Why God Revealed Himself in the Thornbush to Moses

Midrash Aggadah, Exodus 3:2

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

"From within the bush." [Why from within the bush] and not from within another tree? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I proclaimed concerning Myself, "I am with him in trouble" (Psalms 91:15), and they are set in bondage, so I reveal Myself from within the bush, which is all thorns and in a narrow place; as it were, I reveal Myself from within the thorns. "And the bush was not consumed." From here they said that the fire of above raises shoots and scorches but does not consume, and it is black; while the fire of below does not raise shoots, and it consumes but does not scorch, and it is red. Therefore: "And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire" etc.

Themes

Divine PresenceExodusFire

Biblical References

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Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben YochaiAt Midnight the Hosts of the Lord Went Out of EgyptMidnight is the Torah's hinge. The Mekhilta gathers three turning points of Israel's story and binds them to that single hour. At midnight God cut the covenant Yalkut Shimoni on TorahThe LORD Passes Through Egypt Like a King Moving From Place to PlaceWhen the verse declares, "And I will pass through the land of Egypt," Rabbi Judah reaches for an image the human heart can hold. He likens the moment to a king Yalkut Shimoni on TorahThe Seven Clouds of Glory and the LORD Going Before IsraelWhen the Torah says "the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud," the sages count the word "cloud" across Scripture and arrive at seven clouds of gloYalkut Shimoni on TorahWhen Sin Made the Devouring Fire FearsomeRabbi Shimon ben Yochai pointed to a single sharp contrast hidden inside two verses. At Sinai the glory of God looked like a devouring fire blazing on the mountMidrash AggadahMoses Asks Three Things and the Holy One Grants Them AllAfter the sin of the calf, Moses stands at the seam between rupture and repair, and he will not move until he knows the breach is mended. "How shall it be knownSifra, Mekhilta deMiluimWhen the Shekhinah Wed Israel and Heaven's Fire Fell on the AltarThe sages took a verse meant for lovers and heard in it the marriage of God and Israel. "Go out and gaze," sings the Song, "upon the crown his mother set on him