In my personal study and chronological Bible reading plan, I finished reading Deuteronomy today. Earlier in our studies, we saw how much Abraham grew in his faith from when he passed off his wife as his sister and tried to take matters into his own hands to fully trusting in God when asked to offer his son as a sacrifice. Today, I saw the culmination of Moses’ life as he died and was buried by God. If you remember when we talked about Esh Oklah, consuming fire, we talked about Moses and approaching this burning bush. God asked Moses to go to Pharaoh, and Moses started digging in his heels in protest and had a list of reasons as to why he couldn’t do what God was asking him to do.
But I want to pause at that burning bush for just a moment. Esh Oklah was present in that bush, but the bush was not burning up. However, when Moses stepped forward, “Elohim said, ‘Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals because this place where you are standing is HOLY ground.”
Holy ground.
Now, I am sure that many people and animals had walked all over where that bush was long before Esh Oklah used it for heart-calling purposes. But at this moment, this ground was HOLY. There wasn’t anything special about that ground. The dirt was just dirt, and the bush was just a bush until Yedosh Qisrael showed up. The ground wasn’t holy because of what it was—it was HOLY because of WHO was there.
In Joshua 5:13-15, it says, “When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you one of us or one of our enemies?” He answered, “Neither one! I am here as the commander of Yahweh’s army.” Immediately, Joshua bowed with his face touching the ground and worshiped. He asked, “Sir, what do you want to tell me?” The commander of Yahweh’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals because this place where you are standing is holy.” So Joshua did as he was told.”
Again we see, where the presence of God is, the ground is holy.
But why are they asked to remove their shoes?
Well, what do our shoes have on them? I mean, do we really want to think about it? Dirt, gravel, that pile of something you stepped in and didn’t mean to step in, and now your whole house stinks because you didn’t realize you stepped in it….. yeah. Let’s just take our shoes off.
If the shoes we wear represent the messes we literally walk through and the junk we step in, then it’s understandable why God wants us to remove them when we are in his presence. Take off the stuff that is weighing you down. Feet to earth.
(Did you know that when you walk barefoot in the grass, your mood lifts, your blood pressure lowers, and you can reduce stress? Funny how the act of removing our shoes and physically connecting with Elohim’s creation can do that, huh?)
But let’s also look at John 13. Before Jesus went to the cross to take on all our sin, he removed the sandals of his disciples and washed their feet. He humbled himself, removed the shoes of the ones who had walked with him, the one who would deny him, and the one who would betray him, and washed their feet. He removed the dirt, the junk, and the crud. He removed the barrier between them and himself as they were in his presence. (And yes, there is a different message in that passage about serving one another, but I thought the imagery was a great picture of our God and his holiness.)
While we can remove the physical dirt (i.e., our shoes), it is Jesus who removes the unseen dirt.
Qedosh Yisrael is holy. His presence is holy. We cannot be in his presence covered in the filth of this world. This, I believe, is why he is calling us to be holy.
Deuteronomy 34 is the recording of the death and burial of Moses. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight never failed, and his physical strength never wavered. God buried him in the valley of Moab, and no one knows where his grave is. Vs10-12, “There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh dealt with face to face. He was the one Yahweh sent to do all the miraculous signs and amazing things in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole country. Moses used his mighty hand to do all the spectacular and awe-inspiring deeds that were seen by all the Israelites.”
Do you remember the Moses who didn’t want to go to Pharaoh? The one who stuttered and stammered and protested against what God was asking him to do? The one who begged Adonay to send someone else?
There has never been another like him.
Yahweh dealt with him face to face.
He was the one Yahweh sent.
I have to admit, I teared up. My emotions welled up inside of me. I have questioned God and what he has asked me to do. I have dug my heels in in protest. But if God can take a stuttering shepherd who had to run for his life in fear and turn him into a man that he dealt with face-to-face, I can only imagine what he can do with me if I allow him to.
When I die, will it be said of me that there was no other like me? Will the mark I make on this earth leave a lasting impact? Will my legacy of faith be such that people will remember me as one who loved God?
Maybe the first step isn’t striving harder but surrendering sooner and taking off my shoes and realizing I’ve been on holy ground all along.
Have a great day with Jesus.
