"'I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.'
"Then Moses trembled, and hid his face, and the Lord said unto him:
"'Loose the shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send thee into Egypt.'
"So it came to pass that this very Moses, whom the people of Israel had refused, saying, 'Who made thee a ruler and a judge?' God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. And this man, Moses, led the Israelites forth, working great signs and wonders in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, for the space of forty years.
"This is that Moses which said unto the children of Israel, 'A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren like unto me.' This is that Moses that was with the people in the wilderness, with the angel which spake to him in the Mount of Sinai, who also received the law at the hands of the living God to give unto us. But our fathers refused him their obedience, and thrust him away from them, turning back in their hearts unto Egypt and saying unto Aaron:
"'Make us gods which shall go before us, for as for this Moses, which led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.' Then made they for themselves a golden calf, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
"But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets:
"'Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? And afterward ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of the god Rephan, the figures which ye made to worship them. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'
"Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, according to the covenant of God unto Moses, who fashioned it like unto the figure that was revealed unto him. This tabernacle also our fathers brought into the promised land, when they entered it with Joshua, God thrusting out the heathen nations from before their faces, and in it they worshipped unto the days of David, who, finding favor in the sight of God, asked that he might build a habitation for the God of Jacob. And Solomon, his son, built a temple. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet--
"'The heaven is my throne,
And the earth the footstool of my feet;
What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord,
Or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hands make all things?'"