The Beginning of Wisdom

Deuteronomy 31:1-30, Vayelech, “And (Moses) went”

This week’s parsha comes during the ten days of awe which is the ten days that separate the feast of trumpets and Yom Kippur.  This time period is dedicated to reflecting on our relationship with God, how dedicate our walk has been with Him, and how in tune we have been to His voice.

At the same time, this year, we found ourselves being somewhat distracted by the threat of a very large hurricane.  As I wrote this blog I couldn’t help but thinking how many of us thought more about the storm and “what might happen” than we did the ten days of awe or what Yom Kippur is all about?

You see, this is really the point of this week’s parsha.  As I have pointed out previously, I see the entire book of Deuteronomy as “the Law” that God is subjecting Himself to regarding how He will interact with us as He brings us into the full fruition of the image of His Bride and His people.

Last week’s readings focused on the blessing and the curse.  Next week’s parsha is God giving Moses the “song of Moses” which he subsequently gives to the nation. 

In that parsha we will see the entire prophetic journey of the nation being given in the form of a song.  The purpose of the song is so that “in the end days,” after all the prophecy it speaks of has been fulfilled, the nation will call it to mind in the lands where God has scattered us, and it will be a witness against us.

The image is, God will somehow use this reminder that “He told us so” as a catalyst to finalize the transformation of our hearts just prior to His return.

This kind of reminds me of the generation that was given the opportunity to rebuild the temple after the Babylonian exile.  When I read about this generation weeping bitterly when the Torah was read to them, I cannot help but imagining that their weeping had something to do with the fact that they saw the worst of the curses first hand.

What do you think that would have been like?  Many of those who were alive to hear the Torah read, would have been alive years early and seen the children lead into captivity, the women sold into slavery, and the men killed in war.  In the reading of the Torah they would have read the very things we are reading today? 

At that point, they would have known that all those things could have been avoided if they only would have taken God at His word, listened to the prophets, and trusted in all that they were saying.  In this image I can see how deeply the sense of “He told us so” would have impacted their hearts.

The point I am getting at is this:  At some time in the future, prophecy tells us that we will all be “remembering” the words of the song of Moses that will be read next week.  We will hear in our spirits “God told us this would happen,” and this will deeply impact our hearts.

Four times in this week’s parsha Moses commissions Joshua and the people to “be strong and courageous” and to not “fear.”  At the same time, twice he commissions them to “fear the Lord.”  Right now, we are at a pause between the feast of trumpets and Yom Kippur.  It is called the ten days of awe.

The feast of trumpets is often recognized as the time that the King is among the people.  So, we can look at this time as a recognition that He is with us spiritually. 

At the same, we can see this as rehearsal for the day that He will return to set up His kingdom here on earth.  This will be the time that we will be called to step into battle with Him, establish His kingdom with Him, govern the world His way, and be His priesthood.

Yom Kippur is traditionally thought of as the day on which God decides what His intervention in our lives will be for the upcoming year.  At the same time, it is considered as a rehearsal for the day when we stand before His throne, at the completion of all things, when those destined for the new heaven and earth are separated from those who are destined for the lake of fire.

When I think about rehearsing for something, I think about putting myself into that place and considering what it will be like for me then.  In the case of Him coming to set up His kingdom, I would like to believe that I will be looking back at a lifetime of learning to be courageous through the battles of this world, to not trust what my eyes see or my intellect understands, but to trust in Him, the one who will be leading us into battle and the one who will be trusting us to be His priesthood.

In the case of standing before His throne, I would like to believe that first and foremost I would remain thankful for His forgiveness, for His choosing me to know Him, and for all that He has delivered me from and through. 

Secondly, I pray that I will not feel the heart wrenching pain of knowing that I did not take “fearing Him” seriously, that I had not pursued loving Him with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, or that I had not loved others as I love myself.

These are the things this week’s parsha should led us to considering. 

Just like the nation, we know that God is for us and not against us.  We know that through Him all things are possible.  We know that what we see, understand, and acknowledge about this physical world are true.  At the same time, we know we walk in a power that is above these things and we are the children of a God who is sovereign and knows what is best.

In the end, we know what God has said about how He will parent us.  We know what He has said about why He will protect us from discomfort, and why He will not. 

This week’s parsha is a pause between God giving His instructions and the nation entering the land to possess it.  It is a pause between the giving of the blessing and the curse, and God sharing with the people exactly what their destiny will be as He looks down and understands the condition of their hearts.

Ultimately, the purpose of this pause is duly noted in what Moses is emphasizing.  “Be strong and courageous, and fear God.”  When we come to realize that we were not “chosen” for our own personal salvation, but that we were chosen to be a part of a nation that God will ultimately use to lead the world to Him and His ways, it kind of changes everything.

In this context, we come to understand that He is a loving father who has seen who we are and believes we are capable of becoming all that He has chosen us to be.  Like a great coach who can see the potential in a great athlete, so too can we think of God and His choosing us to be a part of this nation that Peter refers to as a “royal priesthood.”

Ultimately, our loving father will use everything in His power to make us and mold us into the priesthood that He has chosen us to be.  This is why fearing Him is so important. He uses the pain and suffering, the temptations, and the battles to speak to us.

The point is, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Simply put, when we fear other things, we end up distracted from what God is attempting to communicate.  We miss His voice and are left prone to the voice of the enemy.  In this place we lose the battles to the physical challenges of this world, the spiritual battles that surround us, the emotional battles that seem to never end, and ultimately evil reigns.

Letting go of the fear of those things that make us uncomfortable takes a lot of courage.  It takes courage to trust Him in the battles that seem impossible to overcome, to face pain, sickness, or disease with a sense of peace. 

It takes courage to stop spending our time, talents, and money on the things that we think will deliver us peace and joy, and to start trusting that true joy and peace come from doing things for Him and for others. 

In other words, it takes courage to become selfless over selfish, to see the world revolving around Him instead of revolving around ourselves, to trust that being Holy is life, and unholy is death, to look different, talk different, eat different, celebrate different, and in all ways, trust in Him.  All these things take courage.

Walking in Torah and trusting all that we are commanded to do takes courage.  But that courage begins with a fear of the Lord.  When we move away from fearing anything but Him, we cut ourselves free from our greatest weakness in this spiritual battle.  We move into a place of trusting Him, become open to hearing His voice, and allow Him to lead us through the valley of what really is only a “shadow” of death. 

In this courage we are led to a place of doing the right things for the right reasons, we are not led by fear, but are led by wisdom.  In this the attacks of the enemy are silenced and we are protected from allowing fear to move us into a place of making bad decisions that only add to the problem that the initial fear steamed from.

This reminds me of the story of the children of Israel coming to the promised land for the first time, sending in the spies, and rejecting God’s promise in their fear.  When they heard what their destiny would be it was too late.  They attempted to go to war only to be slaughtered because God was not with them.

First evil reigned when they allowed the words of the spies to instill fear into their hearts.  Then evil reigned again when they listened to the words of God, feared the discomfort of what He was about to do, and attempted to go to war without Him.

I pray as we continue forward toward Yom Kippur that each of us grow in our ability to be strong and courageous, to trust Him in all things, and to not let the things that we “know” about this world to become a distraction from the plans that He has for us.

I pray this has been a blessing, that we all discover a new courage deep within, and that in and through this we all grow in our ability to hear His voice, understand what He is communicating, and walk in all that He is showing us. Amen and God bless.

When You Go Out

 

This week’s parsha is from Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19, it is called Ki Tetse, “When you go out”.

This portion includes roughly 50 separate commandments. 

When taken unto itself, it is a bit difficult to summarize the parsha into a single concept.  The beginning of the parsha addresses how men of war are to transition any women they take through a proper and respectful time of mourning and preparation prior to making them their wives. 

It then takes us through a progression of the laws on how to deal with stubborn and rebellious children, honesty and integrity amongst each other, gender identity, sanctity of life, responsibility for protecting others from accidental harm, mixing of fabrics, wearing of tsit-tsit, adultery, embracing outsiders into the assembly, the charging of interest, harvesting of the fields, divorce, kidnapping, leprosy, justice, mercy, and the list goes on and on.

With all this in mind I want to simplify while at the same time expanding out in two directions.  First of all, I want to discuss what this parsha teaches us about identity.  Secondly, I want to focus on what it is that Moses saw when God gave him the words of Deuteronomy.  It is important to view what we share in the bigger image of what aspect of His law God was asking Moses to expound upon when He asked Moses to share these words with the nation.

From here, I want to look at how these two concepts encourage us as we remain strong, diligent in our pursuit of righteousness, focused on a future, and hopeful knowing that what has been promised will hold true.  In looking at the first concept which focuses on identity, the first scripture that comes to mind is Deuteronomy 6:7. In this scripture we hear God speaking through Moses these most famous words relative to teaching His ways to subsequent generations. 

He says, “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”

Notice the concept of “teaching diligently” when in the home AND when walking by the way.  This scripture really resonated with me in regard to this week’s parsha. 

The “walking by the way” spoke to me in regard to the opening lines and the very name of this parsha “when you go out”.  At the same time, so much of the scripture included in this parsha addresses what life should look like within the communities.  These sections of the scripture make me think of that part of Deuteronomy 6:7 that says, “when you sit in your home”.

The next scripture that comes to mind is where God tells us that we are “to be holy”.  This comes up in Exodus 12:16, 19:6, 22:31, Leviticus 11:44, 11:45, 19:2, 20:7, and 1 Peter 1:16.  In each of these scriptures God gives us the image of being Holy because He is Holy.  In other words, He is our father, we are a part of His family, our identity is in His ways, and as such it is not in harmony with the ways of this world. By definition, Holy is “to be separate”. 

It is very easy to think about being holy in the context of avoiding unclean things while embracing those that God considers “clean”.  This is true, but we shouldn’t neglect the teachings of Yeshua when considering His definitions of clean and unclean.  In this I am taken to Matthew 23:23 where we read “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

Herein, is our first lesson that we gather from this week’s parsha.  When we look at the big picture contained within these laws, we see one common them.  Holiness, but not holiness in a pious nature like that of the “religious” leaders of Yeshua’s day.

One of the Ten Commandments is to “not take the Lord’s name in vain”.  When looking at the Hebraic definition of this term we are given a much deeper understanding of what God is attempting to communicate to us.  In the true context, God is telling us that misrepresenting His holiness is misrepresenting His NAME.  He is not a God who is interested in outward appearances, He is a God who is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin”.  Mercy and grace are at the center of who He is, and as His representatives, this is who we are called to be.  This applies to when we “go out”, and “when we stay in”, when we are “at war”, and when we are “at peace”, when we are “in the midst of world” and when we are in the midst of “the congregation”.  Everything about our identity as being Holy must revolve around these understanding of Holiness.

With all this said, it is important to keep our focus on the bigger context of what God is sharing through Moses. From the beginning, God chose Abraham to be at the center of His plan of redemption.  From Genesis 12:1-3 we read: “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so, you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

From here I want to tie in something Paul teaches us in Galatians 3:17-18 where we read: “What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.  For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.”

What Paul is getting at is this.  The nation’s walking in the Law does not dictate “IF” God will honor the promises.  At the same time, the nation’s walking in the law does control “when” those promises will come into fruition.  In other words, from the beginning, God knew that He would hold true to the promises that He was making to Abraham, and that those promises would ultimately come to pass.  At the same time, through Moses, He gave us a much more deep and rich understanding of how the promises will be fulfilled, what our role is in the promises, what must take place prior to the promises being granted, and more specifically, how He will interact with the nation as He makes us into the priests, He “chose” us to be.

This is the overarching concept of the entire book of Deuteronomy.  In essence, God, through Moses is saying, “Yes, I am true to my word, I am “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin”.

But I am also “He who will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

Ultimately, what Moses saw when sharing Deuteronomy with the nation is about the bigger picture.  It focuses on the dynamic of the God to Nation relationship.  It reveals the intimacy of the relationship and provides the backbone to the “Law” God applies to Himself when interacting with the nation as He transforms us into the image of “those that will see the fulfillment of the promises made to our father Abraham”. In this, we find not only our identity and our purpose, but we gain a sense of faith in the promises.  Just like the saints of old who are spoken of in Hebrews 11 who “by faith believed in the promises”, we too find faith in the same promises.  We can trust that someday the nation will be restored to the promised land, that we will be a part of that restoration, and in that time, we will be a part of the family that God uses to bless all the people of the world.  At the same time, we must understand that the “when” of these promises is deeply connected to what Moses is sharing in these scriptures. 

We must understand that the “blessing” of the nations is a direct result of our embracing our priestly role and living up to our commission as walking in harmony with what God defines as Holy as taught by our Messiah while resisting the temptation to fall into religious piety that “takes the Lord’s name in vain”.

This is what will lead the Nations to Him, to His ways, out of darkness, and into His marvelous light.  This is why all this is so important.  We simply are not a blessing when we are not doing Torah from our hearts, in love, and in His way.

I pray that the words that I have shared have been an encouragement, that they were of the Holy Spirit, and that in and through this time together we have all been moved into a place of deep contemplation.  I pray that as we allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us, we allow Him to show us where we might be struggling in extending an image of “His name” that is in harmony with the Holiness that He asks us to walk.  I pray that in and through our brokenness to what He is revealing that He gives us the will, the strength, and the desire to be transformed more and more into His likeness from one day to the next.  Amen.

Holy Enough?

Numbers 16:1-18:32, Korach, "Korach"

Chapter 16 begins with the story of Korach (who was a Levi) leading a group of 250 men in a revolt against Moses and Aaron.  God threatens to wipe out all the people, Moses intercedes, and God brings judgment on Korach.  In so doing, He opens up a gorge in the earth that swallows Korach 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.  Chapter 17 covers the story of God proving His choice of Aaron for the priesthood through the blooming of Aaron’s rod.  In the story, God instructs Moses to have the head of each of the 12 families of the Sons of Israel bring a rod to him with their name engraved on it.  God informed Moses that the rod of the man that He chooses for the priestly role would sprout. 

The next day, when Moses checked the rods, he found that Aaron’s rod had put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore “ripe” almonds.  Moses returns the rods to the heads of the individual families, and put’s Aaron’s rod before the testimony as a sign to those who may think about rebelling against Aaron’s authority.  The chapter ends with the sons of Israel speaking to Moses regarding their fear of approaching the tabernacle of God as it seemed as if everyone who approached the tabernacle would die.

In Chapter 18 we find God telling Aaron that from this point forward, he and his household would bear the guilt of any sin that is committed in connection with the sanctuary or the priesthood.  Then, God instructs Aaron to extend some of the services of the tent of meeting to other families within the family of Levi.  At the same time, God clarifies that those services are limited and do not provide those families access to the alter or the furnishings of the sanctuary.

The parsha concludes with God declaring how the families of Levi will have no inheritance of land but that their portion will come from the food and proceeds given from the people.  This parsha has a lot packed into it and there are many things that we could discuss.  This morning I would like to share on a few that I see coming together to create a common theme.

The first is in regard to Korach approaching Moses and demanding equality based on his perceived view of things.  In Numbers 16:3 we read: “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?”

The major fallacy I see in Korach’s thought process is this:  He makes the assumption that Moses believes that his role within the leadership of the people is dependent upon his own holiness and that in this view of himself he has lifted himself above the rest of the people. 

This mentality is the biggest difference between Korach and Moses.  Moses is humble enough to realize that He is only worthy of being used by the Lord in the ways he is being used as the result of God’s holiness.

This is what actually qualifies Moses to be lifted above the people and positions him to be used by God in that role. 

When we begin to act like Korach and believe that “our holiness” somehow qualifies us for something and that in that we begin to lift ourselves up relative to others, that thought and that process of self-exultation actually disqualifies us. 

None of us are “holy enough”.  Only God is and only He lifts up or exults.

The next thing that came to me was how Moses continues to intercede on behalf of the people when the people continue to rebel, move in pride, and/or sin against him and/or God.

In Numbers 16:20-22 right in the middle of the ordeal with Korach we read….  Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one-man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

Then again, later in the story when the entire congregation comes against Moses and Aaron as we read in Numbers 16:45. “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then (Moses and Aaron) fell on their faces.”

In both of these cases, Moses and Aaron were under attack from the people. Their authority was being held in question, and they were being falsely accused. 

In this God tells them to “separate themselves”. 

Holy is to stand apart.  So, with that, God is basically telling them that they “deserve to be treated differently” than the rest of the people and tempting to exult themselves based on this understanding.  

God is basically telling them that it is OK to view themselves differently, more holy, to “set themselves apart” from the people, to see themselves as “higher” and “deserving of a different destiny”.

This reminded me of Exodus 33:24-17 right after the sin of the golden calf.  In this we read:

And (God said to Moses), “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”  Then (Moses) said to (God), “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.  “For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?”  The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.”

All of this ties back into the parsha I presented two weeks ago relative to leading and following. 

Back at the time of the sin of the golden calf, Aaron was just as much a part of the problem as the rest of the people.  At that time, Moses was given the opportunity to lift himself up above the people and be treated differently.  Instead, he challenged God to walk with all or none, and to not treat him any different than any of the people. 

Two weeks ago, we read about Miriam and Aaron attacking Moses' authority, God putting leprosy on Miriam, and Moses, in resisting the temptation of an “I told you so”, intercedes and Miriam is ultimately healed.

In this parsha we see Aaron joining Moses as they together resist the temptation to use the sin of the people and God’s anger toward them as an opportunity for preferential treatment and self-exultation.

From there we move into the story of “Aaron’s rod” blooming and producing “ripe” fruit and then into the imagery of how Aaron and his household would bear the guilt of any sins committed against the sanctuary or the priesthood.

Isn’t this exactly what Moses had been doing since the time God sent him back to Egypt to lead the people out of Egypt?  Isn’t this what Moses demonstrated to Aaron in the parsha we read two weeks ago?  Isn’t this exactly what Moses and Aaron just did when the people were sinning against the priesthood and God’s appointed?

When I think about Aaron’s rod blooming and producing “ripe” fruit at this point in time, I can’t help thinking about the calling on our lives to produce fruit, and how connected that is to allowing ourselves walk out this journey in the image of Yeshua as the ultimate High Priest that we follow. 

He was willing to humble Himself by coming down out of the heavens and taking on the form of a man, to live with us, and be subjected to the temptation of “lifting Himself up”.  He allowed those that persecuted Him to nail Him to a cross and “put Him up” alongside two criminals.  He allowed God to put the sin of us all on Him so that we may live in Him. 

In this, He moved into the position of His greatest calling, defeated sin and death, and returned to the right hand of the father where He would produce the greatest fruit as our lord and savior.

With all this said I want us all to think about a few very important questions: 

What would have happened if Moses and Aaron would have failed God’s test?  What if they would have become what Korach was accusing them of being?  What if they would have done just as God said and “separated” themselves from the people? 

Wouldn’t this have flipped things around and made it so that the congregation would have been right in blaming Moses and Aaron for everyone dying?  Afterall, that would have been the outcome.

I pray that each of us can see where we might have some areas of potential growth, that we allow God to help us move beyond the tests of allowing the failures of others to build us up, and where we grow in our ability to intercede for even those that persecute us.  I pray that in and through this, He bless each of us in our ability to blossom, to produce “ripe” fruit, and to live lives that truly honor Him.

Following and Leading

Beha'alotcha, Numbers 8:1 – 12:16, "When you raise"

In this week’s parsha we find ourselves in a time period of the very first few months into the first year after the nation was set free from Egypt.  This unusually long portion is crammed full of intense imagery, complex situations, divine intervention, and opportunity for personal application.

If you remember, Numbers 1 begins in the second month of the first year after escaping Egypt.  Now, in chapter 9 we go backwards to the first month in the second year to before the census referenced in chapter 1 was even taken.  Here we are told about how the children of Israel would follow the cloud that descended upon the tabernacle but later in chapter 10 we are told that it wasn’t until the 20^th of the second month that they actually set out to follow the cloud.  This back-and-forth theme is a bit hard to follow, but once figured out, the timeline flows as it should.

In summary, the parsha starts out with a discussion on the golden lampstand. The imagery is of a single lampstand, while at the same time creating an image of the seven branches out in front of it.  At first this didn’t make much sense to me, but as the parsha continued the concept falls into place.

The second theme we encounter is that of Moses cleansing Aaron, his sons, and the Levites for their priestly roles.  We go through a short section on the age of priestly service and retirement before moving into a recap on the Passover observance. 

The next section takes us through a summary as to how the Lord made His presence known through the perpetual presence of a cloud covering the tabernacle by day which became like the appearance of fire by night.  It is here that we are told that when the cloud would lift and move, the children of Israel would pick up camp and move to follow it.  Wherever the cloud would settle, so too would the children of Israel.

The next section of the scripture tells us about how the Lord commanded Moses to make two silver trumpets.  These trumpets were to be used to signal the children of Israel for different reasons based on how the trumpets were to be sounded.

In verse 10:11 we are told that during the second year, in the second month, on the 20^th of the month, the cloud of the Lord moved for the first time.  As noted earlier, putting the book of Numbers into succession, this would have been right after the census of Numbers 1 was taken and the assignments outlined in Numbers 2-4 were given.  

In chapter 11 we find the children of Israel becoming disgruntled and complaining.  The Lord brings fire to the outskirts of the camp and Moses intercedes.  Next, the people complain about not having meat.  By this point Moses is getting fairly frustrated with the people and cries out to God to just kill him and put him out of his misery with these people.  God responds by telling Moses to get 70 men from the various tribes who He (God) would give the same spirit which He had put upon Moses so that these elders could help Moses govern the people.  From there God responds to the complaints of the people and their desire to eat meat which was really a desire to go back to Egypt and what was familiar.

In verses 11:18-20 we read about God telling Moses to address the people.  He tells Moses to “Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore, the LORD will give you meat and you shall eat.  ‘You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

Moses questions God, God responds, and Moses goes and tells the people.  The next scene is God putting the Spirit upon the 70 elders, two remain in the camp and continue to prophesy, a young man tells Moses, and Moses responding with joy and not jealousy.

 From there the story picks back up with God sending in droves of quail and allowing them to fall all around the camp.  We are told that they fell about a day’s walk from the camp in all directions and that the depth of the birds was about two cubits deep.  One cubit is about 18 inches, so we can figure that the qual were piled up about 3 feet thick.

We are told that the people gathered the birds all one day, all that night, and all the next day before brining them (a days journey) back to the camp and cooking them.  We are also told that the one who gathered the least gathered 10 homers which totals about 11 gallons. 

Can anyone else see the total lack of Torah observance in this?

The story continues with the anger of the Lord being kindled against the people while they were just getting started with their eating.  We are told that He sent a sever plague upon the people.  Truly, they had returned to “Egypt” in more ways than just their hearts.

Moving into chapter 12 we find Miriam and Aaron murmuring against Moses.  The basis of their argument is that Moses had married a Cushite woman.  In reality, their argument was one of comparison.  In essence, they were saying that they had the same relationship with God that Moses did because Moses wasn’t any better than them as evidenced by his choice in a wife.  In other words, they were attempting to elevate themselves through the process of putting Moses down.  God responded by putting leprosy on Miriam.  Moses interceded and God said he would leave the leprosy on her long enough for her to properly bear her shame and then he would remove it.

So, what is the common theme that runs through all what I have shared and what do I believe the Lord has given me to share with you all on this parsha?

Here is what I am seeing as the common theme.  At the very beginning, the light of the golden lampstand was to be out in front of itself.  This gives the images of:

• Being a light,
• Being out in front, and
• The concept of leading and following

 This sets the tone for the entire parsha.

The theme is repeated in the imagery of the priesthood.  They are called to be the light of the nation, spiritually going out before the people as God goes out before them.  Again, the theme of being a light, being out in front, and following God is repeated.

We then come into a brief summary of the observance of the Passover.  In this summary Moses was approached by a few men who, because of various issues, were unable to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time.  Moses responded by telling them “Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you”.  Again, the theme is repeated.  Moses demonstrates what it is like to live in harmony with God, to properly respect His place, and be humble before the Lord.  Moses fully respects God and knows that it is not his place to simply provide an answer that he derives.

This leads us into the imagery of God’s presence amongst the people as a cloud by day and a fire like cloud by night.  In this we are again given the imagery of God leading His people and the people following as they respond to the movement of the cloud by following it wherever it went.  Again, the theme of the priests leading the way behind the light of God while being followed by the nation is repeated.

From there we are told about the silver trumpets who’s entire purpose is to summon the people to “follow” based on a particular sounding of the trumpeter.  In this the people would have had to have been educated so that they could respond in the proper way to the particular blast being sounded.

All of this leads us up to the point where, during the second month of the second year, on the 20^th day of that month, the cloud moved for the very first time.  Everyone fell into harmony. The trumpet players blew their horns, the priests fell into harmony and performed their duties, and Moses led the people as he followed God’s leading until they settled in to where the Lord led them.

Then, from first glance, everything changes.  The next three stories appear to be totally different.  But are they?  The first comes with the people grumbling, the Lord sending fire to the outskirts of the camp, Moses praying, and the Lord ending the fires. 

The next is the people grumbling against the manna and wanting meat.  Moses complains to God, God sends the birds, the people pick up dead birds, bring them back to the camp, and a plague breaks out.  In the midst of this story, God feels for the burden that the people are to Moses so he assigns 70 elders to help Moses lead the people. 

Ultimately, Aaron and Miriam complain against Moses, Miriam is struck with leprosy, Moses intercedes, and God heals her after allowing her to bear the shame of her guilt.

In conclusion, I want to point out how Moses responded in each of these situations.  Ultimately, his example is the one we are to follow.  When it comes down to the “rights” that Moses may have had, I can easily see how he could have had a bit of a chip on his shoulders when Aaron and Miriam came out to judge him and make a power play against his authority.  I can easily see how there could have even been a bit of a “you are getting what you deserve” attituded when Miriam was struck with leprosy.  It kind of reminds me of how people talk about what will happen when Yeshua returns and has His day of vengeance against those that persecute us, who don’t believe what we believe, and who don’t appreciate the light we are following.  

I think we need to remember what Yeshua did for us while we were still sinning against Him and how Moses interceded for Miriam and the children of Israel when they were doing nothing but making his life miserable.

Even though Moses had his moments, got frustrated with God, and went before Him with his complaints, he always stayed true to being the light and intercessor before God.  He never argued for God to wipe out the people or repay them for the wrongs they committed against him.  Moses never put himself above the people.  It was either God with all of them, or God with none of them.  Moses simply did not let God treat him any different than the people he was leading. 

I think there are some things that we can learn from Moses as we look to being a light worthy of being followed.  I think it begins with his humility and his true love of those that God put into his care.  Maybe that is a good place to start.

 

I pray that this has been a blessing to you.

 

Benefit Of The Doubt

Leviticus 12:1-13:59, Tazria, “Conceive” or “Give Seed”

In this week’s Torah portion, we start out with a summary of the commandments surrounding childbirth.  In addition to the obvious commandment of circumcision of male children on the 8^th day, there are other differences between what Hashem puts forth in regard to the commandments surrounding childbirth dependent upon the child’s sex.  In the case of a male child, the mother will be unclean for 7 days, and then remain in a place of purification for another thirty-three days.  In the case of a female child, she will be unclean for two weeks, and remain in a place of purification for another sixty-six days.  In either case, at the end of the purification period she is to bring a burnt offering and a sin offering to the priest.  The priest is to offer up the sacrifices and make atonement for her at which time she will be “cleansed form the flow of her blood”.

The next chapter focuses entirely on leprosy.  In this, we are given a detailed protocol on how the priests are to evaluate a person who might have leprosy, what they are to do with that person during the investigative period (lasting up to several weeks), what they are to do when the leprosy is confirmed, what they are to do if the concern over leprosy is proven false, and how to purify a person who had leprosy but was healed of it.

Verse 13:11 is a bit confusing.  It reads “it is a chronic leprosy on the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not isolate him, for he is unclean.” (NASB)

At first glance we might think that for some reason, in this particular case, the person is to no longer be required to live in harmony with what is put forth in verses 13:45-46 where we read “As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’  “He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (NASB)

However, on a deeper reading, I am seeing these two scriptures working in harmony with each other.  Verses 13:1-45 are all focused on the time period of evaluation.  During the evaluation period the person whose leprosy is in question is to be put into or remain “isolated”.  I am understanding this to mean “isolated within the camp” as they have not been proven to have leprosy.  This is more of the form of being “quarantined”.  Once the leprosy has been proven, then the person is to be moved from “isolation” or “quarantine” within the camp, to “living alone” outside the camp in accordance with verse 13:46.  In this, the person who has been proven to have leprosy will no longer be allowed to “live in isolation” within the camp but be forced to abide by what is put forth in 13:46.

Seeing this led me into a concept that is allowing me to tie these two chapters together in a way that I previously did not see.  Here is what I am seeing:

Let’s imagine for a moment that we were alive back in the days when the priesthood was active and acting in harmony with God’s instructions.  Let’s imagine that we are one of the priests and one of our fiends had a sore and needed to be evaluated for leprosy.  He was brought to us and, based on what is outlined, we could not determine if he did or did not have leprosy.  As such, we put him into “isolation” for seven days where at the end of the seven days he would be brought back for further evaluation.  Now, let’s take the case of another friend.  This second friend comes to us just like the first.  But in this case, there is no doubt about it. He has leprosy.  In this case, we are not to put him into isolation but to treat him in accordance with 13:45-46 because he has been proven to have leprosy. 

Now, we have to put ourselves in the position of the priest who has two friends.  The second friend could easily argue that the other friend might have leprosy too and that the “isolation” within the camp is adequate for protecting others from the spread of the disease.  Afterall, if “isolation” wasn’t adequate, then God certainly wouldn’t have allowed it during the investigative process.  Right?  How hard would it be to make a good friend go through the formal relocation to the outskirts of town?  To force them to live alone?  To tear their clothing, uncover their head, cover their mustache, and tell them that they must cry “Unclean! Unclean!” throughout the days that they remain infected?

In cases like this we can so easily start forming opinions about God, about His commandments, and about His love.  It is so easy to rationalize that these commandments were based on some human understanding of the spread of disease, are pointless, or even evil.  We can do the same for last week’s readings on the food laws, about this week’s reading on the purification laws surrounding child birth, and about countless other statutes and ordinances provided by Him.  Questions of what is fair, too hard, or what just doesn’t make sense can easily get in the way of our embracing His ways with our full heart, mind, soul, and strength.

In this case, it is important to understand things from a Hebraic perspective.  I would argue that Hebraic thinking looks at God as always loving and always in control.  From this perspective, Hebraic thinking is foundationally rooted in seeing things from a spiritual perspective that always ties back to a loving father who is interacting in our lives in a way that fully expresses how deeply He loves us. 

This mindset sets a foundation for approaching Him from a perspective of asking Him to reveal to us the deep love and potential grace surrounding all of what He has given us in His Word and all the circumstances of our lives.  In the case of leprosy, it has been concluded by the sages, that it is considered to be a spiritual curse brought about through evil speech. 

From a Hebraic perspective this is nothing short of love.  Hashem gives, and Hashem can take away.  In other words, leprosy serves a very important role in leading the person who has it into a place of repentance, transformation, and healing.  The physical healing comes through the course of the spiritual healing brought about through a dying to sin and true repentance. 

Forcing the person to live outside town, alone, and to verbally speak of their own “uncleanliness” might just be a critical part of leading that person into seeing the error of their own actions.  Afterall, when we talk about other people, can’t that lead to their being isolated from others and looked upon in a way that they might find embarrassing at the least?  If leprosy truly is given or allowed by Hashem as a direct connection to His attempts to freeing us from a pattern of evil speech, what better ramification could there be then to put us into the same position that our actions caused in the life of another?  Wouldn’t this be the best way to help us see the errors of our ways, to lead us into repentance, and to be set free from a life of broken relationships and damaging the reputation of others?  After all, are we not to “love our neighbor as we love ourselves”?

The point is, there are many things that Hashem outlines in His statutes and judgments that under first consideration might sound unfair, outdated, pointless, or even evil.  For some people, it is very easy to look at some of the commandments and attach words like “ritual” to those things that don’t seem to make sense in this physical world.  In so doing, they become wise in their own estimations and shut down any communication in that regard with the Holy Spirit.

I would argue that all of what Hashem has provided has deep and profound spiritual implications, that nothing is simply ritual, and that everything that He has defined as life is in fact life.  I trust that everything that He has defined as death simply is death.  I trust that He is a loving father and that what He has given has been given in love.  In so doing, I trust that there is a reason that when a woman gives birth to a male child, she will remain in a place of impurity for thirty-three days and that if she gives birth to a female child, she will remain in that place of impurity for sixty-six days.  I know that Yeshua has replaced the priesthood and the sacrificial system for this time period that we are currently in.  As such, we can not walk in the fullness of these ordinances as they are written.  However, maybe there is something we should be meditating on that Hashem has for us in these commandments that we don’t fully understand.  Maybe there is something that we need to consider and that the Holy Spirit will reveal.  In other words, every thing should be looked at as a “seed”, something being “conceived” by the creator whereby new life will be born.  Afterall, isn’t this really all about dying to death?  About birth?  About new life?

What I do know is this:  If we make the assumption that these things do not apply to us in any form, that they are simply rituals attached to the physical temple and a physical priesthood, we shut the door for the Holy Spirit to reveal something deeper and more profound into our understanding.  At the same time, if we trust that Hashem provided these instructions for a purpose, that the purpose might have some validity in our lives today, and that if we seek a deeper understanding, He will provide the understanding we seek.  After all, in Jeremiah 33:3 we are told “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (NASB).

I think the important thing to realize in all this is that when we approach life from this perspective, we must be careful not to expect that spiritual growth will lead to physical change.  One of my favorite expressions is this:  I seek where Hashem is intending to grow or transform me through the circumstances of life.  I know that in the process of change I will draw closer to Him and in and through this I will grow in my ability to be His disciple.  This is enough.  If the physical manifestations that led to this growth change for the better it is simply a bonus.  Nothing else.  The physical changes are never the goal of change.  The goal of change is simply the growth, my relationship with Him, and to become more in harmony with the man that He created me to be.

I pray that this has been a blessing to you, that you have discovered a few new perspectives, and that in and through this your approach to life will forever be changed in a way that will grow you in your relationship with Him, His Word, and others.  Amen Amen.

All For His Glory

Leviticus 9:1-11:47, Sh’mini, “Eighth”

This week’s parsha picks up at the end of Moses taking Aaron and his sons through the process of being ordained into their role as priests for the nation.  In last week’s parsha we read about how detailed Moses was in following all that the Lord had commanded him in this process.  In this, Moses was acting as a priest as he conducted all of the priestly duties associated with the very first sacrifice service conducted in harmony with what Hashem had provided.  The purpose of this service was to ordain Aaron and his sons into their place as priests for the nation. 

The reading ends with the following verses:

“You shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for He will ordain you through seven days.  The LORD has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf.  At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the LORD, so that you will not die, for so I have been commanded.”  Thus, Aaron and his sons did all the things which the LORD had commanded through Moses.  (Leviticus 8:33-36 NASB)

This week’s parsha picks up on the 8^th day, the day after “Aaron and his sons did” what the Lord commanded through Moses.  The first chapter, chapter 9, of this week’s reading moves along beautifully with Moses guiding Aaron and his sons as they performed the same sacrifices for the people as Moses had done for them.  Moving into chapter 10 we find things suddenly going completely astray.  It is here where we read about two of Aaron’s sons presenting “strange fire” before the Lord and the Lord responding by consuming them with fire whereabout they died.

From there Moses calls two of Aaron’s sons along with Aaron’s uncle to “come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp” (Leviticus 10:4 NASB).  After the bodies have been taken away, Moses says to “Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about.  You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the LORD’S anointing oil is upon you.””

It is from these sections of the parsha that I am feeling compelled to share.  This scene led me to thinking about Lot and his family leaving Sodom and Lot’s wife looking back and being turned into a pillar of salt.  I was also led into contemplating the blessing and curse as outlined in Deuteronomy 28 & 29 as it relates to the nation as a whole.  It is stories such as these that can lead us into seeing Hashem as unforgiving, ruthless, demanding perfection, and intolerant to Sin.  The question is, do these situations properly represent His entire nature and the nature by which He interacts with sinful man and/or His people?

On deeper examination, I would argue, that these stories do not represent the fullness of who He is or the fulness of how He interacts with us.  Afterall, the entire sacrificial ceremony begins with offering a sin offering on behalf of the priests and the people.  This, unto itself should tell us that Hashem understands that even the priest will continue in sin and that through the sacrificial system that He has put into place, their sin would be atoned for just as is the case for the nation.  So, then what is it about these particular stories, and ones like these, that make them different.

I believe that as we fully grasp the concept of “guilt”, “rebellion”, “repentance”, and even "innocence", we can gain a better understanding on what makes these particular situations different.  In this situation, Aaron and his sons had just spent seven days in the tent of meeting.  How is it possible that after spending seven days with the Lord, immediately after the very first sacrifice ceremony, and in a place of what should have been complete awe, that they would emerge from the tent and offer a “strange fire”?  This strange fire is reconned to some form of incense that may have been offered to the Egyptian gods and something that the people of the nation may have been exposed to while living in Egypt.  With this in mind I think it is reasonable to ask just how seriously these two sons took the ordination process, the sacrifices, and the magnificent robes they had been dressed in.  Did they really believe that what was going on was really that special?  Did they really believe something different was happening?  Did they really distinguish between Hashem and the Egyptian gods?  Not only had they just spent seven days in the tent of meeting presumably to get right with God, but just prior to presenting this “strange fire” they had witnessed Hashem sending fire down from heaven to consume the sin offerings that had just been offered in behalf of themselves and the people.  If they hadn’t taken the last 7 days seriously, certainly Hashem was providing them with one last opportunity to see His glory and get their hearts right before Him.

Moving into the story of Lot, his family, and his wife leads me into the same kind of thing.  In this case, Lot and his family were living in a land of horrific sin.  Not just a little sin, but really bad sin.  Sin so bad that Hashem had decided it was time to wipe everyone out and to destroy the cities.  The night before this all took place, two angles visited Lot and his family.  It was a horrific experience.  Any person in their right mind would want nothing more than to escape such a place.  As the story unfolds, after a night of the city men attempting to abduct the two angles so that they could sexually assault them, lot offering the men his virgin daughters to assault instead, the city men refusing the girls and insisting on the angles, and the angles blinding the men so that all were safe, the angles told Lot and his family to get out because they were about to destroy the city.  In this process, the angles told Lot and his family not to look back because if they did, they would be “swept away”.  Ultimately lot, his wife, and his two daughters are given enough time to escape all the way to another city.  It is form here that Lot’s wife “looked back” when the cities behind them were being destroyed.

There are a couple things I see in common about these stories.  When Lot, his wife, and their two daughters left Sodom, they left behind the two daughters’ prospective husbands.  The night before the cities were destroyed, Lot attempted to warn his future sons-in-law.  But they did not heed the warning and as such were destroyed by the fire sent down by God upon the cities.  I’m not sure exactly why Lot’s wife looked back.  Maybe she was mourning the loss of the cities, her past life, old friends, and the sinful life she, Lot, and their daughters were to leave behind.  Maybe she was just mourning the loss of the two future sons-in-law.  Maybe she was just looking back to see the awesome power of the Lord being released on the cities.  I don’t see anything in scripture that tells us exactly why she looked back, but very simply, they were told not to.  In the case of Aaron and his sons, we are given a similar picture.  Through Moses, Hashem instructs Aaron and his family to not enter into any form of mourning, but to simply dispose of the bodies and move forward with the sacrificial ceremony as if nothing had happened. They are warned, that if they would enter into mourning from within the tent of meeting or even leave the tent of meeting they too would die and bring wrath upon the congregation.

Both of these stories seem to imply that Hashem simply has no concern for our human response to pain, suffering, and loss.  This led me back to Deuteronomy 28-29 where Hashem appears so matter affect about the explicit details of the curses that would befall the nation should they not live in harmony with all the statutes and commandments that He was putting before them.  As I read these chapters of Deuteronomy and progress into chapter 30 it hits me that this is not an “if/then” statement on Hashem’s part.  By the time we get to Deuteronomy 30:1 we come to see that the entire structure has become that of a prophetic statement.  Here we read “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you…”  (Deuteronomy 30:1 NASB)

Ultimately, this reality did befall the nation in approximately 70AD when the temple was destroyed and the last of the nation were killed, captured, sold into slavery, or exiled.  The horrific details of the siege upon Jerusalem are exactly as Hashem foretold in Deuteronomy 29.

When I think about how Hashem responds in these moments of apparent coldness, I like to think of the story from John 11 when Lazarus died and Yeshua brought him back to life.  By verse 11 we know that Yeshua already knew the basics of what Hashem was calling Him to do.  He knew that ultimately Lazarus was going to die, that He was going to raise him from the dead, and that in the process Hashem would be glorified.  Yeshua made no effort to return to Lazarus and heal him before he died.  After a two day wait, He informed His disciples that “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep.” (John 11:11 NASB).  In verses 13 & 14 we discover that, when speaking of sleeping, Yeshua was using a heavenly perspective of what we would consider death.

There are two aspects of this that are really important to understand.  The first is that from Hashem’s and Yeshua’s perspectives, death is nothing more than sleeping. They have an eternal perspective.  For us to understand how they interact in our lives and for us to reconcile the pain, suffering, and loss, we must be able to see things from that perspective.  The second is explained in the next few verses.

As the story unfolds, Yeshua returns toward Bethany where He is met by Martha (Lazarus sister).  They talk and she sends for Mary her sister.  Mary, and several of those who had been with her in her home, come to where Martha and Yeshua are meeting.  Mary falls at Yeshua’s feet.  Mary and those that followed her were all weeping.  In verses 33-35 we see that Yeshua was “deeply moved in spirit and was troubled” and that He “wept”.

When I read this, I ponder what was He troubled about, and why was He weeping?  Ultimately, we must recognize that He already knew that Lazarus would live.  As such, for me, the only thing that makes sense is that He was deeply moved by the simplicity of the pain, suffering, and loss that these people were all experiencing as the result of their perceived loss of their dear friend and brother.  Taking this one step further, it must have been very hard on Him to know that He could have protected them from this grief if He would have immediately returned or even healed Lazarus from afar as He had already proven He was capable.  In the end, we must accept that Yeshua understood that Hashem knew that using this situation to bring Himself glory outweighed the temporary pain and suffering of these people.  Simply put, it gives me comfort to know that in these moments, He does feel our pain, He does sympathize, and in this, He is troubled and weeps.

In contemplating the last 2,000 years of the history of the Jewish people and the gross persecution that we have been subjected, I only find peace in the understandings put forth in the preceding discussion.  As I read Isaiah 54:5-8 I find the same kind of heavenly perspective being used that Yeshua used when talking to the disciples in John 11.  Here Hashem is explaining through Isaiah, at what I would argue is a time in the future looking back at “the time of the gentiles”, that He had “hidden His face from us for a moment”.  I believe this conversation will take place between Hashem and His people right before He re-gathers us from exile and establishes His kingdom here on earth.  I believe this is the fulfillment to Deuteronomy 30.  In short, from a heavenly perspective, He looks back at the past two thousand years as a “moment” just as Yeshua looks at death as sleep.  And the purpose I believe is again the same.  All for His glory.

Ultimately, His word tells us how to understand Him from this heavenly perspective while at the same time helping us to see that He understands us from our human perspectives.  As we walk out this life and become more and more like Him, we can fall into a tendency of becoming so heavenly minded that we lose contact with the reality of the pain, suffering, and loss of this world.  In this we lose contact with our fellow human beings and actually become less like Him in the process.  The point is to be able to comprehend things from an eternal and heavenly perspective so that we can remain in peace, while at the same time never losing the flesh perspective that leads to our ability to remain compassionate, empathetic, and sorrowful when the pain and suffering of this world is revealed.  In and through this this we remain powerful examples of what it is to be in unity with Him, trusting that He knows best, while allowing ourselves to experience the longsuffering associated with a fallen world.

I pray that this has been a blessing to you, that you have come to know Him in a new way, and that in and through this, you will grow in your relationship with Him.  Amen Amen

Being A Priest

 

Leviticus 6:1-8:36, Tzav, “Command”

Over the last several weeks I have come to see the pattern of how these sections of the Torah were prepared by Moses.  First, he shares with us what the Lord shared with Him, then he tells us about what he did in following all that the Lord had told him.  I really like how this pattern has unfolded in the preparing of the priestly garments, the preparing of the tabernacle, the preparing of the tabernacle coverings, and ultimately, here, in the starting of the sacrificial system.

In previous readings I kind of missed the impression that this was the first time that any of this, all of this, had ever been done.  This time through it really hit me.  This is the first time.  God just gave this all to Moses, and Moses, for the very first time, is showing Aaron and his sons what to do.  All the people have been gathered to observe, and they too are observing all of this for the very first time.

As I moved into chapter 8 of the reading, I started coming into the significance of some important aspects of what was taking place.  The chapter starts out with the Lord speaking to Moses and having him “take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread, and the assembling all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting.”  Leviticus 8:2-3 (NASB).  After telling the people that he was doing what the Lord commanded him to do, he washed Aaron and his sons with water.  Then he dressed Aaron in the priestly garments.  After that, he “took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.  He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. (Leviticus 8:10-11 NASB)

As I read these lines, I started considering just how serious Moses was in all of this.  This led me to understanding just how serious he took his relationship to be with God.  I started thinking about how deeply Moses must have loved God and how intent he was to trust Him and follow His commands.  As I read these verses, I began to see just how holy Moses saw God to be, and how deeply Moses understood to respect Him, honor Him, and uphold Him with the reverence He deserves.  As I read these verses I began to wonder how much of these understandings and attitudes were meant to be passed along to Aaron and his sons through this very process. 

As I got to this point in the reading, I started considering how sometimes I hear people talking about how the veil was torn when Yeshua was on the cross.  I started thinking about how this is represented as being all about giving each of us direct access to Hashem in the Holy of Holies and how we can approach Him “just like we are”.  This led me back to where I was in the last paragraph and into wondering how many of those understandings and attitudes were meant to be passed along to us through what Yeshua did on the cross 2,000 years ago.

As I moved deeper into the reading, I discovered how Moses went on to anoint Aaron and consecrate him.  Then Moses dressed Aaron’s sons in the priestly garments just as he had dressed Aaron.  From there Moses had Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering as he slaughtered it.  I found it interesting that all that Moses allowed Aaron and his son’s to do was to lay their hands on the bull and that from there, Moses did all the slaughtering, he is the one who put the blood on the alter and “purified” it, and he is the one who poured the blood at the base of the alter and consecrated it, “to make atonement for it”. (Leviticus 8:14 NASB).

Again, this was a reminder that something new was taking place.  The alter was being purified, consecrated, and being atoned for.  Aaron and his sons were not yet acting as priests, and Moses, not even dresses as a priest, was doing all the work.  I began to realize that this was all about discipleship. 

Moving deeper into the reading takes us through Moses performing the sacrifices for the burnt offering, the offering of ordination, his ordaining Aaron and his sons with the placing of blood on the lobe of their right ear, on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot.  We then read about Moses preparing Aaron and his sons for the wave offering and having them perform the wave before taking the unleavened cakes and oil from their hands and offering them up to the Lord again as a part of their ordination.

From there Moses took the breast of the offering, waved it before the Lord, and offered it up as his portion of the ordination sacrifice.  From there Moses mixed anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the alter and sprinkled it on Aaron, his sons, and on their garments.  This consecrated them and their garments.  Then Moses told them to boil the remainder of the meat from the ordination sacrifice along with the unleavened cakes and oil and eat at the doorway of the tent of meeting.  Once they had eaten and been satisfied, they were to burn what was left of these things and not save them.

The final stage of their ordination was to remain in the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven says.  Moses told them to remain there day and night, and that if they left for any reason, they would die.  He concluded in saying that through this “ordination” process, the Lord would be making atonement on their behalf.

Moving a little beyond this reading and going into the first 9 verses of chapter 9 helps bring what I am seeing to a proper closure.  In these first 9 verses of chapter 9 we see Moses commanding Aaron and his sons to do for the children of Israel just as he had done for them.  Maybe not to the same extent, but to a very particular degree and to the degree that led me to seeing things with a prophetic eye.

In these verses we find Moses telling Aaron and his sons how to perform the sacrifices for their own atonement and then move into the various sacrifices for the people.  This all took place on the 8^th day of the sacrificial process.

Going back to the veil being torn when Yeshua took his final breath on the cross has led me to a very important concept that I believe we all should take into consideration when thinking that the veil was torn so that we all have access to the Holy of Holies.  One of the points that we fail to consider when thinking about this is that the veil that was torn was the veil that separated the Holy Place, from The Most Holy Place.  The Most Holy Place is also known as the “Holy of Holies”.  The “Holy Place” is the room that is portioned off from the rest of the tabernacle with another veil.  Furthermore, the rest of the tabernacle is still separated from the people with another set of curtains through which they were only allowed through for the point of offering sacrifices. 

In essence, if we want to really understand what Hashem may have been implying with the tearing of the veil, we must keep in mind which veil was torn and to whom access to that veil was extended.  In short, the average people of the “nation” were only allowed through the curtains of the outer court for the purpose of offering sacrifices.  Even then, they were not allowed to move beyond the alter and toward the Holy Place or that veil.  This area was set aside for the priesthood.  The priests were then allowed perpetual access in the remainder of the outer court area.  During set times they were allowed through the veil of the Holy Place to minster to the various articles that were kept there.  This included the access to the show bread, the morning and evening burning of the incense, and the other various tasks that were performed on a regular schedule.  From there, there was the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.  Only once a year was the High Priest allowed to move through this veil and into the area where the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat were to be found.

What I am getting at here is this; Yes, when Yeshua took His last breath something very important shifted in the heavenly realms.  When this shift occurred, Hashem gave us a sign through the tearing of the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.  In interpreting this I do believe that Hashem was telling us that Yeshua Himself, from that day forward, would forever be our one and only High Priest and that as His People, we would have access to Him.  At the same time, I think it is very important to note that the veil that stood between the Holy Place and the outer court did not tear.  Furthermore, the walls of the temple did not fall down.  In other words, was Hashem attempting to communicate that from the beginning, His intent has been to create a nation of people who would become a royal priesthood that would ultimately be His bride and through whom the world would be blessed?

This concept is supported in Exodus 19:3-6: “Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.  ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” (NASB)

Within the context of the New Covenant, I think Peter really captures what I am attempting to communicate in 1 Peter 2:9-11 when he says: “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.  Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”  (NASB)

Before I go too far, I want to cut off any concept of the gentile church replacing Israel as God’s chosen people.  The above verse is a direct reference to Deuteronomy 32 where Hashem gave Moses the “song of Moses”.  This is a prophetic song that, together with Deuteronomy 28-30, provide the entire prophetic image of the journey of Israel from that time through the return of the Lord and the setting up of the millennial kingdom.  Paul references this song when he speaks of how Hashem will use the gentiles to move the people of Israel to jealousy in Romans 11.  In this section of scripture Paul clearly states ultimately “all of Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26) and that it is through this partial hardening of Israel’s heart that gentiles would be grafted into the very olive tree through which the people of Israel come.  This is a grafting in, not a replacement.

With that said, going back to the point and the prophetic implications I will share what I am seeing.  Moses, following God’s commandments, ordained Aaron and his sons to serve as the priests to the “nation of Israel”.  They spent seven days going through a process of ordination.  I would argue, as I will substantiate next week, that this was intended to be a time of deep contemplation, reflection, and repentance.  I would argue that the blood of the animals and all the physical things that Moses did, unto themselves, did nothing for the atonement.  The true atonement came, and was to come, through the heart felt repentance and getting right before God in harmony with the sacrificial system that He instructed Moses to facilitate.  At the end of the seven days, Aaron and His sons were presumably “ordained” and ready to be the priests they were called to be.  As such, moving into their 8^th day, they began something new.  They were now to be priests for the people. The first thing they were to do in this new role was to start the sacrificial journey for the people in the same way as Moses had done for them.  This was to sacrifice an animal for sin.  From there, it was only after the sin offering that Moses could move into the sacrifices associated with the ordination. So too was the process for Aaron and his sons relative to the people.

As I contemplated this, I saw that, in accordance with Exodus 19 and 1 Peter chapter 2, the entire nation is called to be priests.  As such, I got the image of Aaron and his sons “ordaining” the people in the same way that Moses had “ordained” them.  This leads me to seeing Yeshua’s blood as the “ordination” of the grafting of the elect gentiles into the “nation” through the New Covenant. 

In the end, I have no choice but to recognize that Peter was clearly speaking to the gentiles who had grafted themselves into the “nation”.  I have to accept that he was calling them to embrace the calling of living priestly lives.  I have to allow this to speak deeply into my soul.  I have to ponder what this means and I have to share what I believe I am being called to share.  All of these implications help me understand what God may have been attempting to communicate when He tore the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. 

Maybe what He was saying should be more understood as Him saying that atonement would no longer be offered once a year through a physical High Priest as our only representative but instead would be offered perpetually through Yeshua being our spiritual, and more perfect, High Priest.  At the same time, only priests are allowed access into the Holy Place, and as such, this may be why it is so important to see ourselves as such.  Maybe, we should see what He did on the cross and the blood that He spilled as our ordination.  Maybe if we approached Him with this understanding, we would tend to approach Him with the same reverence that Hashem was calling Aaron and his sons to as He spoke through Moses and the protocol He established through their ordination.

With all this said, we must remain in balance.  We must keep in mind is that being a priest is about heart attitude, repentance, transformation, faith, dedication, trusting Him, intercession, sacrificial service to others, and walking in His strength and not our own.  We have to remember that it was only a year earlier that Aaron built the golden calf and lied to Moses about it.  We have to accept that Aaron and his sons did not instantly transform overnight or even in the course of seven days.  We have to accept and trust that the Lord is the one who is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin” Exodus 34:6-7 NASB.

When we remain in balance we walk in faith, allow Him to be Lord, seek to grow daily, and understand that we belong to Him for a purpose in what He is doing in the lives of others.  As we walk out this journey there will be times where He will have to show us our selfishness, our self-righteousness, our lusts, and our destructive patterns.  At the same time, it is in His strength that we grow and we must embrace the journey and the process.  I believe this is what it is to be a priest.  Afterall, if we can’t apply this balance to our own lives, how will we ever be tolerant of the very people Hashem has called us to represent?  I guess it is no wonder that before the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies to meet with God on behalf of the people, he first had to get right with God himself, and then intercede for his family.  Maybe there is something to be learned just in that.

I pray that this has been a blessing, that it has been challenging yet not weighty, I pray that it has been revealing and encouraging.  I pray that in and through the time you have dedicated to what I have shared that the Holy Spirit has quickened something into you soul that will lead to greater freedom, growth, and transformation.  Amen amen