Beloved radio, friends, in the precious and the worthy name of our wonderful Savior, the Lord Jesus, one who is none other than the eternal Son of God, we greet you heartily, giving you an earnest welcome, and an earnest encouragement to listen carefully to the ministry of the precious and the holy word of God. Our study continues in the book of Exodus, from where we are seeking to learn lessons, in regard to the present evil world and its character in which you and I are even now living. We read in chapter three of the book of Exodus our lesson for today, beginning at verse one and reading through verse six. Now Moses kept the flock of Jephthah his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back side of the desert and came to the mountain of God. even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked and behold, the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight. Why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord 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 God said, Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest his 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. and Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God. May God the Holy Spirit bless the reading and the hearing of these words and may he minister the truth they contain to the blessing of every one of us and for the glory of our God. We would again mention what we are preceding in a message preceding declared. The life of Moses was Divided into three great sections. Strange it may seem, but there's only one chapter that covers two-thirds of his life. And beginning in chapter three and going all the way through the books of the Pentateuch, that is to the end of the book of Deuteronomy, the last portion of his life is taken up. We declared the first forty years of his life were spent in Egypt trying to be somebody, to be learned and schooled in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, which he undoubtedly was. The second part of his life, a section of forty years, was spent in the backside of the desert, as we have noted, when he became a shepherd, and as we have read today, keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law. Forty years in the backside of the desert, learning to be a nobody. What a contrast from being in the palace of Pharaoh and in the realm of the mighty Egyptian empire. Back in the desert, nobody, but learning lessons that only God could teach him and prepare him to be the deliverer of his earthly people. And so we come to the last section of the life of Moses, beginning in chapter three. And it was wild there when he had brought the flock to a mountain that was often in the scripture called the mountain of God, even Horeb. Yes, he spent the first part of his life by a river in Egypt. And then the second section of his life in the desert of Midian. But now he comes, and please note it at the end of verse one. He comes to the mountain of God. You know, sometimes it takes a person a long while to get where God is, doesn't it? My radio friend, I wonder if you've reached him. For I know he has been trying to reach you. And if you have spent two-thirds of your life without God, will you please cheer up and realize you can still find him if you wish? and make the rest of your life a life that proves that God is able to save and keep and use you for his glory. Now in what we have read, beginning at verse two and going down through verse six in chapter three, we have the God of glory and the God of Israel appearing to Moses in the lowly thorn bush. The angel of the Lord, none other than Jehovah himself in this connection, appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush. This bush was the lowly Akashia bush that grew profusely in the desert region. It was not very valuable. It was not much wanted, though it was a hardy bush, and it had to be a very hardy bush, to thrive and to stay alive in a barren desert. And it was in the midst of this bush that the glory of God appeared. For the bush burned with fire. And strange to say, this dry, lowly Akashia bush burning with fire was not consumed. Now this thorn bush was very inferior to all other kinds. And I'd like to suggest it typifies three things. by the very fact that the presence of the God of glory was in it. First of all, this lowly Akashia thorn bush is a type of Israel in this story. That though Israel and the children of Jacob were in Egypt and in the midst of a furnace of affliction and bondage and tyranny, God preserved them. For the thorn bush is such a fitting type of Israel as Israel was in the land of Egypt under the bondage of Pharaoh and the Egyptians long ago. But they were preserved by God. The thorn bush was not consumed. Then may I go even further. Lovely truth. This lowly thorn bush is also a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. the one who took upon him the loneliness of humanity, and dwelt amongst men in the midst of mankind in loneliness and humility, full of grace and full of truth. And as a lonely thornbush, remember when Isaiah the prophet wrote of him in Isaiah fifty-three prophetically, that he would be as a root out of a dry ground, and the barren spiritual dryness of Israel was so apparent when Christ the Son of God was here upon the earth. But oh, thank God that out of that dry ground there sprang up a root. There is never and will never fail. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. And though he too suffered affliction is none other in human history, thank God You remember when he said in John chapter two to the Pharisees, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it again. And they thought that he was speaking of the temple of Herod in which and upon which they were standing. But he spoke of the temple which was his body. Men could not destroy him. Though they were permitted to take him and crucify him and see him die upon that tree. of ignominious shame. He had said, I had power to lay down my life, and I had power or authority to take it again. This commandment received I of my Father. Thank God for the lowly thornbush, the person of the Son of God. My beloved, I commend to you. I have to. I must. I earnestly commend to you. recognize the character of the Son of God in his human history and his path of life from the manger to the cross. The thorn bush, a type of the Lord Jesus, is dwelling upon earth in lowly humanity, but in fullness of grace as well as truth. But let me present another type. The thorn bush is also a type of the believer in the Lord Jesus. My beloved, I don't know how much you believe it, but I believe it. Just as that lowly thorn bush, the acacia bush, grew, dwelt in the desert region of that day, and even of today, wherever it may be, it was a barren desert. And even for a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, may I stay it? My fellow believers need to learn it. This world is a barren place. And yet though we are in a place that is barren, spiritually barren, now I want to tell you very frankly that all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, does not contribute to the spiritual feeding and development of a child of God. And yet though we live in a barren world, may I remind my fellow believer we are indwell by the Holy Spirit. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, like Paul? Ye are not your own, you bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. Please note these three things. The thorn bush, though inferior to all others, by the presence of the God of glory within it, typifies Israel, preserved by God in the fiery furnace of affliction. Typifies the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, when he dwelt upon the earth in his lowly humanity a root out of a dry ground. And now typifies the believer in the Savior, indwelt by the Spirit of God. Moses was attracted to the great sight. He turned to see it. He knew the Akashia bush well. But what concerned him was why it was not consumed. And as he turned, God revealed it to him. What joy to realize that the world cannot consume the believer. The world cannot destroy the Lord Jesus Christ. The world and Egypt with all of its power could not destroy the children of Israel. And God reveals himself as Moses drew near. The God of glory in that bush called him to take his shoes from his feet. He was upon holy ground. My beloved would to God that you and I would emulate Moses by drawing near to God through our Lord Jesus Christ and know that when we're in Christ and brought nigh to God through the precious blood of the Savior, we're upon holy ground. He is the God of the thorn bush, shall we pray? Oh, blessed Father, and God reveal thyself in the power of the spirit of the hearts of all. In Jesus' name and for his glory, amen.