Moses had grown up in Pharaoh's palace as a prince of Egypt. But he knew he was Hebrew and saw the suffering of his enslaved people.

One day, when he was already a man, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. He looked around, and seeing no one, killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

The next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting. When he tried to separate them, one of them said: "Who made you a prince and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?"

Moses became afraid. His action had been discovered! When Pharaoh heard what happened, he wanted to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Egypt and went to live in the land of Midian.

In Midian, Moses helped the daughters of a priest named Jethro, and ended up marrying one of them, Zipporah. Moses became a shepherd, caring for his father-in-law's sheep.

Forty years passed. Moses was now eighty years old. The prince of Egypt had become a simple shepherd in the desert. His days of glory in the palace were far behind. He lived a quiet life, caring for sheep, far from everything.

But God had not forgotten Moses. And God had not forgotten His people in Egypt. The Israelites groaned under slavery, and their cries rose to God. God heard their groaning and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God's time had come.

One day, Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, near Mount Horeb, also called the mountain of God.

Suddenly, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. Moses looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed!

This was very strange! Fire normally burns and destroys. But that bush remained green and full of leaves, even though it was on fire.

Moses said: "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned."

When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see, God called to him from the midst of the bush:

Moses answered: "Here I am."

God said:

Moses obeyed immediately, taking off his sandals. He was on holy ground, in the presence of Almighty God.

God continued: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

The Lord said: "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings. So 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."

What wonderful words! God had seen! God had heard! God knew! And God was going to do something about it!

But then God said something that terrified Moses:

Moses was terrified. Him? Return to Egypt? Confront Pharaoh? He was a fugitive! He was a shepherd! He was no longer the powerful prince of old!

Moses said to God: "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

God answered: "I will be with you. And this shall be the sign that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

But Moses kept hesitating: "When 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?"

God said to Moses:

But Moses was still afraid. He said: "What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice?"

God gave him three miraculous signs to perform: turning his staff into a serpent and back into a staff, making his hand leprous and then healthy, and turning water from the Nile into blood.

Still, Moses tried to avoid it: "Oh, Lord! I have never been eloquent. I am slow of speech and of tongue!"

The Lord said to him: "Who has made man's mouth? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."

Finally Moses said: "Oh, Lord! Please send someone else!"

God became angry with Moses, but was patient. He said that Aaron, Moses' brother, could speak for him. God would be with both of them.

Finally, Moses accepted God's call. He returned to his family, said goodbye to his father-in-law, took his wife and children, and set out back to Egypt.

Moses carried in his hand the staff of God - that common shepherd's staff that God would use to do great miracles.

The Lord said to Moses: "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go."

It would be a difficult mission. Pharaoh would not easily give up his slaves. But God was sending Moses, and God would be with him.

Aaron, Moses' brother, came to meet him. Moses told him everything the Lord had said. Together, they went to speak with the elders of Israel.

Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs before the people. The people believed! When they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

After forty years in the desert, Moses was back. No longer as a prince of Egypt, but as a servant of God. Not with his own power, but with God's power.

The burning bush was not consumed because it was full of God's presence. And now Moses was also filled with God's presence, ready for the impossible mission of freeing the people of Israel.

The great adventure was just beginning.