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.)
Balak - means “destroyer”
Perhaps
the greatest destruction has and is still to come upon mankind because of the
misrepresentation of THE ONE TRUE FAITH and how only the one true Messiah – Yahshua
- is the full embodiment and revealer of this one true faith.
The
spirit of “Balak” is still alive and well on planet earth, especially in the
Christian church.
Yahshua clearly came to destroy the works of evil – see 1 Jn 3:8- and
Yahshua came to bring healing and reconciliation and wholeness to mankind – but
this has clearly been hindered and misunderstood. It will not always be this
way.
In these days there is clearly a group of people who are seriously
seeking to know who Yahshua really is. He is the only antidote to the poison of
evil. (see previous parashah on how healing for rebellion came by looking upon
a bronze serpent raised on a pole – Numbers/B’Midbar 28:8)
The only
way we will not be destroyed by the poison of the serpent and also be
established in the righteousness of YHVH is to be in complete and perfect agreement
with the truth concerning His only brought-forth son.
Today YHVH asks us the same question Yahshua asked his talmadim
(disciples) many years ago.
Mat
16:13 Now when יהושע came into the
parts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His taught ones, saying, “Who do men say
the Son of Aḏam is?”
We need to understand that the only true Assembly can
built on this revelation.
We need to understand that flesh and blood cannot reveal the true
essence of Messiah Yahshua to us – See Yoh 3.
Sadly many claim to know him but they don’t. If we get Yahshua wrong
we get everything wrong.
This Torah portion is about this arrogance and ignorance of man towards
the True Elohim of Yisrael.
“For Balak is the Parshah of the future,
where evil is transformed to good and curses emerge as blessings. It is in
Balak that the most beautiful verses describing the uniqueness of Israel and
the specialty of their relationship with the Almighty issue out of the vile
mouth of Balaam, summoned by Balak to curse the Hebrew people. And it is in
Balak that the most explicit reference to the era of Moschiach in the Five Books of Moses is
found, in the form of a prophecy by the same Balaam.
"Let Moses, who loves them, rebuke them," said YHVH when the
people of Israel needed rebuke, for rebuke from a loving heart is many times
more effective. "And let Balaam, who hates them, bless them," for the
blessing of an enemy is so much more real than a lover's praises.
In the Parshah of Balak we enter a Moshiach-like world---a world of
"the greater wisdom that comes from folly, and the greater light that
comes from darkness" (Ecclesiastes 2:13).
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
The conclusion of this parashah is tragic, even though the people of
Yisrael could not be cursed, they could self -destruct through their immoral
behaviour. This has a deep spiritual application in our “marriage” to YHVH
through His Covenant – The Torah.
“Balaam’s personality is an old
enigma, which has baffled the skill of commentators. It seems probable that he
had from the first learned some elements of pure and true religion in his home
in Mesopotamia, the cradle of the ancestors of Israel. He thus belongs, with
Melchizedek, Job and Jethro, to the scattered worshippers of the true Elohim of
Israel, at the same time he is represented in scripture as a heathen sorcerer,
true prophet and the perverter who suggested a peculiarly abhorrent means of
bringing about the ruin of Israel”
Jud 1:11 Woe to them! Because they have gone in the
way of Qayin, and gave themselves to the delusion of Bilʽam for a reward, and
perished in the rebellion of Qoraḥ.
Cain attacks like Esav,
Bilaam is in it for the money and prestige and Korach makes it all possible by
undermining the Torah of Moshe and so bringing destruction to the people of
Israel. The church is obsessed in obtaining the blessing given to Israel and is
too willing to destroy the credibility of the Torah and of the Jewish people.
Jud 1:12
These are rocky reefs in your love feasts, feasting with you, feeding
themselves without fear, waterless clouds borne about by the winds, late autumn
trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots,
Jud 1:13
wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame, straying stars for
whom blackness of darkness is kept forever.
Number 40 (the number of this parashah) has to do with
testing – We are all about to be tested.
- Rained 40 days flood
– judgment on the world
- Yeshua 40 days of fasting and wilderness after baptism, tempted by
hasatan
- Israel 40 years in
the wilderness
- in Midian 40 years
- Mosheh at Mt. Sinai
40 days
- Goliath defied
Israel for 40 days.
- Jonah preaches 40
days
- Israel under the
Philistines 40 years
- Mosheh in Egypt 40
years
- It is also
understood that a woman's gestation period is forty weeks. If that is not
a trial, I don't know what is. (Brad Scot)
This underscores the coming purging and
testing upon mankind. This will burn away the dross and leave only that which
is pure that survives the fire of testing.
1Jn 4:1 Beloved ones, do not believe every spirit,
but prove the spirits, whether they are of Elohim, because many false prophets
have gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of Elohim: Every
spirit that confesses that יהושע Messiah has
come in the flesh is of Elohim,
1Jn 4:3 and every
spirit that does not confess that יהושע Messiah has
come in the flesh is not of Elohim. And this is the spirit of the
anti-messiah which you heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
Aliyah Rishon 22:2-12
Num 22:2 And Balaq son of Tsippor saw all that Yisra’ĕl had
done to the Amorites.
Num
22:3 And Mo’aḇ was exceedingly afraid of the people because they
were many, and Mo’aḇ was in dread because of the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Num 22:4 And
Mo’aḇ said to the elders of Miḏyan, “Now this company is licking up all that
is around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Now Balaq son of
Tsippor was sovereign of the Mo’aḇites at that time,
Num 22:5 and
he sent messengers to Bilʽam(means worthless people – Jer 2:5)) son of Beʽor at Pethor,(Hebrew word ‘patar’ means to
interpret dreams) which is near the River in the land of the sons of his
people, to call him, saying, “See, a people has come from Mitsrayim. See, they
have covered the surface of the land, and are settling next to me!
Num 22:6 “And now, please come at once, curse this
people for me, for they are too strong for me. It might be that I smite them
and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed,
and he whom you curse is cursed.”
So
“prophetically speaking” what did Balak see that so totally overwhelmed and
terrified them?
“The
return of Israel to the land, the ingathering of the twelve tribes, the
rebuilding of the Temple and the return of the temple service AND THE RETURN OF
THE MESSIAH and the proclamation and complete obedience of Torah to all
nations.”
Num 22:7 And the elders of Mo’aḇ and the elders of Miḏyan left with the
fees for divination in their hand, and they came to Bilʽam and spoke the words
of Balaq to him.
Num 22:8 And
he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I shall bring back word to you, as יהוה speaks to me.”
So the heads of Mo’aḇ stayed with Bilʽam.
Num 22:9 And
Elohim came to Bilʽam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
Num 22:10 And Bilʽam
said to Elohim, “Balaq, son of Tsippor, sovereign of Mo’aḇ, has
sent to me, saying,
Num 22:11 ‘See, a
people has come out of Mitsrayim and cover the surface of the land. Come now,
curse them for me. It might be that I am able to fight against them and drive
them out.’ ”
Num 22:12 And
Elohim said to Bilʽam, “Do not go with them. You do not curse the people,
for they are blessed.”
Num 22:13 And Bilʽam
rose in the morning and said to the heads of Balaq, “Go back to your land, for יהוה has refused to allow me to go with you.”
Num 22:14 And the
heads of Mo’aḇ arose and went to Balaq, and said, “Bilʽam
refuses to come with us.”
Num 22:15 Then
Balaq again sent heads, more numerous and more esteemed than they.
Num 22:16 And they
came to Bilʽam and said to him, “This is what Balaq son of Tsippor
said: ‘Do not be withheld from coming to me, please,
Num 22:17 for I
esteem you very greatly, and whatever you say to me, I do. Therefore please come,
curse this people for me.’ ”
Num 22:18 And Bilʽam
answered and said to the servants of Balaq, “Though Balaq were to give me his
house filled with silver and gold, I am unable to go beyond the word of יהוה my Elohim, to do less or more.
Note the amazing so called “obedience and integrity” of this false prophet. This is pure
evil.
Num 22:19 “And
now, please, you also stay here tonight, and let me find out what more יהוה says to me.”
Num 22:20 And
Elohim came to Bilʽam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call
you, rise and go with them, but only the word which I speak to you that you
do.”
This is one of the most dangerous things that could ever
happen to someone who claims to be a believer. When YHVH changes His mind regarding
something that you have asked Him for, it could be that you have sinned away
your day of favour and now you have been handed over to delusion and
destruction and there will never be a way back for you.
Num 22:21 And Bilʽam
rose in the morning and saddled his donkey, and went with the heads of Mo’aḇ.
Num 22:22 But the
displeasure of Elohim burned because he went, and the Messenger (a messenger) of יהוה stationed Himself in the way as an
adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants
were with him.
Num 22:23 And the
donkey saw the Messenger of יהוה standing in
the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of
the way and went into the field. So Bilʽam
beat the donkey to turn her back onto the way.
Num 22:24 Then the
Messenger of יהוה stood in a
narrow passage between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on
that side.
Num 22:25 And when
the donkey saw the Messenger of יהוה, she pushed
herself against the wall and crushed Bilʽam’s
foot against the wall, so he beat her again.
Num 22:26 And the
Messenger of יהוה went further,
and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn aside, right or
left.
Num 22:27 And when
the donkey saw the Messenger of יהוה, she lay down
under Bilʽam. So Bilʽam’s displeasure burned, and he beat the donkey with his
staff.
Num 22:28 Then יהוה opened the mouth of the donkey, and she
said to Bilʽam, “What have I done to you, that you have beaten me
these three times?”
Num 22:29 And Bilʽam
said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me. I wish there were a sword in
my hand, for I would have killed you by now!”
Num 22:30 And the
donkey said to Bilʽam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever
since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever known to do so to you?” And he
said, “No.”
Num 22:31 Then יהוה opened Bilʽam’s
eyes, and he saw the Messenger of יהוה standing in
the way with His drawn sword in His hand. And he bowed his head and fell on his
face.
Num 22:32 And the
Messenger of יהוה said to him,
“Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? See, I have come out to
stand against you, because your way is reckless before Me.
Num 22:33 “And the
donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned
aside from Me, I certainly would have killed you by now, and let her live.”
Num 22:34 And Bilʽam
said to the Messenger of יהוה, “I have
sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. And now, if evil is
in Your eyes, let me turn back.”
YHVH always seems to choose the foolish things of this
world.
1Co 1:27 But Elohim has chosen the foolish matters
of the world to put to shame the wise, and Elohim has chosen the weak of the
world to put to shame the strong.
1Co 1:28 And Elohim has chosen the low-born of the
world and the despised, and the ones that are not, that He might bring to
naught the ones that are,
1Co 1:29 so that no flesh should boast in His
presence.
1Co 1:30 And of Him you are in Messiah יהושע, who became
for us wisdom from Elohim, righteousness also, and set-apartness and
redemption,
Num 22:35 And the
Messenger of יהוה said to Bilʽam,
“Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you speak.” Bilʽam
then went with the heads of Balaq.
Num 22:36 And when
Balaq heard that Bilʽam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of
Mo’aḇ, which is on the border at the Arnon, which was in the
extremity of the border.
Num 22:37 And
Balaq said to Bilʽam, “Did I not urgently send to you, calling for you? Why
did you not come to me? Am I not able to esteem you?”
Num 22:38 And Bilʽam
said to Balaq, “See, I have come to you! Now, am I at all able to say somewhat?
The word that Elohim puts in my mouth, that I speak.”
Num 22:39 And Bilʽam
went with Balaq, and they came to Qiryath Ḥutsoth.
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.
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
