Bemidbar/Numbers 19:1-22:1
Blessing
for the Torah:
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-O’lam, asher
bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’natan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn
ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe, you have selected us
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe, you have selected us
from among all the peoples, and have given us your
Torah. Blessed are you,
YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
Introductory
comments to the parashah:
This parashah is difficult to understand. The sages
say that the commandment of the Red Heifer is “beyond human understanding”
Romans 10:4 clearly reminds us that the Messiah is the purpose of the
Torah and the Torah can only be properly understood in the light of who the
real Messiah is.
The “chukat” or “statutes” of this portion only
begins to make sense when seen in the light of our Messiah Yahshua. These
“chukat” unravel some of the deepest mysteries of our Messiah’s deep love and
desire to be united with his bride, soon, and for all eternity. Our love and
desire to be with our Messiah King is measured by our response and
understanding of these “chukat.”
The meaning of the word “chukat” comes from the
Hebrew verb “chukak” and means to cut upon, engrave or inscribe.
“The phrase in 19:2 “zot chuckat
ha torah” “this is the chukat of the Torah” appears only twice in the Torah
(see also 31:21) This could be interpreted to mean “ this is the whole essence of the Torah”
What is the whole essence of the Torah? The Torah is about how an estranged bride – Yisrael, is returning to her
bridegroom Messiah and his Father’s house. YHVH accomplishes this mission by placing the fullness of who
He is in His only brought forth Son, who himself is the embodiment of the
entire Torah. The Torah in the flesh - Yahshua ha Mashiach, and then He unites
forever those who possess and desire this witness of Messiah and are lovingly
obedient to His commandments.
Rev 14:12 Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones,1
here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of Yahshua/ יהושע.2
Footnotes: 1In 12:17 they are called “the remnant”
This great redemption love story starts in a
garden. Sin estranged these two lovers once upon a time but our Creator King
knew how He would restore this Divine Romance. He created a Second Adam and
began a restoring courtship again for His fallen bride – Yisrael.
This mystery explains why so much of the language
of restoration found in the Torah appears in the feminine gender.
Let us look at some of many examples: The word
“Torah” meaning “pointing” or “instruction” is a feminine noun.
The word “chukat” is a feminine noun.
Other significant words that appear in the feminine
gender include: Yerushalayim, covenant (brit), sin chatat, inheritance
(nachalah), battle (milchamah), worship (avodah), gifts (minchah), love
(ahavah), repentance (teshuva) and many more.
This Torah and Haftarah portion brings to light the
pivotal role of the coming together in the spiritual as well as physical realms
the masculine and the feminine – the bride and the bridegroom.
In the Haftarah: Shoftim 11:1-33 we have the
events of Yiphtach/Jafta (means “he will open”) who makes a rash vow after
victory in a battle to present his virgin daughter as an offering. There
are some reliable commentaries which state that this was not a human
offering, but a dedication of this young virgin girl to the service of
YHVH.
This may come as a surprise to many of us but the Torah
speaks of Tabernacle ministry that was performed by dedicated woman.
Shemot/Exo
38:8 And he made the basin of bronze and its stand
of bronze, from the bronze mirrors of the serving women who did service at the
door (patach) of the Tent of Meeting.
The Hebrew word
used that refers to these women as “warriors” is “hatzovot” Strongs 6633.
The Hebrew word for entrance is “petach” the same root
used in the name of “Yiftach” What could this possibly mean?
Is it possible that in the
last days those relationships between men and woman will reflect the
relationship between Yahshua and his Bride. This will bring about that set
apart woman will once again be released in playing an important supportive role
in bringing about an end time restoration of the leadership of the true
spiritual fathers and cause dedicated woman to return to the “entrance of the
tabernacle of meeting of YHVH”?
This ministry may be just as important as the elders who
sat at the city gates. These elders protected the cities from harmful
influences, but these warrior - women supported the priests as they enter into
the Set apart Place/tabernacle, the dwelling of the presence of YHVH.
This ministry was not something strange to women; we see
that even Yahshua had a group of dedicated women who ministered to him.
Luk 8:3 and Yochanah the wife of Kuza, manager of Herodes, and Shoshannah, and many others who provided for Him
from their resources.
Channah the prophetess: Luk
2:37 and she was a widow of about
eighty-four years, who did not leave the Set-apart Place, but served Elohim
with fastings and prayers night and day.
I am fully aware of
the prophetic warnings about the Jezebellic spirit and the Queen of heaven who
will attempt to come and emasculate the true priestly ministry in the end time,
however there is a great danger that we will not recognize and release the true
set apart ministry of women who have been held back by our man made religious
ideas concerning women and their important role in the restoration of the bride
of Messiah. This has been the sad testimony of the rabbi’s for centuries who
would not even allow the women to come near to the entrance of the Temple. They
had to stay with the gentiles in the courtyard outside the Place of Meeting.
I believe Yirmeyahu
was prophesying about a unique relationship that would exist between men and
women in the end time restoration of all things, when renewed covenant will be
the Torah in our hearts.
Yir/Jer 31:22 “ …. For
יהוה has created
what is new on earth: a woman encompasses a man!”
This is the same verse
that is demonstrated at a Hebraic wedding when the bride surrounds the groom
seven times. What does it mean? No one knows for sure. The Hebrew states that
which is feminine (nekvah) will surround that which is mighty (ga ver) like a
might man going to war.
I believe this
scripture and Torah portion are pointing to a very special kind of restoration
that will take place between men and woman in the last days – a certain dynamic
will emerge from our relationships that have not previously existed. We see this quality in the end time bride
emerging from the great tribulation in Revelation 15 singing the Song of Moshe
and of the Lamb. We find the song of Moshe in the Torah and the song of the
Lamb in the Song of Songs. (The sages declare the book Song of Songs, the most
set apart book in the Tenach)
Torah Readings (when
Chukat is read separately):
- 19:1-17
- 19:18 – 20:6
- 20:7-13
- 20:14-21
- 20:22 – 21:9
- 21:10-20
- 21:21-33
- Maftir: 21:34 – 22:1
Haftarah (when
Chukat is read separately): Shoftim/Judges 11:1-33
Aliyah
Rishon 19:1-17
Bemidbar is the
Hebrew name of this Book– Numbers is the translation that English translators
gave to this Book
Num 19:1 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh and to Aharon, saying,
Num 19:2 “This is
a law of the Torah which יהוה has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the
children of Yisra’ĕl, that they bring you a red heifer, a perfect one, in which
there is no blemish and on which a yoke has never come.
There
are conflicting reports as to the present day existence of a Red Hefer (female
cow). She is to have no blemish- if two hairs on her body are not red then she
is considered to have a blemish. “No
yoke” could imply that there was no burden on this animal which refers to the
burden of sin. This points us to the perfect offering Messiah made when he
presented himself a perfect offering for our sins.
Num 19:3 ‘And you
shall give it to El’azar the priest, and he shall bring it outside the camp,
and shall slaughter it before him.
The Red Heifer or “para aduma” could also refer to
the Messiah who was slain outside the camp on the Mount of Olives. (There is
growing consensus that Yahshua was executed on the Mount of Olives)
Num 19:4 ‘And
El’azar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle
some of its blood seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.
Seven times could be pointing to the 7000 years YHVH extends His atonement to
mankind in order to bring him to perfection to enter into the Eighth Day or
eternity. This causes us to face the fact that for a period of seven thousand
years we will be confronted with the contamination of death.
The
Sevenfold Sprinkling of the Blood of Messiah:
1) In the
Garden of Gethsemane/Mount of Olives (Sweat of Blood) - Luke 22:44.
2) Pilate
had Yahshua flogged (Stripes on the back) – Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Yoch/John
19:1.
3) Set a
crown of thorns upon his head. Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2)
4) …they
struck him on the head… (Beating and plucking the beard) - Matthew 27:30; Mark
15:19; Yochanan/John 19:3.
5) The
nails piercing his hands…
6) The
nails piercing his feet… implied in this statement – ‘And they impaled him…’
Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33; Yochanan/John 19:18, 20:25)
7) …pierced
Yahshua’s side with a spear… - Yochanan/John 19:34
Num 19:5 ‘And the
heifer shall be burned before his eyes – he burns its hide, and its flesh, and
its blood, and its dung.
Num 19:6 ‘And the
priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and
throw them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.
Yahshua willingly gave himself completely for our transgressions as an offering and was bound to
an execution stake and his blood needs to be applied as the blood of the Passover
lamb on the doorways of our hearts.
Three elements, cedar-wood, hyssop,
and scarlet wool yarn had to be added in order to produce the ashes,
which would later be mixed with the water that would serve for purification
This hints to us that the horizontal beam that our Master was hung on could
have been made of cedar-wood.
“The hyssop was used in connection with the Messiah’s death,
which connects him with the deliverance from Mitzrayim, when hyssop was
used to sprinkle the blood on the doorposts.
Hyssop was also used in the cleansing process from “tzaraat”
(“leprosy”Lev 14) which symbolizes sin. In this parasha hyssop was used in the
cleansing from ritual uncleanness caused by contact with death as well as when
the children of Israel entered the covenant.
We read in Ivrim/Heb
9:19-20 “For when, according to Torah,
every command had been spoken by Mosheh to all the people, he took the blood of
calves and goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both
the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant
which Elohim commanded you.”
Tehillim/Psa 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I am clean; Wash
me, and I am whiter than snow.
The scarlet red wool yarn reminds us of how we too are bound to
Messiah in his death. In the commentary on Leviticus 14:4 in Parashah 28,
Metzorah, there are several details about the significance of the three
elements used in this cleansing.”
Num 19:7 ‘The
priest shall then wash his garments, and shall bathe his body in water, and
afterward come into the camp, but the priest is unclean until evening.
Num 19:8 ‘And he
who is burning it washes his garments in water, and shall bathe his body in
water, and is unclean until evening.
Num 19:9 ‘And a
clean man shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and shall place them outside
the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the congregation of the
children of Yisra’ĕl for the water for uncleanness, it is for cleansing from
sin.
Num 19:10 ‘And he
who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his garments, and is unclean until evening. And it shall be a law forever to the
children of Yisra’ĕl and to the stranger who sojourns in their midst.
The ashes of the burnt
offering were taken outside the camp; the ashes of the Red Heifer were brought inside the
camp. These ashes are the evidence of a people who are being set apart for
the Master. The ashes that come inside the camp are for the cleansing of His
people. The time will come when the cleansing of the camp will cause the light
of the Torah to go out into the nations.
Num 19:11 ‘He who
touches the dead of any human being is unclean for seven days.
Num 19:12 ‘He is
to cleanse himself with the water on the third day, and on the seventh
day he is clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day, then
on the seventh day he is not clean.
Num 19:13 ‘Anyone
who touches the dead of a human being, and does not cleanse himself, defiles
the Dwelling Place of יהוה. And that being shall be cut off from
Yisra’ĕl. He is unclean, for the water for uncleanness was not sprinkled
on him, his uncleanness is still upon him.
Num 19:14 ‘This is
the Torah when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent
are unclean for seven days,
Num 19:15 and
every open vessel which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean.
Num 19:16 ‘Anyone
in the open field who touches someone slain by a sword or who has died, or a
bone of a man, or a grave, is unclean for seven days.
Num 19:17 ‘And for
the unclean being they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for
cleansing from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel.
In Yezekel/Ezekiel 36:24-30, it is written,
“For I will
take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and
will bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you
shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I
cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them. You shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and
I will be your Eloha. I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call
for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you. I will multiply
the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no
more the reproach of famine among the nations.”
One
week is needed in order for anyone to be cleansed from the effects of death. On
the eighth day one is clean. In the same way the world will go through seven
thousand years of cleansing. Thereafter there will be righteousness without
death. The third day represents the third millennium after Adam, when the
children of Israel left Mitzrayim and received the Torah that cleanses. The
Messiah will come to the seventh millennium to cleanse, not only those who have
been in contact with death, but also the dead who will be resurrected. This
speaks of two very significant points in the history of the world, the first
and the second redemption, which occur in the third and the seventh
millennium”
Rabban
Maimonides, who codified the Torah, prophesied that the Messiah would sacrifice
the tenth Parah Adumah (Red Heifer) in human history [at his coming].
Aliyah
Sheni 19:18-20:6
Num 19:18 ‘And a clean man shall take hyssop and dip it
in the water, and shall sprinkle it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on
the beings who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or the slain, or
the dead, or a grave.
Num 19:19 ‘And the clean one shall sprinkle the unclean
on the third day and on the seventh day. And on the seventh day
he shall cleanse himself, and shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and
shall be clean in the evening.
Num 19:20 ‘But the man who is
unclean and does not cleanse himself, that being shall be cut off from among
the assembly, because he has defiled the set-apart place of יהוה – water for
uncleanness has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean.
Num 19:21 ‘And it
shall be a law for them forever. And the one who sprinkles the water for uncleanness washes his garments.
And the one who touches the water for uncleanness is unclean until evening.
Num 19:22 ‘And
whatever the unclean being touches is unclean. And the being who touches it is
unclean until evening.’ ”