A People Alone

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Well, God uses an unusual character to confirm the calling on the children of Israel to be

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a people set apart from the world until the day they birth the reign of the Davidic Messiah

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on earth.

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In the meantime, you and I are called to bless them.

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Now these foundational elements of the Abrahamic Covenant are repeated in this week's tour

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portion when God not only makes a donkey speak, but He makes a Moabite diviner proclaim

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words of truth.

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So welcome to this week's Shabbat Shalom devotional when I seek to share a little inspiration

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and bring just a little piece to the close of your very busy week.

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This week's tour portion is in the book of Numbers chapters 19 through 25 verse 9.

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So many things we're reading about this week.

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I'm just going to list a few.

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First, the red heifer to have been burned outside the camp and the ashes were used for

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purification.

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So a few fun facts.

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Well, this purification was particularly for people who had come into contact with the

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dead.

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So without this right of purification for 2000 years now, this means that everyone is

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ritually impure in the world because we've all had to deal with the death of a family

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or a loved one, a family member or loved ones.

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Now another fun fact today.

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They are once again raising red heifers without blemish, just preparing for the time when

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they can reinstate this sacrifice.

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And third fact is during the Second Temple period, this sacrifice was carried out on

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the Mount of Olives.

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Interesting that the place that was to purify the people from having been in contact with

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the dead is now today the largest burial place for the dead in all of Israel.

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Interesting, huh?

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Well, another story we read this week is about Moses's sin in Kadesh, which cost him entry

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into the Promised Land.

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Now what was his sin? It was for taking credit for supplying the water of which God was the

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true supplier.

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So he did not honor the Lord before the children of Israel.

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Big mistake.

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One we all need to be careful about, taking credit for something we really should give

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credit to God for.

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We also read this week about the death of Aaron and the generational shift to his son,

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Nazar. And then we have this very strange story about the bronze serpent.

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I have to say it's a hard one to understand, but that's not what I want to talk about

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this week.

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I'm going to keep moving.

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The next story we read about this week is the Israelites who have not yet entered the

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Promised Land, but they've traveled north and are camped in a big valley in Moab and

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the king of the Moabites, Balak, is very afraid of them.

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He knows that they are large in number and he cannot defeat them.

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So he sends money to pay a diviner, a seer, a false prophet named Balaam to curse the

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people.

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He is on his way.

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Balaam is on his way to do this when two things happen.

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One is his donkey speaks and the second is that the seer cannot see the angel of God

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before him and the donkey, not until God opens his eyes and lets him see the true reality.

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That must have been necessary for him to then look over the camp of the Israelites and to

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see the truth, to see the reality.

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So when Balaam looks out over the camp of the Israelites down in the valley, he doesn't

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pronounce curses.

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He pronounces three blessings and in those blessings there's three verses I want to read

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to you, starting in chapter 23 verses 8 and 9.

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How shall I curse whom God has not cursed and how shall I denounce whom the Lord has

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not denounced?

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There, a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations.

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Then chapter 24, the last half of the ninth verse, blessed is he who blesses you and cursed

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is he who curses you.

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And then in verse 17, a star shall come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of Israel.

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So what does this mean?

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That the children of Israel were called to be separate, alone, apart from the ungodly

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and pagan nations, into a lonely place but one in which they would have fellowship with

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their God.

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This was in order to give birth to the coming king who would arise like a star out of Israel.

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At that point, all the world will see Israel's king and be drawn into his light until this

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end.

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Then they must live alone and fulfill this calling of God to be the vehicle of his redemptive

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plan.

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What a profound description of the calling on the Jewish people and why we need to pray

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for them and bless them.

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God wants us to bless them and in return, he has promised to bless us as well.

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So with that, I want to wish you Shabbat Shalom.