The call of Moses is a radical break from everything that has gone before. Moses is shepherding Jethro’s flocks near Horeb, the mountain of God, when the burning bush attracts his attention. The Hebrew word for bush (seneh) appears in the Bible only five times and sounds similar to Sinai. Fire is formless, powerful, luminous—a perfect means of representing God. Although the messenger appears in the flaming bush, it is the Lord who speaks with Moses; the messenger has nothing to say. God identifies himself as the God of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and declares he has “come down” (3:8) to deliver his people because he sees, hears, and knows their suffering. Although God’s promise of the land flowing with milk and honey was never part of the descriptions of the land in Genesi…