Greetings Saints. This Torah Living content is being posted on the 28th Day of the 12th Biblical Month of 6014 (according to Rood’s Astronomically & Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar). I trust that you are well and blessed in all areas of your life.
I want us to continue our journey in Numbers 11:4, picking up where we left off in discussing the Matthew Henry generated description of the rabble accompanying Israel as the Hangers On. The latter half of verse 4 reads:
while the people of Isra’el, for their part, also renewed their weeping and said, “If only we had meat to eat! (Num 11:4 CJB)
Over the last several postings I’ve beaten up on the rabble or hangers on and I explored with you the likely reasons why the rabble acted the way they did as recorded in the first half of verse 4. Now the second half of verse 4 it seems pretty evident that the Children of Israel (i.e., those who were not hangers on) began to react to the grumblings of the rabble. The Chosen’s reaction to their situation was slightly different than the reactions of the hangers on group’s reaction to their situation. The Chosen’s reaction was to renew their weeping over the lack of “meat” (or in the KJV and other similar translations–flesh) to consume. If you recall, Numbers 11:1-3 records an event where the people began to complain about something. The Complete Jewish Bible–CJB (which I have grown to love and consult more than any other translation of the Bible) provides us with the object of the people’s complaining and that object is “…about their hardships.” Every other translation that I’ve consulted fails to provide a specific object or reason for the complaining or “murmuring.” I tend to give a goodly amount of credence to the CJB translation such that it seems to take into account the context of what was happening to the wandering nation and instead of attributing the people’s miserableness and murmurings to food, heat, water, inconvenience, CJB elected to group it all into the simple package of “hardship.” At the end of the day, it is all about hardship, whether it is about having a lack of meat or having to endure the challenges of the wilderness.
Yehovah did not appreciate the murmuring of the people and reacted with extreme force, incinerating many individuals in the camp until Moses intervened on the offenders’ behalf.
Before I move beyond this, I see here a shadow picture (reference Hebrews 10:1) that is quite awesome. Moses, in intervening and advocating on behalf of the people in their sin, took on one of the roles of Yeshua, our High Priest. Recall that Yeshua is our advocate to the Father when we sin. Consider:
CJB 1 John 2:1 My children, I am writing you these things so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Yeshua the Messiah, the Tzaddik, who pleads our cause with the Father. (1Jo 2:1 CJB)
Even in the midst of the nation’s sin and waywardness, she had an advocate and his name was Moses. Over and over again I revel in the beauty of Torah and see the wonderful shadow pictures that are painted upon its pages. Here, laying before me, is the image of the nation of Israel who today is a former image of us–Truth Seeking Messianics. I stumble and falter on a daily basis and I am so honored and happy to know that I have an advocate before the Father who intervenes on my behalf and by doing so staves off certain destruction. Paul aptly addresses this reality in his letters to the Roman Believers and to his young mentee Timothy respectively:
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Yehovah chose His leader well. Moses is certainly a type of savior, not only for physical Israel, but also for spiritual Israel, which is us. If Yehovah’s ire went unabated, the nation could have been utterly destroyed and our futures uncertain. We owe Moses a debt of thanks for stepping in the roll of advocate for the nation, in spite of that less than palatable inherent nature of the Israelites.
Getting back to the situation at hand in verse 4, the hangers on through their lusting after or for an “easier life” according to the CJB, likely prompted the Chosen Ones to renew their murmuring and the start of weeping for their lack or absence of “meat.” I wondered when looking back at the previous 3-verses if the Children of Israel had been cured of their complaining tendency. Well, it appears that it didn’t take much to sucker them back in to their old ways.
Are we any different friends? When I consider that I am in so many ways, like the Children of Israel, constantly looking at the glass being half-empty and having the “woe is me” mentality, it doesn’t take much for me to find myself falling back to this mentality with its associated behavior. Using my job as an example: lately, I have been cognizant of my tendency towards being a complainer and a murmurer. Thus, I have taken firm action to stem this tendency. I have made significant leeway in combating this tendency. However, it takes very little to push me back over to the tendencies that I am fighting to overcome. It could be something that someone says to me; it could be something that someone does to me; it could be something that I read; or even something that I observe. I think Paul stated this dilemma quite well:
CJB Romans 7:15 I don’t understand my own behavior- I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate!
(Rom 7:15 CJB)Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Indeed, we are always in some form of internal and spiritual struggle that more times than not, the flesh wins over. And it is those that we find living and working alongside us that usually prompts this internal and spiritual conflict to wage. I do not believe it is something that we could ever expect to see go completely away from us. Indeed, these types of situations add to the testing regimen that prepares us for the Kingdom. The positive thing to gain from this, however, appears to be the knowledge that we must always be cognizant of our weaknesses and equally alert to those things, people, and situations that cause us to stumble. It is a process and speaking from experience, it is a constant challenge. Yet, I believe this is something that must be put into perspective as we walk this walk with Messiah. We are being called to walk according to the Spirit. The Spirit always flies contrary to the ways of the flesh as Paul so aptly put it:
CJB Romans 8:7 For the mind controlled by the old nature is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah- indeed, it cannot.(Rom 8:7 CJB)
We are in a much better place than the wandering nation of Israel. We have been blessed with the Holy Spirit that provides a means to overcome our fleshly tendencies. The Children of Israel lacked this ever-present help. Instead for them, it all came down to them obeying Yehovah’s commandments and laws and we know that mankind can certainly do that if he so desires. Contrary to popular Christian teaching, man can indeed keep Yah’s laws. It seems pretty foolish to think that the Father would provide man a system of ordinances that would make them wholly acceptable to Himself if mankind was physically incapable of keeping them and obeying them to the full. Yet we tell ourselves, through this false teaching, that it is impossible to keep Torah and thus we don’t have to nor should we be made to. Why? Because Yeshua kept Torah perfectly and thus we have been released from all responsibility of keeping Torah. Hogwash! That’s like saying, I own this hot muscle car and thus it is impossible for me to observe the speed laws because my muscle car is inherently so fast. Therefore, I shouldn’t be expected to obey the speed laws. For real!? Come on. Let’s be real about this. We have the capacity to endure and pass any test
CJB 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you beyond what people normally experience, and God can be trusted not to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. On the contrary, along with the temptation he will also provide the way out, so that you will be able to endure. (1Co 10:13 CJB)
The Father placed the Chosen Ones in a multi-faceted situation: a wilderness, lacking many provisions, and with a multi-cultural grouping of individuals. All of these elements made for a crucible that the Father could use to mold and fashion His chosen in to a set apart people, holy unto Himself, Yehovah’s unique treasure out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. So it is with us today: we find ourselves in an unequally yoked world. Our world is part and parcel of the testing ground to shape us in to the form and image of Yeshua. When we come to terms with this reality, then and only then may we move beyond our fleshly defaults. I’m working on this and I’m hanging so very hard to the Holy Spirit to give me that extra weight to help me overcome my evil tendencies. I hope that you will join me, in whatever capacity you are struggling, and overcome our tendency to adversely react to the people, places and things around us. May we be victorious over the flesh and shine as the sun among the peoples of the earth.
Be most blessed.