All through the forty years which Mo'ses spent in Mid'i-an caring for the sheep of his father-in-law the burdens of the Is'ra-el-ites were made heavier and heavier. Their daily tasks were greatly increased, brutal methods were taken to check their increase in numbers, and life was made miserable for them in every possible way. They did not know whether Mo'ses was living or dead, and probably never expected to hear of him again.
Death had come to the Pha'raoh who was on the throne at the time when Mo'ses had fled from E'gypt, but another king, also called by the title of Pha'raoh, had taken his place. The Is'ra-el-ites had hoped that the change in monarchs would bring some relief from their burdens, but the new king seemed to be more cruel than any who had come before him. Under the new trials and sufferings the He'brews became much more earnest in their prayers to God for deliverance, and in this way their religious life was brought into a deeper understanding of their complete dependence upon God.
One day Mo'ses led his sheep far out into the desert regions of A-ra'bi-a to the level plain at the foot of Mount Ho'reb, which is sometimes called Mount Si'nai. While the sheep were grazing, a very startling experience came to Mo'ses. While his heart burned with love and compassion for his oppressed brethren back in E'gypt, and while he was thinking of their increased burdens under the cruel new king, a strange sight came to his eyes.
A bush on the plain was aflame with a brilliant and dazzling fire, yet it was not burned or consumed. Mo'ses stood before the strange sight lost in wonder and amazement, unable to take his eyes from such a miracle. And so he said to himself, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." Suddenly a voice came from the burning bush, saying, "Mo'ses, Mo'ses." He humbly replied, "Here am I." Then the voice said to him, "Draw not closer; put off thy sandals, for the ground whereon thou standest is holy ground."
As Mo'ses stood in silence and awe, the voice spoke again from the burning bush: "I am the God of thy father, the God of A'bra-ham, the God of I'saac, and the God of Ja'cob." After Mo'ses had covered his face as a sign of respect, the voice continued: "I have seen the affliction of my people in E'gypt, and have come to deliver them. I shall take them to Ca'naan, the good land flowing with milk and honey, the land which I promised them long ago."
The voice from Heaven then described the cruel treatment which the children of Is'ra-el had suffered in E'gypt, and spoke of the wonderful land in Ca'naan which God would give them for their own as soon as they drove out the heathen nations which then held the land. Mo'ses was told that this voice had come to him as a sign from Heaven, and that he should tell Pha'raoh that the LORD had sent him to deliver the He'brews from the land of E'gypt. By this command Mo'ses was called by the LORD to become the leader of Is'ra-el at once.
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