Exodus 3:5-105And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6Moreover 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. 7And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:5‑10)
Even at the distance from God at which Moses stood, he had to take off his shoes. He must be reminded of the holiness of the Divine presence. “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” This is the first lesson which all who approach God must learn. He is a God of grace, of mercy, and of love; but He is all these because He is a holy God. He could never have displayed Himself in these blessed characters had it not been that at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other.
It must be with a sense of the holiness of Him “with whom we have to do” that we are to receive the gracious communications of His mind and will. God then tells Moses, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
In this announcement, God draws particular attention to His being the God of the fathers. He would have Moses, and Israel too, to learn that His dealings in grace and in blessing with His people, were connected with the promises He had made to their father long before. He was the unchanging One who could and would accomplish His word, but this could not be apart from Christ; “for all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” 2 Corinthians 1:2020For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. (2 Corinthians 1:20).
The effect that this had on Moses is seen in that he “hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” However, instead of condemning Moses, He gave him a message of blessing both for himself and for his people.
“And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” verses 7,8. God ever finds His motive for action within Himself. And it is very encouraging to the soul to learn this. There is not a word to show that the children of Israel had cried to the Lord. There was not in them the smallest care for the glory of God. They groaned, but did not groan to God. It was but a sense of suffering. They groaned only because of their wretchedness; but there was no looking out to God no counting on His mercy.
Nevertheless, God expresses His tender interests in them even as they were. And this is true of souls now. There is nothing that can hinder a soul from experiencing the most real love of God, except the persistent rejection of Himself. There is nothing too low or too hard in man to hinder the power of God’s grace except the willfulness that will not have him at all. The misery of His people touched His heart, and He “was come down to deliver them.” So “God commendeth His love tard us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8).
God’s purpose was to deliver His people out of Egypt “and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” There is no mention of the wilderness here. It does not form any part of His purposes, though it does belong to His ways. In the purposes of God there is nothing between redemption from the world (Egypt) and the coming glory with Christ.
ML 07/21/1968