We're gonna be reading again today out of Exodus. We're gonna go to chapter 3 today. I'm gonna go ahead and start reading in verse 1. It says, Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, The bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 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. Father God, Lord, we thank you. We thank you for preserving your word for us, God, that we can read your words, Lord, and know that this is your true word, God, that you've preserved for us in these last days in this King James Bible, God. We thank you for your son, Jesus, who died. to save us from our sin, Lord, and we thank you for your Holy Spirit that gives us understanding, God, and we pray, Lord, that you would be with us today as we go through your word, Lord, that you would keep me from error, Father, help me to preach your word truly, God, and Lord, I pray that you would open our ears to hear your word, God, help us to listen, and Lord, we thank you for this beautiful Lord's Day that you've gathered us together as a body to worship you, Lord, and to hear your word, God, and we thank you for the freedom to do that in this country, Lord, and it's in Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, so Moses has been living now in the land of Midian for about 40 years, making him to be about 80 years old. He's been keeping the flock of his father-in-law since he became married to Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro. So he hasn't been idle. But for a man with the education and upbringing of Moses, who we were told in Acts 7 was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds, This might seem a waste of his potential. Perhaps he might be considered underemployed. But Moses doesn't seem to be bothered by this. We're told that he was content to dwell with Jethro. In 1 Timothy 6, it says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be there with content. Moses doesn't have aspirations of greatness or desire for wealth and fame. He doesn't think more highly of himself than he ought, even though we were told again in Acts 7 that he thought that God might use him to deliver the Israelites from their bondage. Where it said, in seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. When he found himself rejected by his brethren and marked for death by Pharaoh, he fled into the wilderness in Midian and made no effort to return to Egypt, or make a name for himself, but contentedly dwelt there among the sheep. And God allowed him to marry, raise a family, and enjoy an ordinary life. But Moses must have still thought about his people left behind in Egypt, and we know that certainly God has not forgotten them. And now it is time for Moses to be introduced to the God of his fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And as Moses rounded the backside of the desert, he came to a mountain. Perhaps he's seen this mountain before, maybe many times. But on this occasion, he sees something that he has never seen before. He notices a bush on fire. But as he observes this bush, he sees that it isn't burning away. It is just burning. Moses, being a learned man, understands that this is not normal. He is intrigued by this spectacle. Verse two, it said, and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. We often see God associated with fire in the Bible. At Pentecost, when the disciples are filled with the Holy Ghost, it says, And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And of course, God judges with fire. He judged Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone. And Jesus is gonna judge the world with fire when he returns. In 2 Thessalonians, we read, and to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12 says, wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time talking about the fire of God in this sermon, because we're gonna see a lot of fire as we go through Exodus. So we're gonna move on. He says, this is a great sight, a bush, burning with fire, but not being consumed. I wonder if many people today would think that this is a great site, when we are constantly assaulted with videos and TikToks and things trying to catch our attention. I bet I could easily make a video of a bush that was burning, but not being consumed, and put it on YouTube, and nobody would even watch it, unless I had a thousand subscribers, maybe. But Moses's mind wasn't filled with the constant bombardment that we see nowadays. He hasn't seen alien spaceships blow up the White House or anything like that, so he's able to have his attention captured by this burning bush long enough to notice that there's something very unusual about it. And he's not too busy to take notice of it. He doesn't have somewhere important that he has to be. He is where he is supposed to be, taking care of the flock, and he has the time to stop and investigate this phenomenon, which is God's intent. Verse four says, and when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him and out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. We were told that the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the flame of fire out of the midst of the bush. And now God is calling to Moses out of this bush. Is this implying that the angel of the Lord and God in this passage are synonymous? We tend to understand angel as always referring to a created being, a servant of God, sent to do His bidding, to communicate His Word. Is this the case? Is this angel that is appearing to Moses separate from the Lord who is speaking to Moses from the midst of the bush? Or is this fire an apparition of the Lord Himself? I'm not sure that I know the answer to this question. There are times in the scripture when the angel of the Lord seems to be referring to the Lord Himself, as this scripture appears to me to be. In either case, the Lord's presence is undeniably there on this mountain, and God is speaking to Moses from this fire, and Moses answers him, here am I. In verse five it says, and he said, draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. God tells Moses, draw not nigh hither. That's King James English for don't come any closer. God says, that's close enough, Moses. and take off your shoes because you're standing on holy ground. This Horeb, where Moses is meeting with God, is the same mountain where God is going to deliver the Ten Commandments after the Israelites are brought out of Egypt. It's Mount Sinai. God has declared this place to be holy and chosen it as the site where He would reveal Himself to Moses. And 6 says, 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." Up to this point, Moses probably didn't realize what was happening, but now it's suddenly clear to Moses who is speaking to him, and Moses knows that this is God, and he hides his face. He is afraid to look upon God because he understands that he is not worthy to look upon God. When a sinful man finds himself in the presence of the Holy God, fear is the appropriate response. Isaiah chapter 6 says, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Verse 5, Then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah is seeing the Lord in a vision and declares himself undone because he is a sinful being. Undone basically means destroyed. He's unmade. He's a dead man. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me. That same answer that Moses gave when the Lord called to him from the bush, here am I. Isaiah has his iniquities purged when this angel touches his lips with a coal, cleansed as it were by fire from the altar of God. Now he's made fit for the errand that the Lord has for him. But instead of being sent to deliver Israel, he's being sent to tell of their ruin. In Psalms 130, verse three, it says, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. Moses is able to stand before God because God doesn't hold his iniquities against him. I believe this is made possible because of Christ. What he was going to do, what he did when he came and died for the sins of the world, Moses' sin is covered because Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So when God called Moses to deliver the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, he had already made arrangements to deliver the world from the bondage of sin. So what is up with the shoes? Why does God tell Moses to take his shoes off? In the context, he says it is because he is standing on holy ground. It is holy ground. I would argue that wherever God meets with us is holy ground, but this Mount Horeb, as I said, is Sinai, where the Israelites will receive the law delivered to Moses from God himself. It's where the Israelites will also break the law, making their golden calf and causing Moses to break the stone tablets that he brought down to them. I don't know if God is setting aside this place for any particular reason that makes it better suited for this purpose than any other place. It doesn't seem to be remarkable for any reason other than it is a mountain. As a location, Sinai doesn't hold any religious significance today. We don't even know exactly what mountain this is. Its location has lost to time. If we knew where it was, we would probably not find anything out of the ordinary there. There wouldn't be a burning bush or a pillar of fire. We wouldn't be closer to God there than we can be right here. But symbolically, of course, Sinai represents the law, the old covenant that God had with Israel, and it is contrasted with the new covenant we have in Christ. In Hebrews 12, 18, For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more. for they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touched the mountain it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But ye are coming to Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. So I believe it is God's presence there that made that ground holy ground. And God calling Moses to join him there and commune directly with him is something that is hard to comprehend. God draws Moses close and then stops him from coming too close. And then he tells Moses to take his shoes off. Some commentaries say that this was the custom of the people in those parts of the world when coming into religious temples that they would remove their shoes. John Wesley says, put off thy shoes from off thy feet. The putting off the shoe was then what the putting off of the hat is now, a token of respect and submission. The ground is holy ground made so by the special manifestation of the divine presence. We ought to approach to God with a solemn pause and preparation and to express our inward reverence by a grave and reverent behavior in the worship of God, carefully avoiding everything that looks light or rude. There does seem to be something disrespectful about wearing shoes in this intimate setting with God. In our culture today, we might not even consider taking off a hat as a sign of respect. I doubt anyone today would take off their shoes when in the presence of a head of state, unless they were going to throw them at him. But it's possible that this was expected in Moses' time. I don't know for sure. But I think there is more to this act than just showing respect. Jameson Fawcett Brown says, Put off thy shoes. The direction was in conformity with a usage which was well known to Moses, for the Egyptian priests observed it in their temples, and it is observed in all eastern countries where the people take off their shoes or sandals as we do our hats. But the Eastern idea is not precisely the same as the Western. With us, the removal of the hat is an expression of reverence for the place we enter, or rather, of Him who is worshipped there. With them, the removal of the shoes is a confession of personal defilement and conscious unworthiness to stand in the presence of unspotted holiness. This has something of a ring of truth to it to me. I can see how a man might be conscious of the filth that is bound to him just by walking through this fallen world. Our poor shoes are the first line of defense against this defilement. Everything that we don't want touching our feet ends up on the soles of our shoes. Many people will take their shoes off when they enter their home so as to not track the outside world into their own sanctuary. We may well confess that we are not worthy to stand in the presence of holiness by removing the only part of our foot that we can readily take off. When the garments for the priesthood are prescribed later on, we see that there are no shoes worn when they are serving in the tabernacle. Not only are there no shoes, but they are required to wash their hands and their feet. This cleansing was symbolic, but it was required on pain of death. In Exodus 30 it says, There was a custom of foot washing that we see in the Bible. Again, something that is not familiar to us, but it makes sense in the context of living in that age. Maybe their shoes were not great at keeping the dirt off their feet. We still have sandals today, or maybe you wear Crocs, and you know how the dirt can just get inside your shoes and get all over your feet. Today, we would just go to the hose or to the bathtub and run a few gallons of water to rinse off a little bit of dirt. But back then, they didn't have the luxury of water just pouring out of pipes whenever you wanted it. They had to carry water from a well or a spring, and they would probably try not to waste it. But they would pour some water into a little basin or something that they could wash the dust off their feet. And in some instances, they might have their feet washed by someone else, a servant perhaps. Jesus would demonstrate this practice by the washing of his disciples' feet. In John 13, it says, after that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him, therefore said he, ye are not all clean. Jesus tells Peter that he is already clean. We are made clean through faith in Jesus Christ, and we only need to be washed that one time, but our feet will still get dirty in our daily walk. And when they do, we can come to Jesus and have them cleaned up with the water of the word of God. We don't want dirty feet, but dirty feet doesn't make us unclean, just our feet. And Jesus, he's also giving us a pattern to follow. He says that we should be willing to serve one another as he served. Verse 13 says, you call me master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet, for I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you." But I don't think Moses is being told to take his shoes off just because they're dirty. There's something more to it, and I think it has to do with our attitude towards God and being ready to hear from Him. In Joshua chapter five, we see Joshua getting ready to go to war against Jericho. He seems to be taken by surprise by a man who has come upon him with a drawn sword. Verse 13 says, And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. I think Joshua was ready to fight. He probably had his hand on his sword as he confronted this man, demanding to know whose side he was on. But this wasn't a man. I think this was the Lord come to speak with Joshua, just like the angel of the Lord in the burning bush was the Lord. And when the Lord is speaking with Joshua, he tells him the same thing he told Moses. He said, loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And then he goes on to tell Joshua the battle plan. Israel was on a war footing, prepared for battle. Part of being prepared for battle is having your armor on, and part of your armor is your shoes. We wear shoes to protect our feet, not just for battle, but for everything. When we go to work, we put on shoes. Having shoes on our feet means we're ready to go, ready to work, ready to fight. And when we have our shoes on, we don't worry too much about where we put our feet. But when we haven't got shoes on, we have to be careful where we step. I'm an old man. if you knew that. I don't go outside barefoot because I don't need my feet injured. I used to play outside barefoot when I was a child. I think it helps to not weigh 220 pounds. If you want to run around barefoot with no shoes on, that's 110 pounds per foot just standing still. But I remember what it's like to be playing barefoot in the grass and then to find yourself stepping on what we called stickers. I don't know if everyone called them that. I grew up in Texas. and we had these things growing everywhere. You'd be running along, having a great time with your friends, and the next thing you know, you're down on the ground screaming, stickers! And everyone's looking down to see where they're stepping, and you're trying to pull these little devils out of the sole of your foot without getting them stuck in your fingers. What am I saying? I'm saying that when you take your shoes off, you tread lightly, you walk circumspectly, or you should. to make sure you don't make any missteps, that you don't put your foot where it doesn't belong. When you take your shoes off, you're no longer ready to fight. You're not ready to run. You're in a vulnerable state. That's how we should be when we're in the presence of God. If we want to hear from God, we should be ready to hear from God, ready to say, yes, Lord, here am I. Ecclesiastes 5, Solomon writes, When we come to God's house, Solomon says, That phrase, keep thy foot, is kind of odd. There are many sayings in the English language that are straight out of the King James Bible. People might not know that that is the origin, but they know the saying, phrases like, the skin of my teeth, or wolves in sheep clothing, come from the Bible. But nobody that I know has ever said, keep thy foot. Have you ever heard that, Mike? Keep thy foot, brother Mike. Have I said that before? I don't remember ever saying it. James and Fawcett Brown says of it, says, in going to worship, go with considerate, circumspect, reverent feeling. The illusion is to taking off the shoes or sandals and entering a temple." Which passages, it talks about Exodus 3 and Joshua 5, says, which passages perhaps gave rise to the custom. Keep thy foot. But you can tell from the context that he is talking about having a reverent attitude toward God, and particularly with your mouth. It says, keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil. Proverbs 18 tells us a fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. You don't wanna give the sacrifice of fools when you're in the presence of God. Verse two says, be not rash with thy mouth, Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God is in heaven and thou upon earth. Therefore, let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. Fools don't ever know when to stop talking, do they? When thou vowest to vow unto God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not bow than that thou shouldest bow and not pay. So a fool makes vows before God and doesn't pay them. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, neither say thou before the angel that it was an error. Wherefore should God be angry at thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also diverse vanities, but fear thou God. You know what God wants instead of the sacrifice of fools? He would rather have the sacrifice of praise. Hebrews 13 says, by him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. I believe that what God is saying to us is that he wants us to be ready to hear him when we come to him, to be prepared to just listen, not to be in a hurry to get to the next item on our list. We all have busy lives and there's only something that is demanding our attention. Some of us I'm sure are busier than others, but when it's time for our devotions to God, reading the Bible or time to go to church, we should make sure that that is God's time and not approach it as God taking our time. We should enter into that time with the Lord as if we are entering holy ground and remembering who it is that we worship and the privilege it is to be able to come before him. And Deuteronomy 4 says, for the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. He's still a jealous God and a consuming fire. Psalm 100 says, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name. And then afterwards, you can put your shoes back on. We do need to be diligent in our business. ready to go where we need to go, ready to fight when we need to fight, but not when we're supposed to be listening to God. Now, I know what you guys are thinking. And before you ask, I did do my due diligence and looked to see if I could find a study to corroborate the idea that perhaps taking your shoes off makes you better able to hear. I did not find that study. I did, however, find an article discussing the link between hearing and balance. It's called, Your Feet and Your Ears, What is the Connection? So I'm gonna let you know what the connection is now. This is from just a couple of weeks ago, September 11th. Dr. Thomas A. Powers says, Balance Awareness Week, observed every third week in September, is about celebrating stability. Many of us have experienced brief moments of dizziness and short-term vertigo that passes after the intake of food or water, a change in physical activity or recovery from illness. However, more than 69 million US adults over the age of 40 have experienced vestibular dysfunction, a condition that disrupts the body's balance system. So what does balance have to do with hearing health? Research is increasingly suggesting that a hearing loss is a significant contributor to falls among older individuals. And unfortunately, one in every five falls results in injury for an older adult, and about 3 million of these need treatment in emergency rooms each year. We know that the incidence of hearing loss increases as we get older. This often results in social isolation, which leads to less movement, which may then lead to an even greater fall risk. Since our hearing and balance systems are linked together to provide information to our brain, auditory cues can help those with poor balance. Individuals aged 40 to 69 with a mild hearing loss of 25 to 40 decibels show three times the risk of a fall than those with normal hearing. And for every 10 decibels of hearing loss, there is a 1.4 fold increase risk of falling. So I won't read the rest of this to you, but know that taking your shoes off probably won't help you hear any better, but being able to hear better may help you keep your feet. So yes, I haven't found any causal connection between wearing shoes and hearing loss. I'm not going to insist that you all take your shoes off when you come into church. Many of you do anyway, and I'm thankful for you. But know that it isn't a requirement, and I don't anticipate that it ever will be. But let's do whatever we can to make sure that we listen to God when he has something to say. When we come before him, let's be reverent. Let's know who it is that we worship and want to know what he has to say to us. Amen. Father God, Lord, we thank you so much, God, again, for your word, God, that you've given us, Lord. We thank you that we can come to your word and hear you speak to us every day, God. You have something to tell us in your word, God. And we just thank you for caring enough about us to give us that holy scripture, Lord. And we thank you again for your son, Jesus, who died for us, Father. And I thank you for this church, God. I pray you'd bless the rest of our day, Father. Help us to be mindful of you as we fellowship, Lord. And God, I pray that you would Be with our fellowship together. Bless this day in Jesus' name, amen.