CHAPTER 8

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

2. "Speak to Aharon, and tell him, 'When you cause the lamps to ascend [b'haAlothkha], the seven lamps must give light toward the front of the menorah's face.'"

   The menorah itself is not a lamp, but a place to set lamps so that they would be sufficiently elevated to illuminate more of the room. The menorah exists to bring light to a house tells us that there is much more we can learn from it.  And the lampstand for YHWH’s House has a very specific design. It looks like a particular tree that grows in Israel, after whose Aramaic name Mt. Moryah is named.  The menorah as such is really the central "trunk", which then has six branches, and the highest central lamp is called "the servant".  This six-plus-one pattern is the same as the creation pattern, which we participate in by resting on the seventh day, when YHWH Himself rested.  His example is even more powerful than His command.  It is not just any one day in seven; the Jews have preserved for us the correct seventh day.  But the fruit of this tree is light, and that is what we are after. The oil lamps (which looked much like Aladdin’s) could separate from the stand so that they could be more easily cleaned, so when they were replaced, they needed to be put back in the right position to produce the lighting effect YHWH wanted.  If they faced in a different direction, their handles would cast shadows on what He wanted illuminated, and if each faced in a different direction, they would not be working together. And these lamps represent individual Israelites. In Exodus 39:37 and Lev. 24:4, YHWH had told Aharon to set the lamps in order, a phrase which in Hebrew also means “in battle array”.  This time, he is actually telling him to light them, because an army lined up on the parade field is not making war.  It is only preparing to do so by getting in position.  It was important that the lamps be in the right place, but they only count when light actually comes out from them. Lamps that are not lit are doing nothing to dispel the darkness. The most beautiful chandelier is useless if it gives no light.  We can get in position in many ways—studying Torah, taking inventory of each part of our lives and being honest about ourselves, by appreciating the authorities He sets us under—anything that brings us closer to the General.  But mere studying will accomplish nothing until we act on what we learn by obeying YHWH, serving one another.  We actually light the lamps by doing something about the shortcomings we discover in ourselves, by beginning to praise YHWH, by shoring up our strengths, and by giving to one another.  Yahshua warns us to make sure the light within us is not darkness. This is in context of saying the body’s lamp is the eye, and if our eye is sound, our whole body will be full of light.  (Luke 11:33ff)  According to the Mishnah, “a sound eye” is a Hebrew idiom for generosity.  If our generosity has selfish motivation, it is a “dark light” indeed.  Do you regret giving of yourself in some area?  If you cannot see clearly or there is darkness in some area, you need to examine whether it is due to a lack of generosity, and hospitality in particular, because when one is lost, seeing a light in the distance gives him great hope.  Even when he was freshly circumcised, Avraham exuded this kind of light, eager to make others feel comfortable and cared for within his space.  He was looking to give something back for what YHWH had done for him. YHWH invites us into His space especially at His appointed times, opening special gates then that are open at no other times. ;If we are likewise generous, we will see things we have never seen before.  Our earthly king said that letting our lights shine rather than hiding them means letting men see our the works of Torah alive in us. (Matt. 5:16)  The purpose is so that those who enter the house (not just anyone out on the street) may see, and that every secret may be revealed. (Luke 8:16)  If our lights shine in the right way, we will know secrets that are now hidden, and the priests will find hidden answers from the shadows they cast.  Proverbs 25:2 tells us it is the prerogative of kings to search out what YHWH has concealed. (And all of Israel are called kings in Rev. 1:6.)  But the things that separate the sheep from the goats all have to do with being hospitable or failing to do so. (Mat. 25)  But the word for "front" here is rooted in a word meaning "circumcision".  It is the sign of the continuation of the covenant that was made with Avraham and his descendants.  Our actions are meant to cast light on the covenant of which circumcision is a sign.  The first phrase could also read, "In your elevating the lamps..."  This suggests making it more than just a luminary, but a picture of YHWH's presence as well.  The priest himself would also "ascend" by steps to be in a place where he could reach the wicks, because the menorah was about 6 feet/2 meters tall.  The branches also extended forward in what would look like a "V" if viewed from above, so he was actually "inside" the menorah when trimming the wicks.  Trimming the wicks of the lamps is part of setting them in order--a perpetual maintenance required of the lamps which are to be kept burning at all times.  This, too, represents our constant need to get rid of the things in our lives which do not support the efficient burning of the fire, which represents YHWH's presence.  The Hebrew term for “lamps” means “shining”, and it shares the same root word with “light”.  The root meaning of “seven” is “to swear an oath”.  So the whole command, when read mystically at this more ancient level, says, “When you cause the shining ones to ascend, the shining ones who have sworn an oath on account of being circumcised are in the presence of the lampstand.”  What lampstands represent we find in Rev. 1:20-2:5.  They are gatherings of the lost sheep of the House of Israel while in exile. Yahshua is in their midst. This passage reminds us to return to the former ways, or our menorah will be removed.  But if we do return, what oath have we taken?  The oath our ancestors swore on our behalf was to obey all that YHWH said. (Ex. 19:7-8)  Many today would tell us that this is bondage, when in fact it is our freedom, because it not only defines our task but brings many rewards as well, though this is not our motivation.  Those same skeptics of the Torah tell us that we should give in order to receive.

3. So Aharon did just that. He made the lamps ascend toward the front of the menorah's face, just as YHWH had commanded Moshe.

   Just as: or, when—so apparently he did it immediately as well.  This sounds very simple, but notice that YHWH did not tell Aharon to do this; He told Moshe to tell Aharon.  Aharon had to trust him to be telling the truth about what YHWH said.  We, too, have to trust the Torah even when it says things that go against our modern sensitivities. The place we make for YHWH in the midst of our camp must be not only full of light, but the light must point in the right direction.  All the lamps are to be turned in the same direction so that all of our light is focused on the same thing, which is across from the menorah, that is, the Table of the Bread of the Faces (or Presence).  Only then could it be seen properly. It held twelve loaves (representing the twelve tribes of Israel) baked with the ends turned inward to approximate the shape of the two kh’ruvim on the Ark of the Covenant--facing each other. They represent the whole community of Israel in its most unified form, and that is something YHWH wants to highlight.  Where are they?  At the table—another reminder of hospitality.  At every Sabbath and festival, we share a table.  This table is the only other thing said to be set in battle array, so like the menorah, consuming food together in unity is another powerful way of making war on YHWH’s enemies. But again, are we just believing in theory that YHWH can reunite both houses of Israel, or are we taking practical steps to call the twelve tribes back together?  In nomadic culture, a shared meal seals many a contract.  Keeping our table conversation commensurately holy can affect things in another realm.  YHWH has no covenant with Efrayim per se, only promises specifically for Efrayim (or Yehudah).  His covenant is with Israel--the whole community together, and His promises will not be fulfilled until we are all back together.   The light does not face outward, though some light will, of course, “leak” out through the windows, and others will see it and realize there is something inside worth partaking of.  If someone outside is not inspired enough to coming looking for the light, he should not expect it to be brought to him.  The emphasis is that the community receive more light, so that they can be well trained to be useful when people do come in seeking light.  That makes our light all the brighter rather than diffusing it everywhere so that it amounts to almost nothing.  Our lights light one another, and make all of us brighter.  And this makes the lamps themselves ascend.

4. And this workmanship of the menorah was hammered out of one piece of gold [and finely decorated] from its trunk to its blossoms. According to the vision which YHWH had shown Moshe, he fashioned the menorah.

   None of this will work if we try to arrange the lamps in a different pattern.  Then our light would only be darkness.  And even the lampstand must be made a certain way.  YHWH’s people may have to be beaten into shape because of our crookedness, in order to become the “light to the nations” that He called us to be.  With very few Levites on duty today, we need to do so for one another.  If we did it our own way—or based on others’ logic--instead of the way the Torah said to build it, the light would not be able to shine the way He wants it to.  We are usually the ones who stand in the way of our lights shining brightly.  The technique for hammering out gold is a lost art, yet still it is a standing command, so we must go as far as we can until the right technique is again discovered.  The Temple Institute has made a solid-gold menorah as accurately as they can, but using wax displacement, saying this is a temporary arrangement until the Messiah or someone he knows can tell them how to do it rightly, in which case it can be melted back down and recast.  Rashi said it was pounded hard with a hammer, then its limbs were cut out with a chisel, rather than being made limb by limb and connected together later.  In the meantime, we need to ask what menorah we are meant to be h ammering on.  The term “hammered” comes from a root word meaning “hard” or “fierce”, and indeed it is not easy to form unity; much blood has been shed so that we can have a place to live it out, and it might not yet be fully shaped.  What is the fuel for the lights?  Nothing but pure olive oil from the first pressing (Ex. 27:20)—that which does not require undue pres-sure to come forth.  It is a picture of the one who, when given an order, says, “Right away, sir!” and responds immedi-ately.  Each of us is responsible to kindle the lights in Israel—and not just our own.  Aharon did not light just one light.  Light someone else’s light and make sure he has something worth having.  Take responsibility for the whole menorah. 

5. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

6. "Bring the Levites [out] from among the descendants of Israel, and ceremonially cleanse them.

   Bring: The word can mean "sever". Even among the holy nation, they were set apart even further. To some extent, other Israelites had a choice of how holy they wished to be; the Levites were "drafted" to a holy task.

7. "Now this is what you will do to them in order to purify them: Sprinkle on them water for purification [from sin], and have them pass a razor over all of their flesh and have them launder their garments, and [thus they shall] make themselves ceremonially pure.

   Water for purification: Chapter 19 tells us that this was water that was mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, cedar wood, and hyssop. It deals with the picture of the uncleanness that leads to sin. This does not appear to have been done every time any priest turned 25, but collectively on this one occasion. Pass a razor over: though what is being removed is the hair, it is really the flesh that is being dealt with. This is much like the rules for both the Nazir and the leper, so there is a link between them all. The beard is a man's glory (symbol of authority and importance), and hair is the symbol of pride or dignity (remember Avshalom). Though they have been cleansed with the water, they are still not guiltless enough to be fit to serve. Having even their eyebrows shaved off humbles them completely; it is an equaling like when one arrives at military boot camp. Their former glory is gone, and they are beginning a new life. Indeed, they look like infants again, possibly because they have been selected instead of the firstborn. They are also putting their past behind them. Everything they did before is no longer their life. They are starting over, just as we had to do when we realized the whole of Scripture needed to be read from a Hebraic standpoint rather than a Christian one. It is being "born again"--another reason Yahshua has the same kind of expectations for his students as YHWH did for the Levites. All that grows back now belongs to YHWH. They are given over completely to servanthood, having no authority of their own anymore. (v. 19) They must therefore put away all their own ideas of who they are and learn to be servants; even our king said he came to serve, not to be served. (Mat. 20:28) They can still maintain their own households, but are essentially slaves who will never go free. These are the greatest in Israel. The Levites did indeed come to be held in higher esteem than most in Israel, as seen even by the fact that when the northern kingdom was turning toward paganism, people wanted to buy Levites for their own private use! Launder: connotes "by treading on them". White garments are our righteous acts (Rev. 19:8). Yahshua also says we need to buy the white garments from him. (Rev. 3:18) We have some responsibility, then, just as the Levites had to purify themselves (v. 21); it was not to be done for them by another. We "buy" from him by taking up our own execution stakes and following him.

8. "Then have them bring a bull--a son of the herd--along with its grain offering of flour mixed with oil, and for a sin offering, bring a second bull, a son of the herd.

   Them: collectively. This is very solemn, because normally bulls are only offered for personal sin or for idolatry, except at the festivals. They are set apart to an extraordinarily high degree of holiness.

9. "And you shall bring the Levites near in front of the Tent of Appointment, and you shall assemble the whole congregation of the descendants of Israel,

10. "then bring the Levites near before YHWH, and the sons of Israel shall lean their hands on the Levites,

   The laying on of hands normally symbolizes confession or transference of sin, or identification with another. It was not magic, but a statement, for example, by one who was healthy to another who was ill, "May he be as I am." In this case, it was the authority of the heads of the houses, most likely those seen in chapter 7--all of them probably firstborn--that was being transferred. It was done by leaning one's weight on them, for the weightiness of their task must be felt. The whole congregation made the Levites a "sacrifice", much like an "offering"--as representatives of all of Israel, they are dedicated as something very precious to the congregation, for they are taking the place of the firstborn of each family. It is a rite of passage that visibly separates the actual firstborn from their obligation and places the Levites in their position.

11. "and Aharon shall present them before YHWH as the descendants of Israel's [wave] offering, so that they may [be prepared to] carry out the service of YHWH.

   Present: literally, "wave them" or "move them back and forth"; the exact dynamics of this are uncertain, though Israeli dance steps may preserve a small fraction of it. Hirsch says it symbolizes dedicating them (inaugurating them) for a special mission. They had to be seen by the whole congregation so that their authority would be recognized by all. They are offered in this way rather than as a slaughter or burnt offering.

12. "Then the Levites shall lean their hands on the bulls' heads, and you shall prepare one as a sin offering, and the other as an ascending offering to YHWH, to make atonement for the Levites.

   Sin offering: to cover their sins so that they could perform holy duties, though they were as human as the rest. The first bull was for an ascending offering, but here the order is reversed, because the sin had to be dealt with first, but ascending is the ultimate purpose.

13. "Then you shall present [stand] the Levites before Aharon and before his sons, and present them as a [wave] offering to YHWH.

14. "This is how you shall differentiate the Levites from [the rest of] the descendants of Israel, and the Levites shall become Mine.

   Become Mine: in lieu of the firstborn of each family, which YHWH says belong to Him. (3:12; Ex. 13:12ff)

15. "Afterward the Levites may enter in to do the service of the Tent of Appointment; thus you shall purify them and offer them as a [wave] offering,

16. "because they are the ones given completely to Me from among the descendants of Israel; I have selected them for Myself in place of every one from the descendants of Israel who first opens the womb,

   Selected: or accepted, showing that He had been given what He wanted, thus excepting the actual firstborn from the same role from this point on. Compare another group called the "given ones" in Ezra 2:70.)

17. "because every firstborn of the descendants of Israel belongs to Me--both man and animal; I set them apart for Myself on the day that I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt.

   The firstborn belong to YHWH to commemorate the fact that He had to give up something for our freedom. Yeshayahu 43:3 tells us that He had to "pay" Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sheva for our ransom. Therefore, the firstborn are especially His right. Later Efrayim is called YHWH's firstborn, so in a special way those who are being called out to a higher degree of holiness from Efrayim today bear some association with the Levites. Yeshayahu/Isa. 66:21 appears to say YHWH will take some from among the nations who are returning to Him to be "Levites".

18. "So I am taking the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the descendants of Israel,

19. "and I am giving the Levites as gifts to Aharon and his sons from among the descendants of Israel, in order to carry out the service of the sons of Israel in the Tent of Appointment and to form a covering for the descendants of Israel so that no plague will strike down the descendants of Israel when they approach the Sanctuary."

   Gifts: Ephesians 4 is highly reminiscent of this. Yahshua is said to have given each of us as gifts to the whole assembly. The Levites were to the priests as dishwashers are to chefs--those who do the mundane tasks so that they can be free to focus on their area of specialization. Yahshua's closest disciples followed the same pattern in Acts chapter 6 by selecting seven men to wait tables for the Hellenistic widows so they would not be left out when charity was given, leaving the Apostles to concentrate on the "ministry of the Word of YHWH". Note that those waiters still had to have high qualifications--they must be wise and full of the spirit of set-apartness (have Kingdom priorities), and have a spotless reputation--just to wait tables! These were important tables; not just anyone could do this seemingly mundane task. The men were called "deacons"--a valid office in the called-out assembly, so they should be held in high esteem, but should not consider themselves of the same authority as the elders, as many who take on that title today do. Plague: No one may enter in a nonchalant way or in the wrong order. The Levites were to "atone" for the rest of the nation. That is religious jargon for what the simple reading in Hebrew shows was merely a matter of YHWH protecting the nation from being destroyed by a plague, as would result if any of the firstborn were careless about doing their job in the slaughter area. YHWH knew that not all men would train their sons properly. He did not trust us to do it rightly, so He recruited a group to be trained as experts in what the firstborn sons would be doing at the tent, immersed in the task full-time so they knew it so well that no mistakes would be made. Amazingly, none of them objected. But even the Levites did not do this job perfectly, and a plague did break out. One of the priests named Pinkhas stopped it through his jealousy for YHWH's being treated with due respect. (Ch. 25.) As a priest, he should not have had to do so, for this was supposed to have been done by the Levites before the individuals he killed ever got so far. Interestingly enough, the only Levite in active duty known to these commentators is one who makes clothing--that is, forms coverings! Similarly, Yahshua atoned (made a covering) for us by showing us how to keep the Torah rightly (love YHWH with all of our heart, soul, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves), so we would not end up dead for missing the target, which could even include trying to obey but not understanding the heart of YHWH's commands, like many of the P'rushim (Pharisees).

20. So Moshe and Aharon and the whole assembly of Israel did for the Levites according to all that YHWH commanded Moshe in regard to the Levites; the descendants of Israel did so for them.

21. So the Levites were [purified] from sin and washed their clothes, and Aharon presented them as a [wave] offering before YHWH; Aharon [was the one who] formed a covering for them in order to [ceremonially] cleanse them.

   They both accepted their responsibility and acknowledged their need of further cleansing.

22. After that the Levites entered in to perform their service in the Tent of Appointment in the presence of Aharon and in the presence of his sons; as YHWH had commanded Moshe concerning the Levites, so they did for them.

23. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

24. "This is what [applies] to the Levites: From 25 years old and up they shall go in to perform their service in the work of the Tent of Appointment.

   They did not begin their active duty until age 30. (4:3; 4:30; 4:35) Service: Since the word used shows that this was the equivalent of military service, they had five years of boot camp--longer than most people go to college--because it was so important that they not "screw up" in their duties; they had to learn them perfectly, because this is what maintained the covering over Israel. (See note on v. 19) They were "special forces", guards who restrained anyone who was not eligible to come near YHWH's dwelling. And they had to supervise the slaughterings, since anyone whose slaughtering went wrong had essentially just murdered an animal, because it was now unacceptable and he had to start over. We, too, must do our job rightly so that the wrath will not break out again as the Age of Grace draws to a close; the rest of Israel depends on us!

25. "And at the age of 50 they shall stop performing its service, and shall labor no more,

   Fifty: Note the picture this forms of the yovel (jubilee) year.

26. "but they shall wait on their brothers in the Tent of Appointment, to oversee the ceremonial functions, instead of doing the servile work. This is how you shall deal with the Levites in regard to their responsibilities."

   Wait on: or attend to--that is, train the novices and help them avoid the pitfalls of which they have become aware. Oversee: or safeguard: those with thirty years' experience could more easily see potential breaches in the keeping of the Torah.

CHAPTER 9

1. Now YHWH had spoken to Moshe in the desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

   Sinai means "thorny place", and thorns are a direct result of Adam and Chawwah's sin. (Gen. 3:18) It was in a place with this description that YHWH chose to show us the way back to Eden. The place where YHWH would later have His fixed "dwelling place" means "the driest of places" (Tzion). To our shame, we often have to come to the places that are the very opposite of Eden--where YHWH hedges us in or turns up the heat--before He can get our attention so we can learn the way back. Had spoken: This is a flashback to a month prior to the events in chapter 1. It is set in the same month that the Tabernacle was set up. (Ex. 40:17) A reason for the flashback will become evident by v. 15. While dates are extremely important for setting the context for how to understand each passage, the Torah rarely follows a chronological approach, because YHWH's word is eternal, and thus is not governed by time. We need to be careful not to let our Greek-trained minds lead us to the wrong kinds of conclusions. But Moshe finds it important to remind us that these events were a fairly short time after we had left Egypt. It takes much longer to take Egypt out of the Israelites than it took to bring us out of Egypt, and this chapter is an integral part of doing the former. (See note on v. 14.) Month: The actual Hebrew word means "renewal", so this renewal had to take place before the renewal described in chapters 1-8 could take place.

2. "[Make sure] the descendants of Israel prepare the Passover at its appointed time.

   The Passover is not the feast, but the slaughtered offering from which we must partake (v. 7). It is not a day, but an event that inaugurates the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, for it too must be eaten with matzah. Appointed time: If we show up at a different time when it is convenient for us--such as the weekend closest to the actual date--we will not find YHWH there. While calculations based on science were the best we could do when all of Israel was exiled from the Land, now that one of the Two Houses of Israel has access to the Land again, man is not authorized to appoint the time. It is the readiness of the barley crop for harvest and the precise time of the appearance of the next new moon thereafter that set the date for Passover. (See Gen. 1:14. YHWH calls it His faithful witness in Psalm 89:37.)

3. "On the fourteenth day of this month between the evenings, you shall prepare it at its appointed time according to all its prescribed rituals, and you shall carry it out according to all its procedures."

   Appointed time: this is stated twice, so it is very important. Between the evenings: "Between" comes from a word meaning "to perceive" or "distinguish", and evening" literally means "transition" or "mixture"--between the time the light begins to noticeably dim until the time the darkness begins to visibly overtake the light, so that it can be "distinguished" as "night"--i.e., between the "mixing (of darkness) with day" and the "mixing (of the remaining light) with night". See also note on v. 11. Prescribed rituals: or rulings. Procedures: or judgments. These may be where human decisions fit in. Each household might do it a different way, but as long as it is within the parameters YHWH decreed, one is responsible to carry it out in the way the head of one's household has decided. This is part of the "glue" that YHWH uses to hold everything together. The Mishnah and Talmud describe some specific ways the procedures were carried out in a way that the Torah never specifies. Yet many of the traditions foreshadowed Yahshua's death at the same time as Passover in astoundingly accurate ways--from the Passover lamb "crowned" with its own intestines and spread open for slow-roasting on a skewer resembling his crucifixion stake to the "buried" and "resurrected" afikomen to the leaven-burning ritual that incorporates symbolism of the Holy Spirit placing on our sin onto a piece of wood by the light of the Torah, then doing away with it.

4. So Moshe told the descendants of Israel that they should prepare the Passover.

5. And they did perform the Passover [sacrifice] on the fourteenth day of the first month in the Sinai desert; the descendants of Israel carried out what YHWH had commanded Moshe in every [respect].

   Before delineating the divisions into which Israel will be organized, YHWH emphasizes something that unites us all. It has taken a whole year to give all these instructions and to bring the picture of YHWH's dwelling place into the world of action. It's now time to celebrate the anniversary--the first memorial celebration of what YHWH did, which must still have been fresh in everyone's minds. We're now at the same place in the orbit where we were when YHWH acted. The anticipation must have been rising to a high pitch as they chose the lambs and inspected them in their tents, and as they watched the moon growing full.

6. But there were certain men who, having been defiled by a man's dead body, could not perform the Passover on that day, so they came before Moshe and before Aharon on the day,

   Someone died--someone they highly respected and needed to honor--and these men had no way of avoiding their duty to deal with his body. The rabbis say that burying a friend is the greatest love one can show to him; Yahshua gave a slight correction to this, but still it is an act of great kindness. The ruling in chapter 5 about their needing to be outside the camp if defiled by a corpse had not been given yet, but this was a long-standing tradition in the region, not just among Semitic peoples, but even among the Egyptian priests. So they deduced that they would not be able to participate. That YHWH waited until after this to make that ruling shows that Who would have died before YHWH's decree that the first generation would not see the Promised Land due to their unbelief? The clue is in the Hebrew wording, for there "a man's body" literally says "the soul of Adam". Adam's life-force is what hid from YHWH, followed the advice that seemed right to him, and did not take responsibility for his actions. I.e., it was the spirit of doing things one's own way that had rendered these men ritually unclean. We are told of two men who had to be buried on the eighth day of this very month: Nadav and Avihu--two very important men with great promise as Aharon's sons--one slated to be the next high priest--but who had done an intolerable thing. (Lev. 9:1; 10:1) Therefore the earliest the command in verse 2 here could have taken place was the eighth or ninth of the month, meaning they had just enough time to select the lamb or young goat on the tenth day. (One never has even a day's notice for Yom Teruah.) But since it requires eight days for one to be purified from corpse-uncleanness, there was no way they could be ready on time for the Passover.

7. and those men told him, "We have been defiled by the dead body of a man. Why are we kept back from bringing the offering of YHWH near at its appointed time along with the [rest of the] descendants of Israel?

   They were not whining about the fact that they could not participate in the feast; what they were concerned about was the offering. They had the right reason: they wanted to draw near to YHWH. This being the Passover lamb, Yochanan's call to "behold the Lamb of Elohim" resonates with this description. Being ritually impure, they were a picture of selfishness, but these particular people were not at all selfish, but had actually done a very selfless thing; it was Adam's soul that withheld them, not some fault of their own. They were concerned lest they defile the rest of the camp, or they might not have admitted to their uncleanness, but just gone ahead and eaten. They came to the proper authorities and the first thing out of their mouths was a confession. They would only be affected by corpse uncleanness for a few more days, but they were not so careless as to think it would not matter if they did it late, as so many do today for the sake of convenience. Others might regard this as an excuse to not "have to" participate, but they were looking for any loophole by which they might be able to. They were eager, and were upset that they apparently could not because it was through no fault of their own that they had to fulfill what was probably a familial obligation.

8. So Moshe told them, "Wait, so I can hear what YHWH will tell you to do."

   Wait: literally, stand. They were in the presence of elders, and were thus under the order to rise in their presence. (Lev. 19:32) These people were eager to participate. Moshe did not speak hastily or guess at an answer. This, he could foresee, would be a precedent for many similar situations in the years to come. So He does the right thing to set the precedent. He goes straight to YHWH with the question, and it does not say he went anywhere else. It seems YHWH spoke to him right in front of those who had brought the question, because He knew their question was genuine and sincere.

9. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

10. "Inform the sons of Israel that even if any of you or your generations shall become ceremonially unclean for the sake of a [dead] person or are far away on a journey, he may still perform the Passover unto YHWH.

   This was a rare occurrence, because usually Moshe was alone or with only Y'hoshua or Aharon when YHWH spoke to him, but these people had pure motives, so they were privileged to be on the spot when He told Moshe what they should do. Moshe did not just say, "Sorry; it is the way it is." They had a point. He can see that they truly want to draw near. The exception was carried even further by King Hizqiyahu, who prayed for a reprieve for those whose heart was prepared, though they could not keep the Passover according to the letter. (2 Chron. 30:17-20) Paul's teachings about "not the letter but the spirit" must be taken in such a context of realizing that the exception is YHWH's mercy, not an excuse for slackness.

11. "In the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the [pair of] evening [oblation]s, they must prepare it; they must eat it with unleavened loaves and bitter herbs,

   Between the evenings: the time of the mussaf ("additional") offering, right around 3:00 p.m.--the very time Yahshua committed his spirit into the Father's hands. The lamb was slain in the afternoon, but it took time to cook, so it was not eaten until after sundown, by which time it was the 15th. (See Deut. 16) These men were Levites, and by the same time the next month, they would already have charge over some aspect of the Tent, so it was important that they be able to draw near.

12. "and they may not leave any of it until morning, nor may they break [one] bone of it. They must do it according to all that is prescribed for the [actual] Passover.

   Not the next day or the next week, when the moon would already be waning, but the next time the moon was at exactly the same stage--its very fullest--is when it had to be done. No other picture would work. It wasn't the actual anniversary, but it was the closest possible resemblance to the actual day. And YHWH even made a special appearance for their sake. But time alone does not heal ritual uncleanness; they had to immerse and have everything back in place and be sure they did not become defiled again, because there was no further extension granted. Yahshua was not left hanging on the tree until the next day, nor was any bone of his body broken. But the sacrifice is identified with the giver. There was only one sin offering at Passover (and it was a goat), but hundreds of thousands of Passover lambs, so while they picture Yahshua--but Yahshua as us, his Body. As a seed must die, but then it must break open and bear fruit, so we have to die to self and become part of the new, whole "Man" before the Omer can be counted.

13. "But the man who is ritually clean and is not on a journey who has failed to prepare the Passover, that particular person shall be cut off from among his people, because he did not bring near the offering of YHWH in His appointed season; that man shall bear his [own] sin.

   Failed: or "neglected his duty". On a journey: It does not say "in a distant city", suggesting not just a poorly-timed trip that lacked the foresight to be sure to get back to Yerushalayim for the feast, but rather being unavoidably detained while trying their best to get there. If it was in one's power to get back--even if it was not easy--the one is obliged to do so. Travel was even more unreliable then than it is today, yet Paul made every effort to return even from the far end of what is today Turkey to get back to Yerushalayim for another festival, even skipping a stopover where he could have brought further teaching to some of his students. (Acts 20:16) And these were the only two exceptions allowed. As with jury duty, there is a penalty for not showing up if the exception has not been validated in advance. This shows both YHWH's mercy and the fact that He does not accept excuses, because this feast in particular defines who we are as a people. He hears our prayers at any time if our heart is right (Yeshayahu 59:2), but concerning the intimate relationship He wants with us, He wants to have special "dates" with His betrothed when there are no other distractions. Cut off: no longer considered part of Israel, just as the whole Northern Kingdom ceased to be the nation of Israel. (Hoshea 1:9) This could not be carried over to other festivals. Yarav'am tried to do more or less the same thing for Sukkoth--postpone it a month--but his purpose was to make it a national holiday for the kingdom that was now separate from Yerushalayim. He wanted to declare his independence by having a separate, though similar, holiday, and different places to celebrate it. People didn't have to go so far away--and they might not defect to Yerushalayim when they saw the real thing still going on there. Not so here. It had to be done in the same place, at a time as identical to the real thing as possible. YHWH was reasonable in recognizing there might be some extenuating circumstances, but He would not let them carry this too far. There was a perfect balance to His understanding and His firmness--a great example for any of us who are--or one day will be--parents. He made one exception, but no others, lest the picture completely dissipate into meaninglessness.

14. "Now if there is a sojourner staying among you who wants to participate in the Passover for YHWH, he must do it according to the prescribed ritual of the Passover, and in its proper manner; you shall have one [and the same] ritual prescribed for [both] the newcomer [to the faith] and the native who was born in the Land."

   Prescribed ritual: including being circumcised. Newcomer: to the faith as well. There is no allowance made for one's not having been part of the community all along, for Israel is always receiving outsiders to be part of it, but once Israelites, they must behave as Israelites. They may share in the privileges, but could not do anything in their Gentile ways. There is only "no difference between Jews and Greeks" if the Greeks obey the rules as set by Torah. This would turn out to be the last time Israel would observe this memorial in this journey through the wilderness (Y'hoshua 5:7ff), probably because after hope was gone of the parents entering the Land because of their unbelief, they did not prepare their children to enter the Land or even keep the Passover, because they left them uncircumcised. It would take 40 years to get most of the "Egypt" out of us. This is a prophecy that there would be another time when parents who had no inkling of their children returning to being Israelites would leave us with little knowledge of our heritage until the time approached for another Y'hoshua to lead us back to the Land.

15. Now on the day when the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud concealed the Tabernacle (the Tent of the Testimony), and in the evening there came upon the Tabernacle [something] like the appearance of fire until morning.

   The flashback is now over, and we pick up where chapter 8 left off. (See note on v. 20.) Because of the two “renewals” represented by all that preceded this point in the book, Israel, with its thousands of tents, could now live constantly in YHWH’s presence. The cloud covers those who stay in the camp, providing cooling shade when needed. When they travel at night, it lights their way:

16. And that is how it would always take place: the cloud would conceal it, and [it would have] the appearance of fire by night.

   Conceal: so no unauthorized person would see the temple furniture while it was being taken down and set up. (See chapter 4.)

17. It was only after the cloud would lift from over the Tabernacle that the descendants of Israel would pull up [stakes], and wherever the cloud settled, that is where the descendants of Israel would set up camp.

   When the cloud moved, Israel moved. When it stopped, they would wait. Once the cloud was behind them as protection; now it was up ahead. In their immaturity, the cloud had remained over them, but now they had to keep up with it, because as we grow it is less about us and more about pleasing YHWH. They did not build a temple where the cloud had been, because it had moved on. Like the churches built over the sites of important biblical events and thus obscuring their actual context, too often we enshrine what was once a true move of the Spirit, and thus take its life from it. Denominations are the result of people forgetting to move when the cloud did, and remaining camped at a "historical site" where YHWH once was, but no longer is. At the Temple, there were 32 steps outside and 32 additional half-cubits to ascend inside, all of them of different sizes and shapes, and this symbolizes YHWH's desire that we continue growing closer and closer to His heart (for "heart" in Hebrew has the numerical value of 32), ever advancing in holiness. He does not want us to be where we were a year ago. They also all moved together; none had a head start, and none lagged behind, saying they would catch up later. Neither could predict where the cloud would move. From our standpoint, the pattern of movement was erratic and arbitrary, but they stayed for however long it took to learn each lesson. They did not have to be afraid they would be called to move right before a festival, so there was no reason to run ahead at what seemed to be a convenient time to move. When He calls us to do extraordinary things, He equips us. The only question is whether we are using what He gives us. There is confidence in the camp, for if YHWH is with us, who would dare attack us? The sun would not strike us by day, and even if there is no moonlight, there is still light at night. If you are worried, it may mean you have fallen behind the camp.

18. According to YHWH's word, the descendants of Israel set out [to travel], and at His word they pitched [their tents]. As long as the cloud remained over the Tabernacle, they [remained] encamped.

19. Even if the cloud lingered over the Tabernacle for many days, the descendants of Israel followed YHWH's directive, and did not set out.

20. It was the same, however many days the cloud was over the Tabernacle: at YHWH's word they would pitch their tents, and at YHWH's word they would travel.

   At YHWH's word: only when He said so. He gives no advance notice or even a reason why He moved; that would probably just confuse us anyway. This walk requires trust far beyond logic, but if it is YHWH, we know each step is for the best. This is inconvenient for the modern, Greek mindset which wants everything known in advance so we can plan, but it is the way a well-oiled military machine works, and Israel's camp was set up like a war camp. A soldier does not make plans of his own, or he is serving two masters. But once we make the transition, this infinitely simplifies things, for nothing else needs to be taken into consideration. Yahshua said He did nothing except when He saw or heard the Father doing the same. (Yochanan 5:19, 30) Looking at this on a deeper level explains why the flashback at the beginning of this chapter is juxtaposed with this account of the moving of the cloud, and why it was at Passover that Yahshua renewed the Covenant. The serpent knew that Adam's soul (or motivation) included a desire to be able to tell right from wrong on his own without having to go to YHWH at every fork in the road. But this led him to trust his wife instead of YHWH, then to not take responsibility for his actions. Wanting his own way resulted in selfishness. To walk in our own authority removes us from His. Believing the same lie that we did not have to obey YHWH's instruction (Torah), though He said we must, led us to again dump responsibility for our sin on Yahshua instead of truly repenting for our guilt. So Paul contrasted Adam, the "living soul" with the second Adam, who is instead a "life-giving spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45), acting on behalf of others, not just self. Yahshua Himself said, "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing." (Yochanan 6:63) By returning to His pattern of doing only what YHWH says, we can be on the way to restoring the simplicity of the Garden of Eden. Israel's obedience to the cloud's seemingly-erratic movements represented the first step back. (The cloud was not something solid, but moved like the wind, which in Hebrew is the same as "spirit". Compare 2 Cor. 4:18.)

21. But when the cloud [remained] settled through the evening and lifted in the morning, they would pull up [stakes]; whether by day or night, when the cloud was taken up, they set out.

   Normally the cloud would lift by night and be replaced by the fire-like appearance, but if it remained a cloud all night (carrying something from the daytime all the way through the night), it appears to have been a signal that they would move the next day. A possible alternate reading would be, "It was the same even if the cloud [only] set down [the previous] evening; if it lifted the next morning, they pulled up [stakes]." This fits with the next verse:

22. Whether it was for two days, a month, or a year that the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle, when it settled the descendants of Israel remained encamped and did not pull up stakes, but when it lifted, they set out.

   They had to "go with His flow"--being patient enough to stay put until He told them to move, but ready to move at a moment's notice when He did.

23. According to YHWH's word, they set out [to travel], and at His word they pitched [their tents]. They followed the injunction of YHWH, from the mouth of YHWH under the direction of Moshe.

   Under the direction of Moshe: This is how we can tell when the cloud is moving or standing still today. Does Moshe (the Torah) support it? Yeshayahu 8:20 tells us that anyone who does not speak in agreement with it has no light in them. We must be under Torah and following our leaders to remain under His covering. Though YHWH has done great things for us, but do not take Him for granted; what we knew last week might not be enough by which to keep up with the camp. As our understanding increases, the bar is raised, and we are responsible to advance in ways that we were not obligated to at this time last year.

CHAPTER 10

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

2. "Make for yourself two silver trumpets (make them of hammered work, beaten out of one piece) so you will have them to call together the assembly and to [signal] the breaking of the encampments.

   Silver: the price of blood, and thus redemption, but also of our souls, which reside in the blood (Lev. 17:11). In the Tabernacle, silver was in a transitional position between bronze things which bespoke our sin-prone earthliness and those of gold that depicted the eternal. The trumpets were given to prepare our souls to participate in the "golden" things. This is not "jazz at the nightclub" but what sets Israel in the right order to be able to operate properly. Assembly: The Hebrew term stems from the word for witness, which is in turn rooted in a term meaning to duplicate, repeat, or restore. Israel is indeed called to bear witness to the fact that YHWH is restoring His Kingdom through the repetition of His appointed times year by year until the fellowship Adam had with Him is duplicated. It has been lost over and over--the price we pay for leaving our gates unguarded. We are always "sounding trumpets" by what we say--or do not say. How we say it affects others, as well as what we do. While at one time Yahshua said, "Go out", now he is reeling us back in, and what we do within the community now speaks more than what we put on billboards outside of it. Yahshua said we would be known by our love for one another. Hammered work: like the menorah and the kh'ruvim atop the Ark of the Covenant. The technique has been lost, but all three items made in this way are symbols of the unification of more than one individual. Silver is pliable and thus can be hammered without breaking. This is a picture of how YHWH wants to make us as those who are to be the conductors of His spirit (the same as wind in Hebrew). The experiences that "hammer at us" will determine our ability to sound the right notes when it comes time to move Israel. We cannot say we know the Torah unless we have eaten matzah or sat in a sukkah, no matter how many times we have read about it.

3. "And when they shall sound a blast with them [both], the whole congregation shall assemble themselves to you at the entry to the Tent of Appointment.

   They: as opposed to "you" in v. 2. Moshe himself gave the word to sound (v. 13), then the designated priests gave the individual blasts that signaled the component groups to start marching. Blast: long and often with two or three tones, rising on each note. But the term really means a "slap" or "clap". In other words, it is "hard-hitting"; a "blow" in both senses, that gets our attention. The entry to the Tent of Appointment is where war is waged (Ex. 38:8), since sin crouches at the door. (Gen. 4:7) What attacks any Israelite affects all of Israel. The shofar, therefore, calls Israel to physical warfare, and the silver trumpets to spiritual warfare to rout the forces that drive our enemies. In a camp of several million, it was crucial to be able to communicate instructions clearly across wide stretches. Some say the camp was usually about twelve miles across! That may be an exaggeration, but maybe not. So this was a very valuable gift to Moshe. YHWH picked an instrument known for its clarity--the trumpet. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:8, "If a trumpet gives an indistinct sound, who will prepare for battle?" This is why YHWH specified exactly when each type of blast on the trumpets was to be used, and how many times, because each would call for a different response. It is hard to ignore the sound of a trumpet or a shofar. But as Eliyahu found, it is even harder to ignore a whisper. (1 Kings 19:11ff) We need to know how to hear the instruction in both ways YHWH gets our attention, or we will be left behind when the camp moves. He uses each method in its proper season. We cannot become too sensitive to listen to a loud blast, nor too calloused to hear the whisper. We cannot believe everything we hear, but neither should we only listen too what we already believe. There is more to YHWH's instruction than just the echo of what we have already heard and agreed to.

4. "But if they give a blast with [only] one [of them], then the captains who are heads of thousands in Israel shall gather themselves to you.

   Only one: In a camp this large, to give clarity, they may have blown one after the other in the first case (v. 3) to distinguish this latter situation from that one. In our day leaders are being called out first who can then cause the rest of the congregation of Israel to gather together when the time is fully right.

5. "Now if you sound an alarm, then the camps that are pitched eastward shall pull up [their tent pegs and move forward].

   Alarm: a series of at least nine short, staccato blasts. Pull up: The cloud must have lifted first (v. 34), but no one was to move until Moshe gave the signal. The cloud only gave a general instruction. Yahshua says to "watch"--stay awake and follow visual clues. But we also need to know how to proceed once we are packed, and for that we must learn to hear as well as to see. Sometimes it is important that we see things with our own eyes before we act, but we also need to know how to respond to a reliable witness, especially from an authority, in which case we should not need the loud trumpet that hits us in the very center of our being. We have seen YHWH prove Himself; if we are waiting for Him to do so again when He has give the order, we will end up at the back and be picked off by Amaleq. Listening is an art, and if we approach it with pre-existing assumptions, we may end up breaking camp when it is merely time to assemble. Modern philosopher/poet Mark Nepo has written, "To listen is to continually give up all expectation and give our attention completely and freshly to what is before us, not really knowing what we will hear or what it will mean, but leaning in and willing to be changed by what we hear." We cannot run a step ahead of what we are supposed to be walking behind. If we jump to a conclusion too quickly, even if we prove right, we will miss the nuances and details, and that is where the Kingdom lies. We are often called to leave behind the places or customs we are comfortable with in order to move on to higher knowledge, maturity, or physically, to a place where we can have fuller fellowship and accountability. The way of Avraham's descendants is to, like him, leave the familiar place when YHWH calls us to, and find out where we are going when He tells us to stop again. We do not need to know every detail in advance, or we would make plans to do things our own way. He calls us one by one out of our Babylonian associations, but when we end our exile it will again be as an entire people, which He is now beginning to assemble.

6. "And if you blow an alarm [of short, two-toned blasts] the second time, then the camps pitched on the south side shall set out.

   The rest of the order has been detailed before this. This may just be an example of the pattern of blowing the trumpets each time one of the four larger camps moved (from each of the four sides), or it may be that they only did sound them twice. In any case, they had to wait until the next signal so they would not run over one another.

7. "But when the congregation is to be gathered together, you shall blow [long] blasts, but not [sound] an alarm.

   One had to listen carefully once the first blast was sounded, to see whether anything else would follow to determine which type of call was being given. He did not want them "alarmed" if there was no cause for alarm. The things we say to one another must also not bring confusion or fear, but order. If we are merely "there" but not "present", not giving full attention, we will produce a sour note, showing that we were merely beaten, but not shaped by the experiences YHWH brought our way. Everyone needs to know what each progression means.

8. "And the sons of Aharon, [who are] the priests, shall [be the ones to] sound the trumpets, and these [things] shall be prescribed for you throughout your generations.

   It was important that there be no confusion resulting from someone else in the camp having the same type of trumpet and sounding it at the wrong time--or at the right time in the wrong way or for the wrong reason. We know from history that the Samaritans deliberately interfered with the fire-based signals used to communicate the sighting of the new moon over long distances. There was the same kind of potential for interference here, whether intentional or not. So YHWH specified exactly who was to blow the trumpets--the priests who were Aharon's sons. Moshe possessed them (v. 2), but they were the ones who did the blowing. (v. 8) They were young and had more strength, while he had the wisdom to direct them as to when they should do it--especially after what befell their two brothers. In the same way today, Moshe--the Torah--is the "owner" of all that we do for YHWH, and has to be the director of how and when we act on YHWH's behalf.

9. "And when you go to war in your Land against the adversary who is troubling you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before the face of YHWH your Elohim, and you shall be delivered from your enemies.

   In your Land: These movings-out were rehearsals for the days when they (or as it turned out, their children) would be in the Land. Note that YHWH does not say to conquer outside the Land He was allotting to Israel; when it is time for Yahshua to rule the world, all nations will be assembled at Yerushalayim, where He has every right to defeat them. Stepping across this border is forfeiting one's immunity. David later instructed presumably the priests as well to use both silver trumpet and shofar as part of the praise of YHWH. (Psalm 98:4) Maybe this is one reason Israel will be remembered before Him when this sound reaches Him. Another reason may be that the Hebrew word for silver trumpets, khatzotzerot, is based on the word khatzerot, which means enclosed settlements surrounded by a stockade or enclosed, much like a sheepfold where the whole flock is gathered together--which is one purpose of these trumpets. (Compare 12:16.) But maybe YHWH would remember simply because we obeyed His instruction to call on Him at such a time in this very specific way, because the situation described there--that of being troubled by an adversary within our Land--is one that, according to Lev. 26:6, should never even come about. There we are told that if we are walking in His ways, a foreign sword will not even come into our Land. So either someone here is rebelling from within, or Israel is not living like it should, and YHWH has sent an enemy to remind us of Him. If we remember this detail, it is a sign to Him that we are willing to obey again, so the cycle is complete and He remembers us as well. (See Malakhi 3:16ff for an example.) It indicates to Him that we were just forgetful and went astray rather than dismissing Him with malice or contempt, because when we were jarred awake again, we reverted quickly to His protocol. When our kings started calling on our former slavemasters in Egypt instead of calling on Him as He said to, it was all the proof He needed of where their hearts were. Could it really be this simple? Just blow a trumpet and be spared? Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to submit to; just ask Naaman. (2 Kings 5:10-14) Little more than trumpeting (when done at YHWH's word) brought down the walls of Y'rikho. If an instruction is very complicated, human hands have probably been put into the mix. Take YHWH at His word. As we return to this practice, we should do it conscious of the fact that this, too, is a reminder to YHWH that we are in a pattern of repentance and return, heading toward that Land. (v. 10) When all Israel unites, He Himself will blow the trumpet and accompany us. (Z'kharyah 9:14-17)

10. "Also, in the days when you are rejoicing, and at your appointed times, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow a long blast with the trumpets over your ascending offerings and your slaughters of peace [offerings], and they shall serve as a reminder before your Elohim for you[r sake]; I am YHWH your Elohim."

   At the beginnings of your months: i.e., at the new moon. Note that He says we may do this at any time we have cause to rejoice together, not just times He has prescribed. Elohim is the term that emphasizes judgment; the name YHWH emphasizes His mercy, so these sounds are a plea to Him for mercy.

11. Now it turned out that on the twentieth day of the second month in the second year, the cloud lifted from over the Dwelling Place of the Testimony,

   This places it four or five weeks into the counting of the omer, depending when the Passover fell in relation to the Sabbath that year. It is only six days after the "second Passover" of chapter 9, and this shows clearly that they did not keep a second week of unleavened bread; that would have been something those defiled by the corpse could still participate in the first time. But it is only nineteen days after the preceding events, so YHWH tested them immediately with an actual move rather than just a drill. He usually tests us soon after we learn something, because our maturity is not measured by what we know but by how well we respond when tested. They did well on their test:

12. so the descendants of Israel set out on their journeyings from the Sinai desert, and the cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Pa'aran.

   Pa'aran means "beautiful caverns". This region is the eastern portion of what today is (probably erroneously) called the Sinai Peninsula, a mountainous desert region (Deut. 33:2) bordering on the Reed Sea and the Aravah (Deut. 1:1). They are heading northward from Midyan and the area of Eylath toward the Promised Land now that all the foundation commands have been given.

13. Thus they set out for the first time according to the word of YHWH, under the direction of Moshe,

   Word: literally, "mouth". Direction: literally, "hand". This was the first time they packed up the Tabernacle to move. They had been at Mt. Sinai for over a year, and knew YHWH had been there. It was a leap of faith to trust Moshe's judgment when he said it was time to move on. But this time they did.

14. with the standard of the camp of Yehudah in front, by their companies, and Nachshon the son of Amminadav was over its army.

   Exodus 6:23 tells us that Aharon took Elisheva, daughter of Amminadav, as his wife. She was thus Nachshon's sister; this widened the influence of Aharon's family even further. It seems that the war maneuvers followed the same pattern by which we broke camp: When there were still Kanaanites to conquer after Y'hoshua's death, YHWH told Yehudah to go up first. (Judges 1:1-2) When the tribe of Binyamin was at odds with the rest of the nation over the grisly incident involving the death of a Levite's concubine, again YHWH told Yehudah to go up first when they asked Him who should start the campaign. (Judges 20:18) And in the final battle for Yerushalayim as the Kingdom begins, YHWH says He will rescue the tents of Yehudah first, indicating that someone else comes afterwards. (Zkh. 12:7) We even see it taking place today in the Land: Yehudah arrived first. Of course, this has something to do with the throne belonging to Yehudah as well. And again, it reminds us to follow Yehudah's lead, just as when the head of that tribe brought his offering and all the other tribal leaders brought exactly the same gift. It seems that YHWH is emphasizing that part of our getting in order these days.

15. And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Issachar was Nethan'el the son of Tzuar.

   Those over the "armies" of the tribes turn out to be the same as the "heads of the fathers' [households]" of chapter 7. YHWH is the master psychologist. Today in Israel the soldiers are well-motivated in the same way, since those they are directly fighting to protect are all their own relatives, not strangers.

16. Over the army of the tribe of the sons of Z'vulun was Eliav the son of Helon.

17. Then the Tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari traveled forward carrying the Dwelling-Place.

   If all the divisions ended up moving out in a straight line, the Tabernacle's moving second (after the three tribes headed by Yehudah on the east), it gave space for the southern, western, and finally northern divisions to move into formation.

18. Then the standard of the camp of Re'uven set out by their companies, and over its army was Elitzur the son of Sh'dey-Ur.

19. And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Shim'on was Sh'lumiel the son of Tzurishaddai.

20. Then over the army of the tribe of the sons of Gad was Elyasaf the son of De'u-El.

21. Then the Q'hathites moved forward, carrying the Sanctuary, so that the Dwelling-place might be set up prior to their arrival.

   The entire congregation would string out for miles when they were traveling, so there was time for those only fourth and fifth in the order (the Gershonites and Merarites) to set up before the Q'hathites (ninth in line-up) arrived. Note that what the first two carried constituted the Dwelling Place (v. 17), while what the latter carried--the furnishings (4:5ff)--were called the Sanctuary.

22. Then the standard of the camp of the descendants of Efrayim set out according to their companies, with Elishama the son of Ammihud over its army.

23. Over the army of the tribe of the sons of Menashe was Gamli'El the son of Pedah-tzur.

24. And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Binyamin was Avidan the son of Gid'oni.

25. Then the standard of the camp of the descendants of Dan, who were the rear guard of all the camps, departed by their companies. And over his army was Achiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

   Rear guard: literally, "gatherer" (the collector of what other tribes left behind?), or "remover"--and Dan is the tribe that is removed from the list in Rev. 7; from it none of the 144,000 come. We know that Amaleq attacked the weak who straggled at the back. Was this because Dan neglected their duty to protect them?

26. Then over the army of the tribe of the sons of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran.

27. And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Nafthali was Achira the son of Eynan.

28. These were the marching order of the descendants of Israel by their companies when they set out [to travel].

29. Then Moshe said to Hovav the son of Re'u-El the Midyanite (Moshe's in-law), "We are traveling to the place of which YHWH said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will do right to you, because YHWH has promised beneficial [things] concerning Israel."

   Hovav means "beloved". Re'u-El is the same as Yithro, whom Moshe had already given a sendoff, so Hovav would be more specifically Moshe's brother-in-law.

30. But he told him, "I will not go, because I am going to my [own] land and offspring instead."

31. So he said, "Please don't abandon us, because since you know how we camp in the desert, you can be like a pair of eyes for us.

   Be like eyes for us: It appears that Hovav had stayed with the Israelites long enough to see them break camp and set up again, and he knew how much space they needed for the whole camp and how it needed to be arranged. Being a desert-dweller himself and familiar with the region, he could be a scout for them. Though Moshe was a prophet, he still recognized the "profit" in having someone with experience and organizational skills around him. The two of them were the only shepherds among a group of former slaves who did not know the wilderness. Hovav knew how to keep a flock together, how far to let them stray before reining them back in again. His father was also the "administrator of strife". He is another set of eyes that Moshe would find a valuable ally. He also needed someone to speak to who knows more than he and who can understand what he is talking about.

32. "So it will be, if you go along with us, what will take place is that whatever YHWH does to benefit us, we will do the same to benefit you."

   It does not say whether he agreed to or not, but he is promised a share in Israel's blessing if he does, and it seems that this is the end of the conversation. Being the son of a priest, this reminds us of Avraham's encounter with Melkhitzedeq, whom Avraham appreciated so much that he paid him a tithe.

33. Then they traveled on from the mountain of YHWH three days' journey, and the Ark of YHWH's Covenant went three days' journey ahead of them in order to seek out a resting place for them,

   The Ark, as the counterpart of the Sabbath (both being a sign of the covenant), goes ahead to find a resting place--just as Yahshua said he would do for us (Yochanan 14:6), as the firstfruits of the resurrection. It almost sounds as if it traveled on its own, but there were probably Levites carrying it as usual. It may have been three days ahead of the very back of the camp (where Moshe may have been), indicating that it took three days for the entire camp to move onward. We do not know how long He wants us to "camp" at a certain place, focusing on something. He decides when we are ready to move on from it. Where we go next in our return to the Promised Land is to be determined only by where YHWH's presence is and where His covenant is established. Once YHWH left Mt. Sinai, it was nothing more than a historical site, for it was not the final goal; to stay there would be of no benefit, and would only leave any who remained an easy target for enemies. While YHWH blessed the places the ark rested, even when they did not belong to Israel, the man who hosted it had no claim once David came back to retrieve it. His name was Oved-Edom--"the servant of Edom (Esau)". Rabbinic scholars say Edom's scepter has been passed to Rome (the seat of the Church). Today YHWH is calling Israel to recall from the Church the things that belong to Israel. This is not accomplished by demanding them from the Vatican, but by living out the practices delineated here and throughout the Torah, for the Church is not obeying them. Those who do obey are those who will have a right to the accompanying blessings.

34. and the cloud of YHWH was over them by day when they traveled on from the camp.

   It may have concealed their movements from their enemies' spies.

35. And what Moshe would say when the Ark set out was, "Rise up, O YHWH, and let Your enemies be dispersed, and let those who hate You be put to flight before You[r face]!"

   This was the signal that meant, "It's time to go!" It also meant, "Rise up, O people of YHWH!" It may have been linked with the blowing of trumpets as in v. 9.

36. And when it would rest, he would say, "Return, O YHWH, to the multiplied thousands of Israel!"

   If we do order our lives by what YHWH is doing, then we too may have a right to echo Moshe by asking YHWH to return to the multiplied thousands of Israel. (v. 36) Stopping when He stops--on the Sabbath--gives us some practice with getting into this pattern. This sounds so perfect--being visibly in His presence, with constant provision. This was the life--protection, unity, no doubt at all that YHWH was with us. Except for not yet being in the Land, this seems as idyllic as it can get--which is why the next verse seems so out of place and downright wrong:

CHAPTER 11

1. But the people became like complainers, and it was displeasing in the ears of YHWH; when YHWH heard it, His nostrils became hot, and the fire of YHWH was kindled among them, and consumed [those that were] in the outer fringes of the camp.

   What was there to complain about? They are in YHWH's order! The problem in this ideal setting was that there were human beings in the camp! Maybe they resented having to move at a moment's notice, never being able to plan, having to leave just after they had settled in, just after planting a garden, or in the middle of the night. It does not even tell us what they complained about, teaching us to just stay away from every sort of grumbling. The Hebrew term for complaining has no other word as its root, suggesting that complaining is groundless. It is the way of our flesh, but there is no excuse for it. Once one takes up the practice of complaining, any reason seems enough; they may have been grasping for any reason to grumble about Moshe. But the word has the nuance of mourning, suggesting that they were complaining about what they had in the former campsite but now lacked, or because of having to move again only a few days after getting settled in. (This is the context at the end of the last chapter.) He was in the process of taking them to the Promised Land, and to complain about that means they were looking at nothing but their own But if this account was read aloud, something else would be suggested. The root word for "complainers" (anan) sounds nearly identical to the word for cloud ('anan), and initially more people would hear it read than see it in print. Being under the cloud was a major emphasis in chapter 9. This pun suggests that they were like "cloud-makers"--trying to create their own covering rather than relying on the covering YHWH gave them. What is making YHWH angry is the anan of the people. We cannot get to our home under our own covering; Israel goes home as an entire people. When the honeymoon wears off and the intimacy fades, a relationship--even with YHWH--starts to break down. That is a condition we should be afraid to be in. That is the "fear of YHWH". It is very telling that it started at the fringes or outskirts, the extremities of the camp--closer to the areas designated for relieving oneself, and some may have chosen to be there because it was more convenient, but it put them farther from the heart of the camp, the place of greatest holiness. Those on the edge--the hem of the garment which becomes frayed most easily-- picture the uncommitted--the loners who are holding back from being a real part of the camp, whether it is because they are set in their ways, or just think they are "different from those people". Having our own agenda, doing things our own way, is still rebellion, and puts us on the outskirts of the camp. Those who feel sorry for themselves cannot draw near, because they are, even if subconsciously, blaming YHWH for the way things are, feeling that He is part of the problem. The word for "fringe" here also often means the part that is cut off--or frayed, being close to coming off already anyway. Sometimes people tend to complain the most when things are going the best. If everything is working well in the camp, and they are on the outskirts, they have to invent reasons that they cannot fully commit to being a part of it. If they are uncomfortable seeing things the way YHWH has commanded us to, they have to make excuses about why they should keep their distance: "Why can't I have the job I wanted? Why do only the Levites gert to camp so close? Some of them are so young, and I am old and have such a long way to walk! My ancestor was older; why do we have to be under the banner of his younger brother's tribe?" But there are not equal rights in the Kingdom. In this camp, if you complain, you feel the flaring of His nostrils, like a bull that is ready to charge. The cloud we thought we had made for ourselves is just the smoke that indicates we are starting to burn up! The underlying reason is that they do not trust Him. You cannot say you trust YHWH, but not trust the leader He has put in place over you. So these people conclude that that cloud must not really be YHWH's. The problem is not in what they lack, but their inability to be content and make the best of what they do have. They say that if only they had a little bit more, they could do a better job. YHWH's principle is to be faithful with a little, and then He will give you more. It is not instantaneous. We do not always have to overtly complain; snide remarks can be complaints in disguise. We can complain in many ways, even with a sigh or body language--a scowl, cough, or simply shaking our head or the look that shouts, "I can't believe you are telling me to do that!" Whispering our complaints is a form of witchcraft. All of these have the same effect. They are hard to hide; they are as obvious as if you had a little cloud hanging over your head His cloud is whatever provision or protection He has given us. What you trust is that which you give authority to. Whether money, insurance, etc., whatever determines what moves you make or what keeps you awake at night. Do we trust His provision and stay under His authority--doing things His way (i.e., by the Torah), or say, "I just can't buy that part of it", and make our own laws? Teenagers are eager to move out from under their parents' authority, and they do need to gain some maturity, but it is against Torah to think they will ever be fully independent. Their parents' rules seem repressive until they get into the "prodigal son" scenario--they are eating Ramen noodles when they could have Mom's home cooking! Like so many parents, YHWH, too, says, "If you are under My roof, you are going to live by My rules!" Women need to trust their husbands as well, and students need to respect their teachers, because these are where they get their shade and "manna". Without a covering, we are naked and alone. Your own cloud is a mere wisp that produces no rain. We do need to do some things differently as we ascend, but change for its own sake is destructive, though it seems to be a constant desire of the human psyche. And if we decide that it would be better to go back under the covering, there is no guarantee that we will be allowed back in, as we see here. So we have to appreciate it while we are under it, and hope to be able to stay under it. YHWH is not understanding of those who complain when there is no reason to. This is a side of Him that we are usually afraid to look at, but there are some things He will just not put up with. If the squeaky wheel gets the oil, it is all the easier to burn up! All we are doing is insinuating that He does not know what He is doing. There is no medicine to fix this. We have to discipline ourselves and decide we are going to be comfortable on the inside.

2. So the people cried out to Moshe for help, and when Moshe interceded [in prayer] to YHWH, the fire subsided.

   Only when the heat was literally turned up and they knew they were in trouble did they turn back to Moshe (the Torah). They had memorized what to do in such crises, but had not really learned the attitudes behind the right things to do. This was the difference between looking to Torah for answers and actually walking in it. They did not even want to approach YHWH directly. They just wanted to know how to escape the present crisis.

3. And he called the name of the place "Tav'erah" [burning] because the fire of YHWH had burnt among them.

   "The fire of YHWH" is usually a positive term, but as with any fire, you do not want to be on the wrong side of it. If you are not serious about YHWH, it is a scary thing, but it is scarier to be without His fire on the altar. But as soon as the fire died down, a new problems arose:

4. Then the rabble in their midst began to wish with greedy desire, and the descendants of Israel also started crying again, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat?

   Rabble: "assembled mob" or "riffraff". The influence of those not fully "in" with the community spread like the fire to those in the heart of the camp as well. This made it even harder to deal with. All of the clouds were gathering together to challenge YHWH's burning. Maybe it would have been better if Moshe had not had so much pity and had allowed it to burn longer, since once the people saw that Moshe could stop the plague, they were no longer afraid to do the very same thing again.  Give us meat: They are actually complaining about the fact that the priesthood gets free meat. "Though our clothing did not wear out, the priests' clothes are nicer! Why does Aharon get treated better than we do? It's not fair!" If we find these words coming out of our mouths, we need to check ourselves. Never mind that Aharon is not allowed to make even one false move. It is not that they do not have meat; some tribes have "much cattle"! They want a handout--something they do not have to pay for. They would not think of slaughtering their own flocks and herds; they want someone else to do everything for them (the story of Christianity). Their flocks are their wealth; they want to both be on welfare and have money in the bank! They want food now, not when they can grow it for themselves. But no matter what we think we deserve, some things are simply not allotted to us, no matter how righteous we are. We are not all built to be priests. If we are not in Aharon's line, we simply do not qualify. Expecting everything to come easily is what destroys empires--when everyone wants to be on top and no one wants to do the work. The Hebrew term for meat also means "glad news", so they are asking for a Gospel they can stomach"--the opposite of Yahshua's call to take up one's cross and die to oneself. Meat to eat: See note on v. 22. Wish with greedy desire: could be read as saying they wanted something--anything --to crave, having nothing to look forward to but the same thing every day. (v. 6) They have everything they need, so they want to have something new to want! They've had no excitement for a while--none of the former miracles, and are bored with YHWH's generous provision. The same pattern persists: "All you ever talk about is Torah! You relate everything in the Torah to Yahshua! I need something else!" Psalm 78:17-22 tells us specifically the "who" they had in mind. They willfully put YHWH to the test, asking if He really could come through for them. They were accusing Him of not spreading a table for them--not being hospitable enough. Ephesians 4:17ff tells us some of the ways we can be just like these people of old. Paul reminds us there that though we may not have what we used to have or what others now have, those are not the important things at all. They focused more on what they did not have, forgetting that they were living in the midst of a miracle. They weren't seeing the big picture. Didn't they find enough wonder in what YHWH was teaching them? It was the same after Yahshua's resurrection. His people were walking as if in a dream, forgetting about their concern for security and living as examples of the Kingdom in the midst of a political nightmare around them. But even then, some started to get worn down by the physical sacrifices they were having to make and the persecution they were experiencing--a small price to pay in the overall scheme of things, but it warranted a reminder in the book of Hebrews to hang in there and take the pain, not letting a root of bitterness spring up, so they could keep their sights clear and make it all the way to the Kingdom. Today, a great move of YHWH has begun again, and going along with it may mean giving up earthly securities, family, friends, and amusements. We no longer have all the programs the Church had, but we do have a fuller revelation of the truth and knowledge of who we are. We could kvetch about how cramped it can be in community, mutter that the prodding hurts, and grumble that we could have a savings account if we didn't have to tithe--or we can say, "So what!?! We're on the road to the Kingdom! Not even Bill Gates and Donald Trump have that!" The cure for boredom is to serve others. The repair for complaining is to give thanks, and as with other forms of stealing, we should give back substantially more than we robbed YHWH of.

5. "We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt [and] the cucumbers, melons, herbs, onions, and garlic!

   Freely: As if slavery was not a price to pay! What do freed slaves have to complain about? Their only expectations could come from what they were used to in Egypt. The Wilderness of Pa'aran is the first place Yishma'el settled (Gen. 21:21), and he, too, had a longing for things Egyptian while staying there--in his case, an Egyptian woman in particular. YHWH even had to take the people out of this area for a while before bringing them back to it (12:16), possibly to get them away from this remaining influence of Yishma'el. But the second time they came back, when the spies brought the report, they again expressed a desire to have stayed in Egypt! So there is something about this place that links it to Egypt. Even Menachem Begin must have thought that fitting, because he gave most of the area of Pa'aran back to Egypt after Israel had captured it, despite all the oilfields that Israel had gained by possessing it. Maybe YHWH just thinks it is too close to or too much like Egypt for Israel to hold onto for long. The wilderness of Pa'aran is also where David went when Shmu'el died, probably just to get out of Sha'ul's jurisdiction, but he thought he would find hospitality there with someone whose servants he had treated well. (1 Shmu'el 25) But Naval withheld provisions for the feast, and then died on Yom Teruah, just as the trumpets were blowing. Pa'aran is a place the whole people came the first time the hatzotzeroth blew, and they again returned there--interestingly enough, right after being at a place called Hatzeroth which is the root for hatzotzeroth! (See v. 35.) Nothing that grows high in trees is listed here; they preferred things that grow close to the ground--earthly things. Herbs: or possibly, leeks. The particular things they lusted for were not evil, but they disregarded the better things YHWH was giving and thought they knew better than He what they needed. These were the things of Egypt--the place they had left behind, and that is why their longing for them angered Him so much.

6. "But now our soul is withered dry, and there is nothing at all [before] our eyes except this 'manna'."

   Soul: or appetite. Here was food available every morning. (There is such a thing as free breakfast, if not a free lunch!) If there had been a water shortage this time, we would have known about it. They just had no taste for the manna. They didn't want these army rations--they were too boring! There was just no "pizzazz" to it. (By the way, that's a Hebrew word meaning to jump or dance, but also to be flashy like gold.) And some were probably saying an omer wasn't enough for them. But when we criticize them, we must also look in the mirror. When everything else is in place, we tend to complain about the smallest things. Since they had stopped celebrating His festivals except when specifically reminded to do so, of course the nomadic life lost its shine. Yahshua said He is the true bread that came down from heaven--that which the manna foreshadowed. (Yochanan 6:31-33) So rejecting it is a picture of rejecting him. Do we want him to taste just like earthly ideas that do not require us to die to self daily? (Mat. 16:24) Do we have a taste for who Yahshua really is, rather than for who men have purported him to be?

7. Now the manna was like coriander [cilantro] seed, and its appearance was like the appearance [color] of bdellium,

   Bdellium (bedolach in Hebrew) is an aromatic gum like myrrh (often used as a less expensive substitute for it) that is derived from a tree. Some identify it with the species Commiphora wightii, now called guggul, still used as a binder to fix the scent in perfumes. According to Pliny (Historia Naturalis, xii. 35), it is a transparent, fragrant resin resembling wax, greasy to the touch, and of a bitter taste. (It did not taste like bdellium!) When it hardens its color varies from golden brown to nearly black, and is usually a mixture of both, though while still oozing from the tree it appears like small white pearls. Exodus 16:31 specifies that it was indeed white.

8. and the people would go to and fro gathering it, and would grind it with millstones or beat it in a mortar, and boil it in pans, then make it into [baked] cakes, and its taste was like the taste of fresh [cakes baked with] oil.

   To and fro: The term means to walk about, but in the sense of a leisurely stroll--without any effort or exertion. This is the exact opposite of Esau's stressful, fruitless hunting for meat. Its taste: Elsewhere we learn that it tasted like honey (Ex. 16:31) Other cultures derived the idea of "ambrosia" from this substance, because they, too, did not know what it was, and considered it the food of the elohim. All of this seems to emphasize how delicious it was, to show how foolish their complaining was--as if they were "forced" to eat doughnuts every day! They were lacking nothing but the taste they preferred. Were they upset about having to go pick it up? They did not eat it raw; there was still preparation involved. YHWH's provision of Yahshua as our way of escape from paganism and back into the covenant does not mean it will happen automatically or by magic. We still have to make what he did a part of us by studying, ruminating on it, practicing it.

9. And whenever the dew descended upon the camp at night, the manna condensed upon it.

   In Jewish tradition, dew is associated with the resurrection from the dead. Velikovsky, a Jewish scientist of the 1940s, found evidence of similar events all around the world at this time. He theorized that the whole earth went through the tail of a comet and that the gases, dust, and meteorites it thus encountered, along with the gravitational pull of the comet's head, was what YHWH used to physically bring about a lot of the special effects seen throughout the time of the Exodus. One of the side effects of this was to set off a prolonged and simultaneous eruption of thousands of volcanoes. Just one eruption has been known to change the appearance of the atmosphere for a whole year. Psaslms 44 and 107 speak of Israel experiencing darkness and gloomy conditions at this time. Writings from Mexico, India, Egypt, and Scandinavia reflect the idea that there was a great darkening--some of them say for 25 years! (Scripture would suggest 40, since the Midrash says the sun was not even seen again until near the end of the wandering.) The direction of the sunrise could be seen, so it was not pitch black, but if one volcanic eruption on the scale of Mt. St. Helens can add more carbon to the atmosphere than all the human emissions for many years, so this was an environmental crisis much worse than the "global warming" we incessantly hear about--and people complained that the crops could not grow. But the other major element volcanoes send into the atmosphere is water vapor. And if under normal circumstances we get dew when water condenses in the morning, we would have a very different type of condensation in these circumstances. What do you get when carbon and hydrogen condense? Carbohydrates! And that's exactly what was needed to keep this mass of people nourished in a place and time where they could not grow crops. It essentially rained grain--the staple food of Israel even when they were nomads before going to Egypt. So it was quite nutritious. And it was "instant"--they didn't have to wait a whole growing season.

10. When Moshe heard the people complaining in their families, every man at the door of his tent, YHWH's nostrils became very hot, and it was also displeasing in Moshe's eyes.

   This is the first time he does not take their part and defend them from YHWH's wrath, though he is the only one YHWH will listen to anymore and thus the only one who can keep Him from killing them. Before they had made honest mistakes, and he had readily given them the benefit of the doubt, but now they are complaining about YHWH's provision. It is becoming ridiculously emotional, and he has had all that he can take. They no longer have a point. This time he really feels that they deserve their punishment. He treats this as worse than idolatry, and we should take this to heart.

11. Then Moshe said to YHWH, "Why have You treated Your servant so badly, and why haven't I found favor in Your eyes, that You lay the burden of this whole nation on me?

12. "Did I beget this whole people? Did I labor to give birth to them, that You tell me, 'Carry them on your lap like a foster father carries a nursing child' to the Land which You swore unto their fathers?

   I.e., "If I were responsible for their existence, You could blame me. But why are You holding me accountable for their stupidity this time? Why did You put me in this position?" All of this complaining has distorted His own viewpoint as well, and even Moshe is complaining now. He is not hiding it like a coward, but is very open about his frustration: "How could You do this to me? I thought we had something here!" YHWH resolved this problem (as seen in the following verses), but in chapter 12, we will see it spread to his siblings as well. Complaining is a very contagious thing--a germ very difficult to eradicate. Its seed lingers. If we teach our children to be overly sensitive about every little ache or pain or snub, we are setting them up to be complainers, and this brings shame to us as well. So what is the remedy? How do we get out from under these smoky clouds and back under YHWH's covering? First, we must be honest and identify the problem so that we can address it. Then we can go back to the old faithful advice: "Count your blessings." It sounds quaint, but gratefulness is exteremely powerful medicine. It can heal many things. Remember what YHWH is doing for you and for those you know. Thank Him and tell others what He is doing. And remember that the Hebrew word for "thanks" is based on putting your hand to it, not just your mouth. Don't let thanksgiving become rote or repetitive either. And do not expose yourself to the virus to start with. If you hear someone starting to complain, call them on it. Remind them to be thankful, and refuse to go under the black cloud with them. Second-hand smoke is the bigger killer! Finally, go back to the source. Move away from the edge of the camp and into its heart. Don't keep your distance or hide from community, but look for YHWH's cloud. What is He covering? Where can His presence be seen? Where is His blessing resting today? And most importantly, what has He said He wants? That is available to us all in the Torah. Then come on in. This is the only real covering you will ever have.

13. "From where will I get meat to feed all these people? Because they're complaining to me, saying, 'Give us meat to eat!'

14. "I'm not able to bear this whole people alone, because it's too burdensome for me!

15. "If You [are going to] treat me this way, then [just go ahead and] kill me, if I have found favor in Your sight, and don't let me see my misery."

   Misery: with the connotation of a worsening condition or calamity. Moshe asked why all of these people should be his responsibility, when he never asked to be their leader. But he wanted what was right for them, even if he could no longer be the one to lead them, and did not want to see the final failure of the venture he was told to carry out. At least he vents his complaint against YHWH openly, rather than covertly to someone else, and YHWH respected the point he made:

16. So YHWH told Moshe, "Assemble for Me seventy of the mature men in Israel--whom you have recognized to be the most mature in the nation, and [able to] rule over them, and bring them to the entry of the Tent of Appointment that they may present themselves there with you,

   What is different this time? YHWH does not let the people recommend the leaders to Moshe, because then they would only be democratic and pick people who look out for the interests of their own families and tribes; Moshe must choose people he knows to have the interests of the whole nation at heart--true elders, not those who will kowtow to their constituents. Mature: literally, elders. When the Torah is widely available and taught, there should be a one-to-one correspondence between age and wisdom or the ability to rule, but when all else is not equal, it is those who prove themselves most committed and experienced in the Torah who should act as elders in Israel, whether grey-headed or not. This is not the rulers of 10, 50, 100, or 1,000; they continued to rule concurrently over their jurisdictions. This is the original Sanhedrin. The number 70 usually hints at Israel's priesthood for all the nations (based on Gen. 10)--a link with Shavuoth, when "devout men out of every nation" among whom the spirit was poured out in Yerushalayim responded to the Messiah's call. (Acts/Envoys 2:5) These 70 represent the firstfruits from among the nations being gathered again today to rule Israel with the spirit of Moshe (the Torah). We again need people who can shepherd Israelites, not Americans or Britons or Mexicans. The only place to learn this skill is from the experts--Jews, who have been doing so to a much greater extent for centuries. And we all--especially those used to democracies--must again learn to be shepherded by leaders who truly do not muddy the waters.

17. "and I will come down and talk with you there. Then I will withdraw some of the spirit that is upon you, and place it on them, and they will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you don't [have to] bear it by yourself.

   He got some relief, but at a price: he would not personally be as unique as before. But he took this in stride (see v. 29). He was glad to share it. Considering 12:6-8, there was apparently enough to go around. What spirit was upon him? The spirit of a shepherd, which had been developed over forty years once he accepted his lot and committed himself to doing his assigned task well. Yaaqov and his sons had been shepherds until Egypt turned them into builders. (Interestingly enough, people called Yahshua a carpenter, but he never called himself that; he called himself a shepherd.) Like Moshe, they needed to be re-trained to look out for the flock, not their own interests. He was also to choose men able to rule. They were already proven leaders, having made themselves into the right kind of containers for the additional responsibility YHWH wanted to pour into them. The term for "rule" is based on a root meaning to write; that Israel's leaders need to be well-versed in the Torah.

18. "Then tell the people, 'Set yourselves apart [to be ready] for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have complained in YHWH's ears, saying, 'Who will give us meat to eat? Because it was better for us in Egypt!' So YHWH will give you meat, and you will eat [it]!

   Set yourselves apart: addressed to those who were complaining. YHWH used this technique of separating the guilty from the rest of the camp again in chapter 16. They seem predisposed to find the glass half-empty no matter what. We all know people like that--and like Shlomo said, they're like constantly-dripping faucets, and it was no different for YHWH or Moshe. And when they finally come out and say what they were thinking--that it was better than in Egypt--it's now a pure insult, after all YHWH and even Moshe have done for them. But we will not find what we are looking for if we go back to what had enslaved us to find it.

19. "You won't just eat it for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days,

   The letters with the numeric value of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 spell out avaheycha or avahayich (it works either in masculine or feminine)--a form of the same word for "been greedy" in v. 35, meaning "your lusting".

20. "but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and nauseates you, because you have rejected [despised] YHWH who was among you, and have complained in His face, saying, 'Why did we [ever even] leave Egypt?'"

   Nostrils: a word play on the Hebrew way to describe YHWH's anger (e.g., vv. 1, 10) so they would remember how it made Him feel when they complained. They were not equipped to handle this, so they should not have asked for it. Nauseates: or is disgusting, abominable. He threatened to give them what they asked for, hinting that it would really end up being a punishment. They did not like the wonderful provision He had made for them, so He would "stick them with the bill" for what they wanted instead. They essentially rejected His offer of a wedding ring, and reminded Him of the gifts their "former boyfriend" used to give them--forgetting that the grass had not been greener there at all, since he had beaten them and stolen from them. Our specific situation may be different, but human nature does not change. If He offered to give us all the financial security we wished for at the expense of having the time to serve Him and the need to trust Him directly, would we take Him up on it?

21. Then Moshe said, "The people in the midst of whom I am are 600,000 footsoldiers [alone], and You say, 'I'll give them meat to eat for a whole month'?!

22. "Shall the flocks and herds be slaughtered to satisfy them? Or shall the fish of the sea all be gathered together for them, in order to be enough for them?"

   Flocks and herds: This raises the question, why didn't they slaughter them? They would certainly want to save enough to start larger flocks and herds once they arrived in the Land, but there was already a great deal of livestock. (Ex. 12:38) They could have eaten meat, but it would not have been "free". (v. 5) They would have to slaughter their own animals, and this would cost them something. In Egypt they may have been given already-prepared meat while working, so they were not used to preparing it for themselves from the point of slaughter--a situation most fo us today can identify with as well. But the main point is probably that they envied the priests and Levites who DID get to eat meat "without cost", even though they did put their lives on the line for YHWH every day. Like Qorakh later, they thought it was just not "fair" that someone rightfully had free meat, but they did not, though they were . The free provision of manna was just not enough; they wanted something other than what it rained when YHWH's presence was there. Fish of the sea: They were near the tip of the eastern branch of the Reed Sea. But Moshe's question to YHWH sounded a lot like the disciples' question to Yahshua: "Where can we get enough food to feed 5,000 men, let alone women and children?" And the fact that he specifically asks if the fish could be gathered together to satisfy their hunger clinched the fact that there is some connection to that passage in Matthew 14, besides being the answer to their having said they had all that fish in Egypt. The people Yahshua was teaching weren't complaining of hunger at all, even though they actually had nothing to eat, while those who had plenty were complaining about what kind of food they didn't have! Yahshua said his food was to do the will of the One who sent him, and these people seem to have caught the same spirit. Let's be like these people who were so interested in the "bread of life" that they forgot about physical food. They, incidentally, are the ones who got fed--and not one of them got sick from it. And I think that 5,000 turned out to get multiplied themselves--because if we multiply all the numbers that appear in the account of the miracle of the loaves and fishes together (5 loaves x 2 fishes x 12 baskets full x 5,000 men), we get 600,000 again! So while only Yehudah was probably recognized in that crowd, it was all about becoming this army of Israel again, because the fish multiplying on the Land are Ephrayim and M'nasheh (Gen. 48:16) and the 5 loaves are the Torah. All 12 tribes are provided for by those fish and that bread.

23. But YHWH asked Moshe, "Has YHWH's arm gotten shorter? You'll see whether what I've promised will indeed come upon you or not!"

   A shepherd must learn that at some point his own resources run out, and YHWH's abilities need to kick in. Even Yahshua realized this in a similar situation.

24. So Moshe went out and told the people all that YHWH had said, and gathered seventy of the most mature men in the nation, and had them stand all around the Tent.

   Now that they had been counted he knew exactly what he was up against, and honestly did not know how YHWH could do this, but had enough confidence in Him to go ahead and do what He said. Yahshua did the same thing in Gath Sh'maney, "arguing" that He could not raise Himself from the dead to be Israel's king, but submitted to the Father's will because He trusted Him.

25. Then YHWH descended in a cloud and spoke to him, and withdrew some of the spirit that was upon him and gave it to the seventy elders. And when the spirit rested [settled] upon them, they began to prophesy, but not excessively.

26. However, two [of the] men remained in the camp when the spirit rested on them. The name of one was Eldad [Elohim has loved] and the other's name was Medad [loving]. Now they were among those who had been enrolled [among the seventy], but they did not go out to the Tent; rather, they prophesied inside the camp.

   These may correlate prophetically with the two witnesses who remain on earth while the other "elders" surround the heavenly throne throughout the book of Revelation, though there the number is 24. The number 70 would also suggest seven complete congregations, which also appear in the early chapters of Revelation.

27. And a young man ran and reported to Moshe, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!"

28. Then Y'hoshua the son of Nun, who had waited on Moshe since his youth, responded and said, "Moshe, my master, restrain them!"

   It seemed to him that they were carrying out a holy activity in a common place.

29. But Moshe asked him, "Are you jealous for me? I'd rather [that it were possible] for all the people to be prophets, so YHWH would put His spirit on them!"

   He is glad for any help he can get. A prophet is someone who can hear the voice of YHWH, just as a shepherd knows the will of the owner of the flock. This sounds very much like an occasion when Yahshua's disciples wanted to stop people they did not know who were casting out demons in his name: "He who is not against us is for us." (Luke 9:50) It's not about exclusiveness or power, but order. He wants knowledge to spread, like Paul who also said he wished everyone could prophesy. (1 Cor. 14:5, 39) But while they both wished their fellows well, YHWH did not choose to make everyone prophesy. Only 73 out of 600,000 did. Not everyone is given the same rights, but each is given some gift to share with the whole congregation. There is a lot more demand for "grunts" than prophets. It's the manna rather than the fancy melons again. The latter adds some variety, but you can walk a lot further on carbohydrates than on melons, and walking was supposed to be the order of the day.

30. And Moshe withdrew himself into the camp--he and the elders that were with him.

   This would be the pattern of the Levites in the Land, who would come up to the Temple to learn the ways of YHWH, then go back out into all Israel to teach them. Being set-apart is not an end in itself, but for the purpose of concentrating the leaders' efforts to prepare themselves to serve the people in the fullest way.

31. Then a great wind came out from YHWH and brought quails across from the west and let them swoop down around the camp, about a day's journey here and a day's journey there, all around, about a two cubits above the earth's surface.

   They were easy to catch; the Hebrew word for quail itself comes from a word meaning "sluggish", and they were only about one yard or one meter above the ground, and thus easy to catch. The strong wind had apparently weakened or dazed them as well. It also means "tranquil" in the sense of secure and successful, and indeed they were looking to this provision rather than YHWH's continuing presence for their security. Here…and there: i.e., on both sides of the camp.

32. And the people stayed up all that day, all that night, and the next day to harvest the quails, and the one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves around the camp.

   They indeed had enough for a month. Since one omer is how much manna each was supposed to gather, and a homer is ten omers, they really had to be greedy and obsessive to gather ten homers--a hundred times as much as they should eat in a day! And how were they to preserve them for a whole month? Of course it would go bad before that. They spent all their time focusing on this, like the modern worship of "security" which takes us away from the present day's tasks to make guarantees for tomorrow, and reflects no trust in YHWH. Spread them out: so that the dew could not fall, and there could thus be no manna there either. They precluded the provision YHWH wanted to make for them.

33. But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was cut off [or chewed], YHWH's nostrils grew hot [He became angry] against the people, and He struck the people with a very great plague.

   He had given them time to weigh out the logical results of upholding their own desires rather than what He said was best for them, and admit they asked for something foolish, but instead they were still excited about the prospect of having something they'd had in Egypt again. They thought it could not really be that bad, and strengthened their inclination toward evil instead of their inclination toward what was right, as they were very capable of after He warned them of the consequences. The Torah is given to us to strengthen our better inclinations. By walking in it, we prepare ourselves to be vessels for further righteousness.

34. And He called the name of that place "Qibroth ha-Tha'awah" [the graves of greed], because they buried there the people who had been greedy.

   The outcome here is very different from a similar situation just after the Exodus in which YHWH brought quails to feed the people. (Ex. 16) At that time they were immature and had not received the Torah. But now that they had been trained, they should have recognize the open door YHWH had given them to repent and admit that the manna was enough. (v. 20) Instead, they just said, "Bring it on!" He had given them enough rope to hang themselves, and like a child begging for more ice cream after he has had enough, they still beg for more prosperity than they have capacity for. They were like Adam who had free food, yet wanted something more than fellowship with YHWH--and now he had to deal with the knowledge of evil that he had asked for. Yeshayahu comes right out and answers YHWH's question in verse 23. "YHWH's hand is not shortened, so that it cannot rescue.But your sins are what have made a barrier between you and Him." (Yesh. 59:1-2 paraphrased) And that's why YHWH's very provision ended up killing some of them--probably only the ones who had actually done the complaining, because they had separated themselves from the rest of the camp. (v. 18) The quails were around the camp, not in it. (v. 32) Those who remained within the camp (e.g., v. 30), seeking YHWH's face (presence) more than His hand, were spared.

35. Then the people traveled on from Qibroth ha-Tha'awah to Hatzeroth, and they stayed at Hatzeroth.

   Hatzeroth means "enclosures" or "settlements", suggesting a sheepfold where they could find rest after such ordeals. They would rather be there than out in the world among these graves that remind them of Egypt yet again. After a long struggle, they were in a beautiful place.

CHAPTER 12

1. But Miryam spoke against Moshe--along with Aharon--on account of the kushite woman that he had married (because he had taken a black woman).

   Who was this Kushite woman whom Mosheh married? Some traditions say she was an Ethiopian princess that Moshe married in order to end hostilities after he led an Egyptian army in a victorious campaign to shake their oppressive reign over Egypt, just before he was forty years old and fled to the wilderness. (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, II:X:1-2) Some even say she stayed in Ethiopia, but he gave her a son, who became the ancestor of the Queen of Sheba. Others say he fled to Ethiopia first after he killed the Egyptian man, and stayed there most of the next forty years, going to Midyan just a short while before the burning bush incident. But although Ethiopians are Kushites, they are not the only Kushites. They initially settled in Saudi Arabia, from there diverging in two directions toward India and toward what is now Ethiopia. Midyan is in Arabia, but there is a problem with this. Kushites are descendants of Kham; Midyanites are descendants of Avraham through Q'turah. (Gen. 25) The word Kush is thought to mean "black" or "dark-skinned", but it has been difficult to trace this etymologically to any other Hebrew word. There is another possibility. In Havaqquq 3:7, a place or people called Kushan is paralleled with a similar statement about Midyan. It is thought that Kushan may either be a region of Midyan or one of its tribes, and the term "Kushite" may have been used for its people as well. It may therefore refer simply to his Midyanite wife Tzipporah, and judging by how Moshe treated Hovav in chapter 10, they may have thought he was treating his wife's family better than he treated his own. After all, Aharon would know nothing about priestly duties if it had not been for Tzipporah's father teaching him.

2. And they said, "Has YHWH really spoken only through Moshe? Hasn't He also indeed spoken through us?" And YHWH took notice [of this].

   They: The events that unfold suggest that only Miryam did the talking, but Aharon had a tendency to stand by when other sinned instead of acting to put a stop to it (Ex. 32; Num. 25:10ff), and passivity about the sin of those connected to us is participation in it. He let the people pressure him into the golden calf, and this is mere cowardliness. He would not stand up and tell anyone that what they were doing was wrong, and this made him a participant. He lost his two sons for a similar reason. He was someone greatly honored by YHWH, but this was his weak spot; he needed to know where his honor lay. He did not stop Moshe from striking the rock the second time--a picture of taking advantage of Yahshua's death--and for this he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land either. Do we fear confrontation with other people more than we fear YHWH? Israelites cannot allow ourselves to be bothered by whether or not we offend others (e.g., Matt. 15:12ff), because the inherent nature of being a chosen people who do not do things the way the other nations do will always offend someone, especially in today's political climate. This marriage may have been a choice he made 40 years earlier! The Kushite wife turns out to not have been the real issue, but a pretext to let this deeper sentiment about Moshe come out--envy of his position. After all, Aharon was the one who had done most of the talking while they were still in Egypt. Their "little brother", who had never even experienced the grueling slavery the rest of the nation had been through, was still getting special treatment. Did Aharon feel the sting of the questions people asked about his special privileges in chapter 11, and feel like he needed to find a scapegoat, so that his own privilege would not stand out? They committed no action; their sin was only with their mouth--the easiest way to sin. (Yaaqov/James 3)

3. (Now the man Moshe was much more humble than any [other] men on the face of the earth.)

   Humble: He had not been boasting about his position. He does not even seem to be as bothered by it as YHWH is, for YHWH is the one who had chosen him as leader. Y'hoshua may have edited this into the account later, but even if Moshe did write this about himself, it is not inappropriate, because humility is not self-degradation, but simply knowing the objective facts about who one is--and is not--and acting accordingly. It is not being a "doormat", but being "grounded"--knowing one's own strengths and weaknesses. To say that someone else is better for the job when this is not actually true is simply not for the community's benefit. He is secure in who he is, but Miryam and Aharon apparently are not, despite the fact that they were already a priest and a prophet; did they want a higher calling still? Instead of embracing the great honor they had been afforded, they chose to envy him or think of themselves as his equals when they were not. Men: Heb., Adam. Earth: better, ground. The fits with the form of their complaint in v. 2: "Has He really spoken…?" This is the same pattern the serpent in Eden used to bring about Adam's fall and the curse of the ground. (Gen. 3:1ff) Moshe did not abuse his position; he never received so much as a donkey from anyone (16:15), unlike many modern politicians, including one very prominent one in the Land right now.

4. And immediately YHWH told Moshe, Aharon, and Miryam, "You three come out to the Tent of Appointment." So all three of them came out.

   One may have much knowledge, but if he does not know how to use it, he has no understanding, and if he does not know when to apply it, he has not wisdom. Sometimes YHWH waited until later to deal with a sin, for it is best to deal with it in the right season, but if one is not wise enough to know how to do that, it is best to deal with it before it can spread any further. You three: This implies that Moshe was present when Miryam criticized him to Aharon. So she could not use the excuse that since the criticism was not in public and not behind his back, it was a less serious offense. Even if he did not object, it was no less of a sin. The Torah, priesthood, and prophets were meant to be a threefold cord, but the cord was fraying. YHWH honors the Torah above the other two positions, because prophecy and ritual that are not based on the Torah carry no weight. (Yeshayahu 8:20)

5. Then YHWH came down in the cloudy column and [it] stood [still] at the entry of the Tent, and summoned Aharon and Miryam. So they both came forward,

   Theirs was just another form of complaining, which YHWH showed in the last chapter that He will not stand. He "called them on the carpet" in a way in which there would be no mistaking who the Interrogator was.

6. and He said, "Pay attention to My words: If your prophet is to be of YHWH, I will make Myself known to him in a [mirrored] vision; I will speak to him in a dream.

7. "Not so [with] My servant Moshe, who is established in all of My household.

   Established: or supported, confirmed, counted trustworthy. The word translated "foster father" in 11:12 comes from the same root--one who upholds, carries, or nourishes. Thus YHWH confirms that this humble man (v. 3) is doing well at the work he found himself inadequate to do. He was no ordinary prophet--just like the one whom he said would be like him one day. (Deut. 18:18) Yahshua told his students, similarly, that while he spoke in parables to the crowds, he spoke plainly to them. (Mat. 13) But he only explained the significance to them when they asked for it. The truth is mysterious to those who are not learned, but simple to those who draw near. Other prophets didn't necessarily even know what they were speaking about. (1 Kefa/Peter 1:10-12) They delivered the messages they were given, but did not always understand even the time frame which they were addressing. They puzzled and searched long and hard to figure out what some of the prophecies they gave about Yahshua were all about, until they realized it was not for their own immediate benefit, but for the sake of those who would come much later.

8. "With him I speak directly, and plainly, not in [enigmatic] proverbs, and he will behold the image of YHWH. Why were you not afraid to speak against my bondservant Moshe?"

   I.e., "If I wanted him to divorce his wife, I would have told him to!" They did not even answer, which was wiser than making excuses. Directly: literally, mouth to mouth. Similarly, Yahshua told his closest disciples, "To the crowds I speak in parables, but to you I speak plainly." (Mat. 13) Behold the image of YHWH: This is the same terminology used of Adam (Gen. 1:27) What is it that made Adam like Elohim? Adam was made to need company, and YHWH created Adam because He wanted to share Himself with another. We could paraphrase this as saying, "Moshe sees My essence; He understands Me, while no one else seems to." Avraham, David, and Yahshua were others about whom He could say the same--they were His friends, but were also called His servants, because they went beyond casual relationships and actually tended to YHWH's "needs", by providing for Him what He really wanted--a bride. They were all like Eliezer, Avraham's servant, in this respect. Someone who could be trusted to do a job even when it would cost him the inheritance was worthy indeed. Yahshua said that to be a servant is the highest position in the Kingdom. Moshe may have had to be pushed into his job, but he proved trustworthy--the greatest compliment YHWH could give him. The idea that YHWH loves everyone equally is clearly thus unscriptural. Even among these three of the greatest prophets who ever lived, YHWH had His favorite (compare 1 Shmuel 13:14). Moshe would not have made the golden calf. If Miryam had been the one chosen to lead, Moshe would not have complained. King Sha'ul tried to be great, but he simply was not like David, who could be trusted to get the job done no matter what; those whom He equips and yet fail too many times will simply not be given the job again. Very few after him ever were. He calls whom He chooses to call. His attitude toward anyone who questions His choice and calling is evident from this chapter. If we are not content with where YHWH puts us, and cannot stop thinking, "Why does so-and-so get more than I do?", we will never have great joy. Instead, we should aim to be among His favorites.

9. Then the anger of YHWH was kindled against them, so He left,

   Anger: literally, nose. Either He considered this a stench, or He was "snorting like a bull" or "breathing fire", and left out of mercy so He would not consume them. He left: in Hebrew, it actually says, "He walked away." That is a frightening prospect. He spoke to them face to face for once, just as He did with Moshe, giving them a taste of what he experienced regularly, then essentially just said, "Think about it!"

10. and the cloud was removed from above the Tent, and here, Miryam [was] as leprous as snow; and Aharon turned [to look] toward Miryam, lo and behold, [she was] leprous!

   Removed: Not that it was moving on as when they broke camp, but was "turning aside"; He was "turning His back" on them, expressing His displeasure. Anyone would have turned pale under such circumstances, but as if in response to her hostility toward a black woman (v. 1), her punishment was to become as white as a ghost! Aharon may have been spared the same only because of the holiness he represented. No one else could fulfill his role, and the covenant required that the lights he lit be lit. In His mercy, YHWH does not deride Aharon, but keeps the dignity of his position intact, so that people will continue to respect him. But this does not mean he was not punished. He suffered something far worse than leprosy: a personal rebuke from YHWH (very lowering in itself, though it means He loved him enough to correct him rather than abandoning him), but also the knowledge that he was responsible for her condition because he did not stop Miryam from gossiping. He had a lot to do with her leprosy, and he could do nothing about it.

11. Then Aharon said to Moshe, "Oh, please, my master, I beg you, don't count against us the sin by which we have acted [so] foolishly and incurred this penalty!

   The dreaded tzara'ath has shown up at last. We have no record of anyone ever having been plagued with this before, only laws about what to do when it does take place. Now the very first case is none other than that of the highly-esteemed elder sister of Mosheh! What a quandary. She saved the life of the one who was now leading them. She made sure he had a Hebrew upbringing. How could anyone leave her behind? But clearly now everyone could see that no one was exempt from the penalty of not loving one's neighbor as oneself. Now Moshe is suddenly called "master"! He recognizes that if Moshe does not forgive them, neither will YHWH, for the sin was really against Moshe; only he could release them to be forgiven. Going anywhere but to the one wronged will not repair the breach. (Mat. 18:15) Foolishly: literally, in our slackness. Ironically, Israel is a people both stiff-necked and slack. It was Aharon's failure to tighten the reins on the people once before that had resulted in their lack of restraint (Ex. 32:25), and the shame fell on YHWH. He did not even hold Moshe to the highest standards. They no longer had Pharaoh's whips to keep them doing the right thing; they must now uphold the standard themselves. A three-fold cord that is slack still accomplishes little, nor can one hit the target with a loose bowstring, and missing the target is the precise meaning of the word "sin". Many are looking for an excuse to be slack; our actions must not make them think they have received permission. Yahshua would not put up with anyone loosening the standard of His Father's commandments (Mat. 5:18-19), and teaching others to be slack about them is what resulted in His called-out congregation getting so far off course that it no longer resembled Israel, when that it what it was meant to target all along. Teaching is done through both the teacher's example and by holding the learners accountable.

12. "Please don't let her become like a dead [person] whose flesh is half-consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb!"

   This may be what this type of skin affliction looked like. She looked dead, reminding her of what she had been spared from, and while she was in this state of uncleanness, if anyone were to touch her, the effect would be the same as if they had touched a dead body. But it could be that some myths or legends had already grown up around the disease which sounds only like it is as bad as psoriasis. The way stories grow, it has already metamorphosed into a skin-devouring disease that makes one look like the living dead! Maybe this account is what made Hansen's disease come to be called leprosy in the first place. Or was it Hansen's disease this time? Probably not, because it only affects the 5% of people who are not genetically immune to it, and is only minimally contagious. Or did the psoriasis-like symptoms worsen with time into this exaggerated form? Maybe no one knew because quite possibly no one had seen it before. Hansen's leprosy has a two-to-ten-year incubation period; this disease had a very sudden onset, both in this case and in the cases of Uzziyahu and Gehazi. Mother's womb: Moshe and Aharon had come from the same womb, so what applied to her would make them lose face as well. He also did not want the nation that was just being born to be a miscarriage as well. (See note on v. 16.)

13. So Moshe cried out in distress to YHWH, and said, "Please, Elohim, heal her, I beg You!"

14. But YHWH told Moshe, "If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn't she bear the shame for seven days? Let her be shut out from the camp for seven days, and after that, let her be brought back into association."

   Spit in her face: We do not know whetherthis was an actual custom, but what is clear in Torah is that if one does not build up his brother's house, he deserves this indignity. (Deut. 25:7ff) And this is exactly what Miryam was guilty of. YHWH had said Moshe could be trusted to uphold His house, but Miryam could not be trusted to uphold Moshe's. YHWH still had someone He could trust, but Moshe no longer did, and this angered YHWH. Yahshua says those who cannot be trusted with a little can never be trusted with more. Love to YHWH can only be weighed out by how well we love one another. Even the high priest cannot mediate in this case, because he was in on the guilt this time. So Mosheh steps in and apparently asks YHWH to relent regarding this plague. He had mercy and did not require her to wait 14 days, as was required in some cases involving leprosy, but He does not let her go scot-free. He wants her to learn her lesson. She wanted to distinguish herself above the rest of the people, so YHWH makes her distinct from His people, for a time. For a whole week she is not under YHWH's protection or Israel's. She is fair game for Amaleq. Only after this very scary time of great risk can she be "brought back into association" (literally, be added or gathered, taken in). One hopes she would learn her lesson--and everyone else would see and learn too, for these two are too important to no have had an effect; though they have repented, they have already sown seeds that will come back to haunt all Israel. Children learn from what you do as much as what you say.

15. So Miryam was shut out from the camp for seven days, and the people did not travel again until Miryam was brought back in.

   This suggests that on other occasions, the camp may have indeed moved on while some lepers remained outside the camp--one motivator to avoid doing what Miryam did. Coveting someone else's position is the only overt reason that we see people deliberately struck with "leprosy" (tzara'ath; compare the cases of Gehazi and Uzziyah in 2 Chron. 26:17-19; 2 Kings 5:20ff). Outside the camp was where people had to go to defecate (Deut. 23:13), and even they would not want want her around. If she uses her time there wisely, she will return to the camp better grounded, and ready to build up her brother's house. But one woman's arrogance held up the enture nation. Her position was too important; she could not afford to be arrogant. He had mercy, but Deut. 24:9 reminds us to never forget what YHWH did to Miryam.

16. And afterward the people pulled up stakes from Hatzeroth, and set up camp again in the Wilderness of Pa'aran.

   They could not stay at the place called "the enclosure", because YHWH realized it was not the sheepfold it had promised to be, because the people would not yield to their shepherd, and therefore were not really "sheep". He wants to change venues, and it seems He even would prefer to leave Miryam behind, but the people respected her enough to wait for her. Did they express solidarity with Miryam despite the cloud moving, or did it stop too? Did they have to catch up after getting a whole week behind it? That would be frightening. Would a scout run ahead and relay signals back about which direction to go? This is probably one reason YHWH took them back to the Wilderness of Pa'aran--the same place they had just come from (10:12), but they had not yet learned their lesson about complaining; the leaders themselves were now beginning to complain. The last time someone in the midst of the camp complained, Moshe needed help, but where were Miryam and Aharon? If they had been there for him, they might not have had time to complain as they did here. Since they were not, they were susceptible to the same sin. It is one thing for a baby to complain; it is the only he can get the attention he needs. But the mature should know YHWH well enough to know this is not necessary with Him. (Mat. 6:8) The disease spread even to Moshe's own family. So we see that there is no profit in complaining; it got them nowhere, and in fact it was two steps forward, one step back, and they take all of Israel with them. Those who do not ride the crest of the wave get pulled backward by the undertow. Just two out of several million did not learn, but they were so important that it set us all back. If we do not all make the grade, none of us can move on, because Israel is one entity. If we are going to move on toward the Land, we must stop complaining and take responsibility for one another.

Parashat  B'haAlothkha

(Numbers 8:1 - 12:16)