_|_ | C O P | N E T Advent Prophesies Sunday School Lesson Youth Group Azer Bestavros Moses and the burning bush -------------------------- The people of Israel emigrated to Egypt to escape a famine. For a while they had a good life, but eventually they ended up being treated as slaves for Egypt's Pharaohs. So they cried to God for "salvation". God listened to their supplications and Moses was the man he chose to lead them out of Egypt. God "revealed" Himself by speaking to Moses through a "burning bush". The "word of God" coming to Moses through the "bush" is a vivid prophesy about the incarnation of the "word of God" in the womb of the "Virgin Mary". Moses was amazed that the bush carried a burning fire, yet the bush itself did not burn! During Advent we recall with amazement the miracle of the incarnation: A young virgin carrying the creator in her womb. In the prophesy, God "came down" to "deliver" his people from "slavery". Two thousand years later, Christ, the word of God "came down" to "deliver" his people (all of humanity) from "slavery" to sin and death. Let's read the story of the "burning bush" from [Exodus 2:25-3:8]. | And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. Now | Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of | Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, | the mountain of God. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame | of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was | burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I will | now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." So | when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the | midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then | He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, | for the place where you stand is holy ground." Moreover He said, "I am | the God of your father; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God | of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. | And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are | in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I | know their sorrows. "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand | of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large | land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the | Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the | Hivites and the Jebusites. The miracle of miracles: ----------------------- During the days of the prophet Isaiah, Rezin the king of Syria declared a war on Judah, the sect of Israel from which Christ the Lord was to descend. Ahaz, the king of Judah, was very concerned about this war, so God sent His prophet Isaiah to reassure Ahaz that "God will save His chosen people". In His dialogue with Ahaz (through Isaiah), God gives Ahaz a sign -- a miracle of all miracles: that "the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel". The name "Immanuel" means "God is with us". The miracle of miracles is a prophesy about a "virgin" giving birth to "God" who will live "with us". Here are excerpts from that dialogue [Isaiah 7:3-13]. | Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz ... and say to him: | 'Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted ... because | Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have taken evil counsel against | you, saying, Let us go up against Judah and trouble it ..." Thus says the | Lord GOD: "It shall not stand, nor shall it come to pass". Moreover the | LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, "Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD | your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above." But Ahaz | said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!" Then he said, "Hear now, | O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you | weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: | Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name | Immanuel." This miracle of miracles is visited many times in the prophesies of Isaiah. In particular, the following further describes the coming of Immanuel to deliver those "walking in the darkness" of sin. In it, God promises "joy" to the world because redemption is near. The promised Child is described as "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace". Let's read excerpts from this astonishing revelation from [Isaiah 9:2-7]. | The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt | in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. You have | multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You | According to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the | spoil. For You have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his | shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian... For unto us | a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon | His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty | God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His | government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and | over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice | from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will | perform this. Concordances from Old and New Testaments: ---------------------------------------- Many of the prophesies in the Old Testament about Advent and Incarnation have concrete concordances in the New Testament. It is amazing that even the Jews, their priests and scribes knew exactly the significance of these prophesies, yet they refused to open their heart and accept the redeemer. | But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of | Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in | Israel, Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. | [Micah 5:2] | | When Herod the king heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem | with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of | the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be | born. So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written | by the prophet: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the | least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who | will shepherd My people Israel.' " [Matthew 2:3-6] | "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And | the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the | Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. behold, He is coming," | says the LORD of hosts. [Malachi 3:1] | The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; | make straight in the desert a highway for our God. [Isaiah 40:3] | | As it is written in the Prophets: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your | face, who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in | the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD, make His paths straight.' " | John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of | repentance for the remission of sins. [Mark 1:2-4] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _|_ This article is one of many more articles about the Coptic Orthodox | Church, the Christian Apostolic Church of Egypt. These articles can be | retrieved from Copt-Net archives at http://pharos.bu.edu/cn/Menu.html COP|NET For more information, contact Copt-Net server at CN-request@cs.bu.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------