenge, and all ferocious thoughts, were dead;
Nor did he change, but kept in lofty place
The wisdom which adversity had bred.”
There was also the education of advancing age, which teaches many lessons, and among them two which are essential to leadership,–the folly of a hasty blow, and of impulsive reliance upon the support of mobs. Moses the man-slayer became exceeding meek; and he ceased to rely upon the perception of his people that God by him would deliver them. His distrust, indeed, became as excessive as his temerity had been, but it was an error upon the safer side. “Behold, they will not believe me,” he says, “nor hearken unto my voice.”
It is an important truth that in very few lives the decisive moment comes just when it is expected. Men allow themselves to be self-indulgent, extravagant and even wicked, often upon the calculation that their present attitude matters little, and they will do very differently when the crisis arrives, the turning-point in their career to nerve them. And they waken up with a start to find their career already decided, their character moulded. As a snare shall the day of the Lord come upon all flesh; and as a snare come all His great visitations meanwhile. When Herod was drinking among bad companions, admiring a shameless dancer, and boasting loudly of his generosity, he was sobered and saddened to discover that he had laughed away the life of his only honest adviser. Moses, like David, was “following the ewes great with young,” when summoned by God to rule His people Israel. Neither did the call arrive when he was plunged in moody reverie and abstraction, sighing over his lost fortunes and his defeated aspirations, rebelling against his lowly duties. The humblest labour is a preparation for the brightest revelations, whereas discontent, however lofty, is a preparation for nothing. Thus, too, the birth of Jesus was first announced to shepherds keeping watch over their flock. Yet hundreds of third-rate young persons in every city in this land today neglect their work, and unfit themselves for any insight, or any leadership whatever, by chafing against the obscurity of their vocation.
Who does not perceive that the career of Moses hitherto was divinely directed? The fact that we feel this, although, until now, God has not once been mentioned in his personal story, is surely a fine lesson for those who have only one notion of what edifies–the dragging of the most sacred names and phrases into even the most unsuitable connections. In truth, such a phraseology is much less attractive than a certain tone, a recognition of the unseen, which may at times be more consistent with reverential silence than with obtrusive utterance. It is enough to be ready and fearless when the fitting time comes, which is sure to arrive, for the religious heart as for this narrative–the time for the natural utterance of the great word, God.
We read that the angel of the Lord appeared to him–a remarkable phrase, which was already used in connection with the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen 22:11). How much it implies will better be discussed in the twenty-third chapter, where a fuller statement is made. For the present it is enough to note, that this is one pre-eminent angel, indicated by the definite article; that he is clearly the medium of a true divine appearance, because neither the voice nor form of any lesser being is supposed to be employed, the appearance being that of fire, and the words being said to be the direct utterance of the Lord, not of any one who says, Thus saith the Lord. We shall see hereafter that the story of the Exodus is unique in this respect, that in training a people tainted with Egyptian superstitions, no ‘similitude’ is seen, as when there wrestled a man with Jacob, or when Ezekiel saw a human form upon the sapphire pavement.
Man is the true image of God, and His perfect revelation was in flesh. But now that expression of Himself was perilous, and perhaps unsuitable besides; for He was to be known as the Avenger, and presently as the Giver of Law, with its inflexible conditions and its menaces. Therefore He appeared as fire, which is intense and terrible, even when “the flame of the grace of God does not consume, but illuminates.”
There is a notion that religion is languid, repressive, and unmanly. But such is not the scriptural idea. In His presence is the fulness of joy. Christ has come that we might have life, and might have it more abundantly. They who are shut out from His blessedness are said to be asleep and dead. And so Origen quotes this passage among others, with the comment that “As God is a fire, and His angels a flame of fire, and all the saints fervent in spirit, so they who have fallen away from God are said to have cooled, or to have become cold” (De Princip., ii. 8). A revelation by fire involves intensity.
There is indeed another explanation of the burning bush, which makes the flame express only the afflictions that did not consume the people. But this would be a strange adjunct to a divine appearance for their deliverance, speaking rather of the continuance of suffering than of its termination, for which the extinction of such fire would be a more appropriate symbol.
Yet there is an element of truth even in this view, since fire is connected with affliction. In His holiness God is light (with which, in the Hebrew, the very word for holiness seems to be connected); in His judgments He is fire. “The Light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day” (Isa 10:17). But God reveals Himself in this thorn bush as a fire which does not consume; and such a revelation tells at once Who has brought the people into affliction, and also that they are not abandoned to it.
To Moses at first there was visible only an extraordinary phenomenon; He turned to see a great sight. It is therefore out of the question to find here the truth, so easy to discover elsewhere, that God rewards the religious inquirer–that they who seek after Him shall find Him. Rather we learn the folly of deeming that the intellect and its inquiries are at war with religion and its mysteries, that revelation is at strife with mental insight, that he who most stupidly refuses to “see the great sights” of nature is best entitled to interpret the voice of God. When the man of science gives ear to voices not of earth, and the man of God has eyes and interest for the divine wonders which surround us, many a discord will be harmonised. With the revival of classical learning came the Reformation.
But it often happens that the curiosity of the intellect is in danger of becoming irreverent, and obtrusive into mysteries not of the brain, and thus the voice of God must speak in solemn warning: “Moses, Moses, … Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”
After as prolonged a silence as from the time of Malachi to the Baptist, it is God Who reveals Himself once more–not Moses who by searching finds Him out. And this is the established rule. Tidings of the Incarnation came from heaven, or man would not have discovered the Divine Babe. Jesus asked His two first disciples “What seek ye?” and told Simon “Thou shalt be called Cephas,” and pronounced the listening Nathaniel “an Israelite indeed,” and bade Zaccheus “make haste and come down,” in each case before He was addressed by them.
The first words of Jehovah teach something more than ceremonial reverence. If the dust of common earth on the shoe of Moses may not mingle with that sacred soil, how dare we carry into the presence of our God mean passions and selfish cravings? Observe, too, that while Jacob, when he awoke from his vision, said, “How dreadful is this place!” (Gen 28:17), God Himself taught Moses to think rather of the holiness than the dread of His abode. Nevertheless Moses also was afraid to look upon God, and hid the face which was thereafter to be veiled, for a nobler reason, when it was itself illumined with the divine glory. Humility before God is thus the path to the highest honour, and reverence, to the closest intercourse.
Meantime the Divine Person has announced Himself: “I am the God of thy father” (father is apparently singular with a collective force), “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” It is a blessing which every Christian parent should bequeath to his child, to be strengthened and invigorated by thinking of God as his father’s God.
It was with this memorable announcement that Jesus refuted the Sadducees and established His doctrine of the resurrection. So, then, the bygone ages are not forgotten: Moses may be sure that a kindly relation exists between God and himself, because the kindly relation still exists in all its vital force which once bound Him to those who long since appeared to die. It was impossible, therefore, our Lord inferred, that they had really died at all. The argument is a forerunner of that by which St. Paul concludes, from the resurrection of Christ, that none who are “in Christ” have perished. Nay, since our Lord was not disputing about immortality only, but the resurrection of the body, His argument implied that a vital relationship with God involved the imperishability of the whole man, since all was His, and in truth the very seal of the covenant was imprinted upon the flesh. How much stronger is the assurance for us, who know that our very bodies are His temple! Now, if any suspicion should arise that the argument, which is really subtle, is over-refined and untrustworthy, let it be observed that no sooner was this announcement made, than God added the proclamation of His own immutability, so that it cannot be said He was, but from age to age His title is I AM. The inference from the divine permanence to the living and permanent vitality of all His relationships is not a verbal quibble, it is drawn from the very central truth of this great scripture.
And now for the first time God calls Israel My people, adopting a phrase already twice employed by earthly rulers (Gen 23:11, Gen 41:40), and thus making Himself their king and the champion of their cause. Often afterwards it was used in pathetic appeal:–“Thou hast showed Thy people hard things,”–“Thou sellest Thy people for nought,”–“Behold, look, we beseech Thee; we are all Thy people” (Psa 60:3, Psa 44:12; Isa 64:9). And often it expressed the returning favour of their king: “Hear, O My people, and I will speak”; “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people” (Psa 50:7; Isa 40:1).
It is used of the nation at large, all of whom were brought into the covenant, although with many of them God was not well pleased. And since it does not belong only to saints, but speaks of a grace which might be received in vain, it is a strong appeal to all Christian people, all who are within the New Covenant. Them also the Lord claims and pities, and would gladly emancipate: their sorrows also He knows. “I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” Thus the ways of God exceed the desires of men. Their subsequent complaints are evidence that Egypt had become their country: gladly would they have shaken off the iron yoke, but a successful rebellion is a revolution, not an Exodus. Their destined home was very different: with the widest variety of climate, scenery, and soil, a land which demanded much more regular husbandry, but rewarded labour with exuberant fertility. Secluded from heathenism by deserts on the south and east, by a sublime range of mountains on the north, and by a sea with few havens on the west, yet planted in the very bosom of all the ancient civilisation which at the last it was to leaven, it was a land where a faithful people could have dwelt alone and not been reckoned among the nations, yet where the scourge for disobedience was never far away.
Next after the promise of this good land, the commission of Moses is announced. He is to act, because God is already active: “I am come down to deliver them … come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people.” And let this truth encourage all who are truly sent of God, to the end of time, that He does not send us to deliver man, until He is Himself prepared to do so, that when our fears ask, like Moses, Who am I, that I should go? He does not answer, Thou art capable, but Certainly I will go with thee. So, wherever the ministry of the word is sent, there is a true purpose of grace. There is also the presence of One who claims the right to bestow upon us the same encouragement which was given to Moses by Jehovah, saying, “Lo, I am with you alway.” In so saying, Jesus made Himself equal with God.
And as this ancient revelation of God was to give rest to a weary and heavy-laden people, so Christ bound together the assertion of a more perfect revelation, made in Him, with the promise of a grander emancipation. No man knoweth the Father save by revelation of the Son is the doctrine which introduces the great offer “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat 11:27-28). The claims of Christ in the New Testament will never be fully recognised until a careful study is made of His treatment of the functions which in the Old Testament are regarded as Divine. A curious expression follows: “This shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” It seems but vague encouragement, to offer Moses, hesitating at the moment, a token which could take effect only when his task was wrought. And yet we know how much easier it is to believe what is thrown into distinct shape and particularised. Our trust in good intentions is helped when their expression is detailed and circumstantial, as a candidate for office will reckon all general assurances of support much cheaper than a pledge to canvass certain electors within a certain time. Such is the constitution of human nature; and its Maker has often deigned to sustain its weakness by going thus into particulars. He does the same for us, condescending to embody the most profound of all mysteries in sacramental emblems, clothing his promises of our future blessedness in much detail, and in concrete figures which at least symbolise, if they do not literally describe, the glories of the Jerusalem which is above.
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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