Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Through the Bible in Less Than a Year! part 2

Today I read Exodus 3 - Moses encounters the burning bush:

And YHWH's messenger was seen by [Moshe]

in the flame of a fire out of the midst of a bush

He saw:

here, the bush is ablaze with fire,

and the bush is not consumed!

Exodus 3:2.


How does Moses react to this? He turns aside from his path (he was shepherding his father-in-law's flock) to "see this great sight". He's just gonna check it out, because it's quite unusual - a fire within a bush, but not actually burning the bush. Once God sees he's got Moses' attention, he calls him by name ("Moshe! Moshe!") and Moses responds with the proper answer: "Here I am."


The right answer, the "classic response of biblical heroes" according to Everett Fox (citing Gen 22:1, 11; 1 Sam 3:4). Why is this the right answer? Well, let's think about the alternatives. If someone calls me, I might:

* pretend I don't hear

* yell back (annoyed) "What do you want?" or even better, "What?"

* ask "What is it?"

* say "Yes?"

(If it's a phone call, I might say, "Speaking." or "This is she" etc. -- probably the closest thing to "Here I am")


"Here I am" answers the call. It doesn't anticipate the demands. It doesn't resist or try to set an expectation that I will do this only under protest. It makes no assumptions, hides nothing, fears nothing. Completely open. Nothing dodgy. Not a bad example to follow, when you think about it.


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