I can't seem to overlook the connection myself. Thorns are the result of the curse, and thorns crown our Savior on His way to the cross.
The ram caught in the thorns.
The burning bush . . . Our God is a consuming fire, but the bush is not consumed. No one has seen God at any time, but Jesus reveals Him, sent not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Did God not intend us to make these connections?
Much love!
I think there are more connections. Sometimes they aren't mentioned explicitly. We don't read about Jesus on the cross as the "Lamb of God." We're given other details which suggest it -- it was Passover time. None of his bones was broken. We were told earlier that Jesus was called "Lamb" by John the Baptist, but he's not explicitly called that in descriptions of the crucifixion.
No lamb is mentioned being tangled with thorns in Exodus; but sheep are there since Moses had led a flock of sheep to Mount Horeb.
It gets more interesting when we realize mountains or hills are in the other passages too. Abraham find the Ram on a mountain, and Jesus was crucified on a hill -- I can't think of a Scripture that explicitly says Golgotha was a hill or mount, but I think it was, wasn't it? It's meant to tell us something -- it's more than details about the physical world -- there's probably doctrine in it. I see that as expressing "draw nigh unto God, and God will draw nigh unto you." We cannot rise up to Heaven on our power, but if we rise as much as we can, God may come down to meet us. So the 120 were in an "upper room."
Yes, the fire did not consume. In a way, we are meant to become a tree ourselves -- taking up our own crosses to follow Jesus. The mustard seed became first an herb -- and then a tree? That can't be talking a physical mustard plant. It has to be talking about a spiritual tree. You can think of it two ways -- we are on the tree, or we become the tree. The burning bush shows me how the Holy Spirit can fill a human without damaging anything.
I believe the Sacred Flames consume only those elements which resist the Flames of Love. People who cling to their sinful urges will suffer in hellfire; but those flames are the Sacred Flames of Love. It shows how God manifests even in hell. I think a saint could walk through hell without harm or pain. Only that which resists the Love of God would feel anguish; and if the person still clings to the sinful urges, they are consumed, burnt up completely.
The saint should be ready to sacrifice anything and everything -- to the Sacred Fire. Then it is not destroyed the same way. It is destroyed in the sense that sinful urges no longer exist as sinful urges -- they are changed into the "Power of God." Satan stole that strength or energy, but it can be returned to its godly state. The "strength" in those urges is retained. People who have a lot of spiritual strength and who have sinned greatly can become awesome saints. Think of Peter. We shouldn't look down on him. We should want to follow his example of being corrected. If there is something satanic about us, Jesus would be doing us a favor to point it out so we can allow God to change it.
The power of death and hell can be changed back to what God intended in the first place. Death may reside within us, but it can be defeated and changed. Here and now.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Yes, God could give us power from Himself, but we already have a lot of spiritual power hidden within us in a corrupted form -- and if that can be changed, the world is better off for it. There will be less "death and hell" to be thrown into the lake of fire later. Yes, of course, we must receive "new tongues" also -- pure tongues, clean lips -- and that we cannot do ourselves. We cannot "tame" our own tongues. We must repent of sins and then wait "in the Upper Room" drawing nigh to God -- and perchance the Holy Fire will come down. It will give us new tongues that do not speak as Adam and Eve's did after they fell. That urge to pass the buck is gone: If we make a mistake, we want to know it and admit it so we can fix it and not do it again -- we don't want to blame others as Adam and Eve did.
