The Burning Bush

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
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.

-- Exodus 3: 1-2 (KJV)

One day, wandering absent-mindedly with his father-in-law's sheep, Moses happens upon Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai), which the Bible knows as "the mountain of God."

Moses is startled to find a bush that, while aflame, doesn't really "burn," because it isn't consumed. Even more startling, the bush calls out to him, insisting that he take off his shoes, because "the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." The voice is Yahweh's, though the fire is just one of his angels.

Yahweh isn't just calling for a friendly chat: he's got plans for Moses. God has heard the cries of his people suffering in Egypt and has finally decided to honor his promise of a happier future. Moses shall be his instrument in bringing the Israelites into their promised "land of milk and honey" [see the next entry].

The burning bush has long been a staple of literary allusion, but it wasn't often used humorously until another Bush started burning. Looking ahead to his speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention, the 41st president promised that "if it catches fire, it may give a whole new meaning to the burning Bush." "A humorous remark," mused Norman Mailer in The New Republic, "but a vain hope. He was too angry within: the delegates instead were treated to the smouldering Bush."

 
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Michael Macrone is Associate Site Producer of GraceCom and the author of nine books on language, literature, and ideas, including the best-selling Brush Up Your Shakespeare!