Exodus chapter 3. I want to spend
this morning and this afternoon in Exodus chapter 3 and 4. This
chapter 3 and chapter 4 is concerning the Lord calling Moses basically
to preach. But before He calls him to preach,
He does something wonderful and necessary. for this man. He reveals himself to him. Now,
one would hope that that's a prerequisite to preaching. I don't want to
even think about going preaching to others when I don't know the
Lord for myself. This is seemingly the way the
Lord does things in general. If He's going to send a man to
preach the gospel to others, then He first saves him. That's
what he does to Moses. He makes himself known to Moses. I want to read a few verses for
you here in the third chapter of Exodus. And let's begin reading
in verse 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. That is that large range of mountains
where the Lord gave the law at Mount Sinai. This is where Moses
was. He came back to here when he
led the children of Israel out from Egypt. And it was in this
place, in verse 2, that the angel of the Lord appeared unto him
in a marvelous way, and 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." That would get anybody's attention,
wouldn't it? And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see
this great sight, why the bush is not consumed, why it's not
burned. 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 near hither. Don't come near here. Pull off
your shoes from your feet, for the place whereon you stand 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 I have
heard their cry by reason of their tasmacus, 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
land, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the land
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 coming to me, and I have also
seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed 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." 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. And he said, Certainly I will
be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee, that that
I have sent thee when thou hast brought forth the children of
Egypt, thy people out of Egypt, ye shall serve the Lord upon
this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold,
when I am coming to the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, The God of your father sent me unto you, and they shall
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 that I am." Now,
I want to quit reading there. I'll go back there this afternoon
and in the fourth chapter. But I want to look, first of
all, this morning, at the Lord revealing Himself to Moses in
this most, most amazing way. And I'm not here this morning
to try to explain exactly how the Lord revealed Himself to
Moses. We just know that He did. I can't
explain how the Lord revealed Himself to me, but I know that
He did. We're told here that the angel
of the Lord appeared unto Moses. He made Himself known unto Moses. And the first thing that you
and I want to see in this passage here this morning is that it
was God who was in this bush. There's no doubt about that,
is there? God was in the midst of this bush. It's said this
over and over again that God spake to Moses out of the midst
of this bush. And I want you to look, I want
you to hold Mark, Exodus chapter 3, there just for a minute. And
I want you to turn over to Mark chapter 12. It's not only that
this is proven in the Old Testament, in other places besides this,
that God Himself was in this bush, but look here in Mark chapter
12 and verse 26. Mark chapter 12 and verse 26.
This is the New Testament also proves the fact that God was
in this bush. And look what the Lord Jesus
Himself says in verse 26 of Mark chapter 12. And as touching the
dead that they raised, have you not read in the book of Moses
how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God spake to
him in that bush, out of that bush. The Lord spake to him. God of Jacob spake to him out
of the bush. So I just want to emphasize that,
that God was in this bush. That's why the bush was on fire.
Nobody set this bush on fire. The consuming God was in this
bush. I want that to be clear this
morning. Moses didn't imagine this to be so. He wasn't hallucinating
because he was in the desert. The eternal God was in this bush. I want to emphasize that because
I want to be more specific even than that. It's not only that
God was in this bush, but the Son of God was in this bush. This was the Son of God who was
in this bush. When I say that the Lord revealed
Himself to Moses, God reveals Himself to Moses the way He reveals
Himself to every sinner in His Son. God can only be known in
His Son. He cannot make Himself known
any other way but in His Son. If you ever see God, it will
be in Christ, because that's the way He reveals Himself. We've
seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And I say that for these reasons,
and I want to give you some reasons here in this text. to prove that
this is the Son of God, who is God the Son, in this bush. First of all, we are told here
in verse 2 that the angel of the Lord appeared unto him. Now, who is this angel of the
Lord? This is the Son of God. This
is Christ. So often in the Old Testament
scriptures, he is referred to and identified as the angel of
the Lord, or the messenger of the Lord. Listen to Malachi chapter
3 and verse 1. Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me. That is speaking of
John the Baptist. But listen to this. And the Lord
whom you seek, That's the Lord Jesus Christ shall suddenly come
to His temple, even the messenger, even the angel of the covenant. Who was it that came to the temple?
It was the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the
angel of the Lord, or the angel of the covenant. He came to His
people, He came to this world, and He came to His temple. Let me give you another example.
You remember in Genesis when it was said that a man wrestled
with Jacob? When Jacob was left alone and
a man wrestled with him? That man was an angel. And listen
to what Hosea says about this. By Jacob's strength he had power
with God, Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed, and
wept, and made supplications unto him. There he found us,
and there he spake to us." Who spake to us? The angel of the
Lord that wrestled with Jacob. But who was that angel? Well,
he was God. He was God. But more specifically,
he was the Son of God. He took upon himself the appearance
as a man, and he wrestled with Jacob. And Jacob said, Tell me
your name. You'll find this in the Scriptures
when people see angels, this angel, sometimes they say, What
is your name? They realize it was God, and
they wanted to know his name. And as Jacob wrestled with him,
he said, I'm not going to let you go until you bless me. And
he prevailed over this angel, over the Lord. And the Lord blessed
him. And he said, What's your name?
And he said, Why do you require after my name? And he blessed
him, and Jacob said, This place I'm going to call Penuel. Why
is that? Well, that means I've seen God
face to face. Now, how are you going to see
God? The Scripture tells us that God is an eternal Spirit, and
nobody can see God. There's one place that God can
reveal Himself. There's one place to know Him,
and that's in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That was so in
the New Testament, and that's so in the Old Testament. This
angel of the Lord is none other than God the Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I want you to turn to Judges
chapter 3 with me. I want to read this example to
you. Judges chapter 3. Thirteen. You remember this story. A man
by the name of Manoah and his wife. They were Samson's mother
and dad. They hadn't had a child. And
they wanted a child. And this angel appeared unto
Manoah's wife. Look at it in Judges 13. Then the woman came and told
her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance
was like the countenance of an angel of God. Very terrible.
But I asked him not whence he was, neither told me his name. And then, Manoah said, if you
ever see him again, you run and get me. Just a while later, the
angel appeared until this very same woman again. She ran and
got her husband. And Manoah began to speak with
him. And look in verse 15. And Manoah said unto the angel
of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee until we shall
have made ready a kid, a sacrifice for thee. And the angel of the
Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat
of thy bread. And if thou wilt offer a burnt
offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew
not that he was not an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said
unto the angel of the Lord, What is your name?" See that? Everybody
wanted to know his name. Why? This is no ordinary man,
and they knew it. This was God, and they knew it.
He said there in verse 17, that when by sins are come to pass,
we may do the honor. And the angel of the Lord said
unto him, Why askest thou after my name? Sin, it is secret. You know where you find that
very same word, secret. The very same word. You know
where else you find it? My name is secret. If you'll
turn your Bible sometime to Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6, here's
what that verse says. The government shall be upon
his shoulders. A virgin shall conceive. The
government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall
be called Secret. You know what that name means?
Wonderful. His name shall be called Wonderful. It's the very same name here
as secret. They translated it secret here,
they translated it wonderful there in chapter 9 and verse
6. Who is that speaking about? His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the Son of God. And look what happens here in
verse 19. So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering and offered
it upon the rock unto the Lord, and the angel did wondrously. And Manoah and his wife looked
on. For it came to pass when the flame went up towards heaven
from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in
the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked
on and fell on their faces to the ground, but the angel of
the Lord did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah
knew that it was the angel of the Lord." And look at this,
"...and Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because
we have seen God." Sometimes women are much smarter than men. in spiritual matters. Because
look what his dear wife said. His wife said unto him, If the
Lord were pleased to kill us, would he have received a burnt
offering and a meat offering at our hands? Neither would he
have showed us all these things, nor would he as yet at this time
have told us such things as these. This angel did not appear to
these people to destroy them. That's not why He came, was it?
To destroy men's lives, but to save men's lives. Who was this,
therefore? Who is this angel that appeared
to Moses? Who is this God in this bush? It's the Son of God. It's the
Lord Jesus Christ, the angel of God's presence, the messenger
of the covenant. What did the Lord Jesus say about
Moses? If you'd have believed Him, you'd
believe me, because He wrote to me. Moses wrote of me. And here you find it here. He
wrote of him. The second proof here is in verse
14 of Exodus chapter 3. Look at this. And that's his name. His name. Moses said there, Who shall I
tell of him that sent me? What is his name? What shall
I say unto them? In verse 14, God said unto Moses,
I am that I am. And he said, Thus shall thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. What a name is that? I am. I am that I am. I am the eternal,
unchanging God. Wherever you find me, whenever
you find me, I am. I just not was or shall be. I am. That's my name. I am. Now, do you want to hear
somebody else use this claim for themselves? Do you want to
know who is speaking here? We've got it on record. Look
in John chapter 8 and verse 56. Look at this. John chapter 8
and verse 56. The Lord Jesus was preaching
to these Jews. Of course, they despised him,
and he made a statement to them concerning Abraham. Look in verse
56. Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews
unto him, You are not even fifty years old. And hast thou seen
Abraham? You'd have to be a thousand years
old or more to have seen Abraham. Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." Who is that? That's the same one that revealed
himself to Moses in that bush. And notice their response, "...then
took they up stones to cast at him." Why did they do that? Because
they knew where this word came from. They knew who this name
belonged to, and it was the eternal God alone. I Am! And they said,
You ain't Him. There's but one I Am. And you're
not Him. You're just a man. You're born
to a woman. We know your dad and we know
your mother. But He said, I Am. Remember when those soldiers
came to get him during the garden? And he said, Who are you seeking?
They said, We're seeking Jesus. And he said, I am. I am. Leave the he off, because they
added that. I wish they hadn't. I am. And
what did those men do? They went backwards, didn't they? And fell on the ground. No wonder
Moses bowed his head. No wonder Menorah and his wife
bowed their heads in worship. The Son of God appeared to them.
He made himself known to them. He's God. He's God. And he's all the way back here
with Moses speaking and making himself revealed to him. If you
want to look these up, sometimes you can. Glenn probably got them
on some of his notes because he brought them out not long
ago. Listen to what the Lord Jesus says in the book of John
alone about Himself. I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door. By me, if any
man enters in, he shall be saved. I am the Good Shepherd. I am
the resurrection. I am the light. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the true
Thine. I am. Who is this, in Exodus
chapter 2, in this bush? It's Christ. Who is God? Who is the Almighty? Who is the
Lord? It's Him. It's Him. I tell you,
before I preach one message, I want to know Him. I want to
know Him. God have mercy upon the man that
is sent out to preach to others that don't know the Lord Himself.
There were some men, Jim Bird had a conference with, a little
breakfast in the conference with, and they said, we can't understand
why you turned to the Old Testament so much and preached Christ from
it. We don't see Christ there. Well, for God's sake, quit preaching
if you can't see Christ in the Old Testament. In the volume
of the book, it is written of me. Moses wrote of him. Why did he write of him? Because
he revealed himself to Moses. But look back over now at this. Look at something else here.
This is an amazing thing, and this has a lesson in it. This
teaches us that this was the Son of God in the bush. Moses
saw this miracle. Here in verses 2 and verse 3,
These were two things by their very nature are opposed one to
another. You have this bush, you have
this wood, and you have this fire. And yet the wood is not
consumed by this fire. Now that's a miracle. That's
what got Moses' eye. He said, I want to turn aside
and see this great thing that is happening here. Well, it was
a great thing, wasn't it? You can't set fire to a bush
without consuming the bush. They're completely different
in their natures. If you don't want a fire, don't
get the fire around the bush, because the fire will consume
the bush. But it didn't consume this bush.
And Moses said, wait a minute, there's something going on here.
I'm turning aside to see this. And when he turned aside, right
out of the midst of that bush that was not consumed, God, the
consuming fire, speaks to him. What does this teach you and
I? This teaches us this, that God can and did take our
humanity to Himself. That God did and does this very
morning. dwell in our humanity in all
His fullness, and yet our humanity is not consumed. Isn't that amazing? Now, He doesn't dwell in my humanity
personally, but He dwells in the humanity of His Son. The
Scripture teaches us that God In His eternal deity, in all
His fullness, in all His attributes, dwells in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Listen to Colossians chapter
2, verse 9. In Christ dwells all the fullness of the deity of God. In Christ. In His soul. In His body. The eternal God dwells in His
fullness, in His very essence. Everything that makes up God,
all of His eternal attributes, all of His perfection, is contained
in the very soul and body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet
Christ in His human soul and in His human body is not consumed. Ain't that a miracle? No wonder
Paul said, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in our flesh. And John said, we saw Him, we
handled Him, we listened to Him. Who, John? The Word of Life. That eternal life which was with
us. And we handled Him. We were amazed
at Him. Because we saw Him in His humanity,
and yet He was very God of very gods. How in the world could
that be? If God fills you, Larry Baker,
He'd consume you. There's no way that you and I
can contain the eternal God in His fullness. But here was a
man, the man Christ Jesus. And when you looked at Him, He
could say, you're looking at God. You've seen Me. You've seen God in all His completeness
and in all His eternality. I am God. Ain't that amazing? And you know Jesus Christ this
very morning is seated in heaven, and in His body and in His human
soul, which He still retains and ever will, because He can
never be separated from our humanity, yet seated there in heaven, in
Him dwells all the fullness of God. And you and I will never
see another God. apart from Him. He is God. He is God. And that's what this
teaches us. I mean, you put fire to a bush,
and the bush is going to be consumed. If you and I were to be filled
with the fullness of God, His eternal attributes, God in all
of His glory, why, we'd perish. We'd perish. But not this man. Not Jesus Christ. He had a human
nature. He had a human soul and a human
body. But I tell you, he's not like
us. He's not like us. He's not corrupted with sin.
He was born to a fallen woman, but he wasn't fallen himself.
He's holy. He's harmless. He's undefiled. He is filled with all the fullness
of God. And he's not consumed. What a
mystery that is. I tell you, there's enough in
this to keep the world occupied. If they want wisdom, you talk
about seeking for knowledge and understanding, then the incarnate
Son of God, that will keep you busy. That will keep a man busy. Something else. Something else
proves here that this was the Son of God. And we'll close with
this. The mission that he announces
here in verse 8. What he announces that he's going
to do tells us that this is God, the Son, the Savior. Look what
he says in verse 7 and 8. The Lord said, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt. I have heard
their cry by reason of their taskmaster, for I know their
sorrows. And I am come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that
land into a good land, a large land, a land flowing with milk
and honey. Why do I say this is the Son
of God, God the Son? Because this is a Savior. This
is a Savior. I am come to deliver them. Who is it that delivers people?
It's Jesus, ain't it? The Son of God, the Savior of
the world. And here He says, I'm come down
to deliver them. Four hundred years, Israel had
been oppressed by these Egyptians. Killed their babies, put them
in slavery, beat them, kept them in fear. They lived in this iron
furnace. And the Lord said, I've come
down to deliver them. I've come to save them. That
tells us that this was the Son of God, the Savior. But not only
did He come to save them, but this, He says, I've come to bring
them out of that land unto a good land, a large land. He's going
to do two wonderful things. Not only was He going to deliver
them from their oppressors, but He's going to bring them into
a new land. You know, it's not enough for
the Lord just to save a man from his sins. He's going to do more
than that. That's just part of it. He said, I'm going to take
you from Pharaoh's oppression, and I'm going to bring you into
a country that you're just not going to believe is going to
be so wonderful. There's wells over there that's already dug,
and the water is so cold and sweet. I'm going to give you
those wells. There's houses already built.
You fellows have been living in tents. I'm going to give you
those houses. There's vineyards and there's
crops that's already planted. You're going to eat them. This
is a land flowing. It's flowing. A rich land. Do
you remember those spies that went into the land of Canaan
and they found this one big cluster of grapes? Do you remember how
many men it took to carry that one cluster? Two men. This was
a land, a rich land. And it was a large land. And
this one in the bush said, I'm going to bring you into that
land. I'm going to bring you into that land. I'm going to
deliver you and bring you into that land. Boy, there's something
else here, though. There's something else here.
Look here in this sentence, chapter 3, and look in verse 20. Boy,
here's something else that he was going to do. I'll stretch
out my hand and I'll smite Egypt with all my wonders. I will do
in the midst of, and after that, he will let you go. I'm going
to begin. Look at this. I will stretch
out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will
do." Now, this is something about the Son of God that we don't
hear very much about, is it? He's a Lord of judgment. He's
known by his judgment. Boy, he started right here to
bring some plagues, and he didn't stop until he had drowned Pharaoh
and his army in the Red Sea. The Lord has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider has he
thrown into the sea. Who did that? The one who dwelt
in this bush. Now, who is this? It has to be
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only Deliverer. Listen to Isaiah chapter 19 verse
20. They shall cry unto me in their
oppression, and I will send them a Savior, a great one, and He
shall deliver them. Who is that great one? It's Christ
who came to save His people from their sins. The very same one
that was in this bush that delivered the children of Israel and brought
them into the land of Canaan. I have come to deliver you from
your oppression. Who is? Who is? Let me ask you
this question. What has more than anything else
oppressed you, dear child of God? What is it that oppresses
you? Is it not sin? I tell you, if you had no sin
to grapple with, your heart wouldn't be as near as heavy. Your eyes
would not be full of tears as they often are. You wouldn't
be walking through this world with your head bent down so often.
It's sin that has oppressed us. It's the devil that has suppressed
us. He's made slaves out of us, hasn't he? But the Lord Jesus
Christ has come and delivered us from our oppressors, from
sin and the devil and from the fear of death. He has delivered
us. And you know what? He ain't going
to stop there. That's just half of it. That's just half of it. I love the way he says this.
This is why I like our version of the King James Bible, because
you can take some of these phrases and just follow them through
the Bible. Here's what he says, I am come down to deliver them. I am come. If you follow that
right over in the New Testament, the very same words are used.
I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. Not just that they might have
life, but more abundantly. What's he going to do with his
people? He's going to bring them into a good land, a sweet land,
a large land. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If I go and prepare a place for
you, I'm coming again and receive you unto myself that where I
am. You desire a heavenly country.
Is that the desire of your soul? He puts that desire in the souls
of His people, and they begin to desire a heavenly country. Oh, I want to be delivered from
this land of oppression. And you know what the Bible says?
He has prepared for them a city, a country, a heaven. And that's where they're going
to wind up at, at last. By the grace and power of Him
that's in this bush, the Son of God. But you know something,
brothers and sisters? In this world, don't see this
at all, the Lord Jesus said this about Himself, for judgment,
I am come unto the world. I am come. I've come down that
they might have life. I've come for judgment. And you
know judgment's already begun. It began when He was here, didn't
it? I am come for this reason, He
said, that they which see not may see. And they would say,
now we see. You'll see not. I've come for
judgment. And judgment began all the way
back then. Leave those Pharisees alone,
he said. They be blind. God's leaders are the blind.
Leave them alone. If they're leading the blind,
they're both going to fall into the ditch. Leave them alone.
That was his judgment. And you know something? The Son
of God is seated in heaven this morning. And He's doing some
marvelous things in the way of judgment in this earth. He's
not just saving people. Thank God He's doing that. He's
delivering people. But you know something? You know
what all of these natural catastrophes, these earthquakes that they're
having around the world, these volcanoes, all of these storms,
the wars, the turmoils, the judgment, you know who has a hand in that?
Don't doubt it for a minute. The Son of God is judging. He's
reigning and He's putting His enemies under His feet. Just
as sure as He told Moses, I'm going to judge Pharaoh and his
gods, I'm going to drown them, the Lord Jesus Christ is doing
the very same thing this morning. He's judging. And at last, at
last, In His own time, He's going to stand up from the throne and
He's going to say, Come up here. Come up here. All you dead, get
out of your graves and come up here. Every man living, come
up here. Stand before Me and receive your
judgment. And you know what the wicked
are going to cry? For the rocks and the mountains to fall on
us and hide us from His face. Hide us from the face of Him
that sat on the throne. Why would they want to be hid
from His face? His face is a redeeming face. But they weren't redeemed. You and I are here this morning
and we're redeemed and we're saying, Come, Lord Jesus. We
want to see Your face. We want to be with You and like
You. But those aren't redeemed. So when the Lord, the Sovereign
of this universe says, come up here, they're going to tremble.
And they're going to say, fall on us, rocks and mountains, and
hide us. We don't know Him that dwelt
in that bush. And we're afraid of Him. We're
afraid of Him. You know the only safe place
with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the only safe place
with Him is to get as close to Him as you can. I mean, come
to Him and get a hold of Him and say, I'm not going to let
you go. Kiss the Son. Listen, you judges of the earth.
Listen, you hard-hearted people. Kiss the Son. Come to Him and
get close to Him. Close that you could hug Him
and embrace Him and kiss Him. That's the only safe place. Lest
He be angry. And you perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled but a little. Here's a bush! Here's a bush! But here's a fire. Here's a man,
born of Mary, Jesus of Nazareth, meek and lowly in his heart. But don't forget this about him.
He's God. He's a consuming And you want
to face Him now in mercy. You want to face Him now at His
feet in grace and forgiveness of sin. You don't want to wait
and face Him yonder. May God help us to do so. Let's
pray.