In the first reading for today we continue with the story of Moses who “was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.” (Ex 3:1) Meanwhile “A long time passed, during which the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their bondage and cried out, and from their bondage their cry for help went up to God.” (Ex 2:23) And God called Moses to be the herald of God’s help to the people.
God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendent outlined in Genesis, is at play. This episode of Moses and the burning bush is important in the light of that covenant of God with Abraham because it is a sign of God’s faithfulness to his promises. In the covenant, God promised to make Abraham the father of a great nation and to give him the land of Canaan. When Moses encounters the burning bush, God reaffirms this promise and calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. This marks the beginning of the Israelites’ journey to freedom and to their destiny as God’s chosen people.
The burning bush is also a symbol of God’s presence and power. It is a theophany, the visible presence of God in our human realm, evidence that God is with us. But one has to ask, why did God reveal Himself to Moses out of the burning bush. There are several thoughts in response to that question.
First, God reveals Himself as a fire which is an image of His holiness. All through the Bible, fire is used as a picture of the purifying and refining quality of God’s holiness. This is further evidenced when God commands Moses “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Here God was emphasizing to Moses the gap between the divine and the human. God is transcendent in His holiness, so Moses was not allowed to come close to Him.
Holiness involves separation. God’s holiness means that He is set apart from everything He has made. Holiness is not simply His righteousness (although that is part of it), but also His otherness. It is the distinction between the Creator and the creature, the infinite distance between God’s deity and our humanity. God says, “I am God, and not man, the Holy One present among you” (Hosea 11:9).
Another possibility is that God revealed Himself to Moses out of the burning bush as an image of His glory. Though this theophany was frightening (Exodus 3:6) its purpose was to manifest the sheer majesty of God and to stand as a visible reminder to Moses and his people during the dark times ahead. For it would be soon that God would manifest His holiness and glory to the entire nation of Israel. As Moses and the children of Israel soon learned, His glory is like a consuming fire, a pillar of fire that radiates light, a light so brilliant that no man can approach it (Exodus 24:17).
It is noteworthy that this was the first time God had ever called Israel “my people.” Under the oppressive bondage of Egypt, they had no hope but God, and they could do nothing but cry out to Him. God heard them and was now going to meet their need by delivering them from their enslavement and suffering. Though God has revealed Himself as one who lives in unapproachable light, the burning bush symbolized His intent not to consume or destroy His people, but to be their savior, to lead them out of bondage in Egypt and into the Promised Land.
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