There is an ancient Jewish legend that says: A young man asked his Rabbi "Why does your daily prayer say, ‘God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob? Why does it not simply say, ‘God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?’ " The Rabbi replied, "because, my son, Abraham’s God and Isaac’s God may not have been Jacob’s. Each generation must find God for itself, indeed, each person must find his own God." This legend touches on the passages of our lesson from Exodus 3, but with significant differences, lessons to be learned by the Israelites as they languished in captivity, lessons to be remembered by them throughout their subsequent history.

The setting for this lesson of religious history for Israel was the sheep pasture of Midian. The human medium was the refugee Moses.

Israel’s first lesson as a…