HEBREW WORD STUDY – ELEAZAR – ELAZAR – לעזר Aleph Lamed Ayin Zayin Resh
Num 20:28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. (29) And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, [even] all the house of Israel.
In a few months, I will be 69 years old, knocking at the door of 70. In our culture, I should be retired and just let the younger folk take over. They already own the worship services and preaching ministry, let them have the rest.
I still receive the Alumni news from Moody Bible Institute. I remember after I graduated I would always turn to the newly married section of the Alumni News to see which of my classmates got married and to whom. After a few years, I would look see which of my classmates were starting a family, then which ones were become pastors or missionaries. A few years later I would check to see who were becoming senior pastors or heads of mission boards. It was just a few years ago I would look to see who retired and now I am looking to see who has died.
The older you get the more you begin looking at the ages of celebrities who have died and take special note of those who died in their sixties. I am now looking at those who die in their 70’s. I notice the reporters don’t bother to mention the cause of death when they die in the ’70s. Why bother stating the obvious, they died of old age.
So, it is I look upon my passage into 69 with the good and the bad. The good is that I am closer to that day I get that special hug from Jesus. The bad is that my work and service to God is coming to an end. There is coming that day I will no longer be able to experience that special joy in praising God in the midst of trials and troubles for I shall be with Jesus where I will no longer experience trials and troubles. I will no longer be able to offer that higher praise. I will no longer experience the thrill and joy of miraculous deliverance for I will no longer need to be delivered from difficult situations. But the greatest sadness is knowing my service to Him on this earth is winding down.
I was reading about Eleazar or Elazar in Hebrew. He was the son of Aaron. His name is a compound name Eli – my God, ‘Azar – has helped (me). It is where the name Lazarus is derived. From the many stories, we read about Eleazar we see that God truly did help him through his life. Even though he was the son of Aaron the High Priest and heir to the role of high priest he personally carried the oil for lighting the Menorah, the incense and the anointing oil. He did not have to do this, his role was to appoint some underlying, a subordinate, someone of slight importance. Perhaps a teenager or younger man with youthful strength to carry that heavy load of oil every day, day in and day out. Yet, according to the Talmud, Eleazar insisted on doing the job himself as he felt it was an honor and a privilege to fetch the oil and carry it to the Menorah each day. He the son of the high priest carrying the oil, a job for servant or slaves but to Eleazar, it was an honor and privilege.
People wonder why, with all my fancied education and experience I choose to spend my later years, 40 hours a week driving a bus for the disabled, pushing wheelchairs, cleaning seats from adult diaper overflows, or mopping the bus floor from people’s barf or spit up. Why I should be teaching in some Bible College, seminary or university. But you see like Eleazar I love my job, I consider it an honor and privilege to serve which to some is a menial role.
Oh, but my comparison to Eleazar does not end there. For you see the day his father Aaron passed away he followed him and Moses to the mountain top where the priestly robes were removed from his father and placed upon him and he was declared the new high priest. Then he watched something very wonderful, he watched his father go into a cave where he received the Divine Kiss of God where his father’s spirit passed through that portal into the arms of God. When my father passed away he was unconscious for four days. Hospice brought him home where our family was gathered to be present at that moment that he passed. I was a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) so I stayed with my father with a stethoscope when everyone retired to the dining room. Like Eleazar I got to see what no one else saw, I got to see my father receive the Divine Kiss. The Bible says that the nation mourned, but it does not say Eleazar, Aaron’s own son, mourned because he saw something the others didn’t and it was glorious. I never shared it with anyone, who would believe me anyway.
I was glad I was making the comparison of Eleazar to myself because in the next few months I will turn 69. I read something very interesting this morning in the Bamidbar (Book of Numbers) Rabbah. Eleazar was 30 years old when the spies were sent out. That means it would be 39 years later when his father Aaron received the Divine Kiss and Eleazar became the High Priest. You see Eleazar’s real ministry, his true calling only began at the age of 69.
So now you know the rest of MY story.
Dearest Chaim – I thank our Father for your beautiful life of service. We have lived 43 years outside of North America and I think it is for this reason that I am especially grateful for your ministry. I look forward to your daily word studies and weekly lessons. I pray strength and health and many blessings over you! Thank you.
Dear Joy, while our adversary was and is busy setting a trapt for us, our Father set a trap for him. Only believe in your heart. We will see the glory of God, our Father. Blessings from above.
So encouraging to see so many keen to keep ministering in their roles they do in service of their Lord. I feel sadness that I’m 62 and I accepted Christ to be both Lord and Saviour in 1981. I am sad because I have achieved not much at all for my Lord. I believe to the best of my knowledge I have walked (except when I backslid for 7 years) in what I thought was God’s way but I was a religious legalistic if the worst kind because I thought I was a free Christian. Now I’m still in a no mans land but I’m leaving this desert and moving to greener pastures and there I will be joining new groups where I will shine His light and be willing to give an answer to anyone who asks if the hope within me. I am hoping for the restoration of the years the locust has taken but with the world the way it is I may have left my run too late. If not I hope and pray that my latter years will be much more productive for the Lord than my former ones.
Wow, wonderful! Thank you for your service and sharing.
I think you are one of the petals in the Rose of Sharon. A joy to my day, to be taught by you. Love ya.
Beautiful! : )
I think you are one of the petals in the Rose of Sharon. A joy to my day to be taught by you. Love ya.
Iwill be 81 this year and am still serving my Father who holds my heart in His hands. Starting a new ministry off prayer , after all Moses didn’t start till he was 80. As long as He wants me I’ll keep going until He calls me Home.
Wonderful!
If somebody would give you 10 Million dollars tomorrow.. Will you still go to work?
Beautiful
69… That’s just a number! In September I will be 93 having been a missionary on five continents and still serving the Lord within the counseling ministry at my church… I praise the Lord for this opportunity … Who knows you could have 20 some more years should the Lord tarry… what a wonderful blessing and joy to your heart to see joy on the faces of those you serve in His name… Thank you for the great blessing your devotionals are to my heart, I am grateful to the Lord and to you! There is no higher calling then being obedient to the one into which He calls us, is there !
Precious. I was just thinking about these same sort of things because I will shortly be turning 60 and was wondering how it would feel to turn 70. I just want to keep serving the Lord for as long as I can while I’m here on earth. I too was present with my mother when she received the Divine Kiss; it was the most beautiful experience of my life. She had a smile on her face. Thank you for your encouraging words.
You are doing what The Creator designed for you to do. And you are reaching others and ministering to others in ways you are not aware of…. profound ways.
May ABBA continue to bless you each and everyday, Chaim Bentorah – a humble servant of The Most High!
I am so very thankful for the insight into the Word that you freely share each day. They have been an enormous help and encouragement to me. Like you, I’ll leave my 69 years behind in the coming months and I too have the assurance that this is not the end but that ‘the best is yet to come’. Bless you.