"And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt."

(Acts 7:30-34)

“And when forty years were expired…” Although purposed by God to be the deliverer of the people of Israel from Egypt, yet God hid him from the public eye in the desert of Sinai, until it pleased Him to reveal His glory in him, and declare to him His name as the Great I AM, Exodus 3:14. As a parallel to the LORD Jesus Christ, in coming into the world for the deliverance of the spiritual Israel (elect sinners from every tribe, nation, and tongue- Galatians 3:16,28,29) He was hidden from public view until the time appointed by God the Father that He should be manifest at His public baptism (Matthew 3), and ultimately tried in the wilderness 40 days (Matthew 4).

“There appeared to him in the wilderness of Sinai an angel of the LORD in a flame of fire in a bush.” The word ‘angel’ in the original signifies a messenger of the LORD. It is a term that is applied to God Himself, and in this context, is none other than a manifestation of the LORD Jesus Christ, come in the flesh, as the Messenger of the Covenant of God for the salvation of a people, Malachi 3:1. It is by Him, in Him, and through Him that God the Father reveals Himself. There is much here that typifies the coming of God in the flesh, in the Person of the LORD Jesus to be the Redeemer and Savior of sinners.

1. “Appeared in the wilderness of Sinai.” It was in the wilderness of Sinai that the LORD Jesus Christ would appear [in a manner so as to be seen], made of a woman, made under the law (typified by the wilderness of Sinai) that He might redeem those that were under the condemnation of death (typified by the wilderness).

2. “In a flame of fire.” God is a consuming fire [Hebrews 12:29]. God was in Christ in a body when He came to earth. He was the very manifestation of God in the flesh, and came to satisfy God’s law and justice, typified by the flame of fire in and on the bush. The wrath of God that His people deserved fell on Him. Moses, being drawn aside by the Spirit of God to observe the burning bush, and yet, he himself was not consumed, although on holy ground, because the wrath and judgment (typified by the flame of fire) was on the bush (and yet did not consume the bush). When the wrath of God fell on the LORD Jesus, it did not destroy Him.