Notes
Introduction
Portion Title: The Journey Begins
- Yeshua responded to the enemy: “Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from God.”
- Deut. 8:1-20 ESV
- “[W]e [must] transform all aspects of life into elements of our relationship with God. It is not enough to feel close to God while we are studying the Torah. Divine consciousness must permeate our mundane pursuits as well.” – Portion Introduction from the Kehot Chumash.
The Light of Torah
- The portion begins by talking about the Menorah. The Menorah represents the Torah, the light of God.
- Proverbs 20:27 ESV “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts.”
- “Spiritually, when we “light the flame” of our own soul or the soul of another person – we should not just deliver some quick inspiration and then move on, we should remain near, nurturing the souls flame until it becomes a steady and self-sufficent glow.” – Kehot Chumash Commentary, Num. 8:2
- Our journey begins with the light of The Word and the fire of the Holy Spirit—a fire that we are responsible for maintaining. A pastor doesn’t maintain your flame, nor can he extinguish it—unless you let him.
The Example of David
Before David was king and before he slew Goliath, he was David the psalmist-shepherd. He was alone with God. He slew a lion and a bear without anyone knowing. Even as king, we see him throwing away dignity and pride and worshipping God with abandon (2 Sam. 6-7).
David allowed himself to be sanctified, which is another step in our journey, one we see pictured in the cleansing of the Levites.
- Psa. 19:7-14 ESV
- The use of the Psalms (a prayer and praise Book).
The Feast of Passover: The Table of Relationship
Num. 9:6-14
- The picture of redemption.
- The God of Second chances.
- The invitation to the nations to join Israel.
- Temple Dedication Prayer included a prayer for the Gentiles (1 Kgs. 8:41-43 ESV).
Being Led By The Holy Spirit
Israel had the cloud and pillar – we have the Holy Spirit.
- “We naturally tend to consider significant only the periods of our lives that occur in relatively permanent geographic and emotional settings. If we will be somewhere for a year, we make sure to utilize that time and place to its fullest potential. But when we find ourselves in temporary situations, we often write them off as unimportant and fail to utilize them fully. The lesson from the Israelites in the desert is twofold: first, the journeys we go through in life—both geographical and emotional—are dictated by God. Of course, we can and should make our plans based on our own perception of our lives’ goals. But at the same time, we must realize that God sees the big picture and knows when it is in our best interest to stay or move on to the next station in life—and He arranges things accordingly. Second, we should treat the smallest situation with the same care as the greatest one. Since God is beyond time and place, when we connect with Him, with His essence, even for one moment, that moment lasts for all of time. Whether a personal journey lasts a decade or a day, we can make it into a Sanctuary, imbued with the eternal permanence of the Divine presence.” – Kehot Chumash Commentary, Num. 9:23
The Sin of Complaining
Num. 11:1-6 ESV
- Complaining is our biggest enemy.
- It can take the form of gossip.
- It can take the form of opposition, as we see with Miriam and Aaron in chapter twelve.
- And buying the lie that our past is better than the future God has for us (11:5).
- Num. 13:25-32
- “My child, do not be a murmurer, because it leads to blasphemy; neither be self-willed nor evil-minded, for out of all these blasphemies are engendered. But be meek, since the meek shall inherit the earth. Be long-suffering and merciful and genuine and gentle and good and always trembling at the words which you have heard.” – Didache 3.6-8
- “Grumbling about things is a telltale sign of weak faith. A person of strong faith has confidence that God is in charge and is working all things out for the good. He is not given to complaining because he believes that everything is ultimately in God’s hands. The antidote for a poisoned, malcontented spirit is gratitude. When we force ourselves to focus on the good and the positive, and to thank God for all the blessings He daily bestows, the way we experience life is transformed. But we should not thank God for only good things. We should thank Him for everything, as Paul says, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in the Messiah Yeshua” ( 1 Thess. 5:18). Judaism teaches that there is even a blessing for when one hears bad news: “Blessed is the true judge.” – Unrolling The Scroll, Book 4, pg. 612-613, First Fruits of Zion
- Even in adverse circumstances, we can have a positive attitude.
Closing
Psalm 119:11 – The Word will keep us from sin.
John 16:13 – Promises us that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.
Matthew 12:36-37 – reminds us that we will be judged according to our words.
Extra Notes and Resources
Num. 10:9 KHC: “If you go to war: Allegorically, the war we are constantly fighting is the war against our evil inclination. This fight is particularly intense during prayer, when the evil inclination tries to distract us from concentrating on God and deepening our relationship with Him.
The allegorical “trumpet” we sound in order to enlist God’s help against the evil inclination is our heart-broken cry, the silent tears we shed over being so spiritually weak that we are vulnerable to the evil inclination’s strategies. When we beseech God to have mercy on us, He comes to our aid and rescues us from our enemy.
But we see here that we must blow the trumpets not only while in the thick of battle, but also when we have overcome the enemy, and even on joyous festivals. Blowing the trumpets on these occasions reminds us that our victory over the evil inclination is never final and we should never let our success get the better of us. The evil inclination is always devising new ways to ensnare us, and we must be constantly on guard, constantly enlisting God’s help and mercy.
The sacrifices mentioned here reflect the two basic stages in how we approach God. (As we have seen, “drawing close” to God is the true meaning of the Hebrew word for “sacrifice,” korban.)
The first stage is the ascent-offering, whose meat and fat is totally consumed on the altar. First, we must submit ourselves totally to God. The second stage is the peace-offering, part of whose meat is eaten by those who offer it. After we have established the basis of total submission to God, we can (and should) enhance our relationship with Him by understanding as much about Him and His will as we can, igniting our enthusiasm for the Torah and its commandments.
In our daily lives, the dynamic of the ascent-offering is expressed in our morning prayers, the basis for the rest of the day. In prayer, we surrender our sense of self and cling devotedly to God. The dynamic of the peace-offering is expressed as we pursue our personal affairs throughout the day, always bearing in mind that all we do must be done for the sake of heaven and in order to enhance our Divine consciousness.”
The Way of Life – Didache: A New Translation and Messianic Jewish Commentary: Toby Janicki
Casey D. Bell 