Your Daily Slice

CHESHVAN 29

Come Away

“And see, יהוה passed by, and a great and strong wind tearing the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before יהוה – יהוה was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake – יהוה was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire – יהוה was not in the fire, and after the fire A STILL SMALL VOICE.” (1Kin 19: 11-12 ISR, emphasis mine)

There is some speculation that the cave in which Elohim appeared to Elijah (1Kin 19:9) is the same ‘cleft in the rock’ where He had also appeared to Moses centuries before (Ex 33:22) – only the El-Shaddai, the All-Mighty God, would know for sure.  Both men, Elijah and Moses, possessed an intense hunger for Yahweh, for His Torah, His ways, His righteousness, more of Him in their lives.  One way for them to achieve this goal was to spend quality time with Him, to travel up the ‘mountain of Yahweh’, and hide themselves away from the rest of the world:  alone with Elohim, their God and Father.  Because of the time Moses invested in his relationship with his Creator, Elohim would say of Moses, “you have found favor, loving-kindness, and mercy in My sight and I know you personally and by name.” (Ex 33:17 AMPC)

Centuries later, following his own ‘close encounter of the Messiah kind’, the Apostle Paul spent time in what was then called Arabia (See Gal 1:16-18).  Again, many have speculated that our Creator called Paul to a time of intimacy on this same mountain of Yahweh, where He had ministered to both Moses and Elijah.  Paul was, in his own words, a Pharisee of Pharisees, and learned in the Torah (Phi 3:4-6).  But after having met the risen Master and been filled to overflowing with the Spirit of Elohim, all this learning had to be illuminated by the light of the Spirit.  May we call it “a one-on-one tutorial session”?

This can also pertain to us.  We must connect with the Source, the Creator, the Giver of life, He who is our beginning and our end.  And we must do so in spirit and in truth, in quality, integrity, AND in sincerity.  The Father so very eagerly meets our every need; are we as eager to meet His desire for fellowship?  Moses had the care of an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people, yet it was more important to him to turn everything off, and seek the intimacy, the fellowship, of his Avinu Malkeinu, his Father and King.  In our present time, this could be termed “turn off FB, shut the ringer off on the phone, lay aside the remote control, close the unfinished novel”.  Do we dare to do the same?

“My soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the living God.” (Ps 84:2 AMPC)

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