Chapter 4: Moses’s Call to Leadership
Exodus 2:23-3:10
Q1 - Why do you suppose God commanded Moses to remove his shoes? How does this foreshadow some of the directives God will give later concerning priests?
A1 - As a shepherd tending to animals, his shoes were probably not very clean. Removing one’s shoes before entering a tent or abode may have been expected in order to keep things clean. Also, the cleansing process would later become a necessary part of what the priests were to do before performing their duties.
The ground where Moses stood became holy because he was in the presence of God. In taking off his shoes, Moses showed both his respect toward God and his willingness to obey His command.
Q2 - Are we to consider Mount Horeb (also called Mount Sinai) as holy ground today? Why or why not?
2A - The location of this mountain is the subject of much controversy. The mountain located toward the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula which today bears the name Mount Sinai was designated as such by Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, who had a small church erected there around 300 A.D. (https://wyattmuseum.com/the-traditional-mt-sinai/2011-212).
The Sinai Peninsula has been part of Egypt since the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt (c. 3100 BC). So any mountain located there would not have been safe for Moses to take the sheep, nor would it have been safe later for the Israelites to camp nearby while Moses ascended the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from God. (To learn more about the Sinai Peninsula, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinai_Peninsula.)
As a further strike against this mountain being the Mount Sinai in the Bible, its distance is quite a ways from Midian and would have been a long trek for Moses when he was tending his father-in-law’s sheep.
All this is to say, if God had wanted the site of Mt. Sinai to be designated as holy ground today, He would have told us and made its location clear. During the time of the Law, God clearly made known His desires concerning how, when, and where His people were to worship.
In John 4, Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water from the nearby well. As they spoke, she asked Him in verses 19–20 where they ought to worship, upon a mountain in Samaria or in Jerusalem. He replied to her in verse 21 (NIV), “‘Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.’” Then He continued In verses 23–24 (NIV), “‘Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’”
Q3 - Have you ever had a day when the whole trajectory of your life changed? Did you initiate the change, or was it thrust upon you? What life lesson did you learn? Perhaps you know of others who have had such an experience from which you can draw inspiration or gain insight.
A3 - Answers will vary, depending on personal experiences.