Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, You have set us apart by Your commandments and have commanded us to actively study Your Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May You open our eyes to see marvellous truths from Your Torah. Thank You for calling us who were once gentiles excluded from the citizenship of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no expectation and without Elohim- but now through the blood of Messiah we have gained access into the covenants and have obtained citizenship into the commonwealth of Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.
The title of this portion “Bemidbar”- wilderness, is also associated with two other Hebrew words “devar” to speak and “davar” a word. This then can also be understood to mean “a word in the wilderness”
אלוהים מדבר אלינו במדבר or Elohim speaks to us in the wilderness – see the similarity in the use of ‘’midbar’’
Joh 1:1 בראשית היה הדבר והדבר היה את האלהים ואלהים היה הדבר׃
In truth it could be said that as long as we are not in the promised land or physically in the presence of YHVH we are in some form of ‘’wilderness’’
Could it be that YHVH will once again call His beloved bride into the wilderness of the nations to establish covenant faithfulness once again? Ezek 20:35
MessageTranslation (which is a paraphrasing version):
Hos 2:14 "And now, here's
what I'm going to do: I'm going to start all over again. I'm taking her back
out into the wilderness where we had our first date, and I'll court her.
Hos 2:15 I'll give her bouquets
of roses. I'll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope. She'll respond like
she did as a young girl, those days when she was fresh out of Egypt.
Hos 2:16 "At that
time"--this is YHVH’s Message still-- "you'll address me, 'Dear
husband!' Never again will you address me, 'My slave-master!'
Hos 2:17 I'll wash your mouth out
with soap, get rid of all the dirty false-god names, not so much as a whisper
of those names again. (like the days of the week named after false deities-
emphasis mine)
Hos 2:18 At the same time I'll
make a peace treaty between you and wild animals and birds and reptiles, And
get rid of all weapons of war. Think of it! Safe from beasts and bullies!
Hos 2:19 And then I'll marry you
for good--forever! I'll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Hos 2:20 Yes, I'll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go. You'll know me, YHVH, for who I really am.
כא וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי, לְעוֹלָם; וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי
בְּצֶדֶק וּבְמִשְׁפָּט, וּבְחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים.
Hos 2:19 “And I shall
take you as a bride unto Me forever, and take you as a bride unto Me in
righteousness, and in right-ruling, and loving-commitment and compassion. (this
verse is traditionally recited when fastening the tefillin)
במדבר סיני
Num 1:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of
Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they
had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, saying,
Num 1:2 “Take a census (שׂאו את ראשׁ כל עדת בני ישׂראל)of all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl, by their
clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head, (כל זכר לגלגלתם) Jn 12:32 If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men
unto myself –
Act 4:12 “And there is no deliverance in anyone else, for there is no
other Name under the heaven given among men by which we need to be
saved.”
Num 1:3 from twenty years old and
above, everyone going out to the army in Yisra’ĕl. Number them by their
divisions, you and Aharon.
This book of the Torah – Bamidbar is about
YHVH calling and counting His bride to be. This counting or taking of census is
expressed in a rather strange Hebrew idiom viz “to count the skulls” see Num 1:2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the
children of Yisra’ĕl, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to
the number of names, every male, head by head (gulguletam)
The Hebrew word for head here is “skulls” or
“gulgoleth” Strongs 1538. This is where we get the word “Golgotha” - “only in
Messiah can we be counted” (unique ish)
Joh 19:17 And bearing His stake,
He went out to the so-called Place of a Skull, which is called in Heḇrew,
Golgotha,
Joh 19:18
where they impaled Him, and two others with Him.
Num 1:4 “And a man from every tribe
should be with you, each one the head of his father’s house.
Num 1:5 “And these are the names of
the men who stand with you. From Re’uḇĕn: Elitsur, son of Sheḏĕy’ur.
Num 1:6 “From Shimʽon: Shelumi’ĕl, son of
Tsurishaddai.
Num 1:7 “From Yehuḏah: Naḥshon, son of Amminaḏaḇ.
Num 1:8 “From Yissasḵar: Nethanĕ’l, son of Tsuʽar.
Num 1:9 “From Zeḇulun: Eliyaḇ, son of Ḥĕlon.
Num 1:10 “From the sons of Yosĕph:
From Ephrayim: Elishama, son of Ammihuḏ. From Menashsheh: Gamli’ĕl,
son of Peḏahtsur.
Num 1:11 “From Binyamin: Aḇiḏan, son of Giḏʽoni.
Num 1:12 “From Dan: Aḥiʽezer, son of Ammishaddai.
Num 1:13 “From Ashĕr: Paḡʽi’ĕl, son of Oḵran.
Num 1:14 “From Gaḏ: Elyasaph, son of Deu’ĕl.
Num 1:15 “From Naphtali: Aḥira, son of Ěnan.”
Num 1:16 These are the ones called from the
congregation, leaders of their fathers’ tribes, heads of the thousands of
Yisra’ĕl.
Num 1:17 And Mosheh and Aharon took
these men who were called by name,
Num 1:18 and they assembled all the
congregation together on the first day of the second month. And they declared
their ancestry by clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of
names, from twenty years old and above, each one head by head. (Gulgelotam)
Num 1:19 As יהוה commanded
Mosheh, so he registered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.
Num 1:20 And the children of Re’uḇĕn, Yisra’ĕl’s first-born,
their genealogies by their clans, by their fathers’ house, according to the
number of names, every male head by
head, (skull by skull)from twenty years old and above, everyone going out
to the army,
Num 1:21 those who were registered
of the tribe of Re’uḇĕn were forty-six thousand five hundred.
Num 1:22 From the children of Shimʽon, their genealogies by their
clans, by their fathers’ house, of those who were registered, according to the
number of names, every male head by head, (skulls)
from twenty years old and above, everyone going out to the army,
Num 1:23 those who were registered
of the tribe of Shimʽon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
Num 1:24 From the children of Gaḏ, their genealogies by their
clans, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty
years old and above, everyone going out to the army,
Num 1:25 those who were registered
of the tribe of Gaḏ were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
Num 1:26 From the children of Yehuḏah, their genealogies by their
clans, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty
years old and above, everyone going out to the army,
Num 1:27 those who were registered
of the tribe of Yehuḏah were seventy-four thousand six hundred.
Num 1:28 From the children of
Yissasḵar, their genealogies by their
clans, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty
years old and above, everyone going out to the army,
Num 1:29 those who were registered
of the tribe of Yissasḵar were fifty-four thousand four hundred.
Num 1:30 From the children of Zeḇulun, their genealogies by
their clans, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from
twenty years old and above, everyone going out to the army,
Num 1:31 those who were registered
of the tribe of Zeḇulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
Num 1:32 From the sons of Yosĕph,
the children of Ephrayim, their genealogies by their clans, by their fathers’
house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above,
everyone going out to the army,
Num 1:33 those who were registered
of the tribe of Ephrayim were forty thousand five hundred.
Num 1:34 From the children of
Menashsheh, their genealogies by their clans, by their fathers’ house,
according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, everyone
going out to the army,
Num 1:35 those who were registered
of the tribe of Menashsheh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.
Num 1:36 From the children of
Binyamin, their genealogies by their clans, by their fathers’ house, according
to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, everyone going out to
the army,
Num 1:37 those who were registered
of the tribe of Binyamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.
Num 1:38 From the children of Dan,
their genealogies by their clans, by their fathers’ house, according to the
number of names, from twenty years old and above, everyone going out to the
army,
Num 1:39 those who were registered
of the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
Num 1:40 From the children of Ashĕr,
their genealogies by their clans, by their fathers’ house, according to the
number of names, from twenty years old and above, everyone going out to the
army,
Num 1:41 those who were registered
of the tribe of Ashĕr were forty-one thousand five hundred.
Num 1:42 From the children of
Naphtali, their genealogies by their clans, by their fathers’ house, according
to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, everyone going out to
the army,
Num 1:43 those who were registered
of the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.
Num 1:44 These were those
registered, whom Mosheh and Aharon registered, with the leaders of Yisra’ĕl,
twelve men, each one for his father’s house.
Num 1:45 And all those that were
registered of the children of Yisra’ĕl, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty
years old and above, everyone going out to the army in Yisra’ĕl,
Num 1:46 all those
that were registered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and
fifty. Ex 38:26
Num 1:47 But the Lĕwites were not
registered among them by their fathers’ tribe,
Num 1:48 because יהוה had spoken to
Mosheh, saying,
Num 1:49 “Only the tribe of Lĕwi you
do not register, nor take a census of them among the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Num 1:50 “Instead, appoint the
Lĕwites over the Dwelling Place of the Witness, over all its furnishings, and
over all that belongs to it. They bear the Dwelling Place and all its
furnishings, and they attend to it, and camp around the Dwelling Place.
Num 1:51 “And when the Dwelling
Place is to go forward, the Lĕwites take it down. And when the Dwelling Place
is to be set up, the Lĕwites set it up. And the stranger who comes near is put
to death.
Num 1:52 “And the children of Yisra’ĕl shall pitch
their tents, everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own banner, according to
their divisions,
Num 1:53 but let the Lĕwites camp around the Dwelling
Place of the Witness, so that there be no wrath on the congregation of the
children of Yisra’ĕl. And the Lĕwites shall guard the duty of the Dwelling
Place of the Witness.”
Num 1:54 And the children of Yisra’ĕl did according to all that יהוה commanded Mosheh, so they did.
Note the profound prophecy of Ezekiel concerning those of us who are grafted into Israel – ‘’erev rav’’
Eze 47:21 “And you shall divide
this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Yisra’ĕl.
Eze 47:22 “And it shall be that
you divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers
who sojourn in your midst and who bear children among you. And they shall be to
you as native-born among the children of Yisra’ĕl – with you they have an
inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl1. Footnote: 1Isa.
14:1, Isa. 56:6-8, Rom. 11:17-26, Eph. 2:19, Eph. 3:6, Rev. 21:12.
Eze 47:23 “And it shall be that
in whatever tribe the stranger sojourns, there you give him his inheritance,”
declares the Master יהוה.
It is important to note that YHVH ‘’counts’’ those who are in covenant with
Him through Messiah - YHVH keeps a registry of His Bride -we see this in
the genealogies of Messiah.
Why does a Good Shepherd always count His sheep?
He wants to make sure who have strayed from the flock, so that he can go and
find them and bring them back into the flock - Mat
18:11 “For the Son of Aḏam has come to save what was lost.
Mat 18:12 “What do you think? If a man has
a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, would he not leave the
ninety-nine on the mountains, going to seek the one that is straying?
Mat 18:13 “And if he should find it, truly,
I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that
did not go astray.
Mat 18:14 “Thus it is not the desire of
your Father who is in the heavens that one of these little ones should be
lost.
Joh
10:4 “And when he has brought out his
own sheep, he goes before them. And the sheep follow him, because they know his
voice
Joh
10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Joh
10:16 “And other sheep I have which are
not of this fold – I have to bring them as well, and they shall hear My voice,
and there shall be one flock, one shepherd.1 Footnote: 1Ezek.
34:23, Ezek. 37:24.
Joh
10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me.1 Footnote: 1Rev. 14:4-5.
Joh
10:28 “And I give them everlasting life,
and they shall by no means ever perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My
hand.
Joh
10:29 “My Father, who has given them to
Me, is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s
hand.
There
can be nothing more important in this life than to be counted as one of
Messiah’s sheep.
The
highest calling and reward possible in this life and in the life to come is to
be counted as part of His flock.
Can there be anything in this world that is as important and desirable than to be part of His family?
To
become part of His family required nurturing from birth.
The Torah gives clear instruction on how to raise children – the goal of raising children was to guide them and prepare them to enter into a set-apart covenant relationship with YHVH – We also learn from ancient Jewish writings such as ‘’Pirkei Avot” and the “Shulcan Aruch’’(set table) that the Jews were instructed from childhood about the halachic requirements of the teachings of the Torah. ‘’Discipleship’’ was a way of life since birth.
Pirkei
Avot 5:21
He used to say:
At five years of age the study of Scripture; At ten the study of Mishnah;(rote
memorization) At thirteen subject to the commandments; At fifteen the study of
Talmud; At eighteen the bridal canopy; At twenty for pursuit [of livelihood]; At
thirty the peak of strength; At forty wisdom; At fifty able to give counsel; At
sixty old age; At seventy fullness of years; At eighty the age of “strength”; At
ninety a bent body; At one hundred, as good as dead and gone completely out of
the world.
Sadly,
many of these ancient customs became ‘’diluted’’ through many manmade
regulations and additional teachings that obscured the real intent of the Torah.
In the Christian world too, many traditions and teachings were introduced that have also diluted the teachings of the scriptures. (Theology can often alienate people from the truth or parts of it)
Col2:8 Message - Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Messiah.
There are however good traditions we need to follow - 1Co 11:2 And I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in every way and keep the traditions as I delivered them to you.
2Th 2:15 So, then, brothers, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by our letter. (Gk ‘’tradition’’ is παράδοσις – which implies passing on from generation to generation)
The Fellowship of the Believers
Act 2:42 And they were continuing steadfastly in the teaching of the emissaries, and in the fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. (there was aso a fixed prayer liturgy used by early believes)
We need to realize that YHVH is not only committed to blessing a single generation (end time generation) but thousands of generations - Deu 7:9 “And you shall know that יהוה your Elohim, He is Elohim, the trustworthy Ěl guarding covenant and loving-commitment for a thousand generations with those who love Him, and those who guard His commands,
Righteous people with righteous traditions can strengthen YHVH’s commands and help us to walk in them but we are warned not to teach our traditions as commandments from YHVH - Mar 7:7 And in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commands of men.’a Isa_29:13. Footnote: aAlso see 2Ki_17:19 and Mat_15:3-9.
Mar 7:8 “Forsaking the command of Elohim, you hold fast the tradition
of men.”
Mar 7:9 And He said to them, “Well do you set aside the command of
Elohim, in order to guard your tradition.
A tradition can change but His commandments never change.
“G'mar Chatimah
Tovah” — may you be inscribed in the Book of Life.
May we be found worthy
to be counted amongst His people.
כא וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי, לְעוֹלָם; וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בְּצֶדֶק וּבְמִשְׁפָּט,
וּבְחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים.
Traditionally we recite these words under our ‘’talit’’ (marriage chuppah)
while binding ourselves to His covenant (tefillin)
Blessed are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Amein
https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Pirke_Avot/pirke_avot.html