December 18, 2025
The Great ``O'' Antiphons
Exodus 3:1-2
12/18/2025
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-
law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his
flock to the west side of the wilderness and came
to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He
looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it
was not consumed. (ESV)
The ``O'' Antiphon for December 18 comes both from the third
and twentieth chapters of Exodus.
O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and
gave him the Law on | Sinai:*
Come with an outstretched arm and re- |
deem us.
A theophany is an occurrence recorded in the Bible where God
appeared to someone in the Old Testament. Two of the great
theophanies in Exodus were the call of Moses at the burning bush,
and the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. These events defined
the Exodus, commissioning the leader who would deliver the
children of Israel from Egypt, and the giving of the Old
Testament covenant of the Law.
We understand each theophany as the pre-incarnate Son of
God, the Word of God, speaking directly with the people. Thus it
was the Son of God who spoke from the burning bush, and the Son
of God who thundered on the mountain while engraving the Ten
Commandments on two tables of stone.
Only the Son of God can redeem us from sin, death, and the
power of the devil. If He could be in the burning bush without
consuming it, if He delivered the Law, He has the power to save.
May our Lord grant that we hear Him and trust in His
almighty deliverance. Amen.