Exodus: “The History of the Redeemed: The Burning Bush”
Exodus 3:1-17
Segue way from Genesis to Exodus
The second book of the Bible is Exodus which is a Latin word meaning “exit” or “departure”.It was not intended to be a “stand alone book”, because in the Hebrew, the book was originally named “we’elleh shemoth” which is translated, “these are the names of”, which is the same phrase occurring in Genesis 46:8 where it lists the names of those Israelites who traveled to Egypt with Jacob in search of food because Israel was experiencing a famine. Exodus reveals to us the History of the Redeemed People of God.
Genesis reveals Abraham’s son Isaac was the promised one whose son of promise was Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons, 11 of whom contrived a plot to sell their little brother Joseph into slavery to the Egyptians. Joseph became the a person of royalty in Egypt who initiated a plan to stockpile food and Jacob and his family traveled to Egypt out of desperation to survive, and the brothers meant harm to Joseph, but God intended for good in order to save the beginnings of the people of Israel from starvation. The names of those people are mentioned at the end of Genesis and are the same chosen people of God who will become slaves in Egypt as they grow into the chosen nation of the Almighty Eternal God.
In Egypt Moses is chosen to represent God’s people after Israel had spent 430 years in Egypt as slaves, all the while growing in number until they reached a total of between 2.5-3.5 million. God’s promise to Father Abraham was being just beginning to be fulfilled, for he would be the Father of ALL believers who would trust in the promise of God to redeem by faith in His promise.
There are at least two dozen threads of the Gospel in the book of Exodus and so I am going to spend a few weeks examining these wonderful historical testimonies of the works of our Great and Glorious God.
We begin our reading in Exodus 3:1-9: “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."
6 Moreover He said, "I am the God of your 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. 7 And the Lord said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
The Fire which would not be consumed
I want to challenge you to visualize this and don’t look at this event as a story but try and be there. Realize that Moses was an 80 year old man when this happens. God is calling him from being a shepherd… to tending” human sheep”, much like Jesus’ disciples 1500 years later. At an old age he was being called to the stressful task of being the under-shepherd of 2.5 million people! Remember that he had hiding for forty years as a stranger in the land of Midian, always looking over his shoulder, living in fear after he killed an Egyptian who was beating one of his people…but God found him and came to him in this miraculous and dramatic way.
God was drawing Moses out of his shepherding to lead His people out of bondage. (Remember Moses’ name means “drawn out”; he had been placed in a basket [actually a small ark] by his mother and he was “drawn” from the water. He was saved, as it were, through that small ark.) God had prepared Moses in Pharoah’s household as an Egyptian prince, but Moses never forgot that he was a Hebrew, and the work God has yet for Moses to do would require lamb-like meekness with lion-like resolve, but God would equip him.
Moses was drawn to the fire of the burning bush because it burned but would not be consumed. Fire has a number of symbolisms in the Bible, and one that is often used is used here: Fire exhibits the presence and power of the Most High God. Hebrews 12:29 says, “For our God is a consuming fire.” John's vision of Jesus as judge is with eyes "like blazing fire" three places in Revelation ( Rev 1:14 ; 2:18 ; 19:12). God’s fiery presence would be seen on Mt. Sinai. Fire from Heaven is mentioned when sacrifices were miraculously consumed; but this fiery bush would not be consumed, which naturally drew Moses’ attention.
The voice of God calls Moses and Moses responds as every true prophet does in the Old Testament with the simple reply of humility and submission: “Here I am.” But then God warns Moses: "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." The ground is not holy by nature. Dirt is dirt by God’s design, but when and where God appears, His holy and perfect presence hallows that place.
Here Moses is being called by God and God is consecrating Him for service to Him and so the place is holy. The moment is especially “holy”. It is a time which is being separated from the commonplace. Moses is being called to serve God as His representative.
Christians are called to serve God too. We are called to consecrate ourselves to God. 1 Peter 2:9–10 says: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” People of God are a Holy Nation, filled with the very Spirit of God and set apart for His service, so for every believer, wherever God is, “the place where you stand is holy ground." Colossians 3:17 would support this; it says: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
I believe that it is the person of Jesus who appears in this fire that will not be extinguished. In the New Testament, Jesus is described as the "one sent" by God--the Messenger or Apostle of God. The word “angel” in verse 2 in the Hebrew is “malak”, which is translated as messenger or angel. It can refer to a theophany, that is, an appearance by God in an earthly form. Jesus is the voice of God coming down here in this manifestation, declaring God’s deliverance for His People, but approximately 1500 years, Jesus later appears as the voice of God in the Flesh in order to “come down and deliver” His people from their captivity to sin and death. Jesus declares in John 6:29: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."
Remember that Abraham “believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness”. The promise to deliver would be fulfilled by Jesus’ work. The “Fire” of God would not be consumed because God is Eternal and we see Him revealed in His Name.
God’s Name is Revealed to Moses.
Look at Exodus 3:11-17: But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 So He said, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." 13 Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " 15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.' 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; 17 and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey."
God’s Name Describes His Character and Nature (Ex. 3:12-17)
“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” It is a fair question by a former Egyptian Prince now disguised as a fugitive-shepherd. It is not the education, the cultural status, nor the character of Moses that gives him the reason for approaching Pharaoh; it is the calling of the Most High Eternal God. It was being called to represent God’s people as God’s mediator, appointed by God, which gave Moses the “right” to act as Mediator/Redeemer for God’s people. (Remember later that the disciples and all followers were to go out in the authority of the name of Jesus and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.)
Names have always been important, but especially in approaching powerful authorities. Moses asks God: When I go to the children of Israel and eventually Pharaoh, how should I respond when they ask me who has sent me, in other words, on whose authority am I speaking? God actually gives three versions of His name, the first being “I AM WHO I AM” in verse 14a. This is the Hebrew word which should be translated “Yahweh”. This name of God is used over 6,000 times in the Old Testament, and translated as “LORD” in most bibles. It is thought that the root word is the word “to be”, and so “I AM WHO I AM” is God’s self-disclosure to His People as the SELF-EXISTENT ONE. Because He depends upon no one else in the universe but Himself, His promises are always sure because He can never be anything less than forever faithful. He has NEVER been defined or determined by any other thing or being other than Himself.
In verses 14 b, “I AM” is a shortened form of “I AM THAT I AM”. It would be represented by the first part of “YAHWEH”, namely, “YAH”. It is used rarely in scripture but is often used in the word for “praise the LORD” in the Psalms, namely, Hallelu-YAH.
“The name YAHWEH (the LORD) sounds like “I am” in the Hebrew…The name in all its forms proclaims His eternal, self-sustaining, self-determining, sovereign reality-the supernatural mode of existence that the sign of the burning bush had signified (Ex. 3:2). The bush that was not consumed was God’s illustration of His own inexhaustible life. In designating “Yahweh” as “My name forever, God indicated that His people should always think of Him as the living, reigning powerful King that the burning bush showed Him to be.” (New Geneva Study Bible, Theological Note, “This is My Name”: God’s Self-disclosure”, p. 98)
In verse 15 God says to Moses: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD (Yahweh) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” This statement is so very important. The only “God who is” does not change. God made a solemn oath to Abraham and carried it out to Isaac and Jacob as well. Jacob’s sons, including Joseph (who was also a child of promise, believing God against all odds). God’s covenant as Savior/deliverer continues to Moses and to all those who will trust Him…forever.
God would continue to reveal His character throughout the Exodus and the remainder of the Old Testament era. In Exodus 34:6-7, as He reveals part of His Holy Glory to Moses, He proclaims: "The LORD (Yahweh), the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..."
The voice from the burning bush, who is the I AM of the Old Testament, is the same person who said in John 8:58: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” He delivered, not only His people from the bondage of Egypt, but also from the bondage of sin and death on the cross. He is the one King eternal who reigns forevermore. He is the only one who can claim: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending" (Revelation 1:8).
OUTLINE
I. The fire would not be consumed.
A. Fire exhibits the presence and power of the Most High God.
B. Wherever God is, “the place where you stand is holy ground." (Col. 3:17, 1 Peter 2:9–10)
C. It is the voice of Jesus who appears in this fire that will not be extinguished.
D. Later Jesus appears as the voice of God in the Flesh. (John 1)
E. The “Fire” of God would not be consumed because God is Eternal.
II. God’s Name describes His character and nature.
A. God gives three versions of His name: “I AM WHO I AM”(14a), “I AM”(14b), “The LORD God of your Fathers” (3:15,16)
B. “I AM WHO I AM” is God’s self-disclosure to His People as the SELF-EXISTENT ONE, the forever faithful one.
C. The voice from the burning is the same person who said: “Before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58
