Exodus 3 is the chapter of holy encounter. Moses meets God in the burning bush, learns that ordinary ground becomes holy by divine presence, hears that God has seen and known Israel’s suffering, receives his mission, and encounters the mystery of the divine Name: “I am THE BEING” in Brenton’s Septuagint rendering.
Why this chapter matters
This chapter is one of the theological centers of the Old Testament. It reveals God as holy, compassionate, covenantal, personal, transcendent, and active. He is not an abstract force. He sees affliction, hears the cry, knows sorrow, and comes down to deliver. At the same time, He is not manageable or reducible. Moses must remove his sandals. The Name is revealed, but God is not exhausted by human language.
For Orthodox Christians, Exodus 3 also carries enormous typological weight. The burning bush becomes a classic image of the Theotokos: divine fire dwelling without consuming. The divine Name in the Greek tradition, “He Who Is,” becomes central to patristic theology and Orthodox iconography of Christ. Moses’ call also becomes a pattern for every servant: reverence first, mission second.
1: And Moses was feeding the flock of Jothor his father-in-law, the priest of Madiam; and he brought the sheep nigh to the wilderness, and came to the mount of Choreb. 2: And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flaming fire out of the bush, and he sees that the bush burns with fire, - but the bush was not consumed. 3: And Moses said, I will go near and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed. 4: And when the Lord saw that he drew nigh to see, the Lord called him out of the bush, saying, Moses, Moses; and he said, What is it? 5: And he said, Draw not nigh hither: loose thy sandals from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6: And he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraam, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and Moses turned away his face, for he was afraid to gaze at God. 7: And the Lord said to Moses, I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and I have heard their cry caused by their task-masters; for I know their affliction. 8: And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land, and to bring them into a good and wide land, into a land flowing with milk and honey, into the place of the Chananites, and the Chettites, and Amorites, and Pherezites, and Gergesites, and Evites, and Jebusites. 9: And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come to me, and I have seen the affliction with which the Egyptians afflict them. 10: And now come, I will send thee to Pharao king of Egypt, and thou shalt bring out my people the children of Israel from the land of Egypt. 11: And Moses said to God, Who am I, that I should go to Pharao king of Egypt, and that I should bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt? 12: And God spoke to Moses, saying, I will be with thee, and this shall be the sign to thee that I shall send thee forth, - when thou bringest out my people out of Egypt, then ye shall serve God in this mountain. 13: And Moses said to God, Behold, I shall go forth to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of our fathers has sent me to you; and they will ask me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? 14: And God spoke to Moses, saying, I am THE BEING; and he said, Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, THE BEING has sent me to you. 15: And God said again to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel, The Lord God of our fathers, the God of Abraam, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, has sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and my memorial to generations of generations. 16: Go then and gather the elders of the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord God of our fathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraam, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, saying, I have surely looked upon you, and upon all the things which have happened to you in Egypt. 17: And he said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of the Egyptians to the land of the Chananites and the Chettites, and Amorites and Pherezites, and Gergesites, and Evites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey. 18: And they shall hearken to thy voice, and thou and the elders of Israel shall go in to Pharao king of Egypt, and thou shalt say to him, The God of the Hebrews has called us; we will go then a journey of three days into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to our God. 19: But I know that Pharao king of Egypt will not let you go, save with a mighty hand; 20: and I will stretch out my hand, and smite the Egyptians with all my wonders, which I shall work among them, and after that he will send you forth. 21: And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, and whenever ye shall escape, ye shall not depart empty. 22: But every woman shall ask of her neighbour and fellow lodger, articles of gold and silver, and apparel; and ye shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters, - and spoil ye the Egyptians.
Moses in Midian before the mountain of God
The chapter begins with Moses shepherding the flock of Jothor, his father-in-law, and coming to Horeb, the mountain of God. This is not an accidental setting. Moses is no longer in Pharaoh’s palace. He is not acting as an impulsive deliverer. He is a shepherd in obscurity.
This matters because the great call comes after hidden formation. Moses has learned exile, ordinary labor, family life, and the patience of shepherding. God does not call him at the height of Egyptian status, but in the wilderness. The future shepherd of Israel is first a shepherd of sheep.
For servants in the Church, this is deeply corrective. God often forms a servant away from the place where the servant imagined he would be useful. Midian is not wasted time. Wilderness is not failure when God is forming humility, attention, and dependence.
The bush that burns and is not consumed
Moses sees a strange sight: the bush burns with fire, yet the bush is not consumed. This is more than a miracle to attract attention. It is a revelation of divine presence. God’s fire is real, but it does not destroy what it fills. The bush remains itself while bearing the flame.
Orthodox tradition has long loved this image. It speaks of God’s holiness, which purifies without annihilating. It also speaks of the Theotokos, who bore the divine Word without being consumed. The fire of divinity dwelt in her womb, yet her humanity was not destroyed. The bush becomes a type of the Virgin Mother, not because the historical meaning disappears, but because the same God reveals His way of dwelling with creation.
The bush can also image the Church under affliction. Israel is suffering in Egypt, yet not consumed. The Church may be persecuted, pressured, or humbled, yet the life of God preserves her. Fire can be judgment, purification, presence, and glory. In the bush, the fire is presence that does not annihilate.
Wonder must become worship
Moses says, “I will go near and see this great sight.” Curiosity brings him near, but God turns curiosity into worship. Moses cannot treat the burning bush as an interesting religious phenomenon. He hears his name called twice: “Moses, Moses.” The encounter becomes personal.
Then comes the command: “Draw not nigh hither: loose thy sandals from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” The first lesson of the call is reverence. Before Moses receives a mission, he must remove his sandals. Before he speaks for God, he must learn how to stand before God.
This is profoundly Orthodox. Holiness is not merely an idea. It involves bodies, places, gestures, distance, nearness, fear, and love. The ground is holy not because of geology, but because God is present. Matter can become a bearer of holiness because the Creator is not absent from His creation.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
God identifies Himself as the God of Moses’ fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Deliverance is therefore not a new project detached from covenant. God is acting in faithfulness to His promises.
Moses hides his face because he is afraid to gaze at God. This fear is not unbelief. It is reverence. A healthy encounter with God does not produce casualness. It produces awe. The God who draws near is still the Holy One.
In the New Testament, Christ uses this passage to teach the resurrection: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The covenant name of God is therefore not only historical memory. It is a witness that the fathers live before Him. Exodus 3 already opens toward resurrection hope.
God has seen, heard, known, and come down
The Lord says He has seen the affliction of His people, heard their cry, known their sorrow, and come down to deliver. This completes and deepens the end of Exodus 2. God’s knowledge is not detached observation. It is covenantal compassion that moves toward action.
This is one of the strongest pastoral passages in Exodus. Israel’s suffering has not been ignored. Delay has not meant abandonment. God has not been absent, even when deliverance was not yet visible.
The phrase “I am come down” is especially powerful. The transcendent God acts personally in history. He does not save from a distance. Christian readers naturally hear the deeper fulfillment in the Incarnation: the Son of God comes down, takes flesh, enters our bondage, and delivers from death itself.
Moses’ reluctance and God’s answer
Moses asks, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?” This is not the same Moses who killed the Egyptian in Exodus 2. Exile has humbled him. His question may include fear, failure-memory, and real inadequacy.
God does not answer by giving Moses a self-esteem speech. He does not say, “You are enough.” He says, “I will be with thee.” The ground of the mission is not Moses’ sufficiency, but God’s presence.
This is crucial for ministry. Christian service does not begin with confidence in the self. It begins with obedience to the God who is present. Holy inadequacy can be good if it drives the servant to dependence. But reluctance can become disobedience if the servant keeps looking at himself after God has promised His presence.
The sign after obedience
God gives Moses a sign: when he brings the people out of Egypt, they will serve God on this mountain. This is striking because the sign will be fulfilled after Moses obeys. God does not give Moses every assurance before the mission begins. He gives a promise that will be confirmed on the other side of obedience.
The sign also reveals the goal of Exodus: worship. Israel will not merely leave Egypt; Israel will serve God at the mountain. The movement is from Pharaoh’s service to God’s service, from forced labor to holy worship.
This is why Exodus must not be reduced to liberation without covenant. God frees Israel so Israel may worship Him, receive His commandments, and become His people.
“I am THE BEING” and the mystery of the Name
Moses asks what he should say when Israel asks for the Name of the God who sent him. In Brenton’s Septuagint, God answers: “I am THE BEING.” He then says, “Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, THE BEING has sent me to you.”
This Greek rendering, connected with ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, became enormously important in Orthodox theology. God is not one being among others. He is the One who is, the source of being, the living and self-existent Lord. Yet this does not make Him impersonal. The same God who reveals Himself as THE BEING is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Orthodox iconography places the Greek letters for “He Who Is” in Christ’s halo. This is not decorative. It confesses that Jesus Christ shares the divine identity. When Christ says “Before Abraham was, I AM,” the Church hears the divine mystery revealed at the bush fulfilled in Him.
A careful teacher should avoid flattening the Hebrew and Greek traditions into an oversimplified slogan. But for an Orthodox study, the Septuagint form is not incidental. It is part of the Church’s theological language.
Christological reading
Many Christian fathers read Old Testament theophanies christologically, seeing the Word of God active in divine revelation before the Incarnation. Exodus 3 can therefore be read as preparing the revelation of Christ, without pretending that Moses had the full New Testament articulation in front of him.
Christ is the true “He Who Is.” He is the One through whom the Father is made known. He is also the One who comes down to deliver, enters the suffering of His people, defeats the tyrant, and leads humanity into worship.
The burning bush also prepares the mystery of the Incarnation. Divine fire can dwell with creation without destroying it. In Christ, divinity and humanity are united without confusion, change, division, or separation. The bush is not the doctrine itself, but it is a luminous sign that creation can be filled by God without being annihilated.
The Theotokos and the unconsumed bush
The unconsumed bush is a classic Orthodox type of the Theotokos. The fire of divinity dwelt in the Virgin Mary when the Word became flesh, yet she was not consumed. She remained truly human, truly mother, and truly virgin.
This typology should be taught with balance. The burning bush first appears in the story of Moses’ call and God’s deliverance of Israel. Marian typology does not erase that meaning. It reveals the deeper pattern of how God dwells with His creation.
For Coptic Orthodox hearers, this connection is especially natural because the Church’s hymnography and iconography are comfortable seeing Old Testament images fulfilled in the Mother of God. The point is not sentimentality. It is Christology: the one she bore is truly divine fire.
The elders, Pharaoh, and realistic mission
God tells Moses to gather the elders of Israel and then go to Pharaoh. He also tells Moses that Pharaoh will not let them go except by a mighty hand. The call includes realistic warning. Obedience will not mean immediate success.
This is pastorally important. God does not deceive His servants by promising easy outcomes. He tells Moses that resistance is coming. The mission will involve confrontation, delay, hardening, judgment, and signs.
The servant of God must therefore distinguish between difficulty and failure. Pharaoh’s resistance will not prove that Moses misheard God. Sometimes resistance is part of the path of obedience.
Iconography and Visual Teaching 🖼️
The Burning Bush is one of Exodus’ richest iconographic images. In the biblical text, the first meaning is the living God revealing His holiness, hearing the afflicted, making ground holy, and sending Moses. In Orthodox hymnography and iconography, the bush also becomes a type of the Theotokos, who bore the divine Fire without being consumed. That typology should deepen the chapter, not replace its plain theophany and call narrative.
The divine Name in Exodus 3 also lives in Orthodox iconography through the inscription ὁ ὤν
, “He Who Is,” in Christ’s halo. This selected Sinai icon shows Moses before the bush; do not assume every Burning Bush image visibly contains the Christ-halo inscription unless the image itself shows it.
Source: Moses and the Burning Bush, Sinai icon, 12th century, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
Exodus 3 asks whether wonder leads me to worship. It is possible to be fascinated by religious things and yet not remove my sandals. The burning bush calls for reverence, not religious curiosity alone.
It asks whether I believe God knows suffering. The Lord does not only see Israel from afar. He hears, knows, remembers, and comes down. In my own affliction, delay should not be confused with indifference.
It also asks whether I keep measuring the call by myself. Moses asks, “Who am I?” God answers, “I will be with thee.” The deepest answer to inadequacy is not self-confidence. It is divine presence.
Fire That Reveals Without Consuming
The burning bush is one of Exodus’ great theological centers. God reveals Himself as holy fire that does not consume, and the Coptic tradition rightly hears here a Theotokos type: the Virgin bears the divine Fire without being consumed. This typology should be presented as hymnographic and theological, not as a casual symbol.
The divine name also grounds the mission. Moses is not sent by an idea about God, but by the living One who is. The God who sees affliction, hears cries, and knows suffering is also the One whose being is not dependent on Egypt, Pharaoh, or Israel’s strength.
Teaching Notes
Teaching Focus
- Key phrases: “The holy God draws near without ceasing to be holy.” “The bush burns, but is not consumed.”
- Emphasize: holiness, divine compassion, the Name, and Theotokos typology.
- Avoid: treating the bush as a decorative miracle detached from Incarnation and mission.
Deeper Orthodox Reading
Exodus 3 is one of the great theophany chapters of the Old Testament. The bush burns and is not consumed. The ground becomes holy. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reveals His name and sends Moses back to Egypt. This is not a motivational call story. It is an encounter with the living God.
St Gregory of Nyssa reads the burning bush as a mystery of divine presence, and the Coptic Orthodox tradition also cherishes the bush as a type of the Theotokos: fire dwelling in the bush without consuming it, the Word dwelling in the Virgin without destroying her virginity. This typology must be taught reverently, not as a clever image, but as a confession that God’s nearness does not annihilate what He sanctifies.
The divine name must also be treated with fear. God is not giving Moses a handle by which to control Him. He reveals Himself as the One who is, faithful to His covenant, free, living, and beyond human possession. Orthodox theology does not reduce this to abstract being. The One who is also says, “I have seen,” “I have heard,” and “I have come down.” Divine transcendence and mercy meet in the same revelation.
For teaching, the key pastoral move is this: Moses’ inadequacy is real, but it is not decisive. “Who am I?” is answered by “I will be with thee.” The calling rests not on Moses’ confidence, but on God’s presence.
Discussion Questions
- Why does God reveal Himself in a bush that burns but is not consumed?
- What does holy ground teach about Orthodox reverence for matter, place, and gesture?
- How does Exodus 3 deepen the statement that God heard Israel’s cry?
- Why is God’s answer to Moses’ inadequacy, “I will be with thee”?
- What is the significance of Brenton’s “I am THE BEING” for Orthodox theology?
- How should we teach the Theotokos typology of the burning bush without erasing the historical Exodus context?
- What does this chapter teach about calling, fear, and obedience?
Teacher-Facing Guidance
Teach Exodus 3 slowly. This is not just the next event before the plagues. It is a theological summit: holiness, presence, compassion, mission, divine Name, and typology all meet here.
Do not make the burning bush only Marian symbolism, but do not omit that classic Orthodox reading either. Keep the order clear: theophany to Moses, call to deliver Israel, revelation of God’s Name, and fulfillment in Christ and the Church’s typological reading.
Be especially careful with the divine Name. Use the Brenton/LXX wording because it is embedded in this project, and explain why “THE BEING” matters in Orthodox theology and iconography. Do not overclaim that every linguistic issue is simple.
Translation and Source Notes
- Scripture text embedded in this guide uses Brenton’s English translation of the Septuagint, a public-domain Orthodox-friendly Old Testament translation.
- New Testament cross-references are cited briefly and should be read in full from the reader’s preferred approved Bible translation.
- Liturgical placements are stated only when verified from the Coptic Orthodox lectionary references. Broader worship connections are described as thematic resonance, not asserted lectionary usage.
Sources
Primary sources
- Exodus 3; Matthew 22:31-32; Luke 20:37-38; Acts 7:30-34; St. Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Moses; St. Cyril of Alexandria on divine revelation and the Incarnation.
Secondary academic sources
- Brevard Childs, The Book of Exodus; Nahum Sarna, Exodus; Terence Fretheim, Exodus.
Coptic Orthodox / pastoral sources
- Coptic Theotokia burning-bush typology; Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Commentary on Exodus; Orthodox Study Bible notes.
Web pages and non-academic sources cited
- CCEL / New Advent patristic texts; Coptic reference notes for hymnographic resonance.