The King’s HIGH Way & A Profit for PROPHET | Parashat Chukat & Balak | By His EVERY Word

Chukat פרשת חקת

                      and

Balak  פרשת בלק

Torah: Numbers 22:2-25:9

Haftarah: Micah 5:6-6:8 & Judges 11:1-33

B’rit Chadashah/New Covenant: John 3:17-21 & Romans 11:25-32

Shabbat | 4 July 2020 | 12 Tamuz 5780

The King’s “High” Way

A Holy God Can Be Served Only By a Wholly Holy People

Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD 

for His goodness,

 And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 

Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, 

And praise Him in the company of the elders.

He pours contempt on princes, 

And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;

Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, 

And makes their families like a flock.

The righteous see it and rejoice, 

And all iniquity stops its mouth.

Whoever is wise will observe these things, 

And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

Psalm 107

When did you last consider where you kept the deeds you produced? Are they deeds that must be hidden, and thus you have kept them in darkness so as not to be made known? Or are they deeds that our righteous God would approve of, that would meet the standard that Yeshua set, and thus you would not be ashamed to bring them into the light for their proper future reward? 

In this week’s Parsha we will see each ~ deeds that warrant hiding in darkness, and those that would bring reward when exposed to the light. Both ungodly and godly men produce these deeds. We will again see the Congregation of Israel grumble against Moses and suffer terribly for their deed ~ an act I’m sure they would have rather hidden in that darkness. And we will see a godly man, Jephthah, produce acts “wrought in God,” acts that would bear up under the light of the righteous standard yet to be set by the Messiah to come.  

Our Journey continues along our King’s “High” Way, as He reveals mysteries and tries men’s hearts, ever paving the way of righteousness. In this week’s Parsha we ponder perplexing prophetic symbols: The Red Heifer, the  seeming idolatry of the bronze serpent, and the rock of contention at Meribah, which we find to be a picture of the Messiah ... all intriguing pictures in the midst of rebellion and failure. All challenges to examine our own hearts. Are we walking in faithfulness? Does our life bear the fruit, “wrought in God?” 

It is unfortunate that today, evil deeds need not be hidden, for evil is exalted. Yeshua told us that His return, "will be just like the days of Noah.” (Matthew 24:37) What did He mean? What peculiar signs Characterize the days of Noah? How close are we? A quick glance at the news headlines over the past few months is chillingly prophetic!

Join us now at the Father’s table as we keep the rhythm of Israel for more than two millennia, anticipating fresh manna from our God and King. As followers of Messiah we have added a corresponding New Covenant portion reflecting the fulfillment and crown of the Torah. 

                           

Numbers 19:1-22  The Red Heifer~The Enigmatic Cow

A Mysterious Statute

“Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting. And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer. 

Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening. 

And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. 

Then a man [who is] clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store [them] outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin. And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening.’” vv. 1-9

The statute regarding the Red Heifer has been regarded as one of the most mysterious in Scripture. While its purpose was purification from sin, paradoxically, it defiled all who were involved with the preparation of its ashes and the water of purification. “It purifies the impure, and at the same time, renders the impure the pure!” (JH Hertz) 

It is noted in Hebraic commentaries that the other items used in the curious service all have symbolic significance: 

• The majestic cedars of Lebanon represent the pride of man 
• Hyssop represents humility, sin, uncleanness, and death 
• Scarlet was a special color, necessary for the garments of the High Priest—the linen and the breastplate of judgment, as well as the Holy Tabernacle textiles.

The Red Heifer and the Golden Calf

“You shall give it to Eleazar the priest...” 

The sages of old considered the ordinance of the Red Heifer to be connected to the grievous sin of the Golden Calf, thus requiring a remedy for this particular sin brought into the world—the water of purification. As Aaron had been involved in the idolatrous incident at the foot of Mount Sinai, he could not be the one chosen to carry out this important sanctifying rite.

“...the ordinance of the law...” 

In Hebrew, Chukat haTorah חֻקַּת הַתֹּורָה, refers to  statutes or ordinances ordained by Adonai, which are perhaps understood by Him alone, such as the prohibition against eating pork and shellfish. Beyond our reasoning or vision, we are asked by the Divine to trust and honor Him as we display our devotion and lift His glorious Name before a perishing world.

Perhaps these “chukkim,” ordinances, inexplicable as they may be, serve as powerful object lesson, teaching the profound truth that a Holy God must be served wholly by a holy people.

“Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person shall be cut off from Israel. ...And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel.” vv. 13, 17

Another Dichotomy

In Hebrew, “running water”  is actually “living water,” mayim chayim מַיִם חַיִּים. The picture is another dichotomy: the ashes of the dead cow, which defiles the living, mixed with living water, cleanses the unclean who touched the dead!

Watching for the Tenth Red Heifer in Our Time

There is a promise given to Israel that is believed to depend upon the ashes of a future Red Heifer:

"Then I shall sprinkle pure waters upon you, and you shall be clean, from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. I will also give you a new heart, and I will place within you a new spirit... " Ezekiel 36:25-26

The Temple Institute in Jerusalem has been dedicated to “every aspect of the Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of G-d on Mount Moriah” since 1987. A deeply religious and reverent Orthodox Jewish organization, they have reconstructed the Temple vessels and vestments to biblical specification, and are training a holy Priesthood for Divine service, identified by DNA testing. They firmly believe in the imminent coming of the Messiah to rebuild the Holy Temple and the restoration of the Tabernacle of David.

An important aspect that is missing, however, is the Red Heifer. “For without it, the Divine service of the Holy Temple cannot be resumed.”

The Red Heifer is not just any reddish cow—it has to be perfect—no blemish, infirmity, or white hairs. Every possible Red Heifer born is watched over and scrutinized. So far, every one has sported a few white hairs, rendering it ritually imperfect, and signaling it is not the special cow provided by God for this purpose. Perhaps because the final sacrifice for sin was already provided—the One who said “rivers of living water” will flow from the hearts of those who believe in Him... John 7:38

It is believed that the Tenth Red Heifer will be prepared by the Messiah

The Mishna (the earliest Rabbinic writing) records the ceremonial burning of nine Red Heifers through Israel’s history: the first by Moses; another by Ezra, and seven others. In the Mishna, Maimonides relates this ancient tradition with the coming of the Messiah: “... and the tenth red heifer will be accomplished by the king, the Messiah; may he be revealed speedily, Amen, May it be God's will.”

Those of us who know Messiah Yeshua, may rejoice that Adonai did not tarry, nor leave us without a High Priest or a sacrifice for sin. Still, we await His return, as the remnant of Israel awaits His first appearing. Even so, come! “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’  And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17

The Temple Institute notes that this is a time of “spiritual renaissance” for Israel. Notwithstanding the amazing number of Jewish followers of Messiah—the greatest number in the world since the first century—there is a reawakening among the Jewish People to seek Adonai and learn the Hebrew Scriptures.

The Temple Institute believes this heralds a great revival. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps we can pray for Israel and her love relationship with Adonai with more fervency, for He promises to be found by those who love Him and those who seek Him earnestly:

“I love those who love me, 

And those who seek me diligently will find me.” 

Proverbs 8:17

“And you will seek Me and find Me, 

when you search for Me with all your heart.” 

Jeremiah 29:13

Tradition records the Levites worshiping in prophetic song as the destruction of the Holy Temple in the Jerusalem took place in 70AD. The Temple Institute takes inspiration from this: “They sang not of destruction, or revenge, but of promise and continuation, renewal and rebirth. The Levites saw that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount would stand desolate for nearly two millennia... but they would be regathered to Israel once again ... June 7th, 1967, was the day they saw this come to pass. This day could be considered the first step towards the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. For this day marked a turning point in Jewish history, and began a new era, which progresses in our own time, and moves towards the great destiny of the Jewish people, to be a light to the nations and a people who walk with God in their midst.”

June 7, 1967 was indeed a prophetic day. The liberation of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall by Israeli Defense Forces punctuated the stunning and miraculous victory of the Six Day War. Israel prayed at all that remained of the Holy Temple in the Jerusalem for the first time in nearly two thousand years!  

“We are now walking on one of the main streets of Jerusalem towards the Old City...” The recordings of soldiers, generals, and rabbis, weeping as they trod the ancient streets of the city, prayed for daily and dreamed of for millennia, are riveting. 

And with this amazing event, God’s prophetic clock leapt forward ... “And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Luke 21:24 

Something shifted. Revival broke out—the “Jesus Movement” of the late 1960s. But this revival was different. 

For the first time since the first century, Jewish People—in great numbers—were coming to faith in Yeshua, Israel's Messiah! And they weren’t disappearing into the local church. They were inspired by Adonai to embrace their heritage and restore lost riches to the church—the Hebraic roots of the faith. It was a sign to the Body of His faithfulness! And perhaps a sign of the “time.”

Numbers 20:1-29  Moses’ Outburst and Edom’s Malevolence

Kvetching Again  (From Yiddish: kvetshn, to complain, whine...)

The waters of Meribah

“Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: ‘If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink’.” vv. 1-5

Does this not sound familiar?! Obviously the longer they are away from the horrible conditions of slavery in Egypt, the dimmer their memory grows. It’s easy to understand why Moses would feel angry and be tempted to lose his temper with this ungrateful bunch! Yet, Moses knew he had only to turn to Adonai, YHVH Yireh יהוה יראה “The-LORD-Will-Provide.” Genesis 22:14 for the provision 

“So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.’” vv. 6-8

So Moses took the rod—the rod which had wrought miracles in Egypt, and blossomed with fully ripened almonds, exhibiting the favor of Adonai, “from before the LORD as He commanded him.” v. 9

And then, did Moses proclaim to the people how gracious, faithful, and longsuffering is their God, as he raised Aaron’s rod, so that water would miraculously gush forth from the rock, sating the thirst of all, including the animals?

If only...

No, Moses was angry. 

And, gathering the congregation of Israel together, he railed at them: “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” v. 10

The waters of Meribah will ever stand as an iconic symbol of warning. The word “rebel” used here, is marah מרה, expressing Moses’ disgust with their reprehensible “disobedience toward God,” which is ironic considering his own behavior to follow.  

Marah is related to the word, Meribah, in Hebrew, Mer-ee-vah, מריבה, which means strife or contention. “Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the LORD, and He proved Himself holy among them.” v. 13 

The incident at Meribah is used repeatedly throughout Scripture; cautioning, admonishing—teaching, against unfaithfulness and hardening our hearts to God. It's a stern caution against rebelliousness, disparaging His holiness, and testing the grace of the LORD. (See Psalm 95:8-9, 106:14, Hebrews 3)

“Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank." v. 11

Moses was carried away by anger and didn’t stop with his verbal outburst. Instead of speaking to the rock as Adonai had commanded, he struck it ... twice.

 “Had he merely spoken to the rock, the miracle would have been undeniable, and God’s Name would have then been sanctified in the eyes of the unbelieving multitude.” (JH Hertz) We are tempted to identify with Moses, but he carried the Name, the reputation of God in the sight of men...

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, 

‘Because you did not believe Me, 

to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel,

 therefore you shall not bring this assembly 

into the land which I have given them.’” v. 12

What a tragedy! This was a heavy price to pay for an angry outburst and what may seem like a little dramatic embellishing on God’s Word... We just don’t comprehend how jealous God is over His Name, His Sovereignty, His Holiness, His Truth.

“For the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14

“Brethren, the whole history of the human race is a record of the wars of the Lord against idolatry. The right hand of the Lord hath dashed in pieces the enemy and cast the ancient idols to the ground. Behold the heaps of Nineveh! Search for the desolations of Babylon! Look upon the broken temples of Greece! See the ruins of Pagan Rome! Journey where you will, you behold the dilapidated temples of the gods and the ruined empires of their foolish votaries. The moles and the bats have covered with forgetfulness the once famous deities of Chaldea and Assyria. The Lord hath made bare his arm and eased him of his adversaries, for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Rev. CH Spurgeon

“Judaism teaches that the greater the man, the stricter the consequent guilt and punishment, if there is a falling away from that standard.” (S.R. Hirsch) 

The New Covenant also warns, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” James 3:1 

This ought to give us pause. The world reveres (perhaps “idolizes” is more apt) leaders and “great men,” granting them greater latitude and grace, often winking at sin. Even among believers we often do the same thing. 

The way of the LORD, the King’s Way, is “utterly-other-than” ... and those who carry His Name need always remember that what we do and say either sanctifies or diminishes that Divine Name in the eyes of the world.

Here’s the key: 

• Moses didn’t lose the great blessing of leading Israel into her Promise as much for his momentary disbelief, as for robbing God of the opportunity to sanctify His Holy Name in the midst of His People
• Moses did not represent Adonai truthfully or accurately. Adonai was to be glorified through His chesed (lovingkindness), and the life-giving water miraculously flowing from the rock at His Word. Instead, the Children of Israel heard Moses’ rage, and witnessed the physical violence of him striking the rock. How woefully he robbed the LORD of glory. 

Let us pray that we never so misrepresent God, robbing him of his honor before others in like manner.

• The New Covenant opens this passage for us further, relating the rock that was stricken as the Messiah, the Living Rock who was stricken for us. I Corinthians 10:4

The Unbrotherliness of the Edomites

JH Hertz comments on the Edomites’ cruelty to Israel during Israel’s hardship in the wilderness: “The sufferings which the Israelites had undergone should have filled the Edomites (sons of Esau) with brotherly sympathy, and induced them to help their kinfolk. The unnatural hostility towards Israel at a later period is the subject of the Book of Obadiah:

"The Prophecy of Obadiah is directed against Edom, the nation descended from Esau. It thus connects with the Sedrah, reflecting the opposition between two brothers in the story of Jacob and Esau. The bitter enmity of the Edomites to Israel was particularly inexcusable because of their common descent. The Prophet Obadiah instances the cruelty of the Edomites in the day of Israel’s ruin. Apart, however, from the denunciation of unbrotherliness wherever exhibited, the book has a wider application.  

"Other nations in later times played the cruel role of Edom towards Israel. Against these, too, according to our commentators, Obadiah prophetically inveighs and predicts Israel’s triumph over them. The forces of evil will never destroy Israel, because Israel’s Faith and Truth enshrined in it, are eternal.”

“Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. ‘Thus says your brother Israel: “You know all the hardship that has befallen us, how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers. When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory’.” vv. 14-17

“Then Edom said to him, ‘You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.’” v. 18

“So the children of Israel said to him, ‘We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more’.” v. 19

“Then he said, ‘You shall not pass through.’ So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand.” v. 20

Israel appealed to her brother to simply be allowed to pass through the land—to stay on the highway, not veering off of it—and to pay for anything, even water that they may consume. 

The King’s Highway was the safest and most direct route into Canaan. But Edom not only refused, but came after them!

In the sight of Adonai, it is a shameful thing not to care for your brother in need. The Torah has much to say on this subject. Consider: 

“If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need [in that] which he wants.” Deuteronomy 15:7,8

Really? Open our hand WIDE? 

Give not only to the need, but what he “WANTS?” 

Can’t you just hear that crafty serpent from Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden): “Surely God didn’t really say…”

Yeshua gave much more than a tithe. 

He gave not according to our worthiness. 

He surrendered the whole of His being to the cruelest of subjugation that we who deserve nothing would have life. 

Where did we get this idea that money is more precious than human beings? 

That “stewardship” of money means to safeguard our bank balances while our brothers and sisters go without daily needs or live in grinding insufficiency?

Do we think that we will stand before the Bema Seat of Judgment and not have to answer for stockpiling our wealth and building palaces for ourselves while closing our hearts and hands to our brothers and sisters? (Does this mean Adonai expects us to give to those who flagrantly squander their resources on ungodly living? There may be times the LORD will move us to bless someone so He may move them to repentance through His goodness, but generally speaking, no.)

Deuteronomy 8:12-17 challenges us not to forget generosity and kindness in times of abundance. “When you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses to live in, and your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold have increased, and everything you own has prospered..." beware lest your heart grows haughty and “you forget the Lord your God—who freed you from the great and terrible wilderness...and you say to yourselves, ‘My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.’”

It’s a challenge. When faced with abundance, is personal success taken for granted? In the face of comfort, will God be forgotten? Will hands filled with riches close over the open hands of the destitute and the homeless poor?

“Chesed” (lovingkindness) is called the backbone of Torah. Adonai desires that His love, mercy, grace, and faithfulness be known through the acts of His Children. A wise Talmudic saying teaches that the Torah begins with chesed and ends with chesed.

Numbers 21:1-35  The Bronze Serpent

Again with the Kvetching!

“Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 

And the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.’ 

So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.’ 

So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” vv. 1-9

This is such a stunning example of the frailty of mankind, having been forever affected by the venom of the ancient serpent. He doesn’t trust his Creator and turns on Moses, his brother as well. It’s a deadly wound that inflicts the children of Adam.

Moses has regained his composure and returns to the high road—the King’s High Way—readily forgives his wayward brethren, and intercedes as always, when they appeal for relief from the fiery serpents that are biting them, causing death.

Curiously, Adonai instructs Moses to fashion a likeness of a serpent out of bronze, and lift it as a standard on a pole. 

Isn’t this idolatry? It wasn’t meant to be. However, it did eventually become an object of veneration until centuries later, King Hezekiah “broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.” II Kings 18:4 Nechushtan in Hebrew means “a thing of brass."

This is a common idiosyncrasy, not limited to ancient Israel or pagan religions. If we believe any religious object is imbued with supernatural power to protect or heal, we have placed it in the same category as an amulet or an idol. 

In attempting to understand the unusual remedy of looking upon a fashioned object, the sages wrote: “Did then the brazen serpent possess the power of slaying or of bringing to life? No, but so long as the Israelites looked upwards and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven, were they healed. But when they refused, then were they destroyed.” (Mishnah) 

“The brazen serpent was a token of salvation to put them in remembrance of the commandments of Thy Law, for he that turned toward it was not saved because of that which was beheld but because of Thee, the Saviour of all.” (Wisdom of Solomon)

In the fullness of time, the Saviour of all did arrive. And when He was yet with us, by night a teacher of Israel came to Him—Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a Jewish ruler. He recognized Yeshua by His signs, that He was from Adonai. 

Yeshua told him a mystery. He said, “...as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  

But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:14-21

We don’t know for certain if Nicodemus came to faith in Yeshua as Messiah. The last clue we have is found in John 19:39. Nicodemus brought a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes and joined Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple, who came to take Yeshua’s body to the tomb. This would be an open declaration of standing with Yeshua, and cost Nicodemus his position, at the very least. 

It seems likely that Nicodemus did come to understand the deep things Yeshua spoke of to him. If not, one can only imagine how the words must have come flooding back as he saw “the Son of Man lifted up” on that cruel Roman stake of execution, remembering that late night conversation with the only begotten Son of God...

The Greatest Blessing

How lovely are your tents,
O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!

As for me, O God abounding in grace,

I enter your house to worship
with awe in Your sacred place.

I love your house,
Eternal One, the dwelling-place of Your glory;

humbly I worship You,
humbly I seek blessing from God my Maker.

To You, Eternal One, goes my prayer:
may this be a time of your favor.

In Your great love,
O God, answer me with Your saving truth.

The Ma Tovu Prayer

Some have marveled that Moses, Israel’s own deliverer, leveled anger and rebuke, while Balaam  (whose name in Hebrew, Bil’am, means “not of the people,”) gushed forth rapturous praise: “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel!” Numbers 24:5 

Perhaps Proverbs 27:2 most aptly explains the incomprehensible choice of Adonai to use this heathen sorcerer and iconic evil pariah, to pronounce the blessing of the ages, the Ma Tovu, upon Israel: “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.” 

The account of Balaam is a vital story to both Israel and the church. Unfortunately it has degenerated to little more than an amusing anecdote, focusing on a talking donkey, and a fun excuse for children to use the word “ass,” obscuring the powerful and profound message woven into this iconic story. 

Balaam is a type and figure Adonai uses as an example to warn His people. Why is he so important? What does he represent? 

Perhaps he is more relevant than we think, personifying the same seductive influence today, that caused Israel to stumble so long ago. 

From the most abominable mockery of God, our parsha moves into one of the most inspiring prophetic utterances. 

Montefiore says Micah 6:8 is “the purest expression ... and out of the corruption of the age there shines like a star the purest light of prophecy.”

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?” 

• None So Blind
• The View from a Desolate Height
• With Eyes Wide Open
• With Eyes of Lust Israel Falls
• God's Critical Warning Through Balaam for TODAY

Numbers 22  None So Blind

“Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. So Moab said to the elders of Midian, ‘Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.’ And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: ‘Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat 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.’” vv. 2-6

Our text says that Balak, the king of Moab, was overcome with fear and dread because of the Israelites’ victory over the Amorite kings. Although his fear was baseless (Deuteronomy 2:9), Balak sought a powerful sorcerer to curse God’s People. 

Balak, Baal’aq בלק in Hebrew, means “destroyer,” which gives us a little hint of his purpose in the scheme of things... 

Balaam, or Bil’am בלעם in Hebrew, means “not of the people.” He is a well-known heathen prophet and sorcerer.

Hebrew commentaries suggest intransigent hatred that has haunted the Jewish Nation played at least a minor role in this drama. The Hebrew word quwts קוץ, here translated sick with dread, also means to abhor or loathe. Balak could have asked Balaam to bless the Moabites with strength and victory, but chose to curse Israel—a common theme throughout history. 

Rabbi Shraga Simmons notes: “Before the Torah was given, people built their lives on a subjective concept of right and wrong. But at Mount Sinai, it became clear that there is one God Who sets moral standards for humanity. 

And with that, the Jews became a lightning rod for those opposed to the moral message. The Talmud even points out that the word Sinai is closely  related to sinah, the Hebrew word for hatred. In other words, the very source of morality—Sinai—triggers a great hatred from those opposed to its message. 

Amazingly, the evil Hitler gave this reason for persecuting the Jews, by saying: ‘I free mankind from the restraints of conscience and morality.’”

By the end of our parsha, we will find the playing field leveled. Not due to Balaam’s curse, but due to the curse of the fall of man. Israel will be lured from her high ground, mocking the LORD from whom she had just received Divine blessing.

“So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner's fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. And he said to them, ‘Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me.’ So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. Then God came to Balaam and said, ‘Who are these men with you?’" vv. 7-9

Moses had spent many years in Midian, and his father-in-law, Jethro, was a Midianite priest. Therefore, Rabbi JH Hertz also asserts, “The plot of the Moabites and Midianites against Israel was thus the outcome of ‘causeless hatred—sinat chinam שנאת חנם,’" the source of the most terrible cruelties in human relations.

"Who are these men with you?" (v. 9) Similar to Genesis 3:9, when Adonai called to Adam, “Where are you?” this does not indicate the Omniscient One lacks the answer. He is drawing Balaam into discourse.

Balaam, seemingly nonplussed at the Voice of the True Living God, explains the nature of the request of his guests. “And God said to Balaam, ‘You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they [are] blessed.’” v. 12

Although Adonai said, in no uncertain terms, that Balaam shall not (in this case, a fact, not a command) “curse the people, for they are blessed,” he is deceptive, diminishing the Word of the LORD in his answer—claiming it was a temporal issue of permitting him to go with them: 

“So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, ‘Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you.'” v. 13

Balak thought Balaam was simply driving a hard bargain, and sent more princes of higher stature—appealing to his pride, and enticed this prophet for hire with greater profit—the wages of unrighteousness.

“Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.” vv. 16-17

Balaam’s answer to the servants of Balak is puzzling. He refers to Adonai as, “the LORD my God,” and seems to have a fear of transgressing what God has said. Then however, he invites the company to stay over, hinting that Adonai may give new instructions. “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.” vv. 18-19

Perhaps it’s not so puzzling. How many of us have said, or known someone who said, “The Lord told me (this or that)...” and then a little while down the road He is purportedly saying something entirely different? 

As a pagan sorcerer, Balaam may not have known how to treat Adonai as holy, but we should. A false prophet strengthens the hand of evildoers, but a true prophet turns His People away from wickedness and evil deeds. Adonai declares that He is against false prophets, who speak in His Name. Destruction awaits them. Jeremiah 23

Adonai did speak to Balaam that night, as Balak’s princes slept: “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” v. 20

Hebrew commentaries note that Adonai knew the unquenchable longing of Balaam’s heart was to wrest His consent to journey to Moab. In obtaining it (with conditions!) Balaam was plunged into destruction (as we often are when we force our own way). 

Balaam was thrilled! He rose up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and joined the princes of Moab on their return journey.

“Then God’s anger was aroused because he went...” v. 22

What? Why would God be angry? Didn’t He just give His permission? Yes, but it was conditional. He said Balaam may go if the men call him. However, Balaam was so excited to get his own way, that he just jumped up, saddled up, and off he went ... on his own way! Adonai who discerns the thoughts and intents of men’s hearts, knew the double-mindedness of Balaam.

“...and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD 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 Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.   

 Then the Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there [was] no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam's anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.” vv. 22-27

Consider, this is a man who has made his living through the divining of omens and interpreting “signs” ... how could he be so blind as to not realize something unusual was hindering him? It’s an interesting statement that a donkey, considered among the lesser intelligent of beasts, was given sight to see the Angel of the LORD, while this so-called prophet was utterly without perception. Boorishly, he simply continues to beat the poor creature. 

Finally, the LORD opened her mouth and the donkey spoke to Balaam. He didn’t seem surprised, but carried on the conversation in his anger!

“Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?’ And Balaam said to the donkey,’Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!’ So the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?’ And he said, ‘No.’” vv. 28-30

When the LORD finally opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD, He was standing in the narrow way with His sword drawn and in His hand! Balaam immediately bowed his head and fell flat on his face. v. 31

“And the Angel of the LORD said to him, ‘Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.’” v. 32

The word perverse in this verse is yarat ירט in Hebrew, which would be better rendered reckless or destructive. The Angel of the LORD has actually saved Balaam from destruction through the poor creature he was beating.

“The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” v. 33

“And Balaam said to the Angel of the LORD, ‘I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back...'" v. 34 

There are differing opinions over Balaam’s repentance: Is it over beating his donkey, as cruelty to animals is strictly prohibited in the Torah, or did he realize that he had transgressed Adonai’s conditions, and shouldn’t have been on the journey ... or both?

The Angel of the LORD told Balaam to go with the princes of Balak, “but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” v. 35

When he arrived, Balak greeted Balaam with a barrage of questions, still believing his hesitancy was a ploy for greater rewards. “Did I not earnestly send to you, calling for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” v. 37

Balaam, seemingly ready to submit to the will of Adonai, indignantly retorted, “Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak...” v. 38

“Then Balak offered oxen and sheep, and he sent some to Balaam and to the princes who were with him. So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, that from there he might observe the extent of the people.” vv. 40-41

Numbers 23 The View from a Desolate Height

“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” —Numbers 23:8 

In the Babylonian tradition, altars were erected for Balaam—seven altars, seven bulls and seven rams. Then Balaam tells Balak to stand by his burnt offering, and went off by himself to a “desolate height,” saying, “perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” v. 3

And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth. He told him Balaam, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” v. 5

What Satan Meant for Evil...

When Balaam returned to Balak, all the princes of Moab were with him. What Balaam told him was not what he expected to hear. Balaam, seeing through the eyes of the Divine, breaks forth into enraptured blessing:

“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? 

And how shall I denounce [whom] the LORD has not denounced? 

For from the top of the rocks I see him, 

And from the hills I behold him; 

There! A people dwelling alone, 

Not reckoning itself among the nations. 

Who can count the dust of Jacob, 

Or number one-fourth of Israel? 

Let me die the death of the righteous, 

And let my end be like his!” 

vv. 8-10

“For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations.” Numbers 23:9

Israel has always been a people unique among the nations, for she was formed by the Hand of the Almighty for a Supremely Divine purpose. Through Israel the world will know the One True God. Through Israel His Holy Word will come forth. Through Israel all the families of the earth will be blessed on every level—above all, with salvation through Yeshua—Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world.  

From 70AD, when Jerusalem was sacked by Rome, the Jewish People have had none of the unifying factors of community or national identity. Scattered to the four corners of the earth, persecuted, hounded, annihilated, and isolated, they developed many different languages and dialects. Without a homeland for nearly two thousand years, how have they remained “a nation?”  

“This was the question R. Saadia Gaon asked in the tenth century, to which he gave the famous answer: ‘Our nation is only a nation in virtue of its laws (Torah).’ They were the people defined by the Torah, a nation under the sovereignty of God. Having received, uniquely, their laws before they even entered their land, they remained bound by those selfsame laws even when they lost the land. Of no other nation has this ever been true. Only in the case of Judaism is there a one-to-one correlation between religion and nationhood. Without Judaism there would be nothing (except anti-Semitism) to connect Jews across the world. And without the Jewish nation Judaism would cease to be what it has always been, the faith of a people bound by a bond of collective responsibility to one another and to God. 

“Bilaam was right. The Jewish people really are unique. What makes Jews ‘a nation dwelling alone, not reckoned among the nations,’ is that their nationhood is not a matter of geography, politics or ethnicity. It is a matter of religious vocation as God's covenant partners, summoned to be a living example of a nation among the nations made distinctive by its faith and way of life. Lose that and we lose the one thing that was and remains the source of our singular contribution to the heritage of humankind. When we forget this, sadly, God arranges for people like Bilaam ... to remind us otherwise. We should not need such reminding.”  —Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of Great Britain

Not Only Israel

As Believers in Yeshua, we too, are to be sanctified, set apart from the world, fulfilling His Divine purpose, as we wait for Yeshua, “...who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:14 

In each generation, we are, “...a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,” (I Peter 2:9), that through us His light would shine in the present darkness out of which we were rescued. The apostle Paul calls us strangers and pilgrims, and indeed we should reckon ourselves as such, as we navigate the tempestuous seas of this fallen world. “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul ... For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer  of your souls.” I Peter 2:11,25

Balak was horrified. “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!” v. 11

But Balaam answered, “Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?” v. 12

Balak thinks maybe a change of venue is what is needed. Ignoring the simple truth that Balaam has proclaimed, he suspects Balaam was simply impressed by what he saw from his overlook. Balak asks Balaam to come to another place where he “shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there.” v. 13

So Balak brought Balaam to the top of Pisgah, and once again built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Once again, Adonai put a word in Balaam’s mouth, which he proclaimed to an impatient Balak, surrounded by his princes:

“God is not a man, that He should lie, 

Nor a son of man, that He should repent. 

Behold, I have received a command to bless; 

He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 

He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, 

Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. 

The LORD his God is with him, 

And the shout of a King is among them. 

God brings them out of Egypt; 

He has strength like a wild ox. 

For there is no sorcery against Jacob, 

Nor any divination against Israel. 

It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, 

‘Oh, what God has done!’” 

vv. 23:19-23

Balak was frantic! He bid Balaam: “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!” v. 25

But what was done, was done. Balaam reminded Balak that he had told him, “All that the LORD speaks, that I must do.” v. 26

In desperation, Balak makes another vain attempt, taking Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking a wasteland, rather than the encampments of Israel, and sets up the seven altars and the seven sacrifices.

Numbers 24 With Eyes Wide Open

“Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. Then he took up his oracle and said: 

‘The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,

 The utterance of the man whose eyes are opened, 

The utterance of him who hears the words of God, 

Who sees the vision of the Almighty, 

Who falls down, with eyes wide open: 

How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! 

Your dwellings, O Israel!’” 

vv. 1-5

Verse five, “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel!”  is the first sentence of the Ma Tovu prayer, the opening sentence of every Jewish Synagogue service. 

Balaam’s attempt to curse the Israelites turns to blessing in the grips of the Spirit of Adonai. Thus his inspired utterance forms the only words of prayer used in Jewish liturgy from a Gentile. The remaining text is derived from the Psalms.

“...he took up his oracle...” (v.3) We relate the word oracle with divination and the occult, such as the Oracle at Delphi, a shrine where the god Apollo was worshiped, and a priestess communicated with the gods. Strictly forbidden, why would Balaam take up his “oracle” as the Spirit of Adonai came upon him?  

The word translated oracle in this verse is actually mashal משל, the Hebrew word for proverb, parable, words of ethical wisdom. The KJV, ASV, DBY, and HNV all use the word parable rather than oracle.

Balaam went on, empowered by the Spirit of the Almighty:

“Like valleys that stretch out, 

Like gardens by the riverside, 

Like aloes planted by the LORD, 

Like cedars beside the waters.

He shall pour water from his buckets, 

And his seed shall be in many waters. 

His king shall be higher than Agag, 

And his kingdom shall be exalted.

God brings him out of Egypt; 

He has strength like a wild ox; 

He shall consume the nations, his enemies; 

He shall break their bones 

And pierce them with his arrows.

He bows down, he lies down as a lion; 

And as a lion, who shall rouse him?'

 "Blessed is he who blesses you, 

And cursed is he who curses you.”

vv. 6-9

Balak raged at Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times!” (v. 10) He tells Balaam to depart without his pay, and to blame Adonai for his lost wages.

Before he left, Balaam once more fell into a prophetic ecstasy after advising Balak: “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD, to do good or bad of my own will. What the LORD says, that I must speak?’ And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.” vv. 12-14

“So he took up his oracle and said: ‘The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened; The utterance of him who hears the words of God, And has the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Who falls down, with eyes wide open...” vv. 15-16

Balaam proceeded to speak of King David, and of Yeshua, King Messiah, Son of David, of the end of Moab, of the glory of Israel, and the end of days...

“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; 

A Star shall come out of Jacob; 

A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, 

And batter the brow of Moab, 

And destroy all the sons of tumult. 

And Edom shall be a possession; 

Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, 

While Israel does valiantly. 

Out of Jacob One shall have dominion,

 And destroy the remains of the city. 

Then he looked on Amalek, and he took up his oracle and said: 

‘Amalek was first among the nations, 

But shall be last until he perishes.’ 

Then he looked on the Kenites, and he took up his oracle and said: 

‘Firm is your dwelling place, And your nest is set in the rock; 

Nevertheless Kain shall be burned. 

How long until Asshur carries you away captive?’

Then he took up his oracle and said: 

‘Alas! Who shall live when God does this? 

But ships shall come from the coasts of Cyprus, 

And they shall afflict Asshur and afflict Eber, 

And so shall Amalek, until he perishes.” 

vv.17-24

“So Balaam rose and departed and returned to his place; Balak also went his way.” v. 25

Apparently, in spite of Balaam’s transcendent experience with the Almighty, he “returned to his place” as sorcerer and soothsayer, and gave Balak some handy advice on how to defeat Israel having failed at cursing them...

Numbers 25 With Eyes of Lust Israel Falls

With no explanation, chapter 25 opens with Israel in a horribly fallen state. They are encamped at the last staging area on the Jordan, across from Jericho, before entering the Promised Land. 

“Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel” vv. 1-3

Wow! Just like that? Adonai just pronounced these glowing blessings on them through a pagan prophet, “He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel” (Num. 23:21-22), and they just decide to go off seeking the Moabite women and their idols? ...Really?!

Well, it wasn’t quite that simple. We find in Numbers 31:16, that a snare was laid through evil counsel from the supposedly reformed Balaam—he “whose eyes are opened!” In Numbers 31:8 we find this cost him his life, fulfilling his own prophecy in 24:9, “cursed is he who curses you.”

“Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.” Numbers 31:16

What Balaam and Balak were unable to accomplish through sorcery and divination, the women of Moab were able to do—and perhaps more—by appealing to men’s sin nature. Twenty-four thousand Israelites died in the plague which they brought on themselves by their detestable idolatry and moral depravity. 

Verse 4 describes the anger of Adonai as “fierce,” when he instructs Moses to take all the offenders out into the sun to slay them. The infidelity this sin represented was heartbreaking to Adonai, and their choice irreparably separated them from Him. 

“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness;

 I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.

 But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame,

And they became as detestable as that which they loved.”

Hosea 9:10

What happened at Peor was appalling, and it was recorded in the Holy Text for our understanding. The dynamics involved traverse time, being common to the character of man. Idolatry and sexual immorality are closely intertwined in the sight of God.

“They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods...” (v. 1) Many commentaries maintain a scenario wherein the Israelites accepted the Moabites’ invitation not knowing what they were walking into. Although they knew it was a pagan festival, they thought they could eat, drink, and be merry ... and leave unscathed. However, once in the overtly sexual festival, the lust of the eyes and the flesh made them vulnerable and they succumbed to the seduction. Once bound to these pagan women, they followed them to their own moral and spiritual ruin. 

How many of us believe we can party with temptation?

There is nothing new under the sun. This story plays itself out repeatedly throughout the ages, in many different languages and settings, but the program is redundant. 

Break down the fence of sexual purity, and you have broken faith with Adonai. 

What fences remain? 

Fences staked in shifting sand. 

To indulge the sinful desires of the flesh, you must turn your heart from God—or believe Him to be an unholy god. 

This is idolatry. 

The Ba’al of Peor is the god of the Moabites, worshipped at Peor with licentious, sexual rituals. The name in Hebrew, Ba’al Peh’or  בעל  פעור, means lord of the gap or opening. If there are wicked entities behind these ba’als of the pagan world, perhaps the name suggests this demonic force takes advantage of any opening or gap to infiltrate a person’s mind and heart. 

In the ancient world people had to be lured to their festivals. In today’s digital world, the ba’als have access into every home through television and the internet. Popular recording artists deluge our youth with salacious, obscene, and often perverse videos and lyrics, desensitizing them—searing their conscience. 

With radically lowered standards, even children raised in godly homes are reached through highly provocative magazine and DVD covers at every market checkout counter.  

About “the lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world,” Matthew Henry said: “It is necessary to mortify sins, because if we do not kill them, they will kill us. It is the duty of every one to be holy, because Christ is a Christian's all, his only Lord and Saviour, and all his hope and happiness.”

The apostle Paul says this is possible. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” I Corinthians 10:13-14

God is faithful and will help us stand, but the first step is ours. We must decide to turn away from that which feeds the sinful nature. Therefore, Paul exhorts, “keep yourself pure.” I Timothy 5:22

It’s not easy to be holy. We live in a time of flagrant disregard for morality. Even among believers, there seems to be a continual disintegration, as if staying just a little less decadent than the world is okay. It’s a deception. We need to be ruthless with sin, for it brings only destruction and grieves the heart of God.

The deplorable sin that entered the camp of Israel brought a devouring plague that wasn’t stopped until one righteous man made a shocking but bold demonstration against the corruption.

“...one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.” vv. 6-9

Zimri, who was a prince of the Tribe of Simeon, flaunted his immoral relationship with one of the Midianite women before Moses and all the families of Israel, exhibiting blatant disregard for Adonai and the brethren. In Psalm 106:30-31, Phinehas is lauded for decisively dispatching the couple in their tent, and thus stopping the plague: 

“Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, 

And the plague was stopped. 

And that was accounted to him for righteousness 

To all generations forevermore.”

God's Critical Warning Through Balaam for TODAY

In the New Covenant, Balaam is used as a serious warning to the Believer. Yet what is the “way of Balaam,” the “doctrine of Balaam,” and the “error of Balaam?” If it is important to Adonai, it is important for us. Let’s look at the pertinent Scriptures:

2 Peter 2:12-16: “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.  

They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. 

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.  

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.  

For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’”

Jude 1:11-13: “Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

Revelation 2:14: “But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.”

• Balaam was a deceiver. One moment, Balaam claimed submission to Adonai, then his loyalty shifted to Moab (the world)
• Balaam’s true love was money, honor, and the praise of important men
• Balaam caused God’s elect to stumble/sin, bringing destruction on them (and himself). This is all too common, even though not done purposefully or for gain. Today’s seeker-friendly church environment often shies away from speaking boldly about sin and holiness—discipling Believers. Churches are filled with people that live no differently than the lost—in total defiance to God and His clear commandments. It’s a grave situation. The Bible says of those leaders who are promoting such false doctrine: “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble” (Luke 17:2).
• Balaam knew the way of righteousness, yet chose to turn back. 2 Peter 2:12-16 says that people who have committed their lives to the LORD and then turned back to “the pollutions of the world” are worse off than had they never known the way of righteousness. With grand doctrines—“great swelling words of emptiness”—they may justify lawless living as “Christian liberty,” but that liberty is a snare. Sin becomes a bondage unto destruction.
• Balaam was a spiritual prostitute. He would do anything to get what he wanted. The love of the things of the world, the lust of the eyes, and the the lust of the flesh will inspire many to compromise to get what they want. Having an appearance of godliness, they enflame others to pursue greed and worldliness. They have forsaken the right way, and their heart is trained in covetous practices. Clouds without water, living water does not flow from them—like ornamental trees that promise fruit, they neither nourish nor sustain.
• Balaam taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Here’s one to ponder. Some say this has to do with the doctrine that came into the church teaching Believers to reject the Law of God. Too large a subject to cover here, it is certainly something to pray about. The entirety of the Bible is the Word of God, and thus is Holy. We are so privileged to receive it from the Almighty. 

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, 

for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 

that the man of God may be complete, 

thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully...” 

1 Timothy 1:8

The Torah never provided salvation—it was given to an already redeemed people as a guideline—how to live as a redeemed people. Adonai mercifully provided the blood sacrifice system to remedy (temporarily) man’s sin until the perfect sacrifice, Yeshua the Messiah laid down His life, once for all. A large portion of the commandments in the Torah are for the Priesthood and the Temple, not for daily life among God’s people. There are far more commandments in the New Covenant. As imperfect human beings, “whose frame is but dust” (Psalm 103:14), not one of us can live perfectly by all Adonai has called us to from Genesis to maps. That’s why we need a Savior. 

I have always felt it best however, to treasure the whole of His Word, walking in it as He enables, and He gives this imperfect servant the grace to stumble along ... first agreeing with Him ... that whether I can attain it all or not, His Way is perfect.

“How can a young man cleanse his way? 

By taking heed according to Your word.

With my whole heart I have sought You; 

Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 

Your word I have hidden in my heart, 

That I might not sin against You.

Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes.

With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth.

I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As [much as] in all riches.

I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways.

I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

Psalm 119:9-16

Haftarah Chukat

Judges 11:1-33

Our Haftarah portion is Judges 11:1-33. The Bible certainly lays out the panorama of human character. We see it from the worst to the best. These thirty-three verses chosen for us to consider contain some of those human character traits and stand as guideposts for us to chart applicable areas of our lives by.

Our story begins by introducing us to Jephthah who was born of unfortunate circumstances. His father, Gilead, had had his moment of sexual weakness and had lain in the Biblical sense with a harlot. The consequence of this encounter was a child, Jephthah. Societies view point of this young man was unfortunately much the same as it is today. Of no fault of his own Jephthah was considered to be something less in social standing than those born of a traditional father and mother.

Gilead, however, did what would be considered the right thing to do. When born, he took Jephthah into his house and raised him as his firstborn, which gave him inheritance rights of a double portion. Other sons were subsequently born to Gilead and his wife after Jephthah. All our text tells us is that when the other sons grew up they drove Jephthah out of the house on the pretext that he had no right to an inheritance since he was the son of another woman. It looks as though because of his brothers greed they seized upon Jephthah’s social circumstance to fatten their own pockets. 

At the root of this tale thus far told is without a doubt the sin nature. Just look at the extended pain it caused in exchange for a a brief moment of pleasure; a child socially marked, siblings given false reason for defrauding their half brother of his rightful inheritance, and a married couple undoubtedly at odds with each other over his son and their children. 

How blinded we can be to future pain by the pleasures of lust in the present moment. Any guideposts there, perhaps marked, “Stay Clear!”

As our story moves on we find that Israel is still in that cycle we spoke of last week. It would start off with religious apostasy, then God would bring oppression to get their attention, once gotten deliverance through a judge followed, and then reform, for a time.

Jephthah has moved on now to the land of Tob. He is done with the folks back home. The entire bunch to include the elders had hated him and driven him from his father’s house. 11:7 

He has since become a noted warrior and gathered a band of warriors—worthless though they were (11:3)—to his company. Along with acquiring a reputation he is now a family man and as we will see, apparently a very good one at that.

So in the midsts of this story we see the cycle reappear:

“Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon. They afflicted and crushed the sons of Israel that year; for eighteen years they afflicted all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in Gilead in the land of the Amorites.” 10:6-8

So here we have it again, religious apostasy and then oppression. And now deliverance is on the way. How strange the twists of life. The elders of Gilead, the very group that had hated Jephthah and driven him from his childhood home seek him out in Tob and ask him to be their deliverer. How did they get to this point? This must be the answer.

“...the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, ‘We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.’  The LORD said to the sons of Israel, ‘Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.’ The sons of Israel said to the LORD, ‘We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.’ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer. Then the sons of Ammon were summoned and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in Mizpah. The people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, ‘Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.’”

Our story goes on to answer this last question of who this judge shall be, that shall fight against the sons of Ammon. Jephthah is the man. A deal is struck. If he will fight for Israel and if he defeats the sons of Ammon he will rule Gilead. You know the rest of the story. Jephthah accepts the deal, gathers more men, and meets and defeats Ammon.

But something tragic happens in the personal life of Jephthah.

In his exuberance to take on this mission he believes Adonai has given him he makes a rash vow. He says: 

“If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand,  then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” 11:30-31

So with the victory won he returns to his house and we read:

“When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.” 11:34-35

And his daughter’s response was:

“So she said to him, "My father, you have given your word to the LORD; do to me as you have said, since the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.” v. 36

There has been much speculation as to how this story actually ended. The possibilities run all the way from the daughter was offered as a sacrifice, to as Keil and Delitzsch believe she was given to the priesthood to serve as a life long celibate in the sanctuary of the Lord. I suggest you grab a good commentary and let me know what you think. But how about this?

Do you see any guideposts in this latter half of our story? I do. I see a father who as a misfit youth was cast out of his family in shame, that was not his to bear. Who instead of turning his back on those who had hated him and done him and had done evil, followed Adonai’s will and fought for them. Who was willing to follow through on what he must have later known was a rash vow to God. Who had to of instilled in his only child those qualities of acceptance of the very hard things life brings, of being obedient to her parents, of honoring her father, and his commitments to his God. Why else would she have submitted to her father’s vow as she did? 

I see a man I would of liked to have personally known. He made mistakes, but he did not waver from his responsibility to raise his child properly, or to be obedient to Adonai’s direction, or to serve Him with all his heart, even to the giving of his only child. 

This is a man who is a true and sound guidepost for me.   

Haftarah Balak

Micah 5:6-6:8

Our Haftarah portion for this week is found in Micah 5:6-6:8. Micah like all of the prophets is bold in his message, but unlike many of the prophets he actually states his purpose.

“...I am filled with power—with the Spirit of the LORD—and with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act, even to Israel his sin.” (Micah 3:8) So...let’s dig in and see what he has to say.

Micah, ministering in the latter half of the 8th century BC, declares his message during the reigns of Ahaz, and Hezekiah, both of the Southern kingdom—Judah. He was on the scene at the same time as Hosea (who preached in the Northern kingdom), and must have personally known Isaiah as they share some common material. It was a time when this prophet would speak to the people of Judah rather than to the King as Isaiah did. It was not only the king but the people that would  greatly suffer the consequences of the king’s and their own disobedience to Adonai’s Covenant. 

We find in Micah 6:5 the answer as to why this is the Scripture portion for our Haftarah. There a reference is made to Balak, king of Moab, and Balaam, who also prophesied of the coming Messiah. This mention is the only connection with our Torah portion, but is important in the flow of the text. Now on to the verses at hand.

 A Look at the Future

To grab a hold of the context let’s start with 5:2-3. There we read:

v.2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." 

 v.3 “Therefore He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren will return to the sons of Israel.”

Micah actually names the birth place of the coming Messiah. It is the same place where King David was born (I Samuel 16:1), and when questioned by Herod these verses are referred to by the chief priests and scribes as Messiah’s birth place (Matthew 2:1-6). Micah confirms the Godhood of this One to go forth when he speaks of His eternality and says, “His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” 

This eternal Messiah, Micah goes on to say, will one day shepherd His flock and His greatness will be known to the ends of the earth. (v.4) This is a view to the end of the Great Tribulation when Israel will be regathered and Messiah returns for the second time to establish His Millennial reign. (Matthew 24:29-31; 25:31-46). He will be Israel’s protector from Assyria, Micah says. Why just Assyria you may ask? Probably because Assyria was the totality of Israel’s military problem at the time of this writing. The Jewish reader would understand that Micah was referring to any and all of Israel’s attackers. For them to read “Assyria” meant all of her enemies at that time. And what time is that? 

At that time... when this protection will take place... is at the end of the Great Tribulation, a time when the sixth Bowl Judgement is poured out. Put another way it is what is commonly known as the Battle of Armageddon, which actually is a series of campaigns. Revelation 16:12-16 

This campaign comes to a conclusion shortly before the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom when as Messiah He appears, and brings final victory.

This theme runs from 5:4 through 5:9. Note v.4, “He will be great to the ends of the earth.”; v.6, ”And He will deliver us from the Assyrian (Remember, that’s all of their enemies.); v.8, the young lion who tramples down and tears, “And there is none to rescue.” v.9, “...all your enemies will be cut off.” 

In fact, to best see what Micah envisioned in the future, read through verses 4-9.

From Micah's Perspective ... Present or Future?

Verses 10-15 is our next section. Verse 10 presents a problem. It reads, “'It will be in that day,’ declares the LORD, ‘That I will cut off your horses from among you and destroy your chariots.’” Do you see it? It appears as though Micah records the Lord as saying that when the Lord returns at His second coming He has a list of things He will do to Israel. And there not good things: v.10 - kill horses, destroy chariots; v. 11- cut off Israeli cities and bring down fortifications; v.12 - no more sorcerers or fortunetellers (Well, that’s a good one though.); v.13 - get rid of idols and Israel’s idol worship ( Another good one.); and v.14 - destruction of Israeli cities. Now there is a list, but when will this happen?

There are two points of view here. One is that verses 10-15 refer to that immediate setting. Because of Judah’s sin God would bring the Assyrians to destroy this Southern kingdom. As well, the destruction and deportation to follow would alter if not eliminate the sinful practices. This would be a result of Judah recognizing all of this as a consequence of their sin.  

Some feel that the phrase, “...in that day...” merely represents a break in thought dividing two sections of Scripture and the different time periods they speak of. Therefore, verses 10-15 actually address the impending doom Judah faces from the nation of Assyria right at that time.  

Another perspective is that verses 10-15  will occur at the end of the Tribulation when Messiah returns. This would be consistent with, “in that day” of verse 10 as it would refer to verses 4-9. There will be an unsaved element among the Jews that will not yet have received Messiah as the Savior from sin that He is. They will presumably be involved in some or all of the things addressed in verses 10-15—thus the cleansing consequences. And they would not enter the Millennium unless they were to be among the regenerated. Will this happen? Yes. 

Zechariah 13:8-9 states that of all the Jews entering the Tribulation two thirds, “...will be cut off and perish.” They will be killed either as believers and martyred, or as nonbelievers and victims of the judgements of God upon the earth.The remaining one third, or remnant, will be brought, “through the fire,” so as to refine them as silver and, “test them as gold,” and they will eventually, “call on My (His) name.” This remaining one third of the original number will be recipients of the pouring out of the Spirit of grace and of supplication (Zechariah 12:10-13:1) and they all will turn to the Messiah. There will be a national confession of sin (Isaiah 53:1-9) and a fulfilling of the promise of Romans 11:25-27 where Paul says:

“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.’ ‘THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.’"

Only regenerated Jews and Gentiles (those having accepting the work of Messiah on the tree for salvation from sin) will enter the Kingdom. And all living Jews will have been regenerated. So, after the campaign of Armageddon all others will be sent to that literal location we know as Hell ( Matthew 25:41-45) to await the Great White Throne judgement  which will take place at the conclusion of the Millennial period of 1,000 years. Revelation 20:11-15

Of the two views my personal opinion is that the second is the more consistent and true to the text. This I think, is a view to the future. What do you think? How about sharpening me with some of that “iron.” 

Indicted by God 

The book of Micah next includes two indictments of Israel by Adonai. We will look at just the first, found in Micah 6:1-5.  In verses 2 and 3 God says, 

“'Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, because the LORD has a case against His people; Even with Israel He will dispute. ‘My people, what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Answer Me.’” 

This is a challenge to Israel to defend her actions. But of course there is no defense for the sin this nation has allowed itself to fall into.

How does one defend sinful actions in light of the good care God has taken of them? Verse four says He removed them from Egypt, bought them out of slavery, and gave them hand picked leadership. In verse five God speaks to His demonstration of righteousness in the handling of Balak and Balaam. And so Israel admitting its guilt by its answer offers restitution. 

But it is insufficient. Burnt offerings, yearling calves, (6:6) thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil, their first born for their rebellious acts, or the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul. (6:7) All were insufficient, all missed the mark, all were only fleshly works or material possessions, nothing God wanted. Micah responds to this weak offer of restitution with what Adonai really wants of His people, right then, right there. 

“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” 

Micah 6:8

Did you catch it?

• Be just...
• Be kind...
• Be humble before God...

There’s a formula that would have gone a long way to sidetracking destruction and stopping deportation. Simple and straight forward, but it had to come from within, out of a nature and will that was godly, not from worldly gifts and actions generated by a rebellious nature. And so judgement ultimately came.

Is there a lesson for us in all of this? Maybe at least two. The first is that God will remain faithful to His word. Here in spite of the ongoing sin of His people in the tribulation yet to come, He IS still going to save a remnant of them. And for us as believers in this period of the Church, He must as well remain faithful to His word. We may sin and some of us may sin badly, but our security in Him is forever sure.

 “...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:4-6

and...

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14

Chosen and sealed, that’s God’s word. That is something you can count on.

And in light of our being chosen and sealed as a pledge to always keep us, how should we live? By offering up fleshly works or material possessions? Or as conducting our lives as just, kind, and humble before God.

I think the answer must be as plain as the ... as the words of Micah. 

B'rit Chadashah Chukat

John 3:17-21

As we come to our B’rit Chadashah we are directed to what is for most of us the most familiar book of the Bible and the best known chapter in it. It is the Gospel of John and the third chapter. For our purposes here we will focus in on just five, verses 17-21.

“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

We start with verse 17, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” 

When it comes to heaven or hell, the Messiah came with singularity of purpose. His focus, His mission, was to see that men were saved, not that they were sent to hell. We might feel that it is a cruel God that sends men to an eternity apart from Adonai. But it is not God that sends them, He only facilitates their sure transfer, a transfer they have sealed themselves by not accepting the free gift of salvation from Hell, a gift offered in verse 16. No, The Messiah was not sent to judge, but to save.

Verse 18 reads, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” 

What is so clear here is that there IS a judgement. It IS real. It exists and has fallen on all of us, but judgement was not the Messiah’s purpose in coming to mankind. This is a judgement that can be and is removed by the once for all work of Yeshua on that tree, for you and me, if we put our faith in His work for us. “He who believes is not judged.” But for the one who does not believe, this one has already—in the past, before Messiah came—been judged. And that judgement which Messiah came to set us free from hangs over that sinner, “because he has not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son.”

And what is that judgement? It is an evaluation of each man’s deeds. And the vehicle for that evaluation is light. What do you suppose is that light? Why it is the Messiah Himself. He is that light, that standard to which we are compared. But remember the purpose of His coming was NOT to be a judge, but to be a Savior. However, in His incarnate person as He walked amongst His creation we were shown the standard of perfection, of sinlessness, of perfect obedience to the Father, YHVH. And we all fail that standard miserably, so much so that we are most deserving of being eternally separated from God, for our deeds are evil. How could such human imperfection ever be allowed into the company of such divine perfection? I think we each  instinctively know the answer. We could not. We know that our deeds can never meet up to the holy standard of God. That’s why we love darkness, so we can hide the wicked fruit of our lives, fruit of a nature that will never meet God’s standards. So we love darkness, rather than light. 

And thus John says,  “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” v.19

Verse 20 goes on to say, “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” 

Of course we hate the light. It exposes what we have done that we should not, and that which we should have done that we did not. Who among us would want to walk into a dark room filled with the saints of old, the angelic hosts, and God Himself... and flip the light switch that brings illumination for all to see, yes for all to see the very deeds that will separate us for eternity from a holy God. 

We do not come to the Messiah of our own because we cannot bear to have our deeds exposed when compared to His holy standard. Doesn’t John later record the Messiah as saying, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:44

So we hate the light and love the darkness. 

Now we arrive at verse 21, and what a wonderful place it is to come to after having spoken of deeds of darkness and separation from God. Here John says, “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Up to this point we have seen that Messiah had not come to be a judge of men but to be their Savior. But along with His incarnation to be this Savior came the standard by which He lived, and by which the lives of those He came to save could be measured. Messiah’s standard was perfection. Measured against even the best of man’s actions this standard of perfection made anything man did look far inferior. It brought to light the inadequacy if not the sinfulness of any of man’s deeds done apart from that which was “...wrought in God.” After all, are not the best acts of man, done apart from the agency of God in him, as a filthy rag? Isaiah 64:6 

This standard then was in effect a light, a light that shined upon the evil deeds of man. This was a light that any man would run from while he looked for darkness in which to hide his deeds.

But now we see another type of man, one who does not run from the light. Indeed he comes to the light. He comes to the light so that his deeds may be seen, but seen how? John says, “that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”   This is a seed truth that Messiah would later expand on in John 15 where He says that the ONLY good fruit a man can bear is that which is produced through Him, or in other words deeds manifested as having been wrought in God.

This is the counter opposite of the man who hates the light, who does not come to the light that his deeds would not be exposed. This is the man who has taken the sixteenth verse to heart and made the truth of it his own. He has believed in the saving work of the Messiah. And now he produces deeds that are worthy of reward. I Corinthians 3:12-15 

This is fruit that can stand the test of being placed against Messiah’s standard because this fruit has actually been produced by God through this saved and yielded servant. So this believer runs to the light to continually test his life and its product against the standard his Savior has set. 

This light is the Messiah. The Messiah sets the standard, and YHVH (Adonai Himself) produces this fruit through the saved and yielded believer. It is fruit that is, “wrought in God.” 

My prayer, for the rest of my life is that this is the fruit I will bear, not a fruit that I must hide in darkness, but a fruit that I will willingly bring to the light. For this is a fruit wrought in YHVH, a fruit gladly measured against the standard of Yeshua.   

And now, what about you? What decision will you make in view of the light that would and ultimately will shine upon all the deeds of all mankind and even yours as well?

Yes ... what about you? 

Brit Chadashah Balak

Romans 11:25-32

Our B’rit Chadashah study this week is Romans 11:25-32. 

And it ties in beautifully with the Haftarah portion of Micah 5:6-6:8. You will recall that in our Micah study we saw that Adonai was going to punish Judah for its sin. Assyria was knocking at the door and destruction and deportation were being threatened. 

Prophecy was interwoven into this story. Ahead for Judah—the Southern Kingdom, and Israel—the Northern, was a time of tribulation, the Great Tribulation. At its conclusion was to be restoration for the nation and salvation for all Jews still living. 

What we might wonder though, is what happens between the punishment and the restoration. Lets think about this for a minute. After the reigns of David and Solomon the one kingdom of Israel is divided into two. This happens about 930 BC. The Northern KIngdom never has a righteous king and is in almost continual sin. As punishment Adonai raises up Assyria which in 740 BC begins a twenty year process of conquering and then deporting Israel. The Southern Kingdom is not much different. Though there is a sprinkling of a few good kings it too is ultimately deported. The God of Judah raises up Babylon who conquers this nation and takes it into captivity in 605 BC.

While there is no clear return of the Northern Kingdom it is speculated that parts of those tribes—sometimes known as the lost ten tribes—returned to Judah when the return of the Southern Kingdom took place in 536 BC. The Jews maintained a visible identity in the Land in one form or another until 136 AD when they were forbidden to enter Jerusalem for roughly the next 500 years. Since then they have been in and out of  the Land until 1948 AD when Israeli statehood was declared. However, no clear identity of the individual tribes has ever been reestablished.

After the deportation of the Southern Kingdom to Babylon, its return, and the rebuilding of the Temple, the next major theological event in the story of this Jewish nation is the first coming of Jesus to make an offer of Himself as the Messiah of Israel. Matthew 4:17 speaks to this when it says, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’" This would be an offer rejected by the Jewish nation and Messiah would be sent to the cross where He would die for the sins of mankind. Matthew 16:21 tells us, “ From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”  Thus we have the suffering servant of Isaiah 52:13-53.

And so now we come to our Romans 11:25-32 passage. Leading up to these verses the Apostle Paul has addressed Israel’s past center stage role and their present rejection in the plan of God. In chapters 9,10, and 11 Paul opens his heart to share his anguish over Israel being set aside for a time so that God might accomplish another work, the grafting in of the Gentiles. (11:15-20) God’s intent in this was announced when it was said to Abraham: 

“Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said,  ‘In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’" 

God would reveal Himself not only to the Jews but to the Gentiles as well, each at specific times.

The vehicle for this revealing of Himself to the Gentiles would be called a “mystery.” It is not a mystery in the sense that it is mysterious or hard to be understood. No, it simply means something that was previously unknown, but now is made known. Let’s look at a few places where Paul speaks of this mystery.

“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,” 

Here in Romans 16:25 Paul speaks about something previously unknown from the beginning of time up until now. Now it is to be revealed.

“...that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;” 

In Ephesians 3:3-5 Paul says this mystery that was made known was not known by other generations, but it is NOW being revealed. And who has it now been revealed to? It is revealed to the apostles and prophets. But what was it that had been a mystery but  now is not?

“...to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel 

...To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ...so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” 

In Ephesians 3:6,8 and 10 Paul declares what that mystery was. It was that the Gentiles would be fellow heirs and that this was to take place through the church. 

Now, coming to chapters 9,10, and 11 of Romans we see just how this was to be done. Paul’s theme is that Israel is set aside for a time. The purpose of this is that the mystery might be fulfilled, that the Gentiles would be grafted in. 

In Chapter 9 Paul  speaks to God’s sovereignty in His choice to set Israel aside for a time, for their unbelief (11:20), and bring in the Gentiles. Verse 18 tells us God does as He desires. “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” Verses 25 and 26 address God drawing in a people who had not yet been drawn, the Gentiles. “ As He says also in Hosea, ‘I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, 'MY PEOPLE,' AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, 'BELOVED.’ AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, 'YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,' THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD." And verse 27 states that only a remnant of Israel will be saved while He works in the Gentiles. “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED.” Though the number of Jews existing during the time of church is compared in quantity to the sand of sea only a small number are being saved. This is set next to that number which will be saved when Israel is grafted in, yet in the future. And when does the grafting in take place?

We find the answer in Romans 11:25. “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”  

The future grafting back in of Israel will take place only when the fullness of the Gentiles has been accomplished which is at the end of the Great Tribulation. 

Romans 11:26 and 27 state three events will occur simultaneously. (1) “The Deliverer will come from Zion.” (v.26b) This is a reference to the Messiah’s return at the end of the Great Tribulation and the institution of the Millennial reign. (2) “...and thus all Israel will be saved...” (v.26a) At the time of the end of the Great Tribulation every Jew still living will be saved. There will not be one Jew looking upon the returned Messiah that will not recognize Him for who He is and respond appropriately. (3) “And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (v.27) This is the institution of the New Covenant spoken of in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Jeremiah 31:34 says in part, “...I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” This can only come at the end of the Tribulation and the institution of the Millennial reign.

So, when these three events occur that signals that the fullness of the Gentiles has been completed. Since these three events happen at the end of the Great Tribulation it will not be until then that Israel can be considered as grafted back in.

We began by considering the period of time that Israel has not been considered as the center of God’s plan. We must not think though that Israel was ever forgotten by Adonai. During this mystery period of the Church which began in Acts 2 He has always had His hand upon them to accomplish His work in them—the remnant for salvation through belief in the work of Messiah on the tree for them—and through them—as in a testimony to the truth of God’s Word as it specifically applied to them. 

So now in our B’rit Chadashah we see the beginning of God’s end time plan for His Jewish people. It is that upon the completion of the fullness of the Gentiles, every single Jew still alive at the end of the Great Tribulation will be saved. That is to say that they will be grafted back in. The New Covenant, solely theirs, will be instituted. This will forgive them of all sin and place God’s Word—all of it—in their heart so that they will not need any one teaching them again. And they will reign with their long awaited Messiah in His Millennial Kingdom for one thousand years. 

No wonder Paul concluded this section of Scripture with these words...

“Oh, the depth of the riches 

both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable are His judgments 

and unfathomable His ways! 

For who has known the mind of the LORD,

or who became His counselor?

Or who has first given to Him

that it might be paid back to Him again?

For from Him

and through Him

and to Him

are all things.

To Him be the glory forever.

Amen.”

—Romans 11:33-36

Shabbat Shalom!

In Messiah's Love,

His EVERY Word Ministries