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Our Torah
portion begins with a repetition of the instructions
to set up the seven lamps on the Golden Menorah.
The Golden Menorah brought light to the Holy Place.
It burned oil, which is a symbol for the presence
of God. In a dark world, full of confusion and
headed toward eternal darkness, it is the presence
of God that brings light - the knowledge that
leads to salvation, the wisdom that restores us
to a right and genuine relationship with God,
truth, victory, and eternal life.
The Seven
Branched Golden Menorah points us to Messiah,
who is the Light of God and the Light of the world.
The seven branches, seven being the number of
completion, perfection, speaks of the complete
sufficiency of the Messiah to bring truth and
understanding, salvation and victory, to every
human being that believe in Yeshua, and joins
himself to the Messiah by placing his faith and
trust in Him, and proves it by obeying Him.
The rest
of chapter 8 describes the preparations for the
Levites to start serving the Lord. They were the
special tribe that was set apart to serve the
Lord at the Mishkan. First, they needed to be
cleansed. To serve God, one must be clean. To
cleanse them, water was sprinkled on them. Using
a razor, all the hair was removed from their bodies.
Their clothes were washed.
We too
need to be clean in order to serve God. Don’t
think that you can serve Him or please Him if
you are dirty, like the world is. What cleanses
us today? Faith in God and Messiah, followed by
baptism. Have you been washed by the waters of
baptism?
Continued
and constant exposure to the Word of God cleanses
us. Do you continue to be washed by the cleansing
that comes from the Word of God?
Confessing
our sins cleanses us. When you sin, do you confess
your sins, and make restitution where possible,
and ask the Lord to forgive you, and by His grace,
help you to do better?
Then,
various korbanot - offering, sacrifices were offered,
to help them draw closer to God:
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A valuable bull for sin
offering, to remove any sin from their lives.
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A valuable bull for a burnt
offering, to dedicate themselves to God and
His service.
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A grain offering, acknowledging
that their work was good and holy and dedicated
to God.
The Lord
claimed the Levites instead of the firstborn sons
of Israel. The Lord earned all the firstborn sons
in Israel when He spared the firstborn sons at
the time of the first Passover when we were in
Egypt. The Levites took the place of the firstborn
sons. And so, the whole congregation of Israel
laid their hands on the Levites, identifying with
them, and transferring them to the ownership of
the Lord.
The Levites
themselves became a kind of a living sacrifice
- a wave offering. A wave offering was something
that was given to the Lord, and used by the Lord’s
representatives, the priests. The Levites were
given to the Lord, who gave them to the priests.
They then served the priests. Is your life like
a wave offering, given to the Lord, to do with
as He pleases? Have you ever offered up your life
to the Lord, offered up your plans, your money,
your career, and said, “Lord, You are my Creator
and my Savior. Truly everything that I have, everything
that I am, belongs to you. I am Yours. Do with
me as You will.”
Chapter
9 describes Israel’s first Passover after leaving
Egypt. The Jewish people observed it, as the Lord
had required, but some men were unclean because
they had come into contact with a dead body. If
you touched a dead body, you were defiled, and
couldn’t draw near to God at the Mishkan. You
couldn’t offer a sacrifice, and the Passover centered
around eating the Passover lambs, which were sacrifices.
The men were upset that they couldn’t present
the Lord’s korban, His sacrifice which enabled
them to draw near God, at its appointed time.
The Lord
responded to their concern and made provision
for those who were unclean by coming into contact
with a dead body, or if they were on a distant
journey. One month later, in the second month,
they would also be allowed to observe the Passover.
But, if a person was clean, and wasn’t on a journey,
and didn’t keep Passover, that person was to be
cut off from Israel - excommunicated. He despised
the Lord. You mean, if God provides an important
sacrifice, like the Passover Lamb, and you ignore
it, you really despise the Lord, even if you claim
you believe in God? That’s right! And, if God
sent Messiah Yeshua, the Ultimate Passover Lamb,
and you ignore Him, and don’t participate in His
Sacrifice, you also despise the Lord and will
be cut off? That too is right.
The second
part of chapter 9, verses 15-23, describes how
the Lord led Israel during our time b’midbar -
in the wilderness. Now on the day that the
Mishkan - the Tabernacle was erected the cloud
covered the Tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony
(because it testifies to the Lord’s Dwelling
Presence, and His principles, and the way to draw
near to Him. It was here that God witnessed to
Israel and to the world about His reality. The
coming of Messiah Yeshua is same thing. Again
God came to witness to the world about His reality,
and His principles for living, and the way to
draw near to Him, and be reconciled to Him),
and in the evening it was like the appearance
of fire over the Tabernacle, until morning. So
it was continuously; the cloud would cover it
by day, and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever
the cloud was lifted from over the Tent, afterward
the sons of Israel would then set out; and in
the place where the cloud settled down, there
the sons of Israel would camp.
This is
the same cloud in which the Lord came down, while
the Jewish people were in Egypt, leading us, and
protecting us from the Egyptians; this is the
same cloud in which the Lord descended on Mount
Sinai. The cloud tells us that the God of Israel
is so much greater and purer than us that He is
hidden from human sight. He can not be seen by
mere mortal eyes. No mortal can gaze on the unveiled
majesty that is an infinite holy and pure God.
Like the
cloud, fire is an indicator of the presence of
God. It is immaterial, pure, cleansing, powerful.
The Lord was in the burning bush. The Lord was
in the pillar of fire that protected Israel from
the Egyptians and led us through the wilderness.
Our God is a consuming fire. In Daniel’s vision,
His throne was ablaze with flames, and its wheels
were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing,
and coming out before Him (see Daniel 7). Tongues
of fire appeared above the disciples' heads in
the upper room on the day of Shavuot.
Wow! Day
and night, for almost forty years, the Glorious
Presence of the Creator of the Universe, could
be seen by all of Israel. And, if anyone else
from the other nations got close, they too would
see that the Holy People were blessed with the
presence of the one true and living God. The God
of Israel was alive and living among His people
Israel!
The Presence
of the Living God led Israel. When the cloud moved,
Israel moved. When the cloud remained, Israel
remained. And the same should be true with us
on our journey through life. We keep our eyes
on God. When He moves, we move. If He doesn’t
move - we stay. If we see the cloud starting to
move, leaving one place where we may have been
comfortable, and moving to another location, we
must follow. If the Lord in essence says, “I want
you to leave your comfortable life, and become
a missionary. I will lead you. Follow Me:” then
we must be willing to follow. In our case, it
looks like the cloud is moving us from Southfield,
and possibly to Bloomfield Hills. And we must
follow.
Chapter
10 describes the making of two very special silver
trumpets. They were blown for various reasons:
first, to summon the congregation. The sound to
assemble was not the t’ruah - a warning sound.
It was a different sound. When both trumpets were
blown by the priests, it meant that all of Israel
needed to assemble at the Tent of Meeting. If
only one was blown, only the leaders needed to
assemble there. They were also blown to help the
groups set out in their proper order. When Israel
went into battle, the Lord’s representatives,
the priests, would also blow the silver trumpets.
This served to call the Lord’s attention to the
battle, and He would intervene and save the Jewish
people.
Also,
on the Jewish holidays and on the first day of
each new month, the trumpets were blown, calling
the Lord’s attention to His holy people, and the
holy sacrifices that they offered, that enabled
us to draw near to God. When He heard the sound
of the trumpets, the Lord would pay special attention,
see this beautiful thing - a holy people drawing
near to a Holy God by means of the Holy Sacrifices
offered at the Holy Place on these God-appointed
Holy Days, and He would bless His people.
Verse
11 records that after being at Mount Sinai for
a little over a year, the cloud was lifted from
over the Mishkan, leading the Jewish nation in
the direction the Lord wanted us to go. Israel
set out in the order that the Lord commanded,
following the Lord’s lead.
Hobab,
who is either another name for Moses’ father-in-law
Yitro, or possibly his brother-in-law, was with
us, and interestingly, Moses asked him to continue
going with us, since Hobab knew the land, and
could give us the benefit of his knowledge of
the area. But wasn’t the Lord with us, leading
us? Yes. So why would we need a human guide, like
Hobab? Could it be that divine guidance does not
exclude using human help? That even though the
Lord is our teacher, and guides us and leads us,
the Lord can still use wise human beings to help
us along life’s path? Do you have a Hobab who
knows the area you are headed to, and can give
you the benefit of his knowledge? I hope so. If
not, you might want to start looking for one.
The Lord
led us on a three day journey. When the Ark set
out, which is where the presence of God was most
closely associated, Moses would pray this beautiful
prayer: Rise up O Lord (be prepared like
a good warrior is ready for battle) and let
Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate
You flee before You (since it is the blessing
of the Living God that brings victory in war,
and to every human endeavor). Lead us mighty Lord.
God before us, and protect us and grant us complete
victory! And, shouldn’t that be part of our daily
prayers as well?
And when
the Ark came to rest, Moses said, "Return,
O Lord, to the myriad thousands - the ten thousand
thousands of Israel." Lord, return your presence,
your nearness, your laws, your truth, to us. Continue
to dwell with us, and bless us with the nearness
of your presence!
Things
have been going relatively well. God has saved
us from a terrible situation in Egypt. Israel
has been redeemed from slavery in Egypt with great
power, signs and wonders, and by the deaths of
the Passover Lambs. We are no longer slaves. We
are a free people. We have crossed through the
Red Sea on dry ground. God is providing for all
of our needs, even miraculously, with manna, and
the water that came from the rock that Moses struck.
We’ve fought and defeated the Amalekites by relying
on the Lord, symbolized by the hands of Moses
being lifted up - then there was victory. God
then manifested His presence on Mount Sinai, and
the voice of God was heard by all of Israel, and
the Ten Commandments were given. Other laws were
given. Israel accepted this covenant with God,
promising to obey His commands. Animals are killed,
and blood is sprinkled on the people. The covenant
is confirmed.
Then Moses
and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the
elders of Israel, climbed Mount Sinai, and celebrated
this covenant with God. They had a meal on Mount
Sinai, and they saw the God of Israel, who manifested
Himself to them! We’ve built the Mishkan, where
God dwell on Earth in the most powerful way. We
have our mediators between God and us - the priests
who come from Aaron, along with their assistants,
the Levites. We’ve been instructed about the various
korbanot - the sacrifices that enable us to get
closer to God.
We’ve
had one major setback - the Golden Calf incident,
where we disobeyed God, and got out of control,
and the Lord was so angry that He wanted to destroy
us and start over with Moses, but Moses, our great
leader, interceded for us, and the Lord relented
and spared the nation, although not without a
measure of judgment.
The Sh’chee-nah
- the Glorious Dwelling Presence of God, dwells
in the Tent of Meeting. A pillar of cloud leads
us by day, and a pillar of fire by night. We have
now set out from Mount Sinai, and are headed toward
the promised land, the land promised to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, a good land flowing with milk
and honey.
But, in
chapter 11, we begin a series of mistakes, sins
that will have profound consequences on that whole
generation. Here, the people start complaining:
about what - we are not told, but the Lord was
angry, and His judgment fell, and His fire burned
up some of the camp - probably some of the tents,
and some of the people.
But, we
didn’t learn our lesson, and very shortly after
that, many of us, along with the mixed multitude,
maybe some other Semitic peoples who came out
of Egypt with us, and maybe some Egyptians, and
some others, started complaining about the tastiness
of the miraculous food that God had been providing
for 2 to 3 million people in the wilderness. Oh,
there was plenty to enough to eat - the manna,
graciously provided by the Lord, and enough to
sustain our lives, and enable us to live, and
serve the Lord, and get to our destination, and
accomplish everything that the Lord had for us,
but, it was boring. There wasn’t enough variety.
The people were weeping, and crying, and complaining
about the manna, and missing the fish and the
cucumbers and melons and leeks and onions and
garlic in Egypt.
It reminds
me of those who get bored with the simple message
of the Word of God, and always want something
new, something more exciting. It’s wrong. It’s
dangerous.
They didn’t
have the right attitude that you eat to live -
you don’t live to eat. They didn’t have the attitude
recommend by Rabbi Paul to Timothy: Godliness
is a means of great gain, when accompanied by
contentment. For we have brought nothing into
the world, so we cannot take anything out of it.
And if we have food and covering, with these we
will be content. But those who want to get rich
fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish
and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin
and destruction. For the love of money (not
money itself, but the love of money) is the
root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing
for it have wandered away from the faith, and
pierced themselves with many a pang (1 Timothy
6:6-10).
If you
are a child of God, making lots of money and wanting
to get rich and eating the best food, and driving
the nicest cars, and living in a gorgeous house,
is not your priority. You are here to serve God
and to accomplish His purposes for your life.
Make godliness and service to the Lord your highest
priority. Learn to be content in this life, and
you will be a rich man or woman throughout eternity,
where the true riches are found.
Well,
all the complaining and the crying and weeping
affected Moses. Moses was displeased, and upset
with the people, and with the whole situation.
It was too much for him to handle! The burden
was too great! He felt wretched and miserable,
and told the Lord that if things didn’t changed,
he wanted to die, and would the good Lord please
arrange that?
The Lord
did not take away the earthly life of the unhappy
Moses, but He did listen to the prayers of this
great man, and did a couple of things: he appointed
70 other leaders to help share the burden of leading
the people. Even the best human beings can be
a burden from time to time.
Your moods,
your problems, your complaints, your actions,
your sins, have an affect on me. I feel them.
Even though Congregation Shema Yisrael is full
of great people, there are burdens on me from
time to time - sometimes heavy burdens. Thank
God for Bill, and Rabbi Glenn, and also Roy and
Larry, who share the burdens with me, and lighten
my load. Won’t you pray for the leaders of this
synagogue?
When the
70 new leaders were first appointed, Moses gathered
them to the Tent. The presence of the Lord came
down in a special way, and the Lord took some
of His Spirit which was on Moses, and gave Him
to the 70 leaders, anointing them, equipping them,
empowering them for their new responsibilities.
Those whom the Lord calls, He equips and empowers.
The Lord specifically took the Spirit from Moses,
and transferred Him from Moses to the others,
showing that Moses was the source, still the chief
leader, and the other leaders were to remain submitted
to his leadership.
When the
Holy Spirit came upon the men, they prophesied
- they heard God speaking to them in a very clear
and special way, and then spoke what they had
heard. They did this only one time - not many
times, as did Moses. This was a one time prophetic
gifting and experience. But 2 of the 70 did not
go to the Mishkan to be anointed for leadership.
They remained in the camp. Nevertheless, the Spirit
of the Lord came upon them as well, and they too
prophesied.
Joshua,
Moses’s assistant, was jealous for Moses honor.
He felt that Eldad and Medad were arrogant by
not presenting themselves to Moses at the Tent,
as though they were declaring that the Spirit
of prophecy and leadership could rest on them
without the intervention and assistance of Moses
(Rabbi Raphael Pelcovitz, Sforno Commentary).
Jealously
over leadership is a real problem with human nature.
It is found in almost every sphere of human activity,
and even in the sphere of religion, but it must
be combated. We need to adopt the humble attitude
of Moses, who wanted all of Israel to be great
prophetic leaders, and worthy to receive the Spirit
of prophecy and leadership, without any need for
any mediator. May we desire to see many great
leaders be raised up, and not view them as competition,
but as beloved fellow servants of God.
The second
thing the Lord did was to answer the prayers of
the people. He sent quail to supply their greedy
lusts for meat. A strong wind brought millions
and millions of quail to them, which were easily
caught. But, while the people were just sitting
down to eat that delicious quail, the Lord struck
the people with a very severe plague, and many
died. The lesson: be careful what you want, and
what you pray for. Even if the Lord does answer
a prayer, that may not be such a good thing!
How would
you like the Lord to answer your prayer to be
rich and prosperous and famous in this world,
only to appear before Him on the Day of Judgment,
and hear Him say, “You rich fool! Don’t you know
that it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter
the Kingdom of Heaven? Don’t you know that there
is something wrong when you are so much part of
the world, and the world loves you? That means
that you are My enemy?”
Let’s
pray for those thing we know will please God:
more love for God and man, more self-control,
less selfishness, more desire and ability to serve
Him, more hungering and thirsting for righteousness,
to be more like God, more like Messiah, to know
God and His ways better, to resist temptation,
to be less worldly.
Our final
chapter, chapter 12, relates the challenge to
the leadership of Moses that came from his brother
Aaron and sister Miriam. The real thing that was
motivating them was jealousy over the leadership
of Moses. They wanted to be consider equal to
Moses. But they also used the marriage of Moses
to a Cushite woman, a black woman, referring either
to Zipporah, his Midianite wife, or another woman
whom Moses married. But the real motivation was
jealousy over leadership. The Lord knew what was
going on, and defended the leadership of Moses,
whom the Lord chose for the great task of leading
Israel, and teaching us.
The Lord
called Moses, Aaron and Miriam to the Mishkan,
where He came down in the pillar of cloud. The
Lord spoke from the cloud, and told them that
Moses was a very special prophet; that God spoke
to Moses much more clearly than He did to other
prophets, and that Moses was the supreme leader
of Israel that God had put in place, and to challenge
Moses was to challenge God, who chose Moses, and
that God was angry with Aaron, and particularly
with Miriam, who seems to be the spokesperson
for this challenge to Moses’ leadership. The presence
of the Lord departed with the cloud, and Miriam
was miraculously afflicted with leprosy. Her skin
had changed to the color of white. She was unclean,
and her life was in danger.
Aaron
is upset, and so is the generous and forgiving
Moses, who prays to the Lord for his sister to
be healed.
The Lord
again listened to the prayers of a man, and said
that just as a human father had spit in the face
of his daughter, to severely rebuke her for something
terrible that she had done, and the daughter would
be in a state of disgrace for seven days, so Miriam
was being rebuked by the Lord for her terrible
actions, and should bear her shame for seven days.
And so it happened, and the Lord healed her after
seven days.
For example,
Monica Lewinsky was just given her own television
show. That's not a good sign of the moral state
of our society.
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