Crystallization Study of Exodus 4.4

We need to see that there is a connection between Genesis 3 and Exodus 3. In both chapters we have the thorn and the fire. The thorn in Genesis 3 indicates that man is under a curse (vv. 17-18), and the flame of fire indicates that man is excluded from God as the tree of life (vv. 22-24). According to Genesis 3, thorns came from the curse due to sin. Hence, thorns are a symbol of fallen man under the curse. Immediately after the curse was pronounced, a flaming sword was placed at the east of the garden “to guard the way to the tree of life” (v. 24). Thus, sin brought in the curse, and the curse brought in the flame of fire. The function of fire in Genesis 3 is to exclude sinners from the tree of life, that is, from God as the source of life. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 74-75)

If the Bible had ended with Genesis 3:24, our situation would be forever hopeless. According to chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis, we were created specifically to receive God as life. The man created by God was placed in front of the tree of life. Then in chapter 3 sin came in, man fell under the curse, and the fire of God’s holiness excluded the cursed sinners from any direct contact with God as the tree of life....Man’s situation in Exodus 3 is much different from that in Genesis 3. In Exodus 3 the cursed thorn becomes the vessel of God, and the flame of fire becomes one with the thornbush. Through redemption, signified by the lamb slain and offered to God for fallen man (Gen. 4:4), the curse has been taken away, and the fire has become one with the thorn.

Considering this in the light of the picture in Exodus 3, we see that the thorn and the flame are one. In Genesis 3 fallen man was under the curse signified by the thorn. There the flame of fire excluded this fallen man from God as the tree of life. In Exodus 3, however, the thornbush, which can be considered a type of vessel, and the fire are one. In Genesis 3 the fire keeps the man who is under the curse away from the tree of life, away from God as the source of life. But in Exodus 3 the flame of fire visits the thornbush and indwells it. This indicates that through the redemption of Christ the very God Himself, the holy One whose holiness excludes sinners from His presence, can come to visit us, to stay with us, and even to dwell in us. Hallelujah, Christ has taken away the curse and has cast down to earth the fire of the Holy Spirit! Now that the curse has been taken away, we are no longer excluded from God as life. Praise the Lord that the excluding flame of Genesis 3 has become the visiting and indwelling flame of Exodus 3! Now the once-cursed thorn can become God’s dwelling place. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 75-76

Crystallization Study of Exodus 4.3

Both the thornbush and the tabernacle are symbols. God’s actual dwelling place was neither the physical thornbush nor the tabernacle; it was His people. After the children of Israel had been dealt with by God, they became acacia wood overlaid with gold and also linen embroidered with golden thread. The church today is the fulfillment of this type. At present the church may be a redeemed thornbush. However, the day is coming when we shall be gold, pearl, and precious stone. Praise the Lord for the marvellous vision of God’s dwelling place! This vision covers God’s habitation from the initial stage, the stage of the thornbush, to the consummate stage, the stage of the New Jerusalem. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 111)

When Moses was called by God, he saw the holy fire burning within the thornbush. When Paul was called, he saw the same vision, at least in principle. He saw the Triune God burning within His redeemed ones. Through this divine burning, the holy fire was one with the thornbush, and the thornbush was one with the fire, which is the Triune God Himself. Today God the Father in the Son and the Son as the Spirit have come down upon us as fire. The Lord Jesus once said that He came to cast fire upon the earth (Luke 12:49). On the day of Pentecost the Spirit came in the form of tongues of fire. Today the Lord is still casting fire upon the earth. This holy fire, this divine burning, has captured us, and now we are part of the thornbush that is burning with the Triune God. The Triune God is burning within and upon the church He has chosen and  redeemed. Thus, the church is the Triune God burning within a redeemed humanity. This is the divine economy (1 Tim. 1:4).

Footnote Exodus 3:2 - 2 (MC)

(2)flame, (2)thornbush,

The flame of fire denotes the glory of God's holiness, which excluded fallen man from direct contact with God as the tree of life (Gen_3:24 and note). According to Gen_3:17-19 thorns were part of the curse that came because of man's sin. Hence, thorns are a symbol of fallen man under the curse. The thornbush here represents Moses himself as a redeemed sinner. The flame of fire burning within the thornbush signifies that the glory of God's holiness would burn within and upon Moses, God's called one, even though he was a sinner under God's curse. This was possible because of Christ's redemption (Gen_3:21; Gen_4:4), which satisfied the requirements of God's holiness and removed the curse, allowing the divine fire (the Spirit) to visit and to indwell the thorn-bush (the redeemed sinner), making the fire one with the thornbush (Gal_3:13-14). The fact that the fire burned in the thornbush without consuming it indicates that God Himself, not Moses, would be the "fuel" for the burning (cf. Rom_12:11; 2Ti_1:7; Phi_4:13; Col_1:29). Moses would be only a vessel, a channel, through which the glory of God's holiness would be manifested (cf. 2Co_4:7). 

According to Deu_33:16, the thornbush was God's dwelling place. Since God's corporate people are His actual dwelling place (Heb_3:6 and note), this implies that the thornbush refers also to God's redeemed people as a corporate entity. After the tabernacle, a symbol of the children of Israel as God's dwelling place, was built up, at night the cloud of God's glory upon it had the appearance of fire (Num_9:15-16). The fire burning upon the tabernacle signified that the people of Israel were a corporate burning thornbush. The church as God's dwelling place is also a burning thornbush-the Triune God burning within and upon a redeemed humanity (Luk_12:49; Act_2:3-4). Through the burning of the holy divine fire, the once cursed and redeemed thornbush is transformed to be God's dwelling place. This is God's economy.

Catatan Kaki Keluaran 3:2 - 2 (MC)

Api yang menyala-nyala menyatakan kemuliaan kekudusan Allah, yang membuat manusia yang telah jatuh tidak bisa berkontak secara langsung dengan Allah yang adalah pohon hayat (Gen_3:24 dan cat.). Menurut Gen_3:17-19, semak duri adalah bagian dari kutukan yang muncul karena dosa manusia. Maka, semak duri melambangkan manusia yang telah jatuh yang berada di bawah kutukan. Di sini semak duri mewakili Musa sendiri sebagai seorang dosa yang telah ditebus. Api yang menyala-nyala di dalam semak duri itu menandakan bahwa kemuliaan kekudusan Allah akan membara di dalam dan di atas Musa, yang dipanggil Allah, meskipun dia adalah orang dosa yang berada di bawah kutukan Allah. Hal tersebut dapat terjadi karena penebusan Kristus (Gen_3:21; Gen_4:4), yang memuaskan tuntutan kekudusan Allah dan menyingkirkan kutukan itu, membiarkan api ilahi (Roh itu) mengunjungi dan menghuni semak duri (orang dosa yang telah ditebus), dan membuat api itu menjadi satu dengan semak duri (Gal_3:13-14). Fakta bahwa api yang menyala-nyala di dalam semak duri tanpa menghanguskannya menunjukkan bahwa Allah sendiri, bukan Musa, yang akan menjadi "bahan bakar" bagi pembakaran itu (cf. Rom_12:11; 2Ti_1:7; Phi_4:13; Col_1:29). Musa hanya akan menjadi satu bejana, satu saluran, yang melaluinya kemuliaan kekudusan Allah dinyatakan (cf. 2Co_4:7). 

Menurut Deu_33:16, semak duri adalah tempat kediaman Allah. Karena umat korporat Allah adalah tempat kediaman-Nya yang sesungguhnya (Heb_3:6 dan cat.), maka hal ini menyiratkan bahwa semak duri juga mengacu kepada umat tebusan Allah sebagai satu kesatuan yang korporat. Setelah Kemah, lambang bani Israel sebagai tempat kediaman Allah, dibangunkan, maka pada malam itu awan kemuliaan Allah yang turun ke atasnya tampak seperti api (Num_9:15-16). Api yang menyala-nyala yang turun ke atas Kemah itu menandakan bahwa umat Israel adalah satu semak duri korporat yang menyala-nyala. Gereja sebagai tempat kediaman Allah juga adalah satu semak duri yang menyala-nyala-Allah Tritunggal menyala-nyala di dalam dan di atas keinsanian yang telah ditebus (Luk_12:49;Act_2:3-4). Melalui pembakaran dari api kudus ilahi ini, semak duri yang dulunya terkutuk dan kini telah ditebus, diubah menjadi tempat kediaman Allah. Inilah ekonomi Allah.

Light and Enjoyment

I was just a sinner under the curse. (MC)

Crystallization Study of Exodus 4.2

If we are like Moses, the man of God, we shall have a twofold consciousness. On  the one hand, weshall be conscious of the fact that we are thornbushes; on the other hand, we shall be conscious of God’s glory dwelling within us as a burning flame. Moses became a man of God, but he still considered himself a thornbush. In the same principle, God’s glory dwelt among the children of Israel and made them His glorious dwelling place, but they were still a thornbush, even a corporate thornbush.

According to Deuteronomy 33:1, Moses was a man of God. This indicates transformation. Apart from the process of transformation, how could Moses, a man so strong and active in his natural life, become a man of God? Only through transformation could he become such a person. One example of Moses’ transformation was his experience with the Lord on the mountaintop. After Moses had been with the Lord on the mountain for forty days, his face was shining because the flame of God’s holy fire had been burned into him. Moses was like steel that is thrust into fire and kept there until the steel glows with the fire that has been burned into its very essence. When Moses was on the mountaintop, God’s glory was burned into his being. When he came down from the mountain, his face was shining [Exo. 34:30]....Was that not a sign of transformation? It was a sure indication that Moses was being transformed. According to his training in the palace, Moses could have become an expert in all the Egyptian knowledge. But because he had been redeemed, called, sanctified, and transformed, instead he eventually became a man of God.

Crystallization Study of Exodus 4.1

God’s goal in dealing with His people, the children of Israel, was to obtain a proper dwelling place. Deuteronomy 33:16 speaks of God as the One who dwelt in the thornbush. This word, written by Moses, indicates that God possessed that burning thornbush as His house, His dwelling place. Who would ever have thought that God’s habitation on earth would be a thornbush?

In referring to God as the One who dwelt in the thornbush, Moses’ heart must have been full of thanks to God. During the last forty years of his life, Moses knew that he was just a thornbush. But he knew also that God was with him. We all need to have such a realization. Whenever we have a proper spirit before the Lord, we know that we are a thornbush. We know that even our natural virtues, such as kindness, humility, and patience, are “thorns.”...As he was blessing the children of Israel, Moses must have had such a sense about himself.

In Deuteronomy 33:16 Moses spoke of God as the One who dwelt in the thornbush. This word was uttered when Moses was one hundred twenty years of age, forty years after he had seen the vision of the burning thornbush. Moses never forgot that vision, even after the tabernacle had been built and God had come to dwell in it. In Deuteronomy 33:16 why did not Moses speak of the good will of “Him who dwelt in the tabernacle”? I believe that for Moses to speak of God dwelling in the tabernacle would not have been as sweet as it was for him to speak of God dwelling in the thornbush. I believe that even when we are in the New Jerusalem we shall recall how we once were a thornbush indwelt by God. How marvellous that a thornbush can be God’s dwelling place on earth today! (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 73-74, 110)