Blessing for the Torah:
Bar’chu
et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed!
Baruch
ata YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu
eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.
(Bless YHVH the blessed One;
Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. 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.)
Bilaam utters seven proverbs or
“mashalim”over the nation of Yisrael.
The proverbs contain
“mashalim”over the nation of Yisrael.
The proverbs contain
cryptic and hidden messages
Aliyah Reviee 22:39-23:12
Num 22:39 And Bilʽam went with Balaq, and they came to Qiryath Ḥutsoth – (city of streets-
creates impression that this was a busy place)
Num 22:40
And Balaq slaughtered cattle and sheep, and he sent some to Bilʽam and
to the heads who were with him.
Num 22:41
And it came to be the next day, that Balaq took Bilʽam and brought him
up to the high places of Baʽal, and
from there he saw the extremity of the camp.
“High place
worship is a false system that rebels against YHVH’s call to go up to
Yerushalayim.” It is not based on worshipping YHVH in spirit and in truth – Yoh
4:23
Today “high places”
could be considered to be places that offer up a kind of religion which in
essence opposes the instructions of the way Messiah taught Torah.
The prophet speaks
directly to this problem in a very graphic and almost crude way.
Eze 16:24 that you also built an arched(Hb “gav”) place
for yourself, and made a high place in every street for yourself.
Eze 16:25 “You built your high places at the head of
every way, and made your loveliness to be loathed. And you parted – “pasak”(opened
wide) your feet(or legs) to everyone who passed by, and increased your
whorings.
“Gav” or arched building was commonly known as a
place of idol worship as well as a brothel.
“High place” was a place of false worship – A place
of worship with a high tower.
A false place of worship is a place where you
received an impure or mixed “seed.”
Pro 29:18 Where there is no vision,(Hb “chazon” or
heavenly communication of Torah) the people are let loose,(become spiritually
immoral) But blessed is he who guards the Torah.
“
Proverbs 29:18 teaches that when a nation is without the Torah of YHVH, the
people become unbridled and give free expression to their sinful desires. They
become lawless and rush towards anarchy and destruction. YHVH’s Torah empowered
by the Ruach Ha Kodesh (the Set apart Spirit) has the power to restrain man so
that he does not give free reign to the lusts of his flesh.”
High places are
strongholds in our thought patterns often brought through pagan influences and
the Torahless teachings of religion.
2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not
fight according to the flesh.
2Co 10:4 For the weapons we fight with are not fleshly
but mighty in Elohim for overthrowing strongholds,
2Co 10:5 overthrowing reasonings and every high matter
that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim, taking captive every
thought to make it obedient to the Messiah,
2Co 10:6 and being ready to punish all disobedience,
when your obedience is complete.1 Footnote: 1John 3:36. (disobedience to what? - Torah!)
Eze 16:32 “The wife who commits adultery who takes
strangers instead of her husband!
Eze 16:33 “To all whores they give gifts, but you gave
gifts to all your lovers, and bribed them to come to you from all around in
your whorings.
Eze 16:34 “Thus you are different from other women in
your whorings, because no one whores after you, and in you giving a gift, while
a gift was not given to you. Thus you are different.”
Eze 16:35 ‘Therefore, O whore, hear the word of יהוה!
YHVH is speaking to Yisrael.
We have opened up our hearts to receive a strange
seed or a mixed seed. – You cannot sow two different seeds in a same field. Lev
19:19. The Torah is the perfect seed and cannot be mixed with other seed.
Psa 19:7 The Torah of יהוה is perfect,
bringing back the being;
Perfect law of liberty - Jas/Yakov
1:25 But he that looked into the perfect
Torah, that of freedom,1 and continues in it, not becoming a hearer
that forgets, but a doer of work, this one shall be blessed in his doing of
the Torah. Footnote: 1See 2:12.
Num 23:1 And
Bilʽam said to Balaq, “Build seven altars for
me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Num 23:2 And
Balaq did as Bilʽam had spoken, and Balaq and Bilʽam offered a bull and a ram
on each altar.
Num 23:3
Bilʽam then said to Balaq, “Stand by your burnt offering, and let me go
on. It might be that יהוה does come to
meet me, and whatever He shows me I shall declare to you.” And he went to a
bare height.
Num 23:4 And
Elohim came to Bilʽam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars,
and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
“It doesn't say,
"I have prepared seven altars," but "I have prepared the
seven altars." Bila'm said to YHVH: The ancestors of this people built You
seven altars, and I have prepared the equivalent of them all. Avraham built
four (Genesis 12:7, 12:8, 13:18 and at Mount Moriah [22:9]); Yitschak built one
(ibid. 26:25); and Yakov built two--on at Shechem (ibid. 33:20) and one at Beit-El
(ibid. 35:7).” Rashi.
Bila'm in vs 1 is
hinting at replacing the seven altars that YHVH instructed the patriarchs to
erect specifically to confirm the covenant between Himself and Yisrael.
This is possibly a hidden revelation of ''replacement
theology.” See how Bila'm tries to replace the covenantal promises YHVH made
with Yisrael. Bilam seeks to establish new covenantal order without the Torah
and without Yisrael.
Num 23:5 And יהוה put a word in
the mouth of Bilʽam, and said, “Return to Balaq, and this is what you say.”
Num 23:6 And he
returned to him and saw him standing by his burnt offering, he and all the
heads of Mo’aḇ.
First oracle vs 7-10 - Num 23:7 And he
took up his proverb and said, “Balaq
the sovereign of Mo’aḇ has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the
east. ‘Come, curse Yaʽaqoḇ for me, and come, rage at Yisra’ĕl!’
Num 23:8 “How do I
curse whom Ěl has not cursed? And how do I rage at whom יהוה has not raged?
Num 23:9 “For from
the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I observe him. Look, a
people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations.
Num 23:10 “Who
shall count the dust of Yaʽaqoḇ, and the number
of one-fourth(dust) of Yisra’ĕl? Let me die the death of the upright, and
let my end be like his!”
Num 23:11 And
Balaq said to Bilʽam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my
enemies, and look, you have kept on blessing!”
Num 23:12 And he
answered and said, “Should I not take heed to speak what יהוה has put in my
mouth?”
Bilaam standing on the mountain peak is not filled with
dread or fear but with an overwhelming sense of jubilant praise to the Almighty
as he beholds Yisrael. Bilaam recognizes that Yisrael is different from all
other nations through its laws and instructions and that the Almighty has given
Yisrael to separate them to Himself from all other nations for His purpose.
“shall not be recognized among the nations” the hitpael
verb “hitchashav” is used and means to “consider
or recon itself.” This is the only place in the Torah and in the Tenach that
this hitpael verb is used, perhaps reminding us that those who have been
grafted into the root of Yisrael are the only people who can consider
themselves as different from all other peoples. Note “different” but not
“superior.” It is our covenant relationship with YHVH that makes us different.
Num 23:13 And Balaq said to him, “Please come with me
to another place from where you see them. You only see the extremity but not
all of them. Curse them for me from there
Num 23:14 And he took him to the field of Tsophim,(“watchers” see Book of Enoch) to the top of Pisgah,(cast off restraint) and
built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 23:15 And he said to Balaq, “Stand here by your
burnt offering while I meet over there.”
Num 23:16 And יהוה came to Bilʽam, and put a word in his
mouth, and said, “Go back to Balaq, and say this.”
Num 23:17 So he
went to him and saw him standing by his burnt offering, and the heads of Mo’aḇ
with him. And Balaq asked him, “What did יהוה say?”
Second oracle – 18-24 -Num 23:18 And he
took up his proverb and said, “Rise up, Balaq, and hear! Listen to me, son of
Tsippor!
Num 23:19 “Ěl is
not a man, to lie; nor a son of man, to repent! Has He said, and would He not
do it; or spoken, and would not confirm it?
Num 23:20 “See, I
have received, to bless. And He has blessed, and I do not reverse it.
Num 23:21 “He has
not looked upon wickedness in Yaʽaqoḇ, nor has He seen trouble in Yisra’ĕl. יהוה his Elohim is
with him, and the shout of a Sovereign is in him.
Midrash: This verse is possibly saying that YHVH looks at
their iniquity in such a way as to provide a deliverance for them – Yeshua the
Messiah!
Num 23:22 “Ěl who
brought them out of Mitsrayim, is for them like the horns of a wild ox.
Num 23:23 “For
there is no sorcery against Yaʽaqoḇ, nor is there any divination against
Yisra’ĕl. Now it is said to Yaʽaqoḇ and to Yisra’ĕl, ‘What has Ěl done!’
Num 23:24 “Look, a
people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion; it lies not down
until it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
Num 23:25 And
Balaq said to Bilʽam, “Do not curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”
Num 23:26 And
Bilʽam answered and said to Balaq, “Have I not spoken to you, saying, ‘All that
יהוה speaks, that I
do’?”
Aliyah Shishi 23:27-24:14
Num 23:27 And Balaq said to Bilʽam, “Please come, let
me take you to another place. It might be right in the eyes of Elohim that you
curse them for me from there.”
Num 23:28
And Balaq took Bilʽam to the top of Peʽor, that overlooks the wasteland.
Num 23:29 And Bilʽam said to Balaq, “Build seven alters
for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Num 23:30
And Balaq did as Bilʽam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each
altar.
Num 24:1 And when Bilʽam saw that it pleased יהוה to bless
Yisra’ĕl, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set
his face toward the wilderness.
Num 24:2 And
Bilʽam lifted up his eyes and saw Yisra’ĕl encamped according to their tribes.
And the Spirit of Elohim came upon him.
Third oracle vs
3-9-Num 24:3 And he took up his proverb and said, “The
saying of Bilʽam, son of Beʽor, and the saying of the man whose eyes are
opened,
Num 24:4 the
saying of him who hears the words of Ěl, who sees the vision of the Almighty,
who falls down, with eyes opened wide:
Num 24:5 “How good
are your tents, O Yaʽaqoḇ, your dwellings, O Yisra’ĕl!
Num 24:6 “Like
wadis that stretch out, like gardens by a river, like aloes planted by יהוה, like cedars
beside waters.
Num 24:7 “He makes
water flow from his buckets, and his seed is in many waters. His sovereign is
higher than Aḡaḡ, and his reign is exalted.
Num 24:8 “Ěl who
brought him out of Mitsrayim is for them like the horns of a wild ox; he
devours nations, his enemies; and he breaks their bones, and with his arrows he
smites.
Num 24:9 “He bowed
down, he lay down like a lion. And, like a lion, who would rouse him? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed
is he who curses you.”
Num 24:10 Then the
displeasure of Balaq burned against Bilʽam, and he struck his hands together.
Balaq then said to Bilʽam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, and see, you
have kept on blessing, these three
times!
Num 24:11 “And now
flee to your place. I said I would greatly esteem you, and see, יהוה has kept you
back from esteem.”
Num 24:12 And
Bilʽam said to Balaq, “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to
me, saying,
Num 24:13 ‘If
Balaq should give me his house filled with silver and gold, I am unable to go
beyond the word of יהוה, to do either good or evil of my own heart. What יהוה speaks, that I
speak’?
Num 24:14 “And
now, see, I am going to my people. Come, let me advise you what this people is
going to do to your people in the latter days.” (now he is adding insult to
injury to Balak. Bilaam is now going to give the knock- out blow. Balak was
having a very bad day and it was about to get worse)
Aliyah Sheviee 24:15 – 25:9
Fourth oracle vs 15-19 - Num 24:15 And he took up his proverb and said, “The saying of Bilʽam,
son of Beʽor, and the saying of the man whose eyes are opened,
Num 24:16
the saying of him who hears the words of Ěl, and knows the knowledge of
the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes
opened wide:
Num 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I observe Him, but
not near. A Star shall come out of Yaʽaqoḇ, and a Sceptre shall rise out of
Yisra’ĕl, and shall smite the corners of Mo’aḇ, and shall destroy all the sons
of Shĕth.
Num 24:18
“And Eḏom shall be a possession; and Sĕʽir shall be a possession –
enemies – and Yisra’ĕl is doing mightily.
Num 24:19
“And out of Yaʽaqoḇ One shall rule and destroy the remnant from
Ar.” (‘ma ir” from the city)
Num 24:20 He
then looked on Amalĕq, and he took up his proverb and said, “Amalĕq was first
among the nations, but his latter end is to perish forever.”
Num 24:21 He
then looked on the Qĕynites, and he took up his proverb and said, “Firm is your
dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock,
Num 24:22
but Qayin is to be burned. Till when does Asshur keep you captive?”
Num 24:23
And he took up his proverb and said, “Oh, who does live when Ěl does
this?
Oracles 5-7 vs 20 – 24
-Num 24:24 And ships shall come from the coast of
Kittim,(‘bruisers” descendants of Javan – Greece) and they shall afflict Asshur
and afflict Ěḇer, and so shall Amalĕq, and he also perishes.”
Num 24:25
And Bilʽam arose and left, and returned to his place. And Balaq also
went his way.
Num 25:1 And
Yisra’ĕl dwelt in Shittim,(last halting place before they crossed the Jordon –
a place of piercings) and the people began to whore with the daughters of Mo’aḇ,
Num 25:2 and they invited the people to the
slaughterings of their mighty ones, and the people ate and bowed down to their
mighty ones.
Num 25:3
Thus Yisra’ĕl was joined to Baʽal
Peʽor, and the displeasure of יהוה burned against Yisra’ĕl.
Num 25:4 And יהוה said to
Mosheh, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang them up before יהוה, before the
sun, so that the burning displeasure of יהוה turns away
from Yisra’ĕl.”
Baal-peor
= “master(husband) of the gap”- the deity worshipped at Peor. The Torah says
that Yisrael “yoked” themselves to Baal Peor. Our forefathers made an alliance
with a demonic force that still impacts all of mankind until this day.
Num 25:5 And
Mosheh said to the judges of Yisra’ĕl, “Each one of you slay his men who were
joined to Baʽal Peʽor.”
Num 25:6 And see,
one of the children of Yisra’ĕl came and brought to his brothers a Miḏyanite
woman before the eyes of Mosheh and before the eyes of all the congregation of
the children of Yisra’ĕl, who were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
Num 25:7 And when
Pineḥas, son of Elʽazar, son of Aharon the priest, saw it, he rose up from
among the congregation and took a spear in his hand,
Num 25:8 and he
went after the man of Yisra’ĕl into the tent and thrust both of them through,
the man of Yisra’ĕl, and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague among the
children of Yisra’ĕl came to a stop.
Num 25:9 And those
who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
Bilaam
seems to have succeeded in his mission to bring a curse over Yisrael. He knows
YHVH will not curse them, but he also knows that the people themselves can
bring destruction upon themselves. This would happen when they chose to follow
their own lusts and follow the pagan ways of the Midyanites. It is possible
that the act was committed in the Tabernacle itself – mixture of worship can be
our downfall.
This was an ancient problem in Yisrael and
according to Patai:
“Thus the worship of Asherah was opposed by a faction of kings and
prophets who were devoted exclusively to Yahweh, and during those periods when
they held power, they attempted to abolish the worship of other deities,
including Asherah. Over the course of several hundred years, the statue of
Asherah was repeatedly removed and reinstalled in the Solomonic temple. Despite
the sometimes-violent opposition, her statue stood in the temple for 236 years,
nearly two-thirds of the time that the Temple stood in Jersusalem. According to
Patai......her worship was a part of the legitimate religion approved and led
by the king, the court, and the priesthood and opposed by only a few prophetic
voices crying out against it at relatively long intervals.
...this elusive yet tenacious goddess to whom considerable segments of the Hebrew nation remained devoted from the days of the conquest of Canaan down to the Babylonian exile, a period of roughly six centuries. In the eyes of the Yahwists, to whom belonged a few of the kings and all of the prophets, the worship of Asherah was an abomination. It had to be, because it was a cult accepted by the Hebrews from their Canaanite neighbors, and any and all manifestations of Canaanite religion were for them anathema”.
How are we to explain the extraordinary hold Asherah exercised over the people of Israel …….?
...this elusive yet tenacious goddess to whom considerable segments of the Hebrew nation remained devoted from the days of the conquest of Canaan down to the Babylonian exile, a period of roughly six centuries. In the eyes of the Yahwists, to whom belonged a few of the kings and all of the prophets, the worship of Asherah was an abomination. It had to be, because it was a cult accepted by the Hebrews from their Canaanite neighbors, and any and all manifestations of Canaanite religion were for them anathema”.
How are we to explain the extraordinary hold Asherah exercised over the people of Israel …….?
Rev 2:14 “But I hold a few matters against you,
because you have there those who adhere to the teaching of Bilʽam, who taught Balaq
to put a stumbling-block before the children of Yisra’ĕl, to eat food
offered to idols, and to commit whoring.
Rev 2:15 “So
you also have those who adhere to the teaching of the Nikolaites, which teaching
I hate.
Rev 2:16
“Repent, or else I shall come to you speedily and fight against them
with the sword of My mouth.
Rev 2:17 “He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who
overcomes I shall give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I shall give him a
white stone, and on the stone a renewed Name written which no one knows except
him who receives it.” ’
Jer 12:10
“Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion
under foot, they have made My pleasant portion become a deserted wilderness.1
Footnote: 1See 10:21.
Jer 10:22 See, it
has come, the voice of a report, and a great shaking out of the land of the
north, to make the cities of Yehuḏah a
waste, a habitation of jackals.
Jer 10:23 O יהוה, I know the way of man is not in himself,
it is not for man who walks to direct his own steps.
2Ti 4:3 For there shall be a time when they shall not
bear sound teaching, but according to their own desires, they shall heap up for
themselves teachers tickling the ear,1 Footnote: 1Isa.
30:10, Jer. 5:31, Rom. 16:18.
2Ti 4:4 and they shall indeed turn their ears away
from the truth, and be turned aside to myths.
Definition of a myth: “a
widely held but false belief or idea.”
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