Exceedingly Excellent
| "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus3:5-6) |
For those of us who have grown up with "gentle Jesus meek and mild" there is often a sense of disconnect when we contemplate passages like this that express God's holiness, purity and majesty.
Our "ex" words for today, "Exceedingly Excellent", are actually very helpful: They express the concept of God's Holiness in positive terms whereas I think we sometimes experience it more negatively...
If I think about it, I would never want a God who is anything less than holy. If He were 75% good and 75% pure then there is a chance that I could bring my needs to Him on a "bad day" and I would not be sure that I will receive justice and that He might show favouritism or even behave in a way that is dishonest or even evil. We need a God who is 100% pure by His standards, and that makes Him 1000% pure by our standards!
The gods of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome were gods made in human likeness - full of foibles and weaknesses.
The problem is that when we come to a holy, pure and exceedingly excellent God, we have to face the reality that we are not like Him. So one of the ways of expressing "Holy" is "other" - God is not like us. Another Hebrew word "kabod", which describes God's glory, also means "heavy."
We are "lightweights" coming into the presence of a "heavyweight" God. God is not "in our league" and, on the one hand, thank God (said with respect) for that! On the other hand, although we couldn't come to God, He came to us in Jesus. Jesus bridges the gap, wipes away our sin and makes it possible to enter God's presence with confidence.
Moses, barefoot in front of an un-expiring exothermic bush, reminds us that God is Exceedingly Excellent!
