Exodus 3-4a
01 Apr 2026 - Theology
The Burning Bush
Exodus 3
Exodus 3:2-3 - “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
What interested Moses was not that the bush was burning, which would be a common sight in such a dry, arid place. Rather what interested Moses was that the bush was burning but was not burnt up. It is the same with the Israelites in the exodus, and with the people of God today. We will face fire, but God will not allow us to be consumed.
Exodus 3:13-15 - “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”
God reveals the name “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh”. In English, this might mean “I Am That I Am” or “I Will Be What I Will Be”. Then God tells Moses to say “Ehyeh sent me.” This could mean “I Am sent me” or “I Will Be sent me”. Then God says to tell the Israelites, “YHWH… has sent me… This shall be my name forever.” God has really given Moses three names, not one! They all come from the Hebrew word that means “to be” or “to exist”.
The last three letters of this name of God (YHWH or יהוה) spell הוה, the Hebrew word for is, or to exist. Three out of four of the יהוה letters spell הוה, the Hebrew word for was. And finally, this entire יהוה name seems suspiciously close to the Hebrew word for will be, which just happens to be spelled יהיה.
This name of God, YHWH, is close, but not exactly equivalent to each one of the three Hebrew words that denote past, present, and future existence.
But here’s the really remarkable thing: Try taking those words for existing in the past, present, and future and overlay them, one on top of the other.
Start with היה. Lay הוה on top of that - and the composite word will look like הוה (the י disappears into the ו). Now take the composite word you just formed, and overlay יהיה on top of that. The composite overlay of all three Hebrew words is YHWH!
It is not that YHWH is present at some point in time in the past, present, and future (like all humans are), but that He exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time - as the Creator of time, He is outside time.
We see this evident in God’s response to Moses in verses 14 and 15. The first name God reveals is “I Am That I Am”, which corresponds to God at the present time. Then God tells Moses to remind the children of Israel that He is the God of their forefathers, which corresponds to past time. Lastly, God says that YHWH is His name for ever, and that this “is My memorial unto all generations”, which corresponds to future time. God often communicates in this way to His people: by reminding them that He was present in their past, showing that He is present with them in the present time, and promising that He will be present with them in their future.
Notice all the different names for God in this story - angel of the Lord, Lord, Lord God, God. Before the burning bush story, some Torah stories use only the names El or Elohim (we translate both as “God”). Other stories use only the name YHWH (“Lord”, which Jews translate as “Adonai”). Only once, in the Genesis 2 creation story, God’s name was given as YHWH Elohim. After the burning bush story, the names El, Elohim, and YHWH are often used together.
God Gives Power to Moses
Exodus 4:1-17
It seems odd that God would give Moses these three signs to show the Egyptians:
- Rod turns into a serpent (4:2-4)
- Leprous hand (4:6-7)
- Water turns to blood (4:9)
God could have given Moses an army or secret weapon. Moses does not need money or fine clothing to impress Pharaoh. God also does not give Moses great wisdom or answers to life’s big questions to tell to Pharaoh. God will do the real work of freeing the Israelites from Pharaoh.
Exodus 4:10 - “And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”
Was Moses really not any eloquent speaker? He grew up in the household of Pharaoh and had access to the best resources to be trained as a future leader of Egypt.
Acts 7:22 - “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.”
Regardless of if Moses was speaking the truth or simply making excuses, we see that God chose to use him anyway to rescue His people from Pharaoh.
Acts 7:35 - “This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge [Exodus 2:14]? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.”
The Lord had a powerful response to Moses’s feelings of inadequacy in verse 10.
Exodus 4:11 - “And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?”
References
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)
- The Exodus You Almost Passed over, by Rabbi David Fohrman (2021)