Sh'mini: Containing the Fire

0:03Let's pray. Avinu Shebashamayim, we bless your name. We sanctify it right here, as your word says, and and we are eager to do. We thank you for your Torah, your word, your instruction that guides us daily. We thank you for Hochma, for wisdom from heaven. In Yeshua's name I pray. Well, Shabbat Shalom, everybody. And again, it's so good to see all your faces today, and and and so many coming back as well. So, I have a question for you today. How many of you enjoy building a fire? Raise your hand. Uh, we like some fire starters in here. >> [laughter] >> Well, I I have to say to you that, um, I I don't actually build them, but but I enjoy watching them, um, build, and my kids love to build fires. Of course, we try to leave that to the older ones. There is a kind of a funny fire story, but I'll I'll hold that one till later. Well, so recently, and actually this past week, I was watching my older son build a fire, and I I it was striking to me. He He picks the spot, and he starts to dig out the pit. He stacks the wood, and then he builds a ring of stones around it. In the past, we've used a a

1:34cage, something metal, but he used a ring of stones. And before he lit it, I reminded him, and he was eager to do it, to make sure there was a hose nearby. Very important. And then he lit it. And as he lit it, suddenly, it wasn't just wood anymore. It became something really powerful. And of course, this is at night. The The fire's going up. It's beautiful, and soon all of the kids start to gather around this fire. And, you know, as my kids are kind of making their the procession outside, and and then they start throwing sticks into the fire, and we're all watching this fire grow and glow. And it's this beautiful fire going up. But then I notice something. I noticed some smoldering pieces started to make its way out of the the containment a bit, and to drift beyond the boundary. And I started to get a little bit nervous for just a moment. Because fire is fascinating, but only when it's contained. The same fire that gives life can also consume if it moves outside of its boundaries. And as I was watching this, it hit me. Oh, wow. This is very similar to what I'm reading in the Torah portion this week.

3:02And that's what I'm here to present to you today. Because sometimes we have to understand how to contain the own fire that has been lit in our own hearts. Because the fire that's in our hearts to serve God comes from God. That's the key difference. And then when we think about the the glory of God manifesting, it is a similar notion. Alignment, containment, understanding boundaries. But let's go back to the Torah portion for a moment, because this is the most joyful time in the Torah that God has manifested. Yes, for the first time he said, "I will dwell among you." And God is dwelling among among us. Everything is set. The building of the Mishkan took place during that time. The anointing of the Kohanim, the preparation, the anticipation, the obedience to God's command to do everything according to the spec. And then finally, we get to the ultimate day, Shemini. And Shemini is the eighth day. The eighth day arrives, and that's the day of something new. And God orders it. The korbanot are brought. The olah, the chatat, the shelamim, and the mincha. All four of as we've talked about. And Aharon lifts

4:40his hands to bless the people. And as he does that, they come out of the tent. They bless the people again, and then, and only then, we have it. Vayeira chevode Adonai el kol ha'am. The glory of Hashem, the kavod Adonai, appears to the people in a fascinating moment of God's glory. Vateitzei eish milifnei Adonai. Fire comes out before Hashem, and consumes, literally, like the word for eat, consumes the korban. Which means that everything is accepted. A joyful moment. There's singing, dancing, rejoicing around this incredible spectacle as God comes. Intoxicating joy. Oh, the joy of God. Holy joy. It is a moment of of a mountaintop experience.

5:51Think about those mountaintop experiences in your life. But sometimes, the most important thing is not to stay at the mountaintop experiences, but to allow those experiences to manifest into your life, onto your shulchan, your your dinner tables, into your family, into your workplace, everywhere you go, in all of your relationships. And in this moment of great intoxicating ecstasy, two men step forward. Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon the Kohen, consecrated, wearing the priestly garments, standing in the right place, and they bring ketoret, incense, before God. Asher lo tziva otam. Which, lo, no, God had not commanded them. See, this was supposed to wait for Yom Kippur. Different instruction. But they bring it in. Eish zarah, unauthorized or alien fire before God. And the fire that just accepted the korban in this joyous moment consumes them. They are consumed. And they died before Hashem. And Moshe says, Bikrovai ekadesh. Through those who are near to me, I will be sanctified. And before all the people, I will be glorified, as he speaks the words of God forward. That's the principle today.

7:52Those that are near God must be sanctified. It gets more intense. And then God must be glorified amongst the people. Now, some of the sages say that this was actually very real. Their desire to draw near to God. It was a longing to be with God. It burned so hot that it became uncontained. They wanted more. To ascend higher and higher. To recreate that moment of joy once again, right in the midst of it. To even go beyond it. To keep stretching. To keep reaching beyond the mitzvah. But their fire became untethered from what God had commanded. They had the priestly garments, but they were out of alignment with the command. And Aharon goes from joy to silence. See, he's wearing the anointing oil of God, serving the avodah in the assembly. He can't even mourn. So, the people have to mourn for him. It becomes a communal response to mourn on his behalf. One One moment, the entire community is rejoicing and dancing before the glory of God. The next, they are carrying off the bodies of Aharon's sons in their priestly garments, mourning on his behalf. That's the tension that we see today. The presence of God creates a joyful

9:40noise, a joyful moment, a moment of ecstasy, and it's amazing. But joy alone doesn't show us how to live in his presence. See, that's why we get into counting the Omer. And we are learning day by day how to live in God's presence one step at a time as Hashem is forming character. And we're learning together. When the glory of God appears, joy rises and then alignment is tested. And now we move to the haftarah. Cuz we have another moment of joy. You see, the ark had been away a long time outside of Jerusalem, resting at the house of Abinadab. David Melech Israel, the king of Israel, gathers the people 30,000 strong. Music, dancing, celebration, rejoicing before the Lord, dancing. This is a national moment. The presence of God is returning. We're bringing it to Israel. We're bringing it to Jerusalem right in the epicenter of it all. But there's one detail that is off. The ark is placed on a new cart. But the Torah already told us something. It was to be carried on the shoulders, on poles, by the Kohathite clan. The Levites that were especially set apart for that role to carry the ark on poles. But yet they put it on

11:39this new fancy cart. Even Rashi says, this was something that children knew. But we make mistakes. And as they go, the oxen stumble. The ark shifts and Uzzah reaches out his hand to steady it, to help, to try to keep the ark from tipping over. And then the text says it, Peretz. The glory, for the God broke out against him. He dies. The entire assembly goes from dancing to fear, from joy to grief, just like that. And he marks the place, Peretz Uzzah, the place where God broke out to memorialize it, to remember the day that one very special Jewish man lost his life. And David is is filled with grief and fear. He sends the ark away. Wait, we were supposed to bring the ark of God, the presence of God, right to Jerusalem, right to the city of David. But instead he says, "How's the ark supposed to come to me?" And he pushes it away to the house of Obed-Edom, a Gittite. A Gittite. But there's a connection here. Don't miss this. Nadav and Abihu, Abinadab. Uzzah was the son of Abinadab. Nadav and Abihu, you see the connection? This is fascinating. The text is showing us something. It's bringing these

13:36stories together for us to interpret them. In both cases, the presence of God is near and someone reaches out to touch it. Nadav and Abihu bring a zarah, a fire that was not commanded, at that moment was not ordered. Uzzah didn't create the problem. He stepped into a system that was already out of order. He reached out to steady the ark, but the ark was never supposed to be steadied. It was supposed to be carried on poles by the Kohathites. So in both of these cases, it's possible that we had the heart really wanting to reach to Hashem, but misalignment. And David, yes, he's dancing before Hashem. He's actually clothed in a priestly vest, an ephod. But at that moment, he's leading with joy without guarding the structure. Because he's not a kohen. He might have dressed the part as a kohen, but he's not a priest. The priests are the ones that are supposed to watch over the structure and teach about the difference between kodesh and chol, between the holy and the common, between tahor and tamei, the clean and the unclean, and everything else about the holiness of God. He's not carrying that responsibility.

15:21He was rejoicing in the moment. The sages say he missed something. Yeah, where was the kohen? In a moment of great, great joy, that boundary that could have saved Uzzah's life at that moment was not held. When God's presence draws near, boundaries are not removed, they are reinforced and intensified. Because we have to remember that the kavod, the weight of God, the glory of God, is something other. It is something fascinatingly awesome. And there is a reverence there to understand that. Right? But he does allow us to draw near according to his mitzvah and alignment. But this pattern doesn't end with the Torah. It continues on into the book of Acts, Ma'asei ha-Shluchim, the Acts of the Apostles, and we have another scenario. The ruach is moving, the spirit of God is amongst the the shluchim, the the apostles, giving them power to preach the resurrection of Messiah and everything they need to do. Powerful manifestations of God coming down to us now. And the ground where they are staying, and the place they are gathering is shaken by the power of God. But they are unified. They have achdut.

16:58They're standing together as one people. And they start selling their properties and taking the proceeds and bringing those to the feet of the shluchim, the apostles. Meanwhile, the shluchim, the emissaries, are keeping guard, watching over the structure and maintaining order and alignment in the community. No one is in need because they're bringing everything before their feet. And away, because of the they're so unified and the power of God is so strong among them. This is joy. This is divine presence coming among us. This is the glory of God manifesting, giving them power in the spirit to move and to do and to work together as one people. And then a man steps forward, Ananias. His name is Hananiah in Hebrew. He steps forward with an offering of the sale of his property. But Kepha, Peter, the leader, steps forward and confronts him. And he says, "Why has Hasatan filled your heart?" That's the question. And Hananiah falls dead immediately. And the young man, the young men in the community arise right away to carry him out, to properly bury him, just like we saw in Leviticus with Aaron's

18:50sons and and the people to come out take him out. And his wife, Sapphira, returns from the marketplace. But she's given space to respond. But instead, she chooses to align with what is hidden instead of what is true. And she drops immediately. And then the scripture says, "Great fear came upon them all." The whole Messianic community saw it. The reverence, the misalignment, because of two believers who were misaligned in their hearts. Just like David Melech, fear came upon them. This is not about the amount of money. Kefa makes that very clear here. They were not judged for what they kept, but for presenting themselves as fully given.

20:11That's the difference. So, we have three moments today. Three stories. Three communities. One pattern. The glory appears. Joy rises. Something breaks. And then the reverence returns to realign with God. In Vayikra, in our Torah portion, it's misaligned action. Sure, some of the sages say maybe they were tipsy. But it's very possible that their heart was right. The action was wrong. In Shemuel, in our Haftarah, we have misaligned structure because the ark was being carried contrary to God's command. And in Acts, we have a clear case of a misaligned heart, which is perhaps the most severe. But in all cases, God says through those who are near to me, I will be sanctified. And upon the people, I will be glorified.

21:39So, let's just take a step back from that for just a moment and see what we can glean from that. Those stories. Cuz it's not just about them. This is about us. Sha'arei Shalom. This is about the Messianic community in a broader way. God is drawing near, and when he does, what is hidden will be revealed. The question is not are we in close proximity to Hashem, although sometimes we individually may question that. No, Messiah has enabled us to draw near in a very special way. In a way that is fascinating and real and special. But the rev- reverence of God doesn't change. The question becomes

22:40are we aligned with him? And how do we live near him? Together. Together as one people. That is the question. That is the greater question, the weightier question, because that's when God will do amazing signs and wonders and work among us. In the spectacle and I'll even say especially in the mundane, where God really moves in those spaces as well. For leaders, starting with me,

23:27are we being clear and consistent? Or are we leaving people to guess? Here's another one. Are we are we guarding what is holy? Or are we assuming that the moment will carry us? I don't want to pick on David Melick, but there was a moment there. And for the community, are we sincere? Yes, absolutely you are sincere. We are sincere. But sincerity is not the same thing as alignment. Alignment takes another step to understand its weight, its importance, and its requirement for for Hashem to move among us in a powerful way, because there are people out there all around this area and beyond that need us. That need our hands and our feet. And we are a light to them and especially in our own families. So, this is something that we want to align. Because we're not just individuals approaching God alone. We do that in our own spaces, but we're actually approaching God as a community with a standard that's consistent and clear. Because we can't be a people who pretend. We can't pretend to have alignment. It's something that we have to want. And there's sacrifices that have to be made. Always. But above all, we must always be honest

25:17before God and real with each other. And and I believe we are. But that's that's important. Just be real with each other. So, as we move forward, in final thoughts, it is easier to be swept away by holiness than it is to carry into our homes and into our life here together. Some people, it's just a natural human tendency at times to chase after the mountain top experience because it feels good. It gives us an emotional touch, and and that's not so bad. It's just that that manifestation for those of us that experience that has to be brought in to our our homes and our life. It has to bring change in in character forging and formation as we move forward counting the Omer. The test is not the moment of fire, it's whether that fire reshapes how we live. And that is important. Because we know that God is not breaking out on us, but we have the warnings in scripture. We have what he says to do. And we do our best to live by that. The presence of God brings us near, but only alignment allows us to remain in him. If we have misalignment, we don't have anything. It's all about alignment and unity.

27:07Holiness is not about escaping this world, it's about bringing the presence of God into it. And that is really important to remember. Because it's more about going to heaven when you die. It's about bringing the presence. Remember that the presence that the Shekinah manifested on us came down to us. Messiah came to us. And we must respond. The same fire that gives life must be carried rightly. And that was the the story of David Melick today that we saw. Wasn't carried correctly. But above all, above all, a heart of sincerity and truth, and just do your best. That's all. And be kind to each other. Let's pray.

28:09Avinu Shebashamayim, we bless and sanctify your name in the heights of heaven and right here. We thank you for your word. We thank you that even when your word is difficult, it is so powerfully useful in our lives. And we give you all the glory and we sanctify your name always. In Yeshua's name we pray.