The Burning Bush and the Plagues

But the Hebrews, crushed by the many evils of slavery, turned their complaints to heaven and set their hope on help from God. Then, while Moses was feeding his sheep, a bush suddenly appeared to him on fire; and, surprisingly, the flames did it no harm. Amazed at so extraordinary a sight, he went nearer to the bush, and at once God spoke to him. He said, in effect, that he was the Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that he wanted their descendants, who were held down under the tyranny of the Egyptians, to be set free from their sufferings; and that Moses therefore should go to the king of Egypt and present himself as the leader who would restore them to freedom. When Moses hesitated, God strengthened him with power and gave him the gift of working miracles. [a]

So Moses went into Egypt. First he performed miracles in the presence of his own people, and then, having taken his brother Aaron as his partner, he went to the king. He declared that he had been sent by God, and told him now, in God’s own words, to let the Hebrew people go. But the king said he did not know the Lord, and refused to obey the command given him. To prove that the orders he gave came from God, Moses changed his rod into a serpent, soon after turned all the water into blood, and filled the whole land with frogs. But since the Chaldeans were doing similar things, the king declared that the wonders Moses performed came only from the arts of magic and not from the power of God. So it went on until the land was covered with stinging insects brought over it, and then the Chaldeans admitted that this was the work of God’s majesty.

Then the king, forced by his sufferings, called Moses and Aaron to him and gave the people leave to go, provided the disaster brought on his kingdom was removed. But once the suffering had been ended, his mind, having no control over itself, went back to what it had been, and he did not let the Israelites go as had been agreed. In the end, however, he was broken and overcome by the ten plagues sent on his person and his kingdom.