Although there is no obvious division in the picture's space, Dierick Bouts has in fact depicted two sequential events from Moses's life within the verdant countryside in this compressed narrative. In the middle right, Moses, a shepherd, sits on the ground. He had been tending his flock when he noticed a burning bush that was miraculously not consumed by the fire. As he was approaching the bush, God told him to remove his shoes, which he is doing, before walking on the holy ground. In the foreground, Moses has approached the burning bush, in the midst of which God appears to instruct him to lead his people into the Promised Land. The inclusion of Moses' shepherd's staff in the two scenes, as well as the focus on the removal of his shoes, accentuates both his role as a protector of his people and his humility before God. Katherine Crawford Luber, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections (1995), p. 166.