Good Morning.
Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)
We would assume that, in and of itself, Mount Sinai was no more holy than any other piece of ground. It was made of the same rock and dust as so many other hills and mountains in the same region. What made it holy was the fact that the Holy One was present. That is why Moses was instructed to remove his shoes. Notice that, later in the days of the Temple, priests were not permitted to wear shoes and so we see that, at that particular moment, this place in Sinai was considered to be holy in the way that the Temple would be considered holy.
Again, it really didn’t have anything to do with the stones and timbers that made up the Temple; it was holy because it was the earthly abode of the Almighty God. Because He was holy, the Temple was regarded as set apart and special. In fact, to house the Presence of the Almighty was the very purpose of the Sanctuary. Without His Presence, the Sanctuary was merely a beautiful structure with expensive furnishings. Proof of that is demonstrated when, after God’s Presence vacated the Temple, the Babylonians were allowed to destroy it.
Paul said that our bodies are “temples of the Holy Spirit” and thus we conclude that if His Spirit resides in us, we are to be regarded as holy. That is not to compliment us, necessarily, but is to suggest that we have a great responsibility to live in a way that is conducive to God’s Presence remaining with us. In other words, if we are to be a “holy nation” it is imperative that we live holy lives. Without His Spirit within us, we are just a sophisticated collection of dust particles destined to come to nothing. So let us all be filled with His Presence today and truly exemplify to this world that the Holy One lives within us and works through us.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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