Out of the King's Palace
Out of the king’s palace to the desert; there Moses would learn the art of being a shepherd. There he would learn brokenness and lose the superman-superpower attitude he acquired from his upbringing in the palace. There he would become weak, empty, and less self-reliant than he once was. And then, in his emptiness, God would fill him, and in his weakness, the Almighty would become the strength of his life. It was this transformation that would make Moses into a man of God, ready to be sent to Egypt to bring deliverance to the people of God.
And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
Now the second forty-year period of Moses’ life was complete. He had spent forty years keeping the flock of Jethro and learning the way of a shepherd. He had become empty of self and was a completely changed man. It was at this point that the angel of God appeared to him in the burning bush. Moses had gone through the school of patience and become as meek as any man could be. He was now ready to begin the last phase of his ministry—becoming an instrument of deliverance for the children of Israel.
When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground (Act 7:30-33).
We have returned to the place where we digressed in the second paragraph of this chapter. We left off when Moses saw the burning bush; now we see Moses turning in amazement and walking toward the burning bush to examine this wonder in the wilderness of Sinai.
The Omniscient One was not only training Moses in the wilderness; He was also revealing, to him and to us, the supernatural nature of His people. Through the metaphor of the burning bush, the bush that was on fire and yet never consumed, God showed the indestructibility of His people. The Israel of God, in whom and through whom God speaks to the nations, is the burning bush that can never be consumed. In the natural realm, the burning bush can be considered a symbol of the nation of Israel, but we will look deeper and further to see what the Holy Spirit has hidden in this for the Church of Jesus Christ. It is a wonder of wonders that the small nation of Israel has existed through all these centuries, in spite of the fire of persecution and gruesome affliction that she has endured. Many mighty nations and powerful emperors have made it their dying ambition to wipe out any remembrance of Israel from the earth. She has passed through terrible and horrifying fires of affliction—the Babylonian captivity, the Romans, the Holocaust, and all the hostile nations that encompass her round about—and she is still alive today. Many other nations and empires have come and gone; Israel was at their cradles and has attended the funerals of them all. Indeed, she is that burning bush and will never be consumed.
However, we must look deeper into the meaning of this burning bush metaphor, for we see in it a portrait of the Church of Jesus Christ. As pointed out in the previous paragraph, this burning bush is a picture, in the natural dimension, of the nation of Israel. However, the great Apostle speaking by the Holy Ghost said: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Co 10:11). Looking at the spiritual reality, the Church of Jesus Christ is truly the burning bush of which the natural olive tree, the nation of Israel, is a type. Moses as the deliverer sent by God to deliver Israel is a picture of the true Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was sent by God to be the Savior of the world. Israel is therefore a picture of the Church, that spiritual assembly of the redeemed.
Since she was born in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, the Church has been in the fire of persecution and has not been consumed. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. She has been under persecution and martyrdom since day one, from Stephen, the anointed preacher and the first martyr whose message we’ve been discussing in the earlier part of this chapter, to James and Peter, who were crucified; others were sawn asunder, some burned at the stake, some thrown to lions, many buried alive, and many tortured. For 2000 years, this bush has been burning in an intense fire, yet is not and will never be consumed. And God is speaking from within this burning bush, as He spoke to Moses, speaking His message of salvation to the world of humanity.
This burning bush that we’re talking about, instead of being consumed, is actually shining brighter. The affliction and testing by fire is bringing forth the work of purification and refinement in her. She is becoming pure like tried gold and refined brass. This must be the revelation John the beloved saw when He was on the island of Patmos and saw the Lord in His complete body from head to toe. The head of course is Jesus Christ Himself, while the Church is us, the company of the redeemed, and the feet are the last generation who are still in contact with the earth. These ones are just coming out of the earth and are as the refined brass just coming out of the furnace. Here is what John the beloved saw:
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters (Rev 1:13-15).
Down through the centuries, the Church has been persecuted, but she has been and remains an overcomer.
So Moses turned around and heard the voice of God speaking to him. Moses’ superb education in the palace of the king of Egypt did not teach him how to approach the holy God. The Most High God had to educate him on how to approach His Presence. He was brought up in the court of Pharaoh, well-learned in the custom and the civilization of this world, but ignorant of how to conduct himself with reverence in the holy Presence of the Almighty. God said to Him, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground” (Exo 3:5).
I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt (Act 7:34).
Then God told Moses of His intention to deliver His people from Egypt and the ministry to which Moses was called. Let’s closely examine the three principal phrases that God spoke to Moses here and apply their meaning to our lives. In the Book of Exodus, this is the complete narration of what God said:
And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites (Exo 3:7-8) .
Notice the key phrases in the message to Moses. I have seen, I have heard, and I have come down to deliver. It is important for you and I to understand the principle that God is setting forth here. God sees you when you are in need of help, but you need to cry unto Him. “Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures (Jam 4:2b,3).
To receive eternal life and become a child of God, an individual needs to ask God. To receive salvation and be delivered from the dominion of Satan into the glorious liberty of the children of God, an individual must ask God. To receive healing from Christ the Healer, the sick and afflicted need to ask Him; if they ask, they’ll receive.
Jehovah God Almighty saw the affliction of His people, heard their cries, and came down to deliver them. The faithful and promise-keeping God always comes through with His promises. Let’s sing this song with the Psalmist:
He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;
He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread
He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtly with his servants.
He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.
He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD (Psa 105:9-12).