Greetings and Shabbat Shalom. It is my hope, trust, and prayer that this posting finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed on this warm but blessed Sabbath in the DFW.
A Short Passage with a Big Message
This 100th parashah of our three-year Torah-reading cycle is the shortest reading of them all. It is contained in Numbers/Bemidbar 4:17-20, and I’ve given this discussion the title of “Better Safe Than Sorry.” Why the so-called sages of old pass down such a short reading is not certain. Nevertheless, despite the abbreviated nature of this reading, the message it must deliver is clear: Yah’s sovereignty and holiness reign as supreme principles among His set-apart people. And regardless of how strange or unfair His ways may appear to us at times, He has from the beginning made the rules, and He will forever make the rules, and His ways will always rule. Yah decides the workings of His set-apart nations, including what jobs people will have, what privileges will be given and denied, when and where, and how things are going to go.
God Makes Distinctions for His Set-Apart People
In the reading that is before us this Shabbat, Yah makes a distinction between the Aharonic Priests (i.e., their purpose, rule, function, and privileges) and the general Levitical priests, in particular, the Kohathites. So important was this distinction that it was effectively a matter of life and death.
Because the Aharonic Priests were the most privileged family of the Tribe of Levi (i.e., they had prescribed direct access to the Tabernacle and its holy elements), Yah placed responsibility for the Kohathites’ wellbeing and safety in their hands. The Aharonic Priests assigned their Kohathite brethren precise duties and responsibilities that, when carried out according to Yehovah’s instructions, would ensure their safety and well-being. In fact, all the Levites received their marching orders from Aharon and Sons. This was the set-up Yah put in place in accordance with His plan and will. Later on in this book, Moshe records an incident where a Kohathite by the name of Korach, jealous of Moshe’s and Aharon’s privileged roles as given by Yehovah, will challenge their authority and privilege. Yah did not take too kindly to Korach’s rebellious act, which resulted in his and the deaths of some 250+ souls (Numbers/Bemidbar 16).
God Gives His People Assignments and Tasks That They are Obliged to Carry Out
Two previous readings ago, we learned that Yah had tasked the Kohathites (i.e., the descendants of Kohath, a son of Levi, with physically transporting the Ark of the Covenant, along with all of the Tabernacle furnishings whenever the nation broke camp and moved on to another location. Despite appearances, the Kohathites enjoyed a privilege that succeeded that of their Gershomite and Merari brethren. The Kohathites were privileged to carry the holy things of Yah when the nation broke camp and journeyed on, whereas their Gershomite and Merari brethren transported the lesser objects of the Tabernacle on carts (Numbers/Bemidbar 7).
Yah-Given Privileges are Often Despised by His People
Man’s carnal nature despises what it perceives as unwarranted privilege. But in the Kingdom of Yah, privilege and sacred responsibility must be accepted as falling within the exclusive purview of the Most High. Thus, it falls to the members of the Faith Community to recognize that Yah is in charge and that they serve Yah best by simply doing that which Yah has assigned to them with all their heart, mind, strength, and soul and be happy and feel blessed in their Yah given assignments. To harbor resentment or to challenge Yah’s status quo or set-up is indicative of rebellion against the Almighty. And we all know where the sin of rebellion originated from, don’t we? In fact, Yah equates rebellion to the sin of idolatry.
The Scourge of Rebellion is Idolatry in God’s Eyes
Addressing King Saul’s rebelliousness, Samuel said:
(22) “Is there as much delight for Yehovah in burnt offerings and sacrifices as there is in obeying Yehovah? Look! To obey is better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams. (23) For rebellion is like the sin of divination; arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yehovah, He has rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15; LEB).
Thus, rebellion is not a crime directed at others per se. More so, it is a sin or transgression against Yehovah. The penalty that is meted out against the rebellious is generally severe, as we will in the coming weeks read regarding Korach.
The Kohathites-An Example of Submissiveness Obedience that Must Respect God’s Holiness and Sovereignty
The Kohathites, numbering some 2,750 men who were of qualified age, were not Aaronic (aka, Aharonic) priests. Thus, they were prohibited from seeing and directly touching the Holy elements of the Tabernacle at the risk of death. Consequently, it fell to Aaron/Aharon and Sons to personally disassemble the Tabernacle enclosures and curtain, using them to cover those holy Tabernacle furnishings and elements. And so, it always stood to reason that a hardworking, devoted Kohathite could potentially come upon the Ark or any of the other furnishings before Aaron and Sons had prepared it and find himself in dire harm’s way.
Yah is compassionate and does not want to leave to chance that an innocent Kohathite doing his job stumbles upon one of the Holy Things of the Tabernacle that he should not have seen or touched and thus is subject to death. Yah put into place precepts to prevent inadvertent unauthorized access to the holy things of Yah. In other words, Yah tells Moshe and Aharon to take steps to ensure that the Kohathites, while doing their assigned tasks, are not cut off before Yehovah. Further, it says to us, as well as it said to Moshe and Aharon, that it is the ones who know better that are responsible for keeping their brother (and sister) from falling into judgment and punishment. In that sense, we are indeed our brother’s keeper.
God’s Persistent Utter Holiness
Yehovah established His uncompromising holiness with the nation at the beginning of His interactions with Israel (aka Yisra’el) at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus/Shemot 19). The nation was not permitted to cross the threshold of Mount Sinai under penalty of summary execution. Only Moshe, at this point in the nation’s history, would be permitted to cross that threshold and enter Yehovah’s presence.
After the Golden Calf incident, Yehovah established the Levitical Priestly-Tabernacle system that provided the sacred infrastructure by which Yehovah’s presence would dwell in the midst of the nation. But before that system could get fully up and running, two of Aaron’s/Aharon’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, transgressed the holy boundary lines Yah established to separate the common from the sacred when they “offered strange fire before Yehovah, which He commanded them not” (Leviticus/Vayiqra 10:1-5).
Then we have the reality of the High Priest (aka, the Cohen HaGadol) being permitted to enter the Holy of Holies (aka, the most sacred space) only when certain criteria are met by the High Priest, and he was permitted to enter the sacred space only on Yom Kippurim (Hebrews 9:7). In celebration of the ratification of the covenant between Yah and His bride Yisra’el, the 70-elders of Yisra’el were permitted to go only so far up Mount Sinai and be in Yah’s indirect presence, while Moshe was permitted to continue up the mountain to be in Yah’s direct presence (Exodus/Shemote 24:9-11). We find recorded in 2 Samuel 6 where a Levite by the name of Uzzah was struck down by Yah when, in his feeble attempt to steady the Ark of the Covenant that was being transported to the City of David on an oxen-pulled cart, he reached out and touched the ark. However, in a completely opposite situation involving the transporting of the Ark, when the Philistines returned the stolen Ark back to the nation, they did not suffer any loss of life despite their paganistic mishandling of it. This story happens to be our Haftarah reading for this Sabbath found in 1 Samuel 6:10-16. Here, the disparity in treatment of the Yisra’elites who transgressed Yah’s holiness and the pagan Philistines who openly defiled the holy Ark cannot be mistaken. The takeaway is simply this: Yah has different expectations for His chosen ones, and He does not hesitate to chasten those whom He loves (Hebrews 12:6). Yah did not have any expectations for the Philistines regarding their respecting and upholding His holiness. But Yah indeed has expressed expectations for Yisra’el to uphold His holiness at all costs.
God’s Expectation for His People is that They Uphold His Holiness
This is one of the greatest lessons that we who are called by His Name must always keep at the forefront of our hearts, minds, and souls. The world is not expected to honor and uphold the Name and holiness of their Creator. They are outside of Yah’s will. This, however, is not to say that they will not be held accountable by Yehovah in the Judgment, for they most certainly will have to give an account for their rebelliousness. We, on the other hand, are expected to uphold, honor, and obey Yah’s holiness at every turn. It falls to us to be cognizant of Yah’s righteousness at all times and never take His holiness for granted, as so many so-called believers do. Indeed, there is no mystery as to why so many in this beloved faith of ours are experiencing and suffering through illnesses, financial hardships, relationship problems, and so forth. It’s most likely due, at least to a lesser or greater extent, to their insensitivity to Yah’s holiness and sovereignty.
You see, when we honor Him, He honors us.
Continuing.
Because of the sensitive nature of the Kohathites’ assigned tasks/duties, they were always on the cusp of violating the sacredness of the holy things, either through negligence or ignorance. It is conceivable that the Kohathites could be wiped out as a member of the Levites altogether if certain precepts were enacted. Thus, Yah laid the responsibility for ensuring the safety of the Kohathites upon the shoulders of Aharon and Sons (vss. 19).
God’s People Must Learn to Understand and Uphold His Holiness
It may be extremely difficult for most of us 21st-century Westerners to understand and accept the inherent risks that the Kohathites faced just in the course of their assigned duties. For some of us, it may seem a bit overkill to think someone would die because someone inadvertently saw or touched one of the Tabernacle’s holy elements. To a lesser or greater degree, this is one of several reasons that many people in the world dismiss the so-called “God of the Old Testament” as a callous, unforgiving, murderous Being. I recall my boss, who identified herself as a devout Christian, once declared to me that she much preferred the God of the New Testament over the God of the Old Testament for the stated reasons. But Yah’s holiness is a concept that most people do not fully understand.
Tim Hegg, in his commentary on the Book of Numbers, describes Yah’s holiness as Yah’s “utter holiness” (“Studies in the Torah-Numbers,” pg. 35). He continues: “God’s holiness is a consuming fire that cannot be quenched. He must be satisfied by holiness that matches His own” (ibid).
At some point, humanity will come to realize that despite Yah’s immense and unfathomable love that He has for His creation, He will not compromise His own holiness and righteousness. Thus, Yah will always be compelled, by His holy and righteous nature, to deal with sin, regardless of how harsh and unfair our foolish minds think and our souls feel about it. And thank Yah that He has and will remain the same throughout eternity (Hebrews 13:8). As Hegg so astutely states: “For if God can act outside of His character, He ceases to be the true God of the Bible” (ibid).
Upholding God’s Holiness Requires Uncompromising Obedience to His Will and Purpose
Thus, it falls to us, as Yah’s chosen ones, to submit to His perfect will and purpose. And not submit to His will and purpose in a begrudging manner and mindset. But do so in a spirit of true fidelity with the Creator of heaven and earth, knowing that you are part of the greatest endeavor and movement in all of creation history. Regardless of what we’ve been assigned to do, such that it may not be appealing and notable to the world’s eyes, let us be mindful that our purpose and goal in this life is to serve Yehovah and to please Him. And in so doing, we will find peace, joy, and wholeness in this and the life to come.
Shabbat Shalom, Shavu’atov, take care. Until next time.