TEXT: Exodus 3

SUBJECT: Christ in the Old Testament #4: Burning Bush

Today, with God’s help, we’ll continue our study of Christ in the Old Testament. His name does not appear in the Old Testament, of course, but He’s there on every page. About the Hebrew Scriptures, He said,

They do it in various ways. Thus far, we’ve seen Christ by way of Promise—first to Adam and Eve, then to Abraham. Later, He came to Jacob in a mysterious dream. Now, He’s coming back to His people, this time in The Burning Bush.

The Lord came to His people in the context of long and hard suffering. Five hundred years before, Jacob and his family had come to Egypt to escape famine. They were well taken care of—at first—because Joseph was the savior of Egypt and the most powerful man in the country (after Pharaoh). They got the best land and the best jobs. When Jacob died, the whole nation mourned for seven days. These were good times for Israel.

But they didn’t last long. "There arose a new king in Egypt, who did not know Joseph". He felt no gratitude to the foreigners, but resented them bitterly. Soon he put them into slavery; then he made their lives even harder.

As though this were not bad enough, he went on the plot genocide. He would wipe out God’s People. And he’d do it in a way that made Hitler look like a humanitarian! The baby boys of Israel would be murdered. But instead of having an SS Officer do it, he commanded the midwives to kill the infants they just delivered. The midwives were Jewish, of course, and went into this line of work because they loved children. Yet they were ordered to drown baby boys in the Nile River.

Which, thankfully, they wouldn’t do. But, still, it shows how the Egyptians felt about God’s People. They hated them with a passion.

What did Israel do under the circumstances? They cried to God! And not for a day or two, but for hundreds of years they begged for Deliverance!

Jesus Christ comes to us when we need Him most! The Gospel is not only for people suffering with guilt, but to us in every kind of pain.

The Gospel is the patent medicine that cures everything. It removes guilt, it rescinds punishment, it breaks the power of sin, and so on. But that’s not all it does. The Gospel also cures loneliness, injustice, physical disease, and even death.

But remember: It cures them all—in God’s way and in God’s time. God will "Wipe away every tear". Until He does, we like Israel, we have to wait patiently for the Lord. We have to

"Stand still and see the salvation of God".

That’s when the Lord came to His people, after centuries of poverty and pain.

How did He come? He came to His people in a Burning Bush. Moses had been a prince in Egypt and once thought he would save his people from their masters.

But, of course, he was wrong. The job was too big for him—way too big! He was busted from Prince to Shepherd. For forty years, he has wandered around a desert trying to find grass for another man’s sheep.

One day he noticed a bush on fire. That was no big deal; lightning often struck in the desert, setting bushes on fire. But something was different about this bush. It kept on burning and was not burned up!

He turned to see the Burning Bush—and heard the voice of Jesus Christ.

Am I right here? Was it Christ who came to Moses that day? A professor of Old Testament once told he that, while believing that God often appeared in the Old Testament, he doubted the coming of Christ until He showed up in Bethlehem.

The professor who told me this is a good and learned man, but he’s wrong on this one, it seems to me. My "proof texts" are John 1:18 and Colossians 1:15.

It seems to me, therefore, that every visible appearance of God is in or through Christ alone. The Lord Jesus is the Ladder in Jacob’s Dream, the Judge in Daniel’s Vision…and the Burning Bush in the Wilderness.

We shouldn’t rely too much on remote verses. It’s better to get our doctrines right out of the text we are studying. We can do it here. Did you notice the difference between v.2 and v.4?

The former says,

"And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him

But the latter says,

Did you catch it? "The Angel of the LORD" is equated with "The LORD" Himself.

This is very peculiar. Angels often appear in the Bible. They’re so magnificent that men want to worship them, but they’re not allowed to! Angels of the Lord may speak for God or fight His battles or do His work, but they never equate themselves with the Lord or let men do it either!

Except for One. One Angel identifies Himself with God. And that is The Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Old Testament often calls "The Angel of the LORD".

Why? Because the word means "messenger". That’s what angels do; they bring messages from God to man. Gabriel did it; Michael did it; The Lord Jesus does it. That’s why He’s called "The Angel of the Lord".

Not because He’s a super-creature (as the Jehovah’s Witnesses say), but because He’s "The Word".

Prophesying of Christ, Malachi 3:1 says,

"The Lord Whom you seek shall suddenly come

The word for "messenger" there is the same for "angel" here. At the Burning Bush, it wasn’t a mere angel who came to Israel, but the Lord Jesus Himself!

Why did the Lord come in a "Burning Bush"? Unlike you and me—who look like we do, like it or not—He could have chosen any form in which to appear. And so, why the "Burning Bush"?

It’s for the same reason He came to Jacob as a Ladder between Heaven and Earth. Because the outward form is teaching us something about Christ.

What is it? That "Our God is a consuming fire"? That’s a true doctrine, of course, but it doesn’t fit here. That, like a fire, He provides light and warmth? Another true doctrine, but it doesn’t quite fit either.

In the Wilderness the Burning Bush stands for pain. If Israel is being burned up in Egypt, Jesus Christ is suffering along with them! Speaking of that time, Isaiah 63:9 says,

When the Hebrews cried to God in Egypt, He seemed to be a million miles away. But He wasn’t. He was alongside them, under Pharaoh’s lash; His sons were threatened with drowning too.

Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed-nego were not the first people he walked with in the fire. Or the last.

"The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us". 2,000 years ago in the town of Bethlehem, the Son of God joined the human race.

In all it’s suffering. He was not part of the Master Race, but was born to slaves. He lived His whole life in poverty and ridicule. Growing up, His parents misunderstood Him and His brothers were ashamed of Him.

Grown-up, He starved for forty days in the wilderness, under the deadliest temptation. When He came home, nobody wanted Him! When He healed the sick, they said He did it by the powers of Satan! Finally, He was dragged off and crucified between two thieves, while soldier gambled for His shirt).

Others suffer, of course. But nobody suffers like He did. Nor does anyone choose this kind of life. Unlike you and me, He had a choice of parents, a choice of countries, a choice of times, a choice of economic status. And in every case, He made the very worse choice! Knowing full well what He did.

Why did He do this? So that He could identify with you in all your losses, in all your heartaches, in all your betrayals, in all your pains, in all your dying gasps.

No verse in the Bible has more power than the shortest:

The God who is infinitely and eternally happy chose to become "A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief".

For you.

This means: You’re not alone. Even if you feel you are, you’re not. Christ is there. Closer to you than you are to yourself.

It also means you can pray He understands how you feel and knows what to do about it.

But mostly, it means: You can love Jesus Christ. For what He is. And for what He is to you.

Someone here is in a Burning Bush. I don’t know who you are or the details of your pain, but I know you’re there. Take heart, Jesus Christ is with you.

You want deliverance right now, I know—we all do. You want a quick answer and an instant solution. The Lord can give you one. But if He doesn’t, if He drags things out for years and years, just remember, He’s given you something better than a solution. He’s given you Himself.

And with Himself, He’s given you everything.

That’s the Message of the Burning Bush. God teach it to us, for Christ’s sake. Amen.