Ver. 1. To the backside of the desert,] Here it was that Moses wrote the book of Genesis, and that of Job too, as some conceive, for the comfort of his poor oppressed countrymen in Egypt, that they might lean upon, and live by faith in, the promises made to the fathers. Alsted., Chron.
Ver. 2. And the Angel of the Lord.] Christ, that Angel of the Covenant, and of the great council. And the bush was not consumed.] No more is the Church, whereof this is an excellent emblem, by the fire of tribulation, (Isaiah 43:2) because of “the goodwill of him that dwelt in the bush.” (Deuteronomy 33:16)
Ver. 3. I will now turn aside, and see.] Moses came out of curiosity, but was called by God: so do many to the ordinances for novelty, as the Jews did to John Baptist; or for some other minister respect; to catch, it may be, and are caught, as those in John 7:46. Or as Austin, who coming to Ambrose to have his ears tickled, had his heart touched. It is good to hear, howsoever. Come, said Latimer, to the public meetings, though thou comest to sleep; it may be, God may take thee napping. Absence is without hope. What a deal lost Thomas by being but once absent! This great vision.] Great indeed. There was a flame of fire, else how was the bush burning? There was light, else how did Moses see it? There was no heat, else how was not the bush consumed? Yet in every of God’s afflicted, saith one, you may see this great vision. The voice of the Lord in his affliction, as in this fire, divideth the heat from the light, so that he is not consumed by the heat—nay, rather his infirmities and carnal concupiscences are consumed thereby—but only illuminated by the light. [See Trapp on “Ex 2:15”]
Ver. 4. And when the Lord saw, &c.] God “meeteth him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness.” (Isaiah 64:5) Acti; agimus. The miller cannot command a wind; yet he will spread his sails, be in the way to have it, if it come. As our liberty, in external acts, is still some—as to come to church, to hear, to repeat, &c.—so must our endeavours be answerable.
Ver. 5. Draw not nigh.] Be not rash, but reverent. Heathens could say, Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine. God will be sanctified of all that draw nigh unto him. (Leviticus 10:2) Put off thy shoes.] Of sensuality and other sins. Quid pedes, saith Erasmus, nisi affectus? Quid pedes calceamentorum onere liberi nisi animus nullis terrenis cupiditatibus oneratus? Affections are the feet of the soul; keep them unclogged.
Ver. 6. Hid his face.] So did the seraphims, with a double scarf, as it were. (Isaiah 6:2) Let a man but see God, and his plumes will soon fall. For he was afraid.] Yea, he “trembled, and durst not behold.” (Acts 7:32) This was his first meeting with God: when better acquainted, he grew more bold.
Ver. 7. For I know their sorrows.] That is a sweet support to a sinking soul, that God knows all, and bears a part. “Your heavenly Father knows,” &c. (Matthew 6:32) That is enough.
Ver. 8. I am come down.] Humanitus dictum, as in Genesis 11:7 18:21. [See Trapp on “Ge 11:7”] [See Trapp on “Ge 18:21”] Milk and honey.] Plenty and dainties; all things both for necessity and delight.
Ver. 9. The oppression wherewith.] We are oft more beholden to our enemies’ insolency than to any innoceney of our own. (Deuteronomy 32:27)
Ver. 10. That thou mayest bring forth.] Which, though as unlikely to be done as to remove a rock with his shoulder, yet, setting upon it in God’s strength, he effecteth it. Tantum velis, et Deus tibi praeoccurret. Howbeit, let a man do what he can naturally, and God will meet him graciously; -there is no truth in such an assertion. Chrysostom.
Ver. 11. Who am I?] Worth is modest: the pro ud man asketh, Who am I not? παντα ποιειν εδωυαμτω, Curi Maioris sepulchro inscriptum refert Arrianus. Worth with modesty is καλον καλως; nothing is so amiable.
Ver. 12. This shall be a token unto thee.] So he had a double sign, for his fuller and further corn firmation: that of the burning bush, for the present; this of serving God at Horeb, for the future.
Ver. 13. What is his name?] God is above all name, all notion. When Manoah inquired after his name, “It is wonderful,” said he: that is, I am called as I am called, but such is thy weakness that it surpasseth thy conception. Afri vocant Deum ignotum Amon, id est, Hens tu, quis es? Bede. Victorinus. Plutarch, De Isid. et Osiride.
Ver. 14. I AM THAT I AM.] Heb., I will be that I will be. The Septuagint render it Εγω ειμι ο ων, I am He that is. Agreeably hereunto, Plato calleth God το ον and το ον οντως. This name of God is fully opened in Revelation 16:5. It imports two of God’s incommunicable attributes: (1.) His eternity, when he saith, I will be; (2.) His immutability, when he saith, That I will be. As Pilate said, “What I have written, I have written”; I will not alter it. But how far out was Paulus Burgensis in denying Ehich to be any of God’s names? Whether Aph-hu (2 Kings 2:14) be one, is far more questionable. Weems.
Ver. 15. Unto all generations.] The Jews, to countenance their conceit of the ineffability of the name of Jehovah, did corrupt this text: and for This is my name, Legnolam, for ever, they read, This is my name, Legnalam, to be concealed. Galatinus.
Ver. 16. The God of Abraham, &c.] His friends, with whom he had all things common. This was a greater honour done to these patriarchs than if God had written their names in the visible heavens, to be read of all men.
Ver. 17. I have said, I will bring you up.] And now I am come to do it. This is some part of the import of “I am that I am,” “the same yesterday, today, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8) Ero qui eram, I will be the same to you in my performances that I was to your fathers in my proraises. A land flowing with milk.] Sumen totius orbis, as one calleth it, where the hard rocks did sweat out oil and honey. (Deuteronomy 32:13) See Exodus 3:8.
Ver. 18. Hath met with us.] Of his own accord, and without our seeking. Nolentem praevenit Deus ut velit, volentem subsequitur ne frustra velit. “I am found of those that sought me not.” (Isaiah 65:1) Aug., Enchir., cap. 32.
Ver. 19. Will not let you go.] A sturdy rebel he was; but God tamed him, and took him down by those ten plagues, comprised in these four verses— “Fit cruor ex undis, conspurcant omnia ranae; Dat pulvis cimices, postea musca venit. Dein pestis, post ulcera, grando, locusta, tenebrae: Tandem prototocos ultima plaga necat.”
Ver. 20. And after that he will let you go.] When he dare hold you no longer; when I have sufficiently tamed him and taught him, as Gideon “taught the men of Succoth with thorns and briers of the wilderness.” (Judges 8:16)
Ver. 21. I will give this people favour.] It is God that fashioneth men’s spirits, and speaketh ofttimes for them in the hearts of their greatest enemies.
Ver. 22. Ye shall spoil the Egyptians.] By a special dispensation, which none could grant but the law maker. So Ezekiel 39:10. These jewels did afterwards become a snare to the Israelites in the matter of the golden calf.