Beth Elohim Messianic Synagogue
Parashah # 40: Balak B’midbar (Numbers) 22:2-25:9
Haftarah: Mikhah (Micah) 5: 6:6:8
B’rit Hadashah: 2 Kefa (Peter) 2: 1-22; Y’hudah (Jude) 11; Revelation 2: 14-15
This week’s Parashah begins with Balak the king of Mo’av sending messengers to Bil’am requesting he curse B’nai Yisrael. Bil’am at first acts correctly and asks YHVH Elohim for permission before taking on such a mission. YHVH’s reply is not difficult to anticipate. Bil’am is denied permission and told not to go with the messengers sent to him.
Balak, a very good example of the insidious nature of evil that does not give up easily. The system of lowering our spiritual bar when we know that what we are asking or planning is contrary to G-d’s Torah, we tend to minimize, rationalize, and justify our speech or actions. This is exactly what Bil’am did when Balak subsequently “sweetened the pot” by sending more important messengers with greater gifts to try and persuade Bil’am to consent to his desires. The temptation to defy G-d’s instruction that Bil’am not curse Israel became more attractive, and more lucrative. In Bil’am’s case and with many people no matter the time in history, including some true believers, they finally rationalize that it really isn’t so bad, and YHVH Elohim will understand and allow more grace to abound. After all you’re only human! However, there’s one problem. Not only is YHVH an understanding G-d who extends to us His grace through Yahshua, but He is also an Elohim of justice. As a side bar, please read the history of Jeroboam in 1 Kings and how G-d draws His lines of tolerance only to a point. Once we cross that line, justice prevails. Indeed, once we have been reconciled to G-d through Yahshua’s sacrifice; YHVH expects us to humbly and prayerfully study, learn, and live G-d’s Torah. We have the spiritual ammunition needed to resist evil as did Joseph in the incident of Potifer’s wife, choosing the good and right responses to life’s circumstances given to us in His Torah, which is incorruptible and non-negotiable. We as mature believers cannot choose to follow what we like and discard what we do not like. That system of behavior is moral relativism and there is no place for it in G-d’s economy.
Bil’am is persistent and it is very interesting to note, that this time, YHVH gives him permission to go, but tells him he will have to say whatever YHVH Elohim instructs him to say. Sometimes, when a door opens that we know or suspect is contrary to YHVH’s Torah, we are tempted to think that YHVH has acceded to our wish to defy His Torah. However, YHVH just gives us enough rope to hang ourselves, as was the case with Bil’am. As we become mature believers, we should be able to overcome the temptation to overanalyze G-d’s Torah, “listing” pros and cons of every spiritual decision. If we follow Torah, the answer is there before us, and certainly not open to debate. When will we realize that when we take one step further toward disobedience, it just makes the journey shorter to complete ruin? Unfortunately, as felled human beings we think we can control our passions, and get just one step closer, but inevitably we find that there is a point whereby our human passions take control, if even for a moment, resulting in sin. Just as Josef, we must “run” not walk from tempting situations and don’t look back. We must run into the protective cover of G-d’s wings and renew our strength against HaSatan and his attempts to pull us away from God. Fortunately, G-d assures us that those of whom G-d has been given will never be snatched from G-d’s hand (John10:28-9).
Bil’am’s story illustrates a dilemma we are all faced with at times. If YHVH doesn’t want Bil’am to go, why doesn’t He just tell him to do and “about face” and go home? If on the other hand, YHVH doesn’t care if Bil’am goes, why does the angel block Bil’am’s path? What is the purpose of these conflicting messages? What should we do when faced with conflicting messages?
It’s clear that YHVH doesn’t want Bil’am to curse Israel. That much is certain. Yet, just as Balak persisted in sending messages, Bil’am persists in asking YHVH for permission to go.
The answer is that a person is led on the path he wishes to follow. YHVH knew that just as Balak would not take “no” for an answer, Bil’am wasn’t taking “no” for an answer either. So YHVH let him go with a warning. Bil’am, like you and I sometimes think we can outsmart YHVH, and that we can find a way to satisfy our desire as Bil’am thought he would find a way to curse Yisrael. Bil’am wanted the material wealth he’d receive for this act more than he wanted YHVH’s blessing.
Then the angel comes as a warning to Bil’am that YHVH knows the thoughts of man, and nothing is hidden from Him (Heb. 4:13). Afterwards Bil’am being duly warned is allowed to continue his journey. Even so, Bil’am accompanying Balak goes from place to place trying to find an angle from which to curse Yisrael. Finally, Bil’am realizes that there is no tricking YHVH Elohim. We should impress that truth on our minds for we may go to extremes, but we cannot change the will of YHVH. If we internalize and act on this truth, we can escape a lot of heartache along the way. Unfortunately, because of human obstinance and defiance, there are experiences we must go through, enduring unnecessary pain and hardship, only “believing” in the truth of G-d’s warnings for defiant behavior after we come out on the other side, if we survive. On an elementary level, such is the case of a child who is told not to touch a hot stove because it will burn him/her. The child quickly learns the concept of “burn” when they defy their parents and touch the stove. G-d’s Torah is replete with examples of G-d’s punishments for those who persistently defy his Torah. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come for those who choose to follow other gods as the end times propel mankind closer to the next phase of G-d’s plan Yet, we are told of what is to come very early on in G-d’s Torah.
Our sages say, “He who wishes to purify himself, is helped along.” Had Bil’am gone with the messengers to be a willing vehicle for YHVH, he would have reaped rewards, but instead he went to get fame and wealth and in this persistent choice to circumvent G-d’s instructions, lost everything.
That’s the lesson for all of us! We have choices in our lives, free will. When we make choices in accordance with His Torah then YHVH will help us along the way becoming successful in our endeavors. We must learn to trust G-d, knowing that whatever He instructs us to do, is for His glory and to make his Name known among the nations. Furthermore, all He commands us to do is for our ultimate good.
Haftarah: Micha 5:6-6:8
In the Parashah Balak hires Bil’am to curse B’nai Yisrael but every time he tries to curse them, he ends up blessing them instead. In the Haftarah, the prophet Micha, reprimands B’nai Yisrael for forgetting what happened with Bil’am and Balak. B’nai Yisrael must remember that Bil’am was sending a message to all generations as we do. This is a warning that we who are far removed from that time should not forget either. Micha reminds them that as long as they do the mitzvoth, dwell together in peace, and pay homage to YHVH Elohim they are unconquerable. YHVH is not looking for mindless sacrifices (mechanical offerings without truthful intent), but He wants them to: “to do justice, love kindness, and walk modestly with YHVH Elohim.” (6:8)
B’rit Chadashah: 2 Kefa (Peter) 2: 1-22; Y’hudah (Jude) 11′ Revelation 2: 14-15
In 2 Peter the Apostle is addressing “false prophets.” The word-translated prophet most commonly means “preacher” here, (one who proclaims the word of YHVH). He writes that they will fabricate doctrine and lead people away from the truth. Antinomian (anti-law) is a prominent feature of this teaching. The Bible clearly teaches that YHVH’s Torah is truth and eternal. Teaching that YHVH’s Torah is dead, done away or “only for the Jews” are untruths, and the Bible identifies the father of untruth as hasatan. So we should ask ourselves concerning those who preach and teach, and promote such misinformation: who is their father, the YHVH of truth or hasatan the father of lies? Parishioners should always research what the clergy teaches, comparing it to G-d’s Torah for the truth. If what is being said at the pulpit or bema is not consistent with G-d’s Torah, the truth is not in that clergy person and they are false prophets!
Some other interesting topics addressed here by Peter is the nephilim, (fallen ones, of Genesis 6:4. These are the angels b’nei-ha’elohim (“sons of Elohim” or “sons of angels” (6:2), who fell from heaven which was their proper sphere and “came in to the daughters of men.” But now because of their sin they are imprisoned spirits being held in limbo in dungeons lower than Scheol for Judgment Day. For a full study on the N’filim, please got to our website at http://www.rabdaivis.org and click the link under (studies). You will find the multi-class study on this subject.
Kefa and Jude are not giving vent to their imaginations but are drawing on earlier commentary found in Jewish writing such as 1 Enoch. In verses 15-16 we see a reference to Bil’am and to the Messianic promise (Numbers 24:17) referred to as the “star of Jacob.” As to Bil’am, the Mishna describes him and his disciples as having the “wicked or an evil eye,” which even in the Messianic Scriptures at Mathew 6:22, 23 means “stinginess or greedy.”
In verse 17 we read a description of how these preachers pray on our gullibility, promising us everything, depending on the desires of the old nature to entrap us. Not giving us the liberty of Torah, but enslaving us to license, in the name of freedom from YHVH’s Torah, which was given for our protection, blessings, and wellbeing.
In verse 22 Peter addresses the believer who has turned back/away from G-d’s Torah as one who is like a “dog who returns to his own vomit.” He also renders a proverb that would have been very familiar to his Jewish readers, “The pig washed itself, only to wallow in the mud.” The Jewish expression sums this up well. “To enter the Mikvah (Immersion-Baptism) while still touching the corpse,” means that though the ritual bath can cleanse ceremonial impurity, immersion is ineffective if one continues to hold onto the source of defilement.
Jude 11 addresses some of the same problems with false teachers. He has already spoken on how some teachers turn liberty into license to practice immorality and disobey YHVH’s Torah. He warns that YHVH who once delivered Israel from Egypt destroyed them when they rebelled against Him. Verse 11 speaks specifically of Kayin(Cain) (Gen 4:1-16) who would not accede to YHVH’s instructions, and who had even been afforded five or six opportunities to repent but did not. Cain was shut out of YHVH’s presence, as all who rebel against Him shall be at the Judgment. Cain’s road led him to murder his brother Abel, but it was not the primary road to ruination itself, for Jude says that Cain like Korach had given themselves over to the error of Bil’am (greed and stinginess). Could it be that Cain knew he should have offered a blood sacrifice, but did not want to part with the value of an animal, and tried to make a cheaper substitute offering? How many of us, rather than giving YHVH our best, offer only our second best even if that? Are we following the example of Cain? How will a little pleasure now substitute for an eternity of being put out of His presence? How few of us, right now, have a real fear of YHVH Elohim. YHVH promises that someday we will all recognize His Glory and majesty, but for some of us it will be too late.
Things to think about:
1. Why did YHVH ask Bil’am to tell Him who the messengers of Balak were?
2. When Bil’am fails to curse B’nai Yisrael, he decides to try to change of location. Why did he think that this new view would make a difference in his ability to curse Israel?
3. Pinchas, being a zealot, felt that he had to kill the two people who sinned in public. Is one ever permitted, even with the purest of intentions, to take the law into his own hand, or must the zealot be punished for his actions?
Sages Wisdom:
“And Yisrael settled in Shittim…and the nation began to sin with the daughters of Mo’av.” (25:1)
The Tractate Sanhedrin (106a) states that the word “settled” denotes sadness. The Torat Haim explains that whenever B’nai Yisrael lives outside Israel, and put down roots in foreign soil, sadness is always bound to follow, for they forget that the Land of Israel is their home. From this we too can determine that we will not be totally happy until we come into the kingdom in Israel with Yahshua HaMashiach ruling over Jerusalem in the world to come.
Gematria:
Hayn am l’vadad yishkon,” “They are a nation that dwells in solitude.” (23:9)
Bil’am blesses Israel that they will dwell by themselves. When will this happen? The numeric value of this phrase is 420., the same as the phrase B’ymay Mashiah, which means, during the days of Messiah. Only then will B’nai Yisrael be left alone to live undisturbed by its enemies.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Tamah Davis-Hart