Aliyah
Reviee 20:14-21
Num 20:14 And Mosheh sent messengers from Qaḏĕsh to the sovereign
of Eḏom. “This is what your brother Yisra’ĕl said, ‘You know all the hardship
(tiredness) that has befallen us, (or found us)
יד וַיִּשְׁלַח מֹשֶׁה
מַלְאָכִים מִקָּדֵשׁ, אֶל-מֶלֶךְ אֱדוֹם: כֹּה אָמַר, אָחִיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל,
אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ, אֵת כָּל-הַתְּלָאָה אֲשֶׁר מְצָאָתְנוּ.
It was common to call relatives brothers in
Yisrael. The Israelites find themselves once again at Kadesh Barnea – the same
place they were turned back into the wilderness 38 years previously. Perhaps it
felt like dei – javu all over again. This time instead of the negative report
from the 10 spies – Miriyan and Aaron die and Moshe strikes the rock twice for
water and in turn is refused entry into the land.
The name Kadesh Barnea also just called Kadesh
means “a set apart place of desert wondering” There are some scholars who
believe this is the same place as modern day Petra – a place of refuge. Our
destinies seem inextricably linked to spending a lot of time in the wilderness.
Midrash: What do you
think was going on in the minds of the people? How can we relate this to the
time we are living in? How would we feel as an end time people if we landed up
at Petra after having escaped severe tribulation and hardships?
Speaking of our
Yisraelite forefathers Shaul says in
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.
1Co 10:13 No trial has overtaken you except such as is
common to man, and Elohim is trustworthy, who shall not allow you to be tried
beyond what you are able, but with the trial shall also make the way of escape,
enabling you to bear it.
Our Messiah encouraged
us with similar words when he said in Joh 16:32 “See, an hour is coming, and has now come,
that you are scattered, each to his own, and leave Me alone. Yet I am not
alone, because the Father is with Me.
Joh 16:33 “These words I have spoken to you,
that in Me you might have peace. In the world you have pressure, but take
courage, I have overcome the world.”
Peter says in 1Pe
4:1 Therefore,
since Messiah suffered in the flesh, arm (equip as with a weapon) yourselves
also with the same mind, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased
from sin,1 Footnote: 1Rom. 6:2-22, 1 Peter 2:25.
Even the Messiah
learned obedience through the things which he suffered - Heb
5:8 though being a Son, He learned
obedience by what He suffered.
Moshe rabbeinu utters
the same sentiment –
Deu 8:2 “And you shall remember that יהוה your Elohim
led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, prove
you, to know what is in your heart, whether you guard His commands or not.
Modern religion will
either deny or overemphasize this kind of suffering, or seek a middle road and
tell us we must endure because it will soon be over.
True faith says we
need to embrace suffering as a weapon. We say in the face of suffering “you may
have power over me now to inflict pain and harm, but I know how this whole
business is going to end, for my benefit and the destruction of everything that
opposes the truth of YHVH.”
And so very few choose
this path as even our Messiah foretold - 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.
The Greek word for “few”
is “oligos” and can also mean “almost no one”
And so Moshe continues to plead with his oppressors -
Num 20:15
that our fathers went down to Mitsrayim, and we dwelt in Mitsrayim a
long time, and the Mitsrites did evil to us and our fathers.
Num 20:16
‘And we cried out to יהוה, and He heard
our voice and sent the Messenger and brought us up out of Mitsrayim. And see,
we are in Qaḏĕsh, a city on the edge of your border.
Yahveh did not send “the Messenger” but a messenger. By
using a capital “M” the translators are incorrectly seeking to ascribe some
superior status to the messenger that is not found in the text.
Sadly this type of interpretation also angers our Jewish
brethren because it is making the Torah say things it is not saying.
Num 20:17 ‘Please
let us pass over, through your land. We shall not pass over through fields or
vineyards, nor drink water from wells, we shall go along the sovereign’s
highway. We shall not turn aside, right or left, until we have passed over your
border.’ ”
Num 20:18 But
Eḏom said to him, “You do not pass over through me, lest I come out against
you with the sword.”
The king of Edom (descended from Esav) suggested that he
was quite content to lay hold to Esav’s blessing of the sword.
The spirit of Esav is the spirit of all religion – it is
inherently hostile towards the sons of Yakov.
We can certainly be assured that this same spirit is alive and well and
will do all to resist an end time remnant from returning to the land of
Yisrael. The spirit of Esav is alive and well in modern day Judasim and
Christianity. So let’s arm ourselves with this reality, because it too soon
will end.
Baruch Ha Shem YHVH the spirit of Yakov is also alive and
well all over the earth and can often be found in the strangest of places and
peoples.
You may find it a blessing to read and do some midrash on
Ovadyah 1.
Num 20:19 And the
children of Yisra’ĕl said to him, “We shall go by the highway, and if I or my
livestock drink any of your water, then I shall pay for it. Let me only pass
over on foot, without a word.”
Num 20:20 But he
said, “You do not pass over.” And Eḏom came out against them with many men and
with a strong hand.
Num 20:21 So when
Eḏom refused to let Yisra’ĕl pass over through his border, Yisra’ĕl turned
away from him.
This would have been a short cut, now they have to travel
the long way round to reach the Promised Land. An end time people will have to
face the fact that there are no shortcuts – no ‘pretrib rapture’!
Aliyah
Chamishi 20:22-21:9
Num 20:22 And the children of Yisra’ĕl, all the
company, departed from Qaḏĕsh
and came to Mount Hor (‘har hor’ in Hebrew).
In Hebrew “Mount Hor”
is basically a repetition of the same two words “mountain mountain” – We know
that mountains are often symbolic of challenges. There is possibly a hidden
message in this place of “double mountains” saying that “if you thought the
wilderness was tough, entering the land is going to be twice as tough.”
Num 20:23
And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh and to Aharon in Mount Hor near the border of the land of Eḏom, saying,
Num 20:24 “Aharon
is to be gathered to his people, for he is not to enter the land which I have
given to the children of Yisra’ĕl, because you (plural) rebelled against My
mouth at the water of Meriḇah.
Yahshua never rebelled against the “mouth” of YHVH.
Num 20:25 “Take
Aharon and El’azar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor,
Num 20:26 and
strip Aharon of his garments and put them on El’azar his son, for Aharon is to
be gathered to his people and die there.”
El azar means – “Elohim has surrounded or helped.”
Num 20:27 And
Mosheh did as יהוה commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor before the eyes of all
the congregation.
Num 20:28 And
Mosheh stripped Aharon of his garments and put them on El’azar his son. And
Aharon died there on the top of the mountain. And Mosheh and El’azar came down
from the mountain.
Num 20:29 And when
all the congregation saw that Aharon was dead, all the house of Yisra’ĕl wept
for Aharon, thirty days.
Num 21:1 And the
sovereign of Araḏ,
the Kena’anite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Yisra’ĕl was coming on the
way to Atharim, and he fought against Yisra’ĕl and took some of them captive.
Num 21:2 Then Yisra’ĕl made a vow to יהוה, and said, “If You deliver this people
into my hand indeed, then I shall put their cities under the ban.”
“Ban”- Hebrew “Charam” means to completely destroy, to
annihilate.
This vow is one of the commandments of Torah to destroy
all Canaanite nations.
Deu 20:16 “Only, of the cities of these peoples which יהוה your Elohim
gives you as an inheritance, you do not keep alive any that breathe,
Deu 20:17 but you
shall certainly put them under the ban: the Ḥittite
and the Amorite and the Kenaʽanite and the Perizzite and the Ḥiwwite
and the Yeḇusite, as יהוה your Elohim
has commanded you,
Deu 20:18 lest
they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done
for their mighty ones, and you sin against יהוה your Elohim.
YHVH saves individuals from any place who respond to His
call to come out of sin and repent. One of Yahshua’s talmidim was a Kenaanite.
The talmadim of Yahshua were forbidden to go to these gentile cities. Later we
see Shaul visiting these cities. Why?
Perhaps certain peoples and cultures have given themselves over to the control
of evil powers, but there are always exceptional individuals who refuse to
submit to the wickedness of their prevailing culture – for example Ruth was a
Moabite.
Mat 10:4 Shimʽon
the Kenaʽanite, and Yehuḏah from Qerioth, who did also deliver Him up.
Mat 10:5 יהושע sent these
twelve out, having commanded them, saying, “Do not go into the way of the
gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Shomeronites,
Mat 10:6 But
rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Yisra’ĕl.
Num 21:3 And יהוה listened to
the voice of Yisra’ĕl and gave up the Kena’anites, and they put them and their
cities under the ban. So the name of that place was called Ḥormah. (Chormah
means devoted to destruction)
Num 21:4 And they
departed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Sea of Reeds, to go around the land
of Eḏom. But the being of the people
grew impatient because of the way.
Num 21:5 And the
people spoke against Elohim and against Mosheh, “Why have you brought us up out
of Mitsrayim to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and
our being loathes this light bread.”
Num 21:6 And יהוה sent fiery
serpents among the people, and they bit the people. And many of the people of
Yisra’ĕl died.
Num 21:7 Then the
people came to Mosheh, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against יהוה and against
you. Pray to יהוה to take away the serpents from us.” So Mosheh prayed on behalf
of the people.
Num 21:8 And יהוה said to
Mosheh, “Make a fiery serpent, (Heb –
saraph) and set it on a pole. And it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when
he looks at it, shall live.”
Num 21:9 So Mosheh
made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole. And it came to be, if a serpent
had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Joh 3:14 “And as Mosheh lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so the Son of Aḏam
has to be lifted up,
Joh 3:15 so
that whoever is believing in Him should not perish but possess everlasting
life.
Once again we see that during our wilderness pilgrimage
only a revelation of the suffering and triumphant Messiah will bring us through
to our destiny.
“The Brazen Serpent was a picture of the Messiah who was lifted up on an
execution stake, would heal those bitten by the poison of sin. Israel rebelled
against YHVH, and only by being obedient and believing YHVH’s healing of sin,
could they find healing. They needed to turn to the Brass Serpent if they
desired healing. In the same way, man must turn to Messiah who was lifted up on
an execution stake (pole) if they want healing from the poison of sin.”
It is profound that the Hebrew word for serpent
“nachash” and the Hebrew word for Messiah “Mashiach” both have a gematria of
358.
Aliyah Shishi 21:10-20
Num 21:10 And the children of Yisra’ĕl set out and
camped in Oḇoth.
Num 21:11
And they departed from Oḇoth and camped at Iyĕ Ha-Aḇarim, in the
wilderness which is east of Mo’aḇ, toward sunrise.
Num 21:12
From there they set out and camped at the wadi Zereḏ.
Num 21:13
From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which
is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the
Arnon is the border of Mo’aḇ, between Mo’aḇ and the Amorites.
Num 21:14
Therefore it is said in the Book
of the Battles of יהוה, “Wahĕḇ in
Suphah, the wadi Arnon,
Num 21:15 and the
slope of the wadi that turns aside to the dwelling of Ar, and lies on the
border of Mo’aḇ.”
Num 21:16 And from
there on to Be’ĕr, which is the well where יהוה said to
Mosheh, “Gather the people, and let Me give them water.”
Num 21:17 Yisra’ĕl
then sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing to it,
Num 21:18 a well
the leaders sank, which the nobles of the people dug with their staves, by the
word of the Law-giver.” Then from the wilderness on to Mattanah, (statute
maker staff – statute = chok)
Num 21:19 from
Mattanah to Naḥali’ĕl, from Naḥali’ĕl to Bamoth,
Num 21:20 and from
Bamoth, in the valley that is in the country of Mo’aḇ, to the top of Pisgah
which looks down on the wasteland.
Aliyah Sheviee 21:21-22:1
Num 21:21 And Yisra’ĕl sent messengers to Siḥon sovereign of the
Amorites, saying,
Num 21:22
“Let me pass through your land. We shall not turn off into fields or
vineyards, we shall not drink water from wells, but go by the sovereign’s
highway until we have passed over your border.”
Num 21:23
But Siḥon would not allow Yisra’ĕl to pass through his border. So
Siḥon gathered all his people together and went out against Yisra’ĕl in the
wilderness, and he came to Yahats and fought against Yisra’ĕl.
Num 21:24
And Yisra’ĕl smote him with the edge of the sword, and took possession
of his land from the Arnon to the Yabboq, as far as the children of Ammon, for
the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
Num 21:25
And Yisra’ĕl took all these cities, and Yisra’ĕl dwelt in all the cities
of the Amorites – in Ḥeshbon and in all its villages,
Num 21:26
for Ḥeshbon was the city of Siḥon the sovereign of the Amorites, who
had fought against the former sovereign of Mo’aḇ, and had taken all his land
from his hand as far as the Arnon.
Num 21:27
That is why those who speak in proverbs say, “Come to Ḥeshbon, let the
city of Siḥon be built and established.
Num 21:28
“For fire went out from Ḥeshbon, a flame from the city of Siḥon. It
consumed Ar of Mo’aḇ, the masters of the heights of the Arnon.
Num 21:29
“Woe to you, Mo’aḇ! You have perished, O people of Kemosh! He has given
his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Siḥon the
sovereign of the Amorites.
Num 21:30
“Then we shot them – Ḥeshbon has perished as far as Diḇon. And we laid
waste as far as Nophaḥ, which reaches to Mĕyḏeḇa.”
Num 21:31 So
Yisra’ĕl dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
Num 21:32
And Mosheh sent to spy out Ya’zĕr. And they took its villages and drove
out the Amorites who were there,
Num 21:33
and turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Oḡ sovereign of Bashan
went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Eḏre’i.
