Exodus 6:1

YHWH said to Moshe [Moses], “Now you will see what I am going to do to Pharaoh.  With a mighty hand he will send them off; with force he will drive them from the land!”

All through Exodus 5, the people of Israel feel the backlash of Moshe’s request to Pharaoh to let God’s people go.  Pharaoh, instead of agreeing or simply saying “no”, makes the already difficult task of making bricks for building projects even more difficult by requiring the Israelites to find their own straw.  Instead of a rescue, Moshe the man sent by God has caused a huge setback and an even worse situation.  So Moshe turns to God and asks Him why he was sent.  God tells him to watch and see what He will do to Pharaoh.  God needs to make a point with Pharaoh, utterly crushing the so-called power of the Egyptian “gods’, down to the god-man, Pharaoh himself.

How often is this like our lives?  God promises something incredible, but instead of getting better, things seem to get worse.  For me, it’s scary and often faith-shaking as I wonder what on earth God is doing.  But, one thing that the Torah and the apostles all agree on is God’s faithfulness.  In the story of Moshe, the darkness before the dawn of hope makes Pharaoh cocky.  When God systematically destroys the “power” of each of the Pharaoh’s gods, He shows the Israelite people (and the Egyptians) that there is only one God, who has power over everything.  Ultimately, when the Israelites are sent from Egypt, they go with all the gold and silver and jewels of the Egyptians, richer than they ever would have been if they’d have left on their own.

In our lives, the darkness before the dawn is a time when God deals with some of the ugliness in us so that when it is time to step out, we can step out richer and stronger and more confident in our God’s power.  That tough time is a good time to work on strengthening our warfare strategies and our prayer muscles.  It’s a time to keep an eye out for the ways that God is destroying the “gods” we’ve raised up in our lives.  And it’s a time to wait with anticipation for the moment when God finally says, “GO!”

Food in the Garden

This article discusses the role of Israel. God clearly states (in Hebrew) that all men live by the Torah. This begs the question of how the rest of us are supposed to know about Torah if it was given to the Israelites. The answer is that they are chosen as God’s priestly people whose role is to tell the world how to live according to God’s standard and to return to the Garden.

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The Certificate

Many of us wonder, then, what got “nailed to the cross” when Yeshua died? Our Bibles translate it as the Torah… but is that correct? This article explores what the Hebrew text says and clarifies the role of Torah in our lives today.

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There are two major differences between this view of salvation and our current view:

1.  Salvation is not about getting to heaven.  It’s about being rescued from the world and its ways.  It’s about entering into the nation of God, into a community where God is first and obedience to Him is a result of a decision to make Him Lord of everything.  It’s about doing, and it’s about now, and it’s about shema (hearing and obeying).

2.  Salvation is not a personal thing.  If one family member enters into the community of Israel, swearing allegiance to God and not the rulers of the world(this made me think twice about The Pledge of Allegiance that we say at my school every day), then as a result the whole family makes this move.  When Paul was teaching the followers of The Way, swearing allegiance to God was treason since it required a person to not swear allegiance to Caesar.  Making this kind of statement wasn’t done lightly and often led to persecution and death.  Entering into a community of believers who could support and encourage was huge!  And when one family member entered, the whole family became part.

Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my brain about all this.  I feel kind of heretical.  Right now my prayer is for truth – to understand what God’s original intent was and to understand how it is worked out in my life.  God is clearly a God of community, but He also knows each of us individually.  How does this all fit together?  I don’t know.  I’ll have to keep reading.

Numbers 22:10

Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me,

I find it kind of funny that the king of Moab would go to an believer in the God of Israel to put a curse of the people of the God of Israel.  Was Balaam an Israelite?  Or was he a believer from another way.  When Abraham meets Melchizedech, Melchizedech rules over a city and he is a priest of the Most High, implying that his city is also God-fearing.   Clearly there were other cities and nations that believed in the One True God, YHWH.  We just don’t have their story because God chose Israel to be His people.  So, maybe this man was from a city ruled by someone like Melchizedech, who believed in God.  And perhaps the king of Moab didn’t realize that the God was the same.  Either way, it doesn’t end well for the King of Moab.

Application?  I have no idea.  Perhaps it’s just the knowledge that Israel wasn’t necessarily the only group of people who believed in God.  Certainly, Yeshua the Messiah came to Israel and the others wouldn’t have necessarily known about that part of the story, but we catch glimpses of the bigger world through the perspective of Israel.

Numbers 20:5

and why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to bring us in unto this evil place? no place of seed, and fig, and vine, and pomegranate; and water there is none to drink.

I think it’s a little crazy how often the Israelites forget why they’re wandering in the wilderness.  Okay, maybe crazy, but I do the same thing.  Here the Israelites blame Moses and Aaron for making them wander around in “this evil place.”  Funny, they also led them to the Promised Land, but the Israelites refused to enter…  How often does God bring me to a place or opportunity that He has for me, but I refuse to go in out of fear or uncertainty?  Or I am continually disobedient in an area and require some training…  which may involve walking through a dark valley.  I have a tendency to blame God and ask why He makes me go through this kind of thing.  I forget my role in everything – that I asked to be more like Him or that I chose disobedience, or that I didn’t want to enter a situation that seemed too big for me…

Also, it may seem the wilderness has nothing to sustain me, but that’s not necessarily true.  I may not be able to find or provide sustenance, but it’s not about me – God can provide in any way that He wants, even miraculous ways.  I don’t walk the wilderness alone.  I don’t provide for myself.  God is there in the silence and the emptiness.  The very quiet of the desert and the lack of my own provision is the opportunity to hear God and to allow Him to provide for me.  I am totally dependent on Him and He has another chance to show me (again) how incredible He is.

Numbers 16:45

“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.

Twice in as many days God was going to eliminate the Israelites for rising up against Moses and questioning his authority from God.  Yet each time Moses interceded for the people.  Sometimes he begged God to be merciful because he didn’t want the nations to think that God couldn’t bring His people to the land He had promised, thereby allowing the nations to think God was weak.  Sometimes he just acted on behalf of all the people who weren’t involved in the uprising.  But, it’s interesting to me that even in the face of harsh criticism and danger, Moses was compassionate and forgiving.  Only once did he become angry, and that was after several men blamed him as the reason why they were condemned to wander in the desert until all the men over 20 had died (clearly they forgot that it was their fault).  Honestly, he probably felt a little of what God might feel when we blame Him for things that are obviously our fault.

Anyway, twice Moses stood between God and the people of Israel.  The first time the men who sided with Korah were consumed by the earth.  The second time 14,700 were consumed by plague before Aaron could take the censor of the Lord and stand in the path of death.

There are times when I am every bit as stubborn and stupid and ridiculous as the people of Israel were in this passage.  I blame God for things that I did.  I refuse to forgive other people and forget to repent of the disobedience I do.  And yet, by the grace of God and the blood of Yeshua, I am not completely destroyed.  My guilt is removed so God will not strike me down.  I still must face the consequences of my actions though, especially since that’s part of how things work (that cause/effect thing).  Do I learn from these times?  Or do I turn around and blame other people?  Do I blame God?

Sometimes, yes.  To all three.

Numbers 11:26

But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.

The people of Israel wanted meat to eat and were complaining about it to Moses.  Moses was tired of their whining and complained about the burden of being responsible for all the people.  God agreed and told him to gather together 70 elders who would share the burden with him.  He did as God said, but two men didn’t make it to the meeting (maybe they had to stay in camp to “watch” the people).  Interestingly, when God’s Spirit rested on the elders who had assembled, it also found the men who weren’t there and rested on them.  They prophesied in the same manner as those who had met Moses to receive the responsibility of the people.  Sometimes we’re not where we should be, but God can find us no matter where we are.  And just because we’re left behind in camp doesn’t mean that God won’t use us.  His Spirit found these two men and filled them, despite their location.

Another interesting thing to point out in this story is that it’s about the people “lusting” for the things they had or the things that others had.  Ultimately it made God mad, especially after all the things He’d done (like giving them manna and keeping them alive as they fled from Egypt), and He caused a plague to kill many of them.  The other day some friends of mine were telling me about this home they had just purchased for an insanely small amount of money.  And I admit, I was jealous.  I would love to be able to have a place of my own, especially when the market it so low and home prices aren’t ridiculously unaffordable.  It’s easy to get frustrated and lust after those things which aren’t mine.  BUT, as I spoke my frustration to God, I remember all the ways I am incredibly blessed. I have a place to live that is comfortable and clean and affordable (free, which is all we really can afford until the boys get out of daycare).  My mom’s generosity in this is amazing.  And I remember that they are older than I am and have had more time to get life sorted out.  They’re on a different path than I am as well.  There’s a plan and a purpose for each thing in life.  There are lessons to be learned at every stage along the way.  I don’t want to forget the blessings God’s given me and to complain about the things I don’t have.  Sometimes that’s hard, but I believe He understands.  I’m thankful that He’s so patient with me!

Numbers 9:23

At the command of the LORD they remained encamped, and at the command of the LORD they journeyed; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

I find it interesting that the 5-7 verses prior to this reiterate the same point over and over in different ways – when the cloud hovered over the tabernacle they stayed put, no matter how long it stayed; when the cloud moved, they moved.  Usually in Hebrew that repetition means it’s an important point being made.  Ultimately, I think that Moses is emphasizing the importance of obedience – again.

The verse above makes it even clearer that all their movement was at the command of God.  They didn’t wander around the desert at Sinai whenever they felt like it (if they had, I’d imagine they’d have tried to cut a couple of years off of the journey).  Sometimes they stayed put for a day, sometimes for a month, and sometimes for a year.  But no matter how long they stayed, it was at the command of the LORD.

The tricky thing is applying this today.  I don’t have a cloud hovering over a tabernacle to guide me.  I have the Holy Spirit, but I’ve found that knowing what He wants of me is often a very difficult task.  It doesn’t seem to me that it should be so difficult.  After all, I’ve been told that God wants me to know His will.  Even if I look back at His faithfulness in the past, how do I use that to make decisions about things today?  A practical example of this is that I currently have a teaching contract for next year (yeah!), but my current school is quite far from where I live and I spend a small fortune in gas and tolls getting to and from work.  I would like to find a job closer to where I currently live, but how do I know if this is the right thing to do?  Do I put in applications and trust God to open or close doors at His discretion?  I don’t really know.

I want to be obedient, to move at the command of God, but I don’t know how.  That’s frustrating.

PS.  A thought I just had was that the Israelites had to constantly be watching to see when God moved.  So, probably part of the process is watching where He’s working…  Unfortunately, these days that’s kind of hard to do.

Numbers 6:24-26

The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; The LORD lift His countenance upon you, And give you peace.

This is the blessing that Aaron was to give the children of Israel (which, if you accept and obey Yeshua you are grafted into the covenant, and I think this blessing is for you, too).

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The first part is blessing and protections, that I understand.  But what does it mean for G-d’s face to shine upon someone?

The LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

…  Okay, did a little research and found that G-d’s face shining on someone meant salvation in the midst of battle – rescue when all else seems lost and when failure is sure without reinforcements [1].  So the second part is about rescue from certain defeat and showing mercy towards them.

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.

Here’s a random thought, what if “lift up” actually meant to carry or bear continuously (that is part of what this word means in Hebrew) and “countenance” (being the same word as face in the previous part of the verse) meant before and behind or forward (this is the adverb meaning of the word)?  I can’t read Hebrew, but it would certainly give meaning to this phrase… The LORD carry you forward/before and behind and give you peace (completeness, safety, health and welfare).  That’s a lot more significant as a blessing.

To receive this spoken from a priest, directed by G-d…  that would be like G-d speaking it over you.  It’s a beautiful blessing about protection and blessing.  I wish we used it more often now.

[1] Moen, Skip. “Back To The Beginning.” Hebrew Word Study | Skip Moen . N.p., 22 Apr. 2010. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://skipmoen.com/2010/03/22/back-to-the-beginning/>.

Numbers 3:49

So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites.

The Levites were chosen by God to take the place of the first born sons.  So instead of the firstborn males being used as redemption, being given back to God (?), the Levites were to serve Him.  When they figured this out numerically, there were 273 males who didn’t have a “redeeming” Levite to cover for Him, so God told Moses to redeem those firstborn males with money.  This is what he did in the verse here.

I don’t know if this tradition continued every time they did a census or if it was a one time for everyone kind of deal.  I just think it’s interesting how God used every day things to help Israel understand concepts, and when they were obedient, He used gentle ways to remind them of His sovereignty.  We are blessed because the One True God’s own Son took our place, redeeming us, in the same way that the Levites were took the place of the firstborn males of Israel.  That’s pretty cool.  We are SO blessed!