Learning to Fear God and Receive His Peace — Israel’s Inextricable Link to Our Salvation Part 4

by | Feb 9, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

After Paul’s conversion to the Way Faith, the Nazarene assemblies that were strewn throughout the Judean region, including the Galilee and Samaria, enjoyed a season of relative peace and unity. (Act 9:31) Those coming into the Way Movement, a movement that many scholars believe the orthodox Jewish communities in the region treated as simply another Jewish sect (like the Pharisees, Sadducees, the Essenes), were being instructed in (1) the fear of Yehovah (i.e. learning to fear Yehovah through witnessing the movement of the Holy Spirit and by walking in Yeshua-centric Torah) and (2) the comfort of the Holy Spirit (aka the Ruach Kodesh). The King James Version describes members of the Nazarene or Way Movement operating within the broader Jewish Community as “walking” in the fear of Yehovah and in the “comfort” of the Holy Spirit. The Faith at that time was experiencing tremendous growth. It was truly a wonderful time to be a part of such a great move of the Holy Spirit, under the leadership of the Apostles. (Eph 2:20) In so many ways, the Kingdom of God (aka the Malchut Elohim) had once again intervened in the affairs of man and had established itself amid a set-apart people who were truly living the life abundant. (Joh 10:10)

 

Andrew Gabriel Roth’s commentary on this verse (i.e. Acts 9:31) points out an interesting contrast in what the Netsarim (aka the Jerusalem Messianics) were experiencing during this quiet but spiritually dynamic period in our Faith’s history: When the redeemed of Messiah fear Abba Yah they receive comfort. (Aramaic English New Testament) As Roth sees it, these extreme opposite emotional states are really one of cause and effect: fear God and receive God’s peace.

 

This historic situation established a Netsari/Messianic character trait that every subsequent generation of Yeshua disciples must adopt if they are going to be successful in their quest for the Kingdom of God/the Malchut Elohim. That essential character trait is having a true fear of Yehovah Elohim.

 

God Fearers

 

Those that truly “fear YHVH” such that they are obedient only to His voice and His ways — such that these take to heart the fundamental maxim that the whole duty of man is to fear Yah and keep His commandments (Ecc 12:13) — possess the Father’s Set-Apart Spirit (aka the Ruach Kodesh/Holy Spirit). The Spirit that operates in them creates in them an “I want to obey heart” (to borrow a phrase frequently used by Torah Teacher Gary Steven Simons of Triumph in Truth Ministries). And this is what the first-century Jerusalem brethren described in Acts 9 were doing: They were fearing Yehovah and living a Yeshua-centric Torah lifestyle. Because of this unique, Kingdom-driven way of life, these believers received God’s peace (aka the Shalom of Yehovah).

 

The Shalom of Yehovah

 

We frequently use the Hebrew term shalom when greeting and bidding goodbyes to one another. When our assembly leaders recite and confer Yehovah’s blessing upon God’s people with the Aaronic Blessing, there is an expectation by Yah’s people that Abba Yah will always have His face turned towards them and bestow His shalom upon them. (Num 6:26) I go into some detail about the Aaronic Blessing in my teaching entitled “The Deep Abiding Mysteries of the Aaronic Blessing.” (I will place the link to that discussion in this teaching’s transcript for your convenience.) But the shalom that flows from an obedient covenant relationship with Yehovah is not just about one having freedom from disturbances, but more so, it’s about one being whole in every aspect of their being.

 

Shaul (aka the Apostle Paul) describes this form of peace as a mystery (i.e. it surpasses human understanding). Yehovah’s shalom guards the Child of Yah’s heart and mind. (Phi 4:7) So, what is Yah’s shalom guarding the Child of Yah’s heart and mind from? It’s guarding their heart and mind against the wiles, slings, and arrows of the enemy (i.e. the enemy’s tactics, deception, and ploys). And don’t you know, beloved, that the enemy’s attacks are not always against our bodies, relationships, and material possessions? The enemy’s attacks are more times than not against our hearts and minds. (Eph 6:10-12, 15) And so, as the apostle wrote to his Philippian readers, it behooves them to receive Abba Yah’s shalom. It was, and remains even today, the only defensive weapon against the enemy’s attacks against their hearts and minds.

 

And if there is anything that we, as a people of the Malchut Elohim, need during these perilous times, both collectively and individually, is the Shalom of Yehovah.

 

Roth describes those first-century members of the Way Movement in Jerusalem as having found “peace and contentment of being.” (AENT; p. 331) And this biblical principle of Yehovah-fearers/God fearers possessing a peace that surpasses all understanding is just as applicable today as it was back then.

 

Sadly beloved, there is a drought of true God-fearers in this world, especially today. I’ll get into some reasons this is so later on in this teaching. But one of the main reasons the world today experiences a drought of true God-fearers is because of biblical illiteracy and the conditioning of believers to not fear the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

 

Biblically Defining What it Means to Fear God

 

What does it mean to fear YHVH?

 

The traditional (let’s say Christian) teaching holds that to fear God is to revere or reverence Him; to adore Him; to be loyal and faithful to Him; to trust Him; and to obey the tenets of whatever church one is a member of. Some would call this being religious or being a person of faith.

 

Most teachers reject the idea that to fear God is to possess concern or dread towards God, or to be terrified of Yah. But to a lesser or greater extent, this is what true biblical fear of God looks like.

 

When we talk about fearing Elohim, we’re not talking so much about being terrified or frightened of Yah such that we run away and hide from Him because we fear for our lives. Indeed, Yehovah does not want that type of relationship for His chosen ones.

 

Abba Yah did not intend for us to pull away in terror of Him at the display of His irresistible power on the day that He revealed Himself to us on Mount Sinai and spoke to us His ten-commandments. But as Moshe explained, it was Abba Yah’s intent “that His fear may be in you, so that you do not sin. (Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society, Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), Ex 20:20.) Yah wanted there to be implanted into our psyche such a mind of, what I will call here, fearful respect of Him that we would not transgress His Torah.

 

What Abba wants from His chosen ones is obedience, trust, love, and a substantive intimate relationship such that they are quite aware of Who He is and the great things that He can and will do for us if we remain true to Him, and what will happen to us when we cross and transgress Him and His ways.

 

Yes, Abba Yah wants His chosen ones to revere, be loyal, impressed by, faithful towards Him, and the like. But He wants us to truly fear Him because there is great benefit to be had by us when we have trepidation, apprehension, an uneasiness, and disquietude toward Him.

 

The Psalmist wrote that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: A good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth forever” (111:10; KJV; cf. Pro 1:7; 9:10).

 

We desperately need a measure of Godly wisdom in order to make it into the Kingdom. Our Master Yeshua came to impart His Father’s wisdom to us in a way that only He, as the Son of Yehovah, could deliver. That’s why it is imperative that we develop an intense hunger and thirst for Him and His Father’s righteousness such that we grow in Godly wisdom.

 

I believe when we turn a blind eye to what it truly means to fear Elohim, such as having trepidation, apprehension, an uneasiness, or disquietude toward Him, and we substitute the biblical meaning of “the fear of God” with milk-toast terms such as awe, reverence, loyalty, and the like, we leave open the door to making God into whatever image or likeness that we want Him to be.

 

Consider the practices of some of our Denominationalist brethren who place the entirety of their eternal security upon their warped understanding of “grace.” Their perverted grace doctrine has conditioned many of them to not fear Yehovah, as scripture teaches. To these, grace covers every fault they had in the past, that they have in the present, and that they will have in the future. Therefore, they erroneously rationalize that there’s no need to truly fear the Holy Creator of the Universe. And because there’s no need to truly fear the Holy Creator of the Universe, there is no need to obey His instructions in righteousness nor walk in our Master Yeshua’s footsteps. All one need do is to possess a cognitive understanding (i.e. believe) that Jesus died for his/her sins and ask Him to take up residence in their heart. To these, Yah has no expectation whatsoever of them. They’ve arrived and nothing Yehovah or Yeshua may say contrary to their erroneous beliefs will change the fact that they are guaranteed eternal life and a place in the Kingdom.

 

 Again, for the nominal Christian, there is no need to fear Yehovah. Sadly, this rejection of Biblically fearing Yehovah, I believe, has led to the gulf that exists between our Faith Community and Denominational Christianity. When we came into this beloved faith of ours and the scales of spiritual blindness fell from our eyes and the deafness of truly hearing Yah’s voice in our lives was unstopped in our ears, we gained an immediate fear of Yehovah. If you were like me, upon learning that we’d inherited lies, we feared the consequences of what our years of ignorant disobedience and rebelliousness would bring us if we didn’t straighten up and fly right. Our hearts were broken at the thought that we’d let our beloved Creator down because of our previous life of disobedience and rebelliousness. And it was that fear of Elohim that was finally ignited within us that led to us truly taking up our execution stake and following Yahoshua HaMashiyach for the rest of our lives (Mat 16:24; Mar 8:34; 10:21; Luk 9:23). We received, through Yah’s indwelling, Set-Apart Spirit, an “I want to obey” heart, mind, and soul. And we became fearfully sin-conscious, constantly searching for — asking Yehovah to reveal to us — those sinful elements in our lives that “doth so easily beset us” (Heb 12:1). Our greatest fear is that we will disappoint Yehovah and damage our loving, covenant relationship with Him because of some unreconciled sin. We always want to make things right with our God. So yes, we develop an perpetual, genuine fear of Yehovah.

 

True Biblical fear of Elohim affords those that would be His to come into His presence unimpeded (i.e. unimpeded by unreconciled sin) and commune with Him. The one who truly fears Yehovah knows that Abba Yah can see right through them as He is a discerner of the heart, the thoughts and intents of the human soul (Heb 4:12). Thus, he/she is careful when they come into Yah’s presence that they not be found by Him to be in an unclean state (i.e. an impure heart, mind, and body). We cringe at the thought that we may have crossed Him, disappointed Him, or worse, offended Him and transgressed His Torah. We take nothing for granted when it comes to our covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe. So we go the extra-mile by seeking His forgiveness for unreconciled sin and petitioning that we once again be permitted to enter His divine presence. We petition Him to reveal to us those things in our being that displease Him and we ask His help to overcome those obstacles to our relationship with Him.

 

 

Yah’s greatness causes those that come into His presence to not just respect and revere Him, but to tremble at His presence (Exo 14:30-31; Deu 7:21; Psa 99:3).

 

We fear certain things that if not handled properly by us, may result in our harm: Fire, electricity, water/flood, structural integrity of our homes, the integrity of our relationships, the government, nature, and so forth. The fear of such things typically don’t cause us to avoid them outright because we know there is great benefit to be had if we are obedient to their proper use; that is, if we possess a healthy fear of them.

 

If we were children who were raised by moral and loving parents, we learned to fear them. Yes, we may have revered them, but we also feared them. We feared the consequences of what might happen to us if we crossed them or transgressed their house rules.

 

Those of us who are married and we love our spouses are careful to not cause upset to our relationship (e.g. do something that our spouse won’t approve of or will be injured by such as our cheating on them and so forth). We fear the consequences of what may happen if we wrong our spouses and transgress Yah’s Torah.

 

These same principles apply to our relationship with Yehovah. It’s one thing to reverence, respect, and adore Yehovah which we are compelled to do anyway. But we enter an entirely different level of relationship with Yah when we truly fear Him as He demands of us to do.

 

We are called to be “God-fearers,” not in the classic, orthodox Jewish sense that the title once served as a bone to Gentiles who simply wanted to serve and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but were led to take a pass on becoming a religious Jew. But a God-fearer from God’s perspective. Where we wake-up every morning and with firm resolve “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phi 2:12; 2 Cor 2:3). Where we serve Yehovah with fear and rejoice with trembling because we know Who He truly is: that He is sovereign and all powerful (Psa 2:11). We start to learn that we are not to fear people that can only kill our physical bodies, but we fear the Creator of the Universe that can completely destroy all traces of our being in the Lake of Fire (Mat 10:28; Heb 13:6). We tremble and fear Yehovah because we know the mighty and awesome work He has done in our lives and in the lives of His set apart people throughout the ages. As disciples of Yeshua Messiah, we recognize that our whole duty is to fear Yehovah and keep His commandments, and His commandments are our Master’s commandments (Deu 8:6; Ecc 12:13; Joh 14:15). We know that when we fear our Elohim, He will deliver us from our enemies (2 Kin 17:39). In fact, our fear of Yehovah becomes our confidence (Job 4:6).

 

We humans transgress our Creator’s ways and instructions when we lose (although most of us never had it in the first place) any and all fear of Yehovah. And how do we lose fear of Yehovah? We lose our fear of Yehovah when we stop believing Him and we instead start believing people over Yah. Genuine faith and belief in Yehovah and in His Son Yeshua induce genuine fear of Yehovah. When we believe Yehovah is Who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do, then we are compelled to fear Him. It’s just that simple.

 

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Cornelius — The God-Fearer

 

Luke records Cornelius being the first “named” Gentile converted to the Netsarim (aka Nazarene) Faith. He is described as being a Caesarean native and a captain of a Roman army regiment. Spiritually, he was righteous, and he feared God, along with his entire household (Act 10:2). Cornelius “beseeched” or earnestly prayed to Yehovah throughout each day of his life. (Some have suggested that he was actually reciting Jewish liturgies as part of his daily routine.) Furthermore, Cornelius rendered many alms before the people (that is, he was a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7) to the local synagogue he attended and to the poor of his community). Indeed, given this character sketch, it is likely that Cornelius not only feared Yehovah in his person, but was a qualified “God-fearer” according to orthodox Jewish custom.

 

Many of us focus on the religious classification that the title “God-fearer” places on this man and his household, which I will not attempt to marginalize here. I do think that him being a God-fearer in the eyes of orthodox Judaism, that is a Gentile who takes up Judaism as a way of life but who chooses not to convert to Judaism (aka become proselytized which leads to physical circumcision and total conformity to the Jewish religion) for whatever reason, is a relevant factor in the storyline. But let us not be fooled into understanding the realities of the title God-fearer that Rabbinic Jews conferred upon certain classes of Gentiles. It was a porous barrier that permitted certain well-to-do Gentiles to take part in restricted worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob while maintaining “the middle wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile. The Apostle Paul (aka Shaul) recognized that Yehovah never intended for Gentiles to be excluded from worshiping and walking out a life of Torah. Yehovah used the Person and ministry of Yeshua, Israel’s Messiah, to break down the middle wall of partition that separated the Jew from the Gentile believer, bringing them together as one man. (Eph 2:14)

 

 

Denominationalists have feloniously failed to understand the meaning of the vision that led Peter (aka Kefa) to Cornelius’ home and to Cornelius and his family coming into a covenant relationship with Yehovah through Yeshua Messiah. The true meaning of the vision of the sheet knitted at its four corners holding several unclean animals descending to the apostle with a voice instructing Kefa to “rise, kill, and eat” has been feloniously misinterpreted by denominationalists for centuries, despite Kefa himself declaring the vision’s true meaning to any who has eyes to see and ears to hear. The denominationalists, as most of you know, have used Kefa’s vision of the sheet holding unclean animals to promote their anti-Torah agenda, this time focusing on Yehovah’s dietary Torah. (Lev 11:1-47; Deu 14:3-21) The truth of the matter is that Kefa’s vision was not about the free consumption of meat by God’s people, be those creatures clean or unclean. The Holy Spirit revealed to Kefa the true meaning of the vision:

 

(25) And it came to be that when Kefa entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and bowed before him. (26) But Kefa raised him up, saying, “Stand up, I myself am also a man.” (27) And talking with him, he went in and found many who had come together. (28) And he said to them, “You know that a Yehudi (aka a Jewish) man is not allowed to associate with, or go to one of another race. But Elohim has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. (29) That is why I came without hesitation when I was sent for…(34) Truly I see that Elohim shows no partiality, (35) but in every nation, he who FEARS HIM AND WORKS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ACCEPTED BY HIM.” (Act 10; The Scriptures ISR).

 

And of course, as the story goes, Kefa delivers unto Cornelius and his household the unadulterated Gospel message. Amid Kefa’s sermon, “the Set-apart Spirit fell upon all those hearing the world. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Kefa, because the gift of the Set-apart Spirit had been poured out on the nations also for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and extolling Elohim” (Act 10:45-46; The Scriptures ISR).

 

This historic event was followed up by Cornelius and his household being water-immersed by Kefa and his evangelistic team. (Act 10:48)

 

Let us not fall for Denominationalists’ false narrative that Cornelius and all non-Jews that followed him into the Nazarene Faith began living a lawless/Torahless life upon their conversion. Let us not overlook the reality that before Cornelius and his household officially transitioned to the Nazarene Faith, they feared God, which means they walked in Yehovah’s ways to the best of their knowledge and ability. They kept Torah to the best of their knowledge and ability. And although the Gospel record of Luke is silent on Cornelius’ life after his conversion, history bears out non-Jewish converts to the Way worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and walked in His ways right alongside their Messianic Jewish brethren in their local synagogue and in fellow-believers’ homes. (Act 2:42, 46)

 

This is a primer for our upcoming discussion on the Jerusalem Council’s Edict and its bearing on our salvation and inextricable link to Israel.

 

It is my hope, trust, and prayer, beloved, that we all learn to fear Yehovah in such a way that we walk blameless before our Elohim and receive His shalom over our lives.

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The Call For God’s People to be Jealous with His Jealousy — Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 118

by | Feb 2, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

 

And greetings elect of the Most High. Welcome back to the Messianic Torah Observer. I’m Rod Thomas, coming to you on Preparation Day, the 21st day of the 11th month of Yah’s biblical calendar year. That translates into 2/2/2024 on the pagan Roman Calendar.

 

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to fellowship with me as we prepare to enter Yah’s Sabbath. And as always, beloved, it is my hope, trust, and prayer that this installment of TMTO finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

 

This is “The Call For God’s People to be Jealous with His Jealousy.” This will be my thoughts and reflections on the 118th Reading in our 3-year Torah Reading cycle.”

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As has been my custom for the past year or so, I posted my thoughts and reflections on Torah Reading 117 in written format on themessianictorahobserver.org. 

 

As it turns out, this week’s Reading is a direct carryover from last week’s Reading. That reading included the story of Phinehas, son of Eleazar the High Priest at that time, executing a couple he witnessed engaged in the heinous and abominable act of Ba’al of Peor worship. (We’ll get a little into what Ba’al of Peor worship involved in just a moment.)

 

Yehovah, our Elohim, reacted favorably to Phinehas’ righteous act, describing Phinehas as being “jealous with His jealousy.” (We will talk about what that means.)

 

As a reward, Yehovah conferred upon Phinehas and his seed His “Covenant of Peace,” which we will also discuss a little later in this post.

 

 

Before we can discuss Yehovah’s reaction to and actions toward Phinehas, I want to return to last week’s Reading (i.e. 117) and look at Phinehas’ actions from a couple of perspectives. This will help establish some context for our discussion this week as well as possibly answer some questions that may crop in your mind as it relates to the story’s details.

 

I will read the last four verses of last week’s reading, which should set the table for our discussion today.

 

 

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family (i.e. Zimri, the Ba’al of Peor worshiping Israelite), in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly (their names being later given in our text today as Zimri and Kosbi). Thus, the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Nu 25:6–9.)

 

What is the background to this tragic event?

 

As mentioned in Reading 117, while we were encamped in Shittim, along the border of Moab, we had devolved as a people into unimaginable apostacy. Specifically, we had given ourselves over to Ba’al of Peor worship.

 

This form of Ba’al worship was especially heinous and offensive. Without getting too graphic, it incorporated open sex acts as a feature of worship. Recall in 25:1 that besides our rendering sacrifices and bowing down to Ba’al, we began to “whore with the daughters of Moab.” (ESV)

 

So, our apostacy wasn’t only about us committing fornication and adultery with the woman of Moab; it was more about us engaging in adultery and fornication as part of our worship of Ba’al of Peor. Moshe described us as having “yoked” ourselves to Ba’al of Peor.

 

Now, the Septuagint offers a slightly different optic and logistic to this story that differs slightly from the way the ESV and other Masoretic-based texts render this story. These two differences add a little more texture to the story that I believe we need to consider before going further into our study.

 

6 And behold, a man of the sons of Israel (i.e. a native-born Israeli) went and brought his brother (aka “adelphos” or a son of the same mother) to a Midianite woman in front of Moses and before the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, and they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of testimony. 7 And seeing this, Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, rose up out of the midst of the congregation and took a barbed lance in his hand. 8 He went in after the Israelite man into the furnace (i.e. “kaminos” or kiln for smelting, baking, burning earthenware and bricks) and pierced both of them, both the Israelite man and the woman, through her womb. Then the plague was ceased from the sons of Israel. 9 Now those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand. (Rick Brannan, Ken M. Penner et al., The Lexham English Septuagint, Second Edition. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), Nu 25:6–9.)

 

So, the Septuagint records that an (unnamed) Israeli man brought his brother to a Midianite woman in clear view of Moshe and the entire congregation of Yisrael. Remember, as this incident is playing out, because of our apostacy, Yah’s wrath manifested throughout our encampment as a deadly plague (25:8). As a result, Moshe and the congregation of Yisra’el (presumably those who had not yoked themselves to Ba’al of Peor worship) had assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Testimony to weep and petition Yehovah for mercy. (25:6) The text described Yah as being “incensed with wrath” against us.

 

The JPS rendering, a Masoretic-based text, describes the situation where “one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, in the sight of Moses and of the whole Israelite community who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” (Michael Carasik, ed., Numbers: NJPS English Translation, trans. Michael Carasik, First edition., The Commentators’ Bible (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 2011), Nu 25:6.)

 

This nuance to the storyline suggests that there was at least one member of our congregation (possibly more, we don’t know) that was actively promoting Ba’al of Peor sex-worship to us. This individual ends up pairing Zimri with this Midianite prostitute whose name we later learn is Kosbi. In other words, this unnamed man was acting in the capacity of a “pimp” and he was engaging in such heinous and disgusting activity amid a raging, deadly plague and in plain view of Moshe and the righteous remnant of Yisra’el. This shows that there are no limits to the wicked intent of the human heart, such that, even amid Yah’s wrath, man will pursue evil. (Can you imagine what the Great Tribulation is going to be like?) Yehovah describes the human heart as being “desperately wicked.” (Jer 17:9)

 

The second nuance I need to point out to you is that the Septuagint rendering records that outraged and impassioned Phinehas (Son of Eleazar the High Priest at this time) followed the couple “into the furnace” and ran them both through with a “barbed lance” (i.e. a spear or javelin).

 

Interestingly, the JPS records Phinehas followed the couple “into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly.” (Michael Carasik, ed., Numbers: NJPS English Translation, trans. Michael Carasik, First edition., The Commentators’ Bible (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 2011), Nu 25:8.)

 

I don’t know about you, but the various teachings I’ve listened to in this story have always led me to believe that Phinehas executed this couple inside Zimri’s personal tent or dwelling. However, these two texts make me question this thinking. We know the assembled congregation at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting saw this couple go into a “chamber” (JPS which J. H. Hertz in his Torah-Haftarah defines as “the inner division of the large vaulted tents that were used as the apartment of the women,” pg. 679) and or a place that housed a “furnace” (LXX); possibly a tent that members of our congregation erected for the expressed purpose of Ba’al of Peor worship that may have also housed an altar of some sort by which worshipers would render sacrifices unto Ba’al of Peor in conjunction with their abominable sex acts. Regardless, this is the place that Phinehas does them both in and it doesn’t appear to be Zimri’s personal dwelling.

 

In his “Studies in the Torah — Numbers,” Tim Hegg puts forth the theory Zimri (or a fellow Israeli) accompanies Cozbi (the Midianite sex-cult prostitute) into the Tent of Meeting to engage in their abominable act of Ba’al of Peor worship. (p. 176) Mr. Hegg supports this theory by citing that this event took place “in the sight of Moses and all Israel, who were weeping at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting” … and “that Phinehas went into the tent when he struck them through.” He further writes they (i.e. the couple) were engaging in this fertility ritual within the Holy Place and the sin of Ba’al Peor had entered into the very Sanctuary of HaShem.” (pg. 176)

 

Hegg further supports his theory by mentioning a little background information on Torah’s stance on capital punishment. He supports his theory by citing that our congregation cannot administer capital punishment without first having the alleged criminal face a court of judges who would render a capital punishment verdict based upon the testimony of two or three witnesses. Once the court renders a guilty verdict, it falls to the witnesses to cast the first stones in that individual’s public execution. (Deu 17:6-11)

We see, however, in the case of Zimri and Kosbi, that Phinehas did not adhere to this judicial process. Instead, Phinehas summarily executes the couple without deference to the Law.

 

So, we must answer the question of why Yah openly favored Phinehas for carrying out this summary execution outside of these Torah provisions. Did Yah make an exception for Phinehas because he acted with Yah’s jealousy or zeal or passion? And in my mind’s eye, this is where the theory that the couple engaged in their abominable act within the confines of the Sanctuary makes some sense.

 

For all intents and purposes, the Tabernacle was sort of its own country within the congregation of Israel. Consequently, there is a separate set of rules governing Tabernacle operations. The Levites alone were responsible for overseeing all aspects of Tabernacle operations, including enforcing the maintenance of its utter sanctity.

 

53 But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony. (The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Nu 1:53.)

 

This being the case, and if the offense did in fact take place within the confines of the Tabernacle proper, then Phinehas fulfilled his duty as a Levitical Priest. He would have upheld the sanctity of the Tabernacle as Yah tasked the Levites with doing.

 

I, however, have a hard time believing that the couple engaged in their abominable act within the Tabernacle proper. Given all that we’ve discussed up to this point, I will concede that the traditional story of the couple engaging in Ba’al of Peor sex worship took place in Zimri’s tent is not accurate. It seems to me that the couple did what they did, and Phinehas did what he did, in a tent that members of our congregation set-up for Ba’al of Peor worship that was proximal (aka close) to the Sanctuary; maybe within the confines of the Sanctuary courtyard even. I can’t image that Moshe and the attending Levites would have permitted anyone other than a qualified Aaronic Priest to enter the Tent of Meeting in the first place. But if we had erected a tent for Ba’al worship somewhere near the Sanctuary grounds, Phinehas would have been legally justified in dispatching the couple the way he did.

 

But that’s just my thoughts and reflections on this matter. What do you think? How do you read and understand these passages? What spiritual applications can you draw from this part of our story that will enhance your walk in Messiah?

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Now that we have this background established before us, we can delve into this week’s Reading, which is contained in Numbers 25:10-26:51.

 

For our time together here today, we will only discuss Numbers 25:10-15, which reads:

 

 

10And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

11“Pineḥas, son of El‛azar, son of Aharon the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Yisra’ěl, because he was ardent with My ardour in their midst (i.e. Phinehas was jealous/passionate/zealous with My jealousy/passion/zeal), so that I did not consume the children of Yisra’ěl in My ardour. 12“Therefore say, ‘See, I am giving him My covenant of peace, 13and it shall be to him and to his seed after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was ardent for his Elohim, and made atonement for the children of Yisra’ěl.’ ” 14And the name of the man of Yisra’ěl who was struck, who was struck with the Miḏyanite woman, was Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Shim‛onites. 15And the name of the Miḏyanite woman who was struck was Kozbi the daughter of Tsur. He was head of the people of a father’s house in Miḏyan. (The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Nu 25:10–15.)

 

 

Yah tells Moshe that Phinehas’ righteous actions turned His righteous anger/wrath away from us. Yah described Phinehas’ actions as that of being “jealous with His jealousy.” Phinehas’ jealousy prevented our destruction.

 

Who was Phinehas? He was the son of the current High Priest, Eleazar. (1 Chr 6:4-15) So, he was an Aaronic Priest serving under His high priestly father, Eleazar.

 

 

 

Let’s talk about what Yehovah meant by describing Phinehas as being “jealous with His jealousy.”

Phinehas remained in solidarity with Yehovah amid great apostasy. R. Dennis Cole describes this as “the likemindedness of Phinehas with that of Yahweh.” (R. Dennis Cole, Numbers, vol. 3B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 443.)

The Hebrew term for “jealous/jealousy” as used in our text is “qana’”. “Qana” means to express “qin’ah” (i.e. zeal or passion) against something or against the offensive actions of another. Here in our reading, “Phinehas expressed God’s own zeal; he acted on his behalf.” (Baruch A. Levine, Numbers 21–36: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 4A, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 289.) It can also be described as “to become deeply impassioned” or “to become furiously jealous.” (R. Dennis Cole, Numbers, vol. 3B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 443.) The word, from this idiomatic sense, would carry the same emotion as that of a husband who believes or knows that his wife has been cheating on him (i.e. Num 5:11-31). Such a one is sorely jealous towards his wife. Thus, in like manner, Yehovah demands faithfulness from His bride (e.g. Exo 20:4-5). Any such transgression by Yah’s set apart people to the contrary (i.e. whoring after false gods as in the case of Ba’al of Peor) is subject to Yehovah’s holy and righteous wrath, which we’ve seen manifested in the form of plagues and summary executions of members of our community throughout our story line in recent weeks.

 

Qanna/jealous/passion/zeal for the things of Yehovah as expressed in our reading is not unique to our reading passage. Eliyahu (aka Elijah) declares to Yehovah when asked why he was hiding out in a cave: “I have been very zealous (aka “qana’”) for Yahweh the God of hosts (note, the LXX records Eliyahu as answering Yah: “Being zealous (aka qana’), I am zealous (aka qin’ah’) for Yehovah because…”), for the ⌊Israelites⌋ have forsaken your covenant. They have demolished your altars, and they have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left over, and they seek to take my life. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), 1 Ki 19:10.)

 

Then over in Zechariah, Yehovah declares His zealousness (aka jealousy/qana’) over Yerushalayim and Zion: “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘⌊I am exceedingly jealous (aka “qana’” for Zion⌋; I am jealous (aka “qin’ah”) for it with great wrath.’ (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Zec 8:2.) Here, Yah declares out of His zeal/jealousy/passion – His “qana’” for Jerusalem and Zion, that He will destroy (aka “killah“) those who have destroyed her.

 

Because of Phinehas’ zealous act, Yah established with him and his seed a new covenant. This new covenant Yah referred to as His Covenant of Peace (i.e. “beriti shalom”). The covenant of peace was to be an everlasting priesthood built upon Phinehas’ zealousness for His Elohim and the atonement he made on our behalf that day. Yah reckoned Phinehas as righteous because of this one righteous act (Psa 106:28-31) – his “qana’”.

 

Mattathias of the Maccabees fame, upon his deathbed, called his sons to the same level of zealousness for Torah and the Covenant that Phinehas possessed:

 

50 Now therefore, my sons, be ye zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your fathers. (The Apocrypha: King James Version (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), 1 Mac 2:50.) 54 Phinehas our father in being zealous and fervent obtained the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. (The Apocrypha: King James Version (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), 1 Mac 2:54.)

 

It was this zealousness that propelled the Maccabees to defeating the great Macedonian military.

 

“The Rule of the Blessings” liturgical scroll from Qumran calls for a renewal of the Covenant of Peace to be placed over the Essene Community (1QSb 3:26).

 

By virtue of his Aaronic lineage, Phinehas was already assured the priestly privileges. His righteous act and the ensuing eternal covenant of peace confirmed his divinely appointed priestly destiny.

 

Phinehas’ priesthood would later be referred to as the Zadokite Priesthood. (Eze 44:15-16) Phinehas’ priestly dynasty was chosen by Yehovah to serve Him in His House of Prayer forever:

 

15 But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who cared for the responsibility of my sanctuary ⌊when the Israelites went astray⌋ from me, they will approach me to serve me, and they will stand ⌊before me⌋ to offer to me fat and blood,” ⌊declares⌋ the Lord Yahweh. 16 “They shall come to my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table to serve me, and they will observe my requirement. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Eze 44:15–16.)

 

Beyond this talk of being zealous or passionate for those things that Yehovah is zealous or passionate about, the covenant of peace that emerged from Phinehas’ act is really about an everlasting priesthood (i.e. Berit kehunnat ‘olam”). This everlasting priesthood was to be headed and inspired by the zealous spirit of Phinehas.

 

It should be noted that Yah placed no stipulations upon Phinehas nor his seed in order for this covenant to remain in force. Some would label this as a unilateral or non-conditional covenant, although in reality, Yah did not cut a truly conditional covenant with us. All of Yah’s covenant promises are irrevocable and permanent, despite what we do to infringe upon or transgress the tenets of those covenants.

 

The permanence of this covenant was reiterated by Yehovah when we went into Babylonian Captivity:

 

10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills may sway, but my faithfulness shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not sway,” says Yahweh, who has compassion on you… (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Is 54:10.)

 

That same covenant of peace will continue into the Millennial Kingdom:

 

24 And I, Yahweh, I will be for them ⌊as God⌋, and my servant David will be a leader in the midst of them. I, Yahweh, I have spoken. 25 And I will make them a covenant of peace, and I will put an end to wild animals from the land, and they will dwell in the desert ⌊safely⌋, and they will sleep in the forest. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Eze 34:24–25.)

 

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The direct descendants of Phinehas who are privileged of Yehovah to render priestly services unto Him in the Millennial Kingdom were the sons of Zadok. Zadok means “righteous”. Zadok is derived from the Hebrew noun “the Lord is righteous.”

 

Who was Zadok? He was a Levitical Priest who was loyal to King David. (2 Sam 8:17; 1 Chr 6:3-8) Zadok continued to serve as a Cohen (aka priest) into Solomon’s reign. During David’s reign as king, Ithamar’s descendants served as High Priests. The scriptures show Zadok anointed Solomon and took on the role of High Priest (1 Kin 1:39-45). However, Ithamar’s corrupted descendants, coupled with Zadok’s abiding loyalty to kings David and Solomon, led to the high priesthood being passed on to Zadok’s descendants. This change in the high priesthood was not a knee-jerk reaction to the corruption that had crept into the priestly ranks. In response to the corruption of Eli’s priestly line, Yah declared He would raise up for Himself a reliable priest (1 Sam 2:35). Thus, the Zadokite high priestly dynasty emerged. We often refer to these righteous descendants of Zadok as Zadokim or the Zadokites.

 

Despite several texts certifying Zadok descended from Aaron and Eleazar, other texts seem to suggest otherwise. Some scholars allege that Zadok was not of Aaron’s and Eleazar’s lineage and that he descended from an unknown line that certain scribes have gone to great lengths to erase. I personally doubt Zadok descended from any priestly line other than Eleazar’s and Phinehas’. We see in our reading this week that Yehovah promised Phinehas an everlasting priesthood of peace. Zadok and his priestly dynasty matches to a tee the zeal (i.e. “qana’”) for the priestly office as originated by Phinehas. Furthermore, Yehovah, through His Prophet Ezekiel certified Zadok descended from Aaron and Eleazar. (Eze 4:46)

 

The steadfast loyalty of Zadok’s sons to the exacting ways of Yehovah and their priestly responsibilities caught Yehovah’s attention. Through His prophet Ezekiel, Yah appointed the sons of Zadok to be His select priestly line to serve Him in His Son’s millennial kingdom.

 

And the chamber ⌊with its face to the north⌋ is for the priests who are taking care of the responsibility of the altar. They are the descendants of Zadok, the ones who approach from among the descendants of Levi to Yahweh to serve him. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Eze 40:46.)

 

And you must give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, the ones coming near me,” ⌊declares⌋ the Lord Yahweh, “to serve me, a bull, ⌊a calf⌋ as a sin offering. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Eze 43:19.)

 

15 But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who cared for the responsibility of my sanctuary ⌊when the Israelites went astray⌋ from me, they will approach me to serve me, and they will stand ⌊before me⌋ to offer to me fat and blood,” ⌊declares⌋ the Lord Yahweh. 16 “They shall come to my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table to serve me, and they will observe my requirement. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Eze 44:15–16.)

 

11 To the priests, the ones being consecrated from the descendants of Zadok, who took care of my service and who ⌊did not go astray⌋ ⌊when the Israelites went astray⌋, ⌊just as⌋ the Levites went astray. 12 And it will be for them a special gift from the contribution of the land ⌊as a most holy object⌋ next to the territory of the Levites. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Eze 48:11–12.)

 

What we see playing out here is evidence that Yah will surely keep His covenant promise to Phinehas of an eternal covenant of peace.

 

Loyal and zealous Zadok didn’t just serve as a priest during David’s rule. He also served as a fierce warrior in David’s army. Yehovah had taken Saul’s rule over Israel away from him and gave it over to David. (1 Chr 12) We find in 1 Chronicles and Josephus (Ant. VII. ii. 2) record of Zadok serving David as a military commander in battles against Israel’s enemies (i.e. against the Jebusites and Philistines).

 

The priests, Joshua son of Jehozadak and Ezra, that accompanied us in our return to the Land from Babylonian captivity were Zadok descendants (Ezr 7:1-7). Even during the time of our captivity, these sons of Zadok remained true to their priestly calling. As a result, Yah’s hand was upon Ezra (7:6). The zeal of the Zadokite priests remained through the time of the Maccabees, after which political intrigue all but forced them underground and out of service. Some believe, as I, that the priestly descendants of Zadok abandoned the second Temple in Jerusalem and took up residence in Qumran. The Essenes of Qumran, as evident in some of their sacred texts (aka the Dead Sea Scrolls), extolled the legitimacy and virtue of the Zadokite priesthood. Some scholars speculate that the Qumran Essenes included members of the Zadokite priesthood. I find this theory to be plausible, given the zeal we know the Essenes held for Yehovah and His Ways. These believed that the Jerusalem Temple establishment was irreparably corrupt. Thus, these Zadokim uprooted themselves from the politics and corruption of the Jerusalem temple establishment and resettled in Qumran where they safeguarded the oracles of Yehovah (aka the Dead Sea Scrolls). 

 

Interestingly, some have linked the first century Jewish sect of the Sadducees with the Zadokite priestly line. Certain scholars have declared that the title Sadducee is derived from Zadok. (Reference: Mark Allan Powel, Harper Collins Bible Dictionary) Michael Rood in his Gospel Chronology is a firm advocate of this thinking. We know from the Gospel record that the first century priestly line (i.e. the Sadducees) was indeed irreparably corrupt. To think that the Sadducees were of the same timber as the righteous sons of Zadok is suspect to me. I tend to side with the righteous Zadok line, finding her last recorded location in Qumran to be more in line with the zealous character of Phinehas to be the most plausible theory of the two.

 

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Baruch A. Levine, in his commentary on the Book of Numbers, made the bold move of renaming the Covenant of Peace to that of a Covenant of Fellowship:

 

“Behold, I am granting him my covenant, fellowship.” That is to say, my covenant will consist of fellowship. (Baruch A. Levine, Numbers 21–36: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 4A, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 289.)

 

When I first came across Levine’s statement, I rejected it outright, but then I reflected upon it. It later became clear to me that indeed one of Yehovah’s deepest desires and goals is to establish a relationship and be in loving and peaceful fellowship with His chosen ones. Yet, when we are in a rebellious state of being, as we were during our time of apostacy in Shittim, there can be no such fellowship with Him.

 

When we choose Yehovah and His ways over that of the world and its ways, we have the privilege of partaking of this covenant of peace, aka, this covenant of fellowship. Yehovah is zealous (aka “qana’”) about His standards and about His people remaining true to Him and His ways. He described Himself to us as being a jealous (aka “qana’”) God; a consuming fire (Exo 34:14; Deu 4:24). He commanded and informed us that:

 

9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them (i.e. false gods): for I the LORD thy God am a jealous (aka “qana’”) God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me…(The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Dt 5:9–6:15.)

 

We cannot truly walk in covenant with Yehovah unless we are zealous/passionate/jealous – “qana’” about the things that He is zealous/passionate/jealous about. There must be a singleness of heart and mind between us and our Elohim for there to be true fellowship. The prophet asked a key question of us as Yah prepared to punish us for our iniquities:

 

Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Am 3:3.) And of course, the answer to this critical question is no. We cannot be in fellowship with the Creator of the Universe when we are at odds with Him and His ways. That’s why He brought a devastating plague upon us in response to our disgusting apostacy with Ba’al of Peor. We had broken fellowship with Him because we sought after and worshiped Ba’al. It wasn’t until Phinehas displayed such burning zeal (aka “qana’”) for Yehovah and His ways and stood against our apostacy that Yehovah stayed the plague and restored fellowship or “shalom” between us and Him.

 

Master Yahoshua possessed such passion/zeal/jealousy/”qana’” for Yehovah and His House (aka the Temple) that He cleanse the Temple Mount of the merchants and money changers (Joh 2:14-17). Such “qana’” was prophesied to be an established character trait of the Messiah:

 

8 I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother’s sons,

9 because the zeal for your house (i.e. your Temple) has consumed me, and the reproaches of those reproaching you have fallen on me. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Ps 69:8–9.)

 

If our consuming aim is to make it into the Kingdom, we must imitate our Master Yeshua in every way possible. This includes being “qana’” or zealous for the things of Yehovah. Our “qana’” for the things of Yehovah must consume us, as it did Yahoshua and Phinehas. And if we find ourselves with such burning passion/jealousy/zeal/”qana’” for the things and ways of Yehovah, He will honor us by cutting and maintaining a covenant of peace or fellowship with us.

 

How do we get to the place in our walk with Messiah that we possess such a consuming, burning passion for the things and ways of Yehovah? Well, we must seek — pursue Yehovah’s righteousness and His kingdom. And the easiest way of accomplishing this is to believe Master Yeshua and commit to walking only in His ways. And the only way we can accomplish this is to devour Yah’s Word, pray without ceasing, obey His instructions in righteousness, and listen to His voice, because Yah’s Ways are our Master’s Ways.

 

In so doing, we begin to develop a deep and abiding relationship with Master Yahoshua and His Father. Over time, we will become jealous/”qana’” with Yehovah’s jealousy/”qin’ah” because we are being transformed into the image of Master Yeshua. (Rom 8:29; Col 3:10) Consequently, Yeshua is the splitting image of His Father. (Heb 10:1)

 

Now, more than at any other time in history, Yehovah’s elect must be “qana’” with Yehovah’s “qana’” (Num 25:11). The world has devolved to such a state that that which is good is considered by the world as evil and that which is evil the world now sees as good. (Isa 5:20) Yah declares His fierce anger upon those who embrace such foolishness. It thus falls to us, Yah’s chosen ones, to jealously walk in His righteous ways and teach the world to do so as well. Yah is counting on us to image Him in this fallen, corrupt world. He’s given us all we need to accomplish this: He’s given us His Holy Spirit and His Word. And if we are willing to hold the line, using the resources He’s placed at our disposal, we can’t help but be victorious and forever in peaceful/fellowship covenant with our Creator.

 

The apostle wrote to the Messianic Roman Assembly:

 

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Ro 8:35–39.)

 

Have a blessed Sabbath and an overcoming week in Yeshua Messiah, beloved of Yehovah.

 

Take care.

 

Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 80

by | Apr 24, 2023 |

Shalom! We pray that you had a restful and meaningful Sabbath this past week. This past Sabbath’s Torah Portion was the 81st parshah of the 3-year Torah Reading Cycle. (If you are so led to participate in reading and studying the weekly Torah Readings, we have put the...

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Shabbat Zachor 2023-Our Sabbath of Remembrance

by | Mar 4, 2023 |

Shabbat Shalom Beloved. Our Torah and Haftorah Reading in Light of Where we are on the Calendar This is a special Shabbat, for it is the Shabbat that immediately precedes the Jewish holiday of Purim. According to our observational calendar, Purim will occur at sundown...

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Our God’s Blessings and Promises are Irrevocable — Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 117

by | Jan 27, 2024 | Blog

Greetings!

Shabbat Shalom saints of the Most High.

It is the 15th day of the 11th biblical calendar month and the 27th day of the 1st month of the Roman calendar year of 2024.

I pray, trust, and hope that this week’s Thoughts and Reflections find you, your families, and your fellowships well in blessed.

This is “God’s Blessings and Promises are Irrevocable.” It is the 117th reading or portion of our 3-year Torah Reading Cycle.

What follows is my commentary (i.e. my thoughts and reflections) on of this week’s Torah Reading, which is contained in Numbers 23:1-25:9. (I would encourage you to read the passage using whatever Bible translation suits you. Except for just a few verses, I have not recorded the entire text of our reading to save time and space.)

Seven Altars and Seven Sacrifices — The Futile Efforts of Evil Man to Get God’s Attention

(23.1-3) The sacrifices that Balaam instructs Balak to offer are not in accordance with the worship instructions Abba gave us. The number 7 factors prominently here: 7-altars, 7-rams, and 7-bulls. However, it is uncertain whether they adhered to some prescribed pagan manner while performing this ritual. Yah spent the better part of the book of Leviticus instructing us on his exacting method of conducting sacrifices (i.e. for worship). No sanctioned priests presided over these sacrifices. It is also unclear as to whom these sacrifices were being offered to. The text does not inform us as to the significance of this ritual.

The other thing that strikes me as curious is that it is unclear if all that Balaam is doing (and having Balak do) is for a show or is it following some pagan prescription. After Balak performs the sacrifices, Balaam instructs him to remain by his sacrifices while he goes and “meets” with “Yehovah.” The text is specific that the diviner (aka Balaam) was going to meet up with Yehovah, the Elohim of Yisra’el. I find this interesting because Balaam does not infer to Balak if he was going to meet with any other god of the pantheon that he ascribed to. The text infers he was specifically going to meet with Yehovah.

(23.4) The text states Balaam meets with Yehovah. I find it very interesting that Balaam tells Yehovah, the omniscient or all-knowing Creator of the Universe, what he had done to prepare for his meeting with Him. Could it be that the offering he had Balak perform was a ritual specific to Balaam’s relationship with Yehovah?

How Could Yehovah Place His Holy Words in the Mouth of a Pagan Such as Balaam? Un-Boxing Yehovah.

(23:5) The text states Yehovah placed His word in Balaam’s mouth (wayyasem YHVH dabar bepi bil’am) of which he was required to speak (te dabber) over us. What can we gather as it relates to Yehovah putting His word in a human’s mouth? Especially a human who is not His own? How does that actually work?

The English term “word” in our text is “dabar“. Its usage in verses such as Isaiah 2:4 and Jeremiah 18:18  infers instructions that are given to individuals by Yehovah through His Torah instructions and prophesies (i.e. His prophets). Dabar denotes specific messages from Yehovah to certain people. (Reference: Levine, Baruch. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.)

This situation aligns perfectly with Balaam’s earlier statement to Balak and his delegation that he could speak only that which Yehovah permitted him to speak. (22:18, 38)

The common Hebrew idiom of Yehovah placing His Word in a prophet’s mouth shows the prophet was “receiving of a direct revelation from Yahweh.” (R. Dennis Cole, Numbers, vol. 3B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 402.) This concept is generally applied to Yah’s prophets. We’re told by Yah:

I will raise up a prophet for them ⌊from among their countrymen like you, and I will place My words into his mouth, and he shall speak to them ⌊everything that I command him⌋. (W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 18:18.)

The idea of Yah putting His “dabar” into the mouth of His prophets and having them speak His Word, as it had been given to them, may not seem possible in Balaam’s case. Balaam is, after all, a sorcerer — a diviner — a magician. How could Yehovah place such a holy thing as His “dabar” into the mouth of such a despicable creature as Balaam? 

Indeed, Yehovah’s ways are not are ways. What may appear counterintuitive to us in some veins of spiritual thought makes perfect sense to the Great I Am. He knows exactly what He’s doing, and He is not always obliged to reveal to us why He does certain things.

In our discussion on Torah Reading 116, I posed a question about why Yehovah would have a relationship with someone like Balaam. This mystery has a close connection to that question. And I would submit to you, in response to these mysteries, that we, as Yah’s elect, must resist placing our Elohim in a box. He knows what He is doing. His Ways are not our ways. He will achieve His purposes and will in us and in the world as He sees fit to do so.

Reader be Aware

(23:6) Balaam returns to Balak and the leaders of Moab, who he previously instructed to wait for him by the 7 altars.

It is here that I need to mention an important difference between the Masoretic and the Septuagint texts as it relates to this verse. The Septuagint adds to the narrative:

“ … and the Spirit of God came on him (i.e. Balaam).” (Rick Brannan, Ken M. Penner et al., The Lexham English Septuagint, Second Edition. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), Nu 23:6.)

There is no mention of the Spirit of Yah coming upon Balaam in the Masoretic-based texts. Why do you suppose this is so?

Reasons like this have prompted me to incorporate the use of the Septuagint into my Torah studies. The Hebrew manuscripts used in the 11th century translations by the Masoretes were compromised — at least it appears so. It’s not uncommon to find such discrepancies, and all indications are that the Septuagint is more reliable than the Masoretic-based texts. Why? When dividing the ancient Hebrew texts, the rabbis of old exercised extreme caution. So guarded were they in their dividing Yah’s original Words of Life that they often took liberties to alter the manuscripts and texts in order to manipulate the text to convey their personal and religious convictions. They showed extreme bias in their convictions. Their extreme biases often helped along their guardedness in terms of how they interpreted the scriptures (e.g. their insistence that it was their responsibility to place of a fence around Torah).

But now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, we face the question of how could Yah’s Holy Spirit come upon a pagan such as Balaam? This hard to fathom question may be the reason the Rabbinic scribes left this statement out of manuscripts that the Masoretes would later use in what would become the premier transcription of the Tanach up to this day.

Well, as counterintuitive as Yah’s Spirit coming upon a pagan such as Balaam and causing him to utter inspired oracles over us, this event shows Yah is not above using all aspects of His creation to bring about His will and purpose on the earth. (Did He not in our previous reading use an ass to get Balaam’s attention?) This is a fundamental reality that we must come to terms with if we want to deepen our understanding and relationship with the Almighty. We must learn not to limit or confine Yah into religious ideals of our own or somebody else’s making.

Yah described Himself to us through the Prophet Isaiah:

(8) For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith Yehovah. (9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than yours ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (KJV)

Balaam Lifting Up His Oracles Over Us

(23:7) What does Moshe mean when he describes Balaam as lifting up his oracle? What is an oracle?

After setting straight in the minds of his readers that one’s Jewishness does not bring one to a justified state in Yehovah’s eyes, he takes a moment to discuss the advantage of the Jew in Yah’s plan of salvation, restoration, and redemption.

Not to be confused with the oracles that Yehovah entrusted to us (Rom 3:2), the English term “oracle” or “parable” used here is “me-sal” or “ma-sal” in the Hebrew. Ma-sal is defined as a proverb, wisdom, a parable, or a saying (Klein, Ernest, Etymological Dictionary of Hebrew), a prediction, a prophecy, wisdom as associated with King Solomon (Clines, David, Dictionary of Classic Hebrew); sentences with ethical wisdom (BDB).

Yehovah’s Spirit came upon Balaam and in a raised voice he recited or called out the words (i.e. “dabar”) that Yehovah placed in his mouth. Commentator Baruch Levine describes what Balaam was doing here was “raising his recitation” as opposed to “raising his voice.” (Numbers 21-36: A New Translation-AYB4A)

We Become Known to Balaam as Blessed of Yehovah

(23:7-10) No longer were we a nameless people before the Moabites and the pagan diviner Balaam. The name Jacob (Ya’achov) and Israel (Yisra’el) feature prominently in Balaam’s oration. 

Here, Balaam rehearses to all creation the events that brought him to this point in our saga. As an aside, he reveals to us the existence of an imperceptible battle that is being waged between the kingdom of darkness and Yah’s people:

(23:8) How may I curse whom El has not cursed, and how can I denounce whom Yehovah has not denounced? (LEB)

To curse or to not curse.

And the answer to Balaam’s contentious spiritual question is that he cannot curse nor condemn us because Yah has not cursed us nor has He condemned us.

This is a leading verse because it causes us to recognize that Yehovah designated us for life and goodness and victory over our enemies. This is in stark contrast with that which Yah has designated Moab and Balaam for which is destruction.

Balak hired Balaam to place a curse on us because Balaam’s reputation was such that he was effective in swaying the pantheon of Mesopotamian gods to do his bidding. However, Balaam was being tasked to sway our Elohim to turn against us. Yehovah will not turn against us because we are in covenant with Him. Yehovah has the final say what happens to us. The will and plans of others against us through the use of their dark arts are impotent, as they cannot stand against the will and plans of the Creator of the Universe. (JFB) indeed, if Yah be for us, who can stand against us?

The Unknown Spiritual Warfare Waging Around Us

The struggle that was going on unknowingly above us and outside of our view involving Yehovah, Balaam, and Balak is a physical portrait of the ongoing spiritual war that goes on around us in real time. As foolish as it may seem to us, knowing that the enemy’s ongoing battles against Yehovah and those that are His beloved, the realities of the enemy’s futile efforts do not force him to stop his onslaught. He, like Balak, will continue to engage in a full-court press against Yah’s people regardless of how pointless it is. It’s not that the enemy is ignorant of the futility of their persistent war against the Creator. I believe that evilness or iniquity, when it fully takes hold in the creature that foolishly seeks to defeat their Creator, that it blinds them. It is not about defeating Elohim because they inherently know that they cannot defeat Him. Rather, it is about, at the very least, successfully striking some blow to Yah and His people that will somehow discomfit them; that their sucker-punch will somehow forestall or upend the Creator’s plans, at least for the moment.

The Apostle Paul described this ongoing spiritual warfare to his Messianic Ephesian readers as cosmic in nature. So unnatural is this warfare that it requires special weapons in order to overcome the onslaught of the enemy. Thus, the apostle instructed his embattled readers to recognize the spiritual nature of the ongoing battle that was waging around them and, in response, put on the whole armor of Elohim. (Eph 6:10-20) The point to which the apostle is making, which translates over into our reading here before us, is that the ultimate battle is our God to wage and win. Our role, even though much of the warfare that is being waged is against us, is to be strong in the might of Yehovah and to stand in the truth and power of His Word, walk unwavering in His righteousness, believe the Yehovah and His Son for their steadfast deliverance, and pray without ceasing.

Yah’s Irrevocable Blessings

We possessed Yah’s irrevocable and irresistible blessings, not because we were obedient. We were not always obedient. In fact, we were disobedient more than we were obedient. Yah described us as “stiffnecked”. (Exo 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deu 9:6, 13, 16) Rather, Yah blessed us because He chose us. Yehovah set us apart from all other peoples of the earth to be His special possession. (Exo 19:5; Deu 14:2; 26:18) Therefore, as the Apostle wrote, if Yehovah be for us, who can stand against us? (Rom 8:31)

Yah chose and blessed us as Nazarene Israelites. Again, not because we are special or because we are so obedient. Rather, Yah blesses us because He Himself loved our Master. Therefore, because our Master is beloved of Yah, that state of being beloved of Yah is extended fully on to us. (Eph 1:6). Praise Yah!

Our blessings as we encamped just outside the border of Moab resulted from Yah choosing our Father Avraham and the covenant He cut with Him. Yah promised to bless us who were of his seed. This is grace in action. This is Yehovah stepping into and operating His kingdom amid the affairs of His human creation. Is this not a wonderful thing? We can fully rely on the promise Yah made with Avraham because He is an Elohim that does not lie. He is faithful and will carry out that which He has promised to do despite the persistent opposition of the enemy.

Torah teacher and commentator Tim Hegg of Torah Resources states that our blessings in Yehovah extend beyond His divine and powerful keeping. We were also blessed in the promise of Yahoshua HaMashiyach, who would be “the pinnacle” and “source” of ours and the world’s blessings. (Hegg, T., Studies in the Torah Numbers, p. 170)

Yah promised our patriarch Avraham that he would bless those who bless him (and, by extension, his seed) and curse those who cursed him. (Gen 12:3; Num 22:6)

Today we see reported on various legacy media platforms a world at large, tripping over themselves to demand and even bring about the destruction of the nation-state of Israel. The world is ignorantly thumbing their noses at Yehovah, who promised to bless those who bless and curse those who curse His chosen ones. I can’t help but think that those who engage in such Balak-like activities are digging their own graves. Yah will not be mocked and He will do what He promised to do. Right now, those who are seeking the destruction of Yah’s people, as flawed as they may be, are experiencing the Creator’s grace and mercy. They have as yet not come to the same fate as Balak, Balaam, and Moab, but if they persist in their satanically driven cursing of our Jewish brethren, Yah’s patience with them will come to its end and they will experience the Almighty’s righteous wrath. My prayer is that Yah will have mercy upon those who are calling for the destruction of Israel, as most of them know not what they are doing. They are foolishly, and sometimes, willfully, ignorant. May the scales of blindness fall from their encrusted eyes and their hearts and minds turn to the God of Israel through a trusting faith in the Person and ministries of Yeshua Messiah. May Yah continue to safeguard His chosen ones and bestow upon them the wisdom to fulfill their divine tasks. Furthermore, may Yah protect and deliver all innocents (from both sides) of this ongoing conflict. May Yah’s kingdom come soon and His will be done on this earth as it is in heaven. Amein.

(23:9) Because from the top of the rocks I see him, from hilltops I watch him. Behold, a people who dwell alone, they do not consider themselves among the nations. (LEB)

Could this be a prophetic utterance or a foreshadowing glimpse of the Body of Messiah (aka the true Church; Nazarene Yisra’el) that Yeshua said He would build and the gates of hell could not prevail against her? (Mat 16:18) I believe it is. Are we not of the seed of Avraham?

Consider the specifics of the people whom Balaam is desperate to curse: (1) She dwells alone (i.e. Yah has her to Himself) and (2) she will not be reckoned among the nations (i.e. she is set apart from the nation peoples of the world to be a unique possession unto Yah). Beloved, aren’t these the very character traits that we, the Body of Messiah, have been called to?

Indeed, Balaam’s oracle asks: “Who can calculate the seed of Ya’achov? And who can number the multitude (some translations use the term seed) of Yisra’el?” (23:10a; LXX)

This is a reiteration and confirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant. Recall Yehovah promising Avraham: “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be number.” (Gen 13:16) “And He (Yehovah) brought him (Avraham) forth abroad, and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them:’ and He said unto him, ‘So shall thy seed be.’” (Gen 15:5; KJV) “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” (Gen 22:17; KJV) “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen 28:14)

Dust (‘a-par) as used in this context, is an idiom for descendants. Indeed, we had become a great nation in terms of our numbers. Recall that Balak described us to Balaam through his delegation as “a crowd that would lick up all around them and like a bull devour the grass of the field…a people who went out from Egypt that covers the surface of the land.” (22:4-5)

Indeed, we had become a great people in terms of numbers. However, I would submit to you that mention of us as being a multitude (LXX) or dust (LEB) in Balaam’s oracle goes beyond our mere numbers. Again, this oracle is prophetic in scope. What Balak and Balaam and the princes of Moab were seeing was a foreshadow of Avraham’s incalculable seed — the Body of Mashiyach — true Yisra’el that is unique among the nation peoples of the world and that does not reckon herself among the nations. Balaam was pointing to the Body of Mashiyach, most importantly, in the Messianic Age to come:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number (aka dust) of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. (Rev 7:9; KJV)

What Moab and Balaam were seeing encamped before them was a prophetic, symbolic snapshot of Revelation 7:9. Just a thought.

Our Glory is in Yehovah

Our commitment to walking out Torah contributed to the beautiful vision that Balaam witnessed of us as a gloriously blessed people, whom he was prohibited from cursing. Although not walking out Torah perfectly, we were still a people of the Kingdom of Elohim. Indeed, the Kingdom of Elohim, although in part, had come to this area of the world and hasatan and his ilk were not happy about it.

Torah teacher and prolific author Tim Hegg of Torah Resources adds to this discussion of our glory being in Yehovah and His ways the fact that our nation comprised a “mixed multitude”. (Exo 12:38) Mr. Hegg writes:

“The Israel Bilam sees and blesses is a “mixed multitude” (Exo 12:38), meaning that Israel includes those of the nations who have joined themselves to Israel’s God and therefore to His people — there is no distinction. The native born and the sojourner together make up Israel.” (Hegg, T., Studies in the Torah Numbers, p. 169)

The One Who Would Curse Us Ends Up Blessing Us

(23:11-12) Balak took this first of Balaam’s four oracles as a blessing over us. This, of course, was the opposite of what Balak had sought to hire Balaam for, which was to curse us. This reality infuriated Balak.

Balaam’s response to Balak’s rebuke of Balaam’s oracle is consistent with his previous admonitions: that he was subject to the will and word of Yehovah. He could speak only that which Yah places in His mouth. Indeed, Balaam, despite being a pagan, did not resist the working of the Ruach Kodesh (aka the Holy Spirit) that was operating on him. This should serve as a reminder to us. The Apostle counseled his Thessalonian readers to not quench or extinguish the Spirit. (1 The 5:19; cf. Eph 4:30; Isa 63:10; Act 7:51) Here we have a pagan, steeped in the dark arts, who inherently understood that it was a fool’s errand to resist Yah’s Set Apart Spirit. When will we take to heart Balaam’s retort to Balak?

As stinging a rebuttal as this may have been, Balak was not to be swayed from his purpose of having us cursed. (23:13) The realities of the situation would not penetrate Balak’s hardened heart and closed mind. To Balak, Balaam simply had to be persuaded to do something he apparently didn’t want to do. Balak sets out to change Balaam’s visual perspective of us by taking him to a fresh vantage point. By showing Balaam a different vantage point or perspective of us, Balak hoped to persuade him to curse us. (23:14) Interestingly, the Masoretic text provides a specific location for this new vantage point, while the LXX is vague in its description, being that of a high projection of land to the summit of a hewn stone. Balak repeats the sacrificial ritual of the first location and oracle recitation and, again, Balaam goes off to consult with Yehovah. (23:15) Again, Yehovah places His words in Balaam’s mouth and upon returning to the new site, Balak anxiously asks him what Yehovah said.

Yehovah Reveals Himself to a Pagan People

(23:18-24) This second oracle is powerful. Through the diviner Balaam, Yehovah reveals divine aspects of His Person and character to Balak and all creation. All creation can know these critical character traits.

  1. Yehovah does not lie.
  2. He does not change his mind. Yah keeps His promises, and He does what He declares and purposes to do, despite the schemes and foolishness of humanity.
  3. When Yehovah blesses an individual or a people, no human or demigod can un-bless them. Here, Balaam’s hands are tied.
  4. When Yah is for His people, and He establishes it to be so, no trouble nor strife can penetrate their ranks because Yah has deemed it to be, and He is with them. They are as royalty and are distinguished among the nations.
  5. The power of El: ‘El mosi’am in relation to His set apart people is likened to that of a wild ox. That power is protective and royal in nature. In powerful ANE kingdoms, kings and their gods were depicted in statute reliefs riding winged wild ox. Well, here Yehovah is revealing to Balak and his court His role as the powerful liberator of Yisrael. (Reference: Levine, Baruch, Numbers 21-36: A New Translation and Commentary) This revealed protective trait by no means is not meant to characterize Yehovah as an ox. Rather, it appeals to the ancient mind of the monarch Balak, who would be familiar with such powerful symbolism. Not to mention that it also plays into Balak’s earlier description of us being as like a bull that devours the grass of the field. (22:4)
  6. The Septuagint version of this omen gives the sense that the lives of Yah’s people are not determined by divination or the magic arts, unlike the Moabites and Balaam. Rather, Yehovah works directly for His elect ones. The Masoretic version gives us the sense that no sorcery nor divination can prevail against Yehovah, for Yehovah is for Yisra’el and He will protect her from any such things.
  7. Yah’s people will ultimately be victorious over her enemies.

You’re fired!

(23:25-26) In utter frustration, Balak blurts out to Balaam that he doesn’t want him to do anything either for or against Yisra’el at this point. There is a sense of hopelessness in Balak’s response to Balaam’s second oracle. Nevertheless, Balaam reaffirms the prohibition not to curse us and to only utter that which Yehovah gives him to say. Yet, no doubt after a brief cool-down period, Balak takes Balaam to a third vantage point. This time he takes Balaam to the summit of Peor, which looked down upon the face of the whole desert wilderness. (23:27-30) Peor is one of the highest mountains in Moab. The people worshiped Ba’al on this mountain. (Num 25:3, 5, 18, 31:16; Deu 4:3; Jos 22:17; Psa 106:28) Thus, Peor held significant spiritual (pagan) significance for the Moabites in that region. Again, Balak arranges the same sacrifices as he did the previous two times and looks to Balaam to do his thing.

Yehovah Finally Makes Sense to the Pagan

(24:1-2) However, this time Balaam doesn’t go off alone to seek Yehovah’s instructions as he did the previous two times. The text reveals that Balaam finally acknowledged that he could not persuade Yah to change His stance regarding us. So, he did not consult the omens as the LXX describes but gave Himself to the move of the Holy Spirit and the words – the dabar that Yehovah put in his mouth. From Peor’s summit, he looked down upon us. The LXX states that Yah’s Spirit came upon Balaam and (24:3) he began his third discourse (Hebrew of “ne’um“).

We find a discrepancy in this verse between the LXX and the Masoretic-based text. The Masoretic-based text starts the oracle off with Balaam uttering: “The declaration of Balaam, son of Beor, the declaration of the man whose eyes are closed.” (LEB) The LXX starts this oracle off with “Balaam son of Beor says, the person who sees clearly says …” Given the likely meaning of this introduction, the Septuagint’s rendering is the correct one. Balaam starts this oracle by proclaiming to creation that his understanding of Yehovah has been increased and that he now knows, at least in part, the will and character of Yehovah. Furthermore, he now understands who we are to Yehovah: that we are Yah’s set apart people. Blessed and protected.

And so, he continues to deliver his oracle from the perspective of an enlightened spiritualist. He now understands what he is dealing with, especially in relation to who we are. He is no longer blinded to the reality of Yehovah and His chosen ones. (24:4-9) Our encampment resembles a beautifully enriched grove, receiving its nourishment from a nearby stream. We as a people are beautiful, not because we are comely in form, but we are beautiful in relation to the One we served. Our situation is “tov,” good. This is a call back to the well known Hebrew discourse: “hinneh ma tov umah na’aim” or “behold how lovely and how beautiful!” (cf. Isa. 52:7) Here, amid a stark and barren wilderness, Yehovah Elohim had planted a fertile and beautiful garden. But in reality, what had our Elohim planted in the wilderness just outside of Moab? He had planted His Kingdom. What Balaam was describing to creation here in his oracle is the manifestation of the Kingdom of Elohim (i.e. the “Malchut Elohim”).

The oracle goes on to describe a powerful king emerging from our ranks. That king would be more powerful than Agag of Gog (aka the Amalekites). Gog was the most powerful nation in the region leading up to Saul’s reign. Who that king may be is difficult, if not impossible, to say. But the LXX describes him as prevailing over many people and his kingdom becoming increasingly great.

There’s talk of fruitful trees and water and a powerful king. Although most commentators are resistant to say, I will go out on a limb and suggest that the things that Balaam is describing here are Messianic in nature. He’s prophesying about the coming of our Master Yeshua Messiah and His reign upon the throne of David. Furthermore, it’s a prophecy about the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the nations.

The oracle describes how Yehovah brought us out of Egypt in a humbled state and how we will become a powerful nation. Balaam likens us to a lion.

And finally, Balaam confirms the portion of the Avrahamic covenant that promises blessings unto those that bless us and curses upon those that curse us. (Gen 12:2-3)

A Few Last Things!

(23:10-13) Outraged, Balak fires Balaam and sends him packing, back to Pethor. Balaam seeks to justify his failure to curse us with yet another set of disclaimers that he could only do and say that which Yehovah permitted him to do and say. However, he refused to be dismissed easily. Balaam tells Balak, through a fourth oracle, what will soon become of him, his people, and the surrounding nations.

Looking Foreward Towards Yeshua Messiah

(23:14-24) Through poetic discourse, Balaam foretells of a great person who will emerge from our ranks who will destroy Moab and her rulers. We would subjugate Edom. The Amalekites were the first of the nations after we crossed the Red Sea to challenge us. They were an arrogant and ruthless people and they would antagonize us for generations. Eventually, we would destroy the seed of Amalek. (LXX)

Balaam sees the Kenites whom he describes as being secure in their dwelling places among the clefts of the high rocks of En-gedi, they would over time be reduced in their military prowess by a succession of enemies (JFB Commentary on the Whole Bible). Their end would come in Assyrian captivity. (reference: 2 Kin 15:29; 17:6) And as powerful as Assyria would be, there would come even more powerful kings (i.e. Greeks and Romans) that will conquer Assyria and us. These conquering nations will meet their demise.

Does this oracle not detail a raw overview of every great nation, regardless of their military capabilities, being brought low and ultimately being brought to an end? Is this not a foreshadowing, of sorts, of a lead-up to the coming Messianic Kingdom that will crush and consume every human nation/kingdom?

44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up ya kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Da 2:44–7:26.)

I submit we are living in the days leading up to this glorious, eternal Kingdom. Balaam saw, through his various vantage points throughout the deliverance of his four oracles, a foreshadow of the coming Kingdom of God.

Bye-Bye Balaam — Don’t Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

(24:25) The LXX records that after delivering this last oracle, Balaam arose and returned to “his territory” (presumed to be Pethor) and Balak returned to his headquarters in Moab.

We Fall From Grace — Our Apostasy

(25:1) Our camp was located east of the Jordan, in a region called Shittim (aka “sit-tim”). Shittim was our last stop before we crossed the Jordan to take possession of the Land. (reference: Num 33:48-49) Unfortunately, we fell into apostasy. Being in such proximity to Moab, our men “prostituted themselves (Hebrew of “zanah”) with the daughters of Moab.” “Zanah” carries a meaning of indulgence in “idolatry” and “unfaithfulness to Yehovah.” (Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary) More so, “zanah” refers to adultery and fornication, both series transgressions of Torah. We get from the stem of “zanah” the term “harlot” or “whore”. (references: Gen 34:31; Jos 2:1-3; Pro 23:27; Hos 4:13-14) The sin that comes from “zanah” is an assault against and defilement of the bodily temples of Yehovah and against Yehovah Himself (1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:12-20; 1 The 4:3-8). They that engage in “zanah” as the Apostle describes will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim. (1 Cor 6:9-11)

Bible students often focus on the sexual sin associated with “zanah,” but we must recognize the broader sin that is associated with “zanah”: that of complete and utter spiritual apostasy; the worship of the false gods of this world. We talk about the whoring we engaged in at Shittim, which led to physical marital infidelity. The greater violation is the spiritual infidelity we engage in. In our worship of Ba’al Peor, we became unfaithful to our Husband, Yehovah. (25:2) In fact, Moshe writes we became “joined together” (the LXX says Israel was consecrated) to Ba’al Peor. (25:3) The Hebrew term used here is “yis-sa-med” contextually means to be “yoked” or “bound”. It carries a deeper meaning of being committed to a thing. We had become committed to the Ba’al religion: we had taken part in Moab’s sacrifices to Ba’al, feasting at their offerings, and bowing down and worshiping their idols. (25:2) We had devolved into utter apostasy. So, the whoring and profaning that Moshe described us as doing went far deeper than prohibited and abominable sexual transgressions.

Our apostasy incensed Yehovah so that He commanded Moshe to gather our tribal leaders together and hang them before the Almighty in the heat of the sun. (25:4) Why kill our tribal leaders over something that they themselves may not have been involved in?

Right after the establishment of the covenant, our tribal leaders took on the responsibility of ensuring law and order within their respective tribes and families.

25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. (Exo 18:25-26 KJV)

That we’d fallen into such apostasy shows our leaders were participatory in the apostasy, or at the very least, negligent in their sacred leadership duties. Yah holds our sacred leaders accountable for ensuring that our community does not fall into apostasy. This was so back in the day regarding Moab, and it remains so today. Far too many secular and faith leaders have become corrupted and have feloniously neglected their duties. This is why the so-called church is in the fallen state she is in today.

(25:5) Thus, the wages for sin are indeed death. (Rom 6:23)

Besides having our leaders hanged for their complicity in the apostasy, Moshe commanded our judges to kill those of us who had become joined to Ba’al Peor. This wrathful onslaught resulted in terrible weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle. (25:6)

Amid this nightmare, an Israeli brazenly brought a Midianite prostitute into and through our encampment for all to see. (25:6) Acting with righteous indignation, Aharon’s grandson, Phinehas, pursued the couple to the Israeli’s tent and ran them both through with a spear. (25:8) This act of righteous indignation brought an end to the plague (i.e. the killing), which resulted in the deaths of some 24,000 of our people.

Godly righteousness can bring an end to sin-induced death. It just takes God’s people to stand firm and do the right thing.

Our saga continues in reading 118.

Shabbat Shalom. Shavu’atov. Have an overcoming week in Yeshua Messiah beloved of Messiah!

There’s a Little Balaam in All of Us–Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 116

by | Jan 20, 2024 | Blog

Shabbat Shalom saints of the Most High.

It is the 8th day of the 11th biblical calendar month and the 20th day of the 1st month of the Roman calendar, 2024.

I pray, trust, and hope that this week’s thoughts and reflections find you, your families, and your fellowships well in blessed, especially in these trying times.

This is “There’s a Little of Balaam in all of Us.” It is the 116th reading or portion of the 3 years Torah Reading Cycle.

This week’s reading is the beginning of what some scholars call “The Balaam Oracles” (chapters 22-24). As we progress through this and the next couple of readings, you will understand why they are called “The Balaam Oracles.” There are seven oracles in all.

Our reading on this wintry Sabbath morning is found in Numbers 22:2-40; It’s Haftarah reading in Micah 7:16-20, and the apostolic reading in 1 Peter 5:5-7.

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(22.2) Balak, King of Moab, becomes fearful of us when he sees our great numbers encamping just outside the borders of his country. His fears mount upon learning that we, through Yehovah’s mighty hand, had recently defeated his regional neighbors, the Amorites. (Recall that we handily defeated the King of Ammon, Sihon, as recorded in our last reading: 21:21, 25-26, 31-32. He sees what we are capable of.

Balak’s fears are justified. Moab is next on Yah’s list of nations marked for destruction. Recall also in last week’s reading that we sang a song of the impending defeat of Moab:

Woe to you, Moab. You are ruined, O people of Chemosh!45 He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites. (Num 21:29 NET)

Who was Balak?

We know very little about Balak, other than that he was the king of Moab at the time of this reading.

The root of Balak means “to lay waste or devastation” or to “break and split,” or “crusher and breaker.” This should give us some background as to the caliber of leader we were facing. The Moabites were worshipers of Chemosh.

Rashi (aka Rabbi Shlomo ben Isaac, a French, Hebrew scholar and Jewish commentator of the 11th century), contends that the Moabites relied on Sihon and Og for their protection (Feinberg, Jeffrey, Walk Numbers Bible Commentary). Now that Sihon and Og were gone, Moab needed another protector against potential aggressors and threats, as he saw in us.

(22:3) So Moab (aka the Canaanites) is terrified (i.e. “gur” denotes extreme fear or terror) that we will do to them what we did to the Amorites. Moshe notes the dread that Moab had over our numbers being so close to their nation. We encamped right up against Moab’s borders, as Balak described (22:5).

Who Were the Moabites?


Who were the Moabites? Moabites, often referred to as Canaanites, occupied Moab. Moab was situated east of the Dead Sea.

Moabites are descendants of Lot (aka Avraham’s nephew by Lot’s eldest daughter, Ge 19:37), the Moabites came into possession of their land after Yah disposed of the land’s previous inhabitants, the Anakites (aka the Emim, related to the Anunnaki or Raphaim; a race of giants (Deu 2:10-11)). Yah removed them because they were an abominable people. It’s conceivable also that Yah devoted the Emim, being of corrupted Raphaim or Anunnaki descent for destruction. It is conceivable that the Moabites took on some of the previous occupants abominations, either religiously or biologically, which Yah said disqualified them from entering our congregation up to the 10th generation (Deu 23:3). Whatever the problem, Yah wanted the filth of the Moabites bred out of them before He would accept them into our commonwealth. The Moabite Ruth was engrafted into the commonwealth of Yira’el through her marriage to Boaz (Rut 1:22; 2:6; 4:10). She would bear children who would be the forefathers of King David and our Master Yeshua Messiah.

Isn’t it amazing that Yehovah would work through even a fallen race of humanity such as the Moabites to bring us the Savior? Indeed, our God is an awesome God!

A Midian Confederacy in Moab

(22:4) Balak approaches the elders of Midian for help. Who were the Midians?

Midianites were descendants of Avraham and his second wife, Keturah (Gen 25:1-2). Many centuries later, Moshe would flee to Midian and marry a Midianite (Exo 2:15-16). Moshe would have a close relationship with his father-in-law, Jethro, a Midianite priest. Jethro and his family lived in Midian. Moshe would have spent many years in Midian as he raised his family and took up shepherding as a vocation (Exo 3:1).

Turns out that Mount Sinai, or the Mountain of Elohim (in Horeb) is near Midian. And on Yah’s Mountain, Moshe meets the Elohim of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov and Yah commissions him to lead us out of Egyptian Captivity.

 It’s hard to fathom why Midianites would side with the Moabite king, Balak, against us. Moshe’s wife and her family were Midianites. It would seem, then, that the Midianites would be, at the very least, impartial if not favorable towards us.

We should not become confused at the mention of Balak conferring with Midianite elders. Our story takes place within and just outside the borders of Moab, not Midian. I bring this up to affirm that these Midianite elders were not from Midian proper, but were Midian transplants living in Moab. Given that these had not recognized ties with us, it makes sense that these elders would be in solidarity with their hometown king. This just goes to show how fluid migrations and integrations of nation tribes were back then. 

Midian was a confederation of people and part of the larger Midian population cohabiting Moab, submitting themselves to Balak’s rulership (Gen 36:35). Some have presumed that Balak was a Midianite. Beyond these tidbits, the actual relationship that Midian and Moab shared is uncertain. We do not find any additional record about Midian in relation to this story. However, we will see in future readings that they factor heavily in Balak’s and Balaam’s plan to take us down.

Balak Reaches Out to a Diviner for Help

(22:5) Balak sends messengers to Balaam of Pethor.

Pethor, a town in Mesopotamia, was roughly 400 miles from Moab.

 Balaam’s father was Beor. Remember in the previous reading that the King of Edom denied us travel through his country? Well, turns out Beor was the Edomite king’s father. Thus, Balaam and the Edomite king were descendants of Esau. Both are our mortal enemies.

Balaam crops up many times throughout scripture: Num 22-24; 31:8; Deu 23:5-6; Jos 13:22; 24:9-10; Mic 6:5; Neh 13:2; 2 Pet 2:15; Rev 2:14. 

When broken into component Hebrew parts, “bal” and “’am”, carries meanings ranging from “he who belongs not to the people” to “destroyer or conqueror of people” (Gleason Archer et al., Theological Workbook of the OT (TWOT)). His two-fold-persona was that of a charmer and conjurer. There is even a possibility that his esoteric teachings may have influenced Nikolaos of the Pergamum Assembly (Rev 2:12-17). We’ll talk more about this at the end of our time together.

A Little Background on Balaam

 So, we have a biographical background on Balaam. What then do we know about the person Balaam?

Balaam possesses several titles which include diviner, sorcerer, soothsayer, and prophet. His type was common in the ancient near east. Regional potentates routinely hired men like Balaam to provide them with intelligence on their enemies; to prophesy; to bless the potentates’ impending military campaigns; and or curse the potentate’s enemies.

We quickly learned in this and in upcoming readings that Balaam appears to be spiritually superior to all others, while being inwardly and morally corrupt. In Balaam, there is a war between obedience to Yehovah’s instructions and his desire for personal gain. We learn that his desire for wealth and notoriety will defeat his inherent understanding, that obedience to the Creator’s instructions will be in his best interest in the end. His drive to accumulate wealth and amass notoriety will lead to his untimely death.

And we see through much of this reading that despite his dubious, even despicable persona, Balaam enjoyed and benefited from a significant relationship with Yehovah.

This reality is hard for many believers in the God of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov to come to terms with: how or why would a holy Elohim reveal Himself to such a questionable individual as Balaam? Our text suggests that the relationship Balaam shared with Yehovah was a complex one, such that Yah put into effect a set of restrictions on what he could and couldn’t do and say. And mostly, Balaam fully understood and respected those imposed boundaries. But let’s be clear here as it relates to having a baseline understanding of who and what Balaam was. His relationship with Yehovah aside, this man was a diviner (i.e. one who seeks to interact with the dead and with demons) which Yah views as an abomination. The sin of divination, if practiced by any of Yah’s people, is punishable by death (Lev 20:27). Thus, one who was proficient in such pagan arts would often prove invaluable to nearby warlords and kings, seeking assurances that their warring efforts would be successful. TWOT refers to such activity as searching for “a propitious omen.”

However, it wasn’t beyond the diviner to seek ways to circumvent those imposed confinements. And in a future reading we will see Balaam’s deviousness work to the advantage of his employer Balak and to Yisra’el’s disappointment. (Num 25:1-3)

Jewish tradition has mixed thoughts about Balaam:

1. That he was evil or that he was a villain of the same class as Cain, Korach, Absalom, Adonijah, Uzziah, and Haman (Hegg, T., Studies in the Torah Numbers; p. 159). The Apostle Peter wrote Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Pet 2:15; cf. B. Sanhedrin 106a).

2. He is a master manipulator, even towards Yehovah (cf. Hegg, T., Studies in the Torah Numbers; p. 159-160).

3. That Balaam was a “wise pagan” in the class of Job and Jethro (ibid., p. 160). Jewish tradition holds that Job was Balaam’s father (b. Bava Batra 15b). “

4. He was an enigma in that he possessed a relationship with Yehovah despite being a diviner/sorcerer (Heb of “haqoseim”). The story of Job reminds us of this aspect of Jewish thought about Balaam. Recall in the story of Job that hasatan appeared in the court of heaven, before Yehovah, seeking release from Yehovah to afflict Job (1:6). The curious thing about this situation is that Yah permits the accuser of humanity to converse with him freely, and then enter and leave his presence freely. But in both situations—Balaam and hasatan—Yehovah places restrictions upon their activities.

Here in our reading, Balak sought to Hire Balaam to place curses upon us as we camped just outside the borders of his country. Balak sought to hire Balaam to use his expertise to turn the region’s pagan gods and our God against us. Balak recognized Moab could not successfully defend herself against us because of our numbers and military expertise. So, Balak did what any ANE potentate desperately seeking to hold on to his power and survive the threat of being slaughtered by a more powerful enemy. Thus, he employed a Balaam — a diviner to undermine our military effectiveness.

Balaam’s Street Credentials

(22:6) That a major military leader in that region would not attempt to take us out without consulting Balaam first shows Balaam possessed renown diviner credentials. Balak flatters Balaam in his written invitation by citing the sorcerer’s ability to bless and curse groups of people: an ability exclusive to Yehovah.

Balak beckons Balaam to come to him and invoke his curse over us. ANE pagan practice required that the hired sorcerer or diviner see the enemy while invoking his curse upon them, otherwise the curse would not work.

(22:8) To keep up appearances, Balaam instructs Balak’s delegation to await the result of his overnight consultation with Yehovah. He warns the delegation that this was a requirement for accepting the invitation.

(22:9) Jehovah asks Balaam “what men are these?” Natural question of any Bible student worth their years of study would be: Yehovah is omniscient, therefore He would know who the delegation was and what their purpose in visiting Balaam was. There is no mystery here. This is simply Yehovah posing a leading question to Balaam: to start the conversation and to let Balaam know He is paying attention to what is going on.

(22:10-13) Balaam petitions Yehovah to (1) return with the delegation, and (2) Curse the people in camp on Moab’s border. And Yehovah says no to both.

In the morning, Balaam Informs the delegation only about the first element of Yah’s denial of his petition by telling them that Yehovah told him he couldn’t go with them to Moab. He conveniently leaves out Yah, prohibiting him from cursing the people encamped on Moab’s border. He simply tells the delegation, I can’t go with you. And so the delegation returns to Moab without Balaam.

No doubt the delegation saw Balaam’s refusal to return with them to Moab as having everything to do with the sorcerer wanting more money for his services. This was likely the sentiment the delegation conveyed to Balak once they met back with him in Moab.

The Promises of Yah are Irrevocable

But let us not overlook the shrewdness of Balaam in his refusal to return with the delegation and curse us. By him conveniently leaving out the second element of Yah’s denial—i.e. Yah prohibited him from cursing us because we were a blessed people—He left the door open to or he invited another opportunity for him to secure the job. And we soon see that this worked to his benefit as he was offered a higher payment for his dubious services when the second delegation came. Nevertheless, Yah acquiesces to Balaam’s second petition. Yah gives Balaam permission to go with the delegation back to Moab. However, the second element of Yah’s original denial of Balaam’s petition remained: he was not to curse us. Why? Because the Almighty declared us to be blessed. Therefore, no soothsayer, conjurer, prophet, spiritualist, or diviner can remove that blessing. Indeed, the promises of Yah—in this case, the blessings of Yah—are irrevocable (Rom 11:29).

Despite Balaam’s faux spiritual, all-knowing facade, he did not know who we were. He certainly did not know that we were Yehovah’s chosen ones. So when Yehovah prohibits Balaam from cursing us because Yehovah has blessed us, he was acting out of blind respect for one of the pantheon of gods he regularly consulted.

The Ignorance of the Enemy

This tells us about the limited cognitive abilities of those who dare go against Yehovah and His people. Balaam knows nothing about us. So, he is contemplating entering into a contract with Balak, king of Moab, to curse us without an understanding of the spiritual situation facing him. What does this say about powerful Balaam? It says that Balaam is not Yehovah. He is a created being who knows only as much as Yehovah, the holder of all knowledge, allows him to have.

This same principle applies to the accuser of Yah’s people, hasatan (aka Lucifer). Indeed, hasatan possesses tremendous powers and knowledge, but he is not omniscient (i.e. all knowing) nor omnipresent. So, when hasatan challenges Yehovah, he is playing the equivalent of checkers while Yah is playing 3-D chess.

Did Yehovah Change His Mind?

(22:14-20) Upon receiving the delegation’s report that Balaam had rejected the job offer, Balak sends a second, more prominent delegation with a greater sum of money back to Pethor to entice Balaam to curse us. However, instead of immediately sending the delegation away because Yehovah had already ruled on the issue, Balaam petitioned the Almighty for yet a second time. And this time Yehovah permitted him to return to Moab with the delegation, with the prohibition against cursing us still in place.

Why did Yah permit Balaam to accompany Balak’s delegation back to Moab? Did Yehovah change His mind on the issue? Was Yehovah being indecisive? Or was Yah working out something in the spiritual that Balaam was not privy to understand? Was Yehovah testing Balaam? This has been a perplexing mystery among bible students for generations. Therefore, there are varied answers to the question of why Yehovah permitted Balaam to accompany the delegation back to Moab.

This is where I want to step away from our reading for the rest of our time together today and see if we can answer the question of why Yah permitted Balaam to return to Moab with the delegation.

Clearly, as the Jewish Sage Rashi contends, Balaam believed he could sway Yehovah’s mind on the matter. And given the outcome of the second petition, it would seem on the surface that Balaam Was successful in changing Yah’s mind.

But did Balaam really sway Yah’s mind on this matter?

I believe there are a couple of reasons Yehovah permitted Balaam to go with the delegation back to Moab.

The wording of the text clearly shows that Yehovah changed His mind on Balaam going with the Moab delegation. However, this apparent change of mind by Yah towards Balaam challenges what we know of Yah’s immutable character. Yah changes not (Mal 3:6). This truth is even more interesting when we consider this situation from a spiritual perspective.

Yehovah knew Balaam’s love of notoriety and wealth, as well as He knew of Balaam’s manipulative manner. Yah knew that Balak’s invitation would stoke the flames of Balaam’s greed and selfishness to where he could not resist the offer. Balaam would work every conceivable angle in order to get what he so desperately desired. Such an individual will do just about anything to get what they want, including manipulating the Creator of the Universe, if that is at all possible, which it is not.

Before Balaam approached Him about Balak’s offer the first time, Yehovah knew Balaam would work overtime to sway His mind, this despite Yah saying no to the petition. And This, beloved, is the gist of what I want to share with you. We’re talking about a spirit: the spirit of Balaam.

The spirit of Balaam Puts forth for all the world to see, a facade of spirituality as previously mentioned. But that facade of spirituality covers over or hides a wicked heart. That Wicked Heart is constantly seeking avenues and opportunities to get over on or take advantage of Yehovah, if that were possible; which it isn’t. To try to “pull a fast one” on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that same spirit leads every Balaam of this world to believe that they are smarter than Yehovah and that in the end they will get whatever it is they want.

Here, Yah discerns Balaam’s repeated requests to accompany the Moab delegation and curse us, motivated by the desire for generous payment and the subsequent elevation of his services’ worth in the region.

This is the heart of the spirit of Balaam. This spirit seeks to defy the will and purpose and commandments of the Almighty in order to get what our flesh desires. Our uncircumcised hearts, which Balaam clearly did not possess, will stop at nothing to get whatever it desires, Yah’s instructions, will, and purposes be damned.

We, like Balaam, may approach Yehovah for permission to do a certain thing that may not be within the confines of His permissive will, purpose, and plan. Or, for that matter, we may not approach him at all. In such cases, Yehovah may outright tell us no as He did to Balaam. In almost every case, Yah tells us no to such petitions/requests. He says no to such requests/petitions because those things we want conflict with His will and plan, as well as those things, may very well lead us to destruction.

Those of us who want only what Yah wants for our lives will heed Yah’s “no” to our petition, and although we may not be happy with being denied, we get up and walk on in our Faith (Hab 2:4).

The rest of us who want what we want, regardless of Yah’s denial, will either attempt to sway Yah towards granting our desires, or simply defy Yah and do what our flesh demands. In this ongoing negotiation with the Almighty, there may come a point where He allows us to do what we are determined to do, despite His denial of our selfish desires. It’s not that Yehovah changes His mind on the matter. The reality, beloved, is that in such cases where we will stop at nothing to get what Yah has said no to, that He then gives us enough spiritual “rope to hang ourselves.” He is, after all, a God of free will. Yah will not force us to do something that we don’t want to do. However, the Almighty, in His steadfast love for us, will always provide us a way to turn back to Him and abandon our wicked pursuits. He may send us various impediments to forestall our pursuit of those unsanctioned things. Yah may send a spouse or close friend to talk us out of our evil pursuits. He may direct us to a passage of scripture that, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, convicts our hearts and causes us to abandon our foolish pursuits. It then becomes a question of whether we will heed those impediments.

The form of the Angel of the LORD in the reading that is before us epitomizes such impediments. That angel described to himself to Balaam as “an adversary that stood in the way against him” (22:32-34). Yah provides often provides His “adversary” that stands in our way as we head down that road to destruction because our evil/wicked way is contrary to His will, way, and purpose for our lives. If we gain that which we seek, our flesh may find satisfaction for that moment in time, but our disobedience will ultimately cause our souls to reap the wages of our sinful way. The wages of our sinful, disobedience way (i.e. sin) is always death. However, heeding the adversary that Yah sends to block our way to destruction leads to His gift of life (Rom 6:23).

In our Reading (22:21-35), the story of “The Beating of Balaam’s Ass” beautifully portrays the adversarial concept of Yehovah standing in our destructive way so that we may live. It is a shadow of the Person and Ministry of Yeshua HaMashiyach, the author and finisher of our Faith.

Closing Thoughts

Yehovah is the smartest Entity to have ever existed. Yah knows His human creation inside and out. He knows what we’re about at every turn. He is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart of man (Hab 4:12). Because we are a work in progress and the human side of us from time to time yearns for things that are contrary to the will, purpose, and plan of Yehovah, we may take on the spirit of Balaam.

Yah always provides us with a means to escape the wages of our sinful flesh. He sends us His adversary to stand in our way towards destruction. All that He asks of us is that we heed His adversary.

The Apostolic Reading this week provides help in heeding Yah’s adversary and escaping the spirit of Balaam:

 5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (1Pe 5:5-7 KJV)

We avoid the spirit of Balaam then by submitting ourselves to the wisdom of the elders whom Yah places in our lives, humbling ourselves before Yehovah, and casting all our cares upon Him. If we set our eyes on our Heavenly Father, seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness, then we have no need to defer to the desires of our flesh.

May you have an overcoming week in Yeshua Messiah beloved. Shabbat Shalom; Shavu’atov, blessings to you. Take care.

Nobody Told Me That the Road Would Be Easy, but He Didn’t Bring Me This Far To Leave Me–Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 115

by | Jan 13, 2024 | Blog

Greetings Saint of the Most High. Coming at you on this cold Sabbath morning in the DFW, on the first day of the 11th biblical calendar month, trusting and hoping that these Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 115 find you, your family, and your fellowship is well and blessed.

This is “Nobody Told Me That the Road Would Be Easy, but He Didn’t Bring Me This Far to Leave Me.” This is the 115th reading of the 3-year Torah Reading cycle. It is found in Numbers 20.14-22.1; Obadiah 1.1-21; and John 3:1-21.

Setting the Scene for This Week’s Reading

(20.14-21) At this point in our readings, we were temporarily dwelling in Kadesh. Kadesh is where Moshe dishonored Yehovah by striking the rock of Meribah in response to our incessant complaints and threats. Because Moshe dishonored Yah—whereby Yah had instructed Moshe to speak to the rock and water would come from the rock which would bring honor to Yehovah, but Moshe striking the rock took attention from Yehovah and onto himself—Yah would not permit Moshe to enter the Land of Promise. Also, Miriam, Moshe’s sister, died in Kadesh.

The JPS Torah Commentary assigns Moshe’s dishonoring of Yehovah as one of three rebellions, the other two being an overall rebellion by the nation as recorded in chapter 14, and the Levites and Reubenites as recorded in chapter 16. The penalty, according to the commentary, is, of course, dying in the wilderness and never receiving the promised land.

How many of us persist in rebelliousness against the Almighty in one form or another? If we take this Torah Reading as a learning lesson, it should be clear to us that Yehovah does not take kindly to rebellion. And the penalty for uncorrected and unrepented rebellion is to be refused the Kingdom of Elohim.

Esau and Yisra’el

Nevertheless, Moshe still had a job to do. Our time at Kadesh had ended, and it was time to move on towards Canaan. The most direct route to Canaan from Kadesh was to go through Edom. Edom was a southern region, southeast of the Dead Sea. A vast wilderness region where the descendants of Esau dwelt

We should recall who Edom is. They are descendants of Esau. Esau was one of Yitschaq’s/Isaac’s two sons (Gen 25:19-28). He was Israel’s/Jacob’s/Ya’achov’s twin-brother. And ever since Jacob [wittingly] received the birthright from Isaac, their father, Esau, has sought to destroy Yisrael.

Esau from birth possessed an evil, rebellious, and rebellious spirit. He was not Yehovah’s pick to receive his father’s birthright, despite him having been born before his brother Ya’achov/Yisra’el. This week’s haftarah, contained in Obadiah, describes Esau’s arrogance, his ever-present threat to Ya’achov’s existence, and his ultimate demise. Sadly, Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, carried their father’s negative character traits. Regrettably, Edomites were never eliminated. Descendants of Esau and the spirit of Esau remain, even to this day, a thorn in Yisra’el’s side.

History Repeats Itself

Moshe entreats Edom’s king to permit us to traverse their land to save distance and time. It should have been a simple decision to the Edomite king to allow us to traverse Edom. We were, by the way, brothers. Taking the king’s highway through Edom would save us many days and miles on our journey to Canaan. We promised not to consume any of Edom’s resources in our transit through their land. However, Edom’s king denied our request with threats of war if we attempted to enter their territory.

After repeated entreaties ensuring Edom’s king that we would not consume their resources without fair recompense, the king assembled his armies at Edom’s borders to ensure we did not enter his realm.

Here we see history repeat itself. We find in Genesis 32 Ya’achov returning to his father’s home after many years working for Laban, an uncle dwelling in Haran (Mesopotamia in Padan-aram at the foot of Mount Masius between the Khabour and Euphrates-Gen 29:1-4), brings with him his expanded family and wealth, realizes he has to transit his brother’s land. Similar to Moshe’s first interaction with the Edomites as recorded in our reading here today, Ya’achov/Jacob sends entreaties and gifts to his brother Esau, hoping to appease and avoid a confrontation with him (Gen 32:4-33:1).

Nobody Told us that the Road Would be an Easy One

One has to ask: Why didn’t Yah soften the heart of the Edomite king to permit us to traverse his country? As biological relatives, it should have seemed to him the proper thing to do. But this is where the spirit of Esau dominates. Throughout their journey to the Kingdom, Yah’s people encounter Esau, who disregards acts of kindness and consideration. And as frustrating and inconvenient as it may seem, we are all forced to endure their opposition as part of the journey. Thus, during those times, we have no choice but to trust and believe in Yehovah.

We often wonder why Yehovah would permit the Esaus along our path to the Kingdom to behave towards us as they do. Why does Yah not eliminate them? It would make our journey to the kingdom so much easier. This, however, is part of the mystery in our traveling to the kingdom with Yehovah as our lead. Yah promised He would take care of all our needs if we would walk in covenant with Him. The mystery that alludes many of us, however, is that Yah never promised that our journey to the kingdom would be an easy one. In fact, beloved, Yah intentionally makes our journey challenging for us. And He does this, as with us having to turn from Edom and endure more hardships on our journey, “to mold our character for His purposes” (Hegg, T., Studies in the Torah, Numbers; Torah Resources; p. 149).

Loss of Familiar Leadership Invites Uncertainty into Our Journey

(20:22-29)–To not incite war with Edom, we went took another route. Edom’s denial of our request to transit their territory would prove even more challenging to us as we journeyed on. We would face one tough challenge after the next, on top of having to go dozens of arduous miles and add months to our trek to the Promised Land.

The first shoe to drop was Aharon’s/Aaron’s death. Recall that Aharon was our Cohen HaGadol. He was second in command. His death followed his role in rebelling against Yehovah:

(24) Aaron shall be gathered unto his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Yisra’el, because ye rebelled against My word at the waters of Meribah. (Reference section “Setting the Scene” above.)

It’s interesting that the very title rebel that Moshe called us in his frustrated striking of the Rock of Meribah is the same word Yah used to describe Aharon’s sin.

Aharon’s son, Eleazer/Elezar took over as our Cohen Gadol and we mourned for 30 days.

Aharon is beloved by Yisra’el, even to this day. To this day, he is considered the ultimate peacemaker. According to Rabbinic tradition,

“When Aaron died the angels lamented in the words: ‘The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and did turn many away from iniquity’ (Malachi 2:6) (J.H.Hertz; Torah-Haftarah; p. 659).

The angst we experienced over Aharon’s death invited uncertainty into our journey. Like our disappointment over being denied transit privileges through Edom, Yehovah intended Aharon’s death to cause us to learn to set our eyes upon Him as our true leader and guide.

War

(21:1-3)–Next, the Canaanites forced us into war. The King of Arad, Arad being a “royal city of the Canaanites as recorded in Joshua/Yahoshua 12:14, situated on a hill now known as Tel Arad, 17 miles south of Hebron and 50 miles northeast of Kadesh,” in the Negeb or wilderness, thought to take advantage of us and attacked us. (J.H. Hertz; Torah-Haftarah; p. 659). In response to the attack, we vowed to “devote” (i.e. “Hormah;” from the same root as a ban, a devoted thing, i.e. a thing ‘doomed’ to destruction) our attackers to destruction. And this would be just the start of Yah using us to cleanse evil and filth from Canaan. (Reference Hertz; p. 659)

Well, Yah honored our vow by awarding us victory over our Canaanite enemy.

This challenge to our journey teaches us that sometimes war is inevitable; that sometimes we must go to war and trust Yehovah to deliver us. Oh, not in the sense of fist-to-cuffs, more so, from the perspective of spiritual warfare and walking unwavering in righteousness, despite the war that may wage around us. We cannot help but be reminded of the Apostle’s teaching on the “Whole Armor of Yah” (Eph 6:10-20).

The Brazen Serpent—A Foreshadow of Yeshua’s Atoning Sacrifice

(21:4-9)–We moved on from our successful scuffle with the Canaanites, and circumvented Edom. In the process, we became “impatient because of the way” (21:4b). Yet again, we complained against both Yah and Yehovah:

Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness (a recurring theme throughout our journey)? For there is no bread, and there is no water, and our soul loatheth this light bread (21:5).

A key element of our complaint was that we loatheth this light bread. The term “loathe,” also known as “qutz” (mentioned four other times in the Tanach), relates to the concept of a “thorn” in our flesh. This is a key element of our complaint. Not only were we implying that Yah brought us on our journey to destroy us by not keeping His promises to provide for all our needs, but we thumbed our noses at “the miraculous provision of food and water given to sustain our lives” (Hegg, T., Studies in the Torah-Numbers; p. 152).

Let this sink in, beloved. How often have we complained (either out loud or to ourselves) about how tough things are for us and that Yehovah has not kept his promises to provide exceedingly for all our needs? And amid our complaining, we snub the blessings that Yah has indeed provided us, often through miraculous means. I’m certainly guilty of such spiritual crimes.

It was through the Prophet Jeremiah that Yehovah assured captured Judah:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jer 29:11 KJV)

We travel down a dangerous path when we see Yah’s blessings as a thorn in our sides. To think so about Yah’s provisions is to sin. Sin brings death. And this was dramatically illustrated in the next challenge we faced: deadly fiery serpents.

Yah introduced deadly fiery serpents into our midst as punishment. And as our brethren began dropping dead like flies, we recognized the extent to which we’ve sinned against the Almighty. Thus, we confessed our sins and begged Moshe (i.e. playing the intercessory role that our Master Yeshua currently plays in the heavenly Mishkan/Temple) to intercede with Yehovah on our behalf. And true to form, Yah’s merciful character hearkened to Moshe’s pleas on our behalf and instructed Moshe to construct a “fiery serpent” (i.e. constructed of brass like that of the brazen altar of sacrifice), suspend it from a pole, and erect the implement amid the encampment. Yah commanded us that if we were bitten by the fiery serpents, we would escape death by looking up at the suspended, brazen serpent in the midst of the camp (21:8). As hard as it was for us to obey Yah, we knew that this act of obedience was the only thing that would save our lives if we were bitten. Here we see obedience leading to life.

This part of our Torah Reading foreshadows the atoning sacrifice of Yahoshua. The apostolic reading for this week directly alludes to the story of the deadly bite of the fiery serpents being effectively healed by a simple act of obedient faith!

As to His amazing atonement mission, Yeshua said to Nicodemus,

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(Joh 3:14-16 KJV)

We, amid our sin and eternally condemned state, have just one option to escape eternal death and separation from Yehovah: and that is to obediently look to Yeshua, the author and finisher of our faith, who died on Calvary’s execution stake on our behalf. His sacrifice brings an end to death and an end to sin (Hegg; p. 153). In every sense, Yah’s Word rings ever so true:

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

(Deu 8:3 KJV)

Defeating Giants Along Our Journey

(20:10-21:1)–After the fiery serpent crisis, we entered a season of conquests. We arrived at Beer and Yah provided us with much-needed water. Our spirits uplifted, and we sang (21:16-20).

Desiring to cut distance and time from our journey, we petitioned Sihon, the Amorite King, to permit us to traverse his country. Sihon not only denied us permission to cut across his land, he assembled his army against us. Yah was on our side and we defeated Sihon and his army in the Jahaz desert (21:23-26). We took possession of all the Amorite cities. It is believed that Sihon was a giant.

From the conquered Amorite cities, we traveled to and arrived in Bashan. Bashan’s king was Og, another giant. We met Og and his armies in battle in Edrei (21:31-33). Yah gave Og, his armies, and their land into our hands. These we devoted to destruction as we did the Amorites. Why were we so ruthless? These kings and their people were about abominable things. Yah, being holy and righteous, devoted them to utter destruction. He used us to destroy them and cleanse the land of their abominations.

Yehovah Never Meant for Our Journey to the Kingdom to be an Easy One

Our spiritual journey to the Kingdom parallels that of our ancient wandering cousins. Our road is narrow and our way is often arduous. We stumble and fall from time to time, yet when we call to Yah for forgiveness and salvation, He, through His Son, provides us the needed relief and life. Furthermore, war often confronts us and forces us to stand, to put on the whole armor of Yah to resist the enemy’s stratagems. Indeed, as the apostle wrote, the warfare we’re required to endure is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, world rulers of this present darkness, spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places (Eph 6:10-13). When we walk in righteousness, we become an invisible force against the kingdom of darkness. Sometimes we must fight because the enemy gives us no other recourse. Other times, we fight because Yah has called us to serve the kingdom, and certain things are dedicated to destruction.

I’m reminded of an old gospel song I grew up singing in the Baptist Church of my youth. The song is entitled “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired,” written and performed by James Cleveland. To me, it captures the practical nuances and mandates of our reading today. The lyrics are as such:

I don’t feel no ways tired. I’ve come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy. I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me.

Beloved, can we apply the tremendous spiritual truths associated with our reading this weekend and with the lyrics of this old gospel song, know that our faithful God has ordered our path in every way—both conceivably and inconceivably. Know that He has a beautiful purpose and will for our lives and has put into place everything we need to achieve that purpose. Indeed, the journey is arduous and fraught with a great deal of heartbreaks, disappointments, struggles, hardship, slip-ups on our part, losses, victories, and such. But it is our obedient, trusting faith, through the Person and Ministries of our Master Yahoshua, that will see us successfully make it into the glorious Malchut Elohim.

Shabbat Shalom; Shavu’atov; until next time beloved, take care.