Lesson video

Hello, theologians.

It's Mr. Robertson here, and I'm delighted to be with you for another incredible RE lesson.

We are continuing with our unit about Prophethood, and our big inquiry question is how are Abrahamic faiths connected through prophets? In this lesson, we are going to be focusing on the Prophet Moses and the burning bush.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe similar and different beliefs about the importance of Moses to Jews, Christians and Muslims. So theologians, are we ready to think through really getting to grips with this topic? I'm really excited and looking forward to learning with you today.

We have three keywords today, and here they are.

We have the word exodus, which is a mass departure of people, and when capitalised, it refers to a book of the Bible.

We also have Moses, who is a leader of the Hebrew people, also called Israelites and a prophet in Abrahamic religions.

And our final key word is revelation.

A message or information passed on by a supernatural being.

We're going to be referring to these throughout our lesson today.

So our lesson today on Moses and the burning bush is in two parts.

Our first part will examine the story of the burning bush, and our second part we'll look at the whole idea of direct revelation and its significance.

Let's start by looking at this image.

If you look carefully, you can see this is from a stained glass window found in a church.

We can see it depicts Moses because above the character Moses, we have the words, Moses.

But this image is gonna help us think a little bit about the significance of Moses.

Let's just remember the fact that prophets are significant figures in religions who may receive information through religious experiences that then become part of belief or practise.

In many religious traditions, such as Judaism and Christianity, prophets are people who bring messages from God, who challenge the society in which they live to live according to how God wants them to live and not them.

What information can you see in the image here? We know that this is an image of a prophet.

We also know that it's an image of Moses.

I wonder what prior learning you already have about Moses or prophets in general that you might be able to use to help you think through.

Look very carefully at this image, pause the video, have a think.

Excellent, theologians.

I can see you are really starting to think through these ideas.

So we know the prophet is named Moses because as we said, that word appears above him.

Furthermore, you can see he's holding two tablets of stone.

And in Roman numerals we can see the numbers one, two, three, and also some other numbers, six, seven and eight.

And these represent the 10 commandments that Jews and Christians and Muslims believe Moses brought from God.

You may also have noticed that at his feet there are some flowers and these symbolise his importance to show that this is someone incredibly holy or important to religious believers.

So we can learn quite a lot of information about how the Christians who created this stained glass window saw Moses in the iconography and the images with which they drew him.

The 10 Commandments feature in all three Abrahamic religions, and they give us basic reasons for living a good life according to those religions.

So they're sets of rules and commandments for Christians, Muslims and Jews to follow.

Let's just check our understanding so far then.

Moses features in all three Abrahamic religions.

Is that true or false? Pause the video, have a think Excellent thinking, theologians.

It's true, isn't it? Why is it true? Because Moses or Musa, as he's known in Islam, is the prophet known in Judaism, Christianity and Islam for the burning bush revelation, the Exodus and receiving the 10 Commandments.

Now, there are some very famous stories about the Prophet Moses.

A very famous story is when he took the Hebrew, the Israelite people out of Egypt and slavery.

And in the story, the Red Sea was parted and he escaped.

We've also talked about his receiving of the 10 Commandments.

But actually in these traditions there's an earlier story, which is really important because it talks about the revelation from God which led to these events.

This story is known as the burning bush, and it's in the Book of Exodus, which is in the Christian Old Testament and in the Torah.

Now, this story is a source of shared and divergent belief for followers of the Abrahamic religions.

In other words, there's parts of that story where the ideas are shared across all three religions, and there are parts where there's a divergence between one or more of the traditions.

So let's think a little bit more about this story.

We're going to hear this story now in a bit more detail.

In this lesson, we are doing theology, and theologians are people who study and interpret texts.

And so for us to understand theologically what is going on here, we're going to need to look at these texts in some detail.

Now, the Book of Exodus is part of the Jewish scripture and the Old Testament of the Bible, both of which are respected by Muslims. Exodus begins with the story of young Moses, a Hebrew boy, at a time when the Hebrew people were enslaved by the Egyptians.

His mother saved him from Egyptian execution of firstborn sons, and he was raised in the palace as an Egyptian.

When he uncovered the truth of his heritage, he could not abide the situation in Egypt and fled, having accidentally killed someone who was mistreating slaves.

He began a new life in Midian.

So in this part we see the whole idea of his history and anthropology, that he began as a Hebrew slave, but he was raised as an Egyptian but then had to flee to Midian.

Let's hear the next section.

So we're going to hear now an extract from the Book of Exodus, which is going to talk to us a little more about what happened to Moses whilst he was in the land of Midian in exile from Egypt.

"Now, Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, "his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, "and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness "and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

"There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames." And you could see an artistic image of the burning bush here on your screens.

"Moses saw that the bush was on fire, "but it did not burn up.

"So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight.

"Why did the bush not burn up?" "When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called "to him from within the bush, "Moses, Moses! "And Moses said, Here I am.

"Do not come any closer, God said, "Take off your sandals for the place "where you are standing is holy ground.

"Then he said, I am the God of your father, the God "of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

"At this, Moses hit his face "because he was afraid to look at God." So in that section, we have an incredibly famous experience where Moses saw the presence of God in the burning bush.

Now, we're going to move forward a little bit into time to find out what happened to Moses after he had had that religious experience of the burning bush.

We're going to continue with our story from Exodus.

"The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery "of my people in Egypt.

"I've heard them crying out because of their slave drivers "and I'm concerned about their suffering.

"So I have come down to rescue them from the hand "of the Egyptians and to bring them up out "of that land into a good "and spacious land, a land overflowing with milk "and honey, the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, "Hivites and Jebusites.

"And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me "and I have seen the way my Egyptians are oppressing them.

"So now go.

"I am sending you to Pharaoh "to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

"But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh "and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? "And God said, I will be with you, "and this will be the sign that it is I who have sent you.

"When you have brought the people out of Egypt, "you will worship God on this mountain." So in this extract from Exodus, we hear the story of Moses.

We hear that God has heard the anguish of the Israelite people who were slaves in Egypt and God has appointed Moses.

And as you can see, Moses is a little bit concerned about this to take them out of Egypt.

So in our final section, we're going to hear how he led them out to receive the 10 Commandments.

"Following this experience, Moses did as God commanded "and returned to Egypt.

"After difficult negotiations resulting in God sending "plagues down upon Egypt, "the Hebrew people were finally set free "and began to wander in the desert looking "for the land promised to them by God.

"The followers began to act immorally, "and God spoke to Moses again on Mount Sinai "and received the 10 Commandments, "which are still a foundational set "of rules in Judaism and Christianity." So let's just reflect on our learning here.

What message does the book of Exodus state was given to Moses during the burning bush revelation? Was it, A, that he should have stayed in Egypt to help the Israelites that were enslaved? Was it B, that he should stay in Midian and continue his new life? Or was it C, that he should return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of slavery? I'd like you to pause the video and have a think.

Excellent thinking, theologians.

It's C, isn't it? Muslims and Christians and Jews believe that Moses was asked by God to return to Egypt and lead the Israelis from the slavery they were experiencing there.

Well done if you got that right.

Okay, we're going to think about a task now.

On the screen, you can see a diagram, and this diagram is all about the nature of prophets.

We are saying that there are four key things that help us understand the nature of prophets in the Abrahamic traditions.

One is that prophets show and demonstrate loyalty.

Loyalty to God.

Another is that prophets have to overcome many personal challenges in their life as part of their mission to be prophets.

A third thing is that prophets tend to have a very strong character.

They have to have an internal strength to face these problems and to do the things that they've been asked to do.

And the final thing is that prophets are committed to the will of God.

So when God asks them to do something in the scriptures, they do it.

They might not always want to do it, but they do it.

So I'd like you to think about this question.

How does the story of Moses that we've looked at today show attributes shared with other Abraham prophets? And I'd like you to write a paragraph about how Moses demonstrated at least two of the qualities that you can see in this diagram.

So in your paragraph, I'd like you to use evidence from the story of Exodus that we've been looking at and to choose at least two of those four qualities and explain how Moses demonstrated those.

Well done, theologians.

You're going to be looking at a text, you're going to be interpreting it and you're going to be using it as evidence.

Pause the video and off you go.

Good luck.

Well, very impressed by the theological thinking that I've seen in this lesson so far.

So you might have said that Moses overcame personal challenges when he realised the situation in Egypt was wrong and fled, but he returned to face it after his religious experience with the burning bush.

You might have said that he showed strength of character by risking his life and freedom to lead the exodus to free the Hebrew people from slavery and not falling into sin with some of his followers.

You may have said he stayed true to God's commands given in the revelation.

He was asked to return to the land of Egypt and he did that.

So therefore he showed loyalty to God and commitment to the will of God.

Well done, theologians, if you've managed to find some evidence and show Moses demonstrated those qualities.

Fantastic work.

In the second part of our lesson about Moses and the burning bush, we're going to be thinking about the significance of direct revelation, and we're going to be looking at some similarities and differences between the Abrahamic religions.

So, if we think back to what we were looking at, in Judaism and Christianity, information was directly revealed to Moses, but God also spoke to many others directly.

So Moses had an experience of God in the burning bush, but other prophets did as well.

Now, Islam respects the Torah and the Bible, but believes some content is inaccurate as it is not the perfect word of God, unlike the Qur'an.

And this means that although the prophets are shared between Muslims, Christians and Jews, Muslims regard the Qur'an as the final word of God and perfectly accurate, but they feel that elements of the Torah and the Gospels in Bible have been distorted in translations and over time.

So for Muslims, Moses is known as Musa and he's unique because he received a direct revelation from Allah whilst on earth, although Adam and Muhammad were spoken to directly in heaven.

We've got a quote from the Qur'an here, and it says, "There are messengers," the word messengers is often used to demonstrate prophets in the Qur'an, "Whose stories we have told you already "and others we have not.

"And to Moses, Allah spoke directly." So here, the Qur'an is really interesting and shows some divergence from other Abrahamic traditions.

So for Muslims, Moses is the only prophet whom Allah spoke to directly.

If you remember, the prophet Muhammad received his revelations through the prophet, through the Angel Jibril, and not actually directly from Allah.

So this is something where Moses is seen as quite unique.

Let's just check our understanding here, theologians.

True or false? Muslims believe that only Musa, Moses, had direct communication with Allah whilst on earth.

Think back to what we've just been saying.

Is that true or false? I'd like you to pause the video and have a think.

Excellent thinking, theologians.

It's true, isn't it? It's true because Allah didn't communicate directly with prophets Adam and Mohammed, but this was while they were in heaven and not on earth.

Well done if you got that right.

Let's think a little bit more about this idea of direct revelation, which we've seen in the Qur'an.

Here is a verse from the Qur'an.

"Allah said, oh Moses, I have already elevated you "above all others by my messages "and speech, so hold firmly to what I have given you "and be grateful." So here we can see that Moses is found in the Torah and the Christian Old Testament, but Moses is also referred to in the Qur'an as well.

So which part of this verse shows direct revelation is significant? Well, you might have said the line, "I have already elevated you above all others," shows how unusual direct revelation was and then it makes Musa special among other prophets.

The word elevated means to raise up.

And so the Qur'an is saying that Moses has a special status within Islam because he is the only prophet who had that direct revelation from Allah.

Let's just check our understanding again.

Muslims believe the direct revelation shows that Musa, or Moses, is not a significant prophet.

Is that true or false? Think back to the language that we just looked at in that section of the Qur'an.

Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, theologians.

It's false, isn't it? Because the Qur'an says that Musa, or Moses, was elevated above all others at the time.

Well done if you got that right.

So although the burning bush revelation is a significant event in the story of Moses, as we've seen, that's the time when Moses experienced God directly and was given key messages that framed his leading of the Israelite people out of Egypt, the significance of it for believers can mostly be seen in the resulting events.

So all of the Abrahamic traditions share a belief that Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, which is known as the Exodus, and then wandered with them to the promised land receiving the 10 commandments on the way.

So these are really big foundational stories for all three traditions.

The movement out of slavery into the land of Israel and the 10 Commandments being given.

This story of the Exodus is commemorated by Jews during Passover, and this happens every year and nearly all Jews take part in this commemoration of the Exodus story.

In the gospels, we hear about Jesus, who of course was Jewish, and he went to Jerusalem during the Passover week, and around the time of the last supper, he was engaging in a Passover meal.

The 10 Commandments are important rules across all the Abrahamic traditions as a basis for moral behaviour.

So for Jews, Christians and Muslims, the articles of the 10 Commandments about not killing, not stealing, having and worshipping one God are absolutely foundational moral ideas which are common to all of the traditions.

Do you think these events add to the significance of the direct revelation, or do you see them as separate to this? So how important is it, do you think, that Moses was spoken to directly to God for Jews, Christians and Muslims? How important is that linked to these idea of some of the big impacts and way in which these things are remembered today? You might want to pause the video and ponder upon that or talk to the person next to you.

Let's think a little bit more about this.

We've got a question here for you.

Which of these is not a reason Moses is important to Jews, Christians and Muslims? So Moses, A, was given the 10 commandments, B, led to the Exodus, C, defeated Goliath in battle, D, received the burning bush revelation.

One of those is not part of the Moses story we've been hearing today.

Which of them is it? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, theologians.

Good thinking.

It's C, isn't it? David actually defeated Goliath in battle.

Moses was given the 10 commandments, led the exodus and did receive the burning bush revelation.

So we're going to think about our final task for today.

We've got three characters here.

We have Rafi, Tia and Ahmed, and they're discussing the significance of Moses for them as believers.

Rafi says, "As a Jew, I see myself as a descendant "of the Israelites and Moses as a founder." Tia, who's Christian, says, "As a Christian, I believe "Moses received a revelation, and he's an important leader." Ahmed says, "As a Muslim, I believe Musa "was the only prophet outside of heaven "to receive a direct revelation." Thinking about those three people and what they've said, I'd like you to explain how the story of the burning bush can unite and differentiate members of the Abrahamic religions.

So thinking about what we've learned today and thinking about the three people here and what they're saying, what is there about what we've learned about Moses and the burning bush that is common and unites the three traditions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, and what differentiates them? So where is there some divergence between what the three traditions believe? Can you explain that and use those people to help you? Let's have a think about what you've written.

You might have said, there are many similarities and beliefs about Moses across the Abrahamic religions, such as Moses leading the Exodus, having multiple revelations and being a dedicated leader of the people that eventually became the Jews who have a shared ancestry with Christians and Muslims. However, there are points of difference, such as Jewish people seeing Moses as a founding figure, Muslims knowing Moses as Musa and also believing he's unique in receiving a direct revelation from God because that's something, if you remember, which is distinctive to Muslims as is the use of the Arabic name.

So well done if you managed to correctly identify some points of commonality and difference between Muslims, Christians and Jews about the idea of Moses.

We've got a second task for you here as well.

Jacob says, "The most important reason Moses is significant "is because he experienced a direct revelation from God "during the burning bush religious experience." I'd like you to explain why somebody might both agree and disagree with Jacob.

So I wonder who you think would definitely agree with Jacob thinking about what we've learned today.

I'm going to give you a sentence starter.

Somebody might agree that the main reason Moses is significant is because he received direct revelation as this.

And can you give some evidence to finish that sentence? However, somebody may disagree and suggest that is more important because.

So can you think potentially of a different prophet that different people may think is more important than Moses, and why might that be? Okay, theologians.

So I want you to use the information you've got today and bring in some of your other knowledge as well.

I look forward to reading what you've written.

Good luck.

So you might have said, somebody might agree that the main reason Moses is significant because he received direct revelation, as this started the exodus of freedom from the Hebrew people and marks him out a special in Islam.

As we said, Muslims are the only people who believe it, he had direct revelation, and of course it was the direct revelation that allowed the exodus.

However, somebody may disagree and suggest that receiving the 10 Commandments is more significant because they provide a guide for living well that features in all Abrahamic religions.

Brilliant work if you've managed to think and bring all your ideas together.

Fantastic learning today, theologians.

Let's just sum up what we've been learning today.

We've learned that the achievements of Moses feature across the three Abrahamic religions.

We've learned that these include the burning bush, leading the Exodus and receiving the 10 commandments.

We've also learned that Muslims may see his direct revelation from God as a significant detail that shows his importance.

We've also learned that other people's spoke directly with God in Judaism and Christianity, so is less significant in those religions.

Fantastic work, theologians.

We've looked at some sacred texts, we've looked at some similarities and differences across traditions, and we've really engaged with some deep theological thinking.

Brilliant work today, and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Thank you.