What Made Moses Special

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Moses had a special role in relationship with God.

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God spoke to him face to face and in plain language.

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He had even allowed Moses to see and get a glimpse of his image on Mount Sinai.

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It's no coincidence that in Numbers 12-3 it tells us Moses was the most humble man on

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earth.

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Perhaps that is the secret to his special role in relationship with God.

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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 a little peace to the close of your very busy week.

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This week's Torah portion comes from Numbers 8-12.

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But before I comment on this week's reading, I wanted to talk about something we read at

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the very end of the last chapter last week.

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In chapter 7, verse 1 it says,

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Now it came to pass when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, that he anointed

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it and consecrated it, and all of its furnishings, and the altar, and all its utensils.

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So he anointed them and he consecrated them.

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Well fun fact, this is the first, Hanukkah, because the word for consecrated or dedicated

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is Hanukkah.

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Here Moses dedicated the altar.

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And then afterwards all the tribal leaders came and made their offerings on behalf of

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their tribes.

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And verse 84 calls them dedication offerings for the altar.

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So if you know the Hanukkah story that took place under the Greeks during the time in

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between the Old and New Testament, that's where the celebration of Hanukkah comes from.

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It's named that for, it's the Feast of Dedication, the dedication of the altar of the temple

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back to the God of Israel.

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So here in Numbers we read about the first dedication of the altar in the tabernacle

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to God and how that their offerings were offerings of dedication for the altar.

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Neat, huh?

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These patterns that we see throughout the Bible and into modern life.

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So everything has been done now.

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The tabernacle has been totally consecrated.

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All these offerings have been made.

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The people have been covered through these offerings.

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And then in verse 89 of Numbers 7 it says this, Now when Moses went into the altar,

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into the tabernacle of meeting, to speak with him, meaning God, he heard the voice of one

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speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the Ark of the Testimony from

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between the two cherubim.

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Thus he, meaning God, spoke to him, Moses.

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That is what it was all about.

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All this preparation of the tabernacle, all of the offerings, the dedication, the sacrifices.

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This is what it was all about.

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It was so that God would speak from the mercy seat.

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And notice it's not from the judgment seat.

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It's from the mercy seat.

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So Moses enjoyed this relationship with God that God spoke to him.

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And so now let's move to this week's Torah portion.

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And in chapter 12, verse 3, I believe it gives us a clue of why Moses was chosen for this

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special relationship.

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It says, Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of

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the earth.

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You know, humility, it's a quality that our selfie society does not esteem.

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Today it's all about me, me, me, and how I look and what I'm doing and what I'm saying

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and showing it to the world and getting people to follow me, me, me.

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I'm really worried about the rise of narcissism in society because of this.

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And especially when we see a scripture like this, Moses was the most humble man on earth.

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This is what made him special to God.

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And in chapter 12, verses 6 through 8, God explains that he said, You know, I speak to

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prophets in visions and in dreams, but he spoke to Moses face to face and in plain language.

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And that he had even allowed Moses to get a glimpse of his image on Sinai.

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That's how special Moses was.

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Now one last point.

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In chapter 9, we now talk about how that over the Tabernacle, when God's presence descended

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upon the Tabernacle, it's shown as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

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And now we enter, God is now teaching his people how to follow him.

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This is preparation for entering the promised land.

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So when the cloud or the pillar began to lift, it was time to pack up and go.

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God was on the move.

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And if you ever sense the grace of God lived from a situation, don't panic.

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Start packing.

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It may be time for you to move.

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Now maybe you're not going to pack up and move locations, but maybe you need to move

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on from a relationship or a job or an involvement or activity of some sort.

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God wants you to follow him so that you too can realize all the blessings that he has

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for you and enter your own promised land.

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