What a wonderful discovery of God did Moses make when he kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, at the backside of the desert! The very discovery, dear sinner, you want to make of Him, to win your confidence to Him, and enable you to trust Him fully. It was surely a “great sight,” as Moses said. “I will now turn aside and see this great sight; why the bush is not burnt.” This was the wonderful secret. It was nothing wonderful that God should display Himself in a flame of fire, or in any other form He chose. Nor was it anything wonderful that a bush should be growing at the backside of the desert. But the wonder of all wonders was, why the bush was not burnt!
Think a moment, dear fellow-sinner, of the nature of God with respect to evil and sin. Such is His nature, that if He were to manifest it, where sin is, He must burn up and consume everything contrary to that nature. When Moses warned the children of Israel of the consequences of idolatry, thus provoking the wrath of God by going after strange gods, he says, “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” (Deut. 4:2424For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:24)) How often did they experience this terrible character of God when they had provoked Him by their murmurs in the wilderness? When they complained and murmured (Num. 11:11And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. (Numbers 11:1)), “His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them.” Again, when Borah and his company rebelled against the Lord’s authority, in Moses and Aaron (Num. 16), “There came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.”
We have in Isa. 6 a sample of a sinner under the beams of this burning holiness of God’s moral nature. There the prophet had a vision, in which he saw the Lord of Hosts, high and lifted up, His train filling the temple; and when the accompanying seraphim (or burners) cry, with faces vailed with their wings, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts,” the poor soul-stricken prophet fell upon his face and cried, “Woe is me, for I am undone!” He knew in his inmost soul that the very moment such an one as he, as a sinner, should have to do with that God, whose burning holiness was before him, he must be consumed!
Now, apply this character, this nature of God, to your own heart, dear reader, and just answer the question. Is there a single thing in my heart, in my whole being, that would not be consumed with this intense holiness of God if I were to stand before Him this moment in my sins? And yet, dear reader, if ever you come into His presence, you must come there so as to answer the full display of His nature. You could not, you dare not be there on other ground than this. It would deny His nature to have you there otherwise.
Now, if we look at the story of Ex. 3, we find that God was displaying His nature before Moses as a consuming fire. One who, however he may act in the display of mercy, and grace, and love, never denies Himself. And the secret Moses learned was this, that while God was a “consuming fire,” He was not acting in this character, but was revealing Himself to Moses in grace! This was the secret, dear fellow-sinner, that while God was there “a consuming fire,” He was not consuming! Oh, what a blessed revelation of Himself! How precious thus to know Him. How are you to know Him now? Just in this character of grace, dear fellow-sinner. Where are you to know Him thus In Christ! Why are you to know Him thus, and without fear? Just because the burning holiness of His hatred and abhorrence of sin burst in all its fullest display on the head of His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Because His Son, Jesus Christ, in His own person, bore the fullest burst of divine wrath—the cup of wrath—on His cross. Exhausted it, so that not a drop remained for the poor sinner. Thus it is, dear fellow-sinners, that you are to know God in this day of grace. If you know God, in Christ, you know a God of perfect grace. Out of Christ, you must know Him by-and-bye as a consuming fire.
Now, cannot you tell why it was that the bush was not burned? Cannot you say, “It was because God was revealing Himself as a God of grace, but who was not thereby setting aside His nature in doing so?”
Do you know Him thus, dear reader? Can you say, “I know Him, I know Him 2” Hold fast then this blessed discovery of Him. “Let us hold fast grace (margin), whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 12:28,2928Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28‑29)) “Our God,” that is, God as we know Him now in Christ.