Exodus 3 · The Lantern

Moses at the Burning Bush

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and indeed, the bush burned 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.

It was the Word, breathed from the Father's mouth, Who of the Virgin took a mortal frame. The human form that not yet in the flesh Appeared to Moses wore a brow like ours, Since God, who would by power of the Word Assume a body, made the face the same. Flames rose and seemed to burn the thorny bush.

By means of diffusion, as of brightness out of light, of heat out of fire, of a river out of its headspring, of rain out of a full or humid cloud. In the first diffusion, equality is lacking, for brightness is not the same as light.

And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

When Moses had seen the bush burning and not being consumed he was astonished at the sight and said, "I will cross over and see this sight." He certainly also did not mean that he was about to cross over some earthly space, or to ascend mountains or to descend the steep sides of valleys. The vision was near him, in his countenance 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 For except he had withdrawn the footstep of the heart from the love of the world, he would never have been able to understand things above.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 when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

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, Draw not near here: put off your shoes from off your feet, for the place on which you stand 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.

Pass by like Moses, that you may see the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob and that you may see a great vision. This is a great vision, but if you wish to see it, remove the sandals from your feet, remove every bond of iniquity, remove the bonds of the world, leave behind the sandals which are earthly.

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.

Moreover 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 upon 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.

For the name of Divinity is given for the highest honor in the world, and with whomsoever God is well pleased, he applies it to him. But however, the names of God are many and are venerable, as he delivered his names to Moses, saying to him, "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

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 which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good land and a large, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Now therefore, look, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me: and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

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

And he said, Certainly I will be with you; and this shall be a token to you, that I have sent you: When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.

And Moses said to God, Look, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say to them?

And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall you say to the children 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 moreover to Moses, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, The LORD 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 for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations.

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 together, and say to them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is 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 Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.

And they shall 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 God of the Hebrews has met with us: and now let us go, we beg you, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.

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

And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall happen, that, when you go, you shall not go empty:

But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourns in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and apparel: and you shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and you shall plunder the Egyptians.

Exodus3

Moses at the Burning Bush