Exodus 3:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-2

The Burning Bush. All nations have seen in fire something emblematic of the Divine nature. The Vedic Indians made Agni (fire) an actual god, and sang hymns to him with more fervour than to almost any other deity. The Persians maintained perpetual fires on their fire-altars, and supposed them to have a divine character. Hephaistos in the Greek and Vulcan in the Roman mythology were fire-gods; and Baal, Chemosh, Moloch, Tahiti, Orotal, etc ; represented more or less the same idea. Fire... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-5

Moses at the bush. We do not now see burning bushes, or hear voices calling to us from their midst. The reason is, that we do not need them, The series of historical revelations is complete. Revelation in the sense of the communication of new truth—of truth beyond the range of our natural faculties, or not capable of being derived, under the guidance of God's Spirit, from revelations already given—is not to be expected. The Bible is the sum of God's authoritative revelations to the race.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-5

The bush and its suggestions. Glean here a few of the general suggestions of the passage:— I. REVELATION . The appearance at the bush suggestive— 1 . Of the supernatural in Nature. Bushes are aglow all around us, if only we had eyes to see them. Christ's teaching an illustration of the spiritual suggestiveness of Nature. "Consider the lilies" ( Matthew 6:28 ). The parables. 2 . Of the supernatural in common life. "Moses kept the flock of Jethro." The Higher Presence may... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-5

The burning bush. I. OBSERVE THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH GOD FINDS MOSES . He is still with Jethro, although forty years have passed since their first acquaintance. Though a fugitive, he had not become a mere wanderer. 1 . He continues , however , in a comparatively humble position. His marriage to Jethro's daughter and his long stay in the country do not seem to have brought him much external prosperity. He has not reached even the modest point of success in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-6

Forty years since, Moses ( Exodus 2:11 ) had "turned aside" from court life in Egypt to see how his brethren the children of Israel fared amid the furnace of trial. The old life seems like a dream, so long ago; the old lance ( Exodus 4:10 ) grown unfamiliar. The annual routine; flocks to be driven to distant-pasturage at the approach of summer. God's hour at hand just when least expected. I. THE PROPHETIC VISION . When God calls to the prophetic office, there is usually some... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-10

The Burning Bush. "Behold the bush," etc. Exodus 3:2 . A very astonishing event; yet amply evidenced to us by those voluminous arguments which now more than ever establish the authenticity of Exodus; but in addition to this, we have here the special endorsement of the Truth Incarnate. See Mark 12:26 . [Examine this passage critically, and consider how full and valid the endorsement is! No mere acceptance of received legend.] I. THE TIME . A solemn undertone in Mark 12:1 .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-22

THE MISSION OF MOSES . After forty years of monotonous pastoral life, affording abundant opportunity for meditation, and for spiritual communion with God, and when he had attained to the great age of eighty years, and the hot blood of youth had given place to the calm serenity of advanced life, God at last revealed Himself to Moses "called him" ( Exodus 3:4 ), and gave him a definite mission. The present chapter is' intimately connected with the next. Together, they contain an... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:2

The angel of the Lord . Literally, "an angel of Jehovah." Taking the whole narrative altogether, we are justified in concluding that the appearance was that of "the Angel of the Covenant" or" the Second Person of the Trinity himself;" but this is not stated nor implied in the present verse. We learn it from what follows. The angel " appeared in a flame of fire out of the midst of the thorn-bush"—not out of "a thorn-bush—which may be explained by there being only one on the spot, which... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:2

The bush in history. The bush had primary reference to Israel, and the fire in the bush represented Jehovah's fiery presence in the midst of his people— 1 . For their protection. A fire flaming forth to consume the adversaries. 2 . For their purification . God was in the fires that tried them, as well as in the power that upheld them. The fire was thus a figurative representation at once of destroying punishment and of refining affliction. But the bush, while burning, was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:3

I will turn aside . Suspecting nothing but a natural phenomenon, which he was anxious to investigate. The action bespeaks him a man of sense and intelligence, not easily scared or imposed upon. read more

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