The Burning Bush
`And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in aflame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush 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 unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.” – Exodus 3:2-4
What is the significance of the burning bush? What lesson did it convey to Moses? What lessons does it convey to the church today? These are the inquiries to be probed in this article.
It has been suggested that Moses’ departure from the glories of the Pharaoh’s palace to Midian illustrate Jesus leaving the glories of his heavenly home to come to earth at his first advent; and that his return to deliver the enslaved Israelites delineates the events at his second advent. If that be true, than the second forty years of Moses’ life cover the period of the Gospel Age.
Few details are given in the Bible of the second forty years of Moses’ life. We read of his flight into the wilderness, his employment by Jethro as a shepherd, his marriage to Zipporah, and then his call at the burning bush to deliver the Hebrew people from bondage. The incident at the burning bush (and those that immediately follow), then, mark the final preparations of Moses (Christ) to return to lead the deliverance.
In the passage quoted above there are two reactions one of Moses to seeing the burning bush (he turned aside to investigate) and one by Jehovah (he spoke to Moses when he turned aside – and not before). The implication is clear – if Moses had not turned aside, God would not have addressed him.
The obvious first reason for the turning aside was that it was, in fact, an odd phenomenon to see a bush burning and not being consumed. But was there more? Was there a deeper layer in Moses’ thought processes?
MOSES’ CONCERNS
From the narrative in the second chapter of Exodus there is no question of Moses’ concerns for the bondage and mistreatment of the Hebrew slaves. His slaying the Egyptian taskmaster testifies to the depth of his passions. However, when his kin rejected his attempt to interfere in their quarrel, he knew that he could soon be exposed and subject to the wrath of the king.
It is interesting to note the evaluation of the Apostle Paul as to why Moses took flight. “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). It was faith and not fear that sent Moses to Midian. At first glance this seems to be in direct contradiction to Exodus 2:14, 15, “And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.”
The key is in the Hebrew word yale, translated “feared” in Exodus 2:14. The word is capable of expressing either fear or reverence (awe). It is understandable why the translators chose our word “fear,” though Paul evidently understood it as “reverence” or “awe.” The Apostle goes on to explain the deeper reason for the emotion -Moses discerned in his experiences the hand of “him who is invisible.” He correctly deduced that it was not yet God’s time to deliver Israel because they were not ready to receive him as their deliverer. (It is also possible that Moses’ own character needed further training for the formidable task ahead.)
MOSES STILL CONCERNED
It is safe to assume that Moses was no less concerned for his people after forty years in the wilderness. He only felt more powerless to do anything, but he was still waiting for the hand “of him who is invisible” to bring about deliverance. And now, as he keeps his sheep “on the backside of the desert,” he sees a sight that brings his concerns to the foreground. He beholds a bush on fire, and still it is not consumed. How powerful an image this must have been to the future leader who never forgot his people – under the fiery persecutions of the Pharaoh, yet not consumed. He walked aside to investigate.
God does not reveal his hand to Moses until his servant takes the first step – “when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush.” It was up to Moses to show the same interest in his people which he showed when he slew the Egyptian taskmaster.
But now the reaction was different. Moses no longer felt equal to the task. He pled his loss of eloquence in the Egyptian tongue. He was concerned as to whether his people would accept him. Instead of the zealous, but rash young man desiring to free his people, he had now mellowed and needed to be assured that God himself would be with him to accomplish the task to which he was called.
SECOND ADVENT APPLICATION
On Reprint 3989, Pastor Russell makes this statement concerning the burning bush: “is not the burning bush a good illustration of the experience of Christ and all of his members?” This accords well with the above- noted explanation, for deliverance from Egypt (particularly the deliverance of the firstborns) illustrates the deliverance of “true spiritual Israel” as a precursor to the deliverance of all mankind.
There is still another dimension that fits this picture. As natural Israel went through terrible persecutions in ancient Egypt, so their descendants have gone through similar persecutions all through their Diaspora of the Gospel Age. These descendants will be the first to receive deliverance in the newly-established kingdom of Christ, when Michael, who stands “for the children of thy people” (natural Israel at a later point in history), shall once again fight for Israel as he “fought in the days of old.”
A CHRONOLOGICAL APPLICATION
While there are no time prophecies directly in this picture, we do have a clue to a time application. The burning bush was the turning point in Moses’ life, when his interest and endeavors were once again centered on the goal of his youth – to free the Israelite slaves.
From this point on the Exodus narrative deals with the preparatory acts for his return – his lessons from the “three signs” to prove to both the Israelites and the Egyptians that it was time for the slave’s release from bondage (Exodus 3:7-4:17); the obtaining of Jethro’s blessing for the mission (Exodus 4:18, 19); his journey (Exodus 4:20-23); the circumcision of his children by Zipporah (Exodus 4:24-26); his linking up with Aaron at the “mount of God” (Exodus 4:27, 28) and his arrival, assembling of the elders of Israel and convincing of all the Israelites that it was now time for deliverance (Exodus 4:29-31).
In other words, the events between the burning bush and the final arrival in Egypt were the final preparation for his future work. This calls to mind the expression in Nahum 2:3 concerning the “day of his preparation”
– a period often applied, and we think correctly, to the period from 1799 to the establishment of Christ’s kingdom.
It is worthy to note that the fortunes of natural Israel took a sharp turn for the better in the latter days of Napoleon. In 1799 Napoleon expressed his desire (which was never put into reality) to proclaim Palestine as a new homeland for the Jews. In 1801, a concordat between Napoleon and Pope Plus VII, limiting the status of Jews in Europe, was abolished. Jewish rabbis as well as Protestant pastors began receiving the same stipends from the French government as those given to the Catholic clergy. In 1812 the Jews of Prussia were granted full civil rights.
During the same time period the developments in Christianity were preparing the way for the harvest. New truths were coming to light. Depthful research resulted in numerous Bible study tools, such as concordances, lexicons, commentaries, and Bible dictionaries. All of these were preparatory to the release of God’s true people from their antitypical Babylonian captivity.
The burning bush, therefore, marks the beginning of the transition time from ages of bondage into the ultimate liberties promised by the incoming Messianic Kingdom.
– Carl Hagensick