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The Church keeps the tradition of the [[Holy Fathers]] and its [[Ecumenical Councils]] that the flame Moses saw was in fact [[God]]'s Uncreated Energies or Glory, as Light (compare with the [[Transfiguration]] of Jesus), which is why the bush was not consumed. He allowed Moses to see his glory (his energies), which, like his essence, are eternal. When God spoke to Moses, Moses heard the pre-Incarnate Word (Logos), of God. The vision of God's glory as light in this life and the next is the Orthodox definition of [[soteriology|salvation]], even moving after death "from glory to glory" eternally.
To the Orthodox, the [[miracle]] of the Unburnt Bush is understood in the theology and [[hymn]]ography of the Church as a prefiguring of the virgin birth of Christ. The Theotokos gave birth to the Incarnate God without suffering harm, just as the bush was burnt without being consumed. Other commentators identify the Unburnt Bush with the early Christians who suffered persecution at the hands of the pagan authorities but were never defeated.
==Tradition==
