One day, while tending his father-in-law’s flock in the wilderness, Moses had an encounter with God. “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and Moses looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” (Ex 3:2). I don’t know how long the bush burned before it caught Moses’s attention; I don’t know how long Moses looked at the burning bush before he realized that the bush was not being consumed; I don’t know how long Moses contemplated this burning un-burnt shrub before he decided to approach. Divine patience waited as Moses’s gaze found, then lingered on, and eventually drew him toward the bush.
“Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt” (Ex 3:3). When God saw that Moses was finally approaching, God gave Moses an interesting command: “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Ex 3:5).
The first half of this command makes sense. God is radically holy, utterly unapproachable. God’s nature is such, and human nature is such, that we can only get so close to him. Paul describes God in 1 Tim 6:16 as “dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto;” and the prologue of John’s gospel declares that “no man has seen God at any time (1:18). God would go on to tell Moses, in Exodus 33:20, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” If God were to show humanity his face, in the fullness of his glory, it would be so powerful that it would annihilate us. In 1 Corinthians 11:50 Paul wrote that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Our corruptible bodies must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality, because the might of God’s presence would destroy us. In 2 Corinthians 4:17 he reminded us that our momentary afflictions are producing “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Glory is a weight: if we were to step into the glory of God unchanged, un-glorified, un-renewed, it would crush us into oblivion.
This separation is only heightened by human sinfulness. When our first parents rebelled, they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God” (Gen 3:8); and Cain “went out from the presence of the Lord” (Gen 4:16) after the murder of his brother Abel. Isaiah 59:1-2 says that our sin separates us from God, and our iniquities cause God to hide his face from us. God is already radically separate by his very nature; but sin causes us to be even further separated from the divine presence.
Eventually God would give Moses the pattern for the tabernacle—and by extension the temple—which would become so central to Israelite worship. Built into this sanctuary system was layer upon layer of sacred separation, of divine distance. When the tabernacle was dismantled for transportation, only Levites were allowed to take down and carry the holy objects—on penalty of death (Num 1:50-51). Although any Israelite could enter the outer court in order to make sacrifice, only priests could go into the sanctuary proper—again on penalty of death (Num 18:7). Only the high priest was allowed to go into the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies; and even then, he was only allowed to enter once a year (Heb 9:6-7). These priveleged few could not enter however they pleased: they had to be dressed a certain way and follow God’s ritual instructions carefully, or give their life as forfeit (Ex 28: 31-35, 43, Lev 10:1-7). The ark of the covenant—God’s portable throne—was especially not to be touched. After God had killed 50,000 of them for looking into the ark, the men of Bethshemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God?” In ancient Israel God was among his people; but for their own safety, there had to be distance between him and them.
The burning bush episode is the first time in scripture that the word קדש (“holy”) is used. The word itself means “apartness,”1 separation, or “set apart.”2 At this very first mention of the concept of holiness we see God saying, “Stay away, keep your distance, don’t come any closer—I am here—this ground is separate, different, special—you are not allowed to approach.” God’s command makes sense: to be sacred is to be separate. Of course he told Moses “Draw not nigh hither.”
But why did God tell Moses to take off his shoes?
My answer, which follows, may be entirely wrong; if it is, I pray God’s forgiveness. But I think this command is not random, but a clue to the character of God.
It should catch our attention that the first time the Bible uses the word holy / קדש it does not refer to God directly. The verse does not say “I am a holy God,” but rather “the place where you stand is holy ground.” This is strange. It’s strangeness is all the more apparent when we consider Revelation 15:3-4, “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgements are made manifest.” Exodus 6 says that the ground was holy, and yet Revelation 15 says that only God is holy. How can this be?
Two implications follow from this scriptural situation. Firstly, the reason that the ground is holy is not because there is anything intrinsically sacred about the ground. On its own, it is ordinary dirt. The reason that the ground was holy is because the God of all creation was there. And when God shows up somewhere, his presence sanctifies that place. Just like metal stuck into a fire takes on the quality of heat, so a person or a thing who has been sanctified by God begins to share the holiness which in terms of nature/essence belongs to God alone. The ground is holy because God is holy, and God is there. Secondly, when someone experiences true holiness in a holy place or a holy person or a holy object, they are actually encountering God—because only God is holy. With this in mind, God’s command to Moses to take off his shoes becomes a window into God’s character.
By telling Moses to take off his shoes, God ensures that there will be direct contact between Moses and God’s holiness. God by his nature is holy—already distant and separate—and our sin makes it worse. But even in this separated state, God does not want us to be any farther from him than we have to be. God wants to be close to us so badly that he doesn’t want half an inch of shoe leather between us and him.
Paradoxically, the all-holy, separate, set-apart God says to Moses, “I want you to be close to me. I want you to have contact with me. The only reason this ground is holy is because I am here—and I know for your own safety that you can’t get any closer—but I want you to be as close to me as you can be. The ground is set-apart, but I don’t want you to be separated from it. Take off your shoes. Stand directly on the holy ground: stand directly on my holiness infused into this ground. Be in contact with me.”
In 2 Samuel 14 we read of David’s reconciliation with his son Absalom. Absalom had killed Amnon, one of David’s other sons, and he and David were estranged. David’s general Joab realizes that this is not a good situation, so he takes a widow woman and coaches her on a story that she will tell to David, to help him realize the need for reconciliation. At the end of this widow woman’s story to David, she makes this comment: “God does not respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him” (14:14).We are separated from God by sin. But God devises a means—he comes up with a way—so that we who are banished from his presence are not actually expelled from his presence. Our sins have separated us from God, and our sin has hid his face from us. But Jesus came to save us from our sins! God devised a means, he figured out a way, for us to be with him. Jesus’s death paid for the penalty of our sin so that we could be reconciled to God eternally. The Gospel is equivalent to God’s command to Moses: “Do not let anything keep you from direct contact with my presence. Come experience my holiness directly.”
Moses’ action of taking his shoes off of his feet is a spiritual symbol of sanctification. If something separates us from God, no matter how small, we should take it off. We are not saved by good works (Eph 2:8-9, Titus 3:5). But we are saved unto good works (Eph 2:10, Titus 3:14), and God has ordained for us to walk in them. “This is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thess 4:3). God wants us to be holy like he is holy (Lev 20:7, 1 Pet 1:16)—separated away from sin and separated unto himself.
I leave you, dear reader, with this quotation from 2 Corinthians. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (6:17-7:1).
Do not let anything separate you from the holiness of God. Though we will not be ultimately close to him until our bodies are glorified, let us live in direct contact with his presence. Whatever separates you from the holiness of God in your life, beg God to sanctify you until you stand directly on holy ground. For when you touch holiness, you are touching the Holy One himself.
Lectionary 