Moses and the Burning Bush (Ligonier Ministries, 2018), it of course deals with what we find in Exodus 3. And it appears to be a reworking of some of his earlier material, and those who are familiar with his work will find much recognisable material here. But still, for Sproul fans, it is worth adding this little book to your collection, even if it will take most folks an hour or less to read.
The noted American theologian and pastor R. C. Sproul passed away late in December 2017 (aged 78). I have often written about him and quoted from him. A quick search of my website reveals over 170 articles that mention him or discuss him.
I have reviewed some of his books on my site and quoted from plenty others. I even reviewed the 2021 biography of him by Stephen Nichols: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2021/03/30/a-review-of-r-c-sproul-a-life-by-stephen-nichols/
Here I want to look at one quite brief work of his that was published shortly after he passed away. It is: Moses and the Burning Bush (Ligonier Ministries, 2018). It of course deals with what we find in Exodus 3. And it appears to be a reworking of some of his earlier material, and those who are familiar with his work will find much recognisable material here.
But still, for Sproul fans, it is worth adding this little book to your collection, even if it will take most folks an hour or less to read. Since I like to make folks aware of good books by good authors, and good quotes from those books, that is what I am going to do here.
Four portions of the book stood out to me, so that is what I will highlight. Early on he sets the scene by reminding us of some basic Christian truths:
One of the church’s biggest problems is that we don’t understand who God is. But in that one revelation—the theophany in which God appeared to Moses—the transcendent majesty of God was partially unveiled. What had been invisible became visible through the theophany. Part of our problem is that when something is out of sight, it’s out of mind. But from time to time throughout biblical history, God manifests Himself to human eyes. God manifested Himself at the burning bush, and it was earth-shattering. p. 2
Other biblical characters of course experienced this incredible divine disclosure. The prophet Isaiah was one of these figures. Says Sproul:
Isaiah realized who he truly was as soon as he realized who God is. He realized he was unclean. Be we all, Isaiah realized, are filthy as well. And so to purify Isaiah for his mission, God dispatched a seraph to bring a burning coal from the altar and place it on Isaiah’s lips. It wasn’t for punishment; it was for purging. It was to make the unclean clean.
Just like Moses at the burning bush, Isaiah must have been terrified by his experience.