SUNDAY 6th
Exodus 3:1-6
NIV (v5) – ‘Do not come any closer, God said. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’
ESV (v5) – ‘Then he said, Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’
Whenever I read this portion of Scripture my mind also goes to another portion found in Isaiah, where the prophet Isaiah is also confronted with the holiness of God. ‘In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ (Isaiah 6:1-3)
In the Moses example, he was told to take his shoes from off his feet because the ground where he was standing was holy ground, Moses was tending sheep, he had come to a place called Horeb for the sheep to graze, so the ground around him was sufficient to be pastureland, and yet at this moment the pastureland became holy ground because the very presence of God was there. What Moses saw must have been amazing, a bush that burned and yet was not consumed, but what he heard was also amazing, for he heard the very voice of God.
Notice what it says in verse 3, ‘And Moses said I will turn aside to see this great sight . . .’ (ESV) ‘So Moses thought I will go over and see this strange sight . . .’ (NIV) One translation a ‘great sight’ the other a ‘strange sight’ they both sum up what it would have been like for Moses, but what an ‘amazing’ experience as well, to be near to the presence of God, to be treading on holy ground, to be in communication with God, for as we will discover tomorrow what happened next was a crucial conversation regarding the plight of the people of Israel and their deliverance.
For Isaiah, his encounter with God caused him to be aware of his sinfulness in comparison to God’s holiness. ‘Woe is me for I am lost: for I am a man of unclean lips . . .’ (Isaiah 6:5)
The patch of ground where the bush was and where Moses stood was just the same as every other bush around, and the rest of the ground around, except for one important thing, God presence was at that particular spot, and in that particular bush. An encounter with God should always have an impact upon us, and one of the places where we should have those encounters is in the place which has been dedicated for the purpose of worship which for us is Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, it is a building, yes built with bricks, mortar, with a roof and windows just like every other building around it, and yet it is different because it is a place which has been set apart for the worship and glory of God, it is a place where the particular presence of God is to be found with his people. We need always to remember that when we enter a place of worship, for us our building in Caris Street that we are entering holy ground, it is the place to which we draw near to encounter God and to be encouraged and equipped in our walk and relationship with him, and like Moses we can be challenged in regard to the next step in our journey of faith. I personally think that to meet in a building which is only used as a place of Christian worship is a blessing as we always know what has gone on in that building during the week. Let us come to the house of God, which is our burning bush, with expectant hearts, with excited hearts and with anticipation that we will drawing near to God and he will draw near to us. (James 4:8)