Exodus 3 · The Lantern

Moses at the Burning Bush

Now Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock beyond the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.

And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. And he looked, and look — the bush was burning with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

When the almighty Lord of the universe began to legislate through the Word and decided to make his power visible to Moses, he sent Moses a divine vision with the appearance of light, in the burning bush. Now a bramble bush is full of thorns.

What does this mean? The vision that is said to have appeared to Moses in the desert is sometimes called an angel, sometimes the Lord. It means this: he is called angel when he served by speaking externally, and Lord, because he ruled within and produced the conditions needed for speaking.

It is said in Exodus: "That the bush burned and was not consumed," that is, the glorious Virgin, bringing forth the Son of God and light, gave light to the world through the fire of divine love and was not corrupted. The love of charity preserves from corruption.

And Moses said, “Let me turn aside and see this great sight — why the bush does not burn up.”

Moses, when he had seen the bush burning and not consumed, marveling at the sight said: "I will pass over and behold this sight." Certainly he too was not signifying that he would traverse some span of earth, nor climb mountains nor go apart into the steep places of the valleys. The vision was close to him, in his mouth and in his eyes.

Moses says, "I must go over to look at this remarkable sight." If he does not go over, that is, if he does not escape all vice, he cannot behold the great marvel.

Hence Moses, when he was seeking the glory of heavenly contemplation, said, "I will now pass on, and see this great sight." For except he had withdrawn the footstep of the heart from the love of the world, he would never have been able to understand things above.

And the LORD saw that he turned aside to see; and God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses! Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Why should we despair that God should speak in men, who spoke in the thorn bush? God did not despise the bush. Would that he might also give light to my thorns. Perhaps some may wonder that there is some light even in our thorns. Some of our thorns will not burn.

Was the Lord speaking through an angel? Or was the Lord that angel who has been called the "angel of great counsel" and is understood to be Christ? For Scripture said above, "the angel of the Lord appeared to him."

This is why he summons Moses by his fatherly voice, addresses him with paternal love and invites him to be the liberator of his people. Why should I say more? He makes him a god; he sets him up as a god before Pharaoh. He makes him a god, fortifies him with signs, arms him with virtues, wins wars through mere commands, grants to him as a soldier victory gained by a mere word.

And he said, “Do not come near here. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina 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 Abrham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

Stand therefore firm in your hearts, that no one overthrow you, that no one be able to make you fall. The Apostle has taught us what it is "to stand," that is what was said to Moses: "The place whereon thou standest is holy ground;" for no one stands unless he stand by faith, unless he stands fixed in the determination of his own heart.

The burning bush was an image of God's mother, and when Moses was about to approach it, God said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." Now if the ground where Moses saw an image of the Theotokos is holy ground, how much more holy is the image itself? Not only is it holy, I daresay, but the holy of holies.

And he said, “I am the God of your father — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.

And when the holy One called Moses from the bush he said thus to him: "I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob." When Death heard this utterance, he trembled and feared and was terrified and perturbed and knew that he had not become king forever over the children of Adam.

The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First.

And the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters — for I know their pains.

And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of Egypt, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, to a land flowing with milk and honey — to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

And now, look — the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which Egypt oppresses them.

And now, go — I am sending you to Pharaoh; and bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

And Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

And he said, “Because I will be with you. And this shall be the sign for you that I myself have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

And Moses said to God, “Look — when I come to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ — what shall I say to them?”

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

That the activity of the Father and the Son is to be found both in saints and in sinners is clear from the fact that all rational beings are partakers of the word of God, that is, of reason, and so have implanted within them some seeds, as it were, of wisdom and righteousness, which is Christ.

Wouldest thou learn also His eternity? Hear what Moses saith concerning the Father. When he asked what he was commanded to answer should the Jews enquire of him, "Who it was that had sent him," he heard these words: "Say, I AM hath sent me." Now the expression "I AM," is significative of Being ever, and Being without beginning, of Being really and absolutely.

Now this is the most manifest and perfect name of God, for all things depending upon God are comprised within this name: "I am who am." This name is properly His, and it was said of it in what manner all things represent Him by way of order, origin and fulfillment, or immediate relationship. This name written in the soul gives it light so that it may see.

And God said further to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my remembrance from generation to generation.

For God and Lord is a name of majesty, a name of power, even as God himself says, "The Lord is my name," and as in another place the prophet declares, "The Lord almighty is his name." He is God, therefore, and Lord, either because his rule is over all or because he beholds all things and is feared by all without exception.

What does it mean then that later on he gave himself another name, where it says, "And the Lord said to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob: this is my name forever"? How is it that there I am called this name that shows "I am," and lo and behold here is another name: "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob"?

Go, and gather the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — saying: I have surely attended to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.

And I have said: I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’

And they will listen to your voice. And you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. And now, please let us go a journey of three days into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’

And I myself know that the king of Egypt will not let you go — not even by a strong hand.

And I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go.

And I will give this people favor in the eyes of Egypt; and it shall be, when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.

Each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of the woman staying in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters — and you shall plunder Egypt.”

Exodus3

Moses at the Burning Bush