The Burning Bush
Call to Worship:
John 8.48-59
Apostles’ Creed
Song:
Christ the Lord is Risen Today
Welcoming of New Members
Confession & Pardon
Song:
Doxology
Song:
Lord have mercy
Sermon:
“The Burning Bush”
Exodus 3
Dr. Alex Loginow
Introduction
On your way into church this morning you may have noticed a big white Ford Transit in the parking lot. For those who don’t know, that is our family vehicle. No, that is not the church van, that’s the Loginow’s. We have 6 kids so we need a specific kind of transportation. We bought the van in 2018. Before then I never noticed vans like that on the road. Since we bought ours I feel like I see them everywhere.
I’m assuming there isn’t more vans on the road since 2018 but that now my eyes are opened to see them. I didn’t think about these big vans before but since I got one now I notice them everywhere. In a similar way we want to train our eyes to see Christ in all the Scriptures. The preaching of Jesus and the Apostles and the writing of the New Testament reveal that, as Christians, we are to read all of Scripture with a Christ-centered hermeneutic. We should read and interpret the Old Testament the way that Christ and the Apostles did.
Last week Pastor Kevin encouraged us to have a sanctified spiritual imagination when we read the Scriptures. Some might argue that in doing so we force Jesus into an Old Testament passage that really isn’t about him. On the contrary, every passage of the Old Testament has always been about Jesus. The Holy Spirit inspired the Old Testament with the intention of leading us to Jesus.
As we look at Exodus 3 this morning there is no way we could plum the depths of everything this narrative reveals. What we will do is move through the text, noting elements of importance but primarily we will look at the clear signs that are pointing us to Christ. This passage, like every passage in the Old Testament is ripe with types that pave the way for Christ. There’s a Switchfoot song that says, “The shadows prove the sunshine.” Let’s look at the shadows of Exodus 3 this morning with the goal of feeling the Son shine on our faces.
The Shepherd
The first thing we notice in this text is what’s assumed. From the end of Exodus 2 to the beginning of Exodus 3 40 years have past. Exodus 3 moves us ahead 40 years in Moses’ life. Last week Pastor Kevin noted that the life of Moses can be divided into 3 spans: birth-40 as the prince of Egypt, 40-80 as the shepherd of Midian, and 80-120 as the leader of Israel. Our texts this week and next week transition from shepherd of his father-in-law’s flock to leader of God’s flock. For forty years Moses quietly shepherded his father-in-law’s sheep in obscurity.
One commentator notes God’s preparation of Moses: God wanted a shepherd for his people so Moses had to learn to care after someone else’s sheep before he could shepherd God’s sheep. YHWH did the same thing with Joseph and David. They were shepherds of sheep before God allowed them to shepherd his people. The theme of leaders as shepherds spans the Old Testament. The prophets rebuked Israel’s leaders because they were poor shepherds of God’s people.
All of these men, Moses included, were signs pointing us to the true shepherd Jesus Christ. In John 10 Jesus tells us that he’s the good shepherd who has come to lay down his life for his sheep. Jesus not only died for his sheep but he also lives for us. He leads us and feeds us. He disciplines us. He goes after us when we wander. Trust in Christ; he is your good shepherd.
The pattern continues in the new covenant as well. Jesus is the true shepherd but Elders are the under shepherds of God’s church. In 1st Peter 5 Peter writes:
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Pet 5.1-4).
May the Elders of Christ Community Church shepherd the flock of God well here for God’s glory and for our good!
The Messenger of God
Notice what happens next. The text says that the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. There are two important things we learn about God at this scene. The first is about God’s holiness. The fire is a picture of the holiness of God.
God’s holiness speaks to his distinctness – his other-ness. God is the only creator; everything else is creation. The fire is self-sustaining. Our God is the only self-sufficient being. He needs no one or nothing else to sustain him. We are not self-sufficient. God gives every breath we take to us. But God is the only truly self-sufficient one.
YHWH tells Moses to take his sandals off because Moses is standing on holy ground. What was the point of this ritual? Are Moses’ sandals inherently dirty and his feet clean? I don’t think that’s the point. YHWH is telling Moses that to be in the presence of God Moses must do what God says.
We see this pattern all through out Scripture where God always initiates his relationship with humanity. People never seek God; God always seeks out people. Once God reveals himself and shows his grace he then requires obedience. Moses is commanded to obey YHWH by taking off his sandals.
The second thing we learn about God from this scene pertains to the angel of YHWH. This character is presented in this way in many Old Testament narratives: there’s a sense in which the angel or messenger of YHWH is distinct from YHWH. The word angel is a little deceiving. The Hebrew word translated angel here is the word מַלְאַ֨ךְ, which means messenger. This is a distinct messenger of YHWH.
Yet as the move through the pericope the angel of the Lord becomes synonymous with YHWH. Verse 2 says angel of the Lord appeared to Moses but then in verse 4 it says YHWH called to Moses. So what’s clear is that Moses is speaking to an individual who is distinct from God but also synonymous with God. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the Apostle John reveals who this character is: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1.1).
This burning bush event is what theologians call a christophony; it is a pre-incarnate manifestation of the Son of God. In the fullness of time the eternal Son of God would take on humanity in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. But before that time there are Old Testament occasions like this where we get a glimpse of the glory to come. Jesus is the one who is distinct from God while being synonymous with God. He is the very Word of God.
And he commissions Moses from the covenant to redemption. The basis of Moses’ redemptive commission is the covenant faithfulness of God. Multiple times in this passage YHWH refers to himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is not doing random miracles and telling random stories throughout the Old Testament but he is fulfilling the promise of Genesis 3.15 and he is moving the plan forward through his covenants.
Moses is commissioned from the covenant and he is commissioned to redemption. YHWH says that he has seen the suffering of his people and he will deliver them. For the last two weeks we have noted that the Exodus was a providential historical event ordained by God to point us to the redemption coming in Jesus Christ. Every person who has ever lived is enslaved to his or her sin. We are conceived in sin (Psalm 51.5) .All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3.23). Andrew Peterson paints an apt picture in his song entitled, Deliver Us:
Our enemy, our captor is no pharaoh on the NileOur toil is neither mud nor brick nor sandOur ankles bear no calluses from chains, yet Lord, we're boundImprisoned here, we dwell in our own landDeliver us, deliver usOh Yahweh, hear our cryAnd gather us beneath your wings tonightOur sins they are more numerous than all the lambs we slayThese shackles they were made with our own handsOur toil is our atonement and our freedom yours to giveSo Yahweh, break your silence if you can
We are spiritual captives who need redemption. It is only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we can experience redemption from the slave market of sin. We must trust in who Jesus is and what Jesus did for us. Jesus lived without sin, earning our righteousness before the one true holy God. Jesus died as our substitute bearing God’s wrath for sin. Jesus resurrected proving that God had accepted his life and death. Now everyone who repents and believes in Jesus will be redeemed. This is the ultimate meaning of Exodus.
The Exodus is not less than that but it is more. Something else we see here is that God hates unjust oppression. He has seen the affliction of his people. He has heard their cry. He knows their suffering.
Some people will argue that Scripture condones slavery but that could not be further from the truth. The Bible addresses slavery as an issue of human sin. The book of Exodus reveals to us that God hates the unjust oppression of his people. 1st Timothy 1.10 says that slavery is contrary to the gospel. Revelation 18 says when the great Babylon falls and there will be no more slavery. Slavery and oppression is offensive to God because it is the dehumanization of those made in God’s image.
I AM
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘‘I am has sent me to you.’“ YHWH tells Moses to tell the Hebrews that his name is ‘I am. The phrase I am is the 1st person singular of the Hebrew verb הָיָה, which means, “to be.” The name YHWH is the 3rd person singular of the same verb. So the name YHWH is actually the Hebrew word, “He is.”
Once again the Apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us insight into what this truly means. In John 8 Jesus tells the Jewish leadership that there his words are eternal life. Jesus then says:
Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8.56-58).
Jesus applies the divine name of Exodus 3 to himself – before Abraham was, I am. The Greek phrase John uses is Ἐγώ εἰμι. It is the same phrase used in the LXX for Exodus 3.14. The Jewish leaders knew exactly what Christ was saying that’s why in John 8.59 their immediate response is they picked up stones to throw at him. Jesus was saying, I am YHWH; I am the one who led you out of Egypt” (Jude 5).
John clued us in on this already when he used creation language to reveal the origin of Jesus in John 1. Jesus is the eternal Son of God who created all things. He is the covenant God of Israel who has providentially ordered history. The plan of God from before the creation of the world has been to save his people through the gospel of Jesus Christ. For every human who has ever lived the way of salvation has always ever been hope in the promise of the death and resurrection of Christ. This is your only hope: repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus.
The Sacrifice
Moses gives us one more shadow in this pericope when he writes what YHWH told him to tell Pharaoh. Verse 18 says:
And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
It was a three-day journey from Egypt to Mt. Sinai. We’ll see that again later in Exodus 19. This three-day trek is another sign on the road from Eden to Calvary. When Jesus appears to the disciples after his resurrection he says:
Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24.46-47).
It is never explicitly written in the Old Testament that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead so what does business doe Jesus have rebuking his disciples for not understanding his death and resurrection? The death of the Messiah and his resurrection on the third day is woven throughout the tapestry of the Old Testament. Exodus 3.18 is but another pericope where we look back and see this foreshadow. YHWH tells Moses that Israel will take a three-day sojourn to make a sacrifice on the third day and that this is worship.
Jesus is the true Israel who made a three-day journey through death and hell to free us from our bondage to sin. His sacrifice was the ultimate worship of God. Now through his death and resurrection all who place their trust in Christ can truly worship God. This is a prime example of where we need to train our eyes to see Christ in all the Scriptures. Whenever you see three days or the third day in the Old Testament it is not a coincidence. It is a Holy Spirit inspired type that is pointing you to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So as we step back from the text we want to remind ourselves how intensely practical this narrative is. 1 Corinthians 10.11 says, now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. The story of the burning bush is not merely a kid’s Sunday school lesson for the purpose of gaining Bible knowledge. The story of the burning bush is not just Jewish history. It is not a simply a Bible passage teaching us to “have faith like Moses.” It’s not even just a puzzle like, “how can we find Christ in this text?”
The point of Exodus 3 is that God is keeping his Genesis 3.15 promise – the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Here God is moving his redemptive program forward from the covenant with Abraham to the covenant with Israel. Moses is the chosen leader of God’s people who will lead them out of slavery and into the Promised Land. Jesus is the true and better Moses; the chosen leader of God’s people who leads us out of the slavery of our sin and into the Promised Land of eternal life.
If you’re not a Christian, your only hope of experiencing the forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life is to place your faith in Jesus Christ. The Reformed tradition has long defined faith with the triad of knowledge, ascent, and trust. The first component of faith is knowledge. You must know who Jesus is and what Jesus did. You must acknowledge that you are a sinner deserving of the just wrath of the one true holy God. You must know that Jesus died for your sins and that he resurrected on the third day.
But knowledge is not enough. You must also ascent that these things are true. It’s not enough to know the concepts of God’s holiness, your sinfulness, and the redemption of Christ; you must also ascent to their validity. But even ascent is not enough. You must place your trust in Jesus alone. That means if you were to stand before God and he were to ask you, “Why shouldn’t I condemn you to eternal conscious punishment in hell?” Your answer must be nothing more and nothing less than Christ died for my sins in accordance with the Scriptures. He was buried and he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
But the meaning of Exodus 3 doesn’t stop with the moment of justification. It was written for us – the church. As we sojourn between our slavery to sin and the Promised Land of the New Jerusalem we are following the true Moses – Jesus Christ. We are following the one who is both the true Israel and is also YHWH himself.
He is our shepherd. He is the Word of God. He is God himself. He is the one who enables us to worship God through his sacrifice and resurrection on the third day. Look to Jesus. Every day look to Jesus. Follow Jesus. Obey Jesus.
Conclusion
My prayer this morning is that like I’ve seen Ford Transits all over the road since I bought one that you are beginning to see Jesus all over your Bible. In one last effort this morning to help the rubber meet the road turn to Psalm 23. We have seen from Exodus 3 that Moses was a shepherd for 1/3 of his life to prepare him to shepherd God’s people. Moses is a type pointing us to the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. I’m going to close this sermon and prepare us for the Eucharist by reading Psalm 23 and because we have the eyes to see Christ, I will read this Psalm as a Christian.
A Psalm of David.
1 Jesus is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 Jesus makes me lie down in green pastures.
Jesus leads me beside still waters.
3 Jesus restores my soul.
Jesus leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for Jesus is with me;
his rod and his staff,
they comfort me.
5 Jesus prepared a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
he anoints my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of Jesus Christ
forever.