Ingredients: Part 1b
And he goes on to say, “I will deliver My people.” And Moses enters into conversation with God beginning with verse 13. Now get the picture, here Moses is out tending sheep–try to relive the situation–and all of the sudden as perhaps he’s just looking over his flock to make sure they’re all gathered together; that they’re no stragglers wandering off to become prey to wild predators, he notices a bush that burst into flames. What would you do in a case like that? Well, all of us have this natural inquisitiveness. And it says the first thing he wanted to do is turn aside and figure out why in the world is that bush not consumed. It’s burning, but it’s not consumed.
So he’s going to make a little scientific investigation. He’s going to subject that bush to a little scientific analysis, for the Scripture says he’s going to turn aside to see why the bush is not burnt. That’s the only reason he’s going to turn aside. This was some kind of a natural phenomena which caught his eye, and he’s inquisitive. He wants to know why things are operating this way. But when God gets his attention through this strange burning of the bush, then He says, “Moses, you don’t come near to do a little scientific investigation. I, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have a word to say to you.” And when Moses recognized that God was there, the same God whom Jacob recognized as recorded in Genesis 28, it is recorded in this passage that, instead of going over and subjecting that bush to some kind of scientific analysis, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
Here is a clear statement that Moses was filled with a fear and a dread of God. But was it a fear that made him want to run from that God? No, for that same God then reveals His compassion for His people, His purposes to deliver His people. And rather than run from Him as Adam did when he heard the voice of God and was afraid, Moses draws near with true reverence to commune with this God and talks with Him face to face. So then, this dread that causes the man Moses to hide his face is not the least bit inconsistent with the most intimate dealings with that same God. Moses hides his face, yet he talks with this God. It’s the fear of reverential awe, veneration, and honor.
Then over to Isaiah 6. This will be the last example in the Old Testament. Are you beginning to feel something? This is why I’m asking you to turn to all these passages; not for filler. I know I’m only going to get through about one third of what I had hoped to this morning. But this concept of the fear of God is so pivotal in Scripture that we must spare no pains to gain an accurate understanding of what it is. Isaiah 6:1-5:
“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Now, there’s two people here or one group and an individual; both looking upon the same object. Now, what is the reaction of these celestial hosts as they look upon this sight of God. They are filled with a holy restlessness. They cannot, as it were, pause and fix their position before the throne. But it says they fly about that throne. With two of their wings they cover their feet, and with two they cover their faces. These creatures called here the seraphim, some form of angelic manifestation who’ve never known sin; who’ve never once known the sting of conscience for doing wrong; who’ve never known what it is to be ashamed in the presence of God because of moral guilt, and yet in the presence of that great God, they veiled their faces. As Moses hid his face and said, “I’m afraid to look upon God,” so they hide face, cover feet, and fly about that throne overcome; filled with awe at the holiness, the immensity, the omniscience of God.
And they cry one to another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” But notice, there is no indication of any sense of grief or self-effacing shame because of sin. But it’s not so when the prophet looks upon this same God. For seeing the same object the seraphim saw, there is not only the reaction of being overcome by the immensity and the transcendent majesty of God and His holiness, but there is an added dimension. There is this reflex action of grief, self-effacing shame, conviction, and contrition, because this is not just a creature as the seraphim are, looking upon the exalted creator; this is a sinful creature looking upon the holy God. And therefore, the only fitting reaction is a fear of reverential awe, which is mingled with a sense of uncleanness, which in turn produces conviction and contrition, the only disposition fitting for a sinful creature who gazes upon a holy God.
As one has said, “We have the awe and adoration the majesty of God must illicit from all rational creatures.” And we have that complexion which the fact of our sinfulness must impart to that reverence and adoration. Seraphim may veil face and cry, “Holy, holy, holy” with no shame of sin, but you and I can’t. And if it’s incongruous; if it’s out of place for sinless beings like seraphim to be in the presence of God without this reverential awe, how much more is it out of place for sinful men and women laden with iniquity like you and like me to draw nigh to His presence without that reverence and Godly fear coupled with a deep sense of self effacing shame because of our sin.
Ah, but someone says, “That’s the climate of the Old Testament. In the Lord Jesus, there has come an overshadowing revelation of the softer lines of God’s character.” Is that true? Well, turn to one of the accounts in the Gospels, which will forever abolish such a thought. In the Gospel according to Luke, we have an incident in the life of our Lord Jesus, who came for the express purpose of revealing the Father. (“He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” “No man has seen God. The only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.”) In Luke 5, Peter and his friends had been fishing all night; they caught nothing. Verses 5-11:
“And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him.”
Now, can you bring these two strands of thought together? “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord…. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him.” What had happened to Peter? Peter got the message of this act of our Lord. Peter saw behind the fact that the net was put down, and a great multitude of fish was enclosed. He saw that the one who did this is none other than the Son of God, Messiah. And the recognition that dawned upon him–to what degree we do not know, but to some degree that this is God incarnate; this is none other than the Son of God.