{"id":6111,"date":"2023-01-18T12:54:28","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T18:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/?p=6111"},"modified":"2023-01-18T13:01:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T19:01:02","slug":"the-humility-of-moses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/the-humility-of-moses\/","title":{"rendered":"The Humility of Moses…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"From our Torah reading this week (i.e., Va’era<\/a>) we read how Moses objected to serve as God’s emissary to the Pharaoh: “Behold, the children of Israel have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me? And I have sealed lips!” (Exod. 6:12). Moses\u2019 argument is that if his own people would not listen to him, for all the more reason the Pharaoh would not listen…. His statement “I have sealed lips” (\u05d0\u05b2\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9 \u05e2\u05b2\u05e8\u05b7\u05dc \u05e9\u05c2\u05b0\u05e4\u05b8\u05ea\u05b8\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd) may be interpreted to mean that he would be regarded as without persuasive speech before Pharaoh, as an \u201cuncircumcised\u201d or unrefined person, or, more likely, that his lifelong speech impediment would be regarded as an offence before the niceties of Pharaoh’s audience.<\/p>\n

In this connection the sages have commented regarding Moses’ great humility, saying that it was greater than even that of Abraham, for Abraham regarded himself as “dust and ashes” (\u05e2\u05b8\u05e4\u05b8\u05e8 \u05d5\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u05e4\u05b6\u05e8) before the Lord (Gen. 18:27), whereas Moses regarded himself as “nothing at all” (i.e., ke\u2019lum<\/em>: \u05db\u05bc\u05b0\u05dc\u05d5\u05bc\u05dd) – less than dust itself. When the Israelites later demanded bread from Moses and Aaron in the desert, Moses rhetorically asked “what are we?”, indicating that he regarded himself as utterly powerless apart from the will and agency of God.<\/p>\n

Yet it is precisely this “nothingness” that made Moses a fit vessel to witness and declare the greatness of the Lord. William James wrote about “Zerrissenheit,” or the idea of being inwardly shattered within your heart. Moses understood his bankruptcy as a “failed Messiah” in Egypt as a young man; he walked as the living dead for 40 years in the desiccation of Midian before God raised him up in newness of life. And Moses continually experienced his own powerlessness and nothingness as he led the Israelites out of the death throes of Egypt.<\/p>\n

Of Yeshua, who was with Israel in the desert (1 Cor. 10:4), it is said that “He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25), and that includes intercession for those regarded as dead on account of their own infirmities and sins, for those for whom all hope is lost, for those in extremis<\/em> and who understand from the depths of depths that there is no life in them apart from the miracle of God who gives life to the dead. “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Gal. 6:3); but if someone confesses truth and looks to God, new life can arise. The “uttermost,” the farthest extent, from the deepest pitch, in the vast expanse of stars that sweep across the cosmos, the furthest star, barely perceptible, is sustained by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord, our great deliverer. This is not a star consigned to outer darkness because of its lost estate or cast off because of proud defiance, no, this is a star that barely flickers in its self-effacement, as vulnerable as an unsteady flame ready to be extinguished.<\/p>\n

Of our compassionate Savior it is written: \u201cA bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench\u201d (Isa. 42:3). People conscious of their frailty and who have been crushed because of it are likened to \u201cbruised reeds\u201d of whom the loving Messiah shall attend. As it is written, \u201cThe LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.\u201d Indeed, He binds up the broken of heart and gives liberty to those in bondage (Isa. 61:1). \u201cA smoking flax shall he not quench\u201d likewise means that our Lord will not snuff out an unsteady flame ready to expire, but will tend to it with special oil to cause it to burn more brightly.<\/p>\n

The Spirit of the LORD is always saying, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness\u201d (2 Cor. 12:9). God doesn\u2019t need our religious acts of service, our worship, our prayers, or our approval; on the contrary, we desperately need Him… Prayer is a mirror of the heart, and we either come to God in our emptiness, our brokenness, and in real humility, or we are just playing religious games. Those who truly call upon the LORD understand their radical need for deliverance, inwardly confessing, \u201cWoe is me, for I am ruined…\u201d (Isa. 6:5).<\/p>\n

The Savior seeks the \u201ctrampled and bruised,\u201d the poor in spirit, and those crushed by the blows of this fallen world and offers them healing. \u201cThe Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost\u201d (Luke 19:10), and therefore He is found in the midst of the leper colonies of the hurting, the forgotten, and the rejected. As a \u201cman of sorrows\u201d he understands the language of our pain (Isa. 53:3). He is the healer of the broken heart and the Savior of those who are crushed in spirit. Blessed be His Name forever… Amen.<\/p>\n

\u00ad<\/p>\n

Hebrew Lesson<\/strong>
\nPsalm 34:18 reading (click):<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/psalm34-18-jjp.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u00ad<\/p>\n

Psalm 34:18 Hebrew page<\/a>\u00a0(pdf)<\/p>\n

\u00ad<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From our Torah reading this week (i.e., Va’era) we read how Moses objected to serve as God’s emissary to the Pharaoh: “Behold, the children of Israel have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me? And I have sealed lips!” (Exod. 6:12). Moses\u2019 argument is that if his own people would not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,15,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-dvar","category-hebrew-reading-practice","category-torah"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6111"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6120,"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6111\/revisions\/6120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}