Touching Death

The grave of one of my dad's relatives.  A cemetery is a place I only want to visit when necessary.
I certainly do not want to live there, what about you?

Have you ever touched death?  Can you touch it and if so, what does it feel like?  Can you describe that feeling?  Touching death must be a feeling to die for, you think?  Well, at least it seems that way, since so many people are obsessed with that feeling.  Have you noticed the obsession with death in the American Society or societies, World Wide for that matter?  If not, try this experiment; walk into any video rental store and take an inventory.  Go ahead and pause this reading if you want and drive right over to the store.  It should only take you about 30 minutes to complete this little experiment, if you live close. 

   Did you see what I was talking about?  Pretty frightening isn’t it?  Now, if you have one of those cable boxes that allow you to do a search by category, do a search on movies/horror and see how many come up and then follow up with a search on movies/comedy and compare.  This does not even take into account the non-movie programs depicting real-life or dramatized murders and violent crimes which are shown daily.  Still not convinced?  Perhaps you should pay closer attention to the games offered for each and every gaming system available.  Oh, and let’s not forget the nightly news!  More DEATH!  All in the name of news that we the people MUST know! 

As a teen growing up in the 70’s, we had a local body shop which towed in almost all the badly wrecked vehicles.  Whenever there was an accident with a fatality, usually involving a teenager, the vehicle would be placed in front of the body shop for all to see.  I can very well remember having my mom take me by the shop time after time to see those cars up close and personal.  There would always be a crowd of people gathered, peering inside to see the remnants left behind from the accident.  I can recall all the gory details of what I saw from the back of my mind, but I will not elaborate on those here.  So what was and is the fascination with this thing, called death?

In the Torah reading for this week we are given the ritual of the Red Heifer which is all about…..DEATH and LIFE.  The reading of Numbers 19:1-22:1 begins with God’s instructions regarding the ceremonial killing of the Red Heifer.  This is a very detailed service and also very complicated.  I am not going into that much detail at this time.  The direction which I am led to take my readers in for this year is a much different one. 

Anytime a person touched death, they became unclean.  Being unclean did not imply they were a “bad” person, but rather unable to enter the Tabernacle or Temple.  The Temple contained, Life!  Death could not enter where Life resided. It really was simple after all, not complicated.

   

This applied to priests as well.  What did it mean to touch death?  To come into contact with anything or anyone who was dead.  Absorb that for a moment….people or animals or possibly insects….anything or anyone.  Add to that, if I have touched death and then touch you……well? 

The priests were always on duty of some kind or other.  If they were to touch death they could neither carry out those duties nor could they eat their priestly portions.  This subject can get rather deep if we keep digging.  Now, on a daily basis, this wasn’t a problem for the average person.  If you lived in the surrounding plains or hills no problem, but those three times a year when all Jewish males must make a trek to Jerusalem to the Temple?  Well, now we have a problem.  There must be a way to cleanse all those people so they can offer their sacrifices as prescribed and on a regular basis there must be a way to make people clean anytime they needed to come to the Temple, right?

This problem was already taken care of by God, Himself!  The short version of the story is this; The Red Heifer solution is that the Clean (Priest) becomes unclean (by touching a dead animal) in order to make the unclean (the person who has come into contact with the dead), clean!  Now, let me say that again without all the ( ).  The Clean becomes unclean in order to make the unclean, clean!  This all took place outside the city gates, thus the reason the clean became unclean, (sound familiar?)  Jesus who was clean became unclean so we who are unclean could become clean!  This is an entire post within itself, but no time for that now.  (If you are a rabbit chasing geek like me, go ahead and read the first section of the Torah reading about the Red Heifer and then turn to the Gospels and read every account of the Crucifixion and compare!)

I was privileged to hear Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, Abraham Greenbaum, speak a couple of weeks ago on this section of the Torah portion.  One thing he said that stuck with me regarding the subject of death was:

“The reason young people don’t want to be around old people is because, older people are so close to death.”

If this statement is true, then why are young people so absorbed with movies, games and stories about death?   And why do we continue to hear of news stories involving teens and young adults inventing new things to try that are volatile and deadly?  Why are all of us so obsessed with death rather than life?  What is death anyway?  Is it not just the absence of life?  If so, then what is life?  Is it a beating heart, breathing lungs or brain activity?  Or is life God, Himself and His Son?

John 5:24-26

“Amen, amen, I say to you, one who hears My words and believes the one who sent Me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, for he has passed from death to life.  Amen, amen, I say to you that an hour will come and is now here in which the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will surely live.  For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has also granted the Son to have life in Himself.”  (The Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels)

John 11:25-26

“I am the rising and the life.  The one who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.  Anyone living who believes in Me will never die.  Do you believe in this word?”  (The Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels)

John 10:10

“The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.”  (Jewish New Testament)

Now, let us get back to the Temple and the Red Heifer for a moment.  We don’t have to go to the Temple any more, right?  I mean, we aren’t Jews and there is no Temple, so this Red Heifer thing and touching the dead doesn’t apply to us now does it?  Well, let’s do the math.  We know that God’s presence resided in the Temple until Jesus came.  Where has His presence resided since Jesus came?  If you aren’t sure of the answer here, turn to Acts 2 and start reading to refresh your memory!  Perhaps I can help your memory with just one word – Pentecost! 

Step 2:  If believers are the Temple and the Temple is where the Life resides and death cannot be where the Life is then you do the math.  Jesus has already cleansed us with the ashes from the Red Heifer, but now I have a question for you.  Touching death is an inevitable part of life, but how much unnecessary touching are we doing?  Are we crowding out the Life with death?  Every time we look upon death on television or a movie screen or our computer, does Life have to turn His head? 

Abraham Greenbaum also made the statement that this obsession with death in our society is very likely the reason we see so much depression among us.  I had already made that observation and totally agree.  A person who stays in the graveyard with rotting corpses and wilting flowers will never know the beauty of true Life.  Jesus even tells us about a man who came from this type of situation.  In Luke 8:26-39 you can read the story of the man who was living in the graveyard.  He was so deranged the people in the surrounding country were terrified of him, but when Jesus gave him Life he left the tombs!  He certainly didn’t want to live in the graveyard touching death any longer!

You see, Life is so much greater than death!  Death is taking something away and Life is giving something back!  Now, how are you going to treat the Temple where the Life dwells from this point on?  Will you dwell in the land of graves and darkness or Life and Light?

Oh Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear...............

Is your life in turmoil at this moment?  Is everything falling apart around you?  Does it seem God is a million miles away or perhaps you are questioning whether He even exists?  What about the world around you?  Natural disasters, terrorists, threats of war, identity thefts and a darkening global economy stare us in the face every night in the news.

Does it sound like the only reports you hear are bad?  Well, maybe you are listening to the wrong reports.  What is a Child of God supposed to do in times of peril or bad news?  Parashats Shelach, (Numbers 13:1-15), and Korach, (Numbers 16:1-18), both have a great deal to say in regard to this matter.  Remember the scripture must be read with a Hebraic eye, not a western one!

Shelach recounts the report brought back by the 12 spies.  These men were not only leaders, but the sages know them as Princes of each of the tribes.  They were royalty, well known by their own tribe, each of which numbered into the tens of thousands, if not more.  Last week I told you how the people after witnessing miracle after miracle and yet still in the midst of a miracle began to not only seek out, but join in with the Rabble as they grumbled and complained against God.  We thought God taught them a lesson in that one, but now here they are at a most pivotal moment in history and it doesn't seem they learned anything!  They are at the threshold of obtaining the very thing for which God has brought them out of Egypt, across the sea and the desert to: the Promised Land!

Twelve men were sent out and all have arrived back with not only a report, but samples from their venture.  Clusters of grapes so large they had to be carried on poles!!!  Now the test!  God has brought them to this location, given them his wedding vows, (which they accepted), and has given them a picture of their new home.  What is their choice?  Is the Bride going to settle down with the Groom or is she going to run back home to Momma and Daddy?  Is she really ready to do what it takes to make a home with him?  Hmmmmm?  This is where the Bride has to make a decision.  What friends should she listen to?  Whose report does she believe?

I would venture a guess here and say that at some time in your life you have been in this situation.  Something has occurred in your life and there have been numerous people giving you advice.  The majority have been on one side of the fence and one or two have been on the other.  Whose advice did you listen to?  How do you know which ones to listen to or should you listen to either?  After all, these people couldn't just open their Bibles to Matthew 10 and find out WWJD, could they?

God wanted them to WANT to go on with Him from there.  He wanted them to make their home with Him in the land He had promised them, but He wanted it to be their choice!  He is no different today.  He wants us to choose a life with HIM, but it is still our choice!

What about our twelve Princes?  Ten of them began their report with great things about the land then went on to say, BUT we can't conquer it.  There it is.....that BUT stuck in the middle of things.  I know you said you were faithful God, BUT.  I know you say you love me God, BUT.  I know you gave us all these commandments God, BUT.  I know I should be reading your Word more, BUT.  I know if I were choosing to spend more time in prayer and deep Bible study and doing Your work I would see blessings I never dreamed of, BUT.  I know I should be tithing, BUT.

Just in case you think I am trying to be a smart-alec or be off color, just read for a moment with me in Numbers 13:27

"They reported to him (Moses) and said, 'We arrived at the Land to which you sent us, and indeed it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.  But - the people that dwells in the Land is powerful, the cities are fortified and very great, and we also saw there the offspring of the giant.'"


The other two men, Caleb and Joshua, immediately jumped in with:

"We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it!"

WOW!  No buts in that sentence, only confidence!!!!  The problem is, the other ten now make a come-back with a shout of we can't do it, wah, wah, wah!!!  Now, the choice of whose report to believe lies in the hands of the people themselves.  Do they believe the ten or the two?  Should the majority always rule?  What I want you to see next is so very important, because it is what we so often do ourselves in times of trouble or bad news.   Numbers 14:1-4

"The entire assembly raised up and issued its voice; the people wept that night.  All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the entire assembly said to them, 'If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in the Wilderness!  Why is HASHEM bringing us to this Land to die by the sword?  Our wives and young children will be taken captive!  Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?'  

So they said to one another, 'Let us appoint a leader and let us return to Egypt.'"

Do you see what I see?  The first thing they did was start wallowing in pity, the second thing was start looking back to the pig pen and the third was to reject the leadership God had placed over them.  Does any of this sound familiar to life today?  "Why is this happening to me?  I don't understand it.  This wasn't what I had in mind!  I never expected life to be this way for a Child of God!  I think perhaps I need to find a new church or maybe the Church just needs to find a new preacher."

Why did they not ask Moses to seek God on their behalf?  They knew God would come down upon the Tabernacle and meet with Moses to answer questions during difficult times, so why not for such a time as this?  This event is so significant.  The people at this point were not only rejecting the Land, but were rejecting God as their Groom.  They basically said, "You aren't worth fighting for!"  Hold that thought, because I want to go right on into the next Parashat, Korach.

The incident with Korah took place shortly after the report of the spies.  Korah, a Levite, along with four others, who were Reubenites, stood together in opposition to Moses leadership.  I guess they took the words of the people to heart when they said, "Let us appoint a leader."  These men now begin to question why Moses and Aaron think they are such "hot stuff."  The text reads:

"They gathered together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, 'It is too much for you!  For the entire assembly - all of them- are holy and HASHEM is among them; why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of HASHEM?'"

Last week I made a statement about the Rabble within the camp.  They took just enough of the truth and mixed it with a lie to make it sound believable.  What it actually did was create doubt about God which in turn creates discontentment.  In both of our Parashats today, the same thing.  The Ten Spies and Korah took a little truth and a little lie and mixed them together to create doubt and discontentment.  Korah said something very true, the entire assembly was holy and HASHEM was among them.

This incident has a very unhappy ending, I will let you go on to read the rest of the story.  There is a point I want you to see in all of this.  Actually there are two points in this lesson.  The first is from Jewish thought that when we complain we are akin to an atheist, because we are saying we don't believe.  Let that one sink in for a moment.  Complaining about the manna, about the giants in the land, about the leadership......we don't believe God is who HE says HE is and HE is not capable of doing what HE says HE will do; therefore making Him null and void.  If you don't believe in something it doesn't exist, right?  

Secondly, the Rabble, Ten Spies and Korah all bred discontent among the people.  When we find ourselves discontented with the place God has put us, then we are open to rebellion.  The first seeds of rebellion are an ungrateful heart (I Thessalonians 5:18).  Rebellion often begins simply in refusal to accept the authority of those who are appointed to lead.  Blame shifting is a tell-tale sign of a rebellious heart.  Rebellion skews your vision of everything and your worship, especially prayer, is a litmus test for it.  Rebellion is infectious, but most of all God hates it for IT IS IDOLATRY!  (Seems like I remember one of the 10 connections having something to say about idols!)

The incident with the people weeping over the report of the Spies was so significant, God proclaimed that day as a day of mourning in perpetuity for His people.  That day on the calendar was the 9th of Av or also known in Hebrew as Tisha B'Av.  I have spoken of this day before, but I will give you a little homework on it.  Here is a link to read about all the things that have occurred on that date in history  http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/946703/jewish/What-happened-on-the-Ninth-of-Av.htm  You will be astonished.

So, as this world is crumbling around you.........whose report will you believe?  I need no explanation about why or what next, I simply need to remember that God is who He says He is!  I will believe the report of the Lord!  I will, like Paul press on toward the goal and I will not even think about returning to Egypt!  As for me and my house.....we will continue to serve the Lord!

Who Will Feed Us Meat!!!! Those Blasted Rabble-Rousers!

Wonder how many Israelite families this guy would of fed?  

I have taken a little break, it seems.  I didn't intend to, I have just had a lot of business to take care of and writing had to take a back seat.  As I opened up the website I noticed the final post was entitled, "Its Here.....Can You Hear the Wind?"  I had no idea of what the future would hold within that coming week.  I considered writing a post about the destruction in Moore, Oklahoma and how we should see it from a Biblical perspective.  I chose instead to make my comments on the posts of the many other bloggers who have weighed in on the matter or on my Facebook page rather than posting here.  

Many of those who have written or tweeted about the tragedy are absolutely wrong about the cause and are misinterpreting scripture.  It only proves they have NOT sought to learn God's Word from God's very own people who know His Word inside and out.  These kinds of tragedies are no mystery to the Jewish people.  They understand them full well.  Just ask them.  

Now on to this week's Parashat!  (It is a mouth full!)  Beha'aloscha - When you set up.  This Parashat is from Numbers 8:1 - 12:16.  It begins with the dedication of the Levites and ends with Miriam being stricken with Leprosy.  Yet tucked away in the midst of this reading is something so applicable to the Church, both individually and collectively, within today’s society I could not escape it.  It is the story of the people's grumbling about not having any meat.  

I have always read the story of the people’s grumbling about eating manna and just thought, “Well yeah the Israelites were tired of eating the same ole thing day after day!  I would be too”, but oh no!!!!  Read it again, with me! 

The Hebrew translation says in Numbers 11:1

"The people took to seeking complaints; it was evil in the ears of HASHEM, and HASHEM heard and His wrath flared, and a fire of HASHEM burned against them, and it consumed at the edge of the camp."

They were seeking complaints?  What does that mean?  Consumed at the edge of the camp?   Before I go any further let's take a look at verse 4.

"The rabble that was among them, cultivated a craving and the Children of Israel also wept once more and said, 'Who will feed us meat?'"

The Jewish scholars tell us the rabble and the reference to the edge of the camp refers to the non-Israelites who had come along with them when they left Egypt.  These Gentiles had begun to create discontent within the camp.  These men, women and children would have been required to remain in the outer fringe of the camp.  The Israelites, you see, were lined up around the Tabernacle in a specific manner detailed by God, Himself.  (I guess I now know where the term rabble-rousers, comes from!)

Apparently there was contentment (serenity, gladness, satisfaction, gratification, ease) until….. a craving was cultivated (developed, promoted, encouraged, enriched).  Have you ever been at a place in your life, whether it be food, clothing, a house or a “feeling of” contentedness, just to have someone come along and tell you about something you were missing out on?   Did this begin to stir a craving within you for something you didn’t have before?  A craving can sometimes be dismissed or diverted unless it is cultivated by us or others.

As an example perhaps you were fine with having leftovers for dinner until someone mentions “Mexican."  Now you have a sudden craving for “Mexican” food, right?  You think about it for a minute and then dismiss the idea only to have that same someone just keep on with “Come on, let’s go to the new Mexican restaurant in town!  I hear they have the best chicken fajitas ever!!!  And, their grand opening special is all you can eat for $3.95!”    This person not only stirred a craving within you, but cultivated that craving!  This is true discontentment which can only be satisfied by eating at this new restaurant then it is good-bye leftovers! 

The Israelites, along with these Egyptians, had just witnessed the greatest miracles known to mankind!  The plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the cloud that moved with them by day and a pillar of fire that moved with them by night, the presence of God on Mt. Sinai!!!  Oh yeah and the miracle of the giving of the manna as food, which by the way according to the Sages tasted like whatever you were craving at the time!!!!  To put it in redneck terms; in the morning it tasted like biscuits and gravy, at noon it tasted like a turkey sandwich and in the evening it tasted like steak and potatoes!  (Well sort of!) 

The point of this rambling of mine is they were only a short time removed from all those miracles and still in the midst of receiving the manna when suddenly they began to grumble and complain.  Have you been there?  Are you there now?  Are we any different?  We could blame them for letting outsiders influence them.  Outsiders who knew no different, but those outsiders knew about all those miracles.  Those outsiders had witnessed every single miracle themselves!  They didn’t really grow dissatisfied with the manna, the “rabble” as the Torah puts it dredged up something much, much deeper.

This is what I see in the lesson and one the Sages teach also.  The Israelites now had the instructions from God on how to connect with Him.  The Egyptians, who were with them, knew these things also, but they took just enough of the truth and mixed it with a lie to breed unhappiness.  They not only introduced an idea, but they then cultivated the idea until it began to grow.  Like a gardener planting a seed and then caring for the seed until it produces fruit.

Perhaps it went something like this:

“I know that Moses said you could only marry within your own people, but what could possibly be wrong with marrying one of our daughters?  Didn’t we come along with you showing our loyalty to your people?  Here look at our daughters, see how beautiful they are.  Now you can never have them again like you did in Egypt.  They are off limits to you.”

Or perhaps:

“Moses said you are to worship only the God, Yahweh, but in Egypt our gods were kind to us and we have brought them along.  Our gods have given us many wonderful things and blessings and have done you no harm, so what is wrong with worshiping them also just as we also worship your God?  In Egypt our gods provided you with many different foods and didn’t put restrictions on you such as only being able to marry within your own race of people or observing one day as holy.  What kind of god puts restrictions on his people?” 

Can you imagine other such conversations?  I could come up with many, many more.  Think about what goes on within your own life and the life of the Church in our society today.  We see it every day within the Church.  The music is too modern or too old fashioned.  The people are too stuffy or they dress too casually.   Churches are splitting every week over some paltry little issue where someone has bred discontent.  These things should not be among God’s people!!! 

Now, let me introduce something totally abstract to you----could it be there are times when someone SHOULD breed discontentment within you or within the Church?  Think about the Church at Laodicea.  We are told they were a lukewarm Church and due to that fact God said to them, “I will vomit you out of My mouth.” 

Do you wish to be a person God says this of?  Do you wish your congregation to have this said of them also?  I am so afraid many, many Christians and congregations are in this boat OR in the boat of the Church at Sardis who were told; “you have a reputation for being alive, but in fact you are dead!” 

I think it is time we shook things up a little bit.  Every Church and every Christian should face a questioning from time to time.  Its’ called, accountability!  It is what keeps us on the right track.  There are a few questions we need to ask and if it breeds discontentment, perhaps it needed to.

1.      Do we teach the entire Word of God, every verse, not just the verses we like?

2.     Do we teach our children from the Word daily in our homes?

3.     Are we striving to live our lives by the Word and the Word alone?

4.     Is God the first priority in our lives?  (Look at your appointment calendar if you aren’t    sure.  Or check out your Facebook status history!)

5.     If what we think we believe were not true, would we want to know?  What do we    believe and is it the truth?

6.     Are the individual groups, (youth, senior adults, men, women, etc.), within our church doing a lot of activities, but not a lot of Bible Study?  (I.e. concerts, eating out, volleyball games, golf tournaments etc.)

Number 5 is so crucial, because many people who classify themselves as Christians do not truly know what they believe.  They can quote a few statements that sound like scripture and may contain scripture, but they cannot expound any further on the issue.  Many church-goers actually quote people more than scripture.  Even within one single denomination there are soooo many different explanations or answers to any one question on doctrine or belief.  Don’t agree?  Ask just one question that may not seem so cut and dried such as, "What happens when someone dies?"  You may be a bit surprised.  Many times the response goes something like this:  “well, I believe…..”  “I”, should not be part of the equation.  The answer should always be, “The Word says,….”

Number 6 is also a lightning rod for accountability.  This is where you find out if your church is a “Sardis” church!  Is the calendar for your church always full, but yet very empty?  Is there a whole lot of “nothin” goin on?  If so, there should be a lot of red flags going up over this one!!!! 

We need people who are willing to be “rabble-rousers” within their own congregations to create discontent for lukewarmness and then cultivate a craving for the Word of God!  We desperately need people and Churches that have ravenous cravings for the Word of God!  Individuals and Churches that are screaming, “Who will feed us meat!” because they are the ones who go into the world and MAKE DISCIPLES!!!!  They also feed the hungry and give the thirsty a drink, share their homes with strangers, clothe the naked, take care of the sick and visit the prisoners.  Jesus said in the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:34-40;

 "The King will say to them, 'Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!'"

Do you know what the Word says?  Do you know how to find the answer?  Do you need to breed a little discontentment within your congregation and cultivate a craving?  Did I breed a little discontentment within you?  I hope I have stirred a craving in you that can only be filled with the Word of God.  I would love to be a “rabble rouser” who causes an insatiable craving inside of you!

Until next time……(This is where I normally say Shalom, but not today!  Today I want there to be unrest within you!  Unrest that so many people DO NOT want to feed on the Word of God!  May you not find peace until you help cultivate a craving for the Word of God, my friend!)