Exodus 3:6 | Pastor Burns' Study Notes

God identifies Himself as the God of Moses’ father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This links the event directly to the covenant promises given to the patriarchs. The God who speaks from the bush is not a new deity or a tribal god of Midian; He is the covenant God of Israel.

Moses’ response is fear and concealment. He hides his face because he is afraid to look upon God. This is not merely terror, but awe, reverence, and a deep awareness of divine holiness.

This response resembles the pattern found in Isaiah 6:1-9, where Isaiah, after seeing the Lord’s holiness, cries, “Woe is me.” In Isaiah 5 the prophet pronounces woes on others, but in Isaiah 6 the holiness of God turns the judgment inward: “Woe unto me.” That is always the right response when man sees himself in the light of God’s holiness.

The contrast with sinful humanity is profound. God is holy; man is unclean. Yet the wonder of Scripture is that the holy God still seeks fellowship and redemption.