The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
And God heard the boy’s voice. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
the angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; let them be called by my name, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
Now Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
“Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.
When you pass through waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame kindle on you.
In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them; and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
The officials, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.
“Awake, O sword, against My shepherd and the man of My association,” says the Lord of Hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter. I will turn My hand against the small ones.
Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. He is coming, says the Lord of Hosts.
Now concerning the dead rising, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’ ?
Now, at the bush, even Moses pointed out that the dead are raised when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and concerning sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
by the best things of the earth and its fullness, and by the goodwill of Him who dwelt in the bush. May the blessing rest on the head of Joseph, on top of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.