Parashat Balak, June 23, 2010

B'midbar/Numbers 22:2-25:9

 

Vocabulary:

 

Balak=devastator        Balaam (Baal=lord, god + Am=people, tribe, family)

 

Zippor, from the verb Zapar=tweet, twitter, whistle; (noun=sparrow; bird)

    Also, "to return"

 

Beor=burning, a torch; the verb is Ba'ar, meaning to burn, consume; also, to be brutish (stupid, dull heartd, unreceptive, or inhummane, cruel, barborous)

 

Baal Peor=a mount in Moab; the verb Pa'ar means "open wide" (the mouth); more rarely, "open bowels", "go to stool"; "voracious greed"; (in a couple of Scriptures, it is used in a good way for "an eager desire," Job 29:23, Ps. 119:131)

 

"the edge of the people"- Midrash explains this phrase to mean that the people were enclosed in the Shikinah or the glory of the L-rd. The non-Jewish peoples could not see what took place inside the camp because of the Cloud. All that Balak and Balaam could see was the cloud.

 

Summary information from the previous Torah portion, "Chukat":

    Israel has arrived at the other side of Arnon in the wilderness Nu. 21:13. This is the border between Moab and the Amorite. In a previous time, the Amorites had defeated part of Moab, and they were settled into that land, 21:29. The Israelites then came along and defeated Sihon aand all the Amorites. Israel only asked to pass through the land, but Sihon brought out all his people against them, and they were defeated. (21:22-23.) Then they defeat Og and all of those from Bashan. SO at the end of this portion, Israel is now in possession of new land, and Balak, king of Moab, thinks that he is next.

 

Outline

1. Balak attempts to convince Balaam to come to Moab and curse Israel so that they might be successful in defeating Israel. (22:2-19)
   
   1. Moab joins with their enemies, the Midianites as well
      
   2. G-d and Balaam have conversations. If Balaam has a relationship with G-d, then this makes sense. But if Balaam is a sorcerer of sorts, how and why does G-d communicate with Balaam, reveal things to him? And why does Balaam regard so much that he never goes against the word of HaShem?
      
2. Balaam finally goes with the officers of Moab and is stopped by his talking donkey. (22:20-35)
   
   1. Who is the "Angel of the L-rd?"
      

   
    

3. Balak tries to get Balaam to curse Israel (22:36-24:25)
   
   1. The first blessing at the heights of Baal.
      
   2. What were the meanings of the seven altars, seven rams, seven bulls? These were called "burnt offerings." Why was Balaam hoping to hear something from HaShem with which to tell Balak?
      
   3. The second blessing at the "field of the lookouts."
      
   4. The third blesing at "the height that overlooks the face of the wasteland." This is known as Peor, as seen at the end of this parashat.
      
4. The Moabites and Midianites develop a plan to seduce Israel (25:1-9 and into the next parashat.)
   
   1. What is Baal Peor?
      
   2. What was the consequence of these people attaching themselves to this god?
      
   3. Who was Phinehas?
      
   4. How did the slaying of Zimri and Cozbi by Phinehas atone for the people? This is not a traditional type of Day of atonement, and it certainly was not an act of worship or a ceremony.
      

Comments

This year, as many of us look at the news, the concept of pride and arrogance come to mind. It is dangerous to mix modern politics with the Torah portion, so this will not be the subject of this comment. However, when one looks at what occurred with Balaam and the donkey, and then with Balak in his dealings with Balaam, it is inescapable to notice how arrogant both men were in their connection to God and in their hatred of Israel. With Balaam, there is a picture of those who do believe in God, who seem to be able to communicate with God, but at the same time, he does not desire the things that God has to offer. Balak, on the other hand, doesn't care what God says, but only cares for his desired outcomes.

Here is Balaam's arrogance: First, he does seem to be able to communicate with God, and he does seem to listen. He repeatedly tells Balak's officers, as well as Balak, that he was not free to say anything but what the Lord would reveal to him. So, he does regard what God says. However, Balaam does not desire what God had to offer. Fine, he was able to be a great communicator of God's message, but he had no interest in God's message. If he had, after seeing the beauty of Israel's tents, he should have run down to see what was required to join Israel and be a part of the community. As believers, we need to recognize that there are those people in our lives that can see that being a believer in Yeshua the Messiah is the most beautiful and necessary aspect of living life. But they are not interested. Why? Arrogance alone can explain this. This either takes the form of outward arrogance, the ones we recognize their arrogance by their constant parading of themselves and puffing themselves up. But we can also recognize some who are constantly downgrading themselves and trying to explain how their lives are so much worse than ours. In either case, the focus is on "self." (Just as an aside, but the English meaning and concept of "self" comes directly to us out of Hinduism. All of these "self-help" books all pretty much say the same thing: god is in you and part of you and you are part of god. This is called Monism, the belief that God is in everything; not to be confused with monotheism, the belief that there is One God, and He is distinct from creation.)

Here is Balak's arrogance: First, Balak knows the importance of offering the "Olam" offerings. In other words, Balak knew how to approach God. His purposes may not have been self-serving. He perhaps was legitimately taking care of Moab. (However, the Midrash says to the contrary. It says that he was not even a Moabite, but rather was asked to become the King of Moab because Moab was so scared of Israel. He was already a conniving thug before he was made king.) In whatever the case, he heard the message of God through Balaam three times, and each time he was angry and determined to go against Israel. There is an arrogance that leads to the desire to destroy Israel. This arrogance is almost supernatural. We need not unnecessarily puff up the Israelites in such a way as to believe that they were sinless and without error. The Torah is explicit describing the errors of Israel. However, the Torah is explicit about the humility of His people when they are behaving according to His ways. God has chosen Israel, not because of their righteousness, but because of His righteousness. Balak typifies the opposite of this.

We each have struggles with either type of these arrogances. If we are like Balaam, we are focused on our "selfs," and we are not listening to God. God is talking to us, we may even be telling others what God is saying, but we are not listening to Him and doing what He says. Or, we often find ourselves like Balak, we hear what God is saying, and then we do everything in our power to go against this. The worst version of this is when we move into anti-Semetic thinking, where we blame Jewish or Christian people for our problems. Some may move to hating all religious people equally. Rather than dealing with God in humility and confessing our sins and repenting, we blame religious people. We would be better served if we focused on asking ourselves what the judgment that we are under is all about. We would be better to ask for God's mercy, and receive the forgiveness that He promises to give. Arrogance is dangerous. As they adage goes, "Pride comes before the fall."

Our solution is always the same: Receive Yeshua by praying and asking for a relationship with Him. Don't pray and then not listen. Repent, and then receive forgiveness and His mercy. It isn't a religious thing. It is about having a relationship with our Creator. There is no arrogance before the Almighty God.

Who is he that you grumble against him? Parashat Korach, Numbers 16-18

There was an important difference between Moshe, Aaron, and Korach. Korach represents one who was hungry for worldly power and authority. Moses and Aaron represented ones who would have preferred to have not been given their positions. In Numbers 12:3, the Torah states, "Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth." This is in contrast to the view that we have of most politicians. At the very beginning of Moses ministry, Moses declared to God that he did not want to go. Exodus 4:13-14
"But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else." Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart." After this time, Moses stood against Pharaoh, and he saw the wonders of God as the greatest kingdom on the earth fell before God, witnessed by Israel, in a very short time. Moses leads the people out of Egypt and stops at a dead end by the sea. Here, God destroys the greatest army on the earth in a single day, while the Israelites cross through the Reed Sea, again, in a short amount of time. Within days of this catastrophic event, the people grumble about thirst and hunger. Again, God delivers water from rocks and manna that appears with the dew in the morning, enough for everyone to eat and be full. Then God takes them to Mt. Sinai, where they are to receive the Torah, but also where they build a golden calf to worship God falsely. Moses intercedes on behalf of Israel and seeks God's forgiveness. Following a plague that kills many people, God relents. In relenting, he delivers to Moses a second time, the Torah written upon the tablets. Then, the Israelites set out from Mt. Sinai for the purpose of entering into the land, but they grumble again about not having meat. At this point, even Aaron and Miriam grumble against Moses regarding Zipporah. Miriam is stricken with leprosy, but is then healed. Next, they come to the land, where they send in spies, who come back with huge grapevines and other produce. They then turn and give false testimony about being consumed by the land and the people in it. This discourages most of the people. (Apparently, when they took their polls, a majority decided that they were against going into the land…so much for taking polls.) God sends the people back into the wilderness where he gives them their saddest news yet—God was promising them that they were going to die in the wilderness, but that their children would be able to take the land. Could anyone imagine being in the shoes of Moses during this time? Sure, he like no other prophet in Israel, save Yeshua, had direct access to God the way that he had. But it seems that this interaction with God, while it may have been more glorious than any other type of interaction any of us can dream up, this interaction was filled with sadness and discouragement. Everyone seemed to stand up against Moses at one time or another. Well, they weren't standing against Moses, they were standing against God, but Moses certainly ended up spending a great deal of time before God on his knees, begging God not to destroy Israel because of their faithlessness. Numbers 16:4 "When Moses heard it, he fell on his face…"

Moses leadership of the Israelites must have been the most unique leadership that we could have ever seen. While many of us think in terms of politics and policies, these are such worldly ways of thinking, it would be difficult for us to comprehend how Moses led, and even why he did it. This is not just some native people group from Indonesia, or Africa, or rural America, these are the Israelites. The Israelites, one could say, literally lived out the Torah. And how did that work out for them? I think we can draw some encouragement that living out the Torah is not necessarily a beautiful or idealistic thing. It is difficult and very unromantic, and even in many cases, very unspiritual.

At that very difficult moment, and at absolutely the worst possible time for Israel, along comes Korach. Korach was a first cousin to Moses and Aaron. Their fathers were brothers. Moses and Aaron's father was Amram, and Korach's father was Yitzhar. Amram and Yizhar' father was Kohath, the second born of Levi. If there were a line of succession to the priesthood, one could suppose that Korach would have been next behind Aaron, had Aaron not had sons. But this was not how God cuased this to work, and for whatever reason, at this worst possible time, Korach decides it was his time to stand against Aaron. One would figure that after Pharaoh, his army, the complainers about food and water, the golden calf worshippers, the 10 spies and the 70 elders who were just consumed, one would think that Korach should have been a little frightened. Yet, he goes and gets two fellow lead complainers from the tribe of Rueben. Certainly, they understood what is must have been like to have been set aside for a younger brother to have taken the family birthright. These three men led quite a few people against Moses and Aaron.

However, the response to Korach and his followers was pretty abrupt, and perhaps worse than all of the rest of the destruction of those who complained before. The Scripture says that Korach and his followers were swallowed by the earth directly into Sheol (16:30). On one hand, this could be a reference only to the ground or earth, which is a literal translation of Sheol. But could it be possible that this is a reference into hell, as well? The end result is that these men and their families existed no longer in Israel, and not even their descendants would go into Israel. This is such a warning about so many groups that go against God's leadership. Of course, by "God's leadership," I am not speaking about individuals who elevate themselves above all others for their own sake, their own glory. However, there are leadership structures out there, for example, the entirety of the Southern Baptist Convention, that have a certain type of halachic authority on the earth. Not that it is to be worshipped nor is it to be considered infallible. But this kind of organization, so long as it stays the course following God, is a type of leadership that we need to support, or at least, not rise up against for the sake of destroying it. The same could be said for the UMJC or the MJAA or other such groups. God does not bring people together without purpose, and within large groups such as these, there is a structure and there are leaders. Again, not like Moses. But they are there, and these leaders need prayer and support and encouragement. If there is any lesson we need to draw from Korach: Now is NOT the time to abandon our various institutions that God is using to spread the message of Messiah and hope for the lost. Now is the time to dig in and help.

Consider again what Moses said about Aaron to Korach: Numbers 16:11 "Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?" This may not seem very encouraging to Aaron, but by this point, Aaron understands what Moses is saying. He has already been scolded by God, along with Miriam. Aaron, too, was humble. We all have our areas of leading in which God is or should be calling us to. The Great Commission is a calling for all. But we are not anything in regards to what our calling is. If God is, who are we? Even the high priesthood of Israel was nothing before an Almighty God. Korach missed that point. There is no power in leadership that is not from God. Man can create a false type of power, of course, as we see on the news every day. But it is an illusion, and it is nothing more. Power lies with God alone, and there is no leader who can have that. Let us be faithful and let us be obedient, for who are we?

The Light of the World, the Father, and the Son of Man: John 8:12-59

This chapter has long confounded many who are believers in Yeshua. Not only that, but it has also caused a great deal of concern for modern Jewish people who look at this verse from the perspective that Yeshua condemns their Jewishness. Because this text is one of several that are a type of proof text for the Trinity, many modern Jewish people dismiss texts such as this, and the New Testament as a whole. Modern Jews also look at passages such as this and see what sounds like Yeshua rejecting the Torah and declaring Himself to be above the Torah. While neither of these arguments properly express what Yeshua is talking about, it is absolutely imperative to understand the Yeshua IS proclaiming to be Messiah. In Yeshua's declaration of Himself as Messiah, He also describes how Messiah is the Yod-He-Vav-He, or Adonai.

First, there is a textual concern that must be mentioned: Neither the Aramaic texts, such as Peshitta, nor the earliest Greek manuscripts contain John 7:53 through 8:11. For those who have the translated Aramaic English New Testament Bibles with commentary, you may want to read "The Woman of John 8" in the appendix. This is not the main idea here, though. What can be seen is that if one reads from John 7:52 and immediately then reads John 8:12, it can be seen that Yeshua directly responds to the criticism that no prophet could come out of Galilee. Yeshua responds with "I am the Light of the world."

In a very enlightening interview, there is a book by John Ronning called The Jewish Targums and John's Logos Theology. IN this book, Ronning discusses that the book of John was most likely written to the audience of non-believing Jews who used Targums as their primary source text. Ronning explains well what are the Targums, how Yeshua explains that He is Messiah using the concept of the Aramiac phrase "the Word of God." This phraseology signifies that God is the Word. Whatever Yeshua says about "the Word," this is a euphemism for God. Read http://blogs.christianbook.com/blogs/academic/2010/03/12/jewish-targums-johns-logos-theology-an-interview-with-john-ronning/ I believe you will learn something new not only about Jewish literature, but also the origin and audience of the book of John. His thesis is that the Greek term "logos," which is the word for "word" has a different connotation when considered from an Aramaic point of view. The Greek would have been the translation. But as you read the article, pay attention to the examples that he gives from John, then specific wordings that he finds interesting from the Torah. Ronning compares the translation John to the Targums. (The best way to explain the Targums is that they are themselves both translation and interpretations of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Aramaic. The Targums do not translate word-for-word, they translate concepts and stories in a modified way. What is interesting is that the Targums were written BEFORE Yeshua, so it helps us to understand some of the academic traditions of the 1^st Century scholars.) So when John was being written, his Scriptural text was more likely the Aramaic Targums and the Hebrew Torah rather than the Greek Septuagint. (Granted, all three say the same thing in different languages, but the vocabulary of John matches best the Targums.)

With this understanding, phrases and words in John can be better explained. First, there is the discussion of "the light of the world" in John 8:12. In John 7:2, we learned that Yeshua's brothers were heading to Jerusalem for "the feast of booths," otherwise called Sukkot. One term for Sukkot was "the festival of lights." The menorahs would have been lit and all throughout Jerusalem, people were camped in their sukkot and there would have been a great amount of light at night all throughout the city. In addition, we remember that Chanukah was also called "a festival of light." Remember, Chanukah was a late Sukkot, because once the Maccabees cleansed the Temple and began to make offerings, they reenacted the festival of Sukkot, just a couple months later. In the context of Sukkot, though, the "light of the world" refers to Israel's purpose to be a light to the nations. As just one example, we read in Isaiah 2:5, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD." In context, Isaiah 2:3
"…and many peoples shall come, and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Thus, the context for "the light" has something to do with being a light to the nations. That light also represents truth, which also fits this context.

In John 8:13-20, we see that the Pharisees and Yeshua were debating what constitutes an appropriate witness in Jewish court. (One must understand, they are not in court yet. At Yeshua's trial before His death, we see that the false witnesses stand in contrast to the two witnesses that Yeshua is discussing: Himself and His father.) The question about how Yeshua could be His own witness is very profound to the Pharisaical leaders. They did not understand how Yeshua could testify about Himself. They also did not understand how Yeshua was using the term "father." This is also confusing for us today as well. In this text, it is usually assumed that "father" refers to God. But if the Jews were God's chosen people, and these Pharisees were keeping the Torah, how then was it that they did not understand what He was talking about? Didn't they know the Father? In this passage, what Yeshua is talking about is the Torah. The witness of the Father comes through the Torah, and the Pharisees did not "know" this because they had turned the Torah into something different than the Word of God. Their Torah was legalistic rulings, often called "the Traditions." However, Yeshua was saying that if they had understood what was in Torah, than they would "know" Yeshua. In both cases, "knowing" is an experiential knowledge, not simply understanding of information. If the Pharisees understood Torah, than they would have seen that Yeshua was Messiah. In conclusion, Yeshua is a witness due to the signs and miracles that He has shown, specifically, the healing on the Sabbath miracles. "The Father" is a reference to God's Word, more specifically, the Torah. Only John do all of these terms mean the same thing.

In John 8:31-47, again there is a discussion about truth, God's Word, and the father. Again, what underlies the discussion is the Torah. However, Yeshua is also explaining something further about the Pharisee's teaching, namely that they were sinners. Yeshua explains that the only way to be free from sin is through belief in Him. He says this very plainly in 8:34-36. This was a surprise to the Pharisees because they believed that simply being a child of Abraham caused them to be free. They believed that their obedience to traditions was necessary, but their salvation was assumed. The nations had to be saved, but Abraham's descendents were covered. But Yeshua all throughout His teachings show that all man has sinned. (Paul had to explain this, too, in Romans 3:23.) It was profound to think that the Jews who were practicing their religious faith were sinners. Their teachings about salvation were superficial and were based upon ethnicity. Yeshua's message not only made them look bad in the eyes of the people, but His message also scared them a great deal, because He has removed their false security in their salvation. In John 8:42-44, Yeshua points out that the reason they do not understand what He is saying, which is in accordance with Torah, is because they do not hear the Torah. They are more interested in worldly status and outwardly religious expressions. Yeshua tells them that their father is the devil. So Yeshua's Father is the Torah and truth, their father is the deceiver and lies. In other words, they were guilty of using Torah for their own selfish purposes and lying about words of Torah to gain worldly status. They had reduced the meaning of Torah to nothing, which was the function of the devil, to lie, cheat, deceive, and murder.

Yeshua concludes this whole discussion in 8:58 by accepting the fact that He was greater than Abraham. He equates Himself with God, "before Abraham was born, Iam," which is clearly why in 8:59 they picked up stones to stone Him. Yeshua was explaining Torah throughout these passages. "The Word," "my Father," "the truth," "testify," and other words led people to understand that He was Messiah as described in Torah. But Torah must be properly understood in order to apply the use of this Scripture. Reading Torah/Bible is not enough. Having external actions that cause one to look religious does not lead to salvation. Only belief in Messiah as described in Torah leads to freedom. Many Jewish people understood what Yeshua was talking about. In 8:30, it says that "many came to believe in Him." Believing always comes from the heart, not from understanding. In order to believe, simply studying Torah is not enough. To understand Torah, knowing Yeshua as the Messiah is necessary. Otherwise, Torah becomes a way to lie and deceive others.