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Moses and the Burning Bush

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Member Reviews

This is classic Sproul.

This small little book is succinct yet tremendously deep and rich, dealing with the attributes of God.

This is a perfect little book for introducing people to understanding something of the attributes of God.

A pleasant little read.

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All I can say is WOW. What an amazing book! Because we have an amazing and awesome God!

Dr. Sproul really knows the beauty and power of God and spells it out clearly in this book. Although it's mainly about Moses and his encounter with God in the burning bush, Dr. Sproul also covers other theophanies of God's Shekinah glory. He wrotes about God's immanence (nearness to us) and transcendence (that He's above and beyond our scope) and that He alone is holy.

Rather than go through the book for you, as others have done already, I'm just going to say get it and read it and be ready and open to adding a totally new dimension of your perception of God and consequently your walk with Him.

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I recently read The Prayer of the Lord by the late R.C. Sproul (13.02.39-14.12.17) and was keen to read more of his books.
Moses and the Burning Bush is an informative and challenging exposition in which Sproul explains that "the account of the burning bush is a story about the holiness of God". A book that teaches more of who God is, and enncourages assurance in His power.

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The book of Exodus is the story of how God miraculously saved His people from captivity in the land of Egypt. Exodus is also about how God used one man, Moses, to lead the people out of slavery. There are many famous stories throughout the entire book, but one that always has fascinated people, Christian or not, is the story of the burning bush. In Exodus 3, Moses saw a bush that was burning yet it was consumed. R.C. Sproul dives into this story in his book, Moses and the Burning Bush.

Sproul begins by stating the burning bush has been a significant symbol throughout the history of the church. The reason for that is God has revealed Himself to Moses through this burning bush. It signifies an encounter with God and His divine revelation. Sproul writes, "The account of the burning bush is a story about the holiness of God." In the Bible, we see Moses removing his sandals after the Lord commanded him stating he was standing on holy ground.

We see in the burning bush that God came in and revealed Himself to Moses, which echoes the entire Bible. The Bible shows us a God who comes to His people who are naked and shameful because of their rebellion. God always takes the initiative to rescue His people just like in the Garden with Adam and Eve, which is He about to do again in the Exodus, which this book by Sproul only covers the encounter Moses had with God through the burning bush.

In the book, Sproul dives into the context of the story of Exodus that leads up to the burning bush. The people are in Egypt and in slavery. Pharaoh ordered for the male children to be killed by the midwives who refused and God blessed them for that. Moses grew up as the son of Pharaoh's daughter who then kills an Egyptian after he was mistreating one of the Jews. He fled after he learned what he has done was not a secret to Midian where he married one of the priest's daughters. Throughout majority of the book, Sproul teaches on the attributes of God through Moses's encounter with God in the burning bush.

One final word Sproul leaves is that the Exodus is a shadow of the mission of Christ. We see Moses leading his people of our slavery in a foreign which foreshadows Jesus leading His people out of slavery from sin. So when we read Exodus, it should always show us what God has done though the finished work of Christ.

This books serves as a great companion to anyone who is studying and/or teaching on the book of Exodus.

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RC Sproul was an amazing preacher and writer! He took scriptures that could be difficult and breaks them down into easy to follow and understand explanations. This book is one of many and it was excellent. As another reviewer stated, the take-home points are God’s transcendence and immanence. But, it obviously goes deeper than that. I like that it is not too wordy, but is packed full of information.
I voluntarily reviewed this book from a complimentary e-copy. I don’t always review books with 5 stars, but this one was great!

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I’m certainly not among those most qualified to say what kind of legacy R.C. Sproul has left here on earth. It takes no giant of the faith, however, to know that Dr. Sproul always wrote and spoke in a way that took even the most difficult theological or philosophical topics and made them understandable for the layman. This book is no exception.

The book begins by outlining Moses’ life leading up to the burning bush encounter. From there, Sproul walks through the story, drawing out the full implications of what happened, what it meant for Moses, and what it means for us.

If you haven’t recently thought deeply about the story of Moses’ meeting God at the burning bush, you might gloss over the full implications of that event. Adults are sometimes prone to subconsciously treat Bible stories like the burning bush encounter as ones that can safely be relegated to coloring pages for children’s Sunday School activities. Dr. Sproul’s book destroys any such lingering notions.

The theological significance of God’s manifesting himself to Moses is far greater than many Christians may have realized. As Sproul puts it, “That moment in biblical history when Moses encountered the presence of God in the burning bush is a watershed episode, not only for the life of Moses, or even for the history of Israel, but for the history of the entire world.”

Sproul sets the stage in the first chapter by making the case that Moses is the most important person in the Old Testament. This is so, he writes, not least because Moses was “the mediator of the old covenant, just as Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant.” What happens in Moses’ life, then, is well worth our careful study.

Recalling a conversation from his college days with a philosophy professor, Dr. Sproul highlights the reality of God’s transcendence and immanence as displayed in the burning bush. “God is above and beyond the created order,” he recalls his professor saying, yet He “is not a remote deity who exists east of the sind and west of the moon”. Rather, Sproul writes, it was in the burning bush that “God made himself known by manifesting His presence in this world.”

Perhaps one of the more familiar parts of the story is God’s instructing Moses to stop and take off his shoes before coming closer. In contrast to the French existentialist Sartre who maintained that human beings cannot escape from hellishness because they are cut off from all things sacred, Dr. Sproul maintains that the sacred is inescapable, intruding everywhere in the world. Yet, in Moses’ case, it was not the particular patch of dirt that was holy in itself. “Rather, what made that ground holy was the presence of God.”

It would, perhaps, be easy to pass over God’s revealing His name to Moses without too much thought. Aside from the significance that names had in the Ancient Near East, Dr. Sproul points out that the name by which God chose to be identified is significant. As the one who calls Himself “I am who I am,” God “introduced himself in terms of the eternal present.” The very name of God emphasizes that “the real difference between God and humankind is being. He alone has being in and of Himself; He alone has eternal being.”

The concept of a self-existent being is crucial for Christian apologetics in particular because if, as some secular humanists claim “there was ever a time when there was purely nothing” then there could only be nothing now. However, the importance of the self-existent “I am who I am,” Dr. Sproul argues is this: ”If anything exists, then something somewhere, somehow must have the power of being in itself.” Of course, that something is not a “something” at all, but rather the personal God who revealed His name to Moses.

Finally, Dr. Sproul shows the reader how the story of Moses and God’s calling on his life foreshadow the Mediator of the new covenant. God revealed Himself to Moses as part of His plan to deliver His people out of slavery in Egypt. By contrast, after God revealed Himself once again through His son “the greatest exodus in human history took place when Christ freed his saints from the bondage of sin.” Jesus was like Moses, but so much greater, “because His work of salvation was the ultimate liberation.”

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An in depth look at God's transcendence and immanence, as exposed in the narrative of Moses' meeting with God.

Sproul does a good job looking at the text and relating it to us as usual, and everyone is bound to learn a thing or two from this book.

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The point of the exodus was not simply to redeem people from oppression, but to redeem them to something: from slavery to worship. That's true in an even higher manner in the redemptive work of Christ in the New Testament: we are not saved simply because we need to be saved, but so that we might worship Him. That's the point of your salvation-to worship the Lord your God.

The Burning Bush is more than a miracle but a revelation of worship. In worship and just as Moses experienced, we begin to know God and in knowing God we know ourselves and our need for salvation; our need for worship. We are created to worship however, we worship creation instead of the creator.

Sproul always digs to the root of the bible text. The question is not about God's existence but a moral condition. Pharaoh and each of us must face that question. We can deny truth, we can deny authority however, in that denial, we deny worship. God is not like us in that worship is some egotistical trip but worshipping God is for the Glory of God and for our good. Bringing the people out of Egypt was bringing them out of sin to a place of worship.

How do you feel about your place of worship? Is a place of entertainment? A place to catch up with friends? Or is a place that your heart is stilled and your focus is on the Creator. In knowing Him and being in a place of reverence.

Before we can be in that place of reverence, we must understand the difference between ourselves and God. The authority of God and the salvation of God. Moses thru his experience with the burning bush and the promises of God did and we can as well. I highly recommend.

A Special Thank You to Reformation Trust Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

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This is a book that will captivate you. I must admit it took me awhile to get through the first chapters. But afterwards, it amazed me and I felt like I didn`t want this book to end.
Moses has such an extraordinary encounter with God. There is so much mystery in the burning bush. R. C. Sproul takes you within this book (10 chpaters) from the burning bush and the holy ground to the name of God "I AM". He gives precious insights for this case (symbols, God`s character traits, names of God and so on).
One beautiful interpretation you will find in the book is the resemblance between Moses and Christ (last chapter particularly).
This is a book I would choose to re-read everytime I get in the story of Moses.

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First sentence: THE BURNING BUSH HAS BEEN a significant symbol throughout the history of the church, and for good reason. In the account of Moses and the burning bush, we see God’s self-revelation. God appeared to Moses and provided an all-important disclosure: His everlasting, covenant name, Yahweh. The burning bush, as a symbol, signifies an encounter with the transcendent God and His divine revelation.

Originally a teaching series with ten lectures, Moses and the Burning Bush has now been adapted into a book. The chapters/messages are: "The Invisible Hand of God," "The Burning Bush," "A Consuming Fire," "The Angel of the Lord," "Holy Ground," "I AM: The Name of God," "I AM: The Being of God," "I AM: The Aseity of God," "A Divine Mission," and "A Shadow of Christ."

The premise of this one is simple. Sproul writes in the introduction, "One of the church’s biggest problems is that we don’t understand who God is." Later he writes, "In the very early days of Ligonier Ministries, somebody asked me, “What are you trying to do? What’s your mission? What’s the purpose of this ministry that you’ve put together?” I told him, “It’s a teaching ministry to help ground Christians in the Word of God,” and he responded, “What is it that you want to teach, that the people don’t already know?” That was easy. “Who God is,” I said." He follows that up with this sad but true statement, "I think the greatest weakness in our day is the virtual eclipse of the character of God, even within our churches."

In one way, every book Sproul writes shares a common theme, a common premise--to explore, to explain, to examine WHO GOD IS. God is a God who has revealed himself in the written word. He is a God who wants to be known.

In this short book, readers get an in-depth expository message on Moses and the Burning Bush found in Exodus 3. In particular, he focuses on the verse Exodus 3:14.

Sproul writes, "That moment in biblical history when Moses encountered the presence of God in the burning bush is a watershed episode, not only for the life of Moses, or even for the history of Israel, but for the history of the entire world. This book will consider the significance of that event, looking at Moses’ life leading up to that encounter and focusing on the knowledge of God that is revealed in that particular incident."

I enjoyed reading this one. I do think it shows that it was originally a sermon series. Sometimes it got a bit repetitive which makes complete sense in an audio sermon given to an audience with wandering attention spans. Plus, time goes by from week to week--so it's good in a sermon series to remind your congregation of where you are and where you've been. I read it in one sitting. If I'd read it over a couple of days, I probably would not have noticed the repetitiveness.

Favorite quote:
"Why does someone worship God? Why give to Him reverence and adoration that is different from any esteem that might be given to anything in the created world? It’s easy to love God, be grateful to Him, and worship Him because of the wonderful things He’s done in history, and in our own personal histories—but a Christian’s reverence for God doesn’t rise to true worship until that Christian worships God not for what He has done but for who He is in His transcendent majesty."

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