The Burning Bush: How the Torah, the New Testament and the Quran Refute Unitarianism

One episode that is covered in both testaments of the Bible is that of Moses and the burning bush.  Ironically it appears in the Quran as well.  We can draw some interesting conclusions when we read all three of these passages.  Let us start with the Torah since Jews, Christians, and Muslims accept it as scripture.

In Exodus 3:2 we read:

And the angel of the Lord 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.

In verse 4 we read:

When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here am I.” 

In verse 6 we read:

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 God.

The angel of the Lord in the burning bush is claiming to be the one God.  Verse 4 says that God called to Moses out of the bush.  The text is clear that the angel in the fire is God Himself.  Now, how can God be on Earth when He is in heaven above.  In the book of Genesis we read the following:

Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.

– Genesis 19:24

From the episode in Genesis, we see two persons of the Trinity.  The third person of the Trinity is of course the Holy Spirit spoken of in Genesis 1:2.  The Torah is clearly a proto-Trinitarian document and Genesis and Exodus affirm that, especially through the burning bush episode.

In the book of Acts in the New Testament we see this episode as well.

“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

– Acts 7:30-32

So we get the same thing in Acts.  The angel is clearly identified as God in the bush.  He clearly speaks as God.  It is unambiguous.

In Exodus 3 and Acts 7, we find an excellent polemic against Unitarianism.  The figure identified as the angel is God Himself.  Although the Quran is not inspired in any way, it records this episode.

When he reached it, he was called from the right side of the valley, at the Blessed Spot, from the bush: “O Moses, it is I, God, the Lord of the Worlds.

– Surah 28:30

God is speaking from the bush.  He is here on Earth.  Now, the Quran like the Bible doesn’t record the angel but it is clear that it is God that is speaking from the bush.  He’s in heaven yet He speaks from the bush.  This is impossible with Unitarianism.

As we can see, the burning bush is important to those who follow Abrahamic religions.  It is also clear that this episode clearly refutes Unitarianism whether it be in the Torah, the New Testament, or the Quran.