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. Amein
Mark Twain once said – ‘’the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why you were born.’’
We were born to live and walk in the righteousness of the Torah.
Rom 8:2 For the torah of the Spirit of the life in Messiah יהושע has set me free from the torah of sin and of death. Rom 8:4 so that the righteousness of the Torah should be completed in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Parashat ‘’B’ha alotchcha’’ started off in Num 8:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, Num 8:2 “Speak to Aharon, and say to him, ‘When you ascend to trim the lamps, let the seven lamps give light in front of the lampstand.’ ” Num 8:3 And Aharon did so. He set up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as יהוה commanded Mosheh. (Before the Ruach could shine on the people it first had to shine on Aaron –‘’ light bringer’’ – Aaron then brings the light or revelation of the Spirit to the people – it is not his light)
This parashah now concludes with the ‘’light’’ shining and manifesting itself on a group of 70 Yisraelites.
In our Haftarah portion we are reminded that it was this ‘’light’’ that guided the Yisraelites through the wilderness and this ‘’light’’ will also guide us through the wilderness of this life into His Kingdom – Is 63:9-11
ט בְּכָל-צָרָתָם לא לוֹ צָר, וּמַלְאַךְ פָּנָיו הוֹשִׁיעָם--בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ וּבְחֶמְלָתוֹ, הוּא גְאָלָם; וַיְנַטְּלֵם וַיְנַשְּׂאֵם, כָּל-יְמֵי עוֹלָם. Is 63:9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
More accurately translated - “In all their troubles it was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them”, New Jerusalem Bible. “In all their distress it was not an agent “or a messenger, “But His presence saved them”, Concordant Version – 2 Tim 3:16-17 2 Tim 2:15 Mat 22:29
י וְהֵמָּה מָרוּ וְעִצְּבוּ, אֶת-רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ; וַיֵּהָפֵךְ לָהֶם לְאוֹיֵב, הוּא נִלְחַם-בָּם.
10 But they rebelled, and grieved His holy spirit; therefore He was turned to be their enemy, Himself fought against them.
יא וַיִּזְכֹּר יְמֵי-עוֹלָם, מֹשֶׁה עַמּוֹ; אַיֵּה הַמַּעֲלֵם מִיָּם, אֵת רֹעֵי צֹאנוֹ--אַיֵּה הַשָּׂם בְּקִרְבּוֹ, אֶת-רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ.
11 Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses: 'Where is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He that put His holy spirit in the midst of them?
Rom 8:29 Because those whom He knew beforehand, He also ordained beforehand to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, for Him to be the first-born among many brothers.
2Co 3:15 But to this day, when Mosheh is being read, a veil lies on their heart.
2Co 3:16 And when one turns to the Master, the veil is taken away. Exo_34:34.
2Co 3:17 Now יהוה is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of יהוה is, there is freedom.
2Co 3:18 And we all, as with unveiled face we see as in a mirror the esteem of יהוה, are being transformed into the same likeness from esteem to esteem, as from יהוה, the Spirit.[b] Footnote: bSee also 2Co_3:17-18.
This is a great mystery - Eph 5:31 “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Gen_2:24. Eph 5:32 This secret is great, but I speak concerning Messiah and the assembly.
Deu 29:29 “The secret matters belong to יהוה our Elohim, but what is revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, to do all the Words of this Torah. (The Torah is the ‘’ketubah’’ or marriage agreement between us and our Creator – who created us in His Image – Gen 1:27 – this very same marriage agreement we celebrated this past week on ‘’Shavuot’’)
היד יהוה תקצר- (Is) the Hand of YHVH short? How appropriate to start off this portion with these words.
Num 11:23 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Is the arm of יהוה too short? Now see whether My word meets you or not!”
עַתָּה תִרְאֶה הֲיִקְרְךָ דְבָרִי, אִם-לֹא.
‘’…. And now you will see if these words will happen to you’’ (the fulness of the Spirit will bring His Word to pass)
‘’What is an ‘’if’’ in grammar? 1. conjunction. You use if in conditional sentences to introduce the circumstances in which an event or situation might happen, might be happening, or might have happened.’’
If the Spirit continues to shine on you – you will make it through the wilderness. (the same Spirit that shone on and through Moshe)
The problem with the church is that they believe and teach that only in Messiah can we receive the Spirit.
Beginning with creation until now the Set Apart Spirit has been active in bringing about the purposes and plans of YHVH.
Act_7:51 “You stiff-necked Exo_32:9, Exo_33:3, Exo_33:5 and uncircumcised in heart and ears! Lev_26:41, Jer_6:10 You always resist the Set-apart Spirit, as your fathers did, you also do.
Num 11:24 And Mosheh went out and spoke to the people the words of יהוה, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the Tent.
Num 11:25 And יהוה came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders. And it came to be, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, but did not continue. (Heb ‘’yasaf’’ or add) Mat 5:17-19
Num 11:26 However, two men had remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldaḏ, and the name of the other Měyḏaḏ. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but did not go out to the Tent. And they prophesied in the camp.
Num 11:27 And a young man ran and informed Mosheh, and said, “Eldaḏ (beloved of YHVH) and Měyḏaḏ (Beloved) are prophesying in the camp.”
Num 11:28 And Yehoshua son of Nun, Mosheh’s assistant from his youth, answered and said, “Mosheh my master, forbid them!”
Num 11:29 Then Mosheh said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Oh, that all the people of יהוה were prophets, that יהוה would put His Spirit upon them!”
Mar 9:38 And Yoḥanan said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone, who does not follow us, casting out demons in Your Name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.” Mar 9:39 And יהושע said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My Name is able to readily speak evil of Me. Mar 9:40 “For he who is not against us is for us. Jn 14:12 – greater works – Eph 5:18
Num 11:30 And Mosheh returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Yisra’ěl.
Now the this Torah portion will give us some insight as to what hinders the Set Apart Spirit from working in our lives – Lack of contentment and rebellion against Torah.
Quail (‘’Salav’’ in Hebrew – contentment) and a Plague
Num 11:31 And a wind(Heb ‘’ruach’’ or Spirit) went forth from יהוה, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground.
Num 11:32 And the people were up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. He who had least gathered ten ḥomers. (About 1900 birds per person) And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
Num 11:33 The meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, and the wrath of יהוה burned against the people, and יהוה struck the people with an exceeding great plague.
Num 11:34 Then he called the name of that place Qiḇroth Hatta’awah,(graves of lust) because there they buried the people who had lusted. (Approx 200 funerals every days for 40 years)
Num 11:35 From Qiḇroth Hatta’awah the people set out for Ḥatsěroth – and they were at Ḥatsěroth. (Heb – a protected place)
Mal 2:2 “If you do not hear, and if you do not take it to heart, to give esteem to My Name,” said יהוה of hosts, “I shall send a curse upon you, and I shall curse your blessings. And indeed, I have cursed them, because you do not take it to heart. Mal 2:7 “For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and they seek the Torah from his mouth, for he is the messenger of יהוה of hosts.
Mal 2:8 “But you, you have turned from the way, you have caused many to stumble in the Torah. You have corrupted the covenant of Lěwi,” said יהוה of hosts.
Mal 2:9 “And I also, I shall make you despised and low before all the people, because you are not guarding My ways, and are showing partiality in the Torah.”
1Co 10:5 However, with most of them Elohim was not well pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness.
1Co 10:6 And these became examples for us, so that we should not lust after evil, as those indeed lusted. 1Co 10:11 And all these came upon them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come, 1Co 10:12 so that he who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall.
Num 12:1 Now Miryam and Aharon spoke against Mosheh because of the Kushite woman whom he had taken, for he had taken a Kushite woman.
א וַתְּדַבֵּר מִרְיָם וְאַהֲרֹן בְּמֹשֶׁה, עַל-אֹדוֹת הָאִשָּׁה הַכֻּשִׁית אֲשֶׁר לָקָח: כִּי-אִשָּׁה כֻשִׁית, לָקָח. | 1 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against the reasons(ahdot) which brought about Moshes taking a Cushite woman – because he (actually) took a Cushite woman. |
Note the feminine verb (tedaber) employed in the first part of the passuk (verse) – it is a femine singular verb and it implies that maybe Miryam instigated this rebellion against Mosheh and Aaron agreed to go along with it. The Hebrew word “ahdot” implies that Aaron was at least entertaining his sister’s complaint - they were complaining against Moshe for taking a Cushite woman as a companion and wife. Miryam and Aaron obviously reasoned amongst themselves that it was a gross error of judgment on Mosheh’s part because they also “heard” from YHVH, “Mosheh needed to consider the error of his ways.”
Num 12:2 And they said, “Has יהוה spoken only through Mosheh? Has He not also spoken through us?” And יהוה heard it.
This is a puzzling and difficult to understand event. What was the reason for their complaint and why did YHVH not seem to object to Moshe’s decision of taking another wife – a Cushite wife? We don’t even know her name.
The Torah seems to deliberately gives few details on the issues surrounding this event. Why?
I believe YHVH deliberately did this. I believe He wanted to see how we would think and respond to this event.
Let us consider and midrash around certain possibilities and reasons for this event:
- Perhaps the first and obvious reason for their discontentment was that the Cushite woman was black.
This whole event may appear to be racially motivated. However, historians and anthropologists claim that racism as we know it today did not exist in Moshe’s time and according to historians Africans were greatly respected. The prophet Isaiah was familiar with Africans and their land. In Isaiah 18:1-2 he described them as swift messengers and smooth-skinned people, and people who are feared far and wide:
Isa 18:1 Woe to the land shadowed with whirring wings, which is beyond the rivers of Kush,
Isa 18:2 which sends envoys by sea, even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, “Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth-skinned, to a people dreaded from their beginning onward, a nation mighty and trampling, whose land the rivers divide.”
2. Perhaps the main reason for Miriym and Aarons actions was jealousy. Miryam and Aaron were jealous because Moshe had two wives and because more of his attention would have been taken by the newly married woman. It is not unusual in an African setting for relatives and friends to be jealous when husbands are too occupied with two or three wives. Perhaps Miryam and Aaron were shocked because Moshe did not consult Miryam and Aaron before consummating his marriage to the Cushite woman and then claimed that YHVH told him to marry her. Perhaps as co-prophets, Moshe usually consulted Miryam and Aaron before taking such an important prophetic decision, but on this occasion, they were not consulted.
3. What was the real reason behind Miryam’s discontentment?
1Ti 4:1 But the Spirit distinctly says that in latter times some shall fall away from the belief, paying attention to misleading spirits, and teachings of demons,
1Ti 4:2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having been branded on their own conscience,
1Ti 4:3 forbidding to marry, saying to abstain from foods which Elohim created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
Num 12:3 And the man Mosheh was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.
(The English word “humble” comes from the Hebrew word “anah” and can also mean “depressed and afflicted.”)
Num 12:4 And suddenly יהוה said to Mosheh, and Aharon, and Miryam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting!” So the three came out.
Num 12:5 And יהוה came down in the column of cloud and stood in the door of the Tent, and called Aharon and Miryam. And they both went forward.
Num 12:6 And He said, “Hear now My words: If your prophet is of יהוה, I make Myself known to him in a vision, and I speak to him in a dream.
Num 12:7 “Not so with My servant Mosheh, he is trustworthy in all My house.
Num 12:8 “I speak with him mouth to mouth, and plainly, and not in riddles. And he sees the form of יהוה. So why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Mosheh?”
Note the effective use of the ‘’chiastic structure’’ in YHVH’S response. YHVH is making an emphatic statement about how He regards His servant Moshe.
A If your prophet is of יהוה
B I make Myself known to him in a vision
C I speak to him in a dream
D Not so with My servant Mosheh
D He alone is trusted in all My Household – Heb 3:2,5
C I speak with him mouth to mouth
B plainly, and not in riddles
A And he sees the form of יהוה
Num 12:9 And the displeasure of יהוה burned against them, and He left.
Num 12:10 And the cloud turned away from above the Tent, and look: Miryam was leprous, as white as snow! And Aharon turned toward Miryam, and look: a leper! - (Punishment for “the sin of la shon ha ra” – evil speech)
Num 12:11 And Aharon said to Mosheh, “Oh, my master! Please do not hold against us the sin in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.
Num 12:12 “Please do not let her be as one dead when coming out of its mother’s womb, with our flesh half consumed!”
Num 12:13 And Mosheh cried out to יהוה, saying, “O Ěl, please heal her, please!”
Num 12:14 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and after that let her be readmitted.”
Ve’avee’ah yarok, yarak…spit he shall surely spit… cough or spit out (phlegm) from the throat or lungs.
It is significant to note that this custom of spitting in your daughter face was not a known custom in those days. This was very unusual according to some scholars and implies that Miryam’s actions were a symptom of a far more serious underlying issue of wanting to usurp Moshe’s authority. This possibly also explains why YHVH emphatically elevates Moshe above all the other prophets.
Num 12:15 And Miryam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not set out until Miryam was readmitted.
Num 12:16 And afterward the people departed from Ḥatsĕroth, and they camped in the
Wilderness of Paran. (Paran is a place of caves)
Joh 3:34 “For He whom Elohim has sent speaks the Words of Elohim, for Elohim does not give the Spirit by measure.
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.