December 18, 2024
The Great ``O'' Antiphons -- Part 2
Exodus 3:1-2
12/18/2024
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)
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.
Since at least the eleventh century, those who gather for
the evening Vespers service have sung the Song of Mary, the
Magnificat. During the last week of Advent, this canticle is
preceded and followed by a short verse which names Jesus and asks
Him to come quickly to deliver the church from sin, death and the
power of the devil.
God appeared to Moses several times, the first being his
call to be the prophet to Israel as God spoke from the burning
bush, and the second as God gave him the Law on Mount Sinai.
Each time God speaks in the Old Testament, it is through the pre-
incarnate Christ. 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.