Torah Portion Shavuot

Pentecost, or as it is known biblically, the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot is one of the appointed times (moedim) of Yehovah, it is also one of the pilgrimage moedim. The book of Acts describes that there were Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem,

And suddenly a sound came out of the heaven, as being borne along by a violent wind! And it filled all the house where they were sitting.  (3)  And tongues as of fire appeared to them, being distributed, and it sat on each one of them. Act 2:2-3 

What were they all doing in Jerusalem?

Why were all these Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem on Pentecost? Because at that time, it was Shavuot, a pilgrimage moed, and they were obeying the instruction to go to Jerusalem.

Divorce and reconciliation

Most people today have divorced the biblical moed of Shavuot from the Pentecost occurrences in the Apostolic Writings, but when we reconcile them, we see a beautiful picture of our Elohim who doesn’t change. We learn that what happened in the time of Peter was not new, but a return to what had happened before. That is why the Jews knew it was a sign from Elohim. Here is what Jewish tradition in the Midrash says about the giving of the Torah at Sinai.

"On the occasion of the giving of the Torah, the Children of Israel not only heard the LORD’s Voice, but actually saw the sound waves as they emerged from the LORD’s mouth. They visualized them as a fiery substance. Each commandment that left the LORD’s mouth traveled around the entire camp and then came back to every Jew individually." Weissman, Moshe, The Midrash Says.

"And all the people witnessed the thunderings" (Exodus 20:15). Note that it does not say "the thunder," but "the thunderings"; wherefore R. Johanan said that God’s voice, as it was uttered, split up into seventy voices, in seventy languages, so that all the nations should understand.” Shemot Midrash Rabbah 5:9

The letter and the Spirit

Between the two occurrences, Sinai (the giving of the Torah) and Jerusalem (the Spirit poured out on all flesh); we see the fulfillment of the giving of the letter and the spirit of the Torah. We also see the correction of the error of Israel.

At Peter’s time, Israel had adopted the erroneous belief that only those born Israelites could participate in the covenant with Elohim. That idea persists today within Judaism. The opposite persists in Christianity in the idea that “the church” has inherited the blessings and “the Jews” are left with the curses. Both sides have left the Torah teaching.

Where much is given much is expected

The Torah is clear that those who have the Torah and the covenant are to be a light to others around them who do not. They are to move the unbeliever to jealousy and a desire to come into covenant and begin to obey Father’s instructions. The Torah contains the instructions that the Creator of all things gave to humans on how we are supposed to live.

Those who have the instructions are supposed to share with those who don’t, and we are all supposed to encourage each other to obey out of love for Elohim, and love for our neighbor. For on these two commandments hang all the Torah and the Prophets.

Torah portion Bamidbar

It’s easy to see why the English name of this next book in the Torah is called Numbers. It starts out with a whole bunch of numbers as Moses counts the Children of Israel, but not all of them.

 Numbers??

 In Hebrew, the name of the book is Bamidbar, in the wilderness, because we are still residing in the wilderness at the foot of Mt. Sinai, but soon we will be journeying through the land.

While it should have been a short journey, it is going to end up being forty years long, and for many of the Israelites that forty years is their lifetime. We read in the beginning of our portion the instruction to count the males by their polls.

What’s a poll?

 Head Count

 Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines poll as “a person’s head.” It’s where we get the concept of a poll tax, or a head tax, each person is taxed, or a head count where we count each person. The Hebrew word behind poll is gulgoleth, skull.

If gulgoleth rings a bell, it might be because in the book of Matthew Golgotha is the location of Yeshua’s crucifixion.

Mat 27:32-33  And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.  (33)  And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,

So, who did Moses count?

Num 1:1-3  And Yehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,  (2)  Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;  (3)  From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: you and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

Notice how long we have been camped at Mt. Sinai, two years! Now, here is an interesting observation.

Num 1:47-49  But the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them.  (48)  And Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying,  (49)  However, you shall not number the tribe of Levi, nor shall you count their heads among the sons of Israel.

 Levites are set apart again 

 Why didn’t Father want the Levites to be numbered along with all the rest of the tribes of Israel? Maybe because He knew what would happen when they arrived at the border of the Promised Land, and He needed a quick and easily understood method of dividing the Levites from the rest of Israel. The Levites belong to Him in place of the firstborn of all Israel.

Num 14:29  Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

 Hebrew roots are everywhere

 On a side note, how many of you have heard of the term the big kahuna? It is a Hawaiian term but used in reference to the most important or dominant person or thing in an organization or group. We can find the Hebraic origin of this concept in this week’s portion. It is the word translated as priesthood, and in its responsibility we can see why it means important or dominant.

Aaron and his sons were to guard their priesthood, to the extent that any stranger (zur) who comes near shall be put death. Stranger here is not the friendly ger or goy, but the zur, the rebellious ones, the strangers who are just there to cause mischief or ridicule.

Num 3:10  And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep (shomer, guard) their priesthood (kehunnah). And the stranger (zur) who comes near shall be put to death.

Torah portion Emor

Shalom and blessings, may this find you well, and rejoicing in the blessings of our Messiah Yeshua.

Hope for those of us who aren’t perfect

Have you ever felt like you weren’t enough for Elohim? Maybe what you’ve read in the Apostolic Writings makes it seem as though you will never be enough.

Eph 5:26-27  that He (Yeshua) might sanctify it, cleansing it by the washing of the water in the Word, that He might present it to Himself as the glorious assembly, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such things, but that it be holy and without blemish.

That sets a high bar; without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish. The washing of the water in the Word is the vehicle by which the assembly as a whole and each of us individually are sanctified, and if you have been putting His Word into your heart you are headed on the right path. Even when you are in the Word, does it still seem as though you have a spot here and wrinkle there, and maybe a few blemishes?

Can any of us meet the standard?

One reason believers feel inadequate is they don’t know the definition the Torah gives for a blemish. We tend to think of any issue we have as one, regardless of how small it is. Look what Father tells Moses and Aaron about blemishes in the sacrificial animals and the priests.

Lev 21:16-20  And Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying,  (17)  Speak to Aaron, saying, No man of your seed throughout their generations shall draw near to offer the bread of his God if there is a blemish in him.  (18)  For no man in whom there is a blemish shall draw near, a blind man, or one lame, or disfigured, or deformed;  (19)  or a brokenfooted man, or a brokenhanded man,  (20)  or one humpbacked, or one emaciated, or with a spot in his eye, or a scurvy one, or one scabbed, or one with crushed testicles.

Lev 22:20-25  You shall not offer that which has a blemish; for it shall not be acceptable for you.  (21)  And when a man brings near a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yehovah, to complete a vow, or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be without blemish to be accepted; no blemish shall be in it;  (22)  blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a flow, or scurvy, or scabbed, you shall not bring these near to Yehovah; and you shall not make of them a fire offering on the altar to Yehovah.  (23)  As to an ox or a sheep deformed, or dwarfed, you shall make it a freewill offering; but it is not acceptable for a vow.  (24)  As to anything bruised, or beaten, or torn, or cut, you shall not bring it near to Yehovah; even you shall not do it in your land.  (25)  And you shall not bring near the bread of your God from the hand of a son of a stranger (nokri), or any of these, for their corruption is in them; they are blemished; they are not acceptable for you.

Those are pretty obvious and serious blemishes. Notice the last part in verse 25, the stranger, nokri. Remember nokri? They are the ones who are in and around Israel, but they are the troublemakers, the rebels, and it says they are corrupt and blemished by their rebellion.

What is Elohim looking for in us?

Father is looking for those who love Him and want to follow Him. He understands that none of us are perfectly without any blemishes. He expects us to walk the path of Torah and improve, to move the right direction and not rebel against Him. He expects us to increase our faith in Him and love for Him, and obey His instructions as we learn them rather than rebel against them.

It’s not too much for the Creator of all things to ask of us, is it?