Exodus 3:6, commentary and pictures

At Horeb while leading the flocks of Jethro, Moses turned aside to a bush that burned without being consumed and heard God call him by name as the God of his father and of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Speaker is Jehovah, the I AM, Christ Himself speaking from the bush as He later spoke from the glory over the tabernacle. He commanded Moses not to draw near and to remove his shoes because His presence made the ground holy, and Moses hid his face in fear, humility, and holy awe before His majesty. In that self-revelation He assured Moses that He had seen the affliction of His people in Egypt, heard their cry, knew their sorrows, and had come down to deliver them to a large good land flowing with milk and honey, commissioning Moses to go to Pharaoh with the rod of God made mighty for signs so the deliverance would be by His own power alone. Jesus used these words to prove the resurrection, that God is not the God of the dead but of the living, so that the patriarchs live to Him and the faithful dead from Abel onward will hear the Son of God's voice and rise to immortal life as His people.

Bush, Speaker, Response

The meeting took place at Horeb, the mountain of God, in the desert of Midian while Moses was leading the flocks of Jethro his father-in-law. He saw a bush burning yet not consumed and turned aside to see why it was not burnt. Out of the midst of the burning bush God spoke to Moses, calling him by name.

The Speaker declared Himself to be the God of Moses' father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He was the same covenant God who had made covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and who had revealed Himself to the fathers as the Angel of the covenant. He was Jehovah, the I AM, revealed in the bush. He was Christ, Jesus Christ Himself, talking with Moses from the burning bush as He later talked with Moses from the midst of the glory in the cloud standing over the tabernacle.

God commanded Moses not to draw near and to put off his shoes, because the place where he stood was holy ground made holy by God's presence. Moses had turned aside to look without at first recognizing that God was present there. Moses then hid his face because he was afraid to look upon God. His hiding showed holy awe, humility, and reverence before God's holiness and majesty, the humility and reverence appropriate in God's presence.

This self-declaration introduced God's assurance that He had surely seen the affliction of His people in Egypt, heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, knew their sorrows, observed every movement, and had come down to deliver them from the Egyptians. He would bring them to a good and large land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Deliverance and Resurrection Promise

The self-declaration as the God of his father and of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob introduces the assurance that He has surely seen the affliction of His people in Egypt, heard their cry under their taskmasters, knows their sorrows, observes every movement, and has come down to deliver them from the Egyptians to a good large land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Upon that ground Moses is commissioned and sent to Pharaoh to bring Israel out, exchanging the shepherd's staff for the rod of God made powerful for signs and wonders, for deliverance from oppression and preservation from enemies. The deliverance will be by God's own mighty power for His glory alone and not by warfare as Moses had supposed when he first tried by force and haste, slaying an Egyptian and hiding him in the sand and thinking Israel should recognize him as deliverer. That special work required special preparation, so only after he proved not ready was he sent for forty years as a keeper of sheep in the rocks, mountains, and desert, patiently hunting stray sheep until he learned to be a tender, patient, loving, faithful shepherd with the education needed for the work.

The verse means God is not regardless of the world and its concerns but is in direct communication with fallen inhabitants of earth. From the bush that was not consumed He bends toward those deceived and troubled, listening to every word uttered and to every groan and prayer and cry. He approves or condemns every action, raises up the fallen, and befriends all who love and fear Him. He will punish and reprove everyone who oppresses His people or leads them astray from safe paths into distress.

Jesus used these words identifying God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to prove that the dead will be raised, for God is not the God of the dead but of the living. He sees the end as already accomplished, so that the patriarchs live to Him in present relationship. The faithful dead from Abel onward will therefore hear the Son of God's voice, rise from their graves to immortal life, and live again as God's people. God will be their God and they will be His people in a close and tender relationship.

God's glory was veiled in the humble form of the burning bush, where the Infinite was enshrined in a lowly shrub and Christ appeared talking with Moses, subduing His glory so Moses could look upon it and live. It was on the same plan by which His brightness was enshrouded in the darkness of the cloud He made His pavilion over the tabernacle, so the people could endure to look upon the cloud as seeing Him who is invisible. That veiling was God's plan to approach fallen man and meet with him, with the tabernacle as His dwelling place on earth where His voice was often heard, revealing Him as the living God and Lawgiver who wonderfully delivered Israel from Egypt. In connection with Israel's deliverance from four hundred years of bondage, the encounter made God's holiness, grace, and love known to the idolatrous Egyptians and appointed Moses to show that Jehovah was superior to every false deity.

Reverence and Shepherd Preparation

Where God is present the ground is holy and must be approached with reverent fear and humility rather than with common familiarity. Moses turned aside to look at the burning bush without at first recognizing that God was present there, and God commanded him not to draw near and to put off his shoes because the place was made holy by that presence. Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look upon God, showing the humility and reverence fitting before God's holiness and majesty. That view of God's purity and perfection reveals human unworthiness in contrast, so that people may approach God confidently in Jesus' name but not presumptuously as though God were their equal.

The bush burning without being consumed represents those suffering reverses, deprivation, affliction, and adversity. The angel of the Lord in the midst of the bush means that in deprivation and affliction the brightness of the presence of the Unseen is with people in need to comfort and sustain them. The valley of humiliation where need is felt and dependence is placed on God to guide the steps is comparatively safe, while prosperity and influence are most dangerous to spiritual life and those entrusted with them most need prayer.

Moses was sent as deliverer only after forty years as a faithful shepherd, for God could not take him directly from the king's court as the prospective ruler of Egypt to do his appointed work but required training amid the humble duties of the most lowly position in life. He had first tried to do the work by force and haste when he slew an Egyptian and hid him in the sand, thinking Israel should recognize him as deliverer, and proved he was not ready. God therefore sent him for forty years as a keeper of sheep in the rocks, mountains, and desert, patiently hunting stray sheep, in retirement training in self-control, humility, and care-taking thoughtfulness and tender solicitude. By that he learned to be a tender, patient, loving, faithful shepherd and gained the education needed to become a spiritual shepherd to tenderly care for erring Israel.

In that retirement the God of nature taught him the highest wisdom, and in the school of nature Christ was his teacher. As he led his flocks through the wilds of the mountains and into the green pastures of the valleys, in solitude and care-taking thoughtfulness, he learned lessons of humility, meekness, faith, and trust that bound his soul closer to God. All his thorough education as the king's grandson in the wisdom of Egypt was unable to impart that simple, unwavering faith and constant trust in the Lord. Jehovah revealed Himself to Moses when Moses was prepared to see God in singleness of heart, having worked steadily upward toward the light with help to gain correct faith. He had learned his helplessness and inefficiency without the Lord's support, had been proved and tested and tried until he humbled his soul before God and came forth from furnace fire refined and purified, and his faith shown by obeying God's commands even when the way seemed impossible or contrary to human reason made him a channel through whom God could work.

Moses spoke with God at the bush before being sent and before hearing God's message to Pharaoh, and that communion with God prepared him to be God's instrument in delivering Israel. It followed forty years of communing with God in the mountains, proving that work for God requires prior fellowship with God for power and guidance. The same experience is essential for those who preach the truth, for to lead souls to the life-giving fountain the preacher must first drink at the fountain himself, must see the infinite sacrifice made by the Son of God to save fallen men, and must have his own soul imbued with undying love.