The appearance of the burning bush to Moses. Icon of the Burning Bush: history of origin

Lesson 4. Celebration of the icon of the Mother of God “Burning Bush” (How should we honor the Mother of God?) I. Among the names that St. The church honors the Most Holy Theotokos, the name refers to: Burning Bush. This is how it is found in church hymns

Theophania in the Desert: The Burning Bush The details of this unusual Epiphany are described in the third chapter of the book of Exodus as follows: “Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. One day he led his flock far into the desert and came to the mountain of God,

The life of Moses consists of three periods, forty years each.
He spent the first forty years in Egypt. He was adopted by the pharaoh's daughter at the age of three months. When he had to flee Egypt to save his life, he went to the land of Midian. God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush and commanded him to return to Egypt and lead Israel out of slavery. He spent the last forty years of his life leading the children of Israel through the wilderness.

In fact, the Bible does not say that the burning bush (or the so-called burning bush) was a type of the church. However, considering the burning bush and the church, we can note enough correspondences between them that are worthy of our attention.

When God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush, God commanded him to take off his shoes, for the place where Moses stood was holy ground (Ex. 3:2-5).

4 The Lord saw that he was coming to see, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said: Moses! Moses! He said: here I am!
5 And God said, Do not come hither; take off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.

(Ex.3:2-5)

It was from that bush that God announced His will to Moses - to lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery (Isa. chapters 3 and 4).

Church is a holy place

(Heb. 10:19-22; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; Matt. 26:26-29).

19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter into the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus Christ, in a new and living way,
20 which He revealed again to us through the veil, that is, His flesh,

(Heb. 10:19,20)

17 But in offering this, I do not praise [you], because you intend not for the best, but for the worst.
18 For, first of all, I hear that when you come together to church, there are divisions among you, which I partly believe.
19 For there must also be differences of opinion among you, so that the wise may be revealed among you.
20 Further, you gather [so that it] does not mean to eat the Lord's supper;
21 For everyone hastens before [others] to eat his food, [so] [that] some are hungry, and others are drunk.
22 Don’t you have houses to eat and drink? Or do you neglect the church of God and humiliate the poor? What should I tell you? Should I praise you for this? I won't praise you.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus took bread on the night in which he was betrayed
24 And having given thanks, he broke it and said: Take, eat, this is My Body, broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
25 He also took the cup after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; Do this whenever you drink, in remembrance of Me.
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord.
28 Let a man examine himself, and in this way let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup.
29 For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, not considering the Body of the Lord.
30 For this reason many of you are weak and sick, and many die.
31 For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.
32 But being judged, we are punished by the Lord, lest we be condemned with the world.
33 Therefore, my brethren, when you gather together to supper, wait for one another.
34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you do not gather together for condemnation. I'll arrange the rest when I come.

(1 Cor. 11:17-34)

26 And as they ate, Jesus took bread, and when he had blessed it, he broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.
27 And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you,
28 For this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29 But I tell you, from now on I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink new [wine] with you in the kingdom of My Father.

(Matt. 26:26-29)

It is the church that is sacred, not the building.

The church must proclaim the word of God to free sinners from the bondage of sin (Matt. 28:18-20; Eph. 3:10,11; 1 Tim. 3:15).

18 And Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
19 Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

(Matt. 28:18-20)

10 so that the manifold wisdom of God may now be made known through the church to the rulers and powers in heaven,
11 according to the eternal purpose, which He fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord,

(Eph.3:10,11)

15 so that if I delay, you will know how you ought to act in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

(1 Timothy 3:15)

From the same passages we learn that the church is to disciple the saints. The church is to help those in need (Gal. 6:10; 2 Cor. 9:12,13).

10 So, as long as we have time, let us do good to everyone, but especially to those who belong to the family of faith.

(Gal.6:10)

12 For the work of this ministry not only fills the poverty of the saints, but also produces abundant thanksgiving to God in many;
13 For, seeing the experience of this service, they glorify God for your obedience to the gospel of Christ that you profess and for your sincere communication with them and with everyone,

(2 Cor. 9:12,13)

The church must also worship (John 4:24; Heb. 10:25).

24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

(John 4:24)

The work of the church can also be perverted, just as the church at Corinth perverted the essence of the Lord's Supper, turning it into only a love feast (charity dinners) (1 Cor. 11:17-34). There was nothing wrong with charitable feasts given by wealthy members of the community as long as they did not lead to a corruption of worship (1 Cor. 11:17-34; Jude 1:12).

1 Cor. 11:17-34 - read the excerpt above
12 Such are the temptations at your love suppers; feasting with you, they fatten themselves without fear. These are waterless clouds carried by the wind; autumn trees, barren, twice dead, uprooted;

(Jude 1:12)

burning bush

The burning bush was in the desert and it seemed to be worthless and almost dead. However, it was from this bush that God spoke to Moses. The church is in the world around it, the wilderness of sin (1 John 5:19).

9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God, with which God testified about His Son.

(1 John 5:9)

To many people, the church seems useless and insignificant. But Jesus would not have given His life and purchased the church with His blood if it had been worthless (Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25).

28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of the Lord and God, which He purchased with His own blood.

(Acts 20:28)

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her,

(Eph.5:25)

The church consists of the saved, because the Lord Himself adds those who are saved to the church (Acts 2:47).

47 praising God and being favored by all the people. The Lord daily added those who were being saved to the Church.

(Acts 2:47)

The flames could not consume the bush.

This caused Moses to turn and look at him (Ex. 3:2,3).

2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a thorn bush. And he saw that the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
3 Moses said, “I will go and see this great phenomenon, why the bush is not burned.”

(Ex.3:2,3)

The church is subject to intense persecution, even in our days, but the church is not and will not be subject to destruction (Dan. 2:44; Matt. 16:18; Acts 14:21,22; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4: 12).

44 And in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be given to another nation; it will crush and destroy all kingdoms, and itself will stand forever,

(Dan.2:44)

18 And I say to you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it;

(Matt. 16:18)

21 Having preached the gospel to this city and having acquired enough disciples, they returned through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and [teaching] that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

(Acts 14:21,22)

7 So that the tested faith of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

(1 Peter 1:7)

12 Beloved! do not shy away from the fiery temptation sent to you to test it as a strange adventure for you,

(1 Peter 4:12)

God was in the midst of the burning bush (Ex. 3:4).

4 The Lord saw that he was coming to see, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said: Moses! Moses! He said: here I am!

(Ex.3:4)

God is in the church today (Eph. 2:20-22; Col. 1:27).

20 Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone,
21 in which the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in which you also are being built into a habitation of God through the Spirit.

(Eph.2:20-22)

27 To whom God has been pleased to show what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,

(Col. 1:27)

The church is the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16,17).

16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will punish him: for the temple of God is holy; and this [temple] is you.

(1 Cor. 3:16,17)

We should realize that God dwells in His holy temple (Ps. 10:4; Hab. 2:20; Heb. 12:22-24).

4 The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord is His throne in heaven, His eyes can see; His eyelids try the sons of men.

(Ps. 10:4)

20 But the Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth be silent before Him!

(Hab.2:20)

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and to ten thousand angels,
23 to the triumphant council and church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaketh better than Abel.

(Heb. 12:22-24)

Church meetings, therefore, should be held in an atmosphere of reverence.

Burning bush (burning bush)

1. From this bush, God announced to Moses His commission - to lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery (Ex. chapters 3 and 4)
2. That place was holy ground (Exodus 3:2-5)
3. The bush was useless and dead
4. The burning bush was in the desert
5. The bush was not destroyed by fire (Ex. 3:2)
6. God was among the bush (Exodus 3:4)

Church

1. From the church, God's commission to free man from the bondage of sin is proclaimed (Matt. 28:1820; 2 Cor. 4:7; Eph. 3:10,11; 1 Tim. 3:15)
2. The church is a holy place (1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 3:10,21; Heb. 10:19-22; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; Matt. 26:26-29)
3. The church is of great value, but is considered by many to be useless and insignificant (Acts 2:47; 8:34; 20:28; Eph. 3:21; 5:25)
4. Church in the wilderness of sin (1 John 5:19)
5. The Church cannot be destroyed by burning persecution (Dan. 2:44; Acts 14:21,22; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12,13; Matt. 16:18)
6. God dwells in the church (1 Cor. 3:16,17; Eph. 2:2022; Col. 1:27)

Prayers to the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Burning Bush” help save your home from fire, arson and lightning damage. But the most important meaning of this icon is the protection of our souls from fiery hell and our requests that the Mother of God, with the help of this image, help us burn out with fire all our spiritual sins and passions.
In front of the icon of the Burning Bush, people ask the Mother of God to protect them from enemy attacks, as well as for healing of soul and body.

It must be remembered that icons or saints do not “specialize” in any specific areas. It will be right when a person turns with faith in the power of God, and not in the power of this icon, this saint or prayer.
And .

HISTORY OF THE BURNING BOOK ICON

The story of the birth of the icon is one of the most ancient, which is described in the Old Testament of the Bible.
One day, Moses, at that time an ordinary shepherd, was tending sheep in the desert near Mount Sinai (the ancient name Horeb) and suddenly saw fire in the distance. Coming closer, the shepherd saw a miracle - it was a thorn bush that was burning, but not burning, which later received the name “Burning Bush”. And suddenly, from the very flames, the Lord God himself appeared, who, during a conversation, gave Moses instructions on how to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. But the most valuable thing in this conversation was that humanity received God’s covenant, the ten tablets, the commandments, which we still use today.
Having received the gift of prophecy and miracles as help from the Lord, the prophet Moses fulfilled God's will.

Now the location of the bush from the fire of which the Lord appeared to Moses is on the territory of the monastery of St. Catherine, founded in the 4th century at the foot of Mount Sinai, which pilgrims call the Mount of Moses.
In 324, by order of Saint Helena, who was the mother of Emperor Constantine, a chapel was built on the site where the bush grows. The roots of the famous bush are located directly under the altar of the monastery cathedral, and behind the altar there is a chapel called the “Burning Bush”.
The famous Kupina was transplanted not far from the chapel, where the plant is still located. This is the only case of replanting a bush in the entire Sinai Peninsula. There were attempts to give life to Kupina in another place, but the roots never sprouted!
There is no iconostasis in the chapel that would hide the altar from the believers, and therefore pilgrims can see under the altar the place where the sacred bush was located.
This place is designed in the form of a hole in the slab and is covered with a silver shield with chasing, which depicts the burning bush of Kupina, the Transfiguration, the Crucifixion, the evangelists, St. Catherine and the Sinai monastery itself.

Pilgrims must enter here without shoes, this is exactly what God commanded the prophet Moses:

“Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).

The Monastery of St. Catherine is located close (two hours by bus) from Sharm el-Sheikh, a popular holiday destination among Russians in Egypt. Before the closure of air traffic with Egypt, tourist trips to the monastery were organized from this resort, where you could see with your own eyes the place where a person talked with God!

DESCRIPTION OF THE IMAGE OF THE BURNING BURCH

The image of the Mother of God and her “Unburnt” icon occupies a very important place in Orthodoxy.
Execution options icons There are a lot of bushes. Sometimes we see an image of the icon of the Mother of God in a flame that burns, but does not burn it. But more often the Mother of God in the icon is against the background of an eight-pointed star, which is formed from two rhombuses, one of which is red, denoting fire, and the other green, symbolizing the color of the thorn bush. Sometimes there are quadrangles painted blue or dark blue.

Burning Bush - images on icons

In the center is an image of the Mother of God with her baby. Along the edges of the red quadrangle are depicted a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle, symbolizing the images of the evangelists who are mentioned in the Apocalypse: Angel (Matthew), Lion (Mark), Taurus (Luke) and Eagle (John).
The Mother of God is surrounded by heavenly forces subordinate to Her, archangels and angels of the elements - thunder, wind, lightning, rain, dew, frost and darkness. Each angel holds certain “attributes” - cup, lantern, cloud, sword, torch, closed ark (freezing), naked figure (wind) .
The Mother of God holds a ladder in her hands, leaning against her shoulder. This image means that it was through the Holy Virgin that the Son of God came to our earth.
In the corners of the icon, visions of the prophets are shown that are associated with the incarnation of Christ: in the upper left - Moses’ vision of a sign in the form of a burning bush, in the upper right corner - Isaiah’s vision of Seraphim with a burning coal in tongs, below, on the left - Ezekiel’s vision of the closed gates, on the right - to Jacob - ladders with angels.

THE BURNING BUSH IN THE THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION

Many centuries passed after Moses saw the bush bush. Now this event has acquired new meanings.
In the New Testament, the Burning Bush, as the Unmarried Bride of the Immaculate Conception from the Holy Spirit, we honor the Mother of God.
Just as a green bush once shone on the holy Mount Sinai, the same bright Divine Light shone around Her Son during the Transfiguration on the sacred Mount Tabor.

Throughout her earthly life, the Mother of God lived in divine purity. She accepted the Holy Spirit into Herself and remained untouched by His fire, which burned sinners.

The most important idea of ​​this image, crowned with the Burning Bush icon: any person should love God, strive to eradicate his vices, and then he can be under God’s reliable protection, and no satanic attempts will be able to burn it.
Every year in Jerusalem during the Easter holiday, the blessed Divine fire descends to the earth, which, according to eyewitnesses, also has the miraculous property of burning, but not burning.

Once, I () had the opportunity to communicate with a person who, for three years in a row, saw this miracle - the blessed Easter fire! He confirmed that yes, the fire really shines, warms, but does not burn...
But ONLY THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN GOD.

MIRACLES PERFORMED BY THE HOLY IMAGE

In 1390, the icon of Kupina was brought to Moscow by monks from Palestine, and since that time, legends have repeatedly mentioned its miraculous help.

One day, Dimitri Koloshin, groom of Tsar Theodore Alekseevich, innocently fell into disgrace and was helped by the icon of the Mother of God of the Burning Bush. Through his prayers, somehow in a dream, the Mother of God appeared to the king and reported the innocence of the convicted man, after which the case of Dimitri Koloshin was reviewed, as a result of which he was acquitted. In gratitude, Koloshin built a temple at his own expense in 1680, which was named the Burning Bush.

In the Middle Ages, many buildings in Moscow were made of wood, which often caused fires. But the fire did not touch the parishioners of the Neopalimovskaya Church - the icon was carried around the buildings during severe fires.

In 1822, large fires began to break out frequently in the city of Slavyansk (Donetsk region). No one could find the cause of the fires. One night, in a dream, one of the parishioners of the church had a vision that in order to protect against fires, an icon of the Burning Bush should be painted and a prayer service would need to be served. The icon of the Mother of God was painted and prayers began to be constantly read in front of it. Almost immediately, during another fire, a local madwoman was detained, who turned out to be the culprit of these tragedies. After her arrest, the fires stopped immediately.

GREATNESS

We magnify You, Most Holy Virgin, God-chosen Youth, and honor Your holy image, through which you bring healing to all who come with faith.

VIDEO

Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev talks about why Moses tended his flocks in... the desert, how the holy fathers explained the phenomenon of the Burning Bush, about the “sacred curiosity” of Moses and what “shoes” every Christian should take off.

What can be called the spiritual preparation of Moses is described in both the 2nd and 3rd chapters of the Book of Exodus. These chapters tell how the Lord shaped the character of Moses, developing and revealing in him precisely the feeling of a heightened desire for justice: first Moses tries to protect a fellow Jew and kills the Egyptian oppressor (cf. Ex. 2: 11-12), then Moses already separates his brothers (cf. Exod. 2: 13–14), and after that Moses stands up for the daughters of the Midian priest, who were driven away from the well (cf. Exod. 2: 16–17).

Shepherd

But, from the point of view of the interpretation of the holy fathers, Moses acquired the main qualities necessary for a spiritual leader when he spent decades tending sheep for his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.

“Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. One day he led his flock far into the desert and came to the mountain of God, Horeb” (Ex. 3: 1 ).

It would be more accurate to translate that Moses tends his father-in-law's sheep, leading them far away for desert. And really, how can you herd sheep? V desert? There may be two reasons for this.

The first reason may be that Moses is sensitive to other people's property and does not want to cause any damage to other people's possessions, other people's meadows and plots of land for grazing sheep. Careful in detail, he could actually be exalted by God for his strict desire to fulfill all the subtleties of God's Law.

The second reason for Moses’ departure from this world with his flock is the awareness, or, rather, even the intuitive foreknowledge of God’s great mission that awaits him: he must lead God’s people among aggressive tribes and peoples and for 40 years lead them through the desert, “as sheep among wolves" (cf. Matthew 10:16).

The very relationship of the Creator with His creations is considered in the Bible as the relationship of a shepherd-shepherd with his sheep: “As a shepherd inspects his flock on the day when he is among his scattered flock, so I will look over My sheep and free them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. And I will bring them out from the nations, and gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, and by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land” (Ezek. 34: 12-13).

There is a legend about how Moses once lost a little sheep, searched for a long time and finally found it near a stormy river. The lamb was thirsty, but did not dare to approach such a furiously noisy stream. In emotion, Moses exclaimed: “Poor lamb! I didn’t think that you were just thirsty, so I ran to the water! You are tired, and now I will help you.” Having watered the lamb, Moses carried it on his own shoulders to the flock. And then the Lord God said: “You have compassion for the flock that belonged to an ordinary mortal man of flesh and blood! From now on you will shepherd Israel, My flock.”

The expression “and came to the mountain of God, Horeb,” on the one hand, seems to anticipate the glorious events associated with this place, on the other hand, it may indicate that miraculous events began immediately as soon as Moses and the herd “came to the mountain” .

There is such a legend: when Moses passed by Mount Horeb, he noticed that the birds were afraid to approach the mountain and were circling in the distance. When Moses headed towards the mountain, it seemed to him that the mountain “in response” itself began to move in his direction. As soon as Moses retreated, the mountain also returned to its original place. And only when Moses approached and stepped on the foot of Mount Horeb, it settled and froze in one place. Those of you who have somehow visited the desert will not consider such a legend unreliable: the well-known mirages of the great deserts actually either bring extremely distant objects or landscapes closer or further away.

“A step away from love for this world”

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a thorn bush. And he saw that the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed" (Ref. 3:2 ).

The expression from the Synodal translation: “in the flame of fire” seems too vague, like the phrase “butter.” It would be more correct to translate: from the core of the fire. And the “thorn bush,” on the one hand, indicates the material that is most susceptible to fire, on the other hand, it indicates the most inconspicuous tree of the local flora, inconvenient and clumsy.

This is exactly how the children of God are perceived in this world. It is said: “Look, brethren, who you are who are called: not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many of you are strong, not many of you are noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong things; God has chosen the base things of the world and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.” 1 Cor. 1:26–28).

Clement of Alexandria Christocentrically perceived the vision of the Burning Bush, covered with thorns:

Just as the Logos appeared in a bush of thorns, so later, in a crown of thorns, he showed: these are works of the same Divine omnipotence

“When the omnipotent Lord of the universe undertook the publication of the Law through the Logos and wanted to demonstrate His power before Moses, a Divine vision appeared to him in the form of light in a burning thorn bush. The thorn bush is a prickly plant; and when the Logos has finished legislation and life among men, in a mysterious way He is again crowned with thorns. Returning to where he came from, He finished the work of His ancient parish. Just as before the Logos appeared in a bush of thorns, so later, captured, He showed in a crown of thorns that all of this is the work of one and the same Divine omnipotence, that He is the one Son of the one Father, the beginning and the end of world time.”

Liturgical theology contemplates in the Burning Bush the Most Holy Virgin Mary Herself, Who unburntly received into Herself the One about Whom it is said: “Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down! the mountains would melt at Your presence, like melting fire..." ( Is. 64:1–2).

In any prophetic phenomenon, both the word of God itself and the images with which it is accompanied are equivalent. Moreover, sometimes the word of God is the revelation of a vision, and sometimes vice versa: prophetic visions in reality are more clear, vivid and better remembered than dream visions or prophetic visions in a state of fainting (cf.: Number 24:4). Sometimes a miraculous (unusual) phenomenon can prepare a person for the prophetic dialogue itself, as if gradually accustoming him, introducing him into it.

“Moses said: I will go and see this great phenomenon, why the bush is not burned” ( Ref. 3:3 ).

“When Moses saw that the bush was burning and not being burned, he marveled at the vision and said: “I’ll go and look at this phenomenon.” But it’s not that he himself meant that he would go through some space, cross mountains or overcome rocks and valleys. The appearance was right there, before his face and before his eyes. But he said: “I will go,” to show that the heavenly phenomenon reminded him that he must enter into a higher life and move on from what he lived among to something better.”

The words translated here as “I’ll go and look” are more correctly translated as “I’ll probably turn around and look.”

This is exactly how Saint Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome, understands them, he writes:

“Therefore Moses, who sought the glory of the highest contemplation, said: “I will go and see the vision.” If he had not taken a step with his heart away from love for this world, he would never have been able to comprehend the higher things.”

“I’ll go” - from Latin: “I’ll turn”! And “to take a step aside” means to turn away from the previous path.

A person who is able to pay attention to an unusual phenomenon and not pass it by is a person with heightened inner intuition. It is precisely such people, capable of leaving their “herds” of human problems and thinking about the miraculous, who are called “mystics,” for whom the supermundane is much more real and much more important than the everyday and everyday.

In the Orthodox tradition, mystical theology is revealed to people of the contemplative type, less active, perhaps, but more contemplative.

Here another reason is revealed to us why Moses “led ... the flock far into the wilderness”: he could seek solitude from the noisy pagans of Midian.

After all, the Son of God Himself, at the crucial moments of His earthly ministry, sought solitude and silence, without which it is impossible for true humanity to hear the true Divinity. It is said: “Jesus went away from there in a boat to a deserted place alone” ( Matt. 14:13). And again: “Jesus, having learned that they wanted to come and accidentally take him and make him king, again withdrew to the mountain alone” ( In. 6:15).

So is Moses! And even more so, each of us, deafened by the screams and squeals of the so-called “civilized” world, needs to reflect on silence and unfussy loneliness. At least for a while, for a year or a month, even if just for one day or one hour...

The pace of the modern world, offensive information flows absorb consciousness and return it to us distorted, torn and half-decayed. We miss thoughtful advice and quiet instructions that can only be heard with the heart. The world of politics, and even religion, shouts, agitates, is engaged in its own marketing, but we need to stop and stop the thoughts that are not ours, other people’s, rushing through our consciousness, to hear the voice of antiquity, a voice that is not hysterical, but judiciously calm, with the quiet joy of personal communication with the past . It is said: “Thus says the Lord: Stand still in your ways and consider, and ask about the ancient ways, where is the good way, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” ( Jer. 6:16).

On the other hand, the question: “a great phenomenon, why the bush does not burn up” is an ecclesiological, that is, church, question. It is rationally impossible to explain the existence of the people of God in its two historical dimensions: Old Testament and New Testament times.

The sacred history of the Old Testament Church shows us how many times the existence of the people of God approached the tragic point of the “final solution to the Jewish question”: this happened in Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome! But the sacred history of the New Testament Church, which continues to this day, has revealed tragic pages of attempts to “completely resolve the church issue” - both in ancient times and during the Islamic wars.

In essence, in the USSR most of the 20th century took place. These are, in particular, the “godless five-year plans” and Nikita Khrushchev’s promise to show the last Russian priest on television.

But the worst persecution is yet to come. And in the prophet Daniel we find the words: “...and a difficult time will come, such as has not happened since people existed until this time; But at that time all of your people who are found written in the book will be saved." Dan. 12:1).

The guarantee that the burning bush of the Holy Church will never go out and will illuminate the darkness of the last times with the fiery tongues of the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit without burning for its bearers themselves are the words of the Creator of the law and the Church of the New Testament, spoken in Caesarea Philippi: “I will create My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" ( Matt. 16:18).

Take off your shoes - a symbol of death

“The Lord saw that he was coming to look, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said: Moses! Moses! He said: Here am I [Lord]!” (Ref. 3:4 ).

The Angel of the Lord - that is, the Divine Logos Himself, about Whom it is said: “The research and research of the prophets related to this salvation, who foretold about the grace appointed for you, exploring to which and at what time the Spirit of Christ who was in them pointed when He foretold » ( 1 Pet. 1:10–11) - now foreshadows Moses, calling him by name twice: “Moses! Moses!"

Repeating a name twice always indicates a special Divine approval or calling. It is said: “But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham! Abraham! He (that is, Abraham. - Prot. O.S.) said: here I am" ( Life 22:11). And again: “And God said to Israel in a vision at night: Jacob! Jacob! He (that is, Jacob. - Prot. O.S.) said: here I am" ( Life 46:2).

In this case, God seems to say: “He who takes it out! Taking out! When will you take out your own people and justify the name given to you?”

We have already said that it is a mistake to understand the name Moses (Hebrew Moshe) as “taken out”, in which case it would be pronounced as wave- “pulled out”, “extracted”. However, he is given the name “Moses” (Moshe), which means “pulling out,” “draws out.”

Moses responds with the same prophetic determination to the call of God as Abraham and Jacob: “Here am I,” thereby showing his not only carnal, but also spiritual affinity with the ancient prophets.

Of course, Moses might not have obeyed the Divine call; he could have remained a happy shepherd of a large flock and a happy father of his family. But the true happiness of human life is to recognize God’s command regarding oneself and live in accordance with this plan of the Creator.

The misfortune of many people lies precisely in the fact that, having not recognized God’s commandment regarding themselves, they mind their own business.

“And God said: Do not come here; Take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground."Ref. 3:5 ).

Any matter through which the Lord manifests His presence is sanctified and perceived as holy, as shrine and dedicated. Both the earth, as we read, and the whole people can be considered holy and, therefore, sanctified (cf.: Dan. 7:27), and mountain (cf.: Dan. 9:16), and the city (cf.: Dan. 9:24), and the clothes of a saint (cf.: Acts 19:11–12), and his relics (cf.: 2 Kings 13:21), etc.

In the call to take off the shoes from your feet, St. Ephraim the Syrian also sees a call to vengeance:

“Take off your shoes and go and trample on the Egyptians, because for 30 years now the time has come for them to be gathered like bunches of grapes. Moses went (to look) because he was not afraid, but when a vision appeared to him that was unbearable for his eyes, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God, although he had previously looked at the angel.”

It is said in the Book of Genesis: “And the chief butler told Joseph his dream and said to him: I dreamed, and behold a vine before me; there are three branches on the vine; it developed, color appeared on it, berries grew and ripened on it; and Pharaoh's cup is in my hand; I took the berries, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand" ( Life 40:9–11).

Everyone knows the meaning of this prophetic dream in relation to the cupbearer (cf.: Life 40:12–13), but it also has a hidden meaning in relation to the whole of Egypt, this evil empire. The three branches-clusters are three prophets of God who will have to overthrow all of Egypt into the winepress of God’s wrath. These are the prophets Moses and Aaron and the prophetess Miriam. All of them fulfilled their mission in the great destruction of the occult civilization of Egypt.

The fact that the cup is placed in the hand of Pharaoh contains a prophecy that the ruler of Egypt himself will suffer from the cup of God's wrath. The Monk Ephraim the Syrian sees the mission of Moses in this too.

In Moses taking off his shoes, there is a call to remove the barriers of “the flesh and step on the bare feet of the spirit and mind.”

Saint Ambrose of Milan shows in Moses taking off his shoes a call for every believer to remove the barriers of “the flesh and walk with the bare feet of the spirit and mind.” The meaning of this instruction is obvious: what a person is accustomed to relying on in ordinary life is not always acceptable when fulfilling the will of the Lord.

Saint Gregory of Nazianzus sees in these actions of Moses a call for the clergy to turn away, when presenting themselves before God, from everything corruptible, “so as not to bring anything dead between God and people.”

The call to “take off your shoes from your feet” in the original language sounds even more radical: here the word “take off” is more correctly translated as the word “throw off.” The sound of this word in Hebrew (shin, lamed) is close to the words “will throw off” (Hebrew ishal) and “break down” (Hebrew venashal). That is, we are talking about what needs to be parted with in the most decisive way, especially in the current situation. A similar thing happened with Isaiah: “The Lord spoke to Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying: Go, take off the sackcloth from around your waist, and throw off your sandals from off your feet. He did just that: he walked naked and barefoot" ( Is. 20:2).

And at the same time, we find in the New Testament the following call: “Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace” ( Eph. 6:14–15).

The apparent contradiction of these two verses - from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and from the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians - we resolve with the following words of the Son of God, which He instructed His disciples before the start of the sermon: “Take not with you gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for the journey, no two clothes, no shoes..." ( Matt. 10:9–10). That is, one must gird oneself not with a tightly stuffed purse, but with truth and righteousness, and not put on sandals, as a symbol of deadness, but put on “your feet in readiness to preach the gospel of peace.”

About the deadness of ordinary sandals, St. Augustine wrote:

“What kind of shoes do we use? These are belts made from the skin of dead animals. The leather thongs of dead animals serve as coverings for our feet. What is required of us? Give up dead affairs. This is shown to glory in the example of Moses, when the Lord says to him: “Take off your shoes, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.” What is holy land if not the Church of God? Standing on it, let's take off our shoes and give up dead affairs."

We can understand what “dead works” are and where they come from from the words of the Son of God: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy - this defiles a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person" ( Matt. 15:19–20).

The only deadness we must carry within us is the deadness of Christ to all sin.

About the means that can deliver us from these dead works, it is clearly said: “Then how much more (that is, even more so. - Prot. O.S.) Moreover, the Blood of Christ, Who through the Holy Spirit offered Himself blameless to God, will cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living and true God!” ( Heb. 9:14).

The only deadness we must carry within us is the deadness of the Lord Jesus Christ to all sin. The Apostle Paul instructs us: “We always bear in our body the deadness of the Lord Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” ( 2 Cor. 4:10).

(To be continued.)

Moses and the burning bush

1 Moses tended the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led her far into the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord a appeared to him in a flame b from the midst of a bush. Moses saw that the bush engulfed in fire was not burned, 3 and thought: “I’ll go and look at this great miracle - why the bush is not burned.”

4 When the Lord saw that Moses had come to see, He called him from the bush:

Moses! Moses!

Moses replied:

5 “Don’t come closer,” said God. - Take off your sandals, because the place you are standing on is holy ground.

6 He said:

I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

Hearing this, Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The Lord said:

I saw the oppression of My people in Egypt and heard them groan under the rule of their taskmasters and learned of their torments. 8 I came down to free them from the yoke of the Egyptians and to bring them out of this land into a good, spacious land flowing with milk and honey - the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 And behold, the cry of the Israelites has come to Me. I saw how the Egyptians oppressed them. 10 Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you can lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

11 But Moses said to God:

Who am I to go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?

12 God answered:

I'll be with you. This is a sign for you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.

13 Moses said to God:

Behold, I will go to the Israelites and say to them: “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they will ask: “What is His Name?” What should I answer them?

14 God answered Moses:

I am Who I Am. Tell the Israelites: “I Am has sent me to you.”

15 God also said to Moses:

Say to the Israelites: “The Lord d, the God of your fathers is the God of Abraham, b