Beth Elohim Messianic Synagogue
Parashah #35:Naso (Take) B’midbar (Numbers) 4:21-7:89
Haftarah: Shof’tim (Judges) 13:2-25
B’rit Chadashah: Yochanan (John) 7:53-8:11
Due to the variation in the Essene/Zadok calendar from the traditional Jewish calendar, this parashah will be covered on May 23 and the special reading for Shavu’ot which will occur on May 31 will be read on May 30.
Pesach which has already occurred this year and Shavu’ot which we will celebrate on May 31 according to the Zadok calendar, are associated with the Exodus and the giving of the Torah and subsequently the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), each have an agricultural element. Since we are in the process of counting the Omer, the days between Pesach and Shavu’ot, I am briefly mentioning this subject.
The Torah instructs that on the second day of Pesach we should bring the first cutting of the barley harvest to the Temple in Jerusalem as and offering to G-d. We are not to eat any of that year’s grain crop until this offering is made. On Shavu’ot G-d commands that we bring the first of the wheat harvest as an offering to G-d, and until this is done, not to otherwise offer that year’s rain crop at the Temple. So, the 49-day count leading from Pesach to Shavu’ot is called the ‘Counting of the Omer” which references the biblical measure known as the “omer” of barley that was brought on day 1. Shavu’ot is called Yom HaBikkurim, which translates as “ Day of the First-Fruits Offering.”
Traditional Jews miss the entire Messianic significance of these and the other designated times of G-d since they do not study the B’rit Chadashah which completes G-d’s Torah and explains the fulfillment of G-d’s plan for mankind. However, this subject is for a future teaching.
Today’s parashah covers a myriad of situations from ministering in the tent of meeting, to other issues that arise in any social context with the addition of ministering in the tent of meeting. Some of the subjects covered include rules for the census to be taken to determine those who served in the tent of meeting were given, public safety measures for those who had tzara’at were ordered (vv. 5:1-4), instructions for restitution for injuries were repeated, and the law for jealousy on the part of a husband was enacted. The laws related to the nazarite vow were given in detail (vv. 6:1-21). Offerings from each tribe given for the ceremony of dedicating the altar on the day it was anointed (7:11-78).
One may ask why there is so much of this parashah dedicated to what seems to be simple repetition of the offerings brought by each tribe on separate days for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed 7:10-11,84). There are several reasons for such repletion beginning with the fact that the population of each tribe was different, G-d’s command was that each tribe was to make the same offerings/sacrifices. As I spoke of singleness of purpose that was commanded of the nation that extends to how G-d wants his followers today to live, the deliberate uniformity is emphasized in this narrative and throughout G-d’s Torah.
According to copies of this narrative found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the commands for these offerings are preserved consistently, reinforcing the intent and accuracy if such detail. By requiring each tribe to offer identical items, G-d demonstrated that no tribe was superior to another in the act of worship. Just as the Israelites left Egypt as a unified people and accepted the covenant as a unit, so they were to stand together as one people in dedication before G-d.
Compared to various ancient Near Eastern texts discovered through archaeological activity and other sacrificial systems, variety in the types and number of offerings was common. But in this case, G-d established a system of uniformity, having each tribe offer the same items, each on their designated day. This emphasizes singularity of G-d and the cohesiveness of his people. Everyone stands on an equal footing before G-d.
More than this, the equality of each person,, community, and nation reminds true believers that what matters in life is loving obedience to G-d’s commands/instructions, rather than manmade external measures of success. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says it all: “ Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear G-d and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind” (NIV).In the Septuagint 12:13-14 we read “ Hear the end of the matter, the sum: fear G-d and keep his commandments; for this is the whole man. For G-d will bring every work into judgement, with everything that has been overlooked, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” This is reiterated in the book of Revelation (20:12-15). Each tribe brought the same sacrifices honoring G-d’s command over what humans might consider “fair” based on a tribe’s possessions.
What about the schedule for each tribe to present their offerings/sacrifices on a different day? AS I mentioned last week, G-d is a G-d of detail and order. This is reflective of his “Kingdom” that reflects order, consistency, and a structure of hierarchy under One authority: YHVH/Yahshua. By specifying each leader present their offerings on a different day illustrates order, organization, structured reverence. Worship is intentional and not a “last thought.” Each tribe was “featured” as they presented their offerings, not to be placed before or after other tribes presenting their offerings that would occur if given on the same day. IN this way, each tribe and person was dedicating the altar together under G-d’s direction.
Holiness requires being set apart for G-d. By having each tribe present identical offerings/sacrifices, this uniformity guarded against the idea that tribes could change the ways in which G-d was to be worshiped based on their own preference. This truth flies in the face of many religious institutions that have abrogated G-d’s commands including the biblical Shabbat for charismatic, soulish gatherings called “praise and worship” services devoid of any credible scriptural teaching.
Another lesson for us is provided by understanding the concept repeatedly described in the census, the presentation of sacrifices/offerings, and the narrative in 1 Cor. 12:12-14). Worship is a shared responsibility both individually and nationally. All true believers have been blessed with specific skills and/or talents that are intended to be used for G-d’s glory and to strengthen the body of believers.
From the perspective of the manuscripts, the detailed repetition of offerings/sacrifices in Numbers 7 exemplifies thorough documentation practiced by the ancient Israelites. The consistency found in the Dead Sea Scrolls supports the idea that identical, repeated offerings was an intentional ancient feature, not an addition made to the manuscripts by the scribes at a later time. Consistent threads of documentation that describe G-d’s continued intervention in the lives of his people found in other biblical and apocryphal tests including the Dead Sea Scrolls, and archaeological research support the reliability of G-d’s Word and points to the consistent, coherent message that runs like a ribbon in the wind through G-d’s Torah and human history of which he is the Author.
The repetition of offerings/sacrifices and the uniformity and order in presenting them illustrates G-d’s impartiality, the unity of His people, the importance of obedience and holiness in worship. “United we stand, divided we fall” has never been more applicable than it was in the days of Moshe and the Israelites, or is today. True believers have singleness of purpose to glorify G-d in our private and public lives, lovingly following Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
Interestingly, making sure the camp was cleansed of anyone with tzara’at was the first issue to be addressed after the census was taken. Everyone with tzara’at, everyone with a discharge, and whoever was unclean because they touched a corpse had to be expelled from the camp for periods of time that was previously determined for each situation. This had to be done because Adonai said, “I live among you” (Num.5:3). There is a deeper meaning to this concrete command that the Israelites were not accustomed to receiving or understanding past the literal meaning. G-d knowing this, He used the visual, tangible, and audible terminology and examples to make His point. This is the same teaching modality Yahshua used when he manifested part of himself as Yahshua, a tangible, physical human, all man yet all G-d. In this context, He came to literally show/demonstrate how to live according to his Torah with heart/compassion/intent.
In our parashah the leper represented the ugliness of sin, which if not healed, continued to take its toll. Defilement of a corpse was a reminder of the ultimate result of sin, eternal death, and separation from G-d. The point of these commands was that G-d and sin cannot live together. True believers must continually remain cognizant of this reality and remain ever aware that if we provide a spiritual entry point for sin, Satan will enter and corrupt/defile our minds and hearts. We must insulate ourselves physically and spiritually, just as Noach insulated the ark, inside and out.
Haftarah: Shof’tim (Judges) 13:2-25
This chapter describes G-d’s rescue of the people of Israel after a 40-year rule under the Philistines. Of course, this was not a straight-forward rescue. G-d works in mysterious ways. Man could never have predicted the use of Shimshon (Samson) in the way he was blessed and used by G-d, allowed to fall from grace with Delilah, and then redeemed through his self-nullification and repentance with his final mitzvoth being the destruction of more Philistines than he had killed in his life. One lesson of many in this passage is that we must learn to trust G-d for our every need. Situations that may seem hopeless in our lives are in reality situations orchestrated or allowed by G-d to demonstrate His power and be glorified as the One True G-d. This is the whole point of living. We recite the Akdamus during Shavu’ot that contains several verses addressing this very point. Ezekiel 39:7 speaks against Magog in the context of the Gog/Magog war waged against Israel that will also result in the nations’ acknowledgement that G-d is Adonai; the Holy One of Israel. We read: “I will also send fire against Magog and against those living securely in the coastlands; then they will know that I am Adonai. I will make my holy name known among my people Israel; I will not allow my holy name to be profaned any longer. Then the Goyim will know that I am Adonai, the Holy One of Israel. Yes, this is coming, and it will be done,’ says Adonai Elohim; ‘this is the day about which I have spoken.’”
B’rit Chadashah: Yochanan (John) 7:53-8:11
This passage addresses the issue of a woman who becomes impure by lying with another man. This is not a case of a husband suspecting his wife of infidelity. This time we see how G-d addresses a man’s infidelity as well as a woman’s. Before we go into any detail, we must understand that the Torah teachers and the Pharisees were trying to trap Yahshua in this narrative. Under Roman rule it was illegal for Jewish courts to enforce a death sentence, but that did not always succeed in preventing them (Acts 7:58-9). Furthermore the Torah states in Lev. 20:10, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, that is, with the wife of a fellow countryman, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” Again, there is a difference in what happened in this account and that of our parashah. In John 8:3 the woman was caught in the act of lying with a man. Just what happened to the man we are not told. Regardless, in the parashah, G-d established the test of purity for a woman whose husband was suspicious of her but had no proof that she was unfaithful. Num. 5:13 states “if another man goes to bed with her without her husband’s knowledge, so that she becomes impure secretly, and there is no witness against her, and she was not caught in the act…;” In John, the accusers make the woman stand in the middle of the group (John 8:3). In Num. 5:15 the woman was to be taken to the Cohen with an offering for the husband’s jealousy. The woman was then taken to stand alone before Adonai.
In the narrative described in John 7:53-8:11, the Torah teachers and the Pharisees placed the woman before YHVH/Yahshua. There was no husband present to condemn her of adultery and as such, there was no reason to judge her (John 8:10-11). In Numbers 8:5 Moshe is cited as is the Torah for the prescribed punishment. Yahshua’s response showed four things: He was not against the Torah, He was merciful toward the woman, He opposed her sin (Ex. 20:14), and He could silence hecklers and put them to shame (compare Mt. 22:46).
YHVH/Yahshua knows our motives before we ever act, and we will be held accountable for every deed (Rev. 20:12). Just as many Jews today wear the tzitziot as a reminder of who they are and how they are supposed to behave, we must learn to consciously examine ourselves carefully every day and asking G-d to reveal our shortcomings (Psalm 139:23) that we may show ourselves approved unto G-d, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (Tim. 2:15).
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Tamah Davis-Hart