'Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock beyond the wilderness, he came to the mountain of God, Horeb. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him as fire flaming out of a bush. When he looked, although the bush was on fire, it was not being consumed. So Moses decided, “I must turn aside to look at this remarkable sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called out to him from the bush: Moses! Moses! He answered, “Here I am.” God said: Do not come near! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father, he continued, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. But the Lord said: I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry against their taskmasters, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them up from that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now indeed the outcry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians are oppressing them. Now, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt (Ex. 3:1-10).’
Pharaoh acted like a god towards the people. He killed the firstborn males of the Israelites (Ex. 1:15-22) whom he enslaved in an effort to nullify the promise God made to Abraham; "The Lord said to Abram: Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you (Gen 12:1-3)." The promise of land would be nullified by Pharaoh not allowing the Israelites to go the land of milk and honey God promised them. An epic battle began to take shape between Moses and Aaron as God’s agents, and Pharaoh and his magicians representing the Egyptian gods.
God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush that was not being consumed by the fire. God introduced himself to Moses, and Moses hid his face because the Israelites believed that no one could look on the face of God and live, "You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live (Ex. 33:20)." God revealed himself to Moses because he heard the cry of his oppressed and suffering people and was sending him to bring them out of Egypt.
Almighty God, you revealed yourself to Abraham and through his progeny we have become heirs to your promise. Help us to accept the guidance of your Spirit that we may not fall back into slavery to sin but be your instruments of freedom to others. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Reference:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
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