Exodus 3:1-41Now 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. 2And 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. 3And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4And 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. (Exodus 3:1‑4)
“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.”
Forty long years had passed since Moses left Egypt. There in the wilderness he had been learning the lessons he needed for his future work, lessons necessary to qualify him to act for God as the deliverer of His people. Now the time had come when the unforgetting heart of God would show His remembrance of Israel.
Forty in Scripture is a time of testing. In those forty years, in the back side of the desert, Moses had learned something of what he was, but it was also a time for him to prove what God was. These two things must ever be learned before we are qualified for service for God. In the court of Egypt, Moses was learning to be nothing. Away from the busy haunts of men, in quiet communion with God one learns the vanity of human resources, and our entire dependence upon Himself. Indeed it is necessary for every true servant to be much alone with God continually.
In the last chapter, we read of how the sorrowful condition of Israel in their bondage drew forth the pitying mercy of God. Now the time had come for Him to deliver them, for He “remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” “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.”
It was indeed a wonderful sight —a bush burning with fire and yet not burned up. In the angel of the Lord is seen Jehovah, God Himself, and showing forth the second Person of the blessed Trinity—God the Son. The flame of fire is a symbol of God’s holiness: “for our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:2929For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29).
The bush represented the nation of Israel in the furnace of Egypt the fire burning fiercely around about it and yet not destroying it. God would have Moses to know that his nation would be preserved however fiercely the fire might burn. What a great comfort and assurance this would be if they could understand it rightly. And this is true with each one of us. God will sift and deal with His own in a way that will purge away the dross, yet He is full of love and pity, using the trials He passes us through for nothing but good — for His own glory, and for our eternal blessing, in Christ.
Moses was attracted, as well he might be, by “this great sight,” and “he turned aside to see.” Then it was that God called to him out of the bush by name. And, dear reader, the Lord knows your name too. Furthermore, He knows all about you. He is calling you too, unsaved one, just as He called Moses, and He has a more wonderful sight for your eyes than what Moses saw that day, if you will see it now by faith. He would have you to look by faith to Calvary’s tree, there to see the Lord Jesus bearing the consuming wrath of God against sin, in order that you and I might never be consumed under His judgment, but rather to be brought into blessing through His finished work. What a wonderful sight for a trembling sinner to bold! What peace fills the soul when one can say, “Christ died for me.”
ML 07/14/1968