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Scripture Reading: Exo. 3:2-3; 4:6-7; Matt. 16:21-24
In order to be useful in the Lord’s hand and to function in the church, we need to see not only the things of God but also the things of man. In this chapter we will fellowship concerning the natural man and the self.
God never depends on methods to carry out His work; He depends on the person He uses. He does not need a good and effective method. Rather, His work can be accomplished effectively only when the person in His hand is right.
According to the Bible, God does not often tell His servants how to work; He seldom tells them what should be done first, second, and so forth. Rather, in relation to His servants, God focuses on the kind of person they are. He does not deal with the method used in the work but with the person who does the work. This is because in His eyes the method is a trivial matter, but the person who does the work is a crucial matter. God always deals with the person involved in the work. He deals with those who serve Him.
The method by which God works is the person in His hand. This is an important principle revealed in the Bible. The best methods are of no value to God. He wants to deal with the person of His servants. Neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament can we find a case where God called someone and gave instructions concerning how to serve Him. God never gave anyone a list of methods. On the contrary, God always spent time to work on the person whom He called. Some examples of those who were called and sent by God according to this principle include Moses and Isaiah in the Old Testament and Peter, James, John, Paul, and Timothy in the New Testament.
God’s Word reveals that a person who has been dealt with by God and who has become useful to Him is God’s method and His way. God can accomplish what He wants with such a person.
Please forgive me for saying this, but the more I observe the serving ones, the heavier my heart becomes. I think that this feeling is from God. You have given your time to serve, but your concept is that you are here to learn methods. If our person is not right, messages and methods cannot help us. A message that would have been useful to Moses will not be useful to us, and a method that would have been effective with Paul will not be effective with us, because our person is not the same as Moses’ or Paul’s person. Our person is what matters. We cannot do a successful work merely by understanding and remembering every point in a message. A successful work does not depend on our ability to understand messages or to learn methods. Rather, it depends on our person being useful in God’s hand, not on the messages we give or the methods we use. The kind of person we are determines the kind of work we can do. Even if we could give the messages that Paul gave and apply the methods that he used, our work would not compare with his work. Our person is God’s method; God focuses on our person. Our work is measured not by our messages or by our methods but by our person.
The kind of person that we are determines the condition of our work. Our ability to give a certain message or to use a certain method does not determine the condition of our work. Rather, the kind of work we can do is determined by the kind of person we are. Our person is what matters.
In this chapter we will focus on our person. This is not as high or profound as the matters covered in the previous chapters, because it will direct our attention toward ourselves. Although this matter is neither high nor profound, it is personal and practical. Please allow me to speak freely before the Lord concerning our condition as serving ones, and please receive these words. Our usefulness in the Lord’s hand will depend on how we respond to this message.
A person who is useful in the Lord’s hand, or one who desires to be used by God, must know his natural man, his self. God always shows those whom He intends to use a vision of their natural man. Moses was such a servant of God. Because God selected Moses and determined to use him before he was even born, God arranged Moses’ family environment, giving him pious parents to infuse godly thoughts into him. God also arranged for him to live in an Egyptian palace and to learn the top culture of the time (Exo. 2:1-10; Acts 7:22). These environments were arranged by God.
God also worked on Moses’ heart, giving him a desire to serve God and a longing to be used by God. When Moses was nearly forty years old, he had the heart to rescue his brothers out of the oppression of the Egyptians (Exo. 2:23-25; Heb. 11:24-25). But because Moses had not seen his natural man at that time, he tried to save the Israelites by his natural man and according to his self. For this reason God caused him to meet rejection, and Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he shepherded a flock for forty years, until he was eighty years old (Exo. 2:14-15; 3:1; Acts 7:29-30). In Psalm 90:10 Moses says, “The days of our years are seventy years, / Or, if because of strength, eighty years.” In his eyes, eighty years old was the age at which he should have died. To him, at eighty years of age everything was over, finished.
However, that was when God formally called Moses and began to use him. When Moses was called, God showed him a vision of his natural man. Moses was shepherding a flock in the wilderness of Mount Horeb when he saw a thornbush burning with fire but not being consumed (Exo. 3:2). This was an extraordinary scene. When fire burns on a pile of stones and the stones remain intact, it is nothing special. But for fire to burn within a thornbush without consuming the thornbush is something extraordinary. Moses was amazed at this sight and went to look more closely at the thornbush, and it was then that God called to him out of the midst of the thornbush (vv. 3-4).
There are three points that require our attention. First, fire was burning within the thornbush; second, the thornbush was burning but was not consumed; and third, a voice came out of the flame of fire in the midst of the thornbush. God used this special scene to reveal something to Moses. The thornbush represents Moses. Thorns are a symbol of the fallen natural man because thorns are a part of the curse brought in by the fall. According to Genesis 3:17 and 18, the ground was cursed to bring forth thorns after man’s fall. Hence, thorns refer to fallen man. A person who is called to be used by God is not cedar, which is good material, but a thornbush. This means that those who are called by God are descendants of Adam.
We should never think that we are proper persons with an honorable character or that we are of noble descent. These are not the thoughts of a person who is being called. The first vision God wants us to see is that we are but a thornbush. Moses was of nobler descent than we are. He was a bona fide Israelite, his parents feared God, and he received the highest education in Egypt. According to historical records, he was capable and commanded the army in Egypt. From man’s point of view, Moses was excellent material. However, when he was called, God showed him that he was nothing but a thornbush.
Every descendant of Adam is a thornbush. We must submit to God and say, “I am but a thornbush. If You remove the holy fire from me, there will be nothing left.” The fire of glory was burning in an unseemly thornbush. This glorious situation did not depend on the thornbush but on the fire. The thornbush was not valuable, but the flame of fire burning in the thornbush was valuable. Furthermore, a voice came out of the fire burning in the thornbush. This means that God came in the fire to the thornbush. If the fire were removed from the thornbush, nothing but the thornbush would be left. If the fire of the divine life were to be removed from us, we would be nothing but a thornbush. Hence, none of the serving ones can boast, because we are nothing but a thornbush.
The thornbush has a special meaning in the Bible. When the Sadducees were debating with the Lord concerning resurrection, the Lord said, “Concerning the dead, that they are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the section concerning the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:26-27). The Lord Jesus referred to the thornbush in Exodus 3 when speaking concerning resurrection. As those who have been gained and are being used by God, we are a thornbush according to our old, natural man. However, there is a fire in us; God has come to us in the fire. The God of resurrection, the life of resurrection, and the glory of resurrection have come to the natural man.
In ourselves we are a thornbush; we have nothing to boast of. In terms of character, status, family descent, background, and environment, we cannot be compared to Moses. Hence, if Moses was a thornbush, we also are a thornbush. When we see this vision, we can be used by God. Every person who is called to be used by God must see that he is but a thornbush, having nothing to boast of and nothing to depend on. A thornbush does not have any value. It is a sign of the curse, and it does not have any use. According to our natural man, as descendants of Adam, we are good for nothing other than God’s curse.
Hence, we should not bring anything of our self — whether it be status, family descent, background, or character — into our service. If we want to be used by God, the first vision we must see is that we are a thornbush. The elders and deacons have answered God’s call to do His work; hence, they must also see that they are a thornbush. If we do not see this, our service will have no future. People in the world desire status, qualifications, and experience, but God does not want our qualifications or experience in the service. He wants us only as we are. We are a thornbush that deserves to be cursed. Every servant of God will eventually realize that in God’s view, he is a thornbush.
In Exodus 3 holy fire, not strange fire, was burning in the thornbush. We know the fire was holy because Jehovah spoke from within the fire (vv. 4-6). This holy fire was God expressed. When the Israelites erected the tabernacle in the wilderness, “the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle” (40:34). This glorious cloud signifies God. At night the cloud became a pillar of fire (13:21). The pillar of fire denotes God’s power. Hence, the vision that Moses saw in chapter 3 represents the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness. Because Moses represents the Israelites, they experienced what Moses experienced. The fire first burned in Moses and then in the Israelites. If the holy fire of God had not burned in Moses first, it could not have burned in the Israelites. Just as Moses was a thornbush before God, so the Israelites were a thornbush before God. Just as the holy fire burned in Moses, so the holy fire also burned in the midst of the Israelites.
The holy fire of God coming to the thornbush means that God came forth to be among His chosen people. Exodus 3:2 says that the fire in the thornbush was God: “The Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thornbush.” The title the Angel of Jehovah refers to the Lord Jesus as the sent One. Verses 4 and 5 say, “Jehovah...God called to him out of the midst of the thornbush and said, Moses...Do not come near here.” Verse 2 says that the Angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses, but verse 4 says that Jehovah God spoke with Moses. The Angel who came to the earth was Jesus Christ, the One who was sent by God and is God. Verse 8 says, “I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.” Where did He “come down” to? He came down to the thornbush. When the God of resurrection came forth as the Angel of Jehovah, He came forth in His Son, Christ Jesus, the One whom He sent. He came forth in the form of fire in the thornbush, man.
The fire in Exodus 3 can be linked to the fire in Luke 12 and in Acts 2. Acts 2:3 says, “There appeared to them tongues as of fire.” In Luke 12:49-50 the Lord Jesus said, “I have come to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am pressed until it is accomplished!” The Lord Jesus wanted to release His life. When His divine life is released, there is fire. The holy fire of God is kindled with the coming of resurrection life. As the Angel of Jehovah and in His resurrection life, God comes to man, the thornbush, so that He can be kindled and burn in man.
The vision in Exodus 3 shows who we are and what has come into us. We are a thornbush, but the holy fire is in us. This holy fire is God expressed in His Son, Jesus Christ.
The fire burned in the thornbush but did not consume it. When the Israelites offered a sacrifice, they placed the sacrifice on the altar for it to be consumed by fire. But the thornbush was not consumed. The fire burning in the thornbush did not take the thornbush as fuel, just as the divine fire within us does not use us as fuel. When a house is on fire, it does not take much time for the house to burn down, because the house is the fuel for the fire. When the fire of God was burning in the thornbush, it was God who was burning. Hence, God does not use what is in us. The thornbush was not the fuel for the fire; it was merely a place for the fire to be expressed.
The fire did not depend on the thornbush in order to burn. Moses was used by God according to this principle. God’s fire of glory was expressed through Moses, a thornbush, in order for God to deal with the magicians and the officials of Egypt and with Pharaoh. Even though the fire was burning, Moses was not consumed.
We must see that we are but a thornbush and that God has come upon us in resurrection as fire. He will do what He wants to do in us, but we will not be consumed. He will not use our capabilities or our abilities to strengthen the fire or to make it brighter. The strength and the brightness of the fire come from the fire itself; the fire is merely resting on us. Our purpose is merely to express the fire.
When Moses was forty years old, he could not be entrusted with this fire. He could use his fists, his own strength, to kill an Egyptian, and he could use his own method to bury the body (2:12), but he could not be entrusted with the fire of resurrection. His strength and his method did not come to an end until he was eighty years old. That was when he could be entrusted with the fire of God. With the staff in his hand, Moses let the fire burn in him (4:17).
In order for us to let the fire be expressed, we must see that our tactics and our abilities are useless in God’s work, just as our insight and our strength do not have any place in His work. We must put these aside. In Exodus 2:12 Moses had natural insight and strength: “He looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no one there, he struck the Egyptian down and hid him in the sand.” However, if Moses had continued to use his insight and strength, the fire of God could not have come forth. The fire could burn only in a thornbush, a plant that is dried up. Those who put aside their insight and their strength can be entrusted with the resurrection fire of God; they can be a place for the resurrection fire of God to be expressed.
If we want to be useful in God’s hand, we must see that the resurrection life of God coming upon us is the expression of the divine power. He does not use us as fuel. We must put aside our views and our strength. They are useless. If we hold on to them, we will have to wait for forty years. The children of Israel spent forty years in the wilderness. The number forty represents trials. These trials will wear out our abilities and our capabilities. If we feel that we still have the strength to strike others and the insight to consider matters, God will allow many trials to come upon us until, in our estimation, we are old, our eyes are dim, our arms are dropping, and everything is over.
God does not use our activities, insight, or strength. He calls us to be material for Him to rest upon. He wants to use us, but He will not use our insight or our strength. He wants to rest upon us. Our strength and insight are a frustration to Him. It is not until we stop exercising our abilities that God can come to us and use us.
God demands that we stop exercising our insight, strength, methods, and capabilities, which are all natural. God cannot use us while our natural being is still active. In order to be useful in His hand, we must stop our natural strength and the activity of our natural man. When our person has stopped, the fire of resurrection will burn in us. To be eighty years old is to be dead. Where there is death, there will be resurrection; without death, there cannot be resurrection. If our natural man is not put to death, the holy fire cannot be kindled or expressed. This is the ultimate meaning of the vision of the thornbush. This vision was first fulfilled in Moses and later in the people of Israel.
After Moses saw the vision of the fire burning in the thornbush, God sent him to Pharaoh to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (3:10). Moses, however, was not willing to answer God’s call; hence, he said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (v. 11). God then showed Moses three consecutive signs: his staff becoming a serpent, his hand becoming leprous, and water becoming blood (4:1-9). The sign of the staff becoming a serpent was for Moses to know Satan, his hand becoming leprous was for him to know himself, and the water becoming blood was for him to know the world. A person who serves God should have a thorough knowledge concerning Satan, himself, and the world so that he can be useful. If we want to be useful, we must know our condition.
God said to Moses, “Put your hand into your bosom,” and Moses put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, there his hand was, leprous, as white as snow (v. 6). This enabled Moses to know that he was filled with corruption. There was nothing good in him; he was leprous, utterly filthy. When God asked Moses to put his hand into his bosom, Moses may have thought that he would find a precious treasure. Probably he did not expect that his hand would be full of leprosy. A person who wants to be useful in God’s hand needs to know himself; he must see that his natural man is a thornbush and that his self is full of leprosy. Concerning our being used by God, we are a thornbush, and concerning our person, we are corrupt.
For example, if a brother tells you how bad you are, you will get angry even though you may not say anything. But if you have seen the vision of the hand becoming leprous, instead of getting angry, you will say, “All this corruption is in me.” Rather than getting angry because you are criticized, you will repent because of your corruption. You will say, “What this brother has said about me is not even one percent of what I am!”
We must remember that our natural man is a thornbush and that we are leprous. When Peter saw that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus spoke of the building up of the church and of the cross (Matt. 16:16, 18, 24). This means that every person who knows Christ and the church must also know himself. To know the self is to accept the experience of the cross. When Peter heard that the Lord was going to be crucified, he immediately said, “God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You!” (v. 22). But the Lord Jesus “turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men. Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (vv. 23-24).
We need to know that everything related to us has been terminated on the cross. However, it will be difficult for us to experience the termination and death of the cross if we do not know our natural man. Only when we know our natural man will we experience the cross. I do not believe that a person can accept the cross without seeing that he is corrupt. Only when we esteem ourselves as lepers will we bow our heads and confess, “Not only do I deserve to die; I am already dead!” Furthermore, we will accept the death of the cross only when we see that our natural man is a thornbush; that is, our natural insight and natural ability cannot be brought before God.
In order for us to be useful in God’s hand, He first deals with us so that we see our natural man and the self. After we are gained by God, He will first show us how useless our natural man is and how corrupt we are. Then we can experience Christ.
