Verse 4. "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." As the sight of the bramble bush burning with fire, yet unconsumed, struck Moses with surprize, and engaged his attention, so the voice of God, who spoke to him out of the midst of the bush, and called him by his name twice, must doubtless be matter of holy astonishment to his mind. He made a reply to it, saying, "Here am I."

Verse 5." And he said, draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." This was to check all vain curiosity, to shew he was now to resign himself up wholly to God and his service, that this very place was now sanctified by the presence and vision of God; and he was to put off his shoes from his feet, as a sign and expression of it.

Verse 6. "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." To draw forth and encourage the faith of Moses, the angel of the uncreated essence, saith to him, "I am the God of thy father," and adds, "the God of Abraham," to whom the land of Canaan was first promised, Gen. xii. 17. the affliction of

his seed in Egypt prophesied, and the deliverance from it now to be performed. Our Lord Jesus Christ proves from these words, the resurrection of the dead; and that Abraham lived unto God though his body was under the power of death. Matt. xxii. 31, 32. Moses hid his face, or as Stephen expresses it, "trembled, and durst not behold, because of the glory of the Lord," which at this time was so conspicuous.

Verse 7. "And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters, for I know their sorrows." Here is a clear and full proof given of the Lord's attention to the case of his church in affliction and distress; he is mindful of his relation to his saints; he calls them, "My people;" his ear is open to their cry at all times, and more especially when they are in distress; he takes a particular view of their sorrows; and he will deliver them in his own appointed time, and by his ownpower, raising up instruments, and making use of them as seemeth meet to him.

Verse 8. "And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites." Thus

the Lord Jesus, the Angel Jehovah, declares the purposes of his will, and the end of his vision and appearance at this time, in the burning bush. It was his pleasure to deliver his church, and bring his people out of Egypt: he would, according to his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, bring them into the land of Canaan, the goodness of which he sets forth, to encourage them; and the present inhabitants he mentions, to fortify their minds against any fears which might arise, and suggest that they were sinners devoted to destruction.

Verse 9. " Now, therefore, behold the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppressions wherewith the Egyptians oppress them." Which shews how the Lord hears the cry of his people, and what particular notice he takes of their oppression, and how he will most surely deliver them in his own good time and way.

Verse 10. "Come now, therefore, I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Thus the Lord calls and commissions Moses to be their deliverer, and authorizes him to go unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, on this important business and design; but Moses is weak where he should be strong, and diffident where he should be confident, as appears in what follows.

Verse 11. "And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Moses looks too much at himself, and too little at Christ, who had called him, and would furnish him with every necessary qualifi cation, and make bare his holy arm, and accomplish the great and glorious deliverance of his people from Egypt.

Verse 12. "And he said, certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain." This was a most confirming promise, most exactly suited to the case, to which the token added, was to strengthen Moses's faith. This mount Horeb was to be the seat of God's worship; on it Jehovah had now descended, and called it holy ground; on it he would again descend, and deliver the law out of the midst of devouring fire. Here the tabernacle was made, and sacrifices offered unto God. On these accounts it was called the mountain of God. The free converse between Christ and Moses, shews the great condescension of the Most High God to his beloved, who are in themselves less than the least of all his mercies...

Verse 13." And Moses said unto God, be hold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath

sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, what is his name? what shall I say unto them?" Moses knew the eternal Three in the One Jehovah to be the covenant God of his church and people; and the question which he here puts forth, does not imply any kind of ignorance in this most important point; but this appearance of Jehovah's in the burning bush being singular, he wants to know what name it would please the Lord to express himself by, and by which he should deliver his message, so as to gain the attention of the Israelites, and gain their credit to what he was to relate unto them.

Verse 14. "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM; and he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Thus the Lord gives a reply to Moses, saying, "I AM THAT I AM;" which, says Ainsworth, implies God's eternal being in himself: he existing by a necessity of nature, immutably one and the same, in all ages, and throughout all generations, before whom all creation is as nothing, he is constant in the performance of his word and promises, he is now and for ever that which he was before to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Our most blessed Lord solemnly claims to himself what is intended iu this divine name, John viii. 5, 8. "Before Abraham was I AM;" not I was, but I am, plainly