Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:1-14)
The best way to begin trying to understand what is happening in this passage is by asking a series of questions: Where? Who? Why? What? When?
Where is this passage from? The Book of Exodus. It's the second book of the Bible following Genesis. The two books, together with Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, form the Pentateuch (Torah to the Jews).
Who wrote it? A great deal of it has been written by Moses, but it cannot have been written entirely by him, as often suggested, because many portions tell the story of his life in the third person. It also describes his death. The literary form also varies considerably through the text.
Why was it written? To record the events of Israel's deliverance from Egypt and development as a nation.
What was the setting? Egypt. God's people who were once favored in the land were now slaves. God is about to set them free.
When was it written? Modern biblical scholarship places its final textual form in the mid 5th century. When did the events that are described in it happen? From about 1700 BC to 1280 BC.
Once these questions are answered, we need to see how the passage fits into the overall story. The book of Genesis ends with the death of Joseph. The book of Exodus begins about four hundred years later. Things have dramatically changed. The Israelites no longer enjoy the favor that Joseph enjoyed with the Egyptians. On the contrary, they have been made slaves for fear that their rapidly increasing numbers might make them a threat to the Egyptians. Seeing that this scheme of keeping their numbers down didn't work, Pharoah decrees that the midwives kill every baby boy at birth, but when his doesn't work either, he orders that "every boy that is born must be thrown into the Nile" (Exodus 1:22).
One mother decides to save her son but putting him in a basket and floating it on the Nile. When Pharoah's daughter went to bathe she discovered the baby and decided to adopt him for her own. The boy, named Moses, thus grew up as prince of Egypt. As he grew up, however, he began to identify with the Israelites, getting angry at the way they were treated.
One day, when he was about forty years old, he witnessed an Egyptian striking an Israelite. He lost his temper and struck down the Egyptian, killing him. (Here's a question to ask yourself: How do we know Moses was forty years old when this happened? There is no reference to this in the book of Exodus. Or in the Pentateuch. Or in the entire Old Testament for that matter! Answer: Stephen mentions his age in his speech to the Sanhedrin where he was on trial for his life - see Acts 7:23. But how did Stephen know this if it wasn't mentioned anywhere else in Scripture? That's a question for you to chew on. I'll provide the answer another time, but here is a clue to get you going. Is Sola Scriptura truly legit?)
After slaying the Egyptian, Moses now "thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not" (Acts 7:25). They had different ideas. "Who made you ruler and judge over us?" they asked (Ex 2:14). (What do you learn from this? Moses was trying to exercise authority that hadn't been given to him).
Rejected by the Israelites and on the run from the Egyptians — Pharoah discovered his crime — Moses fled to Midian. There he meets Zipporah to whom he gets married. He soon becomes a daddy (good thing that; if he stayed on to rule in Egypt he would have become a mummy). He also becomes a shepherd, tending flocks for his father-in-law Jethro. And he continues doing this for forty years, until one day he sees a bush burning .... which brings us to our story here.
The Allegorical Sense
We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ. In this passage, the God of the Burning Bush is generally considered to be a preconfiguration of Jesus, who would, himself, use the words I AM to describe himself many times, especially in the Gospel of John. Consider these statements:
"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35)
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture." (John 10:9)
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." (John 11:25)
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." (John 15:1)
But perhaps most telling was his remark to the Pharisees who sneered at him when he told them that Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing him.
“You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:57-58)
The Moral Sense
The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written "for our instruction".
Here we see God commissioning Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. God gives us a similar commission. In Matthew 28:18-20 we see him saying:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
(Notice what Jesus says at the end. Just as God said to Moses, "I will be with you," Jesus says the same.) Like Moses, we make excuses, but we need to fulfill this commission to make disciples of all nations. We can't do that, however, unless we become disciples ourselves. And that takes some doing!
The Anagogical Sense
We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland, which is heaven.
From this passage (and subsequent chapters in Exodus) we see how important obedience is to fulfill God's plan in our lives. We often don't realize how important this obedience is when it comes to our eternal salvation. Jesus was particularly stern when he told the people:
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"
All the "Hallelujas" we say, and all the mighty deeds we do for God, are no substitute for obedience. which is a prime requisite for entry into heaven. Faith in Christ Jesus gets the gates open, but we still need to walk through them.
Next: Interpreting Scripture - 3: Abraham and the Sacrifice of Isaac
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Great post,Aneel.Well explained
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