Still 'fine-tuning' our process. You can get to the original article HERE
NOTE: THIS ARTICLE is a reprint from the blog of reverend Kevin Rogers of New Song Church in Windsor, Ontario and is reproduced here for your convenience. You can visit the his blog called "The Orphan Age" HERE.
In most instances, mountains are connected to wilderness.
Ancient cities were generally near bodies of water, trade routes and/or fertile
places. Large populations were dependent on the governance of resources and the
development of community systems. The wilderness was the domain of wild animals
and nomadic tribes tending to herds.
Moses’ was raised in the Pharaoh’s palace in Egypt in the height
of bureaucratic power, resource, and technology. And yet, it would be his anger
that blurs his vision for justice. In killing an Egyptian, Moses now had
betrayed his benefactor and needed to run for his life. He escapes to the
wilderness where he would become a shepherd, meet his wife, and begin his own
family. With the passing of decades, Egypt became a distant memory.
As an exiled man living in obscurity, it would be Mount
Sinai that would trigger something from his youth. Another name for Sinai was
Horeb.
Moses’ origin story included being born to a Hebrew slave
family at a time when there was a pronouncement of infanticide on Hebrew baby
boys. In the ironic twist that only God can orchestrate, he is spared from
slaughter and rescued by none other than the Pharaoh’s daughter. Raised in
Egyptian royalty and yet his own mother was placed as his nursemaid.
The Hebrews had been in Egypt for the past four hundred
years, but this was not the Promised Land that Abraham had set out to find. Moses
is called out obscurity in the wilderness to lead God’s people back home.
Exodus 3:
Now Moses Was Tending
The Flock Of Jethro His Father-In-Law, The Priest Of Midian, And He Led The
Flock To The Far Side Of The Wilderness And Came To Horeb, The Mountain Of God.
2 There The Angel Of The Lord Appeared To Him In Flames Of Fire
From Within A Bush. Moses Saw That Though The Bush Was On Fire It Did Not Burn
Up. 3 So Moses Thought, “I Will Go Over And See This Strange
Sight—Why The Bush Does Not Burn Up.”
4 When
The Lord Saw That He Had Gone Over To Look, God Called To Him From Within The
Bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses Said, “Here I
Am.”
5 “Do
Not Come Any Closer,” God Said. “Take Off Your Sandals, For The Place Where You
Are Standing Is Holy Ground.” 6 Then He Said, “I Am The God Of
Your Father, The God Of Abraham, The God Of Isaac And The God Of Jacob.” At
This, Moses Hid His Face, Because He Was Afraid To Look At God.
In the shadow of Mount Sinai God gets Moses’ attention. A
bush on fire that does not burn up—what is this curious thing that Moses has
never seen in all his years of nomadic movement? The starting point of God
speaking into a person’s life often includes a curiosity about something
unexplainable. Something that calls you into an examination.
Upon approach, a voice speaks from the fiery bush and
announces Himself. The God of Moses’ ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was in
this space with Moses. He is warned to not come closer and to remove his
sandals. This mountain is holy ground.
Moses is instructed to remove his sandals because the
area is holy. The priests, who would later serve within the holy compartments
of the tabernacle, did not wear anything made from leather, because it came
from a slaughtered animal. God’s presence is associated with life and not
death. The holiness of God is an important motif within the books of Exodus and
Leviticus.[1]
The bare foot must walk carefully because it is more
vulnerable. There will be no sudden running from this place because we are
barefoot on holy ground. In the presence of God, we too must come in reverence
and vulnerable.