Blessing of Torah.
Hebrew:
Baruch atah YHVH eloheinu melech
ha-olam, asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah.
V'ha'arev na YHVH eloheinu et divrei toratecha befinu uvfi amecha beit Yisrael.
V'niyeh anachnu v'tze'etze'einu v'tze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael kullanu yodei
sh'mecha v'lomdei toratecha lishmah. Baruch atah YHVH hamelamed Torah le'amo
Yisrael. Baruch atah YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar banu mikol
ha'amim venatan lanu et torato. Baruch atah YHVH, notein haTorah.
English
translation: Blessed are You, YHVH
our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His
commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim,
sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your
people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the
House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for
the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to
His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, ,
Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH,
Giver of the Torah.
Parashat Nasso seems to have a common theme
of “lifting up” a set apart priesthood. This priesthood includes the Levites;
individual men and woman who undergo the Nazarite vow and even the nation of
Yisrael, who bring set apart offerings for the functioning of the priesthood.
The apostolic scriptures confirm this priesthood.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a set-apart nation, a people for a possession, that you should
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous
light,
1Pe 2:10 who once were not a people, but now the
people of Elohim; who had not obtained compassion, but now obtained compassion.
Sadly the priesthood
has not been faithful.
Jer 3:12 “Go and proclaim these words toward the
north, and say, ‘Return, O backsliding Yisra’ĕl,’ declares יהוה, ‘I shall not
look on you in displeasure, for I am kind,’ declares יהוה, ‘and I do not bear a grudge forever.
Jer 3:13 ‘Only,
acknowledge your crookedness, because you have transgressed against יהוה your Elohim, and have scattered your ways
to strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’
declares יהוה.
Jer 3:14 “Return,
O backsliding children,” declares יהוה, “for I shall
rule over you, and shall take you, one from a city and two from a clan1,
and shall bring you to Tsiyon. Footnote: 1See Isa. 27:12.
Jer 3:15 “And I
shall give you shepherds according to My heart, and they shall feed you with
knowledge and understanding.
Yahshua stated that
only a few would be faithful to this calling.
Luk 13:23 and someone said to Him, “Master, are there
few who are being saved?” And He said to them,
Luk 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
because many, I say to you, shall seek to enter in and shall not be able.
Luk 13:25 “When once the Master of the house has risen
up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door,
saying, ‘Master, Master, open for us,’ and He shall answer and say to you, ‘I
do not know you, where you are from,’
Luk 13:26 then you shall begin to say, ‘We ate and
drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’
Luk 13:27 “But He shall say, ‘I say to you I do not
know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of
unrighteousness.’ (teaching disobedience to Torah is unrighteous)
Luk 13:28 “There shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth, when you see Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq and Yaʽaqoḇ and all the prophets
in the reign of Elohim, and yourselves thrown outside.
Mat 7:13 “Enter in through the narrow gate! Because
the gate is wide – and the way is broad – that leads to destruction, and there
are many who enter in through it.
Mat 7:14 “Because the gate is narrow and the way is
hard pressed1 which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Footnote: 1Or the way is afflicted.
Mat 7:15 “But beware of the false prophets,1
who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are savage wolves.
Footnote: 1See v. 23
Believers have been
robbed and plundered.
Isa 42:19 “Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My
messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is at peace, and blind as servant
of יהוה?
Isa 42:20 “You see
much, but do not observe; ears are open, but do not hear.”
Isa 42:21 It has
delighted יהוה, for the sake of His
righteousness,
to make the Torah great and esteemed.
Isa 42:22 But this
is a people robbed and plundered, all of them are snared in holes, and they are
hidden in prison houses. They have become a prey, with no one to deliver – for
plunder, and no one to say, “Restore!”
(“ha shav” or return)
Isa 42:23 Who
among you gives ear to this, pays attention and hears for the time to come?
Isa 42:24 Who gave
Yaʽaqoḇ for
plunder, and Yisra’ĕl to the robbers? Was it not יהוה, He against
whom we sinned? For they would not walk
in His ways, and they did not obey His Torah!
Isa 42:25 So He
has poured on him His burning displeasure and the strength of battle, and it
set him on fire all around, yet he did not understand. And it burned against
him, yet he did not take it to heart!
Before YHVH can bless us we need to return to the Torah
and the ancient paths of our fathers – Avraham, Yitzchak and Yakov.
So we see in this week’s Torah portion how the blessing
of YHVH alone brings increase into our lives.
Num 6:22 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, saying,
Num 6:23 “Speak to
Aharon and his sons, saying, ‘This is how you bless the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Say to them:
The Hebrew word for “bless” comes from the Hebrew verb
“barach.” This verb means to kneel. The image is created of YHVH “kneeling”
down to reach mankind on their level of need. This reminds us of a parent
kneeling down to the level of their child to connect with them in their need.
Psa 18:35 …Your right hand supports(embraces) me, And
Your lowliness(humility) makes me great (increases to me).
This is a clear image
of how Yahshua brings all the reality of the Torah of YHVH to us – on a level
that we can understand and receive – Halleluyah.
The Aaronic blessing consists of three sections:
1.The first section is in vs 24.
Num 6:24 “יהוה bless you and guard you;
May YHVH bless you with a heart to follow Torah because
this will bring every blessing we need into our lives. WE CANNOT SEPARATE
BLESSING FROM OBEDIENCE.
Deu 28:1 “And it shall be, if you diligently obey the
voice of יהוה your Elohim,
to guard to do all His commands which I command you today, that יהוה your Elohim shall set you high above all
nations of the earth.
Deu 28:2 “And all
these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim:
Deu 30:9 “And יהוה your Elohim
shall make you have excess in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your
body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground for
good. For יהוה turns back to
rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers,
Deu 30:10 if you
obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim,
to guard His commands and His laws which are written in this Book of the Torah,
if you turn back to יהוה your Elohim
with all your heart and with all your being.
Deu 30:11 “For
this command which I am commanding you today, it is not too hard for you, nor
is it far off.
For YHVH’s blessing to remain a blessing for us we need
Him to protect us in our blessings.
Our blessings need to be protected from being stolen,
corrupted or lost. We too may need
protection that our blessings don’t bring harm to us.
Yahshua came to teach us the Torah in the proper way that
it would be a blessing to us. If we try to receive the Torah in a different way
the Torah can become a curse to us.
The greatest threat to man’s well- being is when man
decides to ignore the Torah as Yahshua taught .
Act 3:22 “For Mosheh truly said to the fathers, ‘יהוה your Elohim
shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear
according to all matters, whatever He says to you.
Act 3:23 ‘And it
shall be that every being who does not hear that Prophet1 shall be
utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Footnote: 1Deut. 18:18-20.
Deu 29:19 “And it shall be, when he hears the words of
this curse, that he should bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I have peace
though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,’ in order to add drunkenness to
thirst. Deu 29:20 “יהוה would not
forgive him, but rather, the displeasure of יהוה and His
jealousy shall burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book shall settle on him, and יהוה shall blot out his name from under the heavens.
Yahshua came to teach us the Torah in such a way that it
would bring blessing if we followed the Torah the way he and his talmidim lived
and taught the Torah.
2. The second section of the blessing is in vs 25.
Num 6:25 יהוה make His face shine upon you, and show
favour to you;
When YHVH’s face shines upon us we become deeply aware of an increasing
and wonderful knowledge and understanding of YHVH and His Ways.
Pro 6:23 For the command is a
lamp, And the Torah a light.
Psa 119:130 The opening up of Your words gives light,
Giving understanding to the simple.
Something wonderful is happening in your life and you know it comes from
your Heavenly Father. This causes “vichuneka” “and to be gracious to you.”
You begin to recognize increasing undeserved favour on
your life.
The third section of blessing is in vs 26.
Num 6:26 יהוה lift up His face upon(to) you, and give
you peace.” ’ Footnote: Verses 24 to 26 is the Priestly Blessing.
When YHVH lifts up His Face towards you – it gives a
sense that YHVH is staring at you.
This is when His blessings starts becoming very personal
to you. YHVH intense gaze upon you establishes wholeness (shalom) into your
life. This is taking His blessing to
whole new level.
When YHVH lifts up His Face towards you (singular) it is like
the blessings were especially created for your own individual needs. This
brings the deepest kind of contentment that we can know. YHVH focuses His gaze
upon you for good and not for harm.
Num 6:27 “Thus
they shall put My Name on the children of Yisra’ĕl, and I Myself shall bless
them.”
כז וְשָׂמוּ אֶת-שְׁמִי,
עַל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וַאֲנִי, אֲבָרְכֵם.
When YHVH’s Name is put on someone, He is declaring that
this person and people BELONG TO HIM. They are His exclusive property. We can
be assured YHVH takes very good care of His property.
Let’s look at the Hebrew of this prayer and the number of
letters and the gematria of those letters.
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כד יְבָרֶכְךָ
יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ. {ס}
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24 YHVH bless thee, and keep thee; {S}
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25 YHVH make His face to shine upon thee, and
be gracious unto thee; {S}
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26 YHVH lift up His countenance upon thee,
and give thee peace. {S}
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Vs 24- 15 letters
= Yud Heh = 15 = Yah or YHVH
Vs 25 - 20 letters = Heh yud hey
= haya or “to be”
Vs 26 - 25 letters =
yud hey yud = Yihi or “will be”
Combined means YHVH is and will be.
The Aaronic prayer wants us to focus on the present and
future reality of YHVH. Some commentators suggest that this reminds us that we
are living in two realms, now and the age to come. Both of these ages are
connected for us as the way we live in the present age depends how we live in the
age to come.
The gifts of the tribal leaders:
On
the day when the Tabernacle was inaugurated, the tribal leaders wished to bring
inauguration gifts. Collectively they brought six covered wagons and twelve
oxen to assist in transporting the Tabernacle when the Yisraelites travelled.
In addition, as representative of their respective tribes, they wished to offer
individual gifts and offering. YHVH instructed Moshe to accept these gifts, and
that on each the following twelve days one of the leaders should bring his
individual gifts. Although each leader brought identical gifts, the Torah
describes each one individually.
Num
7:1 And it came
to be, when Mosheh finished setting up the Dwelling Place, that he anointed it
and set it apart and all its furnishings, as well as the altar and all its
utensils. Thus he anointed them and set them apart. Num 7:2 And the leaders of Yisra’ĕl, heads of their
fathers’ houses who were the leaders of the tribes and over the ones
registered, drew near, Num 7:3 and they
brought their offering before יהוה: six covered
wagons and twelve cattle, a wagon for every two of the leaders, and for each one
a bull. And they brought them near before the Dwelling Place. Num 7:4 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, saying, Num 7:5 “Accept these
from them, and they shall be used in doing the service of the Tent of Meeting.
And you shall give them to the Lĕwites, each one according to his service.” Num
7:6 And Mosheh took the wagons and the
cattle, and gave them to the Lĕwites. Num 7:7 He gave
two wagons and four cattle to the sons of Gĕreshon, according to their service.
Num 7:8 And he gave four wagons and
eight cattle to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the hand
of Ithamar, son of Aharon the priest. Num 7:9
But to the sons of Qehath he gave none, because theirs was the service
of the set-apart objects, which they bore on their shoulders. Num
7:10 And the leaders brought the
dedication offering of the altar in the day it was anointed. So the
leaders brought their offering before the altar. Num 7:11 And יהוה said to
Mosheh, “Let them bring their offering, one leader each day, for the dedication
of the altar.” Num 7:12 And the one who
brought his offering on the first day was Naḥshon,
son of Amminaḏaḇ, from the tribe of Yehuḏah.
Num 7:13 And his
offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty sheqels,
one silver bowl of seventy sheqels, according to the sheqel of the set-apart
place, both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;Num
7:14 one gold ladle of ten sheqels,
filled with incense; Num 7:15 one young
bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, as a burnt offering; Num 7:16 one male goat as a sin offering; Num
7:17 and as a peace offering: two
cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the
offering of Naḥshon, son of Amminaḏaḇ. Num
7:18 On the second day Nethanĕ’l, son of
Tsuʽar, leader of Yissasḵar,
brought near.
Num 7:24 On the
third day Eliyaḇ, son of Ḥĕlon, leader of the children of Zeḇulun:
Num 7:30 On the
fourth day Elitsur, son of Sheḏĕy’ur, leader of the children of Re’uḇĕn:
Num 7:36 On the
fifth day Shelumi’ĕl, son of Tsurishaddai, leader of the children of Shimʽon:
Num 7:42 On the
sixth day Elyasaph, son of Deu’ĕl, leader of the children of Gaḏ
Num 7:48 On the
seventh day Elishama, son of Ammihuḏ,
leader of the children of Ephrayim:
Num 7:54 On the
eighth day Gamli’ĕl, son of Peḏahtsur, leader of the children of Menashsheh:
Num 7:60 On the
ninth day Aḇiḏan, son of Giḏʽoni,
leader of the children of Binyamin:
Num 7:66 On the
tenth day Aḥiʽezer, son of Ammishaddai, leader of the children of Dan:
Num 7:72 On the
eleventh day Paḡʽi’ĕl, son of Oḵran,
leader of the children of Ashĕr:
Num 7:78 On the
twelfth day Aḥira, son of Ěnan, leader of the children of Naphtali:
Num 7:84 This was
the dedication of the altar from the
leaders of Yisra’ĕl, when it was anointed: twelve silver
dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve gold ladles. Num
7:85 Each silver dish was one hundred
and thirty sheqels and each bowl seventy sheqels. All the silver
of the vessels was two thousand four hundred sheqels, according to the
sheqel of the set-apart place. Num 7:86
The twelve gold ladles filled with incense was ten sheqels each,
according to the sheqel of the set apart place. All the gold of the ladles was
one hundred and twenty sheqels. Num 7:87
All the cattle for the burnt offering were twelve young bulls, the rams
twelve, the male lambs a year old twelve, with their grain offering, and the male
goats as a sin offering twelve. Num 7:88
And all the cattle for the peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams
sixty, the male goats sixty, the lambs a year old sixty. This was the
dedication of the altar after it was anointed.
What do we learn from this continual
repetition of the gifts and offerings the sons of Yisrael brought to the place
of YHVH’s presence?
We are encouraged to be faithful in our
service towards YHVH. We have the following patterns in the Torah to consider and
follow: The daily tamid offerings should encourage us to pray at different
times during the day; keeping of Sabbaths; keeping the appointments, teaching
our children to commit to memory portions of the Torah.
Miracles and blessings will somehow find
their way into our lives when we are faithfully doing what YHVH expects us to
do. Sadly today many who call themselves believers obsess themselves with
seeking blessings and prophecies.
Num 7:89 And when
Mosheh went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice of
One speaking to him from above the lid of atonement that was on the ark of the
Witness, from between the two keruḇim. Thus He spoke to him.
The secret of true obedience is being aware of
the voice of YHVH, recognizing His Hand in the daily routine of our lives. It
is the awareness of who our Heavenly Father is as revealed to us through
Yahshua Moshiach, that keeps us from disobeying Him.
YHVH sent His Son to heal and restore us and
bring us into the presence of his Father and our Father.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu,
Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu.
Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, 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 – Ameyn.