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CHAPTER III.

THE BURNING BUSH. THE LORD JESUS IN IT. GOD'S SYMPATHY

WITH SUFFERERS.

JEWELS.

CHARACTER

OF PALESTINE.

BORROWING

We have now the first and most impressive manifestation of God to Moses, as a call, and by way of a preface to that wonderful exodus, on the history of which we are now entering. There appears in a bush, that burned and was not consumed, a Being who is here called "the angel of the Lord." I may state, that some of the most competent critics and divines have agreed that this ought to be rendered, "the Angel-Lord." The Hebrew words are Melech-Yehovah, which do not mean "the angel of the Lord," but literally, "Jehovah, the sent one." And hence it has been thought that this was a manifestation of our blessed Lord in one of these forms in which he sometimes appeared before his incarnation, and that "the angel of the Lord," wherever He appears throughout the whole of the Old Testament Scripture, was none other than God now manifest in the flesh.

That the Being who appeared on this occasion was God, is obvious; because, whilst in the second verse it is said, "The angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ;" it is declared in the fourth verse, "And when the Lord (Jehovah) saw that he turned aside to see, GOD called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said Moses, Moses; and he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not nigh hither; put off thy

shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." It is, therefore, obvious that the being who appeared here was a Divine Being, the Melech- Yehovah, "the Angel-Lord;" and as the father is never spoken of as sent, he is none other than the Angel-God, or God manifest in the flesh, our only Saviour.

The bush that appeared in flames is, literally translated, a thorn-bush, a whin-bush, or a bramble-bush. It is supposed that this mountain, Horeb, is the same as Mount Sinai. The Hebrew for a bramble-bush is seneh, and hence it is related by some rabbinical writers, that, after this event, the mountain ceased to be called "Horeb," and was called Seneh," the bramble-bush," or "Sinai," which is merely a modification of that word.

He was ordered to take his shoes off his feet, because God was present. The word translated "thy shoes," ought to be rendered "thy sandals" (sandelok). Some words seem to have become incorporated into all languages. For instance, the word "wine" is almost the same in every ancient and modern tongue; the same may be said of the word "sack;" and this word "sandal" seems to have come down from the very earliest ages, for the Hebrew word here translated "thy shoes," is "sandalok," being equivalent to our word "sandals."

The bush ever burning and never being consumed, is the recognized symbol of the Church of Christ. It has been for several hundred years the armorial bearing of the Church of Scotland.

To take off the shoe, in the East, is equivalent to taking off the hat in the West, and equally expresses reverence.

God said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people." How interesting is this fact, that God takes cognizance of the afflictions of his people; of one as of many; of great

and small! One sometimes is puzzled to determine whether God appears greatest when he rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm, speaks in the thunder, and manifests his glory in the lightning, or when he descends to minister every pulse to the minutest microscopic insect, and to notice the pains, the sorrows, and the sufferings of the humblest and the lowliest of the human family. I have no doubt that God's greatness is more magnificently revealed by the microscope, than it is by the telescope; in creation and in providence in little things, than in great things; and that he appears arrayed in a richer glory when his fatherly hand lays its healing touch upon a broken heart, than when that hand launches the thunderbolt, or gives their commissions to the angels of the sky. God's people could not suffer in the brickyards of Egypt, without drawing down the sympathies, as they shared in the cognizance, of the Lord God of Abraham. "I have surely seen the affliction of my

people."

"And I am come down to deliver them." All such language applied to God, I need scarcely explain, is borrowed from human habits applied to the Deity. For instance, when it is said that God repented, that does not mean that he changed his mind, but that he changed his mode of proceeding or dealing with mankind. Again, when it is here said, "I am come down," that does not mean that God was in one place, and change and move from that to another, but that he took notice of, interfered with or interposed, and began a dispensation or a dealing peculiar to the emergency.

Now God said that he would bring them out of Egypt that was the first promise and that he would bring them "unto a good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey." It has been a favoriteobjection with persons of a sceptical turn of mind, how Palestine could be called so; but recent travels in that land have displayed enough of its remaining magnificence and wealth, to show

that the strongest expressions of its fertility in ancient times. are rather understated than otherwise. The land is described as a land flowing with milk and honey. It has been proved to be a country rich in pasturage and flowers, in flocks and herds, and in large quantities of wild honey. But if this should be thought too severe an interpretation of the words, "milk” may be employed, perhaps, by the sacred writers to denote all kinds of necessary food, and "honey" may include whatever is agreeable and delightful to the palate. The same proverbial expressions are very common in classic writers. Euripides says, "The field flows with milk, with wine, and with the nectar of bees." We may, from the following passages from the writings of eminent travellers, gather some idea of what Palestine was in a state of great prosperity. "We left the road," says one traveller, "to avoid the Arabs, whom it is always disagreeable to meet with, and reached by a side path the summit of the mountain, where we found a beautiful plain. It must be confessed that if we could live secure in this country, it would be the most agreeable residence in the world, partly on account of the pleasing diversity of mountains and valleys, and partly on account of the salubrious air which we breathe there, and which is at all times filled with balsamic odors from the wild flowers of these valleys and from the aromatic herbs on the hills." Dr. E. D. Clarke, speaking of the appearance of the country between Sychem and Jerusalem, says, "A sight of this territory alone can convey any adequate idea of its surprising produce. It is truly the Eden of the East, rejoicing in the abundance of its wealth. The effect of this upon the people was strikingly portrayed in every countenance. Under a wise and beneficent government the produce of the Holy Land would exceed all calculation. Its perennial harvests, the salubrity of its air, its limpid springs, its rivers, lakes, and matchless plains, its hills and valleys, all these, added to the serenity of the climate, prove this land to

be indeed a field which the Lord hath blessed. God hath given it of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine." Such is its remaining character. And I need not tell you that any land, were it like the garden of Eden, would soon become turned into a desert, were it treated as Palestine has been. The hoof of the Moslem, the bare foot of the monk, the horse of the Arab and the Bedouin of the desert, all sorts of savages and barbarians, now tread it underfoot; and the nations of the earth quarrel on it, and quarrel about it, whose it shall be. I have often told you what I believe is its destiny. The present occupants of Palestine are just like those who are put into an empty house till it shall be let to the proper tenant. God has placed them there to keep it for the predestined tenants, the royal heritage of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and soon we shall hear of the march of that people, great in their ruins, discrowned kings, a nation without a home, proceeding to the land of their fathers, and there, where they once shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" not saying, but singing, "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

We read next in this chapter that God told Moses that he would bring him to Pharaoh, and would require him to demand of Pharaoh permission for the people to go forth. from the midst of Egypt. Moses naturally felt how unlikely would be his success on such and so solemn an errand: for you will recollect that a new dynasty had now come into Egypt, a dynasty "which knew not Joseph," that is, did not respect the people of God. And Moses felt that nothing would be more difficult than to persuade an Egyptian tyrant that he ought to let go profitable slaves; and he also felt that he was likely to meet with but little success even amid his own people: for he remembered that after he had interposed to rescue an Israelite from an Egyptian, instead of receiving an expression of courteous gratitude, he was repelled and

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