Forty years after Moses fled to Midian, God appeared to him in a "fire theophany" in a bush near Mt Horeb (aka Mt Sinai). A midrash says that God appeared in a humble bush to teach Moses that "no place is devoid of God's presence, not even a thorn bush "(Exodus Rabbah 2:5).
In his fine general-audience commentary on the book of Exodus, Dennis Prager observes that not everyone would have stopped to take a closer look at the bush. Prager sees this incident as an example of the fact that some people choose to acknowledge the miracles that are extant in the world, while others do not. He quotes some beautiful and perceptive lines from the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
"Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off his shoes."
Once God had Moses' attention, he announced that it was time for the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. Moses would be his instrument in leading the Exodus (Exod 3:7-10).
Moses had lots of questions to ask about this plan (Exod 3:11-4:17). In general, he wondered how he could succeed now, after 40 years "off the grid," when he had failed 40 years before. Why would the Israelites or Pharaoh have any reason to listen to him?
God patiently assured Moses that he wouldn't be undertaking this daunting task on his own. God would supply anything that Moses lacked. God patiently led Moses through the details of how the plan would work. In particular, Moses would be working together with his older brother Aaron.
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