Part One

Moses meets the LORD in Exodus 3:1-6 and I’m stopping in verse 6:

1 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.
2 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.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 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.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6 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.

Moses is in the special presence of God at the burning bush.  God said, “Here am I.”  So He’s there.  And then there God commands Moses to do something that would treat his proximity to God’s special presence as sacred.  God calls this place, “holy ground.”

Holy Ground and Reverence My Sanctuary

What makes the ground holy where Moses stands?  It is the nearness to the special presence of God.  God is there.  Moses knows it.

God gave Moses a symbolic means by which he could set apart this place where he stood, show it to be unique or majestic.  Moses could demonstrate respect to God through a physical act, one that had not as of yet been established as a signal of reverence. It wasn’t just in the heart where and how this occurred.  God expected and expects more.  Later in Leviticus 19:30, God says through Moses to the people of God, “Reverence my sanctuary.”  God doesn’t say how, assuming that they would understand how to obey this command.

A parallel elsewhere in the Old Testament for consecrating something is the truth of a “solemn assembly.”  God mandated solemnity for holy occasions, again implying the knowledge of an application.  By taking his shoes off, Moses could distinguish the occasion of meeting with God at the burning bush.  It made the circumstance a more solemn one.

Solemnity

People today do not, as a whole, like solemnity.  They want chipper, vivacious, bouncy, funny, and casual, informal, and laid back.  Silly most times is better than solemn.  I could give more descriptions of the variations of what people want that revolve around self-interest.  True reverence in most cases is not even an option any more.  It is a deal-breaker for attraction.  People are in fact put to sleep by solemnity, because it’s just boring to them.  In that sense, the people keeping something solemn lose their audience and ruin the meeting.

Music is a major component for promoting the opposite of solemnity and reverence.  Churches choose what people want, which corresponds more to the wants of a majority.  Scripture commands, “Abstain from fleshly lust,” and churches accommodate and promote fleshly lust with their music.  Music can express solemnity, majesty, and something sacred.  It distinguishes itself from the spirit of the age or what some today call a “vibe.”

The lack of reverence and solemnity trickles into many other various aspects of culture, which at one time did more to reflect on the nature of God.  Work places and educational institutions among other spheres of authority had dress codes.  The organization expected fulfilled standards for language and other forms of conduct.  I was recently watching a podcast in which the spokesman used “normalcy” to describe the way it once was, but generally no more.

Put Into Practice

I’ve been alive long enough to remember when opening the top button of the dress shirt signaled a drop in the solemnity of the occasion.  Someone had to keep his hair combed and completely orderly to communicate the proper respect.  Churches did not look like theaters.  No one would want this juxtaposition or association with the profane.  The architecture of a building needed a solemn or reverent appearance larger in scale than removing ones shoes, but in the realm of that ideal.

Weddings were a holy convocation.  This was a solemn covenant before God.  It was not an expression of personality, hipness, coolness, or popularity.  Plans revolved around the expression of God’s character or nature.  As an activity, it was kept distinct from something common, playful, or vulgar.  I’m using the wedding as an example so that you can imagine occasions and how they change in culture away from God.

Someone writing about the exact subject of this series, said the following in 2017:

Implicit in the rejection of the sacred is the idea that there should be no restraints for anything. It is unjust that there be anything set beyond the reach of others. It is wrong that anyone is recognized as being more than someone else.

Thus, in a society that has lost a notion of the sacred, no one stands out, no prizes are awarded, and disordered passions must never be held in check. Everyone must be equal, whatever the cost. There can be no sanctuary for any privileges. Nothing can be withheld from others. Rather, everything must be available to all.

The Separateness of God

God is High.  Required solemnity acknowledges the separateness of God.  To give Him His proper recognition, protocol must reflect His Highness.  This is setting Him apart.

The cherubim around the throne room of God without ceasing treat God with His deserved solemnity.  God requires this of these creatures, but He also reveals this scene in many places in the Bible (Ezekiel 1, Isaiah 6, Revelation 4-5).  He expects people to mimic this reality.  It’s not there in the Bible to ignore.  These heavenly creature use two sets of six wings to cover their faces and cover their feet (Isaiah 6:2).  This signifies reverence and humility, modesty and respect, ways to give God His proper due and treat Him with appropriate worthiness.

Scripture is replete with means of solemnity and reverence.  Either the opposite or some variation that diverts from this solemnity and reverence is then profaning.  Some kind of profaning occurs with the diminishing of reverence and solemnity.

More to Come