when he evidently had just learned
that course, and he was determined to get the people in the church
wherever he was preaching to learn that course, and they must
have sung it four or five times over and over again. Ralph, he
loved to sing. He had a good voice, and he loved
to lead the singing. And his wife, she played the
piano, and she was an excellent pianist like Sally. She did a
wonderful job. But I heard him on that tape
at another church. He said, I'm going to keep you
here all night until you sing. He said, you've got to open your
mouth to sing now. He called one man out. He said,
he's a lawyer. He said, he thinks he's too good
to sing. He said, you've got to sing now.
He was something else, wasn't he? Okay, let's turn in our Bibles
tonight to Exodus chapter 3. We have, in the last two Wednesday
nights, looked at the birth of Moses and then at the faith of
Moses. And tonight, we're going to look
at these verses which speak about him at the burning bush. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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 coming to 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. We'll stop our reading here,
but I notice that this chapter begins with Moses working as
a shepherd The scripture says, 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. Arthur Pink has a book on the
book of Exodus, and in the last chapter, he gives 75 types, 75
ways, rather, that Moses is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
one of those types is, of course, that Moses was a shepherd. And
we know the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the good shepherd who loved
his sheep and gave his life for them. At this point in his life,
he's 40 years old. 40 years before this, we know
that he attempted, he attempted to deliver his countrymen. And
then when he failed, out of fear of Pharaoh, He ran, he fled,
rather, to the land of Midian. Now, in this chapter, in these
verses, he's now 80 years old. 80 years old according to what
we read in Acts 7, verse 30. And when 40 years were expired,
now these are the words of Stephen, and he had told in this message
that he delivered, that Moses was 40 years old when he tried
to deliver the children of Israel in the flesh. And now he says,
and when 40 years were expired, that means now he's 80 years
of age, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai
an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. I just would
remind us, when we think about that, Moses' attempt to deliver
the children of Israel, his countrymen, 40 years before that, and now
God calls him to that work. Solomon wrote in the book of
Ecclesiastes, to everything there is a season and a time to every
purpose under heaven. God's time had now come. to accomplish his purpose in
delivering his people out of Egyptian bondage. God is always
on time. He's never early and he's never
late. Not necessarily our time, he's
not on our schedule, but God is always on time. Now it was
time. And first, there's four things
I want to point out to us. There's so much in this chapter
that we could speak about tonight, but I have four points I want
to make. First, the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses. Verse two says, and the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him. Now, the word angel, you know
it means messenger. And I was thinking the New Testament
begins with God sending an angel, sending a messenger. In the Gospel
of Luke, that's almost in the first few verses of Luke, we
see that God sent a messenger, an angel, to Zacharias, telling
him that he and his wife were going to be the parents of the
forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, John the Baptist.
And then after that angel, who was Gabriel, after he appeared
to Zacharias, God's messenger, and he had a great message he
brought to Zacharias, but he had even a greater message that
he then delivered to Mary, that she was going to have a son,
and that was going to happen because the power of the Holy
Spirit was going to come upon her. Therefore, that holy thing
which should be born of her should be called the Son of God. And
he would set upon his father David's throne and reign forever
and ever. Now that angel, that messenger,
was a created angel. Now this angel here that appeared
to Moses, that Moses saw this time, was not a created angel. This angel in the bush was not
an ordinary angel. But this is the angel of the
Lord. And you see in verse four that
he is God. Because the scripture said, and
when the Lord saw that he turned aside to seek God, God called
unto him. This angel is the Lord, and he
is the second person in the Godhead. He is absolutely God Almighty. And God saw, God called unto
him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. So it was the Lord. And this
is one of those Old Testament appearances of the Lord Jesus
Christ before he was born of the Virgin Mary. Theophany, I
believe it's a word they use where God manifested himself
as a man here before he was born of the Virgin Mary. And you see,
when Moses asked for his name, the name that he gave was, I
am that I am. We didn't read on down to that,
but when Moses asked for his name, he said, I am. Now that's the name Jehovah. I am. And this name, God has a number
of names, you know that. Elohim is one of his names. I believe that's the name that
we read, and God created the heavens and the earth. It's not
Jehovah there, it's Elohim. And there's other names of God,
and every name reveals something else about God. And this name
Jehovah, what it especially reveals to us about God is His eternality. And that reminds us that God,
the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, that each person is eternal. I know people sometimes say,
well, the Father always is before the Son, but He is the eternal
Son of God. So this name Jehovah especially
speaks to him as his eternality and also as his self-existence,
that he doesn't need anyone. Jehovah is self-existent. And
then it also speaks about him as a covenant God. In that hymn
that we sang just a few moments ago, that third verse, His oath,
His covenant, His blood. Support me in the overwhelming
flood. I mean, when things come against
us, we've got these supports, don't we? His oath, He swore
by Himself. He took an oath, and when He
could not swear by none greater, He swore by Himself. That by
two immutable things, we might have a strong assurance. Those
who have fled for refuge unto Him, and that His covenant, And
that covenant we know is an everlasting covenant. It's a covenant of
grace, and he is the mediator, and he's the messenger, the angel
of the covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, the messenger of the
covenant, the charity of the covenant, and his blood, his
blood, his oath, his covenant, his blood support me. And what
support does he give us, right? Those three things, his oath,
his covenant, and his blood. His blood that cleanseth from
all sin. But the name Jehovah especially
speaks of him and reveals him as a covenant God. You notice
in verse six, he told Moses, I am the God of thy father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He made his covenant promise
first to Abraham, didn't he? He chose Abraham. Abraham was
an heir of the Chaldees, and the scriptures seem to indicate
that he came from a family of idolaters. They worshiped the
moon, probably worshiped the sun too. And yet God set his
love upon Abraham and called him out of Ur of the Chaldees
and made a covenant with Abraham. And in that covenant, the greatest
promise is, in thy seed shall all the peoples, all the nations
of the earth be blessed. And we know that seed, singular,
that seed is Christ. And then he confirmed that same
covenant to his son, Isaac, and then to Jacob. Have you ever wondered why Jacob,
so many times in the scripture, he's called the God of Jacob. Many times you take your concordance.
I did this recently. Take your concordance and look
up. How many times God is referred to as the God of Jacob? Many
more times than as the God of Abraham or as the God of Isaac. But remember, Abraham had two
sons, right? But Isaac was his chosen. Isaac had two sons, but Jacob
was his chosen. But Jacob had 12 sons and all
of them were the people of God. Not necessarily the Esau wasn't,
or the other one, I can't remember his name, but the God of Jacob. I heard a preacher one time years
ago, he preached a message on that, the God of Jacob. It's
a wonderful message when you think about that God Almighty
would allow himself to be called the God of Jacob. Jacob was a
scallywag, wasn't he? I mean, you just say so many
things about him that were not good. And yet God allows himself
to be called the God of Jacob. But Jacob was loved and Jacob
was chosen. So he, yes, the God of Jacob,
absolutely. But the covenant here, this angel
of the Lord, that appeared to Moses was not an ordinary angel. This was Jehovah, and it was
a pre-incarnate manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Second
thing, the angel of the Lord appeared in a flame of fire in
the bush. Notice that in verse two. And
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire,
out of the midst of a bush. Now, we can consider this, this
is the way I want us to tonight, as a type or picture of the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have the fire, or rather
you have the flame, and you have the bush. And we know the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is both God and he is man. Not two persons. And that's very
important, isn't it? Not two persons, but the one
person, but he has two natures. And the fire here, the flame
of fire, of course, represents God. In scripture, fire represents
God's holiness and his opposition to evil. In Hebrews chapter 12
and verse 29, we read, our God is. a consuming fire. Our God is a consuming fire. So this flame here represents,
to me at least, I trust to you also, it represents His deity,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that He's God. Great is the mystery of
godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. But then the bush, the bush pictures
his humanity. It wasn't a great stately tree. I saw, on my trip, I saw a beautiful
tree there close to the house where Mrs. Betty and Lisa lived
there. And that old, it was a finca,
a ranch or farm like. And that tree, I don't know,
is that a flamboyant? Because I've never seen one quite
that large. Beautiful tree. But you see,
the Lord, he appears here in a bush. And doesn't that remind
us of the Lord Jesus Christ, his birth, his humble, when he
came into this world, his humble appearance as a man? In Isaiah
chapter 53, he's described as a tender plant. as a root out
of dry ground. And he went on to say, there's
no farm nor comeliness about him. What a description that
is of a bush, one of these bushes. And the word which is here translated
bush, you look it up and your concordance and according to
Strong, it means to prick and it's a thorny, a thorny bush. Now thorns are associated with
the fall. Remember when Adam disobeyed
God and ate of that forbidden fruit, that God cursed the ground
and now we have thorns. We have thorns, we have weeds,
we have thistles, but thorns and the Lord Jesus Christ, we
know he was made a curse for us. The thorns. or here in God's
creation as a result of sin, and the Lord Jesus Christ as
a result of sin, he was made a curse by hanging upon a tree. And why was he made a curse?
Why? For you, for me, to redeem us
from the curse of the law. Isn't that wonderful? That he was made a curse for
us. that he might redeem us from the curse. The law cursed us. It cursed every disobedient person,
for every disobedience, the most minute disobedience, yet the
law cursed for that disobedience. But he's redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us by hanging upon
a tree. The truth that this is I am here,
I am is in the bush. It calls our attention also to
the many times when the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world,
he confessed, I am. Especially do we see this in
the gospel of John, isn't it? How many times does he confess
himself? I am the door. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life.
I am the resurrection and the life. I am the bread. But I want
you to look at the last one in John's gospel. Turn with me to
John chapter 18. John chapter 18. beginning in verse 1, John chapter
18. When Jesus had spoken these words,
he went forth with his disciples over the brook Sedron, where
was a garden, into the which he entered and his disciples.
And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus
oftentimes resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having
received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus
therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went
forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus
of Nazareth. And Jesus saith unto them, I
am. And what happened when he said,
I am? And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. Doesn't
this remind us that the Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life? He had power. I mean, he just
said, I am, and they all went back. fell to the ground, those
who had come to arrest him. He had the power, he has all
powers, God, know that he gave his life. He went with them,
knowing that this is what his father had purposed and what
was ordained for him. He gave his life willingly. He
said, no man taketh my life from me. I lay it down of myself. This commandment have I received
of my father, both to lay it down and to take it again. And he did, didn't he? Well,
here's the third thing. The angel of the Lord appeared
and spoke from a bush that burned, but was not consumed. The bush is burning. Try to picture
that in your mind. Here's a bush that is burning.
These bushes, they would probably be consumed in just a few minutes,
a bush out in the desert like this. I mean, just strike a match
and phew, it's gone. But no, this bush is burning,
and it just keeps on burning. It doesn't turn to ashes and
disappear. No. Well, here are three truths
about God that to me are suggested by what Moses here saw and heard. First of all, God's sovereignty
over his creation. You know, there are laws, we
call them laws of nature. Well, let's remember nature's
God. He's the one who made these laws,
and yes, the law of nature would have been that that bush would
have been consumed immediately in just a few minutes at the
most. But God was in that bush and
it just kept on burning, kept on burning. And not only was it burning,
but Moses could draw near unto it. Now fire gets hot. Does it? Was this bush burning
but did not produce heat? You say, well, that's impossible.
I forgot. I'm not saying it didn't produce
heat, but I know this and Moses was able to get near to it. And
usually you stay away from fire because of the heat. But we see
God's sovereignty over His creation. Yes, He's put these laws in,
in fact, but He can overrule those laws when it is for His
glory. I mean, water, think about this,
water flows down, doesn't it? It seeks its own level. But when
God purposed, the water stood up. and the bed of the River
Jordan dried out so that his people walked over into the land
of Canaan on dry ground. You say, that's impossible. It's
impossible for men, absolutely, but not for God. Another thing
that this suggests to me is God's self-sufficiency. The bush was
never used up. It just kept on burning. It was
never used up. And there's nothing about God
that ever is less. For instance, in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth when he spoke the worlds
into existence. Now that took some power, didn't
it? Didn't it? That took some power. Well now,
does he have less power after he used that power? Of course
not. He's still all powerful. This bush, it burns, but it keeps
on burning. What about his wisdom? When he
devised a scheme, the plan of salvation, which exhibits the
wisdom of God, how God may be just and justify a guilty sinner. That His law is honored. A God who is of pure eyes than
to look upon iniquity, upon sin. How He can receive a sinner.
His wisdom in devising the plan of salvation. Does He have less
wisdom now? Did He use up? No. No. Not only that, but His grace. Oh, we love to think about that,
don't we? His grace. How many sinners have
experienced the grace of God? Is it now less? Does he have
less grace? Is his grace exhausted in some
manner? Of course not. Of course not. Grace sufficient for all our
needs. All our needs. And third, this
reminds us of God's holiness when God told Moses, take off
your shoes. Take off your shoes, verse five.
And he said, draw not neither put off thy shoes from off thy
feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Holy
ground. Why was that holy ground? Because
God was there in a special way. I know God is everywhere. But
God manifested his presence there. You know, people talk about taking
trips to the holy land. There's nothing holy any longer
about that land. It's no more holy than taking
a trip to Mexico or taking a trip to Canada or Africa or anywhere
else. That land, this place rather,
was holy because God was there. And I know if you were able to
visit Palestine, and some of you have, I know. And no doubt,
I've heard preachers tell about going there, and they take you
to a place, they say, this is a well where Jesus sat and spoke
with the woman at the well. Well, that would be impressive,
wouldn't it? It would. Because we're moved
by things. But God is a spirit, remember.
And those who worship him must be, he must be worshiped in spirit
and in truth. Here's the last point. The angel
of the Lord declared his purpose would be accomplished in verse
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. Arthur Pink calls, our
attention to this word now in that verse. Come now. Now the
time had come. Now the time when God would deliver
his people and nothing would stop him from doing it. I am
come down to deliver them out of and This is what he said in
verse eight. 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. There's not a perhaps,
if you read the rest of the chapter, there's not a perhaps, there's
not a maybe in this chapter. God said, I will, I will. It reminds me of several verses
in the book of Isaiah, like this one in Isaiah 46. God said, I
have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed it,
I will do it. And God had purposed, now the
time had come, and there was nothing going to hinder God from
delivering his people out of Egyptian bondage. Do we not see
the gospel in that verse, verse eight? Look at it. I'm come down. Who came down? Christ. Christ came down, didn't he?
He came into this world as a man. And why did he come? I'm come
down to deliver them. The word salvation actually means
deliverance. I'm come down to deliver them. The son of man, he said this,
the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. He, that's Luke 19 verse 10,
he's going to seek and find every one of his lost sheep and save
them. He's purposed it, he's spoken
it, he's purposed it, and he's going to do it. And yet we see
that he uses a man. He calls Moses for this work. And God calls men to preach the
gospel. But look there at that verse
again. I am come down to deliver them out of, out of, but then,
and to bring them up. He came down to deliver his people
out of the bondage of sin, but he's not just going to deliver
us. He's come down to deliver us,
but he's going to take us up. Where? To the Father's house.
To the Father's house. And, and, you know, God told
Moses here, I'll be with you. The same thing he told the church,
his disciples in Matthew 28, go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature, and lo, I am with you to the
end of the age. And he was with Moses, we know
that. May I trust the Lord will bless
this word to all of us here tonight.