8/23/2024

Parashat 41 Portion 131 – ‘’Pinchas’’ – B’Midbar 25:1-26:3 Mal 2:1-9 Yoh 3:31-36

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 covenant and have obtained citizenship into the commonwealth of Israel.  Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel.  Amein

“Pinchas” means “bronze mouth” or “serpent’s mouth. Most of YHVH’s counsel and word to us is about warning of judgment. Most people ignore this truth throughout their lives.

Why snake mouth? –  The Father is bringing a restoration of a prophetic priesthood in these days, the kind of restoration that will be hard to hear and even harder to bear – for everyone. They may even accuse such an unpopular “priesthood” of “speaking like the devil” – “Snake mouth”

“The true greatness of Pinchas lay in that he acted in complete opposition to his nature, transcending his inborn instincts to bring peace between Ha Shem and Israel.”(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

If Pinchas did the unthinkable, what is going to happen in the last days?

Is YHVH about to do the unthinkable to preserve the remnant of His people?

The word ‘’judge or judgment’’ is found over 500 times in the scripture. The word ‘’grace’’ or ‘’favour’’ appears only about 175 times. Yahshua spoke more about hell (Sheol) than heaven. In fact, he spoke more about hell than any other person in scripture. Most believers know very little about sheol.

Mal 2:1  “And now, O priests, this command is for you. 

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 2:3  “See, I shall rebuke your seed, and scatter dung before your faces, the dung of your festivals. And you shall be taken away with it. 

Mal 2:4  “And you shall know that I have sent this command (Torah) to you, as being My covenant with Lěwi,” said יהוה of hosts. 

Mal 2:5  “My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave them to him, to fear. And he feared Me, and stood in awe of My Name. (Fear because the consequences of ignoring YHVH’s Torah are frightening)

Mal 2:6  “The Torah of truth[a] was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and straightness, and turned many away from crookedness. Footnote: aSee footnote Neh_9:13

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.” Ex 11:8

This prophetic word addresses perhaps the most critical issue for our well-being as human beings: A set apart priesthood ministering by obedience to us the life and truth of YHVH’s Torah.

Jas 1:25  But he that looked into the perfect Torah, that of freedom,[d] 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: dSee Jas_2:12.

I charge you: 1Ti 6:14  that you guard the command[b] spotlessly, blamelessly, until the appearing of our Master יהושע Messiah, Footnote: bCommand (singular) often means the Torah e.g. Deu_17:20, Psa_19:8

Pinchas (a Levite) had a passion for truth and righteousness that would not allow him to stand by and simply watch and grieve over the wickedness of his people. His actions brought redemption and a personal promise of an everlasting covenant of peace.  The plague that came upon Yisrael was stopped because of his actions. This may once again be the case in the last days when a “Pinchas” priesthood will save many from the plague and destruction of the coming great tribulation even by disregarding their own reputations and personal safety.

Num 25:1  And Yisra’ěl dwelt in Shittim, and the people began to whore with the daughters of Mo’aḇ, 

וישׁב ישׂראל ‘’and Israel settled’’ this may have been the root of the problem – until YHVH leads us into the promised land we are only pilgrims and sojourners on earth - Heb 11:13 (Hebrew hall of fame) In belief all these died, not having received the promises,[a] but seeing them from a distance, welcomed and embraced them, and confessed that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. Footnote: aSee Heb_11:39. Heb 11:14  For those who speak this way make it clear that they seek a fatherland. Heb 11:15  And yet, if they had indeed kept remembering that place from which they had come out, they would have had the chance to return. Heb 11:16  But now they long for a better place, that is, a heavenly. Therefore Elohim is not ashamed to be called their Elohim, for He has prepared a city for them. 

We cannot settle in the ‘’galut’’ (diaspora). If we do we will eventually assimilate into pagan ways.

Num 25:1  And Yisra’ěl dwelt in Shittim, 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’ěl was joined to Ba‛al Pe‛or, and the displeasure of יהוה burned against Yisra’ěl. 

Num 25:4  And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang (יקע) them up before יהוה, before the sun, so that the burning displeasure of יהוה turns away from Yisra’ěl.” 

יקע S3363 - (Hiphil) - to execute slowly (by exposure or impalation) - to hang  Deut 21:23 & Gal 3:13

Num 25:5  And Mosheh said to the judges of Yisra’ěl, “Each one of you kill his men who were joined to Ba‛al Pe‛or.” 

Num 25:6  And see, one of the children of Yisra’ěl 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’ěl, who were weeping at the door of the Tent of Appointment. 

 

Num 25:7  And when Pineḥas, son of El‛azar, 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’ěl into the tent (kubbah) and thrust both of them through, the man of Yisra’ěl, and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague among the children of Yisra’ěl came to a stop. 

 

BDB - H6898. Qubbah קֻבָּה noun feminine large vaulted tent; — absolute Numbers 25:8 (P) Ke and others Zimri's princely tent; > Thes and others large tent used as lupanar (compare Late Hebrew).

 

Some scholars believe this ‘’kubbah’’ was in fact a brothel (lupanar) a place of spiritual and sexual fornication – much like most places of modern-day mixed worship – What would Pinchas have done if he was alive today?

 

Num 25:9  And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand. See Is 24.

 

Isa 8:15  “And many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken and snared and taken.” 

Isa 8:16  Bind up the witness, seal the Torah among my taught ones. 

Isa 8:17  And I shall wait on יהוה, who hides His face from the house of Ya‛aqoḇ. And I shall look for Him. 

Isa 8:20  To the Torah and to the witness! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because they have no daybreak.[a] Footnote: aOr light. (maybe there is a reason why prostitutes are called ‘’ladies of the night’’ the essence of idolatry is rejecting the finality of YHVH’s moral authority and sovereignty )

 

Num 25:10  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

Num 25:11  Pineḥas, son of El’azar, son of Aharon the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Yisra’ĕl, because he was ardent with My ardour (S7068 ‘’kinnah’’ zeal, jealousy) in their midst, so that I did not consume the children of Yisra’ĕl in My ardour

 

Exo 34:14  for you do not bow yourselves to another mighty one, for יהוה, whose Name is jealous,(Heb ‘’kanah’’S7067) is a jealous (Heb adj. ‘’kanah’’) Ěl – 

 

Note the differences and similarities of Strongs 7067 and 7068 – ‘’kinnah’’ S7068 includes sexual or evil passion while ‘’kanah’’ S7068 only applies to YHVH’s jealousy. Sexual passion can be either righteous or unrighteous. YHVH’s passion is always righteous. See also ‘’Song of Songs most holiest book in the Bible’’

 

According to Islam ‘’Kaaba is the first House of worship built by Prophet Adam (a.s.) and then rebuilt by prophet Abraham (a.s.) and his son prophet Ishmael (a.s.).’’ The Kaaba, sometimes referred to as al-Ka'ba al-Musharrafa, is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site.’’

 

כי מקנא אני לכם קנאת אלהים 

 

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous for you with a jealousy according to Elohim. For I gave you in marriage to one husband, to present you as an innocent maiden to Messiah.  (Gk ‘’zelo’’ or boiling)

 

Joh 2:17  And His taught ones remembered that it was written, “The ardour (Heb ‘’kinah’’) for Your house has eaten Me up.” Psa_69:9.

 

The first time this word appears is in Num 5 – The law of ‘’Sotah’’ –(Kinah) or of a jealous husband who suspects his wife of being unfaithful– it appears 6 times.

 

Are we consumed for YHVH’s jealousy? We all have much to learn regarding this matter.

 

There is a jot or tittle in the name of ‘’Pinchas’’ the ‘’jud’’ is diminished. Why? Execution by the hand of a Levite without due process was forbidden or maybe because by the hand ‘’jud’’ of Pinchas would only come a limited peace and judgment. However, by the nail pieced hands of our Mesiah would come everlasting peace and everlasting judgment.

 

Isa 9:6  For a Child is born unto us, a Son is given unto us, and the rule is on His shoulder. And His Name is called Wonder, Counsellor, Strong Ěl, Father of Continuity, Prince of Peace. 

Isa 9:7  Of the increase (Heb ‘’lemarba’’)of His rule and peace there is no end, upon the throne of Dawiḏ and over His reign,[a] to establish it and sustain it with right-ruling and with righteousness from now on, even forever. The ardour of יהוה of hosts does this. Footnote: aSee Isa_16:5, Psa_2:1-12, Psa_45:6, Mic_5:2, Luk_1:32-33

 

Num 25:12  “Therefore say, ‘See, I am giving him My covenant of peace,

 

The word ‘’peace’’ or shalom also contains an anomaly (yud or tittle) the ‘’vav’’ of shalom is broken. Why?

Maybe for the same reason as the diminished ‘’yud’’ – only the prince of peace can bring everlasting peace.

Maybe this broken ‘’vav’’ in shalom can also refer to the anti-messiah who by his hand will bring a false peace to the earth in the last days. The peace that YHVH gives to Pinchas will never be broken.

 

 

Ezekiel 16 – The spirit of Pinchas still speaks:

 

1 The Lord spoke to me again.

2 "Mortal man," he said, "point out to Jerusalem what disgusting things she has done.

3 Tell Jerusalem what the Sovereign Lord is saying to her: "You were born in the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. (ie they have nothing to boast about)

4 When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord or washed you or rubbed you with salt or wrapped you in cloths. (parable of Israel)

5 No one took enough pity on you to do any of these things for you. When you were born, no one loved you. You were thrown out in an open field.

6 "Then I passed by and saw you squirming in your own blood. You were covered with blood, but I wouldn't let you die.

7 I made you grow like a healthy plant. You grew strong and tall and became a young woman. Your breasts were well-formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked.

8 "As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine." This is what the Sovereign Lord says.

9 "Then I took water and washed the blood off you. I rubbed olive oil on your skin.

10 I dressed you in embroidered gowns and gave you shoes of the best leather, a linen headband, and a silk cloak.

11 I put jewels on you - bracelets and necklaces.

12 I gave you a nose ring and earrings and a beautiful crown to wear.

13 You had ornaments of gold and silver, and you always wore clothes of embroidered linen and silk. You ate bread made from the best flour, and had honey and olive oil to eat. Your beauty was dazzling, and you became a queen.

14 You became famous in every nation for your perfect beauty, because I was the one who made you so lovely." This is what the Sovereign Lord says.

15 "But you took advantage of your beauty and fame to sleep with everyone who came along.

16 You used some of your clothes to decorate your places of worship, and just like a prostitute, you gave yourself to everyone.

17 You took the silver and gold jewelry that I had given you, used it to make male images, and committed adultery with them.

18 You took the embroidered clothes I gave you and put them on the images, and you offered to the images the olive oil and incense I had given you.

19 I gave you food - the best flour, olive oil, and honey - but you offered it as a sacrifice to win the favor of idols." This is what the Sovereign Lord says.

20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me,

21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols?

22 During your disgusting life as a prostitute you never once remembered your childhood - when you were naked, squirming in your own blood."

23 The Sovereign Lord said, "You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then

24 by the side of every road you built places (Heb ‘’gav’’ rounded) to worship idols and practice prostitution.

25 You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day.

26 You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry.

27 "Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you and are disgusted with your immoral actions.

28 "Because you were not satisfied by the others, you went running after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they didn't satisfy you either.

29 You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they didn't satisfy you either."

30 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "You have done all this like a shameless prostitute.

31 On every street you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. But you are not out for money like a common prostitute.  (הייתיH1961)

32 You are like a woman who commits adultery with strangers instead of loving her husband.

33 A prostitute is paid, but you gave presents to all your lovers and bribed them to come from everywhere to sleep with you.

34 You are a special kind of prostitute. No one forced you to become one. You didn't get paid; you paid them! Yes, you are different."

35 Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the Lord is saying.

36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols.

37 Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together - the ones you liked and the ones you hated. I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked.

38 I will condemn you for adultery and murder, and in my anger and fury I will punish you with death.

39 I will put you in their power, and they will tear down the places where you engage in prostitution and worship idols. They will take away your clothes and jewels and leave you completely naked.

40 "They will stir up a crowd to stone you, and they will cut you to pieces with their swords.

41 They will burn your houses down and let crowds of women see your punishment. I will make you stop being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers.

42 Then my anger will be over, and I will be calm. I will not be angry or jealous (S7068) any more.

43 You have forgotten how I treated you when you were young, and you have made me angry by all the things you did. That is why I have made you pay for them all. Why did you add sexual immorality to all the other disgusting things you did?" The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

44 The Lord said, "People will use this proverb about you, Jerusalem: "Like mother, like daughter.'

45 You really are your mother's daughter. She detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who hated their husbands and their children. You and your sister cities had a Hittite mother and an Amorite father.

46 "Your older sister, with her villages, is Samaria, in the north. Your younger sister, with her villages, is Sodom, in the south.

47 Were you satisfied to follow in their footsteps and copy their disgusting actions? No, in only a little while you were acting worse than they were in everything you did.

48 "As surely as I am the living God," the Sovereign Lord says, "your sister Sodom and her villages never did the evil that you and your villages have done. Rev 11:8

49 She and her daughters were proud because they had plenty to eat and lived in peace and quiet, but they did not take care of the poor and the underprivileged.

50 They were proud and stubborn and did the things that I hate, so I destroyed them, as you well know.

51 "Samaria did not sin half as much as you have. You have acted more disgustingly than she ever did. Your corruption makes your sisters look innocent by comparison.

52 And now you will have to endure your disgrace. Your sins are so much worse than those of your sisters that they look innocent beside you. Now blush and bear your shame, because you make your sisters look pure."

53 The Lord said to Jerusalem, "I will make them prosperous again - Sodom and her villages and Samaria and her villages. Yes, I will make you prosperous too. (5x Heb word ‘’shevit’’ or captivity is used implying that they are even captive in their captivity)

54 You will be ashamed of yourself, and your disgrace will show your sisters how well-off they are.

55 They will become prosperous again, and you and your villages will also be restored.

56 Didn't you joke about Sodom in those days when you were proud

57 and before the evil you did had been exposed? Now you are just like her - a joke to the Edomites, the Philistines, and your other neighbors who hate you.

58 You must suffer for the obscene, disgusting things you have done." The Lord has spoken.

59 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will treat you the way you deserve, because you ignored your promises and broke the covenant.

60 But I will honor the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will make a covenant with you that will last forever.

61 You will remember how you have acted, and be ashamed of it when you get your older sister and your younger sister back. I will let them be like daughters to you, even though this was not part of my covenant with you.

62 I will renew my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

63 I will forgive all the wrongs you have done, but you will remember them and be too ashamed to open your mouth." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

 

YHVH is about to do the unthinkable to restore His people to Himself.

 

Jer 30:10  And you, do not fear, O Ya‛aqoḇ My servant,’ declares יהוה, ‘nor be discouraged, O Yisra’ěl. For look, I am saving you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Ya‛aqoḇ shall return, and have rest and be at ease, with no one to trouble him. 

Jer 30:11  For I am with you,’ declares יהוה, ‘to save you. Though I make a complete end of all nations[a] where I have scattered you, yet I do not make a complete end of you. But I shall reprove you in judgment, and by no means leave you unpunished.’ Footnote: aSee Jer_46:28, Isa_34:2, Isa_45:17, Dan_2:44, Amo_9:8, Hag_2:22

Jer 30:12  “For thus said יהוה, ‘Your breach is incurable, your wound is grievous. 

Jer 30:13  No one pleads your cause, to bind up. There are no healing medicines for you. 

Jer 30:24  The burning displeasure of יהוה shall not turn back until He has done and established the purposes of His heart. In the latter days you shall understand it.[b] Footnote: bSee Jer_23:20

 

Num 25:13  and it shall be to him and to his seed after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was ardent (Heb ‘’kinah’’) for his Elohim, and made atonement for the children of Yisra’ĕl.’ ” Ez 43:19

Num 25:14  And the name of the Yisra’ĕlite who was killed, who was killed with the Miḏyanite woman, was Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Shim’onites.

Num 25:15  And the name of the Miḏyanite woman who was killed was Kozbi the daughter of Tsur. He was head of the people of a father’s house in Miḏyan.

Num 25:16  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

Num 25:17  “Distress (Heb ‘’tzrar’’ – bind them and shut them up) the Miḏyanites! And you shall smite them,

Num 25:18  for they distressed you with their tricks with which they deceived you in the matter of Pe’or and in the matter of Kozbi, the daughter of a leader of Miḏyan, their sister, who was killed in the day of the plague because of Pe’or.”

Num 26:1  And it came to be, after the plague, that יהוה spoke to Mosheh and El’azar, son of Aharon the priest, saying,

Num 26:2  “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl from twenty years old and above, by their fathers’ houses, everyone going out to the army in Yisra’ĕl.”

Num 26:3  So Mosheh and El’azar the priest spoke with them in the desert plains of Mo’aḇ by the Yardĕn of Yeriḥo, saying,

Num 26:4  “Take a census of the people from twenty years old and above, as יהוה commanded Mosheh and the children of Yisra’ĕl who came out of the land of Mitsrayim.”

Why did YHVH command a census at this time? (v. 1ff.)

Rashi: This could be compared to a shepherd whose flock was attacked by wolves and some sheep were killed, so he counted them to know how many were left. Earlier, at the end of Parshat Balak, we read how the Jewish people were punished for the sin of Ba'al Pe'or in two ways: i.) There was a plague which killed 24,000 people (25:9). ii.) "Moshe said to the judges of Israel, 'Each of you should kill men who became attached to Ba'al Pe'or'" (v. 5 ibid.). Rashi explains: "Each one of the Jewish judges executed two men, and there were 88,000 Jewish judges." From this it follows that 166,000 people were executed by the judges, a much greater loss than that which occurred through the plague.”

The term used for the first counting Yisraelites (census) that took place was “gulgoleth” or skull, the same word that comes from “Golgotha” This second counting of Yisrealites, the word “adat” or congregation. The first time they counted the skulls and the second time they counted the congregation. Could this possibly refer to the possibility that not all those who are “saved” or “born again” will be included in the final count of the Assembly of YHVH (the bride of Messiah) that are to enter the promised land?  (see vs 26:63-65)

 

YHVH is about to do the ‘’unthinkable’’ to bring His Family back together again.

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 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