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294 ruler who had trouble keeping Egypt united; and with his ascension, the death sentence against Moses expired. It was then that Yahweh called out to Moses from inside the Burning Bush, telling him that He had decided to "come down and save" the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt and lead them back to the Promised Land, and telling Moses that he was selected to be the God's ambassador to gain this freedom from the Pharaoh and to lead the Israelites on their Exodus from Egypt. It happened, we are told in Exodus chapter 3, when Moses was shepherding the flock of his father in law, "leading the flock beyond the desert, and he came to the Mount of the Elohim, in Horeb," and saw there the thornbush burning without being consumed; so he went closer to take a look at the incredible sight. The biblical narrative refers to the "Mount of the Elohim" as though it was a well-known landmark; the unusual charac- ter of the event was not that Moses had led his flock there, nor that there were bushes there. The exceptional aspect was that the bush was burning without being consumed! It was only the first of a series of amazing magical acts and miracles that the Lord had to employ in order to convince Moses, the Israelites, and the Pharaoh of the authenticity of the mission and the divine determination motivating it. To that purpose Yahwch empowered Moses with three magical acts: his staff could turn into a snake, and back into a staff; his hand could be made leprous and again healthy; and he could pour some Nile water on the ground and the ground would stay dry. "The people who had sought thy death are all dead," Yahweh told Moses; fear no more; face the new Pharaoh and perform the magics that I granted thee, and tell him that the Israelites must be let go to be free to worship their God in the desert. As an assistant, Yahweh appointed Aaron, the brother of Moses, to accompany him. In the first encounter with the Pharaoh, the king was not responsive. "Who is this Yahweh whom I should heed to let the Israelites go?" he said, "I know not Yahweh and _ the Israelites I will not let go." Instead of releasing the Israelites. the Pharaoh doubled and trebled their quotas of brickmaking. When the magical tricks with the staff failed to impress the DIVINE ENCOUNTERS