3:1
The background having been set, we now begin the real action. In reading all this Moses is a type of Christ, i.e. the events of the Exodus are important in their own right, they established the nation of Israel, but they also point towards the real Exodus, our salvation in Christ. The Israelites were set free from slavery in Egypt. In Christ we are set free from slavery to sin. While Moses is a type of Christ, he is also a sinner! This latter fact is made manifestly true in the whole of the Pentateuch. The Bible is extremely clear about the sinfulness of its heroes. Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law. The Hebrew implies this was an ongoing task, i.e. his normal job. Moses had no idea what was going to happen that day. He was just getting on with life, and the prospects for life must have looked fairly grim. No going back to his people, no setting them free from slavery.
3:2
However, Moses could not have been more wrong. The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses. The term “angel of the Lord” can mean an angel, a messenger of God, or it can be an oblique way of referring to God Himself. The Isrealites were very reluctant to mention God Himself, this being out of reverence for the Lord. Here we have the famous burning bush, which was not actually burning up. This may have been an illusion, i.e. a product of the way the sun was shining, or it could be an actual miracle. The latter seems by far the more likely, though it is not crucial. Whatever the case, the bush attracted Moses’ attention.
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