It seems to me that there should be some reason why a blazing (but not consumed) bush in the middle of the wilderness is particularly appropriate for the message that God was delivering to Moses. I was also wondering whether there is a specifically Christian interpretation of this event, given the other parallels between the Exodus and the work of Jesus.
Poking about the internet a bit, I found quite a few interpretations. One is:
"The idea behind this consuming fire is that it is the fire of God's judgment. Just before that verse in Deuteronomy, it says not to make idols (starting in verse 24) because the God is a consuming fire. We can see pretty clearly that this fire is a picture of God's judgment and wrath. By comparison, one thing that is striking about the image of the burning bush is that there is fire that does not consume. This is showing us that the imagery of the burning bush is one of mercy. The consuming fire engulfs the bush, but the bush is not consumed. The judgment is brought, but mercy is shown." - Arthur PinkAnother theory is that the burning bush indicates that Israel will not be consumed by the upcoming plagues in Egypt. It was, the theory goes, a way to indicate to Moses that there will be fires and judgments but the nation will not be consumed.
I also found:
Fire is symbolic of:
- God's glory
- A source of illumination
- An indication of power
- A source of cleansing (the environment was made holy)
- A source of warmth and comfort in cold and dark places
- God's wrath against uncleanliness
That the bush was not consumed is a sign that:
- That the fire was not sustained by the bush. God's existence doesn't depend on anything nor anyone else. He is self-sustaining, and the source of all energy in the universe (I assume that this is related to God calling Himself I AM).
- God is able to cleanse a living thing without destroying it - relating Moses' experience to the work of Christ who makes us clean without destroying us.
A final, simpler theory is simply that God used an item that was present at that time in that location (a bush in the desert) to indicate his glory. The fire that burned was simply his glory illuminating the bush. (Fire, at that time, was the only known source of light besides the sun.)
What do you think?
4 comments:
David: I really appreciate having these posts to refer to, as I read each day - this one today about the "burning bush" theories is especially helpful. I am thinking of the Israelites' familiarity with a burning hot sun and how it was responsible for parching and killing people. This light of God in the burning bush seems more like a sustaining light than the burning heat of the desert.
Anne, I prefer to think of the benevolent nature of the fire, as well, rather than the threat of wrath and vengence. There has been enough of that so far in the Old Testament!
The first thing is that the burning bush is undoubtedly a Christophany, i.e, a preincarnate manifestation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That the fiery flame has some considerable depth of significance is most likely, and David described a number of those in the OP.
But there is one primary association, IMO, and that is the representation of the Shekinah glory of God symbolized by the flame. We see this representation several times throughout Scripture, such as John's vision of the physical, resurrected (but glorified) Christ, whose eyes were "like a flame of fire" (Rev 1). And again, as Daniel describes the eyes of the preincarnate Christ as "flaming torches" (Dan 10).
Moreover, there is little doubt in my mind that the fire represents, at minimum, several attributes and/or characteristics of God ... namely His omniscience, splendor, and terror. This is clear in most, if not all, descriptions of the Theophanies. Moses was afraid to look upon God, John fell on his face as dead (a fascinating thing when you think of how close he was to the Lord and how he rested his head on the Lord's chest the night before He was crucified), and Paul fell on his face in terror, trembling. And so on.
And when appearing in such a glorious state, God often warns man to keep his distance, and don't come too close. The inference is 'lest you be consumed'. There seems to be something about the absolute holiness of God's glory that makes physical coexistence with fallen man some sort of violation of spirtual law.
At the burning bush, He warned Moses, "Do not come near". Further, at Mt. Sinai He commanded Moses to "charge the people", even the priests, not to try to break through to look at Him, "lest many of them perish" (Exo 19). And so on throughout Scripture.
So what meaning does all that have for us today? For the regenerate man, it is all the more reason to not take for granted the unspeakable privilege we have of "boldly approaching the throne of grace", and He who sits on the throne (Heb 4). The danger has been removed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Most of us, of course, fly to the throne of God in an instant without thinking about it. And that's a wonderful thing, a tremendous priviledge that we have. But it's good to reflect on God's interaction with people in OT times, in order to fully appreciate all that had to be done to make our access possible.
Another thought is that when God has chosen to manifest Himself, there has been no doubt as to who He is. Doubt does not exist in His presence. The flame of fire was a well known symbol of Deity in the time of Moses, and it seems clear that God intended for Moses to know exactly who he was dealing with, as He then immediately declared Himself.
This seems to be a characteristic of all Theophanies in Scripture, that God reveals who He is ... usually by His very appearance alone. Even high-ranking angels have been known to have similar characteristics at certain times, indicating their true representation of, and proximity to, the Almighty.
But there is another lesson for us, as I see it. At the burning bush the Lord told Moses he was I AM. He told the apostle John ... I AM the Alpha and Omega. And so on. And the apostle John - like Ezekiel, Isaiah, Moses, and others before him - approached I AM in FULL FAITH, believing that He indeed, IS.
And so should we ... for "he that comes to God must believe that He IS", the writer of Hebrews tells us (Heb 11). And again, "without faith it is impossible to please Him".
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