“The angel of the Lord” appeared to Moses in flames of fire “from within a bush” (Exod. 3:2, NIV). It was the Lord Jesus Himself speaking to Moses “from within the bush” (Exod. 3:4, NIV).
Do not be confused with the title “angel of the Lord” as a depiction of Jesus Christ. The term angel itself simply means “messenger” (Hebrew mal’akh), and it always depends on the context whether this angel is to be interpreted as human or divine (see Mal. 3:1). There are many instances in the Bible where “the angel of the Lord” refers to the divine person (study, for example, Gen. 22:11, 15–18; Gen. 31:3, 11, 13; Judg. 2:1, 2; Judg. 6:11–22; Zech. 3:1, 2). This angel of the Lord not only speaks in the name of the Lord, but He is the Lord Himself. Jesus is God’s messenger to communicate the Father’s Word to us.
Read Exodus 3:7–12. How did God explain to Moses why He wanted to intervene on behalf of the Israelites enslaved in Egypt?
The suffering of God’s people in Egypt is colorfully described as a groaning and a deep cry for help. God heard their cry and was concerned (Exod. 2:23–25). He called them “my people” (Exod. 3:7). That is, even before Sinai and the ratifying of the covenant, they were His people, and He would cause them to dwell and prosper (if they would obey) in the land of Canaan, as He had promised their fathers.
God said to Moses that He was sending him to Pharaoh for a specific task: “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exod. 3:10, NIV). Again, God calls them “my people.”
What a task God presented to His servant! Moses, therefore, responded with a question: “Who am I?” That is, grasping the significance of what is going to happen and what his role is going to be in all this, Moses wonders why someone like himself would be chosen. Here, early on, we have an indication of his character, his humility, and his sense that he is unworthy of what he is being called to do.
Why is humility, and a sense of our own “unworthiness,” so important for anyone who seeks to follow the Lord and do anything for Him?
Supplemental EGW Notes
While Moses was living in retirement, the Lord sent his angels to especially instruct him in regard to the future. Here he learned more fully the great lesson of self-control and humility. He kept the flocks of Jethro, and while he was performing his humble duties as a shepherd, God was preparing him to become a spiritual shepherd of his sheep, even of his people Israel. He had been fully qualified as a general, to stand at the head of armies, and now the Lord would have him learn the duties, and perform the offices of a faithful shepherd of his people, to tenderly care for his erring, straying sheep. As Moses led the flock to the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb, “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. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.—Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 187.
Before Moses went forth, he received his high commission to his great work in a way that filled him with awe and gave him a deep sense of his own weakness and unworthiness. While engaged in his round of duties, he saw a bush, branches, foliage, and trunk, all burning, yet not consumed. He drew near to view the wonderful sight, when a voice addressed him from out of the flame. It was the voice of God. It was He who, as an angel of the covenant, had revealed Himself to the fathers in ages past. The frame of Moses quivered, he was thrilled with terror, as the Lord called him by name. With trembling lips he answered, “Here am I.” He was warned not to approach his Creator with undue familiarity: “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”—From the Heart, July 18, p. 211.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.