Jamin Bradley

Since Heaven is “up there” and Earth is “down here,” the Bible writers viewed mountains as places where Heaven and Earth intersected. Because of this, it made logical sense to ancient people that you might encounter a heavenly being on a mountain and have a “mountaintop experience.” Such things happen all throughout the Bible: Eden was a mountain; Abraham met God on a mountain; Moses met God on Mount Sinai; Israel lived on Mount Zion with God; Jesus was transfigured on a mountain; and the list goes on.

That being said, Moses’ first encounter with God was exactly where we might expect: a mountain. It was there that he met God in the physical/spiritual form of, “The Angel of the Lord,” who was standing inside a fiery bush. As typically happens in the Old Testament, the lines between this angel and God himself are blurred in the story. Though it was the angel in the bush, it was an elohim (that is, a god) that called out to Abraham from the bush. This elohim then revealed his name to Moses as “Yahweh”—the Elohim of all elohim.

This angel would go on to be Moses’ helper throughout his ministry. Indeed, he often located himself in the pillar of cloud and fire that led Israel through the desert. The angel also used these pillars to protect Israel from the Egyptians, and as a heavenly elevator to descend down to the Tabernacle every once in a while to meet with Moses face to face.

Despite being a main character in the Old Testament, this angel is suspiciously absent in the New Testament. As you might imagine, this is because the Yahweh-elohim-angel put on flesh in the form of Jesus, continuing his role as the part of God we can see. This is all the more reason that when Jesus sent “his angel” to John in Revelation, Jesus simply appeared to him instead—they’re the same person.

I was recently rewatching Dreamworks’ movie, The Prince of Egypt, when I was suddenly overwhelmed by the fiery bush scene. This same angel; same fire; same Jesus; same God that spoke to Moses thousands of years ago has also spoken to me. He is my friend, and I know him like any other person. We talk every day. We have stories too amazing to tell because who would believe them? The God of the mountain has sent the Spirit of Jesus to live in me, speak with me, and counsel me. I’m familiar with how he sounds, and I am growing increasingly familiar with how he thinks and acts. What a great joy and incredible peace. No wonder Christians long for the whole world to know this person.