|
Light
from the Sidra |
|
|
The very last words of this Sidra assure us of the truth of the Torah, that it does not consist of the ideas of men or the accumulated insights of sages over many centuries. Rather, the LORD spoke the words of the Torah directly to Moses in the tabernacle, and Moses wrote them down. The Jewish scribes have faithfully preserved God’s words so that when we read the Pentateuch today we should be in no doubt that we have before us God’s words to Israel and mankind. How we should thank him for that! So many people today are in spiritual darkness. Their ideas of God are so off-beam as they struggle to understand what he is like. But in the five books of Moses we are told exactly what God wants us to know about himself. As well as the
Torah, we also have the words of the prophets. Although God’s
revelation was not made to the prophets in the same way as to Moses,
the LORD made it clear to
Aaron and Miriam, when he rebuked them in Numbers 12:6-8, that he did speak to prophets, although in a vision
or a dream. So the rest of the Bible is also God’s word. The whole Tanakh is the
word of God, because it consists of the words of God. However, it is
one thing to know about God
and his ways, and another to know
him. Of course, we cannot know him unless we know about him, but it is terrifyingly
possible to know about him
without knowing him personally. For example, by reading books we might
know all there is to know about the Queen and the royal family, but
that would not be the same as knowing them personally. For that to
happen they would have to invite us to meet them; they would have to
graciously make themselves known to us on a personal level. Though we
might request to meet them, we could not demand it of them. It is
similar with the Almighty. We can know about him from the Bible, but we
must go on to know him in a personal relationship. This happened to
Samuel when he was a young man serving in the tabernacle with Eli. In 1
Samuel 3 we read that when Samuel first heard the voice of the LORD, he did not know
God was speaking to him. The explanation in verse 7 is that, “Samuel
did not yet know the LORD”. He obviously
knew a great deal about the LORD because he
served in the tabernacle day and night, but 1 Samuel 3:7 reveals that
he did not “know the LORD”, in the sense of
a personal relationship. However, after the LORD chose to reveal
himself, Samuel came to know God. The words in our
Sidra which describe this personal relationship are found in the
blessing of Aaron at the end of chapter 6. There we read of God making
“his face shine” on us, or “lifting his face” upon us. The face reveals
the person. A person may do many good things for us without us knowing
him, or her, personally. But if that person shows us their face,
communicating a sense of well-being towards us—shining, as it
were—then we begin to
know them as a person. Such is possible with God. The words of the
blessing also make it clear that God must take the initiative to come
to us; we cannot demand that he do so. And when he does shine upon us,
he is being “gracious” to us. We do not deserve such a blessing from
the Almighty, for we have sinned. But how can we
know that God has blessed us in this way? Well, if we know someone as a
friend then we know, we don’t
need to prove it scientifically! If we know God personally, then we know. If a dignitary turns to us
and smiles broadly, we know they are well-disposed to us. So we can
know God and be assured that he loves us. The last words of the Aaronic
benediction point to the spiritual emotion produced by this
relationship with God—“Shalom”. If God
makes himself known to us personally, it is because he is at peace with
us; it is because he has forgiven our sins, and so we can know his
peace. Do you know such
peace? Do you know your sins are forgiven? Do you know the LORD? Are you aware
that his face is shining upon you? These things are possible; and many
of us have experienced their reality. Have you? |
|