“God said, ‘Don’t come any closer! Take your sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.‘”-Exodus 3:5
We’ve all heard a million times in countless sermons and worship songs that our God is Holy.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts”
But do we really know what that means?
I think for many of us it is just mere head knowledge.
I doubt that many of us have a strong visceral, experiential grasp of what this concept really implies beyond our limited intellectual understanding.
The truth is when God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, the whole situation was fraught with much danger.
Here we are brought face-to-face with a fundamental God-principle that from my experience few really understand.
The principle is that God’s holiness is contagious via physical touch.
We’ll see time and time again in the Scriptures that any account dealing directly with God’s holiness is always quite risky.
The reason is because whenever proper heed isn’t paid to God’s detailed instructions concerning His Holiness and how to approach Him, the result is without exception complete destruction to the trespasser.
That’s why God told Moses to remove His sandals.
The ground he was standing on had taken on a holy condition.
If Moses hadn’t listened to God, the holiness of the dirt surrounding the burning bush would have transferred to his sandals.
Then when Moses returned home, he would have inadvertently transferred God’s holiness to whatever he touched.
This would have been a big no-no.
Now some will say that the reason Moses took off his sandals was due to the Middle Eastern custom of removing one’s sandals whenever entering the presence of a king or a god.
While it is true that this custom existed and still exists even today, this is NOT the reason why Moses removed his sandals here.
The Scriptures make it very clear that Moses took off his sandals “because the place where you are standing is holy ground”.
Keep this principle in mind as we move forward because it will answer many questions you may have concerning why God reacted the way He did in certain situations.
In fact, the very reason all of us are in need of God’s salvation is because God is Holy and we are NOT.
There are very precise procedures concerning how to approach a Holy God and they will later be spelled out in exhausting detail in Leviticus.
However, in this day and age, the door to the Father is via faith in Yeshua.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Yeshua answered,
“I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.“
-John 14:6
“Now some will say that the reason Moses took off his sandals was due to the Middle Eastern custom of removing one’s sandals whenever entering the presence of a king or a god.”
Moses took off his shoes because God instructed him to do so. The Middle East custom, to take off your shoes was when you enter a building where a king was or a building to worship a god. the difference here is that God Almighty can announce any place holy even in a desert, Joshua the same Joshua 5:15. Just because He is GOD anything can become holy. I would believe if Moses would’ve been on the ocean, mountain, where ever God would’ve made the area holy.
if you say that Moses’ shoe could have contacted the holiness from the ground, why not his clothes and rod. Your explanation is totally unscriptural and thereby totally and completely wrong. it is making move against the teachings of JESUS CHRIST, the Messiah.
The removal of Moses sandals can also be seen as cleansing of self. He might have stepped on feaces which could prevent him from hearing the voice God.
The ground was holy because of God’s presence. God did not want Moses to trample all over the holy ground with his soiled slippers. It’s not the slippers, it’s to show Moses anything unholy (or contaminated) cannot approach the holy. God could have said take off your dirty robes, shepherd’s staff, etc That’s not the issue – the issue is approaching the holy God with our unholiness.
God is pure Light. LIGHT is Energy. ENERGY is Power. Power is electricity. God actually wanted Moses to be filled with his electromagnetic current and the shoes would have prevented that. God loves us and always wants us around Him. God is directly transferring His Light to Moses with Love
I love that interpretation.
The sandals would have been leather, the hide of a dead animal. The animals skin was probably not considered worthy / clean in Gods eyes.
just guessing.