Lovely post, Bloke.

"He invites us to bare our souls (soles?) before Him."

Indeed.
Mellie Helen | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-21 - 00:27 | #

I really like your insights into this verse of Bible. You seem to bring me to some thoughts on this phrase of God. And i agree with your points.
Artur | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-22 - 01:23 | #

I'd be glad to repeat what I said, but I forgot and do not know where to find it. Here are my thoughts now, your thoughts on the meeting between Moses and God were enlightening. I have been a student of the Bible for over 40 years and did not see the point you made until now. God sort of rolled out the red carpet for Moses.
xlinked | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-22 - 08:55 | #

I really enjoyed your take on this and it has opened my eyes better as I read. And thanks for responding to Anonymous in my blog. You say it all well.
Dawn | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-22 - 11:39 | #

hm. have you thought about a career in the pulpit? i'm not by any stretch a religious person, but have taken up reading the bible to better understand what i need to do for a new client. The folks at Tyndale House would really benefit from someone of your insight & eloquence. Absolutely beautiful interpretation. Thanks for sharing it.
richhappens | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-23 - 20:42 | #

Thank you for your insights. In Hawaii, we take off our shoes and sandals and "slippas" when we enter a friend's house. We often do the same when we enter an Asian shrine or temple. I think there is something of "leaving what touches unclean ground" outside, but also the idea that you're "at home"--leave your traveling things outside, don't think about leaving for a while.

God bless you.
Leo Wong | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-24 - 06:20 | #

Hi Leo,

Thanks for your comments. Yep, I am a Chinese person and we take off our shoes at home too, as well as when we visit our Asian friends here in Southern California. I live in a City with many Koreans, Japanese, Chinese and other Asians, and so many of our non-Asian friends have learned to do the same. Back in Asia, we take off our shoes at home and at places of worship, etc. I remember that some of the people who live in the country and who have dirt floors - yet, there are areas in the house that all footwear are removed.

That was why when I first encountered the passage in Exodus, I didn't think twice about what it meant when God asked Moses to remove the shoes. It was only recently when I asked myself, "But why?" that I began to see that perhaps there were other reasons. It might be interesting if Biblical scholars and other historians can shed light on this...
TheBloke...IntheOuter | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-24 - 20:22 | #

I looked at a couple commentaries, and they said there was and still is a tradition in that part of the world to take off your shoes as a sign of respect. I don't think being cleansed was at all the issue at this point. This is even before the ceremonial laws of cleanness and uncleanness had made explicit which things were holy, which common and which clean and unclean within the category of common.
Jeremy Pierce | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-24 - 22:24 | #

I should say that the principle you're talking about is clear in scripture. When Jesus bothers to touch the unclean leper, it's exactly what you're saying here. I just don't think this passage is about that at all. It's more about Moses being humbled by the glory and holiness of God and being faced with this impossible mission that God has somehow entrusted to him who is unworthy of it.
Jeremy Pierce | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-24 - 22:26 | #

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your input. I think you may have a point about the pre-dating of ceremonial laws of cleanness and uncleanness. But I think the idea that when man meets God some kind of cleansing takes place is clear throughout scripture from Genesis onwards, e.g. Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel and so on. It becomes more particularized in the story of Isaiah's vision and the cleansing of the touch of the burning coals. So I think that there is precedent in superimposing that concept into this story.

The idea that even now in the Middle East, people take off their footwear as a sign of respect, just like in Asian societies, could have been derived from that particular incident. That is, perhaps there was not a historical practice of removing footwear prior to this incident. Although the practice of washing of feet may mean that this practice could be historical throughout the region and has nothing to do with this particular incident.

However, the question, why God specifically says, "Remove your sandals for (because) the ground you are standing on is holy" still remains. It is not merely a sign of respect like the current social custom of Asians/Middle Eastern society. It has something to do with the holy. And, if that is the case, why remove the sandals if it was merely humbled by the glory and holiness of God? And the feeling of the overwhelmed with the vision came after the removal of the sandals.

Incidentally, I wasn't saying that this is an experience of cleansing per se, but that it is a meeting between the Holy God and a sinful man. The fact is that the man is instructed to remove his sandals, one of the purposes of which includes protecting the feet. I am saying that this experience might be a sign that God is telling Moses that before the Holy God he can be vulnerable and need no protection - because God is His protector (cleanser, companion, etc).
TheBloke...IntheOuter | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-24 - 23:15 | #

I wasn't saying that it was a later idea that wouldn't have been available to this earlier writer. I was saying that it's a true principle that doesn't seem to be taught by this text.
Jeremy Pierce | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-26 - 09:26 | #

True. It doesn't seem to be taught by this text. My purpose wasn't an exegesis of the text, but I was meditating upon it devotionally. What I uncovered may not have been the main point of the passage, although I would argue that it is not opposed to it, nor is it not conducive to the main point.

I believe we can look at this passage from the perspective that there is a gem here that is often overlooked by students and scholars alike, because (1) we are far removed from the culture of the day and do not understand what the footwear removal's significance in this text, and (2) there is only one other incident about footwear removal (in Joshua) in the entire scriptures.

Coming from a background where footwear removal is a commonplace practice in our homes, I was intrigued why God would specifically instruct Moses (and later, Joshua) to remove their sandals because the ground upon which they were standing was holy.

No other similar instructions were given in other "holy" ground, such as the Tabernacle and the Temple. I don't know about Jewish tradition and the synagogues but biblically that isn't spelt out. This is not even spelt out in the Mount of Transfiguration. So, I was meditating on this passage by asking the question, "Why is this the case?"

I think that it is worth meditating upon, and it is an instructive exercise as a devotional reading of the text.

I do understand your implication that we need to be careful that we do not read into any scriptural passage any bias, assumptions or ideas from external to the passage. In this case, I believe I have been faithful to this passage in that it is not contrary to the overall message of the passage, which essentially is a message of God meeting with a mere human, and the transformational impact of such a meeting. What do you think?
TheBloke...IntheOuter | Email | Homepage | 2004-11-26 - 11:08 | #