Exodus 3:2-14 NIV

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:3

The impulse to draw nigh. Moses saw a strange sight; one that he had never seen before; one that struck him with astonishment. His natural impulse was to inquire into its cause. God has implanted in us all this instinct, and we should do ill if we were to combat it. Natural phenomena are within reason's sphere; and Moses, who had never yet seen a supernatural sight, could not but suppose, at first beholding it, that the burning bush was a natural phenomenon. That he approached to examine... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:3-10

I. How MOSES MET WITH GOD . 1 . The marvel was marked and considered. He might simply have glanced at it and passed on; but he observed it till the wonder of it possessed his soul. There are marvels that proclaim God's presence in the earth today. Creation, the Bible, Christ's saving work. The first step towards conviction is to consider them. 2 . "He turned aside to see." It was a matter to be inquired into and probed to the bottom. 3 . God meets the earnest, sincere... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:4

When the Lord saw … God called . This collocation of words is fatal in the entire Elohistic and Jehovistic theory, for no one can suppose that two different writers wrote the two clauses of the sentence. Nor, if the same term was originally used in both clauses, would any reviser have altered one without altering both. Out of the midst of the bush. A voice, which was the true voice of God, appeared to Moses to proceed out of the midst of the fire which enveloped the thorn-bush. An... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:4-6

The prohibition, and the ground of it. Suddenly the steps of the inquirer are arrested. Wonder upon wonder! a voice calls to him out of the bush, and calls him by his own name, "Moses, Moses!" Now must have dawned on him the conviction that it was indeed a "great thing" which he was witnessing; that the ordinary course of nature was broken in upon; that he was about to be the recipient of one of those wonderful communications which God from time to time had vouchsafed to his forefathers,... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-6

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-10

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:1-22

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:3-10

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:4-6

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