KI TISSA - Momentary Anger turns to Statutes of Grace

We begin this portion with God requiring a census of the people and an offering to be given for the service of the Tent of Meeting. God says that by doing this there will be no plague and that it will act as atonement for their lives. Those men numbered in the census twenty years and up were commanded also to give a half shekel, commentators I’ve read suggest this was an enlisting into the army of Israel, perhaps the plague spoken of was the swarm of other nations and the chance of being vulnerable to their attack. The half shekel tax is also a transition from the previous free-will offering of Exodus 25:1-9.

Next we see more furnishings of the Tent of Meeting: a bronze basin for ritual washing, anointing oil used to set certain objects (along with the priests) apart as holy unto God, and holy incense prepared specifically for service in the Tent of Meeting. We see as we did in the last portion that the people were not absent from the construction but intricate participants, we hear of the perfumers who had the skill necessary to make the combinations for the anointing oil and incense. Starting in chapter thirty-one we learn the story of Bezalel, a man called by name by God who has been “filled with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.” (Ex 31:3-5) And God says it is not just Bezalel that He has blessed but that He has given to all men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you. God never throws out arbitrary rules; from the beginning God’s yoke has not been heavy but light. The commandments of God are partnerships with God and the tasks of that partnership are given in such a way that they can be accomplished.

God gives another command; He says that the workweek is long and hard and that at the end of the week there should be time for rest. It is so important to Him that He considers it a sign between He and His people throughout the generations and that by participating in it with Him, we are becoming sanctified. This was so serious to Him that if the people did not keep the Sabbath they would be put to death. These are hard words but they are words from God and we are honored to receive them. At this moment it reads that God finished speaking to Moses and that the words were written on two stone tablets by the finger of God.

It would be nice to end here but the Bible is a book that speaks not only of the triumphs of God’s people but also their failures. At this time we leave Mt. Sinai and return to camp with Aaron, the High Priest, in charge. The people become restless at the length of time Moses has been gone and decided to take matters into their own hands. The people request Aaron to make them gods who will go before them. The Bible does not record any internal struggle within Aaron, it immediately tells of Aaron giving instruction on how they would create their new god. It was made out of the gold earrings of the people and Aaron took them and fashioned it and presented it to the people and what is worse he gave it the credit that the True God of Israel deserved. He said to the people “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” and later “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” (Ex 32:4-5) Aaron used the unique, ineffable name, reserved for God alone, how terrible this moment must have been for God.

The scene returns to Mount Sinai and God is grieved by His knowledge of the people’s rebellion. Go back to “your” people, God says, whom “you” brought out of Egypt. God is so enraged that His plan is to consume them and make a new nation out of Moses. To which Moses appeals to God’s honor, he says of the Egyptians “why let them say, ‘with evil intent did He bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’”? Moses reminds God of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to make their offspring prosper and to give them land. At the mention of the promise the LORD relented from bringing disaster.

Moses returned to the camp from the Mountain with Joshua and when he saw the calf and the people dancing he threw the tablets and broke them. He went straight for the calf and burned it and ground it into power and gave it with water for the people to drink. Aaron is confronted, to which he tells a story of the people giving him their gold earrings, him throwing it into the fire and (instead of the truth, him fashioning the calf) out came this calf. When Aaron finished speaking Moses called to the people all who considered themselves on the LORD’S side, to which the Levites came, and Moses told them to arm themselves with swords and kill brother, companion and neighbor, 1,000 Israelites fell that day. Soon after this God also sends a plague because of the people’s sin.

The next selection to text is a personal favorite of mine, it is an interaction between Moses and God and you can see the transition from momentary anger to statues of grace on the part of God. Moses is brutally honest with his emotions as he replies to God’s statement that He will not be going along with the people because He is afraid His anger will break out against them. Moses returns to God and intercedes for the people, he says:

“You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

This is such a beautiful appeal to God for His presence to continue to dwell with Israel, and God’s response? “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” I love Moses response, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here…is it not in your going with us that we are distinct, as Your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” This people are landless, they are nomads, a traveling nation. If God abandons them they will lose everything. God recognizes this spirit in Moses and confirms His Presence being with the people but that appears not to be enough for Moses because he than asks God to “show me Your glory”. And God agrees.

Because no one can see God and live, God strikes a deal with Moses, God will hide Moses in a cleft of a rock, will cover him with His Hand, and will pass by. As He passes take away His Hand and Moses will be allowed to see God’s back. But first, the tablets are rewritten. This time Moses is told to cut the tablets from the rock, perhaps to make them worth more so he doesn’t throw them. So Moses prepares the tablets and appears before God, he is hidden against the mountain and the LORD descends in a thick cloud and proclaims His name, the LORD. At this time God goes off script a bit, He takes time to bless His people, He says:

“The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

And Moses drops to his face and worships the Almighty God.

God now renews the covenant and promises more grace, grace upon grace, to His people. He promises to “do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing I will do with you.” Conditions are then laid out, the first obviously is not to make yourself any gods of cast metal. They are also commanded to keep the Passover. To redeem their firstborn, observe the Sabbath and to observe the three pilgrimage feasts (here they are called Weeks, Firstfruits, Ingathering). They must not mix leaven with any blood offering or allow the Passover sacrifice to remain until morning. They must bring the best of the firstfruits of the ground before the LORD and they must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. It is interesting to note that this time it is not God’s finger who writes on the tablets, God commands Moses to write them down.

The final part of the portion is quite mysterious, so instead of commenting on it I will just attach it to the end, may the reader ponder what happens to the soul when we are obedient and give ourselves completely to the Almighty.

“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD."

TETZAVEH - Show Them How to Find Me

The name of this portion is tetzaveh, which shares the same root word with mitzvah. Their root word, tzavta, can mean togetherness, binding, or connection. When combined to form mitzvah, we define it as command, but there is much more than that, it is an action that connects to the values of the Most High God. When combined to form tetzaveh we translate into “you command”, but it can also be interpreted as “show how to connect”. Our portion begins with God telling the Priest to show the people how they can connect with God!

One of the key concepts that you find over and over in this portion is God’s use of imagery when describing how He views His relationship (think tzavta) with His chosen people. The very first image we see is the image of pure olive oil and a continuous flame. The verse says “Show the children how to connect with me by bringing pure olive oil”. Pure olive oil means that the harvester removes all debris from the crop, no twigs, leafs, dirt in the crop to be pressed; the olives are set apart (holy) for a specific purpose. That purpose is also significant from the normal process of olive oil production, instead of crushing the olive they are beaten, it says, for the sake of the light. The text says that the beating is to cause the lamp to burn continually. This image brings the words of Yeshua to mind, “You will be hated by all because of my Name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (Mt 10:22) and “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 5:16). In verse 21 we read that God made both the making of the oil and the preparation of the light a statute for ever (same word used at the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 17:7 &13) throughout their generations on the behalf of (or you could say, for the benefit of) the children of Israel.

In the first five verses of the following chapter we transition from the setting up of the Tent of Meeting to the installment and sanctification of the Cohen. Moses is called on to be the mediator of the covenant calling on Aaron and his sons to be separated from the people to hold their office as go-betweens on behalf of God and Israel. The Cohen are designated by their dress which Keil & Delitzsch comment was “necessary that their unholiness should be covered over with holy clothe”, they go on to expand that thought by saying “sanctification…not merely the removal of the uncleanness which flower from sin, but, as it were, the transformation of the natural into the glory of God” (Keil & Delizsch, Commentary on Exodus). Again we see that the mitzvoth are not only a command, in this instance they are a way for the Cohen to experience a connection with God.

Another theme that we witness in this portion is that for all the work going into setting apart the Cohen so that they can be instruments of God in His plan for Israel, God is also calling on and using the general populace as well. In 28:3, Moses is asked to find “skilled persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.” God calls for skilled persons to become part of the process of Aaron’s consecration, and not only are people called on in this instance but if you read all through the Torah men and women are not spectators of God’s plan but participants.

The portion goes on to read of the creation of the ephod, the ceremonial garments. Jumping down to verse twelve, we get a fantastic picture of how God views His people and what the role of the Priest was to be. We read: “You shall put two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for a memorial.” The names that were placed on the ephod were engraved on precious stones; precious to God are His children. And the Priest, when He is serving God, has on his shoulders, literally and figuratively, the nation he was installed to serve. Also on the Breastpiece of Judgment, the names of the tribes of Israel appear, so that they are “carried over his heart when he enters the holy place, a memorial before the LORD continually.”

Chapter twenty-nine begins the process of consecrating the Priests for service, explaining the sacrifices that were to be made. There are a lot of symbols and imagery and story in the remaining verses but there is one set of verses I would like to end with in my study. At the end of twenty-nine we read of God’s purpose in all of this. The ceremony, the priests, the lamp that continually burns, all of it is given meaning in verses 45 and 46.

“I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.”

It’s all about connection with Adonai El Shaddai., the LORD God Almighty. God is showing through picture and through obedience, that the plan to reunite God and the nations of this fallen world is on and that Israel has been chosen to observe it first, and than they are allowed to be a part of God’s plan in reaching out to the nations. Later, through the work and sacrifice of Jesus, the nations will be brought into the family and also given the task that was (and still is) at hand. Our task, just as it was for the Priests to Israel, is to show them how to find God.

Parasha Tetzaveh Study

The Text for this week, Parasha Tetzaveh- Exodus 27:20-30:10

Links to studies I am reading for Torah study this week.

Hebrew for Christians
First Fruits of Zion
Grafted In Ministries

'EKEV - Just in Your Judgment

Have you sensed the extended theme of Deuteronomy yet? God is making it as clear as He can that this isn’t a game of “cosmic simon says” or an “eternal green light, red light”. Israel’s actions matter, it matters if the doubt, it matters if they complain, and it sure matters when they stray into the arms of another god. Over and over again God says things like “pay attention”, “be careful”, “hear, O Israel”; He also gives warnings that if you forget, these things will happen. It’s always a choice to follow His commands, either to follow which is called “life” or to not follow which is called “death”.

The final verses of chapter seven, Moses is continually encouraging the people, speaking of the faithfulness of God, even in the face of giants and seeming unstoppable enemies. As with most promises though, it ends with a warning, and here Moses is speaking of the sacred objects of the people they are to dispossess. He warns:

“Do not bring a detestable thing (sacred objects of the pagans) into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.” (7:26)

Through Moses, God is saying that there are things, items, that are set apart for destruction, even people seem to be of these designated items. But, people have the choice if they are set apart for destruction. God is saying “or, you WILL be”, there is the option of choosing to be set apart for God.

I look around my house and wonder if I’ve brought some of these detestable things in, I look at cable television, even network TV now, and wonder if this would have been abhorred in that day, certainly the blatant sexuality and brutality would have been considered such but there is always the choice whether to watch it. That’s true but if we look at the verse again, it says “Do not bring (it) into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction”, Is there something to our desensitization that makes us more fit for destruction rather than for God? Are sacrificing some of our godliness when we are no longer affected by the images we see? I look at so many young woman and they are less and less concerned about proper dress and I have to think that they are looking more like the wicked nations than the people we are called out to be. “Do not bring it into your house…”

Chapter eight is another opportunity God takes to remind the people of where they came from and who brought them to this place. One of the reasons for remembering is that the generations following you will be depending on the tradition to guide them. God says to remember that your children were not there when this or that happened, you were so remember the story! It is our job to impress this history on them so that they continue in the path God has marked out.

Chapter nine is unique in that I am given an answer to the question I’ve had for a long time now. My question is this: Why would God endorse the dispossessing of the land from these people? Why does God send Israel to attack and show no pity? Why would God allow this when it seems so unjust? Well, chapter nine seems to give answer to that. First God is quick to tell the people that it is not because of the righteousness that they are exhibiting. He says that it is because of the wickedness of these peoples. Their way of living is so far from what is good and right that God is sending Israel to put a stop to their behavior. I look at it this way, for me I look at the atrocities in places like Somalia, utter darkness and chaos fills that land. I heard a story the other day that a young man was caught with a stolen cell phone, because of it his right hand was sawn off, not chopped off in one swoop, but sawn which took minutes. Because of the pain the young man passed out. What’s more is that because it was a cell phone, which represented Western Society, the young man’s left foot was also sawn off; his right hand and left foot, gone because of a simple act. Marginalized in a harsh environment, this young man has no future. I look at that situation and think, sure, there is an environment that is so far from what is good and right that if God decided to send a people in and dispossess the leaders, I would understand that. (One thing I must say though is that God would have to very much do the sending, I consider myself a pacifist, I think that peace can be won with conversation and compromise, not with a sword.

Moses tells the people that it is not because of their righteousness and more than that he gives them examples of how their actions are by far not the reason. He says things like “From the day you left Egypt until arrived here, you have been rebellious against the LORD”, and “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people” and finally “You have been a rebellious people against the LORD ever since I have known you.”

Chapter ten and eleven continue in these same themes, God is going to fight for you, do not be afraid, remember the LORD your God, do not fall for false gods, choices of blessing and cursing. I’d like to close this journal entry with a few verses from this week’s Parshah, they are beautiful in their description of God and His love for His people.

“To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.”

-DEUTERONOMY 10:14-22

VA'ETHANNEN - Hear, Listen to, and Respond!

If the last Parshah focused on the state of the condition of Israel’s heart toward God, this week’s focuses on God’s heart for Israel. Where the Israelite was weary, hesitant and lacking in their love for HaShem, HaShem was bound, determined and relentless. We start off at the end of chapter three and listen to the pleading (Va-‘Ethannen) of Moses to be allowed to go with Israel into the Promised Land. We receive passionate description of how Moses views God: Great! Mighty! Powerful! Unmatched! But God declines his offer, a view of God’s persistent integrity in His judgments.

Chapter four begins with Moses reminding the people of the sacredness of God’s Torah, how it is never to be added to or taken away from. The Torah will lead you to and protect the possession of their inheritance, in fact because of the Torah, the mission of God’s people will be a success, we read-

“(the nations) upon hearing of all these laws will say, ‘Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people.’ For what great nation has a god so close at hand as is the LORD our God whenever we call upon Him? Or what great nation has laws and rules as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day?"

The people will be observed as having not only a set of rules that properly govern and protect their people but also access to their God whenever they call on Him. This is a God that takes great delight in His children!

God also wants to be known and loved by the succeeding generation, the people are admonished to hand down the tradition to their children and their children’s children. God praises the people for their wisdom when they received the Words from the LORD the first time, when they realized that if they heard from God directly they would be consumed and so sent Moses to receive from God on their behalf.

A warning is given to the people, probably because of the memory of the receiving of the Ten Words, to remember not to make graven images of God, for it was out of a burning bush that the voice of God spoke and not from a form in which His image could be perceived. The warning involved a curse, that if the image was made than the people would perish from the land and they will be scattered among the nations. But, because of God’s undying love, if anyone searches for the LORD while scattered, and if you return and obey, God will not fail you or let you perish, He will not forget His covenant but will restore you. Continuing in chapter four we read of the amazing story that is God’s redemption of Israel from Egypt, how the story goes beyond any other in relation to a God and His people; it is a love story that will forever exist because God promised it. God requires of His people that they observe His commands not because He is cruel, it is because He know that the path of His Torah leads to a good place and He wants only the best for His children.

Chapter five is a retelling of the Ten Words, the Second Word, which we often remember simply as “You shall not make any graven image”, is expounded on in that God describes Himself as an “impassioned” God, we usually say jealous. He says that if we disregard God’s wish in this that the guilt of the perpetrator will be on their children up until the fourth generation of those who reject Him. Immediately though, God inserts that where guilt is upon three or four generations, He shows kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Him.

And than we come to Chapter Six, how beautiful a chapter! It is here that we hear straight from the heart of God, a plea for Israel to keep to the Words that God has given for their health and prosperity. We hear the Shema, the call for Israel’s identity, for their commitment to God, to their commitment to extend this love to every aspect of their lives! They are called to put their identity into action by impressing them on their children, reciting them throughout the day, binding them as a sign on their bodies, inscribing them on their doorposts. It is to this devotion that God provides them with the Land He promised their forefathers.

The portion ends with the first half of chapter seven, in it Moses instructs the people on how to interact with the peoples they are dispossessing in order to obtain their land. How they are to destroy the sacred objects of the false gods, how they are not to intermarry lest the practices of the false religions creep into the nation. All this to preserve the people as a nation separated unto God, a consecrated people.

D'VARIM - Blind to God's Love

There have been plenty of times in my life where I was blind to the reality underneath what I perceive. One moment that particularly sticks out in my mind is when my son Isaac was still in the womb and we learned that his doctors found an abnormality in his heartbeat. They didn’t know if it was benign or a possible health issue; they had encouraged us to get more testing and I can remember vividly the day we had a fetal echo done and the conclusion was that all we could do was wait to find out the answer. It tore my heart, here I was, the father to this child and I was powerless to help him. All I had were tears to offer. My perception was fear and because of that I had no capacity to see past the here and now; the heart arrhythmia ended up being a part of Isaac’s heart growing and nothing was ever a real threat but my perception made that pseudo-danger a real, overshadowing vulnerability.

D’varim starts with the perception of the Israelites as Moses interacts with it. Moses speaks of the weight of having to manage this nation with their bickering; about how even though God told them about how He was giving them the land of the Amorites, the people did not trust but rather requested spies to scout out the land. God said “Fear Not” but the people could not see past the perception of the reality in front of them. The spies reported that the land was good and that God was giving it to them but Israel (which means fighting with God) still refused and instead described what they thought to be true; that God hates us, that the Amorites will wipe them out, that the men there are stronger, taller, have large cities and protective walls.

Moses pleaded the true reality to them that the God who brought them out of slavery would go before them and will fight for them. Moses than gives this picture of God:

“The LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you traveled until you came to this place. Yet for all that, you have no faith in the LORD your God, who goes before you on your journeys—to scout the place where you are to encamp—in fire by night and in cloud by day, in order to guide you on the route that you are to follow.” Deuteronomy 1:31-33

In spite of that reality, the people complained and because of that God punishes them. The punishment comes from an anger that the people will not learn to trust God and trust His love for them. The people have become blind to God’s love and if they are to be His people and a witness to the nations of what God is like, He needs them to learn real quick and so God decides that this generation has failed. Their failure to love God keeps them from the Promised Land they were to inherit, they are sent to die in the wilderness and their children are given a chance to show their love and commitment to God. (This story gives illustration to believers today, we fail to love God in spite of the love that He lavishes on us, we have been promised a full life that starts with trust in God and runs on for eternity but if we fail to trust and are unable to love God, we die in the desert.)

There is one verse I find really amazing, God reverses the words that Israel spoke in their complaining, “Moreover, your little ones who you said would be carried off, your children who do not yet know good from bad, they shall enter it; to them will I give it and they shall posses it.” Essentially the curse that the people spoke over their lives, God takes and creates blessing. He seems to be saying “YOU can’t see past your next complaint! I, THE LORD, see not only past hardship but can create peace out of it.”

The story continues with Moses leading the people back into the wilderness and in their journeys they pass through the land of Esau and they are commanded to be a blessing, to pay for whatever they eat or drink and to not provoke them. They than travel through Moab and are told the same thing, than the same with the land of the Ammonites. During this wandering, the generation who did not believe died off. It is at this point that God begins to send His people into battle and puts the fear of the name Israel into the nations. Israel attempts to move peacefully through the land of King Sihon but instead he and his men took to battle with Israel and because God was with His people, Israel was victorious. Israel than captures all of their towns, kills all the inhabitants and takes for themselves the cattle and spoils of the cities. The same fate is handed to King Og of Bashan and other territories.

I have to admit here that these stories of war tend to define my perception of reality. They inform my concept of what God is like, a God of war and bloodshed, a God who sheds no mercy for the women and children of foreign lands and this concerns me. I believe that if I cannot step back and allow God to give me a broader picture of the situation, I will simply complain over His apparent lack of compassion. But if I allow the reality set in, that these people themselves lacked mercy, that the gods they served were horrendously evil, demanding child sacrifice, pagan rituals and hostility toward other nations. If I allow myself to understand that god knows what destiny these people have if they are spared and what atrocity they would be allowed to enact; than I can start to take back my eyesight and perceive the God who was always there, a God who acts justly and judges rightly. He is a God who stands up for the sanctity of humanity and fights against those who threaten to be a manifestation of humanity’s curse.

I end this portion study with the final verses of D’Varim, God is speaking to Joshua now, saying “You have seen with your own eyes all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; so shall the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you shall cross over. Do not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who will battle for you.” It is not Israel who acts as judge over the cities to be destroyed, it is God who punishes the wicked and battles for what is right. Today we do not fight against cities and nations whose actions are opposed to God’s will, this was not the primary role of Israel either, we, as they were, are in a position where God appoints us to be a light that draws the nations out of darkness. Our enemy is the principalities and powers of evil and in a real way God is still going before us to battle and we follow and fight.

MATTOT/MASE'EI - God of Vengeance and Mercy

This week’s portion is hard to hear. It inevitably leaves its reader with many questions about the desires of God, His justice, what His intentions are in the choices He makes. We are blessed to have a God who not only allows questions but gives answer too. The false gods won’t act that way, they demand allegiance even in the face of contradiction and acts of inefficiency. The reason for this is because their false nature is manifested in the priests of the cult; the god is made in some likeness and given worship by the masses while the true voice of the god comes from the spiritual leaders deceiving the people. True, over time the priests may start believing their deity exists but the point is that the god gives no heed to the voice of it’s people, at least not to the extent that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does.

Before the portion gets into the hard materiel it starts with a chapter on vows and oaths. Interestingly the main idea concerns the oaths made by Israelite women and how their father or husband has charge over their oaths. For me, these verses give evidence that God cares for the women in the community and wants to guard the decisions they make. For men, we simply read that if they make a vow, they must keep it, it is a binding obligation. For women we have a more lengthy discussion about in what situations the obligation is determined valid. If she is in her father’s house and her father hears it and forbids it than it will not stand. The same goes for the woman if she is married and her husband hears.

One word that seems vital to this chapter is the word “rash”. We all make rash decisions, both men and women, so if a man makes a rash decision, it is on his own head but if a woman makes a rash decision, she is safeguarded my the man set in place over her. These verses call my mind to the book of Ephesians where Paul is giving instruction concerning the role of husband. Ephesians 5:28 reads – “So husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife, loves himself.” A husband looks out for the safety and interest of his wife not wanting her to fall into situations that would be detrimental to the household.

This value, we learn, is not so with the Midianites. In the last Parsha, Pinchas, we saw that Moab and Midian had sent their daughters to fornicate with and lead the men of Israel to worship their false gods. What’s worse, we learn that they were successful! Because of that we read that God declares war on the house of Midian and in chapter thirty-one on Numbers, God calls on the sons of Israel to attack.

One quick note in the first verses of this chapter, Pinchas has become a national icon already and a priest as God commanded. In verse six we read that Pinchas served as priest on the campaign and was in charge of sounding the trumpet blasts. As priest he led the way of the movement of the Ark of God’s Covenant, in a sense representing the moving presence of God and the trumpets were brought into battle to be blown so that the fighting men would know that God was fighting with and for them.

The text gives a list of significant men that were killed in battle; one that sticks out is Balaam son of Beor. Balaam was brought by Balak, King of Moab to curse the Israelites but he was not allowed too. Balaam did however give Balak the idea of sending the daughters of his nation to entice the Israelites. Up to this point we only read of Moab women making themselves a snare for Israel but than a Midianite woman shows up, this is when Pinchas in his zeal kills the woman and the man. Balaam assists both Moab and Midian in their plans and at the point of his death he was in the land of Midian. We will read about God’s reaction to Moab in the following Parsha.

As was the custom in Israelite warfare, the soldiers killed all the men in the land of Midian but brought back with them all the women and children. They presented the captive in front of Moses and Eleazar but the reaction of their leaders is not good. Moses is angry because they spared all the women, the very women that acted to trap Israel in their scheme. Moses orders the men to slay all the women who were not a virgin. The idea was that all the women who were not a virgin were part of the plan against Israel. And if that wasn’t hard enough, Moses command also that every male child also be slain. Presumably, this is so that one day the boys will grow up and avenge their people. The young girls however, as is custom in warfare, are given to Israel as wives or servants. It’s important to note that there were laws in place to protect these girls from abuses they would have incurred had they been captive to other foreign peoples. The chapter ends with the rest of the booty purified and distributed as directed by Moses and Eleazar.

The next chapter tells the story of the Reubenites and Gadites who kept charge of the cattle. They saw that the land on the east side of the Jordan was prime land for their use and requested that Moses allow them to settle there. At first Moses is unwilling to allow it but after further case being made, he allows them to stay. The condition was that the men of Reuben and Gad were to help the other tribes take possession of the land of Canaan.

33:1-49, Moses gives an account of how the people got from Egypt to the Jordan. A kind of motivational speech to get them pumped about where they are going next. In verses 50-56 God instructs the people on their charge to dispossess all the people of Canaan and warns them that if they do not than those that are left will become stings in their eyes and thorns in their sides. They shall harass you in the land in which you live and God will do to you what He planned to do to them. The main reason given for this total dispossession is that God wants His people totally free from idolatry and we will see that because they do not obey God, they do find grief from the people they allow to stay. Chapters 34 and 35 outline how and where the tribes will take possession of the land, where the borders will lay and how the cities of the Levites will be arranged.

The final two stories of the Book of Numbers concern the mercy of God and the justice He demands of His people. The first story tells of how Israel is to apportion cities of refuge within its borders. Cities of refuge act as a safe haven for Israelites who have accidentally killed another. They flee to these cities and are given fair trial and judgment. If the one charged is found guilty than he is punished b death, if he is innocent than he must stay and live in the city until the High Priest, who was in office at the time of the verdict, dies and is replaced, than he is allowed to go back home.

In the second story we hear about the daughters of Zelophehad again. This time the clan leaders of Manasseh appeal to Moses that if the daughters marry outside their tribe, the tribe will forfeit their land to the people of whom the daughters marry. Moses requests a word from God again and again he receives one. The daughters are to marry from within their own tribe as to not take from their tribe what was promised to them.

The book of Numbers closes with this verse: “These are the commandments and regulations that the LORD enjoined upon Israel, through Moses, on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho.” (36:13) It is a verse that serves as a postscript to the preceding laws, it isn’t making a statement about the book as a whole but rather concerning the laws that were discussed in the steppes of Moab, which started at Numbers 22:1.

It is customary to conclude a book of the Torah with the following blessing, I leave it for you:

“Chazak, chazak, v’nit’chazek!”
(Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!)