Leviticus 1:1: “And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,”

Matthew 22:14: “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Last night I could not go to sleep so I got up and started reading the Talmud.  If anything can put you to sleep it is reading the Talmud.  I began reading the Talmud in Yoma 4b and as the Talmud began to work its usual magic of putting me to sleep in the midst of reading about a debate as to what day of the week God spoke to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments, my spirit was quicken when I read that Moses heard the voice of God speaking unto him. The Bible uses the word elaw (unto him) and not lo (to him).  The Talmud points out that grammatically there is a difference between these two words.  Moses heard the voice of God, but all of Israel did not hear.

This is the same word used in Numbers 7:89 when God spoke elaw (unto him) from between the cherubim’s of the ark of testimony in the tabernacle.  Elaw is the longer form of lo.   I have always wondered why Scriptures uses these two forms almost interchangeably.  There seems to be no grammatical reason for it and I have discussed it with other Hebrew teachers who just pass it off as just another quirky thing about the Hebrew.

The Talmud however does  see a grammatical reason for the use of elaw rather than lo. The longer form elaw would imply a closer or more exclusive communication.  Thus when the Scripture uses elaw it is suggesting that only Moses heard the voice of God and those standing around with him did not hear it.  When the form lo is used it indicates everyone heard the voice. In the tent of meeting only Moses could hear the voice.

The Talmud asks the question as to why God called out to Moses and then spoke to Moses. It suggested that the reason is because all the people heard God call out to Moses but they did not hear what God said to Moses.  As I meditated on this I fell asleep and had a dream.  In this dream I had an imaginary friend who kept appearing to me.  My friend would appear before me when no one else was around. I started to tell people about my imaginary friend and they all thought I was crazy. In this dream I was in someone’s private office telling him of my imaginary friend and I could tell this person was getting ready to call the paramedics when suddenly my imaginary friend appeared to both of us.  My imaginary friend said, “I only appear to you because you are my best friend but I wanted to appear to you with someone else present so they would know I was really appearing to you and you are not crazy.”

I will tell you what is crazy, it these dreams.  But this morning I began to understand the situation with Moses.  Leviticus tells us that God called qera’ which is an audible voice or sound which everyone heard, but then he spoke devar that is words from His heart  elaw only unto Moses.   God will calls many, but only few are really chosen (Matthew 22:14).   I often wondered about this passage in Matthew.   Calvin used this to support his doctrine of election, God calls everyone but only a few are really chosen or elected.  Indeed the Greek word is eklektos where we get our English word election and means to be specifically chosen or elected.  Others interpret this to mean that God calls many but few are chosen for a specific task.  I am ok with this interpretation but it still bothers me that some are chosen for the juicy roles.  Because they have the better roles they get to hear from God more and they get a whole lot more spiritual perks.  I mean they are the ones who get to visit heaven and sit down with Jesus and have a chat with Him and then go on television, radio and write bestselling books about it while I never hear these audible voices, get these visions of Jesus or take a trip to heaven. I don’t get to give these cool testimonies of seeing ten foot tall angels in combat boots. I am, unfortunately, just your average every day Joe Christian who plugs along in his disability bus every day cleaning up after some passenger’s stomach spills his cookies in the back of my bus on their way to the doctor’s appointment.

Are some people created more special than others?  Does God really play favorites?  I took another look at Matthew 22:14 in the Aramaic and found that the Aramaic uses a very interesting word here.  This is the language that Jesus spoke and the Aramaic Bible, the Peshitta uses the Aramaic word gavaya which has an interesting origin. It is an old Persian word which has the idea of gathering closely together.  It is often used as a cistern or a pond where rain water is gathered together. Not every drop of rain ends up in that cistern or pond.  Those that do are gathered closely together for form a barrel or pond full of water. Each drop of rain joins with other drops to fill the barrel or pond.

Many are called but few actually come together to be part of that barrel full of water to supply nourishment to others.  In extra Biblical literature this word is used to express the idea of coming closely together like a hug.

I could be wrong, this just an opinion but I think what Jesus is saying that many are called but few really seek Him and love Him enough to receive a hug from Him.  You see all of Israel heard God call qera’ Moses but no one heard what God shared with Moses, because God shared His heart with Moses. A woman will not share her heart with a man unless she truly loves him and knows that he loves her in return.  The more he loves her and the more she loves him the more of her heart she will share with him.  So too with God, the more we love him the more of His heart He will share with us.  Many are called, but Jesus only shares His heart with those who truly love him. Just because you are called doesn’t automatically mean you love Him. Love grows and takes time and the more you grow in love with Him then he gavaya elects or shares his heart with you or gives you a hug.   That is when he speaks debar words of His heart elaw unto you were only you hear and not lo where everyone hears. God is ready to give everyone a hug, but it is not a matter of god choosing who gets the hug, it is a matter of us choosing to love Him enough to receive a hug from Him.