B'Midbar/Numbers
CHAPTER 30
1. (v. 2 in Hebrew) Then Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes [mattoth] for the descendants of Israel, saying, "This is the thing that YHWH commanded:
The word for “tribes” literally means “staffs” or “rods”, recalling the incident in which all the tribal leaders brought a rod and Aharon’s budded, showing that Levi was the one YHWH considered chief. But more basically the term means “branches”, reminding us that we all come from one “family tree”. There are some special men who carry the rods of authority for each tribe. If there is no one in charge when we enter the Promised Land, our unity will very quickly fall apart. “Every man for himself” cannot work here. There must be discipline. So Moshe is teaching the leaders how to make rulings and hold the people under them accountable. Today again many are arriving at the conclusion that we are Israel, though we had forgotten it, and we need leaders. Most people on this path have had bad experiences with leaders, and it pushed us to study the Word of YHWH more carefully and to realize we had to leave the Church. However, Israel is organized and set in order by leaders. Moshe realized Israel needed more than one grand ruler. Even Torah was not enough if the people were not carrying it out. This is why armies have always been organized in ranks—someone at the top, others below him, and each of them over others. Israel is arranged like an army; YHWH’s favorite name for Himself (Tz’vaoth) emphasizes that He is the master of armies—or the “great general”. Only the men who could go to war were counted in the two censuses. So this is a meeting of the highest-ranking “officers”. All of Israel is responsible for the whole Torah, but the heads, to whom he is speaking, are responsible for the Torah to a greater degree and in more ways. The Hebrew word for “head” comes from a word for “first”, so the leaders should be the first to respond to YHWH’s will and then implement it by informing the rest of the people of that will and enforcing their obedience. Each represents the people he leads, but also acts as their example. But the deeper root of the word for “first” means “shaken”, as a head can shake, and as heads of grain are shaken to loosen their hulls to expose the kernels, since the outer shells (a picture of putting self first) are useless in making bread. Then comes a crushing between two stones (the two tablets of the Torah) so individual kernels can no longer be told apart, we can become “one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17), and our purpose can be fulfilled: people will be fed. YHWH says the whole universe will be shaken, but the shaking will begin in His house. Avram was shaken loose from everything he knew, yet he became father of many tribes. So was Yaaqov—twice—and Yosef. Moshe was twice shaken loose from his comfort zones, and was made the shepherd of all Israel. David was shaken from his shepherding to become king of both houses. Yahshua’s 12 students were shaken from their lucrative jobs and families to become the foundation for the restoration of the Kingdom. They were made responsible to turn others into leaders as well; we need many kernels to make a loaf of bread. When one responds to YHWH’s shaking and removes the prioritizing of self, he is a candidate for leadership. Leaders show others what to invest their lives in, and prove by their example that it can be done. What is the bottom line of what Moshe wants leaders to understand?
2. "'If a man makes a vow to YHWH, or has sworn an oath to bind an obligation onto his soul, he may not break his word; he must carry out everything that has proceeded from his mouth.
This is the military command that every leader in Israel must understand. But what a strange thing that vows are a military command! It seems like a social or religious law. But the battle command for the troops starts with “Do not break your word!” The army depends on it. The word from YHWH is about our word. Integrity is a big part of our heritage. If we want to lead Israel to victory, we must do what we say we will do. The corporate drawing-near outlined in ch. 29 depends on Israel being built of trustworthy individuals. Israelites are to be people who live up to their word. Whatever proceeds from one’s mouth IS a vow. We no longer have a say in whether or not we will do a given thing. Words are extremely powerful. (Yaaqov/James 3:1-6) One who makes a vow, by Hebraic definition, promises to complete something, so it can be considered "done", and be depended upon. The person to whom we make the promise is incomplete until we fulfill the vow, and so are we. Obligation onto his soul: That is, we must do everything within our power to see that what we have said takes place. The term “bind” means “to yoke” or “to hitch”, but also (very appropriate to this context) to “join in battle”. We win battles by what comes out of our mouths. If I say I am going to do something, then do not, I am not prepared for battle, and will probably lose. We are yoked to whomever we make a promise to, so we must not make agreements with those who do not keep the Torah if they will in any way require us to break or even loosen the Torah. (Ex. 23:32; Hoshea 1:3ff) We must be careful who we say “yes” to, and even what we imply. An oath involves more than just what we say. If we respond to a call for volunteers, just being present implies that we are there to help. If we do not follow through, we cannot simply say, “But I never said that I would.” Sitting under a teacher of truth is in itself a vow. Showing up at community meetings implies we will be there for one another whenever needed. Simply saying, “I’ll see you next Sabbath” includes all the expectations that go along with that, whether it means we will have something to teach or simply that we will show up prepared to do justice in our worship to YHWH. The words of a leader bind his soul to the people whom he is responsible to teach that their words are just as binding. Moshe’s words are still binding on us so many thousands of years later. But at this stage in history—the first wave of the return of the House of Israel, the altar which must be built first before there can be a dwelling place for YHWH—we are all leaders to some extent, because there are more phases to come after us. We cannot help but be responsible for other people, whether there are two of them or two million. This is not something we can afford to merely be fascinated with; it is not a game, and any involvement with it is automatically a commitment to prioritize it. How can one “break his word”? By not doing what we say we will do. Other things will also get broken, like trust, relationships, and progress. Our weapons of this warfare get broken, and we will lose battles. YHWH’s word is “keep your word”, so if we break our word, we also break His. Moshe brought YHWH’s words to the people, and their words back to Him—the promise to do all that YHWH had spoken. (Ex. 19:7ff; 24:3,7) Our covenant is based on words, and our ancestors bound not just themselves, but their descendants—us—to it as well. So we were all there at Sinai and agreed to this, not just those physically standing there that day. It was for those who would come later as well. If we say we are Israel, we take this oath upon ourselves by default. We cannot demand that YHWH tell us why before we obey; once we do what He says, it will come alive to us. Now, after almost 3,000 years of not upholding it, Israel is returning to it. Ecclesiastes 5:4 tells us to fulfill our vows since YHWH has no pleasure in fools. We must think before we speak, weighing out our words in advance, for there is no way of getting out of them that will not cause damage either on the personal or corporate level. What comes out of our mouths is alive and binding in the unseen realm that is more real than the changing, temporary one that we can see, because it is eternal. We must be extremely careful what we say. It was YHWH’s words that brought order out of chaos at creation; bringing Israel back into proper order again depends on our being faithful to our words too.
Commentary on
Parashat Mattoth
What Every Leader
Must Understand
