599
edits
Changes
→The Burning Bush
===The Burning Bush===
Once, while shepherding his flocks, Moses was led by an angel of the Lord to the top of Mount Horeb. There he saw a bush that was burning but was not being consumed by the flames; that is, it was enveloped in flames but did not burn up.
Moses decided to come closer to investigate. Here he heard a voice from the midst of the bush saying, “Moses, Moses… Do not come any closer, take off your shoes from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father, 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.
The Lord said to him, “I have seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry… and I am come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land… unto the place of the Canaanites… I will send you unto Pharaoh that you might bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” At the same time, God granted Moses the power to perform miracles. The Lord gave him his brother Aaron as a helper, who would speak publicly on his behalf.
The bush that did not burn up that Moses saw through God’s revelation to him, received the name ‘Burning Bush’. The symbolism of the miracle is powerful. In a world in which nature itself is worshiped, God shows that He rules over it. The burning bush depicted the state of the chosen Hebrew people, which was persecuted but did not perish.
The burning bush is also significant and relevant to Christianity as it foreshadowed the plight of the early Christians who although persecuted and suffered terribly at the hands of the pagan emperors maintained steadfast faith in Jesus Christ and were not eradicated, despite the efforts of the godless authorities. It was also a foreshadowing or pre-figuration of the All-holy Mother of God, who was not burned by the fire of the divinity of the Son of God when He came down through her from heaven to earth, and was born of her.
===Pharaoh and the Plagues of Egypt===
