Burning Bush
And the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of
fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush
was on fire, and the bush was not consumed.
(Exodus 3:2 )
The burning bush symbolizes trials and difficulties. In the olden
days the wise men and prophets used and understood symbols,
metaphors, similes, and figurative speech. (George M. Lamsa,
Old Testament Light , p. 104)
Different attempts have been made to find a scientific explanation of
this remarkable phenomenon. An expert on the botany of the Bible, Dr.
Harold N. Moldenke, director and curator of the Botanical Garden in
New York, has this to say: "Among the commentators who think that a
natural explanation can be found, some think that the phenomenon of
the bush that 'burned with fire' and yet 'was not consumed' can be
explained as a variety of the gas-plant or Fraxinella, the Dictamnus
Albus L. This is a plant with a strong growth about three feet in
height with clusters of purple blossom. The whole bush is covered
with tiny oil-glands. This oil is so volatile that it is constantly
escaping and if approached with a naked light bursts suddenly into
flames. The most logical explanation seems to be that suggested by
Smith. He puts forward the theory that the 'flames' may have been the
crimson blossoms of mistletoe twigs which grow on various prickly
acacia bushes and acacia trees throughout the Holy Land and in Sinai.
When this mistletoe is in full bloom the bush becomes a mass of
brilliant flaming colour and looks as if it is on fire."
(Werner Keller, The Bible As
History )
Moses, in a vision, saw a bush burning but not consumed; and when he
went near it, he heard the divine voice speak to him. Moses was still
in the vision. God's revelations and his divine communications are
always imparted in visions and dreams. (George M. Lamsa,
Old Testament Light , p. 104)
Jesus said to them, Fill the jars with water;
and they filled them up to the brim. Then he said to them, Draw out
now and bring it to the chief guest of the feast. And they brought
it. And when the chief guest tasted the water that had become wine,
he did not know whence it had come.
(St. John 2:7-9 )
Metaphysically this miracle is accomplished when we in spirit realize
that the union of the fluid life of the body with the spiritual life
makes a new element, symbolized by wine. (Charles Fillmore,
The Twelve Powers of Man )
The Gospels record Jesus' first miracle as changing water into wine
at a wedding feast. This is miraculous, indeed. But in a way, it's
nothing new. It is the short time frame that makes this so
spectacular. Consider this: Water into wine is a common course of
events. God sends rain that nourishes the vineyards, that grow in the
good earth under the benevolent sun, that become the grapes, that
eventually ferment into wine. It just takes a little time. When you
look at it this way, you see that God is always turning water into
wine. When you learn to appreciate that, even the mundane becomes
miraculous. (Paul L. Holte, in
Unity magazine)
When Jesus turned water into wine and fed five thousand by
multiplying a few loaves and fishes, He performed in a masterly and
beneficial way what our scientists made possible in a destructive way
by releasing through the atomic bomb the pent-up forces of Spirit.
(Charles Fillmore, Atom-Smashing Power of
Mind , p. 14)
In the East any wine over six months is called old. One can seldom
find wine over a year old. Wine is made and drunk in
the same year. The word alcohol was unknown in Biblical times. Wine
is a general term. It does not carry a specific alcoholic content
because in the east there is only one kind of wine, grape juice.
(George M. Lamsa)
And Moses lifted up his hand over the sea; and the Lord
caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and
made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
(Exodus 14:21 )
It is interesting to know that in Aramaic any body
of water, no matter how small, is called a sea. For instance, the
river of Egypt, the Nile, is called a sea. The term "sea" means a
gathering of waters together, whether it be small or large.
(George M. Lamsa)
In early Christian times pilgrims surmised that the flight of Israel
led them through the Red Sea. At that time they thought in terms of
the northern end of the Gulf near the town of Es-Suwez, present-day
Suez. The crossing could have taken place here too. Occasionally
strong northwest winds drive the water at the northern extremity of
the Gulf back so far that it is possible to wade across. In Egypt the
prevailing wind is from the west. The east wind mentioned in the
Bible is, on the other hand, typical of Palestine. (Werner
Keller, The Bible As History , p.
120)
Nathan Paldor and Doron Nof are a pair of oceanographers who want to
part the Red Sea. They theorize that if the proper weather conditions
occur, the Red Sea could part again as in Moses' day. According to
their article, in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological
Society , the two scientists contend that because of the
geological structure of the sea bed, a 45-mile-per-hour wind lasting
for about ten hours could expose a two-mile land bridge across the
body of water. (Valmarie Carson)
The story is told of the youngster who came home from Sunday School,
having been taught the biblical story of the crossing of the Red Sea.
His mother asked him what he had learned in class, and he told her:
"The Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased
after them. They got to the Red Sea and they couldn't cross it. The
Egyptian army was getting closer. So Moses got on his walkie-talkie,
the Israeli air force bombed the Egyptians, and the Israeli navy
built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross." The mother was
shocked. "Is that the way they taught you the story?" "Well, no," the
boy admitted, "but if I told it to you the way they told it to us,
you'd never believe it." (Harold S. Kushner,
When Bad Things Happen to Good
People , p. 56)
The waters at the channel were divided when the crossing place, owing
to the low tide, became dry land. The water now was on both sides of
the crossing place, that is the water of the Bitter Lakes and the
water at the tip of the Gulf of Suez. When the tide is high, both
waters join, and the shoals are submerged. The Israelites crossed at
a place about 185 miles north of the main body of the Red Sea.
(George M. Lamsa)
Prior to the construction of the Suez Canal, the Bitter Lakes were
connected with the Gulf of Suez by high tides. Pharaoh thought that
the Hebrews, being a pastoral people and strange in the land, would
not understand the tides, and therefore, would try to cross through
the isthmus. But Moses, being a shepherd and scientist, knew when the
tides were high or low. That is why the Lord directed him southward
instead of northward where the crossing was easy. (George M.
Lamsa, Old Testament Light
)
As Moses had been a shepherd near this area for forty years, he knew
the crossing place, and when he relied on God for guidance, God told
him at what time to negotiate the crossing. This is why he instructed
the Israelites to rise up early and to bake unleavened bread and eat
hastily. Every minute was needed in order to get to the crossing
place when the tide was low. God was with Moses in every way.
(George M. Lamsa, Old Testament
Light , p. 126)
Moses was fleeing from the Egyptians with the Israelites when he came
to the Red Sea. He asked God for help and was told that there was
good news and bad news. "The good news," said the Voice, "is that I
will part the sea so that you and your people can escape." "And the
bad news?" asked Moses. "You will have to file an environmental
impact statement." (John Wiley)
The miracle in this instance was the wind which the Lord God caused
to blow at the right time. God could have dried the passage instantly
or placed the Israelites on the other side without even walking on
the dry land; but instead the Lord guided the people and caused
natural forces to be in their favor. (George M. Lamsa)
There is a boy here who has with him five barley loaves and
two fish; but what are these for all of them? And Jesus took the
bread and blessed it, and distributed it to those who were sitting
down; likewise the fish also, as much as they wanted. When they were
filled, he said to his disciples, Gather up the broken pieces which
are left over, so that nothing is lost. And they gathered them up,
and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces which were left over by
those who ate from five barley loaves.
(St. John 6:9-13
)
The Gospel does not state how the bread was produced nor how it was
increased but satisfying the hunger of this huge crowd with the means
at hand was a miracle. It is contrary to Eastern custom to bring back
stale bread which would have to be thrown to the birds or given to
strangers. The men who had previously stated they did not have
enough, suddenly display many loaves which they produce from their
garments and bags. This looks like magic or even a miracle to the
hungry. (George M. Lamsa)
The reason promises have conditions is that when God does a miracle,
the Scriptures indicate that He usually chooses to start with
something. He created man from the dust of the ground, a woman from a
rib, wine from water, a meal for 5,000 from five loaves and two fish,
and demolished Jericho's walls by an army simply marching around
them. (Russ Johnston & Maureen Rank, God
Can Make It Happen , p. 57)
A boy was willing to share with the crowd. When he did this, others
who had concealed their bread and now realizing Jesus had finished
preaching and that they were about to return home, produced the food
saved in their garments and bags and offered it to the hungry crowd.
(George M. Lamsa, Gospel
Light , p. 337)
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish, and it
swallowed up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days
and three nights. (Jonah
1:17 )
Metaphorically, a fish or a whale means trouble,
difficulty and dilemma. Even today when a man is host in a city it is
said "He has been swallowed by the city." When a man is in a dilemma,
we say "He is at sea," or "in the sea." (George M. Lamsa)
Nineveh means "a fish." A fish was one of the gods of Assyria. Some
of the Assyrian tribes never ate fish and in some parts of the
country sacred fish in ponds were revered and feared by the people.
(George M. Lamsa, Old Testament
Light , p. 903)
It is now known that the sperm whale, which inhabits the
Mediterranean, is quite capable of swallowing an object much larger
than a man, and the same is true of the whale shark and other great
marine animals. Both the Hebrew and Greek words used in reference to
Jonah's "whale" could actually apply to any great marine monster. As
a matter of fact, there have been in modern times a number of
evidently well-verified instances of whales and sharks swallowing men
alive and even one or two cases of men's actually surviving such an
experience. (Henry M. Morris, Science &
the Bible )
Metaphysically, Jonah means that prophetic state of mind
which, if used without divine love, fixes man in bondage to belief in
a law of cause and effect wherein error sowing cannot be redeemed or
forgiven. (Charles Fillmore, Metaphysical
Bible Dictionary )
A starfish devours a clam. The clam then seals shut its shell and
marks time for about 14 days in the intestinal tract, until the
starfish excretes it. The clam then goes off on its own again,
unharmed. (L. M. Boyd)
The miracle in the story is the repentance of the people of
Nineveh who heeded the warning of the prophet of God and turned away
from their evil way. (George M. Lamsa)
Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will
rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and
gather sufficient food, day by day.
(Exodus 16:4 )
This notorious manna is nothing more than a secretion exuded by
tamarisk trees and bushes when they are pierced by a certain type of
plant-louse which is found in Sinai. Without the plant-louse there
would in fact be no manna at all. These little insects live primarily
off tamarisks which are a type of tree indigenous to Sinai.
(Werner Keller)
Manna falls on certain trees in the early morning and disappears when
the sun is hot. Manna is like coriander seed, white, and the taste of
it is like honey in the comb. The Hebrews gathered it from day to
day. But on Friday they gathered for the Sabbath day also and it
remained fresh. But on the other days of the week when they broke the
divine command and gathered more than their daily need and had some
left over for the next day, they always found worms in it.
(George M. Lamsa, Old Testament
Light )
When the Israelites saw manna they did not know what it was, so they
exclaimed, "What is it?" Even today no one knows what the origin of
manna is or where it comes from. (George M. Lamsa,
Old Testament Light , p. 132)
The miracle or wonder is that the Lord God led the Israelites into an
area where manna was plentiful. (George M. Lamsa,
Old Testament Light , p. 132)
If there is faith in you even as a grain of mustard
seed, you will say to this mountain, move away from here, and it will
move away. (St. Matthew
17:20 )
Canadian geologist James Monger was baffled: how could fossils native
to China, Japan and Indonesia have gotten into the mountains of
California and British Columbia? Warren Hamilton of the U.S.
Geological Survey was equally puzzled to find an ocean island chain
embedded in Idaho, 400 miles from the ocean. And what were
500-million-year-old fossils from Europe and Africa doing on the east
coast of North America. Buffeted like ships on a stormy sea, the
world's landmasses have collided, split asunder and welded together
in new configurations many times during the planet's long history,
and will continue to do so for eons of time. (Ronald
Schiller)
In 1972, a mountain moved over a mile in eight days. Heavy rains in
the Soviet Caucasus swelled an underground river and the whole
mountain sailed away. (Bernie Smith, The Joy
of Trivia )
General statements in the gospel should not be
taken literally. Extravagant expressions are very frequent in Aramaic
and Hebrew speech but never cause misunderstanding because the people
know the speaker does not mean exactly what he says. Emphasis is on
the power of faith and that power cannot be measured. Neither Jesus
nor his disciples removed or attempted to remove mountains and Jesus
did not actually mean mountains could be removed. Jesus emphasized
trust in self and the power of trust. Trust in God's power and
worthiness of purpose can accomplish the seemingly impossible.
Without the determination to succeed, the courage to surmount
obstacles, hard work and absolute faith in God and man, the vision of
the Panama Canal could not have become an accomplished reality.
(George M. Lamsa, Gospel
Light , p. 121)
A missing chapter in the history of the world's oceans
has been found after a search lasting two decades. Oceanographers
finally located the earliest part of the Pacific plate, dating to the
Jurassic Period 170 million years ago, Science News reports.
During the Jurassic, a huge ocean stretched across most of the
planet, while the continents sat jammed together in one place. Almost
all the vast seafloor from that period has disappeared into Earth's
interior. "It's all gone. It's all been subducted, except for this
part," says Roger Larson of the University of Rhode Island, co-chief
of the drilling program. The Pacific plate covers about a quarter of
Earth's surface. It was only about the size of the United States
during the Jurassic, says Larson, with the rest of the seafloor
composed of plates that long ago disappeared as the Pacific plate
grew. (Denver Rocky Mountain News)
And it came to pass that at evening the
quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay
round about the camp. (Exodus
16:13 )
The quail mentioned in the Bible came from Europe and other lands to
winter in the Arabian desert, just as they come today. Thousands of
flocks of quail still winter in the warm Arabian desert. They fly
from Europe by hundreds of thousands to the Eastern shores of the
Mediterranean Sea. At times they are caught by strong winds and fall
exhausted on the ground. They are gathered by natives and stored for
food. Today, some of them are canned and shipped to European
countries. During the fall months one sees large flocks of quail
covering the ground for miles. (George M. Lamsa)
And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus
came to them, walking on the water. And his disciples saw him walking
on the water, and they were frightened, and they said, It is a false
vision; and they cried out because of their fear.
(St. Matthew 14:25-26 )
According to Aramaic style of speech, walking on the sea
means walking by the sea or along the shore.
(George M. Lamsa, Gospel
Light , p. 338)
On one of their visits to the Holy Land, Mark Twain and his
wife stayed in Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee. One particularly
lovely night Twain decided to take his wife on a romantic moonlit
ride on the Sea of Galilee. Dressed in his usual white Texas hat,
white suit, and white shoes, Twain strolled down the pier with his
wife. He asked a man who was sitting in a nearby rowboat how much he
would charge to row them out into the water. Presuming this
fine-looking man to be a wealthy Texan from the states, the oarsman
said he would charge about twenty-five dollars. After thanking the
man, Mark Twain was heard to proclaim as he and his wife turned away,
"No wonder Jesus chose to walk!" (King Duncan & Angela
Akers, in Amusing Grace , p.
446)
Being a fervent believer in miracles, I would not contest the
evidence of my own eyes were I to observe someone, whether Galilean
carpenter or London stockbroker, walking on water. At the same time,
I wouldn't regard what I had seen as a conclusive argument against
learning to swim. (Colin Morris, The Hammer
of the Lord , p. 78)
Sir Eric Geary, once the prime minister of Grenada, had his hired
help build an underwater platform in his yacht basin. Top was
submerged an inch or so. Anytime he stepped off his boat, it appeared
to observers ashore that he walked on the water. (L. M.
Boyd)
A Methodist, an Episcopalian and a Catholic were in a boat 25 yards
from shore. The Methodist stepped out and nonchalantly walked to
land. The Episcopalian duplicated the exit on the water. Then the
Catholic stepped out and sank. Coming up, he got back in the boat,
walked out and went under again. One dry friend on shore said to the
other, "Do you think we should tell him where the rocks are?"
(Gene Brown)
You shall strike the flinty rock, and there shall gush water
out of it. (Exodus 17:6
)
In Arabia and other arid lands where water is scarce, wells and other
sources of water are hidden in order to discourage roaming tribes
from encamping, grazing the area, and using the scanty water
supplies. Then again, in all parts of the Near East wells are covered
to prevent animals and men from falling into them and to keep the
drinking water clean. Large stones are placed upon the mouths of the
wells and water sources, and are then covered with earth. Therefore,
hidden wells are not easy to locate. God told Moses where to strike,
and when he struck the rock or uncovered the mouth of the well, he
found abundant water for the people to drink and for the herds and
flocks also. (George M. Lamsa, Old Testament
Light , p. 134)
Major C. S. Jarvis, who was British Governor of Sinai in the
thirties, has seen it happen himself. He writes: "Moses striking the
rock at Rephidim and the water gushing out sounds like a genuine
miracle, but the writer has actually seen this happen. Several men of
the Sinai Camel Corps had halted in a dry wadi and were in the
process of digging about in the rough sand that had accumulated at
the foot of a rock face. They were trying to get at the water that
was trickling slowly out of the limestone rock. The men were taking
their time about it and Bash Shawish, the coloured sergeant, said:
'Here, give it to me!' He took the spade of one of the men and began
digging furiously in the manner of N.C.O.'s the world over who want
to show their men how to do things but have no intention of keeping
it up for more than a couple of minutes. One of his violent blows hit
the rock by mistake. The smooth hard crust which always forms on
weathered limestone split open and fell away. The soft stone
underneath was thereby exposed and out of its apertures shot a
powerful stream of water. (Werner Keller)
Moses had obviously got to know this highly unusual method of finding
water during his exile among the Midianites. (Werner Keller,
The Bible As History , p. 143)