objects become holy only by God’s declaration or action. Yahweh must declare a place holy; he must build the shrine for it to be sacred. Hence, in Deuteronomy 12, the place where God makes his name to dwell is the holy place of his tabernacle and no other. Second, “Holiness is a necessary … precondition for God’s presence to be manifest.”12 Yahweh only reveals himself in a holy place, and the presence of God constitutes the place as holy. The bush burned with Yahweh’s splendor, and sandals had to
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