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 the gods.
Moses was thinking about (tending the sheep) spiritual thoughts, the sheep of Ruel, which are thoughts relating to God. He was in the desert, a place of preparation and come to a high spiritual consciousness, a mountain called Horeb, which means a place of solitude, it is a high place in consciousness where we come into contact with the divine.
2 And the angel of YHVH appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
That he succeeded in this, is indicated by the statement that the angel of YHVH appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the bush. The flame has to do with an understanding of generation. It also represents the Divine Light of the soul. The bush is the body, for it is within the body that the soul or spiritual consciousness is to be found. The bush is on fire. But is not consumed. Experience of communication with God is almost always described as accompanied by fire, lightning or bright light.
3 And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."
4 When YHVH saw that he turned aside to see, gods called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I."
5 Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
It is the contact with the Holy Ghost, the indwelling divinity, for the voice of God comes from within the burning bush. And, we are indeed on holy ground or a holy level of consciousness.
6 And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at the gods.
7 Then YHVH said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings,
8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
The Hebrew people in Egypt are the thoughts connected to the material, the body or carnal self. The
spiritual consciousness will now go to Egypt, or the material consciousness and lift them up out of its low level. The land of milk and honey is peace and happiness. This is the reward awaiting the risen or Illuminated soul.
The land of the different tribes mentioned means that this new spiritual consciousness will take over those areas of the lower consciousness. They translate as follows: Canaanite means one who exists for material things;
Hittie means dismay, the attitude of opposition and resistance; Amorite refers to the generative function, or sex on the carnal level; Perizzite means a dweller in the country, one living a rudimentary life, earthy; Havite means carnal or animalistic; and Jebusite means profaned, sensual, carnal though. When the whole being is raised up and all the attributes of body and mind are brought into the new being, the soul reaches Illumination. The person will be raised up a new person.
Remember, this "promised land" is where the Spiritual Consciousness, or YHVH, has indicated that he will take Moses and the Israelites.
9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."
Moses is still in the experience of Illumination in which he is in contact with his inner god; the voice speaking to him from the burning bush. Being in Egypt means to be in a state of materialism and carnality. To bring his people out of Egypt is to rescue those attributes or levels of physical and material consciousness by raising them to a high spiritual level.
11 But Moses said to the gods, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"
12 He said, "But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve the gods upon this mountain."
13 Then Moses said to the gods, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The
God of your Fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What shall I say to them?"
14 Gods said to Moses, "I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I WILL BE has sent me to you.'"
15 Gods also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'YHVH, the God of your Fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, 'YHVH, the God of your Fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt;
17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey."'
The land of milk and honey is peace and happiness. This is the reward awaiting the risen or Illuminated soul.
18 And they will hearken to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'YHVH, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, we pray you, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to YHVH, our god.'
19 I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
20 So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all the wonders which I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
He also said that the lower, material nature, the Egyptians, will not easily give up its influence. When our consciousness is in the material, it will, through suffering, eventually come to awaken to the higher spiritual consciousness.
21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty,
22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who sojourns in her house, jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; thus you shall despoil the Egyptians."
When YHVH told him that the women must borrow from their neighbors, it was a way of saying the he must use the power of the lower feminine. The lower feminine has to do with the passions or emotional part of us. It must be subdued and changed to the higher feminine attributes of love and compassion.