I. AN OLD MAN CALLED TO GO OUT ON THE GREAT ERRAND OF HIS LIFE. The education of Moses for the great mission of his life lasted eighty years. God never sends forth fruit until the season is fitted for the fruit, and the fruit for the season; when the hour was ready for the man, and the man for the hour, then God sent forth Moses.

II. THE BURNING BUSH FROM WHICH THAT CALL WAS SOUNDED.

1. This was a sign to indicate the peculiar presence of God.

2. It was also a symbol of His people, eminently adapted to encourage the prophet in undertaking their cause.

III. THE ANGEL WHO UTTERED THIS CALL. We see at the first glance that He is Divine; we next learn that He is an angel; we further find, from a chain of Scripture proofs, that He is Christ.

IV. THE COVENANT UNDER WHICH THE ANGEL GAVE HIM HIS COMMISSION. It was the same covenant that had been given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

V. THE ANGEL'S NAME. That name asserts —

1. His real existence.

2. His underived existence.

3. His independent existence.

4. His eternity.

VI. THE EFFECT TO BE WROUGHT BY THE REMEMBRANCE OF HIS NAME.

1. It was intended to inspire profoundest reverence for the Being to whom it belongs.

2. It reveals the infinite sufficiency of a Christian's portion.

3. It gives encouragement to evangelical enterprise.

(C. Stanford, D. D.)

1. His education in the Egyptian court.

2. His attempt to convince the people of their brotherhood.

3. His flight into the wilderness.

II. HOW DID THIS VISION EXPLAIN TO MOSES THE WORK OF HIS LIFE?

1. The vision of God prepared him for the work of his life. It showed him the everlastingness of God, and his own unworthiness to do God's work. But the voice upheld him amid the overwhelming sense of his nothingness, and made him feel his vocation.

2. The vision of God gave endurance in fulfilling that work. Even should his work seem to fail, he had a grasp on eternity which would keep him strong and true.

(E. L. Hull, B. A.)

1. And here comes our first lesson — a lesson for all who, like Moses, await God's call — the lesson, namely, of faith and of self-restraint. Are we struck with the fact that of the hundred and twenty years assigned to Moses, eighty were spent in preparation, and only forty in work? But it is God's way. What seems a time of uselessness as regards the world may be a time of probation as regards yourself. And the time of probation, if quietly endured and conscientiously improved, may issue, ere God has done with you, in a work of deliverance on the earth, whose concentration, rapidity, and success may amply explain the preceding delay.

2. Take a second lesson at this point in passing — a lesson of diligence. I know not how God means to meet and to summon you, if, as in Moses' case, He has special service in store for you; but I am sure of this, that revelations of special service are given only in the midst of conscientious application to ordinary duty.

3. Learn here yet a third truth — a lesson of constant watchfulness. For though Moses was at the time unexpectant, he was not upon that account heedless. His mind was in sympathy with the spiritual and eternal, and his eye was kept open to discern it: Be sure that, for all his industry in his worldly calling, the mood of Moses was such that no indication or hint could escape him from the world that is unseen and Divine. And let us take that spirit along with us, if, like Moses, we would find the lights and the beacons of God on our path — a spirit of devout and careful attention, of inquiry, and of vigilant thought.

4. The lesson of reverence is needed too. While the secret of the Lord is for those that seek Him, it is also for those that fear Him.

5. Holy diffidence. Much of the best work with which the Church has been served has been rendered by men who, like Moses, were at first overcome by the thought of it, and would fain have drawn back had Providence permitted. Take the example of the great pioneer of the Church in Scotland — the leader of its glorious exodus from the superstition and tyranny of popery to the heritage which God had prepared for it, in the light wherewith His Spirit illumines, and the liberty wherewith His truth makes free. When Knox was called to the pastorate of the church of St. Andrews, and the first step was disclosed to him of a road that led onwards to service and fame, we read that a strange thing happened. The audience were gathered, the service was proceeded with, the wish of the people was announced by the officiating minister, and echoed back as he spoke by the cries of the people themselves. But when Knox rose to speak in return, he broke clown into tears, left the meeting-place abruptly, and enclosed himself in the privacy of his house; "and from that day," as the chronicler tells of him, "till the day he presented himself to preach, his countenance and behaviour did sufficiently declare the grief and the trouble of his heart, for no man saw any sign of mirth from him, neither had he pleasure to accompany any man for days together." Such feelings of diffidence and misgiving will a true man feel whensoever he is honoured with special service; nor, if he is wise, will he seek to repress it.

II. THE REVELATION OF THE CHANGELESS GOD. Nothing will establish the Church, nothing will support and encourage its leaders in times of trial such as those through which Israel was passing, like the thought of the changelessness of God, and in especial the changelessness and eternity of His love, of which trials, however grievous, and temptations, however scorching, form only a brief and a passing phase. The processes God employs may be many, but the principle He acts on is one. The manifestations He makes of Himself may be various, but the character that underlies them is the same.

(W. A. Gray.)

1. This vision was unexpected.

2. This vision was educational.

II. THAT SOMETIMES MYSTERY IS ASSOCIATED WITH THINGS OF A VERY ORDINARY CHARACTER. "A bush." The smallest, the most trivial, the apparently unmeaning things, events of life, are full of mystery, contain a heavenly presence, a Divine voice, will teach a reflective spirit, will become an impulse to a higher life — avocation. The bushes of life are full of mystery. The world is a great secret — is vocal with messages of freedom to listening souls.

III. THAT MYSTERY SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED WITH THE UTMOST DEVOTION OF SOUL. "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet."

1. There must be devotion in opposition to levity.

2. There must be devotion in opposition to curiosity. Why this devotion?

(1)Because mystery is holy.

(2)Because mystery is authoritative. It commands us to take off our shoes. Its authority is Divine; will be recognized by true manhood.

IV. THAT SOMETIMES GOOD MEN ARE FAVOURED WITH A GRAND UNFOLDING OF MYSTERY. "I am the God," etc.

1. God observes the conduct of men in relation to mystery. "And the Lord saw that he turned aside to see." What a subduing, inspiring thought, that God knows all the efforts of our souls in their investigation of mystery.

2. God speaks to men who are anxious to investigate mystery. "God called to him out of the midst of the bush." God speaks — allows us to investigate.

3. God reveals Himself as the great solution of all mystery.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

1. This was the crowning preparation and call of Moses for his life's work.

2. This was to be the beginning of a new stage in the life and history of the chosen people, and of the history of the Divine unfolding.

II. SOME OF THE ELEMENTS OF WONDER HERE ARE OLD.

1. The Angel Jehovah was not a created Being. The designation is evidently used in a special sense, because, He speaks as God Himself and receives Divine homage. Here it means the Divine as self-revealing; the Infinite bringing Himself into relations of knowledge with a limited and finite creature, and into relations of covenanted grace and mercy. It is God to whom we can get near, understand, grasp, love, serve, obey.

2. The Angel Jehovah was God of the fathers. But He was revealed to them as El Shaddai, God Almighty.

3. But what He had been to the fathers He still was. The fathers' God! The God of our dead! The sanctities of home life go into and along with our religion.

4. There was still another old element in the wonder; and that was the Fire. This was the same element which appeared amid and upon the cherubic symbols, darting hither and thither like flashing sword in the sunshine at the gate of Eden, and which we read of as "the Presence," the faces of Jehovah; and as "the glory of the Lord."

III. BUT TO THE WONDER WHICH WAS OLD THERE WERE ELEMENTS ADDED WHICH ARE NEW. God reveals Himself here under a new name. An old word is vitalized with a new meaning, and is laid at the foundation of a dispensation. He will be known in all the Mosaic times and institutions, not as El Shaddai, but as Jehovah, "I am that I am." He is the one self-existent, unchangeable, ever-living God of ages. From everlasting to everlasting God. But the name is adopted and comes into use, specially in relation to the deliverance from Egypt and the constitution of the nation. So it means, the Sovereign Ruler and Ordainer of the Ages, who has become a Righteous Deliverer and Redeemer.

(W. H. Davison, D. D.)

2. Observe the condition of the bush. It burned with fire. Fire denotes suffering. Christians must have tribulation in the world. They are never to consider "fiery trials" as strange things. Of how many can God say, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction"?

3. Mark the bush's preservation. The bush was not consumed. Sometimes the Church has burned in the fire of persecution, and sometimes of derision. But with what result? Whilst kingdoms and empires have passed away, and not a wreck of them is left but some vestiges in ruins, lingering in monumental mockery of the boasts of men, the Church still stands, as she is destined ever to do, in the light and strength of her omnipotent and faithful Lord. And this is as true of every individual believer as of the whole Church collectively.

(A. Nevins, D. D.)

1. The awfulness of God's offended justice (Deuteronomy 4:21; Malachi 3:2).

2. The incarnation and sufferings of Christ, the bush representing His human nature (Isaiah 53:2), the flame of fire shadowing forth His Divine nature (Deuteronomy 4:24), and the union of the flame with the bush denoting the union of the Divine with the human nature.

3. Those dreadful sufferings by which sin should be expiated — Christ enduring the fierce flames of the wrath of God, yet not consumed (Hebrews 9:28).

(A. Nevins, D. D.)

2. It afforded a bright gleam of hope to Israel, that their bondage was nearly over (vers. 7, 8).In order to see this great sight, we must turn aside —

1. From the world (1 John 2:15; 2 Corinthians 6:17).

2. Carnal reasoning (1 Corinthians 2:14; John 3:9).

3. All known sin (Ephesians 4:17, 18; 2 Peter 1:9).

(A. Nevins, D. D.)

1. It shows us a self-revealing God; a God who discloses Himself to the human race, and communicates with them.

2. This God is one who is not indifferent to the woes and sufferings of His people.

3. He is a God of deliverance.

4. In working out this deliverance, He chooses human and imperfect instruments.

5. The very name by which God at once reveals and conceals Himself suggests the similitude between the Old Testament and the New Testament revelations. "I am," says Jehovah to Moses; "you must trust Me and walk by faith in My assurance, and not in an intellectual comprehension of My character and My purposes." "I am," says Christ to Philip; "you must trust in Me, and walk by your faith in Me: not by an understanding of what the Father is who hath sent Me, or a comprehension of what the Father purposes to accomplish in and by you." In a sense the Egyptian inscription, the Athenian altar, and Herbert Spencer's definition are true; God is the Unknown and Unknowable. The intellect tries in vain to draw aside the veil; but love and sympathy pass behind it. Philosophy in vain endeavours to analyse and interpret mother-love; but the child in simplicity and faith reposes on it. The God of Moses and the God of the twelve disciples are alike in this — that They are the incomprehensible "I am"; to be loved, trusted, obeyed, rested on, but never to be measured, fathomed and understood. Sometimes from my hill-side home among the Highlands of the Hudson I see, fifty miles away, obscured by haze and overhanging clouds, and partially veiled, perhaps, in mist or rain, the distant outline of the Catskill range; and then the veil is drawn aside, the turbaned mist is lifted off their foreheads, and that which before was dim and indistinct stands out against the dark background of sky in clear, intelligible outline, yet leaving all the dress of grey rock and green tree and foaming cataract, and dark gloom, and flitting sunshine breaking through the trees, to the imagination; for at best it is only an outline I can see. So in the Old Testament I look upon the outline of my God veiled in cloud; in the New Testament the cloud is lifted, the mist is cleared away, and through an atmosphere like that of the most perfect October day I look on the same outline, distinct and beautiful against a heavenly background: and still it is but an outline that I see of the mystery and majesty of the nature I shall never know, never be able even to explore, until I stand in His presence and am invited to know Him even as I am known.

(Lyman Abbott, D. D.)

2. That God's purposes, in relation to our world, are generally accomplished by the agency of man.

3. That the men whom God employs for the carrying out of His purposes, He qualifies by a special revelation.

4. That this special revelation which He vouchsafes, is frequently symbolical in its character. All nature is a symbol. Truth in symbol is palpable, attractive, impressive. The burning bush was a symbol. But what did it symbolize? God's presence.

I. OBSERVE MOSES DIRECTING HIS EARNEST ATTENTION TO THE DIVINE REVELATION.

1. Moses directs his attention to it, under an impression of its greatness.

2. Moses directs his attention to it, in order to ascertain its import. It is ever so with a true student of the Bible. He will seek to find out "the reason of things."

II. OBSERVE MOSES HOLDING INTERCOURSE WITH GOD THROUGH THE DIVINE REVELATION.

1. God's communications depended upon his attention. Only he who looks and inquires, hears in the Bible the voice of God.

2. God's communications were consciously personal to him.

3. God's communications were directive and elevating.

III. OBSERVE MOSES REALIZING THE PROFOUNDEST IMPRESSIONS THROUGH THE DIVINE REVELATION. "Hid his face," etc.

1. These impressions are peculiarly becoming in sinful intelligences. The Bible is designed to produce reverence for God.

2. These impressions are necessary to qualify men for God's work.

3. These impressions are consonant with the highest dignity and enjoyment. He that is consciously least is always greatest.

(Homilist.)

1. It seems as if they were above the common herd of man.

2. They are difficult of access. All religious duties must be connected with difficulty.

3. They were mostly places of solitude.

II. THE SPOT. A bush.

1. Its insignificance.

2. Its incongruity. What apparent connection between God and a bush?

3. Its intrinsic worthlessness.

III. THE PHENOMENON.

1. The bush burned with fire. God's glory appeared in it, humble as it was.

2. The bush, though burning, was not consumed.

(Homilist.)

(Homilist.)

I. THE CHURCH IN THE MIDST OF THE WORLD. The primary reference in the text is to the Jewish Church in Egypt. There is an uncompromising antagonism, an eternal conflict, between the Church and the world. And the Church being comparitively small in number, engages in this conflict at great odds. Hence it frequently seems as if she must be eventually overcome. The spirit of this world is in direct opposition to the principles which the Church is commissioned to hold forth. The morality which it propagates is a standing protest against the world's most cherished notions. Is it likely that such teaching as this should provoke no opposition? It has provoked opposition of the strongest, keenest, deadliest kind. I shall not detain you with any account of the horrible persecutions which the Church has passed through during the last eighteen centuries of its history. But in spite of all, the Church has proved itself invincible; though persecuted, it has not been cast down; though burned with fire, it has not been consumed. Nay, we can say even more. The very trials to which the Church has been exposed, have only helped to develop its powers, to widen its influence, to make it what it is at the present day. The bush has been set on fire. True. But what then? The fire itself has been for its benefit; fanned into a mighty conflagration, it has shone all the more brilliantly in the midst of the world's darkness.

II. GOD IN THE MIDST OF THE CHURCH. The glory which appeared in the bush is a fit emblem of God's presence in the Church — His life-giving presence — His protecting presence — His conquering presence. God is in the heart of every true member of the Church, God is the source of his spiritual life, God is the secret of his spiritual power. God's presence is the Church's chief defence. It is not strange that she has been so firm, so immovable, so enduring, when we consider the mighty Being, whose power has protected her. "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." But this great fact — this ever-abiding presence of God in the Church — suggests a still more precious thought; for it is a guarantee for the Church's future; its future safety, its future triumphs, its future glory.

(D. Rowlands, B. A.)

(J. McNeill.)

1. Solitude.

2. God is watching a man.

3. God doesn't call until the man turns aside to see.

II. THE SOURCE OF THE CALL. A bramble that does not burn away.

III. RESULTS OF THE CALL.

1. Reverent self-surrender.

2. Transformation of life.

(E. Judson.)

1. Purity is essential to the being of God.

2. Purity is essential to the government of God.

3. Purity is essential to the worship of God.

II. THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD IN THE SEVERITY OF ITS OPERATION — "the bush was burned with fire." Every impurity must be consumed, and every obstacle to the kingdom of God must be destroyed. This severity is evident —

1. In the chastisements of the godly, and —

2. In the utter destruction of the impenitent.

III. THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD IN ITS GRACIOUS INTENTION — "and the bush was not consumed."

1. God in Christ is a Saviour.

2. The operations of the Holy Spirit purify the soul, but do not destroy the man.

(British Weekly.)

II. THE NATURE OF THE APPEARANCE.

1. The emblem in which the Church was held forth — "Bush." If numbers and splendour are the mark of a true Church as its properties, where should we find for many ages the Church of God? Seldom in the Old Testament, never in the New. The Church of God was once enclosed in the ark; at this time it consisted of a number of slaves and brickmakers.

2. The condition in which it was found. "Burning with fire." Grievously oppressed and persecuted.

3. Its preservation. "Not consumed." The blood of the martyrs has ever been the seed of the Church.

4. The cause of this security. The angel of the Lord was in the midst of it.

III. THE ATTENTION IT AWAKENED. Let us, like Moses, turn aside, and contemplate His revelations.

IV. GOD'S PROHIBITION, OR RATHER, REGULATION. A check on curiosity. Be satisfied with the facts of Christianity, without the philosophy of them. Be content with the use of things, rather than attempt to dive into their nature and their qualities. Take the religious controversies, which have occupied so much time, and which have injured so many fine tempers; and what have they commonly turned to, but things too deep for human reasoning to fathom, too lofty to be soared to without presumption, or too insignificant to merit regard?

V. GOD'S ADDRESS. All along, from the beginning, God has shown favour to some for the sake of others. Under the law He was called — "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." because the covenant made with them was for Israel: in him they were blessed, and for his sake they received all things. But now the covenant made for the spiritual Israel, was made with a far more glorious character; it was set up from everlasting — from the beginning, ere the earth was. His name is Jesus: it is in Him that we are accepted; it is in Him that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places; it is for His sake that we receive all things. And therefore, while of old His style was, "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," it is now, under the gospel, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." There are two things derivable from this address of God, when He says, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." The first is, that unquestionably, therefore, Moses had some knowledge of a future state. He does not say, He was "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"; but, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"; their spirits are with Me now; their renewed bodies shall be, by and by, as certainly as they are now in the dust. You observe, also, that God sustains His relationship to those of your connections, who are gone before.

VI. Let us observe THE IMPRESSION MADE UPON MOSES. "And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God."

1. Here you see, first, that Divine manifestation always produces self-diffidence and abasement.

2. You see, also, how little we can physically bear. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God"; the splendour would be too much for the eye, the sounds too much for the ear; the poor frame would break down under that "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

(W. Jay.)

(J. J. Wray.)

1. This bush had God in the midst of it (ver. 4), and the Church has God in the midst of her (Psalm 46:5).

2. This bush, burning in the night, gave a great light in the wilderness; and the Church of God gives a great light in this dark world.

3. The bush burns, but is unburnt. The Church suffers, but stiff survives.

II. A MIRACLE. The first miracle we read of was wrought upon fire. Fire had been more worshipped than any of the elements of nature: from the Moloch of the Ammonites to the Juggernaut of the Hindoos, no idol has had such crowded temples or costly offerings. God struck His first blow at the favourite idol. "He will not give His honour to another, nor His glory to graven images." "He will not have a rival — He cannot have an equal." All the miracles of Egypt were wrought against idolatry. Each was a blow struck at some favourite idol. In Babylon another blow was struck at fire, in the case of the three Hebrew youths.

III. A MAGNET. "I will draw near and see," etc. Since the fall, man has ever been more alive to the gratification of his curiosity than the welfare of his soul. Plain truths, though big with importance to him, he neglects; but mysteries in nature, providence, and revelation, he industriously pries into.

IV. A MONITOR. It is true, that now we are not ordered to keep at a distance, but draw near; instead of timidity, there is to be boldness; instead of a burning bush a throne of grace; and instead of a God upon whose face we cannot look, there is an incarnate God upon whose face we can look. Yet this monitor teaches us this most important truth — that we can come to God acceptably, only when we come in His own way; and God's way is through Christ, "with reverence and godly fear."

(T. Macconnell.)

1. Humility. From a palace he stoops to this lowly life.

2. Patience. For forty years he thus laboured.

3. Fidelity. Led his father-in-law's flock.Involved seeking out the best pasturage: folding, and guarding, etc. A good servant in his own house, before God made him a master in Israel. "Faithful in little," etc.

II. THE GREAT SIGHT.

1. Where it appeared. In the wilderness. God there also.

2. When it appeared. In the time of Israel's sorrow, and Moses' toil.

3. Wherefore it appeared.

(1)Because the day of deliverance was near.

(2)To instruct the mind of Moses, and excite his curiosity.

(3)To represent the state of the Israelites.A Church in the furnace of affliction. The bush not consumed, though the fire was hot. Israel flourishing in trial. It was not only a "wonder," but a "sign." A great sight, but not merely a something to look at and investigate; but also to learn from.

III. THE PRESENT GOD. He dwelt in the bush (Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 7:35; Deuteronomy 33:16). God in the bush showed His relation to His people.

1. With them in trouble.

2. Sustains them in trouble.

3. With them a source of instruction.Learn —

1. To cultivate high qualities in lowly callings.

2. Seek our comfort in affliction from an ever-present God.

(J. C. Gray.)

2. As a miracle it astonishes.

3. As a magnet it attracts.

4. As a monitor it warns.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

2. Illumined by a Divine presence.

3. Given for a Divine purpose.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

2. Sought by the pleasure-seeker.

3. Found only by the Christian.

4. The inspiration of a good life.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

2. From the futility of merely human reasonings.

3. From the commission of moral evil in daily life.

4. From following the instruction of incompetent teachers.

5. They are largely dependent upon our personal willingness of soul — God speaks to all men who reverently turn aside to hear Him.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

1. To indicate His delight in them.

2. His favour toward them.

3. His hope of them.

4. To prepare them for further revelations.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

2. A destiny.

3. A prophecy.

4. A vocation.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

2. His place.

3. His willingness.We should always respond to the calls of heaven.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

2. In His works.

3. In His providences,

4. In His Church and sanctuary.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

2. Refreshing to the soul.

3. Strengthening to manhood.

4. Related to human suffering.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

(A. Edersheim, D. D.)

(J. H. Kurtz, D. D.)

(J. Parker, D. D.)

(Bishop Hall.)

(H. O. Mackey.)

(William Jay.)

(Sir Walter Scott.)

1. We must apprehend something of the mystery of life in ourselves and in others.

2. We must recognize the distinction of the different grades of being in those in whom life is, and seek to find and to keep our own due place in that mighty and marvellous scale of existences.

II. WE MUST BOW DOWN BEFORE HIM WHO IS THE FOUNTAIN OF ALL LIFE, THE LIFE OF ALL WHO LIVE. This adoration of the soul before Him is the central point of the grace of reverence, and its influence pervades and adjusts all our other relations, both towards Himself and towards the other creatures of His hand.

III. It is a question of the deepest moment to us all HOW, IN AN AGE ONE SPECIAL TEMPTATION OF WHICH IS CLEARLY TO LOSE ITS REVERENCE, THE GIFT CAN BE KEPT QUICK AND LIVING IN OURSELVES.

1. The first step must be the keeping guard against whatever tends to irreverence. All that professedly robs life of its mystery does this. So, even more directly, does all that robs revelation of its awfulness. Receiving God's Word as God's Word, striving to do it, striving to overcome temptations to doubt, not by crushing them out, but by turning them into occasions of prayer and of adoration, these efforts, and such as these, will keep us in an irreverent age from the great loss of irreverence.

2. Above all, we must pray for reverence as the gift of God; for such prayer not only draws down a certain answer, but even by its own action tends to put our spirits in the frame of reverence.

(Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

2. Such hasty and unadvised accesses, God forbids unto His servants.

3. Due preparations must be made by creatures in their accesses to God.

4. Places have been and may be relatively holy, for God's appearance in them.

5. So far to use them holily as in reference to God's presence is the duty of all (ver. 5).

(G. Hughes, B. D.)

I. From this, then, it follows, first, THAT MAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS BELIEF; — responsible, that is, just as he is for any other branch of moral conduct: that it is, indeed, a part of his trial, and a great one, whether he will believe: that, as a right belief is the only source of moral purity, so a wrong belief, where a true revelation is offered to us, is the undoubted fruit of moral evil: and hence, that as in all other parts of his probation, it is out of the power of fallen man by his own might and strength to do that which is right, so especially is it out of his power to believe; but that, as in all other parts of his probation, so too in this, obedience is within the power of redeemed man, through that blessed help of God's most Holy Spirit which will not be withheld from those who seek for it.

II. And this leads us on to the second part of our inquiry; for to be thoroughly convinced of the certainty of this connection, is one of the first means of maintaining a fit temper for receiving these great mysteries. So long as we in any degree deem of them as of subjects into which we are to obtain a peculiar insight by our own reasonings, WE SHALL FIND IT IMPOSSIBLE TO REPRESS THAT PRIDE OF INTELLECT, WHICH, WHILST IT FLATTERS US WITH APPARENT DISCOVERIES, DOES, IN FACT, MOST EFFECTUALLY SHUT OUT THE LIGHT OF TRUTH. We must be content to be learners, not discoverers, in the school of faith; receiving a revelation, not reasoning out conclusions: and this temper we cannot maintain, unless we come into God's presence remembering that, so far only as He gives us to know Him can we know aright; for that we need perfect purity to see Him as He is, and that we are compassed about with infirmity. Then only when the thought of His holiness and of our corruption bows us to the earth, shall we receive His teaching with the simplicity of children; fixing on the ground those eyes which were ready to gaze too rashly at the wonders of His presence, and be ready, indeed, to "put off our shoes from our feet," feeling that "the place whereon we stand is holy ground." To this conviction, moreover, we should bear a constant watchfulness, lest allowed sin in any form, lest boldness of spirit, or slothfulness in our use of holy things, impair the reverence of our souls. To these means must be added further as perhaps the greatest instrument of all for preserving the unsullied clearness of a reverend faith, that we be deep and constant students of God's holy Word. We need not fear, with Bishop Andrewes, to speak of "the Word as one of those arteries which convey the Spirit to us." In a two-fold way does the faithful study of the Scripture, by increasing in us the gift of the Holy Ghost, secure our receiving rightly the mysteries of God: first, since it is the especial province of the Spirit to reveal these mysteries, those will the most surely grow in light who grow in grace;they who the most humbly seek His teaching will be the most surely led on into all truth. There is a "teaching of the Spirit"; we may, as children, give up ourselves to Him, and humbly trust He will enlighten us. And then, secondly, besides the increase of this direct teaching, we are thus made the fitter recipients of His instruction; for since, as we saw before, the due reception of these mysteries depends more on moral than on intellectual fitness, they who by a growth in grace are growing in holiness, are indeed taking the surest way to purge the eyes of their understanding, so that they may see without speck or dimness what the Lord has revealed of Himself (Psalm 119:99, 100).

(Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

(G. Bush.)

I. AS A CHECK TO VAIN CURIOSITY. Let us be satisfied, in religious matters, with what the Holy Spirit has made plain.

II. AS AN INCENTIVE TO HUMILITY IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. We should offer outward tokens of respect and reverence when we come to worship in His holy house.

III. AS A PROOF OF THE SANCTITY OF GOD'S PRESENCE. All places set apart for the worship of God are "holy ground," God will be sanctified in all that come near Him.

(Preacher's Analyst.)

2. Let us, in a figure, put off our shoes as we draw near, even here, unto God. Let us strip our. selves of the high buskins of pride, of the light sock of indifference and idle mirth, of the luxurious slippers of sensual sin, and of the hard shoes of rude presumption; and let us, with naked and trembling feet, and with covered face, but, at the same time, with all holy boldness and filial love, in the sanctuary and at the Lord's table, the presence of that God who is "a consuming fire."

3. What an overpowering reflection is that, of us all having one day to draw in a very close degree near to the presence of God. Conceive a mortal, although winged being, after long wandering through the universe, caught in a current too mighty for his pinions, and which he feels is hurrying him into the very heart of the burning sun! Conceive his horror as he sees the orb becoming larger and larger,and feels it becoming hotter and hotter; and how in vain he struggles to turn upon his way, and shun that ocean of fire which is to consume him. But on, on, on, he is precipitated, and the imagination shrinks back as she sees the contact and hears the shriek of the extinguished wretch. Thus may a guilty soul after death feel itself approaching its Maker; resisting the attraction, but resisting in vain, drawn ruthlessly within the circle of that eye of fire, and exclaiming as it sinks in terror, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." But even the saint shudders sometimes at the thought of meeting a Being so tremendous, and would on his death-bed shudder more, did not at one time a merciful stupor deaden his sensibilities, and were it not that at another the thought of God is swallowed up in the image of Christ.

(G. Gilfillan.)

1. Because they are hallowed by the supreme residence of God.

2. By happy memories.

3. By holy friendships.

4. By moral conquest.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

(J. Slade, M. A.)

(Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

2. The earth is holy ground, because God is worshipped upon it. As God revealed Himself to man from the beginning, there never has been a period when some of His creatures, however small the number, have not known and worshipped Him aright. The patriarchs builded altars to Him and called on His holy name. Few and small, at first, were these streams of the knowledge and the worship of God. Behold, how mightily He has extended them I And the time will come, He confidently awaits it, when the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth, as the waters fill the sea. Perfect in heaven stands the Kingdom of God, to which our race after a long pilgrimage will attain. But because of our high destination holy is the earth on which we have journeyed thither. And is not our fatherland holy ground? Yes, so we proclaim it: and that without comparing it with any other land, Yes, ye children, holy is your home, because of the edifying life of your parents. Yes, ye residents of this city, there is within the enclosure of your own walls, outside of the churches where God is worshipped, many a spot, upon which He approvingly smiles. Look, then, at this: this earth on which you dwell and walk, is a holy place. It is so because of the worship of God; because of the faith and piety which have been displayed upon it. Recognize this fact, and let it inspire you with fervent enthusiasm, or with wholesome reverence; this earth can be made holy or profane by yourselves.

3. The earth is holy ground, because of what daily transpires upon it, and because of what will yet transpire upon it, intimately linking it to the world of spirits. What is more frequent than birth and death? Not less holy than birth is death itself.

(J. E. Rankin.)

(J. Parker, D. D.)

(J. Parker, D. D.)

     4230   desert
     5103   Moses, significance
     5685   fathers, responsibilities
     7785   shepherd, occupation

Exodus 3:1-2

     5901   loneliness

Exodus 3:1-5

     1406   burning bush
     1449   signs, purposes
     5102   Moses, life of
     7438   sanctuary

Exodus 3:1-6

     1443   revelation, OT
     7775   prophets, lives

Exodus 3:1-10

     4269   Sinai, Mount

The Bush that Burned, and did not Burn Out
'And, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.' EXODUS iii. 1 It was a very sharp descent from Pharaoh's palace to the wilderness, and forty years of a shepherd's life were a strange contrast to the brilliant future that once seemed likely for Moses. But God tests His weapons before He uses them, and great men are generally prepared for great deeds by great sorrows. Solitude is 'the mother- country of the strong,' and the wilderness, with its savage crags, its awful silence, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Call of Moses
'Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel, out of Egypt. 11. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12. And He said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 13. And Moses said unto God, Behold, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Fourth Day. Holiness and Revelation.
And when the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see, He called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground. And Moses hid his face, for He was afraid to look upon God.'--Ex. iii. 4-6. And why was it holy ground? Because God had come there and occupied it. Where God is, there is holiness; it is the presence of God makes holy. This is the …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

May the Tenth God's Use of Men
"I have surely seen the affliction of My people ... come now, therefore, I will send thee." --EXODUS iii. 1-14. Does that seem a weak ending to a powerful beginning? The Lord God looks upon terrible affliction and He sends a weak man to deal with it. Could He not have sent fire from heaven? Could He not have rent the heavens and sent His ministers of calamity and disasters? Why choose a man when the arch-angel Gabriel stands ready at obedience? This is the way of the Lord. He uses human means …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Moses
(Fifth Sunday in Lent.) EXODUS iii. 14. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. And now, my friends, we are come, on this Sunday, to the most beautiful, and the most important story of the whole Bible-- excepting of course, the story of our Lord Jesus Christ--the story of how a family grew to be a great nation. You remember that I told you that the history of the Jews, had been only, as yet, the history of a family. Now that family is grown to be a great tribe, a great herd of people, but not …
Charles Kingsley—The Gospel of the Pentateuch

Jehovah. The "I Am. "
WHEN Moses in the desert beheld the burning bush God answered his question by the revelation of His name as the "I Am." "And God said unto Moses, I am, that I am: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exod. iii:14). He who spake thus out of the bush to Moses was the same who in the fullness of time appeared upon the earth in the form of man. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no less person, than the I AM. If we turn to the fourth Gospel in which the Holy …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

Introduction to Ad Afros Epistola Synodica.
(Written About 369.) The synodical letter which follows was written after the accession of Damasus to the Roman see (366). Whether it was written before any Western synod had formally condemned Auxentius of Milan (see Letter 59. 1) may be doubted: the complaint (§10) is rather that he still retains possession of his see, which in fact he did until 374, the year after the death of Athanasius. At any rate, Damasus had had time to hold a large synod, the letter of which had reached Athanasius. …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Letter xxv. To Marcella.
An explanation of the ten names given to God in the Hebrew Scriptures. The ten names are El, Elohim, Sabaôth, Eliôn, Asher yeheyeh (Ex. iii. 14), Adonai, Jah, the tetragram JHVH, and Shaddai. Written at Rome 384 a.d. …
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

The Training of a Statesman.
MOSES IN EGYPT AND THE WILDERNESS.--EX. 1:1; 7:5. Parallel Readings. Goodnow, F. J., Comparative Administrative Law. Hist. Bible I, 151-69. And he went out on the following day and saw two men of the Hebrews striving together; and he said to the one who was doing the wrong, Why do you smite your fellow-workman? But he replied, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and said, Surely the thing is known. When, therefore, …
Charles Foster Kent—The Making of a Nation

Christian Worship,
PART I In the early days of the Gospel, while the Christians were generally poor, and when they were obliged to meet in fear of the heathen, their worship was held in private houses and sometimes in burial-places under-ground. But after a time buildings were expressly set apart for worship. It has been mentioned that in the years of quiet, between the death of Valerian and the last persecution (A D. 261-303) these churches were built much more handsomely than before, and were furnished with gold …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

The Incarnation.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that hath been made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not. There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was …
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I

Philo of Alexandria, the Rabbis, and the Gospels - the Final Development of Hellenism in Its Relation to Rabbinism and the Gospel According to St. John.
It is strange how little we know of the personal history of the greatest of uninspired Jewish writers of old, though he occupied so prominent a position in his time. [173] Philo was born in Alexandria, about the year 20 before Christ. He was a descendant of Aaron, and belonged to one of the wealthiest and most influential families among the Jewish merchant-princes of Egypt. His brother was the political head of that community in Alexandria, and he himself on one occasion represented his co-religionists, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

On the Symbols of the Essence' and Coessential. '
We must look at the sense not the wording. The offence excited is at the sense; meaning of the Symbols; the question of their not being in Scripture. Those who hesitate only at coessential,' not to be considered Arians. Reasons why coessential' is better than like-in-essence,' yet the latter may be interpreted in a good sense. Explanation of the rejection of coessential' by the Council which condemned the Samosatene; use of the word by Dionysius of Alexandria; parallel variation in the use of Unoriginate; …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Question of the Division of Life into the Active and the Contemplative
I. May Life be fittingly divided into the Active and the Contemplative? S. Augustine, De Consensu Evangelistarum, I., iv. 8 " Tractatus, cxxiv. 5, in Joannem II. Is this division of Life into the Active and the Contemplative a sufficient one? S. Augustine, Of the Trinity, I., viii. 17 I May Life be fittingly divided into the Active and the Contemplative? S. Gregory the Great says[291]: "There are two kinds of lives in which Almighty God instructs us by His Sacred Word--namely, the active and …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Jesus Calls Four Fishermen to Follow Him.
(Sea of Galilee, Near Capernaum.) ^A Matt. IV. 18-22; ^B Mark I. 16-20; ^C Luke V. 1-11. ^a 18 And walking ^b 16 And passing along by the sea of Galilee [This lake is a pear-shaped body of water, about twelve and a half miles long and about seven miles across at its widest place. It is 682 feet below sea level; its waters are fresh, clear and abounding in fish, and it is surrounded by hills and mountains, which rise from 600 to 1,000 feet above it. Its greatest depth is about 165 feet], he [Jesus] …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Baptist's Inquiry and Jesus' Discourse Suggested Thereby.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XI. 2-30; ^C Luke VII. 18-35. ^c 18 And the disciples of John told him of all these things. ^a 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent by his disciples ^c 19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them unto the Lord [John had been cast into prison about December, a.d. 27, and it was now after the Passover, possibly in May or June, a.d. 28. Herod Antipas had cast John into prison because John had reproved him for taking his brother's wife. …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Wonderful.
Isaiah ix:6. HIS name shall be called "Wonderful" (Isaiah ix:6). And long before Isaiah had uttered this divine prediction the angel of the Lord had announced his name to be Wonderful. As such He appeared to Manoah. And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honor. And the angel of Jehovah said unto Him "why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is Wonderful" (margin, Judges xiii:17-18). This angel of Jehovah, the Person who …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

Of Preparation.
That a Christian ought necessarily to prepare himself before he presume to be a partaker of the holy communion, may evidently appear by five reasons:-- First, Because it is God's commandment; for if he commanded, under the pain of death, that none uncircumcised should eat the paschal lamb (Exod. xii. 48), nor any circumcised under four days preparation, how much greater preparation does he require of him that comes to receive the sacrament of his body and blood? which, as it succeeds, so doth it …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

A Sabbath in Capernaum
It was the Holy Sabbath - the first after He had called around Him His first permanent disciples; the first, also, after His return from the Feast at Jerusalem. Of both we can trace indications in the account of that morning, noon, and evening which the Evangelists furnish. The greater detail with which St. Mark, who wrote under the influence of St. Peter, tells these events, shows the freshness and vividness of impression on the mind of Peter of those early days of his new life. As indicating that …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Eternity of God
The next attribute is, God is eternal.' Psa 90:0. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.' The schoolmen distinguish between aevun et aeternum, to explain the notion of eternity. There is a threefold being. I. Such as had a beginning; and shall have an end; as all sensitive creatures, the beasts, fowls, fishes, which at death are destroyed and return to dust; their being ends with their life. 2. Such as had a beginning, but shall have no end, as angels and the souls of men, which are eternal …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Meditations for the Sick.
Whilst thy sickness remains, use often, for thy comfort, these few meditations, taken from the ends wherefore God sendeth afflictions to his children. Those are ten. 1. That by afflictions God may not only correct our sins past, but also work in us a deeper loathing of our natural corruptions, and so prevent us from falling into many other sins, which otherwise we would commit; like a good father, who suffers his tender babe to scorch his finger in a candle, that he may the rather learn to beware …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Christian's God
Scripture References: Genesis 1:1; 17:1; Exodus 34:6,7; 20:3-7; Deuteronomy 32:4; 33:27; Isaiah 40:28; 45:21; Psalm 90:2; 145:17; 139:1-12; John 1:1-5; 1:18; 4:23,24; 14:6-11; Matthew 28:19,20; Revelation 4:11; 22:13. WHO IS GOD? How Shall We Think of God?--"Upon the conception that is entertained of God will depend the nature and quality of the religion of any soul or race; and in accordance with the view that is held of God, His nature, His character and His relation to other beings, the spirit …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Mary, Future Mother of Jesus, visits Elisabeth, Future Mother of John the Baptist.
(in the Hill Country of Judæa, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke I. 39-56. ^c 39 And Mary arose in these days [within a week or two after the angel appeared to her] and went into the hill country [the district of Judah lying south of Jerusalem, of which the city of Hebron was the center] with haste [she fled to those whom God had inspired, so that they could understand her condition and know her innocence--to those who were as Joseph needed to be inspired, that he might understand--Matt. i. 18-25], into a city …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel