Same Message, Different Perspective

Deuteronomy 1:1 -3:22

Devarim, “Words” 

A few months ago, I felt compelled to gain a deeper understanding of the context of one of the verses in these first few chapters of Deuteronomy.  In order to gain the context, I needed to find where Moses began the train of thought leading into the verse, and where he moved on to another point.  As I read, I came to realize something that I had never seen before.  The entire book of Deuteronomy is the record of one sermon given by Moses.  It was what he felt most important to share with the people of Israel before they entered into the promised land.  Not only that, it was the last words he knew he would ever get to share with them, and with the world.  It is his last record of anything and everything. 

In chapter 1, verse 5 we read, “Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,…..

From that point on, the rest of the book of Deuteronomy is just this, Moses expounding on the law of God.  Last week during one of my studies, the group presenting the study shared that Deuteronomy is a repeat of Numbers when “the Law” was first given by God.  But, true to typical form, I saw something different.  There is no doubt that Moses does go back through and repeats the vast majority of the laws, statutes, and ordinances that God had given the Israeli people through him and as recorded in the book of Numbers.  But, although Deuteronomy is the same, it is entirely different.

Later in last week's study, the group presenting pointed out that someday, Yeshua will return to earth, and when He does, He will set up His kingdom here and He too will teach Torah.  The difference will be that when He comes back to teach, He will teach the deeper understandings that are so spiritual that mankind has not been able to comprehend or understand.

As they made this point, I immediately saw something that brought what I was sensing into a place of greater understanding.  Moses was re-stating “the Law”.  But he wasn’t just restating what he had already stated.  He was expounding on, or emphasizing, aspects of “the Law” that were not emphasized when first presented in Numbers.   Maybe he chose this time to share a deeper understanding of “the Law” with Israel because it is what they would need as they embarked on this new season in their journey with God.  Maybe, he chose this time because he knew this would be the last opportunity to share these things.  Maybe, this is his record of what he came to know and understand about “the Law” through his own 40-year experience in the desert.

What I have come to believe I see, is a progressive revelation of “the Law”.  As the nation of Israel is progressing through our maturity to becoming the “bride of Christ”, God is slowly giving us deeper and more complex understandings of what has always been.  Included within “the Law” is the definitions of what is holy, and what is unholy.  Included within “the Law” is the definitions of what is clean, and what is unclean.  Included within “the Law” are the directions for living a life of life, and an understanding of what it is to live a life of death.  In other words, “the Law” as presented in Numbers is an instruction book for Godly living.  This is God’s “Law” for His children and what He expects us to strive toward in our pursuit of life.  But, the story doesn’t end here.  Within “the Law”, as given in Numbers, there are words and phrases, and a way of presentation that point to something deeper, something that is not exactly stated.

Now comes Deuteronomy and what we find is God having Moses give the children of Israel a very different aspect of the same “Law” that He had him give 40 years earlier.  Although the vast majority of the ticks and tacks of “the Law” are restated, the vast majority of Deuteronomy is overshadowed by an understanding of the relationship that God has with us.  The emphasis is what God will do if we honor “the Law”, and what God will do if we dishonor “the Law”.  Here is the point.  This interaction is also a part of “the Law”.  It always was, and it always will be.  There is a “Law” that governs God’s interactions with us and this “Law of interaction” is fully intertwined with “the Law” we read in numbers.  THEY CANNOT BE SEPARATED.  Just like maintaining our driving privileges or losing them is as much a part of the driving laws as stopping at stop signs, so too are the blessings and curses to the ticks and tacks.  I believe this is what Moses was attempting to convey in Deuteronomy.  The concept of “fearing the Lord” is repeated 15 times throughout the book.  At the same time the book is laced with the understanding that God chose us because of His righteousness and not ours and the theme of His never giving up on us, and His unending grace, is repeated time and time again.  It is here that the blessing and the curse is given and repeated with examples through a reflection back on the previous 40-year journey and a look ahead to what will come in the future.

As I allowed myself to consider the concept that each time “the Law” was given it included the fullness of all of what it is, I began to see something quite beautiful.  What I believe I began to see is that each time different aspects are emphasized, it is fully based on the nation’s maturing process.  From what I have been able to gather, “the Law” has been given 3 times, and will be given once more.

In the first giving, just like parents would do with a very young child, the ticks and tacks of how to live were emphasized.  Just like parents would do with that same child a few years later, the ways of life were re-stated, but this time an emphasis was put on how the parents will interact with the child if the ways of life are and are not honored.  Does this mean that when the child was younger the parents didn’t interact with the child based on their willingness to honor or dishonor the ways of life presented by the parents?  Of course not.  In the initial stating of the parent’s expectations the interaction could only be implied because of the immaturity of the child.

As we know, about 2,000 years ago God sent His only begotten son to earth to dwell amongst us.  He too is the Word.  But, again He emphasized a different aspect of “the Law”.  As Yeshua walked the earth, teaching, sharing, and just being, He demonstrated another aspect of what has always been.  Through the stories of His life and the writings of His teachings we come to realize who we are capable of being when we are “alive in Christ”.  In this third “giving of the Law” (the life of Christ), we are given an emphasis on the Love of God, that as His children we are not to see ourselves as His slaves, but His friends, and we are shown the power available to us.  We are given the images of what it is to have life and what it is to live in death.  We are given a greater understanding of unclean things and a deeper understanding of the spiritual laws that surround our relationship with God.  These “spiritual laws” define what is available to us as His children yet, just like the “laws of interaction”, are fully intertwined within “the Law” provided in Numbers and again CAN NOT BE SEPARATED.  It is all “one Law”.

When He returns He again will teach and exemplify Torah.  However, when He returns, He will be returning to a bride that has been given a new heart.  She will have a heart that will finally be able to see all that she has never been able to comprehend.  Sadly, this is on us.  Just like everything that He expounded on the first time He was here had always been there for our understanding, so too will be the case when He returns and expounds on new and deeper things.  This is my pursuit in life.  To know and understand that which has always been.  This new heart that God tells us He will give is the same heart that He told us to have, to make for ourselves, and to allow Him to mold ours into.  Time and time again through the prophets He tells us that it is possible.  Will you come alongside me and believe that it is?  Can we believe together and allow Him to start presenting now the same Torah He will share when He returns?  The Word tells us that the only thing limiting us is our hearts.  Let’s pray together that we let our hearts be changed into hearts that are fully for Him, for His Word, and for His Torah.  Let’s become the bride we were called to be.  Let’s not be complacent or rebellious.  Can we allow ourselves to see where our hearts are hard to those ticks and tacks, where we lack trust, and where we allow our lack of understanding to dictate what we believe and what we don’t?  Let’s pray together that our prejudices be removed, that our eyes grow ever more observant, and that our minds become flooded with the truth of what has always been.  Amen amen.

The Pathway to Parenthood

Numbers 30:1-36:13, Massei, “Tribes”

As I read through this week’s Torah portion and the various study materials I refer to, the first thing that jumped out at me was the connection between the word massei (Tribe) and the root word from which it is derived which is masei which means journey.

This immediately made me think of Isaiah 66:7-8 "Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.  "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.

Very often this verse is used in connection with the forming of Israel as a nation in 1948.  It is said that because the nation was created in a day that this prophetic scripture was fulfilled.  Personally, I take a different approach and this approach really helps me understand what this “journey” with God is all about.  For me, when I read this scripture, I am actually hearing God mocking those who believe that a “nation” can be formed in a day.  What I hear God saying is that a nation is not a physical place but a people.  For the purposes of this blog, let’s say a tribe, even a tribe of priests.  Wouldn’t you agree that this is what the entire journey of Israel has been from the very first moment that God came into Abraham’s life?

According to the Oxford Languages definitions, the word travail means to “engage in painful or laborious effort, (of a woman) be in labor”.  In other words, what this verse is saying is that it takes great pain and the process of labor to bear children.  It just is what it is.  A girl can’t go from a girl to a woman and a mother without lots of pain.  Not only is this true in the physical sense, but for sure in the spiritual.  How much time does a mom dedicate to preparing her little girl for motherhood?  Then later, after the physical child is born, how many years does it take that woman with a child to become a true “mom” to her own children.

When I read the final line in the scripture and hear the word “sons” I think of so much more than just a boy child.  There is something in the word “son” that makes me believe that this boy child has a relationship with his parents.  I picture a relationship that is founded on love, respect, and understanding.  I know that in the physical sense, as soon as a boy child is born, they are a “son”.  But I am hearing something more.  What I am hearing is a young man of maturity, a boy that is no longer a boy but a young man ready to start his own family and begin the long journey of becoming a “dad” for his own sons and daughters.

As I consider the progression from Abraham to the promise of him becoming the father of a great nation, I picture this slow progression.  Not just a physical progression of reproduction, but a spiritual progression.  The foundation of this spiritual progression is the family dynamic with God at the center.  As physical parents through the love, respect, and relationship that they have with the previous generations they grow from children and become spiritual sons and daughters.  As spiritual sons and daughters they can then preserver what they have received and pass it along to the next generation.  Each generation going through their own life experiences.  These life experiences shape us and lead us to a place of humility where we are to bend our knee to God, His ways, and grow in our respect of those that came before us.  This is the process of allowing Him to be our ultimate father where we are His spiritual sons and daughters in co-harmony with our earthly parents.

Through this journey we have images of those that came before us who walked closely with God.  And, sadly, we all have images of those who didn’t.  As we move to the end of the book of Numbers, we come to this pinnacle moment just prior to the people of Israel entering the promised land.  Almost the entire generation that had come before them has passed away in the wilderness.  It has been 38 years.  During the last two years before leading the people into the promised land God leads this new generation into a final preparation.  They are to face the physical battles of war and the spiritual battles of sin and temptation.  They have been traveling through the dessert for 40 years because of the decisions of their parents.  Their parents have died, and they are at the end of their journey.  But before they are prepared to enter the promised land, they have this final preparation that they must endure.  As we read last week, they did not do too well.  They had the faith to fight the physical battle of war but they didn’t do too well with the spiritual battle against sin and temptation.

I think one of the biggest points of the maturing process and what leads us to the capability of moving forward into all the promises that God has for us, and the ability to be true moms and dads, is the humility failure brings.  As easy as it is to look at the failures of those that came before us and to learn from their mistakes, it is equally important to drop to our own knees and realize that we too are totally capable of falling prey to the temptations and sin that will lead us off track where Satan will use our failures to destroy the generations that come after us.

As Satan would like to use these opportunities to destroy the family tree that God is attempting to create, I believe that it is the sovereignty of God that puts this entire dynamic into play.  You see, a nation simply can not be born in a day because moms and dads can’t be created without some failures, a little humbling, and a whole lot of growth.

As I think about God’s plan of salvation and the creation of this nation of priests, I see a pattern that I believe represents the same pattern that each of us go through on our own journey through life.  You could probably add to this, but right off the top we have the people who came out of Egypt who wondered in the desert for 40 years and had a final preparation just before entering the promised land.  Skipping forward a few thousand years, and we are told that prior to Yeshua’s return to earth and the setting up of His kingdom here, temptation will grow, there will be a great turning away, and there will be physical war.  Finally, at the end of the 1,000-year physical kingdom and just prior to our moving into the new heaven and the new earth, God will release Satan one last time.

 I pray that as each of us goes about our days and as we walk through our own personal journeys, and as the trials, temptations, and battles come that we remember to lean on these verses.  I pray that we allow God to use these moments to humble us, to mold us, and to grow us.  I pray that each of us learns to see these moments not as a time to be fearful, but as a time of promise.  I pray that we can start seeing these times as moments that might just be telling us that we are reaching the end of one season and are about to enter a new one.  I pray that we each have the strength to endure the test, allow God to use it for His purposes in and through us, and that we become the leaders that He has called us to be.   I pray that each of us pass our own tests and that we are allowed to move into the next season along with those that He has entrusted us with.  Those that we have been called to lead and as such, those that we have come to know as our “sons” and “daughters”.

Emotions Count Too

Pinchas, Numbers 25:10-29:40

Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron

Last week we discussed how much of scripture points us toward the relationship between this physical world and the spiritual world that exists all around us.  We discussed how this interconnectivity should not be overlooked when considering the ways of God and in our view of those things that could be considered “out dated”, “mere ritual”, or “for someone else and not me”.

In this Torah portion I am proposing that our emotional state plays a very important role that binds what we do in the physical with what is foretold to come about in the spirit.  In doing a biblical word search with “your heart” you will find hundreds of verses where God tells us that the condition of our heart (and soul) matter.  I think most of us know Deuteronomy 6:5 where God tells us that “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  In all reality, as I review this list it is amazing to me that the entire book of Deuteronomy is laced with this reference.  In fact, in Deuteronomy alone there are 33 verses where God ties the condition of our heart to the practice of living a life in harmony with Him and His ways.

In today’s scripture it is not so obvious, but as I read the scripture, I came across two verses that really made me ponder, to move into a place of silence, to ask some tough questions, and to wait on His answers.

In Numbers 25:10-13 God tells Moses what to say to Pinchas after Pinchas kills two people with a spear.  The people Pinchas killed were a man who was a leader of an Israeli household and a woman who was the daughter of a leader of a Midian family.

Prior to Pinchas killing these two the men of Israel were “playing the harlot with the daughters of Moab”.  God sent a plague upon the people, and during this time of plague Pinchas comes across this couple while they are together and pierces them both through with a single blow of his spear.  The plague ends (after 24,000 had died), and God tells Moses how to address Pinchas.  For me the highlights of verses 10-13 where God is telling Moses what to say to Pinchas are:

• God tells Moses that what Pinchas did led to the withdrawing of the plague,
• The “wrath” was withdrawn because Pinchas was jealous with God’s own jealousy,
• God re-iterates His covenant with the descendants of Pinchas (Aaron’s family line),
• An atonement was made for the sons of Israel.

The last line is the one that really made me ponder.  God says that what Pinchas did brought atonement for the sons of Israel.  Is God condoning human sacrifice?

In our relationship with God, there are things that come between us and God that break the intimacy of the relationship.  An atonement is something that removes that which is standing between us.  Putting this week’s summary together with what we learned last week I would say this.

God has given us particular and peculiar “rituals” that are performed in the physical that when done with the right heart remove what is standing between God and us so that our intimacy may be restored.  When our intimacy is restored, we are capable of walking in the full power of the relationship.  This power is manifest in and through the spirit world around us.

In this verse we find that Pinchas heart was in the right place when He thrust his spear through this couple.  At the same time there is something else that we must take into consideration.

God had sent a plague among the people.  24,000 had died.  This couple were heads of families of Israel and Midian.  From what I gather, the plague was not leading the people to a change of heart.  In spite of the plague, the people of God were still doing what they had been doing, they were still playing the harlot, and were not listening to what God was attempting to tell them or hear what He was attempting to convey.

Because I believe that God is a good father, I do not believe that He sent this plague as a way to get even and to “punish”.  Instead, I believe that He sent the plague in His attempt to show the people His Jealousy for the hearts of His people.  They had turned their hearts toward the women of Moab AND toward the God’s of Moab.  All He wanted was for them to return their hearts back to Him.  This is the jealousy that He had and this is the jealousy that Pinchas had.  But is the jealousy of the priest alone enough?  I don’t believe that it is.  I do believe that when Pinchas did this, because of what God told Moses to say in front of the people, because of the graphic nature of what happened, and because of the position of these two people within each of the communities, something was heard that had up to this point not been heard.  I believe that Pinchas actions set into motion a series of physical and emotional events that led to a place of repentance in the hearts of the children of Israel.  Because the repentance and heart change were the things God was looking for, He removed the plague, and called what Pinchas had done “atonement”.  To say it in the words that I believe I heard it.  “Because the repentance led to the re-establishment of the intimacy between God and the people, the action that led to the repentance became the “atoning” action.  It was the catalyst that led to the repentance.”  If the people would have been able to understand what God was communicating through the plague, repented, and turned back to Him with all their hearts, minds, and strength, He would have lifted the plague and it would have been the atoning action.

A verse that really helps bring this home is Isaiah 1:11 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD.  “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.

It is all about the heart, not the “ritual”.

The next verse that really jumped out at me was Numbers 27:20.  God has just told Moses that Joshua would be the one who would pick up where Moses would leave off and would be the one to lead the Israeli people into the promised land.  God tells Moses to commission Joshua in the midst of the congregation of the people through the laying on of his hands and through this “ritual” Moses was to “put some of your authority on him”.  In the Hebrew this “authority” is seen as Moses majesty and interpreted as the glow that was upon Moses face.

This really made me think about the “ritual” we do when we lay hands on people and what we might be missing.  I was overwhelmed about how hard this could have been for Moses.  God wasn’t just asking him to lay his hands on Joshua and pray over him.  He wasn’t just asking Moses to ask God to bless him.  No, God was asking Moses to be willing to let go of something that God had blessed him with and let it pass to Joshua.  This made me think about tithing.  When we tithe we know that the money we have is all God’s, that He has only given it to us because He sees us as trust worthy, and that He knows that when He asks us to give it to someone else we will.  There is an understanding that what He has given me is not “for me”.  Instead, what He has given me has been entrusted to me, it is for me to have and use for His purposes.  I never made this connection with spiritual gifts or other blessings that I should be thankful for.  This made me think about how I have abused my body yet remain reasonably healthy.  It made me think about the number of toxins I have ingested yet I remain cancer free.  It reminded me of how many times I have almost been in horrific accidents, yet somehow had a hedge of protection that I simply can not explain.  It made me wonder what the New Testament authors understood from Moses example that we are simply not taught.

How much would it change things if when we laid hands on someone who was sick we would be willing to “put on them” what we have been blessed to carry for all the years of our own lives?  How much more grateful would we be for the blessings that we have had?  How much faith would it take to put our lives back into God’s hands and trust that He will either replace what we let go of or not?

Isn’t this the promise of His Word?  Isn’t this the foundation of faith?  Do we believe that the more we give in trust the more He will entrust us with?  How much would this kind of heart attitude change what is taking place in the spirit realm when we do some of these “rituals” that we have been doing with little to no understanding?  How much more might be possible?  How much faith would it take?  How much love?  How many of us are really willing to lay down our lives for another?  Isn’t this what He calls the greatest love?  And, isn’t loving God and others what this is really all about?

Maintaining Orthodoxy Within The Contemplative

Numbers 19:1-25:9, Chukat/Balak, Statute/Balak

 Just the titles of these two Torah portions cries out to the challenge of opening up our hearts and minds to the balance between the orthodoxy of our faith (the laws and statutes) and the contemplative or mystical side of our faith (the story of Balak, Balaam, and his talking donkey).

The two titles only provide a glimpse into what these scriptures reveal in what I believe to be at the heart of the Judeo-Christian faith experience and the heart of our journey with God.  As we read these sections of scripture we are given the opportunity to ask some tough questions about our faith, allow the Holy Spirit to quicken into our minds other scriptures that support what I believe these scriptures support, and as such move deeper into our understanding of Him, this world, His ways, the spirit realm around us, and how all of these things are interconnected.

The reading covers:

• The law of the red heifer and the return to "clean" after contact with the dead,
• The death of Miriam,
• Moses striking the rock and being told he will not enter the promised land,
• The death of Aaron,
• The first official battle Israel faces on their journey,
• The people complaining, the Lord sending fiery serpents, and the bronze serpent,
• The introduction of Balaam, his relationship with the Lord, and his using God's words for self-promotion,
• Balaam's talking donkey and how it protected Balaam from his death at the hands of the Angel of the Lord,
• Men of Israel led astray by Moabite women and their gods,
• God's steadfast commitment to His plan in spite of His people,
• God sends a plague upon the people, and
• The plague is put in check when Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, kills an Israelite and the woman he is with.

As I began reading the statues of the red heifer my mind instantly went to the statues of the bitter water found in Numbers 5:11-31.  This is another section of scripture that tells us how deep the mystical runs in the veins of the Judeo-Christian faith.  As Christ followers we simply cannot ignore that this is a major part of our faith.  We must allow ourselves to look at this and ask some hard questions.  The answer to these questions will ultimately define our walk with God and how we observe and interact with the world around us. Let’s look at the questions we must ask ourselves as we look to grow in our understandings of the world around us:

• What do we believe about the spirit realm?
• Do we believe God talks to us through the Holy Spirit?
• Do we believe the demonic realm speaks to us through unholy spirits?
• Do we believe that witchcraft and occult practices are real in that these people are in deep connection with the demonic powers of this world and are acting as their agents doing their work their way?

One of my favorite New Testament scriptures comes in Ephesians 6:12 where it reads "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  Have you ever considered that every time an evil spirit is referenced in the New Testament it is referred to as an "unclean spirit”?  If there are "unclean spirits", are there "clean spirits"?  Just something to think about.

This section of scripture also forces us to ask some other questions that will also be foundational in defining how we interact with God, others, and the world around us.

• What do we believe leads to blessings or "good things" in our lives?
• What do we believe leads to curses or "bad things" in our lives?
• Has God brought us into this covenant for His purposes or for ours?
• Do we believe that blessings can appear as curses and curses appear as blessings?
• How open are we to embracing new understandings of what it looks like to represent Him, to live according to His ways, and to "be Holy as He is Holy"?

I want to explain that I am not holding a position of right or wrong in these matters.  I am simply sharing scriptures that definitely support a case for how I view this walk with Him and why I believe it so important to understand the value of the orthodoxy (the ways of God) and equally important to recognize the contemplative (mystical aspects) as well.  

In saying this, I ask, if you disagree, to not let yourself believe that what I share is not biblical.  Because it most assuredly is.  Instead, if you tend to disagree, take on a position that takes responsibility for your decision to disagree that is reasonable, justifiable, and that you can own as if you were standing before Christ Himself and explaining your beliefs and decisions to Him.  

To take a stance that you believe Moses, Jesus, Paul, and the other bible authors lived in a time when mysticism was popular and as such, they were swayed by these misunderstood practices is a reasonable argument.  When it comes to the description of the clean and unclean, maybe you believe that Jesus and those that God commissioned to write the scriptures just didn't understand what science has come to show us and as such created the concepts of "clean", "unclean", "blessings", "curses", and evil spirits.  Maybe you believe that it would be evil for God to do what Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and the other bible authors tell us about God's interactions in our lives and as such, you don't believe that they really understood God as well as we do today.  

I am not saying that these are the only reasons that you may have for not believing that God is involved in sickness, disease, "curses", or casting people out where there is torment and gnashing of teeth.  I am not implying that these are the only reasons that you may have for not believing that there are things that are "clean" and things that are "unclean" and that God defines these as holy and profane.  And I do not believe that I understand every perspective that would disagree with how I see things.  I am simply asking you to take a deep look inside, pose the tough questions, and be honest with yourself.  Why do you believe what you believe and more importantly, why do you reject what you reject?

As I began this blog, I thought I knew where it was heading but assuredly I did not.  I never saw what I just shared and I had so much more that I was sure God was going to ask me to share.  In light of the direction this has gone I believe He is asking me to simply share a few basic points from this scripture without getting too teachy.

The scripture starts off with this incredibly mystical understanding of how important water is in transforming the unclean ashes of the red heifer into the most important potion held by the priesthood.  This potion is the only thing that can be used to transform a person who has been in contact with a dead body from an unclean state back to a clean state.  It should remind us of how important water is in the general practice of moving people from unclean back to clean and as such reminds us of how important water is in the spiritual aspects of our relationship with God.  Very soon after God gives Moses this statue Miriam, his sister, dies.  When she dies the water stops flowing.  The people of Israel start grumbling against God because there is no water.  What were they focused on?  What do you think Moses was focused on?  Moses needed a red heifer and some water so he could spend his last moments honoring his sister and attending to her burial without putting himself into the position of forever losing his relationship with God.  All the people cared about where their physical bodies.  Does this give us new understanding as to why Moses called them rebellious just before striking the rock?  What were they rebelling against?  For me, my mind goes to the story of Jesus with the woman at the well.  She too was focused on water to drink but Jesus told her that He was the living water and that if she drank of Him, she would never thirst again.

Now let's look at John 3:13-16.  We all know John 3:16, but how many of us know John 3:13-14?  In John 3:13 Jesus tells us that he descended from heaven.  In 1 Corinthians 10:4 we are told that Jesus was the "Spiritual Rock" that followed them through the desert WAS Christ and that when they drank, they were drinking Him.  In John 3:14 Jesus sets the conditions for what the faith referenced in John 3:16 must be.  "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

I see a few things in this.  First of all, it was mystical for the people of Israel and it is mystical for God's people today.  This is the entire context of John chapter 3.  Nicodemus couldn't understand it.  Jesus said to him in John 3:10-12 "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"

Isn't it interesting that the image that God told Moses to put before the people was to be the very thing that He sent to kill them?  With this in mind can we see Jesus in the same way?  He did come to bring life and life eternal.  But, if we are all just like the Israelites in the desert, don't we need to die just like they did?  The entire context of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 is Paul comparing our walk with Christ to the Israelites walk with Spiritual Christ as they too struggled against the tendency to return to the death of what we were all born into and God's unending pursuit of delivering us into the lives that He has promised.  

On the mystical side, the spirit of Messiah has been and forever will be.  He is the aspect of God that washes us, feeds us (He was the mana too), and sustains us.  He is also the aspect of God that is sent to bring death to the death we live so that we may gaze upon His love and be delivered into the life that He has promised.

On the side of orthodoxy, we come to see that we have been born into a physical world that is not only physical but is also spiritual.  This is a place of immense struggle, temptation, and battle.  He has given us tools to help us understand, and through faith, believe that what we do in the physical will somehow shift things in the spiritual and that these practices, sometimes referred to as rituals, are real.  

This is what the Israelites just couldn't see.  They saw the physical as physical and the spiritual as spiritual.  They missed the interconnectivity.

As we walk out the rest of our days may we allow the love of God to reveal to us how we struggle against the same things that the Israelites and other bible characters did.  My we forever bend our knees when we force Him to send fiery serpents into our lives to reveal where we are doing the same things they have done.  And may we learn to gaze upon those "curses" in the same way we look upon Christ on the cross, with the love in His eyes, knowing that all that He has done has been for us and not against us.  Finally, may we come to grow in our understanding of the interconnectivity of the spiritual and the physical, be set free from the belief that anything is "ritual", and be delivered into a heart that can understand the spiritual nature of all that He has offered.

 

Ultimate Rebellion

Numbers 16:1-18:32

Korach

"Korah"

The scripture begins with our being told that Korah was a Levi and he led a group of 250 "men of renown" in a revolt against Moses and Aaron.  Ultimately, God opens up a gorge in the earth that swallows Korah and his entire family (including Dathan and Abarim and their families).  Then the Lord sent fire and consumed the 250 who had joined the revolt.  The next day the people of Israel come against Moses and Aaron and blame them for the loss of these lives.  A plague breaks out and 15,000 die before Aaron's intercession stops the plague.

As I allowed myself to meditate over these scriptures one scripture kept coming back to me:

[Num 16:3 NASB] 3 They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

Some of the concepts that are worth discussing are:

• Open doors that lead to rebellion
• How these things relate to anti-Semitism
• Humility as we approach God

A thought that kept coming to me as I read these verses is "Who intercedes for Moses and Aaron"?  It was this thought that ultimately led me to what I am about to share.

Without quoting a bunch of scripture we know that Jesus is currently at the right hand of the father where He acts as our intercessor.  In my own words, I would say that He is the "unmerited favor" side of the God Head.  We also know that He descended from heaven and ascended to where He came from.  We also know that He was with God during creation and it was He who breathed all of creation into existence.  With all this in mind, my theological position is that spiritual Jesus performed as intercessor at the right hand of the father in the Old Covenant just as He is now for the New.  As I see it, all those Old Covenant clauses that say "If you_____, then_____, and I will forgive" are explanations of the legal relationship between spiritual Jesus, God, and Israel within the context of the Old Covenant law.

Hopefully that didn't trip you up too bad and you can move on with me through the next thoughts.  I understand that this is somewhat of a unique approach to the Old Covenant.  The simplest way to come alongside me in this is to agree that Jesus (Yeshua) has forever been a part of God, that He does not change, and that He will forever be who He has always been.  Maybe that helps.

I believe that ultimately, Moses and Aaron understood the heart of the Covenant and even their legal rights under the covenant to access Spiritual Jesus and the forgiveness promised.  I believe this is what qualified them to be the leaders and priests.  They understood the covenant from a spiritual perspective, they saw the face of God, and understood what it is to be one of His children.  They understood that it was only because of Him that they were Holy, that they were able to accomplish what He accomplished through them, and that it was Him who was acting through them.  I believe that they understood that without Him in them they were not capable of approaching Him.  And, I believe that they understood that all the understood was simply not because of them but because of Him and what He put into them.  They understood the gift.

This is what I see as the primary difference between Korah and Moses and Aaron.  Korah, leads a rebellion based on the precept that "all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst". 

In other words, he is saying, "We don't need an intercessor.  We are holy enough to approach God directly."  I believe this is the ultimate rebellion.  It is the sprit that says "I don't need Jesus.  I can approach God as I am.  I AM HOLY".

As I reflect on these scriptures I ponder how Korah and this band of rebels fell so far.  There are a few things that I believe each of us can take from this.

• I believe that Korah was jealous of  Moses and Aaron and how he perceived that God saw them.  I believe that he thought that God saw them as holy enough to approach Him directly without an intercessor.  This led to a more than/less than comparison.  Sadly, nothing could have been further from the truth.  I believe that God simply saw the humility of Moses and Aaron and knew He could trust that they would never get so prideful that they would forget that it is only in and through spiritual Jesus that they have access to Him and that in this they were the ones chosen to represent what relationship with Him looks like.
• Another more than/less than comparison is possible in that what Korah may have been experiencing was a jealousy that God, our ultimate father, saw Moses and Aaron as somehow "better" then he and his family.  This again is a lie of the enemy.  The simple truth is, we are all just different.  Some of us have been called to one thing, others to another.  Moses and Aaron were not called to do what Korah and his family were instructed to do right?  So, why did Korah want the jobs of Moses and Aaron but neither Moses or Aaron challenged Korah for his role?
• Maybe there was a jealousy over the power.  As human beings we tend to see hierarchy and struggle to move out from the control of others and into the control of our own doing.  Ultimately Korah and those he led in the rebellion may have seen Moses as being in control.  Again, this is a lie of the enemy.  Ultimately, God was in control.  Moses and Aaron bent their knee to God.  If Korah and the others would have seen truth, they would have known that they were not submitting to Moses and Aaron but to God.  Our battle over control is a battle with God.
• When I think of the "men of renown" I can't help but thinking of Jesus telling us that it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven then a camel through the eye of a needle.  I realize how easy it is when things are going good to believe that we, in our own abilities, have brought about what we have accomplished.  From this place of pride it is easy to leave God out, believe that we are capable of climbing the corporate ladder on our own, and that we are the ones who should be making all the rules.  From this place of pride we believe we are capable of being better leaders than those guys who are currently at the top.  We do not see God in control but man and want to resolve all the problems our way.
• Finally, the concept of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence comes to mind.  I believe this is the jealousy of anti-semitism.  I can't even begin to tell how many times I have heard the words "chosen people" being used in a context of jealousy.  "Why them"?  Why do they think they are so special?  Why do they think that God would have chosen them over any of us?  They are so full of pride!!  Isn't this exactly what Korah was questioning in Moses and Aaron?  Isn't this accusation of pride the same?  The reality is that as leader Moses was caring a substantially larger burden than any of the other Israelites.  As priests, Aaron and his family never got a land inheritance, they bore the guilt of the sanctuary, and they bore the guilt of the priesthood.  They became substitutes for the "first born" of every animal and every family as "being dedicated to the Lord".  This was their calling, their appointment, and their lives. They had no choice in the matter.  How often do we want the benefits of someone else's life without weighing the costs of the effort of living it?

Ultimately, Moses was the greatest prophet because he was able to speak to God face to face.  I believe this was because of his great humility.  He was able to see and understand all of what I have outlined above, stand above the temptations of the enemy, and trust that it is only in and through God that He was able to accomplish all that God had done through Him.  He understood that all of his assignments were based on who God is and separate from who he was.  He understood that it is only through His grace and His cleanliness that we are capable of approaching Him.  And He understood that before he could approach God in behalf of the people that he himself needed to look into the mirror of God's perfect light and see his own flaws, what God was revealing to him about his own un-holiness, and even to get right with God in those same regards surrounding his own family.  Finally, Moses allowed God to be God.  He took God at His Word and was able to share that Word with us.  He was able to allow Him to take responsibility for the things that He did that most of us would say is "not love".  Because of this he was able to speak to God face to face, to be His guy, and was chosen to lead the people.  In seeing God for all of who He is Moses had a tough life.  He saw things and understood things that most of us could not bear.

As we think about the torn veil, our ability to move into the "holy of holies" and approach God ourselves I pray we think about these things.  Do we remember that it is only in and through Him that we can do this?  Are we ready to hear what we need to hear about ourselves before our prayers for others will be heard?  Are we willing to let Him be who He says He is?  Are we ready to bear the weight of knowing?