Monday, June 15, 2020
“And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:4-6 KJV).
Why did the LORD God order Moses to remove his shoes, and why was Moses “afraid to look upon God?”
At the time of Moses meeting the LORD in the burning bush, he was 80 years of age. He had spent his first 40 years in Egypt, before fleeing to live in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula for another 40 years. What was his reason for departing? The Prophet Stephen, speaking as the Holy Ghost led him, revealed the motive in Acts chapter 7.
“[23] And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. [24] And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: [25] For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. [26] And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? [27] But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? [28] Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? [29] Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. [30] And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.”
Moses left Egypt because he had abandoned Israel….
Our latest Bible Q&A: “Can you explain, ‘Strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel?’”
333 Words of Grace 