When Yahweh spoke to Moses through the burning bush as it is recorded in the book of Exodus chapter 3, it marked the beginning of the fulfillment of Yahweh’s covenant to deliver the Jews from captivity.
According to Exodus 3:1-3, “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn."
Exodus 3:4-6 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 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.
Exodus 3: 7-10 And the Lord said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, 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, behold, 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 My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."( Fleisher, Alexander; Fleisher, Zhenia, 2004).
As it is indicated above Yahweh states that He had seen and heard the cry of His people (Jews) and the He had come to deliver them. He wanted the Jews and Moses to know of His compassionate care that he had for them. God was not happy to see His people suffer. He had to deliver them from captivity and take them to the land He had promised their ancestors. The cry had reminded God of the Covenant He had with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 2: 23-25).
God had promised their Patriarchs that “I shall maintain my covenant between myself and you, your descendants after you and generation after generation, as a covenant of perpetuity, to be your God and God of your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7). God had remembered the descendants of the Patriarchs just the same way He had remembered Noah and His Family and Saved them from the Great floods as recorded in Gen 8:1.
God also wanted Moses and the Jews that He is holy; this is why he had to remove his shoes/saddles before going near the burning bush. Therefore the Jews had to cleanse themselves before going before the Lord. The voice of the angel speaking was a manifest that Yahweh was the pre-incarnate son, the voice of god of the Patriarchs was a manifestation of God the father while the fire and light was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. This was an indication that Yahweh was the God, the Father, The son and The Holy Spirit. This is also manifested when God revealed His identity, “I am who I am” When Moses objected citing his weakness, Yahweh assured Him of his protection. It was the same protection that Yahweh had also extended to the Jews.
Yahweh told Moses that He was aware that Egyptians will not let them go unless He compelled them using his mighty hand (Exodus 3:19-22). This showed how determined Yahweh and how powerful He was and the absolute love he had toward the jews.
This was also manifested by the powerful staff that turned into snake that Moses was handed (Humphreys, Colin, 2006). It was an ultimate show that God shall not leave Moses and the Jews to suffer without an immediate solution. Therefore Yahweh became the patron deity of the Jews, as he had promised. This was clear relationship of a glorious future for the descents of the Patriarchs and Yahweh. The Promised Land was full of honey, milk and had no suffering as it was in Egypt. The event also established an identity to the Jews as the chosen people in covenant with God.
The exodus became the foundation of both Christianity and Judaism which has grown beyond the Jewish kingdom. This event of liberation from Egypt which began with Moses’s encounter with God through the burning bush is celebrated as the Pesach or the Passover an indication total liberty and new beginning. It is this deliverance that the Exodus asserts that the Jews exist by the mighty deliverance from Egyptians.
Reference
Fleisher, Alexander; Fleisher, Zhenia (January–February 2004). "Study of Dictamnus gymnostylis Volatiles and Plausible Explanation of the "Burning Bush" Phenomenon". Journal of Essential Oil Research 16 (1): 1–3. doi:10.1080/10412905.2004.9698634.
Humphreys, Colin (2006). Miracles of Exodus. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 73.
Exodus Chapter 3 The Bible.
http://barrybandstra.com/rtot4/rtot4-06-ch3.html
Agape Bible Study (n.d) retrieved on 2nd Feb. 2014 from http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/exodus/Exodus_Lesson_3.htm
