*Burning Bush

This is how the Exodus began. God recruits Moses to lead the Israelis out of Bondage in Egypt by using a plant to get his attention:

 Exodus 3:2

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him
in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked,
and the bush was  blazing, yet it was not consumed.

When I see our non-biblical Burning Bush in its autumn splendor in landscapes I think of Moses and how amazed he must have been to see a plant “burning” yet not consumed. “What strange thing is this?”.  Exodus 3 gives a full account of Moses’ stumbling and dumbfoundedness as he did his best to talk God out of wanting him to lead the Exodus. It’s as if he were a “regular human being”. This might be considered the OT version of Peter’s denial of Jesus.

Moses had four excuses not to follow God’s wishes but his brother Aaron saved the day by volunteering to be his mouthpiece. With that support, Moses went on to biblical fame, becoming the giant of Judaism and credited by many for writing the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Pentecost saved the day for Peter as the fire of the Holy Spirit entered the Upper Room, anointed them all, preparing he and the disciples for their biblical fame.

Burning Bush is evergreen Acacia Strapflower, a scarlet mistletoe parasite on another acacia plant: Acacia nicolata. It takes two acacia plants to get the job done (not to be confused with the acacia tree of the Judean desert). When Strapflower is in full bloom it appears ablaze because of its flame-colored blossoms which stand out against the yellow blossoms of the parasite plant. Its oil glands emit a constant escape such that the sun can cause a flash of flame to envelop the plant without burning it up.

The Burning Bush united Moses and God. I wonder what flash of flame I will need to encounter to come away with like faith.