Shemini: The Number Eight

Now, in this week’s Torah portion, Shemini. Shemini is the number eight in Hebrew. The word Shemini means “eight.” Eight is new beginnings. Eight is where you leave the realm of the natural — one, two, three, four, five, six, seven — and you step into the supernatural. It’s almost like you’re dwelling on earth, but then number eight is taking you up. And that’s where I want to focus in on you, because we’ve been working on the topic of grace all week long. Even the morning study that I sent to you today, dealing with grace, is opening up our eyes to understand that there’s much more to this topic than meets the eye.

So for this morning and for tonight, I’m putting grace on the side, and then we’re going to focus back in with the Torah portion, Shemini.

The Fire from Before the Lord

Chapter 9 of Leviticus: Aaron and his sons are consecrated into the priesthood. The altar is getting ready to be lit for the very first time. And the source of this fire is not man lighting his own fire. It says, picking up here in verse 23:

“And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people.”

So Moses and Aaron, they go into the tabernacle of the dut (of those who come together), and they came out, and then they blessed the people. And as soon as the people were blessed, then the glory of the Lord comes down and appears to all the people. Immediately after that, verse 24:

“And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat, which all the people saw, and they shouted, and fell on their faces.”

Now, tonight I’m going to talk to you about Nadab and Abihu in chapter 10. But for this morning, I want to pose a challenge to you. And the challenge is something that we should be doing all the time.

Testing the Spirits

In 1 John chapter 4 verses 1 through 3, John is telling us to test the spirits to see what they are. And you go, “Okay, well, I’m gonna test the spirit.” There’s kind of a — I think it’s kind of a hokey way of doing it. People say, “Well, you know, whenever I’m testing a spirit, I just ask the spirit, ‘Do you believe that Jesus came in the flesh?’ And if the spirit says, ‘Yes, I believe that Jesus came in the flesh,’ then obviously it’s of God. And if it says, ‘No, he didn’t come in the flesh,’ then obviously it’s not.” And I’m thinking, you don’t think that the spirits have the capacity to be able to lie? And what does it mean that Yeshua came in the flesh anyway?

We just think, “Oh, He was born of a virgin, and He came in the flesh.” That’s our definition of the flesh, of how He came. But there’s so much more to it. But we end up getting trapped in these little mindsets to justify our positions.

Why would I be bringing this up? Because there are two different types of fire in the word of God. There is a fire which comes out from the presence of God, and there is a fire that I like. Now, both of them are fire. Both of them will burn. Both of them will consume. Both of them will harden. Both of them will melt.

The question is: how can you tell the difference between the fire of God coming out from the presence of God and the fire that men light? Because within our Torah portions, we’re gonna find that Nadab and Abihu are gonna bring strange fire. This is not the fire that comes out from God.

So how would I know? Because in my opinion (and it’s limited, and I’m guilty of this too), my opinion is limited. There’s so much strange fire out there. There’s so much man-made fire out there. It’s mind-boggling, and we call it God. It’s very traditional. It’s very denominationally oriented. It’s very — you name it — culture-based. That’s not God. That’s not the standard of God. So I need to know: what is the fire that comes from God versus what is the fire that I bring that would be considered strange fire?

Jehu: A Zeal for the Lord

One of my favorite Bible characters in all the Bible is a guy named Jehu. Jehu may not be the most profound person in your mind, but over in 2 Kings chapter 10, when Jehu is anointed as king over Israel — I’ll pick up in verse 15:

“And when he was departed, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, ‘Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?’ And Jehonadab answered, ‘It is.’ ‘If it be, give me your hand.’ And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. And he said, ‘Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.’ So they made him ride in his chariot.”

Now, you may remember that Jehu, one of his most profound things that he does, is he takes this place of worship (Baal worship) and he turns it into a latrine. He turns it into an outhouse. Because he says, “That’s all that this is. It’s just a bunch of poop.” His zeal for the Lord is so passionate. Jehu is one of the three individuals that when Elijah was done with his ministry, God had Elijah anoint to carry on his ministry. Jehu was one of them.

Jehu is significant because Jehu is one of those individuals where you go, “Okay, this guy was sharp as a tack. This guy has a zeal for the Lord.” When he asked people, he said, “Is your zeal for the Lord and is your heart the same as my heart? Because my heart’s in alignment with God, and I want my heart to be in alignment with you if your heart’s in alignment with God.” “Yes, it is.” And then Jehu says, “Give me your hand, come into my chariot, ride with me, check out my zeal.” What a quality guy. What a guy who didn’t apologize for his excitement, didn’t apologize for his zeal. And then he went with that emphasis and that power and that drive, and he turned the Baal worship into a potty place.

Elijah: The Lord, He is God

If you go back to 1 Kings chapter 18, you may remember the story of Elijah. The children of Israel have become desensitized to the things of God, and they have started to blend into Jezebel’s and Ahab’s pagan mindset. Elijah comes on the scene and he says, “Listen, boys and girls, I’m going to confront you. I need to find out who’s on the Lord’s side and who’s on Baal’s side. If the Lord He is God, then serve Him. If Baal he is god, then serve him.”

Elijah, with passion, with zeal, with a fiery attitude, says, “All right, I’m going to let you boys and girls go first.” They go first. They’re throwing up their offerings and jumping up and down and cutting themselves and calling upon their gods, and Elijah is mocking them. He says, “You might want to talk a little bit louder because maybe he’s sitting on the commode. Maybe he’s on the porcelain god. Maybe he’s taking care of some private business. Maybe he’s off in a far country. Maybe you want to call your god and get a direct line.”

Then Elijah says, “OK, I think you guys had enough time to prove that your god is not real.” So Elijah rebuilds the altar with the stones representing Israel. He tells the boys to go down from Mount Carmel to get buckets filled with water — completely filled with water. Now consider this: there’s been three and a half years of famine. It’s not like they have a Piggly Wiggly down at the bottom of the hill. They had to go down Mount Carmel, get water, bring it back, and they brought 12 big buckets full of water and doused the altar. The altar had water everywhere.

Picking up in verse 36:

“And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, ‘Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their heart back again.’”

Then the fire falls. The fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is the God.” Then Elijah takes all the prophets of Baal, goes down into the valley, slays them all, comes back up on top, starts praying, and sees a cloud about the size of a hand off in the distance. He recognizes, “Oh my, the rain is coming. The drought is over — the three and a half years.” With excitement, he runs to a city that’s 20 miles away. He outruns his chariot.

When word gets to Jezebel, she says, “What you did to my prophets, if I don’t do the same to you by tomorrow — you better be scared, chicken little, because I’m going to kill you like you did all my prophets.”

Elijah’s name means “the Lord, He is God.” Here is Elijah confronting the 450 prophets of Baal that sit at Jezebel’s table. Elijah shows up — the one whose name means “the Lord, He is God” — and he demonstrates something that only God could overcome. When he prays and fire comes down from heaven, it’s very similar to what we see in Leviticus chapter nine, where the fire comes out from the presence of God and licks up everything that’s there.

How Do We Know Today?

Why would I be bringing up Elijah? Because we look outside and go, “Well, we don’t have fire coming from heaven. So how would we know?” When the people recognized “the Lord, He is God,” it’s because they saw it in Elijah’s life. They saw the faith of Elijah. They saw Elijah’s actions. They saw these things in such a way that they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God.” Elijah’s name means “the Lord, He is God,” but they’re saying, “The Lord, He is the God — He is the Elohim, He is the power.” And where did they get this from? From a man who was living a life testifying of “the Lord, He is God.”

Romans 10: Zeal Without Knowledge

Now in Romans chapter 10, writing to the assembly at Rome, Paul makes this statement. (Romans chapter 10 is a perfect mirror image of Deuteronomy chapter 30. Paul is getting his information in Romans 10 from Deuteronomy chapter 30, which has to do with establishing the covenant based on the Torah.)

Look at chapter 10 verses 1 and 2:

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”

They’re zealous like Jehu, zealous like Elijah, but it’s not according to knowledge. This word for knowledge is not intellect — it’s the word epignosis, meaning experiential knowledge. So they’ve got all this intellect. They’ve read the book, watched the YouTube video, gone to the conference — all these different types of things up here — but they don’t have it down here. They have a zeal for God. They’re raising their hands, saying “Praise God,” all that kind of stuff, but their life is not showing the victory or the capacity to overcome.

Why? Because they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness (which is His Torah), go about to establish their own righteousness (which is called filthy rags), and have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God (which is the Torah — what Deuteronomy chapter 30 is all about). For Christ is the goal of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which does those things shall live by them. So if you’re going to say, “I’m doing Torah,” then you want to live the Torah. You don’t say, “Oh, I don’t have to worry about keeping that.”

The Apostle Paul, as he’s addressing this topic, says, “Look, I want you guys to be zealous for the Lord.” Paul’s opening statement is very zealous, very God-oriented: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.” That’s your zeal.

Testing Your Own Fire

How do I know whether my fire comes from God? How do I know that the flame I’m fanning is of God? How do I know that it’s not just motivational mumbo jumbo, religious psychobabble — using wonderful terms but having no power behind it?

Look at your focus. Say, “Why am I doing what I’m doing?” I’m doing that because I want that individual to be drawn close to Him. I want that individual to have a zeal for God like Jehu, a zeal for God like Elijah, a zeal for God like Aaron and Moses — when they went in, came out, prayed and blessed, the glory of the Lord filled the place, the people fell on their face, and here came the fire.

When you live your life in such a way that’s about others — take care of yourself first, then pour out to others, make sure everybody’s needs are met to the best of your ability — then leave the results to God, and be consistent, be consistent, be consistent. That’s what the righteous people in Scripture did. They were consistent day in, day out.

When we’ve got that truth — not putting it in our hat or smoking in our pipe — you know what you find? You find you’re gonna be walking in the zeal of the Lord. Not a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. Not a zeal like bringing in strange fire and then it taking your life. But walking in obedience to where boom, the fire comes down. Boom, the sacrifices are licked up, totally consumed, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

If I can go and do that, if I can think those thoughts and say, “Okay, is my zeal for God like this? Am I lighting my own fire from Isaiah chapter 50, verses 10 and 11? What am I doing?” What a great way to go into the day.

Whether I have meetings, appointments, whatever I’m going to be doing today — is it evident that I have a zeal for the Lord, or is it evident I just have a zeal for whatever? Because people have got zeals for all kinds of stuff. So what God is saying is, “How about Me, Alan? What is your mindset? Where are you for today?”

And I say, “I’m in. I’m like Jehu. I’m like Elijah.” Maybe I’m not like Jehu. Maybe I’m not like Elijah. But I’m facing the right direction.

A good thought for you as you head into your workday.

Alan