“One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.” When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.” Exodus 3:1-5 NLT
“When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to Him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?” “Neither one,” He replied. “I Am the commander of the Lord’s army.” At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?” The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.” Joshua 5:13-15 NLT
I did a little digging when the Holy Spirit gave me this title, because I wanted to find out the significance as well as the purpose. On the surface I get it, but if the Lord wanted to teach on shoe removal, I needed to get an understanding. There are religions today that do this as a part of their ritual. They will not wear their shoes when they go into their temples, I’ve even noticed in a neighborhood where I used to live that their guests would remove their shoes before entering their homes. For them, as I have read, it’s a sign of respect to their deity and the temple itself. As for why you can’t enter a private home with shoes, my only thought is they don’t want to track dirt from the outside on to their carpet🤷🏼♀️I don’t like it myself. But I don’t tell folks to take their shoes off before they enter my home, I leave that to their discretion.
I will not criticize or make light of those who have this practice in their religion, but as a born again believer in Jesus Christ, He has never once told me to take my shoes off. Not even when He baptized me in the Holy Ghost and gave me a prayer language that only He understands. The thing we must know is that anything God tells an individual to do, must never be made into a general rule for everyone. If that were the case we’d all be walking around with no shoes and our backsides exposed Isaiah 20:1-4. It’s the same with feet washing ceremonies in some churches. That was an object lesson on humility and serving each other, more so than a worldwide call to feet washing. I’ve also researched to see if He gave this command to anyone else besides Moses and Joshua. Couldn’t find it. So this command was exclusively for these two leaders.
In the Old Testament, God appeared to His servants in varying ways. They heard Him audibly,1 Kings 19. (He still speaks audibly today by the way) He gave dreams, visions, and angelic visitations/messengers ( still happening today, though not as prevalent for the reasons I’ll share later). And He would also manifest Himself in different ways. The fire at night and the cloud by day. Exodus 13:21-23. As well as the incidents in the two scriptures above. We must also understand that the Holy Spirit was not yet given to man. But Jesus, who is the Angel of the Lord, was always active throughout the Old Testament. Whenever you see an encounter with an Angel, and the person to whom He appears bows down, that’s Jesus being manifested, but He’s not known as Jesus, yet, because He hadn’t yet been born as the God man. That’s why Jesus told the men on the Emaeus Road that from Genesis all the way to the prophets, He was written about. Luke 24
When the three men approached Abraham one of them was the Lord Jesus. Abraham bowed down and the Lord didn’t tell him to not do so, why? Because He is to be worshipped. How do I know that? The same Angel asked Himself a question that only the Lord could ask. I taught a lesson on finding Jesus in the Old Testament. It’s much easier to teach it than to write it. Because I can’t go as deep as I’d like here-You would be reading for days. The Holy Spirit is stretching you. If you’re hungry you’ll eat. If you’re thirsty, you’ll drink. 1 Corinthians 2:10-14 helps us know that only those led by the Spirit, understand spiritual things. Let’s read what the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) said to Himself.
“Should I hide My plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked. “For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”
Genesis 18:17-19 NLT
Angels can’t do whatever they want, they’re servants like us. In Revelation chapter 19:10 when John the apostle bowed to the angel messenger, the angel told him not to, because he was a servant just like John. Oh I wish I could write everything I’m hearing. Back to the shoes. God only instructed Moses and Joshua to do that because wherever He manifested Himself became hallowed. Mount Sinai is considered the mountain of God. I’m not sure if Moses knew that when he brought his father-in-law’s sheep there, but it was no accident that God decided to show up and get his attention in a supernatural way. Because Moses left where he was and went closer to investigate why the bush was burning but not consumed by the fire, he had stepped on holy territory. This spot was more than a place on the mountain, this was now occupied territory by the presence of Yahweh. He was indeed standing on Holy Ground.
This wasn’t about shoes, or He would’ve had Abraham do the same thing. He didn’t ask Moses to bow down, every assignment requires different instructions, and a different level of revelation and anointing. In Moses’ encounter, he needed to experience the supernatural power of God, in order to carry out the assignment he was about to be given. God was going to require him to do things no human had ever done before. The God that burns a bush without consuming it, the God who speaks from within the burning bush, is to be feared, revered, worshipped and obeyed. Moses met that God on Mount Sinai. The presence of God made that spot holy. Notice He didn’t say the entire mountain was holy, just the place where he was standing. Or the entire mountain would’ve been burning.
If you’re hearing you’ll see what God is saying here by His Spirit. He’s exposing a religious ritual that has no bearing on the sanctification and the holiness of men. Salvation is through Christ alone not rituals. In all our acquiring of wisdom, we must also get an understanding. God did not intend for everyone to take their shoes off when entering His houses of worship, just the two individuals He instructed to do so. Jesus never removed His sandals when He went into the temple, at least I’ve never read it. He was more concerned about the condition of our hearts.
Joshua encountered Jesus or the Angel of the Lord’s armies. No angel, not Gabriel or Michael, can ever command that you take your shoes off, they don’t make anywhere holy, they’re messengers of God. They bow down and cry holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty! Are you getting this? Moses heard but never saw God. Exodus 33:12-23. Joshua and Abraham saw the Lord Jesus Himself, making the places where they stood holy. When demons and people bowed before Jesus and called Him Lord, did you read where Jesus told them to stand up because He was a man like them and shouldn’t be worshipped? Absolutely not! Why? Because He was God in the flesh and deserving of worship. The only people who didn’t get the significance of who He was were the religious folks. Common people got it, demons got it. That’s why He had no problem revealing His identity to the Samaritan woman. John 4:26. Stay with me folks. This is meat not milk. Every place He reveals or manifest Himself is holy.
We’re not told to remove our shoes today because, Jesus no longer needs a temple or structure to manifest His presence. As in the Old Testament “The Ark of the Covenant.“ On the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 God found a permanent place for His Spirit to dwell in. We are that temple. We don’t need to take our shoes off to show reverence. The change is inward not outward. We are His Holy ground. Our hearts are the soil in which His presence resides. We have a new spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 we’re not patched up, we’re new.
“So keep coming to Him who is the Living Stone —though He was rejected and discarded by men but chosen by God and is priceless in God’s sight. Come and be His “living stones” who are continually being assembled into a sanctuary for God. For now you serve as holy priests, offering up spiritual sacrifices that He readily accepts through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:4-5 TPT
“Have you forgotten that your body is now the sacred temple of the Spirit of Holiness, who lives in you? You don’t belong to yourself any longer, for the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, lives inside your sanctuary. You were God’s expensive purchase, paid for with tears of blood, so by all means, then, use your body to bring glory to God!”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 TPT
In the Old Testament God needed a temple for His people, in the New Testament God purchased a people for His temple. Everywhere we go is holy. As carriers of His Spirit and presence, the place where we stand, kneel, worship and pray is Holy Ground. When His tangible presence fills my place of meeting, it’s Holy Ground. God isn’t looking for rituals, He’s looking for vessels. Vessels that He can fill with Himself. So go ahead, take your shoes off. Not because the structure where you worship is holy, but because He is Holy.
“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” Romans 1:25 NIV
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
June 15, 2021