Moses’ encounter with YHWH through the burning bush is an important text for a number of reasons. In its immediate context, this divine encounter brings Moses face-to-face with his God who will call him to be his appointed deliverer. More broadly, this encounter at the burning bush reveals the greatness of God’s power, heart, and presence. Moreover, the Lord Jesus refers to this encounter in his public ministry as proof that YHWH is the God of the living and not of the dead. It is to this last observation that I would like to turn for the remainder of this reflection, for how Jesus uses the encounter at the burning bush is important for how we understand who God is and how we relate to him.
In Matthew 22, we read about several attempts by the religious authorities to entrap or entangle Jesus. One particular group, the Sadducees, who were a powerful political group, tested Jesus on the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees did not accept as Scripture anything other than the first five books of the Bible, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. While other religious authorities would have accepted the prophetic words in the book of Daniel that referred to a future resurrection (cf. Dan 12:1-3), the Sadducees did not. And so, they sought to entrap Jesus by putting something of a riddle before him: “Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.' 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her” (Matt 22:24-28 ESV).
Now, in response to this riddle, Jesus answers both the presenting problem and the underlying issue. With respect to the presenting problem, Jesus says, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matt 22:29-30 ESV). That is to say, the Sadducees have made an unacceptable leap of logic by making an unwarranted analogy between this world and the world to come after the resurrection. Then, with respect to the underlying issue, Jesus replies, “And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Matt 22:31-32 ESV). With this second level of response, Jesus appeals to Exod 3:6 as proof that there is a resurrection because God provides continuity between this life, the intermediate state, and the general resurrection.
How, though, does Exod 3:6 make Jesus’ point? An answer begins with the fact that God had made an enduring covenant with Abraham that carried on through Isaac, Jacob, and the generations up to Moses. When we think about how covenants work between two people, for example in marriage, those covenants terminate at the death of one of the covenant participants. It is thus very important that God makes a point to connect his covenant promises with Abraham to the generations that follow, all the way up to Moses’ time. There is something enduring about God’s covenant relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that transcends their death. Relatedly, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not territorially bound, nor is he defined by either a particular nation or culture. His covenant relationships transcend borders and cultures; his power and concern extend to the whole world.[1] These two observations hang on the fact that God defines himself, which is a point that he makes to Moses when he gives his name in the following verses: I am who I am. God transcends our ability to understand him, and so it is not a big step to the conclusion that his relationships also transcend our ordinary expectations. In the end, Jesus’ appeal to Exod 3:6 is an appeal to the power and presence of God with his people, a power and presence that sustains his people beyond clinical death through to everlasting life.
[1] Jacob L Helberg, “Jesus Christus se begronding van die opstanding (Matt 22) in die Ou-Testamentiese openbaring en die implikasies daarvan,” In die Skriflig 48, no. 1 (December 31, 2014): 4.
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