Exodus 3:1-14

Exodus 3:1

This narrative is a chain of glorious wonders. We see here

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, Symbols of Christ,p. 61.

References: Exodus 3:1. Preacher's Monthly,vol. ii., p. 57. Exodus 3:1. A. M. Fairbairn, The City of God,p. 107. Exodus 3:1. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. iv., p. 141.Exodus 3:2 S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches,p. 20; J. Edmunds, Sermons in a Village Church,p. 79; J. Hamilton, Works,vol. v., p. 185; The Weekly Pulpit,vol. i., p. 312; D. J. Vaughan, The Days of the Son of Man,p. 209; H. Varley, Penny Pulpit,No. 369; Preacher's Monthly,vol. v., p. 145; J. Jackson Wray, Light from the Old Lamp,p. 231.