“ARE you going to see it?” asked a young man of a friend as they watched a circus procession advertising the evening performance, pass along the street.
“Are you going to see it?” is asked on every side when some fresh attraction is announced. Never before have so many “great sights” presented themselves for men to gaze upon. But do they satisfy? No! impossible. “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” (Eccl. 1:88All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. (Ecclesiastes 1:8)). This is a true confession, and the experience of all.
We would ask those who have thus been “spending their money for that which is not bread,” to refer to the third chapter of Exodus, where another great sight is brought before us. We read that when Moses was tending his flock in the desert, “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.” This was a wonderful sight, and contrary to the laws of nature; yet there it was, as Moses in great surprise looked on, burning with fire, and not being consumed.
But has our reader looked back at a still greater sight than this, of which God has given us not only one but four records; that which is truly the greatest of all sights — the “Cross of Christ”? Does that scene move us? The people of that day “stood beholding” the Son of Man lifted up. But it was merely to satisfy their curiosity. Do we desire to look into it more closely, to know the “why” and “wherefore” of that stupendous sight? Then let us learn a lesson from Moses. “And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
He was so interested that he turned aside. Mark his every word. Oh! that some thirsty soul, who has been drinking of earth’s streams only to thirst again, would drink of the water Jesus is longing to give. That soul would thirst no more. “I will now turn aside,” said Moses. Oh, that my anxious reader would!
But it must be a personal thing. “None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” “I” will turn aside, said Moses. He was having to do with God alone, and so must each one who wants salvation. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)).
And when does Moses turn aside? Now! No thinking about it. No delay. The fire might have gone out any moment. “I will now turn aside.” And to the lost sinner God speaks, “Behold, now is the accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)).
It is helpful to see that Moses is not so much hulling aside “from” as “to” something. “I will now turn aside AND SEE.” And here we have the key to many failures. Distressed, dissatisfied ones turn aside. They find nothing to satisfy their hearts in this world, so they turn from it and seek seclusion. But still no rest, no peace. They have not turned aside to see. They are still in darkness, and have not seen the “great light.”
Perhaps one is reading this who is in despair. Do not despair, only believe. Christ has tasted death for thee. Turn aside now to Jesus. Think of Him on that cross of shame, “suffering for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” His side is pierced, blood and water flow out. Thou mayest be cleansed. The cross opens our eyes, and shows us what a terrible thing sin is. It shows us God’s infinite, divine love in not sparing His own Son, but delivering Him up for us all. The stripes the guilty sinner deserved fell upon his Substitute, the Lamb of God, “who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)). It shows how we may have complete deliverance, not only being brought “from under the burden” of our sins, but “ridding us out of the bondage” of sin and Satan, that henceforth we should not serve sin, but “live unto God.”
In the fourth verse we read, “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 so it is. “God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” He is waiting for men to turn aside and see. Christ is no longer on the cross. He has risen from the dead, and is highly exalted. His suffering is past. The work by which God has been glorified, and whereby the sinner may be saved, “is finished.” The moment the lost one believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, the blessing is received. By faith in Christ Jesus, we become the children of God, and of His household.
God called unto him, “Moses, Moses.” Is not this sweet to our souls? Has He thus spoken to thee, dear reader? Art thou “drawn out” (the word “Moses” means “drawn out”), a monument of His grace? Art thou in the place of blessing from which thou canst answer, “Here am I,” and thus have “fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ”? What riches of grace!
But God tells Moses to put the shoes from off his feet, for the place whereon he stood was holy ground. It is so with the believer; he is on holy ground now, and nothing of the dust of this world must he bring there. Moses’ shoes were suitable till he was on holy ground, and had to do with God. And many things, which seemed necessary and suitable before God’s presence was realized, will now be seen as unfit to meet His eye. Indeed, we gladly put them off, for He has given us so much to “put on” (Luke 15). God shows us we are “not of the world”; and we answer, “I am a stranger with Thee” (Psa. 39:1212Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. (Psalm 39:12)). “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)).
In contrast to those words to Moses, “Draw not nigh hither,” God would now have His children “enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh” (Heb. 10:19, 2019Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Hebrews 10:19‑20)). There is nothing now between God and the one once “afar off,” for “now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:1313But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)).
And as God then revealed Himself to Moses as to what He was about to do, and what He had for Moses to do, so He will to the “newborn babe.” In His Holy Word, and by His Holy Spirit, the deep things of God will be searched, His wonderful ways revealed, and suitable service given. What depths of riches there are in store for those who turn aside to see!
If unsaved, dear reader, take no rest even for thy weary body till thou findest rest of soul at Jesus’ feet. The Saviour is at God’s right hand, and is speaking to thee from heaven. “See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh.”