MOSES & THE BURNING BUSH

Exodus Chapters Three and Four

Sermon of the Week #200639 – October 1, 2006

Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, and led the flock to the backside of the desert; and that is where it happened. He saw a bush; a bush that burned with fire, and 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 to him out of the midst of the bush and said, “MOSES, MOSES.” Moses said, “Here am I.” Many years later God called another man and said, “Samuel, Samuel,” and Samuel said, “Here am I.” Many years after that, Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me.” God is still calling for preachers today; Jesus said we should pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest.

God further said, “I have seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and am come down to deliver them.” God still sees the affliction and cruel bondage of people today, brought on by the works of Pharaoh Devil, and He is still looking for those whom He can send to deliver the message that will set them free from the bondage of sin.

Consider also that Moses was a shepherd. God has a strange way of doing things from the viewpoint of the world, and to send a shepherd into Egypt to deliver His people appears to be a tactical blunder; anything, but a shepherd, for it is written in Genesis 46, “Every Shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians”.

But then again we are reminded that Jesus Himself was a Shepherd. He said, “I Am the good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd layeth down His life for the sheep.” And who can ever forget, “The Lord is my shepherd...”

This situation is typical with the history of the human race. God’s way of doing things is often obnoxious to the human race; not just to the Egyptians. The plan of salvation is an abomination to many preachers. It is an abomination to mention very often what God requires us to do to be saved. It is not an abomination to hear preachers say week after week, “Bow your head and ask Jesus to come into your heart.” But it is an abomination to say, “Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.” It looks like God would pick some plan where everybody, in what they call main line Christianity, would agree. Actually the Word of God is main line Christianity.

We have to note also that God had waited a long time to call Moses. Moses was ready to be used as a deliverer of Israel forty years before this, when he killed an Egyptian; he supposed they understood that God by His hand was giving them deliverance, but God was not quite ready yet. God does not move according to our timetable.

Moses was like the child who was plucking at the petals of a rosebud. Someone asked, “What are you doing?” The kid said, “I am helping God bloom His roses.” God doesn’t need our help to bloom His roses. Our help may mess it up. It would take another forty years before God was ready for Moses, and in that forty years we know nothing about Moses, except that he was a shepherd, and begat two sons. Like Moses we all have to learn that it takes time for God to get around to using us like we think we ought to be used.

The amazing thing about the bush that burned is that God would appear in a bush. Why not an oak tree or at least a maple? A bush for a special appearance of the Almighty seems to be most inappropriate. But then again God does have strange ways of doing things. Jesus was born in a stable; that doesn’t seem a very auspicious start for the Savior of the world either. Whether it is a bush or a stable, God uses what He has at hand.

Then again it is not surprising that God appeared in fire. There was fire on the mountain when God gave the Ten Commandments, and do we not remember that God answered the prayer of Elijah by fire that fell from heaven on his burnt offering, and then again, God used a fiery chariot when Elijah rode up to glory. And who can ever forget how Jesus walked in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?

It says that the bush was not consumed. How could that be? The answer is very simple. Verse four of the third chapter says that God spoke to Moses out of the bush. God was in the bush. That is why the bush would not be consumed. Anything God is in just isn't going to burn out. This bush is symbolic of the Israelites themselves; they were in the furnace of Egypt and were not consumed. Deuteronomy 4:20 tells us when Moses was giving his farewell speech to Israel that he referred to their stay in Egypt as an iron furnace. Moses says, “The Lord hath taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt.”

The reason the Israelites were not consumed during the persecution in Egypt was because God was in them as a nation. Anything that God is in will not be consumed.

Think of the Bible. Think of the times it has been burned. It has not yet been consumed. It never will be consumed, because God is in it. The Lord Jesus is in it. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit. No way, no way, no way; the Bible is here forever whether you like it or not. God is in it. Apply that thought to the Church of Christ. Why has it not been destroyed? God is in it. It is here for good. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. It will never be consumed. God is in it.

Moses is not sure that he is the one God will use and so he asked, “Who am I? And who shall I say sent me?” God told him, “Just tell them: I AM THAT I AM HAS SENT YOU.” God is the Great I AM! We cannot help but notice some of the times Jesus referred to Himself as the I AM, “I AM the Bread of life, I AM the Light of the world, I AM the Door, I AM the Good Shepherd. I AM the Resurrection and the Life. I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. I AM the True Vine. I AM the First and the Last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I AM alive forever more, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” And now in regards to Moses, and his doubts, God then gave him three signs to serve as credentials for his message to the elders of Israel.

THE ROD

The first sign was the Rod. “What is that in thine hand?” Moses said, “A rod.” The Lord told him to cast it down, and it became a serpent. Moses fled before it. Now concerning this snake, it must have been some snake. Moses fled before it. He was accustomed to the desert and a snake, although repulsive was no big problem. He could easily kill it. But in this case he fled before it. But whatever it was, it was some reptile. Think of a fifteen-foot diamond back rattlesnake with rattlers that sounded like a set of bongo drums. Moses fled before it. God said, “Put forth thy hand and take it by the tail, and he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.”

This would supply Moses with credentials enough to send him into the land of Egypt. But there may be more significance to this sign than appears. The twenty-third Psalm tells us, “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” The rod of Moses was an instrument that helped him walk over rough ground and served as a protective device against wild animals that might attack either him, or his flock. When he threw down his rod all his protection was gone, and the serpent appeared.

When we throw down our rod, the Word of God, the serpent will be on us as soon as the rod hits the ground. You are defenseless. So don’t throw down your rod. Jesus is also referred to as God’s Rod in Isaiah 11:1, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” When you throw down the Lord or His Word, you have had it. There is no way you can fight the Devil alone. What is that in thine hand? If it is the Bible, never, never throw it down. If you do, the old serpent will show up.

THE HAND

Now if the sign of the Rod was not enough proof for Israel, God gave them the sign of the hand. God tells Moses to put his hand into his bosom; when he takes it out it is leprous as snow. Leprosy is oftentimes compared to sin. For one thing it is incurable. The only way to heal it was by a miracle. It takes the miracle of the cross to cleanse us from sin.

It took a miracle to put the world in place.

It took a miracle to hang the moon in space.

But when He saves my soul; Cleansed and made me whole.

It took a miracle of love and grace.

Sin, unlike other diseases, separated people from the camp. God thereby shows how unsuitable a sinner is to associate with His people or Himself.

Then, too, it has a very insignificant start; it may be a small yellow spot between the fingers, and in several years time spreads into something called lung cancer. But like most areas of sin, to most of the world, it seems insignificant. The unsaved sinner never seems to realize that they are on a collision course with Hell. Leprosy is also contagious. That is why Paul says, “Evil companions corrupt good morals. ” Again the same Apostle says, “Shun profane babblings; their word doth eat as canker or gangrene.”

Also leprosy was a living death; so is sin, “She that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth.” Paul says in Ephesians 2:1, “And you did He make alive when you were dead in trespasses and sins.” In other words, the unforgiven sinner is a walking, breathing, dead man. Every person you see who has not accepted Christ and the biblical terms of pardon is a walking dead man. Moses, put your hand into your bosom and that is what came out.

Then again there may be a further significance to this miracle. Where did Moses put his hand; into his bosom, near the heart? Now what does the Lord say about the human heart? Jeremiah said in his prophecy, chapter 17:9, “The heart of man is desperately wicked, and deceitful above all things: who can know it?” Jesus said, “Out of the heart comes forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, false witness, railings; these are the things that defile the man.”

If you could put your hand into your shirt and touch your real spiritual heart, it would come out with the filthiest, obnoxious appearance you could possibly imagine. It would be full of cancers, leprosy, gangrene, boils and every conceivable vile stench and appearance.

Our hands are what others see. The hand may look clean. The hand represents the outward appearance, and that is important; but the heart on the inside that others do not see may be filthy.

Even so it is gloriously true, “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” Here is a third sign that the Lord would reveal unto Moses to show the elders of Israel the sign of the blood.

THE BLOOD

God said to Moses, “If they will not believe the first sign, then show them the second sign. If they will not believe the second sign, then show them the third sign.” This would be the sign of the blood.

God told Moses, “To take water out of the river. Pour it upon the dry land and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood on the dry land.”

This was a sign of coming judgment for the Egyptians. The meaning would not be lost on the elders of Israel. The River Nile had already been turned into blood by the killing of their sons, and now this act would be God’s message coming through loud and clear that He would judge the Egyptians by controlling their god, the River Nile.

Later there would be ten plagues on the land of Egypt and the first would be the turning of the water into blood. God told Moses. “The water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood. ” Is there not a hidden message here for us? Show them the blood. Show them the cross. Show them what Jesus did to atone for our sins. If they won’t believe this there will be no other signs. Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; the son of man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Show them the blood.

One must wonder at what the judgment will be on America where rivers of blood have been shed in abortion. When you think of what we are doing as a nation in the efforts to remove the name of Jesus and God from every historical document, and from the school system. It seems ridiculous, that talk-show hosts should interview preachers and ask, “Where was God when this earthquake, hurricane, or terrorist act happened?” God is exactly in the same place He was when Jesus was hanging on the cross, dying for our sins, and cried, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” That is where God was then, and He is still there now.

CONCLUSION

Now in conclusion, Moses was still not convinced. He said, “I am a man of slow speech. I am not eloquent.” Moses thought that the delivery of the people depended on great oratory.

When we feel like Moses regarding our inadequacy; perhaps the words of Paul will serve us best. First Corinthians chapter two, “And I brethren, when I came unto you came not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, in fear and much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

So to solve Moses’ problem, the Lord told Moses, “Your brother Aaron is coming to meet you and he can speak well. Thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and shall teach you what ye shall do.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, I know I am expecting too much, but would it not be wonderful if the Lord would allow the Apostle Peter to stand behind most of the preachers today, and feed them the message of salvation he preached on the Day of Pentecost when the church began? Can you imagine the uproar that would arise after Peter fed into the ears of those preachers, he told how the Lord died for them, and then arose from the dead, and then told those who believed, “Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The results would be different today. And as many of them as heard the word bolted for the door, and never came back.

Actually, Paul tells us in Corinthians the results as far as Israel was concerned in the land of Egypt when he said, “For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea: and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual food; and all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the Rock was Christ.”

Well, if you go down to yonder fold, to search among the sheep

You will find Him there, so I am told

With those He loves to keep.

So lead me to the rock that is higher than I

O Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.