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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Acts 7:30 - 7:34
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_7:30-34
30After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord: 32"I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob." Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look. 33But the Lord said to him, "Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34I have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them; come now, and I will send you to Egypt."
Act_7:30 This account is found in Exodus, chapters 3 and 4.
▣ "an angel" In the OT text this angel is really YHWH. See full note at Act_5:19. Notice how this angel is characterized.
1. Exo_3:2, "the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire"
2. Exo_3:4, "when the Lord (i.e., YHWH) saw that he turned aside to look"
3. Exo_3:4, "God (i.e., Elohim) called to him from the midst of the bush"
See hyperlink at Act_1:6.
▣ "Mount Sinai" See Special Topic below.
hyperlink
Act_7:32 This account is found in Exo_3:6.
▣ "fathers" In both the Hebrew text and Greek translation (i.e., Septuagint) the word is singular. In every other occurrence of the phrase it is plural. God knew Moses' slave father.
Act_7:33 This account is found in Exo_3:5. Moses approached the bush out of curiosity, not religious devotion.
The exact reason for taking off his shoes is uncertain.
1. shoes might be polluted (i.e., animal dung)
2. taking off shoes might be a sign of intimacy or familiarity (i.e., at home).
3. a cultural practice of the Patriarchs or Egyptian ritual
Act_7:34 This account is found in Exo_3:7. For me this verse is so theologically significant for this reason: YHWH heard their prayers, saw the affliction, and responded. He came down to rescue them, but notice His rescue was effected through human instrumentality. God sent a reluctant Moses. God has chosen to deal with humans through humans!