Was Moses High?

As I was putting together my Kid's Church message this morning, I came across a very sad commentary on Moses's interaction with the burning bush, found in Exodus 3:1-3.

This Sunday I am teaching on respecting God's Word, and I will be using the story of Moses's encounter with God, and hearing Him speak through the burning bush. When Moses realized that it was God speaking, Exodus 3:5-6 tells us that Moses hid his face, out of respect to God. Great principle to learn in regards to showing a deep, holy respect for the words of God.

When teaching children, I will often put images up on the screen related to the story I am speaking of. Upon completing my message, I headed to Google to search for images of Moses at the burning bush. I found plenty. I also found a tragically sad view of Moses' encounter with God.

Seems Psychology professor Benny Shanon, maintains that Moses was high on hallucinogenic drugs when encountering God at the bush and on other occasions as well. Read the full article here.

He maintains that the prevalence of the acacia tree in and around the area in which Moses resided, contains one of the most psychedelic substances known to man, and apparently so strong that Moses himself, could not stay away from it!

What a tragic response to such an incredible and beautiful story. It brings to mind 1 Corinthians 2:14, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Ultimately this serves as a great reminder to me of the importance of praying that the eyes of the unbelieving would be opened to the greatness and wonder of who God is, that they too might be able to accept "the things that come from the Spirit of God."