Holy Ground, Part II

Ex 3.5, "Then He said, 'Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.'"
I see three possible explanations:

Possibility 1. This is primarily a negative command, remove your shoes. Moses' sandals are incompatible with the holy ground, somehow. Perhaps there's something symbolically offensive about footwear when its juxtaposed with holy ground.

Possibility 2. This is primarily a positive command, make yourself barefoot. Something about holy ground requires barefeet. So, Moses' sandal is only important insofar as it happens to be the object that forms a barrier between his foot and the ground.

Possibility 3. Both of the above.

Barefoot humility?

Unfinished thoughts and questions on sandals:

1. Sandals and clothing go together--that's pretty intuitive, and also backed up biblically. Furthermore, sandals/clothes are a blessing (2 Chron 28.15, Song of Sol 7.1, Deut 29.5). Presumably, Adam would've worn sandals and robes eventually if he had never sinned.

2. In other words, it seems there's more to shoes than just protecting our feet from cursed ground.

3. Barefeet in the OT usually carry connotations of nakedness or shame (2 Sam 15.30, Isaiah 20.2-4, Micah 1.8).

4. So then, why does God require Moses to take off his sandals as he approaches the holy ground in Ex 3? Is God requiring "symbolic nakedness" of Moses? Why? Are barefeet more humble than shoes, perhaps?

5. How does this affect our understanding of holiness in general in the OT?

6. How might all this change in the NT?

Holy Ground

Question: Why does God command Moses and Joshua to take off their sandals, "for this is holy ground" (Ex 3.5, Josh 5.15)? Some unfinished thoughts:

James Jordan's explanation doesn't seem quite satisfactory. He says that shoes symbolically protect our feet from the cursed ground, and "holy ground" isn't cursed, rendering such protection unneccesary.

My objection: JBJ's theory might explain why Moses could have taken off his shoes, but it doesn't explain why he had to. The most he can say about sandals is that they are unneeded or superfluous on holy ground.

Or, to put it another way, I think holy ground is more than just "uncursed" ground. There's something substantial about holiness that requires barefeet.

Returning to Egypt?

YHWH says, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness." At one point Moses explains this involves traveling three days into the wilderness to sacrifice. The implication, however, is that they will return to Egypt! How can that be?

If the goal was to leave Egypt behind entirely and travel to the Promised Land, then why did YHWH only ask for his people for a few days of sacrificing/feasting/worshipping? Why didn't he ask for more? He could have told Pharaoh, "Let my people go, for they are my slaves and not yours, and I will utterly remove them from your grasp."

Is God just playing around with Pharaoh, knowing that he won't grant even the smallest request and taking it as an opportunity to level his nation? In any case, why don't the People of Israel return after doing their sacrificing and worshipping in the wilderness? Is it because Pharaoh and his firstborn son are dead? If Pharaoh hadn't died in the Red Sea, would Israel have returned to Egypt and continued serving him? Or is Pharaoh's death inconsequential, with Israel continuing on to Canaan regardless?

3 x 3 Plagues on Egypt

James Jordan claims the first nine plagues against Egypt come in three cycles of three each.

First cycle: 1. Blood, 2. Frogs, 3. Gnats
Second cycle: 4. Flies, 5. Livestock, 6. Boils
Third cycle: 7. Hail, 8. Locusts, 9. Darkness

Each cycle begins with YHWH telling Moses to "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh" or "Go to Pharaoh in the morning" Ex 7:15, 8:20, and 9:13. (Oh, and in the first two cycles, Moses comes to Pharaoh while he is down at the water.)

The second plague in each cycle begins by YHWH commanding Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh." Ex 8:1, 9:1, and 10:1.

The third plague in each cycle comes without any warning. God simply commands Moses or Aaron to "stretch out their hand to heaven." Ex 8:16-17, 9:8, and 10:21.

A Betrothed Wife

Exodus 11:1-2, "Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will dismiss you from here. When he lets you go, driving he will drive you away kalah. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry."

Let's talk about the italicized parts, especially that one word, kalah. It has two possible meanings:
(1) "thoroughly" or "completely"
(2) "as a betrothed wife"
Most translators pick the first meaning, but Jim Jordan argues the second makes more sense in context.

Support for the Second Meaning: earlier in the Bible, the words dismiss and driving-out are both reminiscent of situations concerning wives or betrothed wives. In Gen 21:10, Sarah commands Abraham to drive-out Hagar, and later in 21:14 Abraham dismisses Hagar with food and water. In Gen 24:59 Rebekah's family dismisses her and sends her with Abraham's servant. Here again, Pharaoh is going to dismiss and drive-out Israel. It only fits that he would be dismissing them as a betrothed wife.

When you send away a betrothed wife, you always send her away with fine things: gold, silver, clothes, etc. And in this passage, notice what the Egyptians will give Israel (cf. Ex 3:22).

Who is Israel about to marry? Why, YHWH, of course.

Serpent vs. Serpent, Part II

Continuing from the last post, Moses' staff becoming a snake meant something totally different than Aaron's staff becoming a dragon. Each miracle had an entirely different audience and meaning.

Moses' staff is the first of a triad of miracles intended to teach the children of Israel the word of YHWH. Jim Jordan suggests that the staff/snake represents Egypt. When the Israelites were faithful under Joseph, they took dominion over Egypt and used it to minister to the world. But when the Israelites began worshipping foreign gods, Egypt became a snake. The solution is to repent and grab that snake by the tail (the most dangerous part to grab). Only by trusting in God's commands can we conquer the snake and make it our staff again.

Aaron's staff, I suppose, is intended to teach Pharaoh that YHWH means business. The God who rules over dragons says, "Let my people go!"

Serpent vs. Serpent

What's the difference between Moses' staff and Aaron's staff? One becomes a serpent, and one becomes a serpent. Big difference.

Ex. 4:3, Moses' staff becomes a nahash, and when he grabs it by the tale it turns back into his staff.---This word is best translated "snake" or "viper."

Ex. 7:9, Aaron's staff becomes a tanin, and it eats the taninim of Pharaoh's magicians.---This word is best translated "dragon" or "crocodile," or even "sea serpent."

Mohar

If you wanted a wife in the OT, you paid a "bride price" for her. She received this and kept it as her insurance ever after. She was expected to invest her "mohar", manage it, use it to buy fields, spin cloth, and do Proverbs 31 stuff. It was sort of like having her own separate bank account. And remember, a wife lived in her own separate tent. (Note: I'm not saying marriage should still work like this; I'm just pointing out the way it used to be.)

A concubine is simply a wife who never received a bride-price. She has no separate bank account, no independent source of income, no insurance, no protection in times of danger. Concubine = wife with no mohar. A second-class wife, if you will.

My brother Evan today suggested that perhaps we could think of Canaan as Israel's "mohar." God chooses a wife for Himself, not a concubine. Accordingly, he provides a bride-price: a land full of vineyards, flowing with milk and honey. God gives Israel her own bank account.

Heavy of Tongue

The Hebrew word c'vad literally means "heavy." The idea is weightiness, usually implying glory of some kind. In fact, "glorious" is usually a good translation (from my limited experience, anyway). Our God is c'vad, heavy.

But in some contexts, weightiness is bad. Isaac's eyes were c'vad; weighted down.

Which brings me to Moses. In Exodus 4:10, Moses told God, "I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." But to be a bit more precise, Moses used the word c'vad: "I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue." At the time, Moses meant this in a bad way; my tongue is weighed down and slow! But in retrospect, I believe it can take on an ironic double-meaning. Moses became the man of the glorious tongue, speaking personally before God and writing the Pentateuch. A heavy tongue, indeed.