Joy in the Messiah

B’ha’alotcha / In Your Setting Up
Numbers 8:1-12:16
HafTorah  Zechariah 2:10-4:7
 Brit Chadasha 1 Corinthians 10:6-14

      In the parsha B’ha’alotcha, ‘In Your Setting Up’ or ‘When You Kindle’, is the setting up of the lamps, the setting apart of the Levites, the second Passover, the two silver trumpets, the cloud that covered the Tabernacle, the Israelites leaving Sinai, fire from the Lord, the gift of quail, and in Numbers 12 Mirian and Aaron’s opposition of Moshe. 
      This parsha opens with the directions of the lampstand. ‘And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.’ And Aaron did so; he arranged the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses.’  Numbers 8:1-3.
    The importance of these directives was to arrange the lights so that the light shines in front of the menorah, not behind it, but in front of it. This is a huge metaphor for our lives.  The menorah is the main component and the seven lights shine from it. There is one light that we are to shine from outwardly, because the Main Light does not need our light, but rather we need The Light to shine the correct Light so our representation is true. 
     Psalm 119:105 ‘Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
     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 turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
     Isaiah 60:1 ‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.’ 
     John 8:12 ‘Then Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
     In Acts, we are specifically told who we are and the roles we are to play.  Acts 13:47 ‘For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’
     We cannot shine His light without walking in the truth. The light of the menorah alludes to the Torah, which is the eternal flame, lighting the pathway for mankind. The whole truth of God’s instructions is to be the spiritual light to man.  King Solomon speaks of God’s grace in giving His Torah His people:  Proverbs 6:23 - “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” God’s commandments are clear as they “enlighten the eyes” - Psalm 19:8.
     In Numbers 11:1-14 the people begin to murmur and complain.  Moshe troubled by the wailing and the complaining of the people, cries out to God, ‘Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? ¹³ Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ ¹⁴ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.” Numbers 11:11-15. Surprisingly, the man who brought God’s people out of Egypt now insists that God end his life. In Numbers 11:23 during the discussion God declares: ‘And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” 
     Some verses translate it: Is the LORDS arm too short?’ This can also be translated: ‘Is the LORD’S power limited?’
     וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הֲיַ֥ד יְהֹוָ֖ה תִּקְצָ֑ר עַתָּ֥ה תִרְאֶ֛ה הֲיִקְרְךָ֥ דְבָרִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא׃    
      The arm of God is a mighty vision of His power.
     Isaiah 59:16 ‘He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him.’
     Deuteronomy 4:34 ‘Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?’
        What power is revealed in the arm of God? Isaiah 53:1 asks: ‘Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’
     God assures Moshe of His goodness and faith and tells him to take seventy elders who will bear the burden with him. God takes His Spirit that is upon Moses and extends it to the elders, relieving Moshe of the feeling of being alone against the people. Yet, two of them, Eldad and Medad, among the six chosen from each tribe but left out of the final call, begin prophesying within the camp. Joshua fears that this may lead to a challenge of Moses’ leadership and urges Moses to stop them. Moshe answers with a new and different type of certainty: “Are you jealous on my behalf? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that He would rest His Spirit upon them all!” Numbers 11:29. 
    The final chapter of this parsha, flips once again to the attack on the leader, Moshe. His own sister complains and murmurs about his wife, the Kushite woman. He had been betrayed and slandered, by those closest to him. Yet Moses is unaffected. It is here that the Torah makes its great and famous statement: “Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any other man on Earth.” Numbers 12:3. The idea that a leader’s highest virtue is humility must have seemed absurd, almost self-contradictory, in the ancient world. Leaders were kings, proud, magnificent warriors.  They built temples in their own selves.  Their role was not to serve but to be served. Everyone else was expected to be humble but not them. However, as we see once again that Moshe climbs up to humility.
     Under the stress of Israel’s continued obstinance, Moses turns inward.  He complains to God “Why have I found so little favor in Your sight? Where am I to get meat to give all these people? … I cannot bear all these people alone; the burden is too heavy for me.” The key words here are “I,” “me” and “myself.” Moses has lapsed into me, myself and I.  He sees the Israelites’ behavior as a challenge to himself, not God. God has to remind him, “Is the Lord’s arm too short”? It isn’t about Moshe, it is about what and whom Moses represents: God.  As with Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:6-8 ‘But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.’
      Over and over again, God’s people are shown His mercy, goodness, everlasting kindness and grace.  We are made aware of His testimonies, His boundaries, and His statutes.  We are shown His will, and over and over again, His people murmur, complain, feel the need to change His boundaries, disregard His statutes and ignore His character.
     Greatness is humility for God and for those who seek to walk in His ways. It is also the greatest single source of strength as we see in this parsha.