Well, good evening once again. If you would open with me tonight in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter three, Exodus chapter three. Continue on this evening with our expositional series through the book of Exodus last Lord's day evening, we look together at Exodus chapter two verses 23 through 25. So we finished up chapter two. And so now we turn the page as it were to Exodus chapter three. In Exodus chapter 2, verses 23 through 25, we learn that Israel cried out to God because of her bondage in Egypt. And God heard the cry of his people. And he remembered the covenant that he had made with Israel. And as we move into Exodus chapter 3, we will see God's answer to Israel's cry. God responds in a very specific way as he reveals himself to Moses in the burning bush. And he calls out to him. He calls him out of the wilderness to a new vocation. So we will consider these things together tonight in Exodus chapter 3, and our text will be verses 1 through 6. And so let's read the word of God together. Exodus chapter 3, verses 1 through 6. Now Moses was pastoring the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here I am. Then he said, do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. He said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God. The word of God, amen. In our study of the book of Exodus, the focus thus far in chapters one and two has been on Moses, the man. We have learned about Moses' birth. We have learned about his upbringing. We have learned about his escape to Midian and even his life in the wilderness. The focus thus far has been on Moses. Of course, God has been at work in his providence as we have seen preserving and preparing Moses to be his instrument of deliverance. And now as we turn the page to Exodus chapter three, the subject emphasis changes. Exodus chapter three is primarily about God's revelation of himself. Again there is a kind of scene shift that is taking place in our text. I said to you in a recent sermon that the word of God is primarily about God. And we ought to always understand that when we come on the Lord's Day and we hear God's word opened up in the midst of his people, we ought to always understand that the word of God is about God. God is the primary subject of his own inspired book. This book is about God. It is his word to us, but it is primarily about him. One author says it this way. One ancient author says it this way. Sacred doctrine does not treat God and creatures equally. He's speaking about Holy Scripture. Sacred doctrine does not treat of God and creatures equally, but of God primarily. And of creatures only so far as they are referable to God as their beginning or end. What he's saying is God first. God treats himself first in his own book, and creatures as they are referable to him. God and all things in relation to God. Sacred doctrine or theology, therefore, is the study of the knowledge of God. God's word is about himself. The same author goes on to write, theology comes from God, teaches about God, and leads to God. And so theology is about God and God is revealing himself to Moses and he's revealing himself to us in this great text that many of us know so well, that many of us grew up in the church hearing. We heard the story of the burning bush but probably for many of us the emphasis was not on God. The emphasis was on the bush itself or the fire itself or Moses and his response to God as God reveals himself in the burning bush. But we ought to understand the emphasis here. We have to understand the emphasis of scripture, but specifically the emphasis of Exodus chapter three. This chapter in God's holy word is specifically treating the subject of God himself. And I believe that Exodus three is one of the most important chapters of the Bible. That's not hyperbole. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it's one of the most important chapters in the Bible because of what it teaches us about God. Not only who God is, but what God does in relation to his people. What will we learn tonight in Exodus chapter three? We will see this church that God calls to Moses from the midst of the burning bush and the Lord reveals himself to Moses in order to show us who he is and what he is like. And so who is he? What is he like? Well, as these verses will reveal, he is the God of glory. He is the God of glory. or these verses will reveal to us the glory of God. These verses will also reveal to us the power of God, and the holiness of God, and the identity of God, and the life of God. And so as we work through our text tonight, let us meditate upon these verses very carefully. Let us think rightly about who our God is, knowing that there is no greater subject of study than God himself. God is the most worthy subject of study and so we ought to be happy in our souls to study God in Exodus chapter 3 tonight. And so consider with me in the first place this evening a blazing fire, verses 1 through 3, a blazing fire. Moses has now been living in Midian for the last 40 years according to Peter's, or excuse me, Stephen's sermon in Acts chapter 7 and verse 30. And everything in Moses' life has changed since he fled from the land of Egypt. Since that time, almost 40 years ago, Moses has taken a wife, Zipporah. He's joined himself with the household of Jethro, taken a wife, Zipporah. God gave them a son whose name is Gershom. And Moses has acquired a new vocation as a shepherd. Everything in Moses' life has changed. Everything has changed. He went from living in the palace in Egypt to dwelling in a tent in Midian. Everything in Moses' life has changed. And with all of his Egyptian education, which the scripture speaks to us about, Moses was in many ways overqualified for his vocation as a shepherd. He was a well-educated man. It's worth noting that the vocation of a shepherd was one of the most despised vocations by the Egyptians. They thought it to be a very lowly vocation. And interestingly enough, that's the vocation that Moses occupies while he is in the land of Midian. And he's been doing this job for the last 40 years. But we know from what the scripture teaches us that God was preparing Moses for greater things. God was preparing him in his role of shepherd for greater things, for things yet to come in the future. One author says it this way in applying this text to us. He says, let those that think themselves buried alive be content to shine like lamps in their sepulchers and wait till God's time come for setting them on a candlestick. Now if you caught the point of the author there it's quite profound. He's saying this that we ought to be content like Moses, we ought to be faithful like Moses was in our daily vocations, in our daily callings. And we all have different daily callings and daily vocations. For you stay-at-home moms, your job is much different than mine, and mine is much different than yours. Some of you work in the medical field, some of you are consultants, some of you are engineers. We all have different jobs and different vocations, but we, like Moses, who was just a shepherd. We ought to be faithful in our daily callings, in our daily jobs, and in our daily vocations for the glory of God. And God, in his timing, in his sovereign and providential timing, will raise us up and use us according to his good will and his good purposes. And so let us be faithful like Moses. Let us learn this lesson from Moses, who was working as a shepherd in the wilderness for 40 years, glorifying the triune God. Let's look now at Exodus chapter 3 and verse 2. I want you to notice the text with me. And this is all taking place while Moses is pastoring the flock in the land of Midian. Exodus 3 and verse 2, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush, and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not And so as Moses was shepherding Jethro's flock, he sees something very strange far off in the distance. Moses had no doubt never seen anything like what he saw on this day. He sees something strange off in the distance. He sees a bush that is burning but is not consumed. There's never been a bush like this bush. There's never been a bush that was on fire but not yet consumed by the fire. And this was probably the common bramble bush that was found or that is still found in this region even today. Notice Exodus 3 and verse 3. So Moses said, I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up. And so Moses' curiosity, his interest is piqued by what he sees off in the distance. And so he determines out of his own curiosity to travel to this location, to draw near to this burning bush and to see what it's all about. And it's worth noting that Moses doesn't appear to be alarmed here, but he is curious to investigate this strange site on Mount Horeb, or as we sometimes call it, Mount Sinai. And of course, this mountain, this mountain of God will come into play. It has great importance as we move forward in the book of Exodus. So you might just make note of this mountain in your mind. And so after traveling some distance to the mountain, Moses arrives at the burning bush. And again, we are told in verse two that the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush. And so before Moses ever arrives, even prior to Moses's own knowledge, we are told who this is that is appearing to Moses. And the angel of the Lord is the Lord himself. The angel of the Lord is the Lord himself as verse four goes on to indicate to us. And this is what we call a theophany. This is what we call a theophany. Now what is a theophany? A theophany is a visible manifestation of the invisible God. God condescends and reveals himself to man in an accommodated fashion. But man does not behold the divine essence. Indeed, no man can see the divine essence and live. And so this is a theophany. God is the one who is appearing to Moses in the burning bush. But Moses does not see the divine essence. He sees something visible. He sees a bush that is a blazing fire. And so this is a visible manifestation of the invisible God, but not the divine essence. We must say this, that God is in no way contained by this burning bush, but his glory is shining through it by fire. And so, the blazing fire is not of the bush or in the bush, otherwise it would be consumed. This bush is the vessel, it is the vessel that God uses to show forth his supernatural power. God is showing forth his power in this text by the burning of this bush. And in the record of Holy Scripture, God sometimes manifest his glory and his power by means of fire. This is a biblical theological thread that we ought to think about with respect to the word of God. And let me just give you three examples within the book of Exodus as to how God manifest his power and his glory by way of fire. One of the plagues of Egypt in Exodus chapter 9 verses 23 and 24 had to do with fire. Exodus 9, 23 and 24, Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran down to the earth and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. So there was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very severe, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And what was God doing? with those plagues. He was demonstrating his power to Pharaoh. He was demonstrating his power and his glory to his own covenant people, Israel. God often shows his power and his glory in the scripture by way of fire. Think of another text within the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 13 and verse 21. Exodus 13 and verse 21. After God had given his people, his covenant people, a great deliverance, he was leading them through the wilderness. And we are told some of the details of this in verse 21. The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light that they might travel by day and by night. God was demonstrating his power to his covenant people by a cloud, through a cloud by day and by a pillar of fire by night. God is demonstrating his power by way of fire. And then Exodus chapter 19 and verse 18 tells us this as God prepares to give his covenant people the law. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked violently. God descended upon the mountain, Mount Horeb, Mount Sinai, and he came down in fire and the mountain was shaking, it was quaking violently. What was God doing? in that circumstance. What was he doing in that scenario? But he was showing his people his power and his glory. And so it should come as no surprise to us that the author of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 29 says that our God is a consuming fire. You see, fire is in the scripture a representation of God's power and his glory. And that's what we see here in this text on the burning bush. And so we learn something about who God is. He is the God of power. He is the God of glory. Well, I want you to consider with me in the second place tonight, on holy ground, verses four through six, on holy ground. And now the God of heaven and earth speaks to Moses. Notice with me verse four, Exodus chapter three and verse four. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am. God spoke to Moses from the midst of this bush, he called out to him by name and he said his name twice, Moses, Moses. Can you imagine? the surprise and the fear that must have overtaken Moses at this moment, that a voice called out to him from the midst of this bush. This was a voice like Moses had never heard before. This voice is not like our voice. This was the triune God speaking to Moses from heaven through a fiery bush, through a blazing fire. The lonely desert shepherd hears a voice call out his name, again a voice like no other. And so God condescended and he spoke to Moses in a language that he could understand. Moses heard his own name and this was a divine invitation to draw near and to listen. Moses, Moses. This is a reminder to us, as one author says, that the Lord knows his people by name. The Lord knows who we are. He knows us distinctly. And he calls out the name of Moses in this text, just as he calls out our name in salvation, just as he knows every hair on our heads, so also does he know our name. And notice Moses's reply in verse four. He replied, here I am, indicating his readiness to listen. And now notice what the Lord says once again in verse five. Then he said, do not come near. Remove your sandals from your feet for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. If Moses's name was an invitation to draw near, then this is something different. It's an invitation to draw near, but do not draw too closely. Do not come too closely. The mountain itself was not holy, but It was made holy by the presence of God being there. There's nothing special about Mount Sinai. There's nothing special about Mount Horeb. But this mountain was made holy for a period of time because God's presence was there on the mountain. And so Moses was not able to draw close to the burning bush because he was standing in the presence of God. Come near, but do not come too near. After the fall, Adam was not able to reenter the garden. We are told he was not able to approach the holy God. He was not able to re-enter that temple garden once again. We're told in Genesis 3 and verse 24 that God drove the man out. And at the east of the Garden of Eden, he stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword, which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. And so by a flaming sword, by a cherubim holding a flaming sword, God prevented Adam from re-entering the garden once again. Adam could not go into the holy presence of God after his fall. And so, in the same way, Moses was kept at a distance from God. He was not able to draw near to God. God said, do not come too closely. The place that you are standing is holy ground. And so we thus learn from Exodus chapter three and verse five that God is holy. Church, this is who our God is. He is a most holy God. We think of what the scripture teaches us about the holiness of God in Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 3. Isaiah has his great vision where he sees the Lord seated upon his throne. And what did the cherubim and the seraphim sing of our great God? And one called out to another antiphonally as we did today in the Sunday school hour. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Church, our God is holy, he is set apart, he is transcendent, he is above creation and yet he speaks to Moses and yet he says to Moses, come and listen to me but do not draw too closely, our God is holy. And so if God is so holy, how can we approach him? How can we draw near to him in worship and have communion with such a great God, such a holy God, such a glorious God? We are not able to draw near to God by the tabernacle or by the temple. You see, these things under the old covenant anticipated one who was to come. But we draw near to God through the word made flesh who tabernacled among us, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Christ has made a way for us. We are able to do what Moses was not. Moses was not able to draw near, but we in Christ are able to draw near because we have a great mediator in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has made a way for us, and therefore we have free and full access to commune with God through him. And yet, because God remains holy, we cannot just casually or thoughtlessly enter into his presence. And this applies for us as the people of God, that we must give consideration to how we come before the holy presence of God on the Lord's day to worship him in spirit and in truth. We must think about our spiritual posture before him on the Lord's day. I want you to turn with me for just a few moments to the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 5, verses 1 through 2. Ecclesiastes 5, verses 1 through 2. The preacher here in Ecclesiastes 5 speaks to us about the posture of our worship, the posture of approaching God on his holy day, coming to his house. I want you to notice with me what he says in these first two verses. Ecclesiastes chapter 5, beginning in verse 1. The preacher writes, guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God, for God is in heaven and you are on the earth. Therefore, let your words be few. Notice again what he says in verse when he says, Guard your steps as you go to the house of God. Moses, do not draw too closely. Do not come any closer. Guard your steps as you go to the house of God. Do not be hasty or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. This week, while our family was having dinner, we had a discussion on the importance of etiquette. Maybe you've had that same discussion at your dinner table, having to remind your children about the importance of etiquette. The Oxford English Dictionary defines etiquette as, quote, the customary code of polite behavior in society. And there are different kinds of etiquette that we observe. We observe them all the time in daily life. Oftentimes we don't even think about the proper etiquette that we should use, but we observe it anyways because we're a part of a culture that observes certain forms of etiquette. We observe etiquette while eating dinner, when sending an email, or while attending a wedding, or going to a job interview. There's a certain etiquette that goes along with each of these circumstances of life. And there is a certain kind of etiquette that we must observe when we come into the holy presence of God. And the scripture teaches us about that kind of etiquette. It teaches us about the kind of spiritual posture that we should have when we come into the presence of God. As the preacher says here, you must guard your steps as you go to the house of God. And yes, with Christ as our mediator, we come boldly to the throne of grace, but we must still guard our steps as we go to the house of God. We do not enter in through the doors of this meeting house casually because we know what God has called us to do. You see, the worship of the triune God is a serious matter. It's a sober matter. We take the Lord's Day seriously. We take the worship of God seriously because the scripture teaches us that we should guard our steps, that we should think about our own souls as we come into the presence of God. You see when we come to worship on the Lord's Day, when we come into the presence of God we must come with a reverence and with awe. This must be our spiritual posture as God's covenant people. Matthew Poole writes that from this text we learn three things about our approach to God. He says we are to reverence the divine majesty. We come with reverence and all. He says we are to recognize our humiliation before a holy God. We are to recognize that God is greater than us and that we must be humbled before him. And finally, he says we are to acknowledge our need for purification. We come knowing that we need to be cleansed, that we need to be sanctified, that we need to be changed, that we need to be conformed to the likeness of Christ. And so when we come on the Lord's Day, we come acknowledging these things. We come with reverence and with awe. And so we must guard our steps as we go to the house of God. Well, finally, let's turn our attention back to Exodus chapter three and verse six. Exodus chapter three and verse six. Finally, in this passage that we're looking at this evening, God reveals his identity to Moses. God has spoken to him, but now he reveals his identity. Verse six, he said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God. The voice speaks again to Moses and he says, I am the God who covenanted with your fathers. He identifies himself. He says, this is who I am. And he will go on to identify himself even more clearly to Moses as we move forward in Exodus chapter three, especially in verses 14 and 15. And what was the response of Moses? His response was a right response. Then Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God. Moses shrunk under the weight and glory of God's holiness. One author says this, the earliest effect of true knowledge is humility. The eldest daughter of faith is reverence. You see, this ought to be the earliest effect of our knowledge of God, humility. We ought to humble ourselves at the thought of who God is. We ought to be made low like Moses was made low who hid his face from God because God is so great, God is so holy, God is so glorified in the heavens and on the earth. And so the earliest effect of true knowledge is humility and the eldest daughter of faith is reverence. I think by this action, by the hiding of his face, this was a reverential act. And so a humble act and a reverential act. It's interesting that when John has his vision in Revelation chapter 1 that he has the same kind of response that Moses did in Exodus chapter 3. After John has this great vision and he sees the Lord Jesus Christ, he sees him glorified, he has this reaction in verses 17 and 18. When I saw him, that is when I saw Christ, I fell at his feet like a dead man. And he placed his right hand on me saying, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the living one, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. And so John responded in much the same way that Moses responded. Moses hid his face, but John, in his vision, after seeing the Lord Jesus Christ, after seeing his glorious nature, after seeing him exalted, he fell on his face, or he fell to his feet like a dead man. Church, we ought to have the same kind of response to such a great God. We ought to bow before him in humility. We ought to make ourselves low before him. Yes, we come boldly to the throne of grace, but we acknowledge who our God is and we do not go to the house of God casually. We enter into his presence with reverence and with awe. And so here is the holiness of God. Here is the holiness of God revealed to Moses and to us through the theophany of a burning bush. Well, as we conclude this evening, I want to turn your attention to the New Testament. I want to turn your attention to the scripture that Samuel read for us earlier. Turn with me to Mark chapter 12, verses 24 through 27. And I want to turn your attention to this passage as we conclude tonight, because in Mark chapter 12, verse 26, Jesus cites Exodus chapter 3 and verse 6, the text that we just read and talked about a moment ago. From Exodus chapter 3 verses 1 through 6, we have learned about the glory, power, and holiness of God. But now in his citation of Exodus chapter 3 and verse 6, Jesus teaches us about the life of God. He teaches us about the life of God. And so let's pick up in the middle of this dialogue between Jesus and the Sadducees. Let's pick up in verse 24. I'll read through verse 27. Jesus said to them, Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are greatly mistaken. Think about with me what Jesus is saying here. In this passage, the Sadducees come to Jesus with a testing question on marriage in order to discredit him and in order to disprove the resurrection. But Jesus turns the tables on them, as it were. I think that's an appropriate metaphor for the Lord Jesus, isn't it? Turning tables over? Jesus turns the table, as it were, on his enemies. Jesus refutes his enemies by proving the resurrection of the dead from the very portion of Scripture that the Sadducees hold to. You see, they only held to the five books of Moses. They didn't hold to the rest of the Old Testament. And because of this, they denied the resurrection. But that's where Jesus takes them. He takes them to Exodus chapter 3 and verse 6 in order to prove the resurrection. And notice that Jesus really doesn't even argue the resurrection here. He doesn't say if they are raised from the dead. He says when they are raised from the dead. Our Lord treats the coming general resurrection as a fact of reality. It's a fact of reality. This is something that will happen in the future. That's the implication of what Jesus is teaching here. And so Jesus proves that the resurrection is true from Exodus chapter 3 and verse 6. And notice that God does not say, I was the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. But what does he say? He says, I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He says, I am their God now because they are still alive. They are in the presence of God. You see, those believing patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, are alive. They are enjoying a soulless existence in the intermediate state even now. What was true of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob then is also true of them now. They are alive now. He says, I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And this is true for all those who have died in Christ. All of those who have died in Christ, maybe you're thinking about some of those loved ones that have gone on to be with the Lord. Those who have died in Christ are alive, they're not dead. They are with Christ, in his presence, in the intermediate state, even now, and they are awaiting the resurrection of their bodies on the last day. If a man dies in Christ, he shall keep on living in Christ. This is the promise of Holy Scripture. And so here, church, is a great text that teaches us many important truths about God. What have we learned about God? We've learned about the glory of God, and the power of God, and the holiness of God, and the identity of God, and the life of God. So what does the scripture teach us? What does Jesus teach us in this passage? He teaches us that our God is not the God of the dead, but he is the God of the living. He is the holy God, the all-glorious God, the God who gives life to those who are dead. And so this is what Exodus chapter 3 is teaching us. This text is primarily about God. We are meant to learn about God in order to meditate upon God. in order to contemplate who he is for our own spiritual benefit so that we might respond to him rightly in worship with reverence and with all, that we might come before him with praise and with thanksgiving. This is what the scripture is teaching us. May we respond accordingly and glorify God for who he is. Amen. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father and our God, we bless you and we thank you for who you are. We thank you, oh great God, for revealing yourself to us from your own word. And we pray, oh Lord, that you would give us greater thoughts of you, that you would help us to have more lofty and exalted thoughts of who you are, that we would never bring you down to our own level, to the level of the creature, but we would see you as our creator, as our providential sustainer, as the one who is sovereign over all things. Oh God, give us higher thoughts of who you are. Help us to esteem you more in the Christian life. with respect to our thoughts, but also with respect to our actions, that we might live in light of these truths that you've revealed to us here in Exodus chapter three. And so we thank you that you are a great God. And even though you are transcendent, you have drawn near to us in Christ, the one who has come to tabernacle among us. And so we thank you that we can draw near to your presence through him. And so we give you thanks for our savior and our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.