Golly, I’ve been tired this past week. I had jury duty and so that made for long days, plus I went into work after hours to make sure stuff got done on time. It was a long week and only finally caught up enough today (Sunday) to finally get a good night’s sleep. Still feel drawn out, like I could use a good massage, a workout, maybe some time in the sauna and the pool, perhaps even some eye cream to make the stress fade. But the worst is over; the trial’s done and it’s back to the regular grind, praise the L-RD. Here’s my commentary on Pinchas. Or listen to it!
Shabbat Shalom.
Our parashah for today is Pinchas or “Phineas,” and covers Numbers 25:10 through 29:40. This is a very active Torah portion with many things going on in the space of only a few verses, and there are a lot of them, more than one could cover in a single commentary. So, I’ve chosen to focus in on three points of interest.
The first comes when the L-RD orders another census to be taken of the people. Initially, because some of the numbers are so similar, one could leap to the conclusion that not much time has passed; but this is not the case. The L-RD had earlier promised that not one of the generation of the Exodus aged 20 and up, except for Joshua and Caleb, would see the Promised Land because of their rebellion, and here we find out that forty years have passed and the L-RD’s promise has come to fruition.
Yet because of the L-RD’s goodness and for the sake of their righteous ancestors, the L-RD has not allowed the people of Israel to grow weak in the desert due to this passage of time and the deaths of so many. In the census taken at the beginning of the book of numbers, the number of men of military age – ages 20 and up – were 603,550. Now, forty years later after nearly that entire generation has died off, the number of men of military age is 601,730. The L-RD has kept their numbers strong so that when they enter the Promised Land, they will be ready for the battles that await them.
Of that initial generation, only two remain, as we read in:
Numbers 26:63-65
These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. For the L-RD had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
To make matters even more interesting, the number of male Levites a month old or more has actually gone up. In the census at the beginning of Numbers, the Levites who were set apart by God from military service for service in the Tent of Meeting were 22,273. Now, they number 23,000.
So, this shows that the L-RD has honored the request of Moses, who begged the L-RD not to slay the generation of the Exodus all at once and thus give Egypt a reason to curse the L-RD. Instead, the L-RD has let their numbers perish, most often by their own disobedience and foolishness, over a period of forty years. In fact, the L-RD has gone beyond that promise and has actually allowed the Israelites to thrive, despite enduring a long period of testing in the wilderness.
The L-RD also shows his goodness toward women in this week’s reading. While many Bible critics will point out that Israel was a highly patriarchal society and that its women were treated more like property than people, that reputation comes more through the actions of some people than the commands of the L-RD.
Let’s take a look at this episode, in which the L-RD grants the daughters of Zelophehad property rights. And let me point out, this was nearly unheard of during the time of Moses among the cultures surrounding Israel.
We read of this in:
Numbers 27:1ff-4
They approached the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly, and said, “Our father died in the desert. He was not among Korah’s followers, who banded together against the L-RD, but he died for his own sin and left no sons. Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”
Now, the case they are making is a good one. After all, in the previous chapter, we see that Korach’s line is still counted among the Levites even though he was the point man for a rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. If the line of Korach can remain among the Levites, why should a man not part of the rebellion see his line and inheritance die out, simply because he had no sons? So Moses takes their request before the L-RD and we get this ruling in:
Numbers 27:6-11
And the L-RD said to him, “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and turn their father’s inheritance over to them. “Say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, turn his inheritance over to his daughter. If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to be a legal requirement for the Israelites, as the L-RD commanded Moses.’”
In this way, the L-RD shows that while Israel as a society is indeed patriarchal, it is not the L-RD’s will for things to be one-sided between men and women. Israel was surrounded by societies that indeed treated women was nothing more than property, and some of those societies – their descendants, anyway – still do to this day.
Yet this ruling in favor of he daughters of Zelophehad does raise this question for the people of Moses’ time: can property own property? Of course not! Through this ruling, the L-RD is offering a reminder of the sense of right-relatedness between men and women that was found in the Garden. While it remains elusive due to sin, the L-RD does remind us here, just as he did in Genesis that, “male and female, he created them.”
The world is fallen; the Adversary of the L-RD seeks to destroy all that God has created as good, and keeping men and women at odds – either through men treating women unfairly or, in other cases, women treating men unfairly – this is a goal of an Adversary bent on a mission to kill and destroy.
If God were truly as unjust toward women as His critics claim, the daughters of Zelophehad never would have had their case heard, let alone decided in their favor. That their case was both heard and decided in their favor is a testimony to Israel’s surrounding cultures that the L-RD does not look at what man looks at; man looks at the outward appearance, but the L-RD looks at the heart. He is just and is no respecter of persons, and that extends to whether someone is male or female; His justice, the prayer shawl or tallit of His protection, covers us all.
Finally, our study brings us to a sad episode in the life of Moses; he is about to be told his punishment that the L-RD has chosen for striking the rock to get water to flow forth, rather than speaking to it as the L-RD commanded. We read this in:
Numbers 27:12-14
Then the L-RD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)
Moses knows what this means; for as humble as he was – and Moses was declared by the L-RD to be the most humble man on the face of the earth – his own sins and failures catch up with him. And I think it’s interesting to note here exactly where Moses failed.
Let’s remember when we first met Moses. He sees an Egyptian guard mistreating a Hebrew slave, and he strikes the guard down, killing him. Moses comes down from the Mount after receiving the tablets written by the L-RD’s hand to see the Golden Calf, and he flies into a rage that includes grinding the false idol to dust and forcing the Israelites to drink it. And then, at Meribah Kadesh, once again frustrated with the people, he strikes the rock rather than speaking to it as the L-RD commanded him to do.
What does all this sound like to you?
That’s right; as unlikely as it may seem for a man so humble, one of the big sins Moses struggled with has been right in front of us all along; he is a man prone to anger. And while God calls Moses a friend and honors him with intimacy that may never have been matched by anyone but the L-RD’s relationship with Messiah Yeshua himself, while He has honored Moses above all others among the patriarchs, it is true that Moses’ own sin – his anger – is what undoes him and prevents him from seeing the Promised Land.
Of course, Moses was wise enough to see this coming; from at least the time when God announced that of the generation of the Exodus, only Caleb and Joshua would be living when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, he must have suspected that his own survival was in doubt. Yet Moses faces his own mortality with a maturity the young cannot understand. Perhaps better than anyone aside from Yeshua, Moses knew this life was but an illusion and the world to come, the world the L-RD told him he was about to become part of, was the reality; God’s kingdom was ready to receive him, and yet we know that Moses has much yet to complete before he draws his final breath.
As we continue through Numbers and on into Deuteronomy soon, keep in mind that Moses knows he is living on borrowed time growing ever briefer. It is a thought that could lead to much prayer, for in time, God willing, all of us will be “gathered to our people.”
When we are young, this seems like a fearful notion. For someone like Moses, who had spent so much time in the presence of the L-RD, one has to wonder if it was not something that brought joy and relief, rather than fear. We have much left to learn yet from Moses, this shadow of the Messiah. We can even learn how to face our own mortality with the joy and relief of being reunited with Messiah Yeshua.
Shabbat Shalom.
Tags: eye cream, Pinchas, Torah commentary
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on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 12:49 am and is filed under Torah.
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My Pinchas Commentary
July 13th, 2009 by Craig Hansen
Golly, I’ve been tired this past week. I had jury duty and so that made for long days, plus I went into work after hours to make sure stuff got done on time. It was a long week and only finally caught up enough today (Sunday) to finally get a good night’s sleep. Still feel drawn out, like I could use a good massage, a workout, maybe some time in the sauna and the pool, perhaps even some eye cream to make the stress fade. But the worst is over; the trial’s done and it’s back to the regular grind, praise the L-RD. Here’s my commentary on Pinchas. Or listen to it!
Shabbat Shalom.
Our parashah for today is Pinchas or “Phineas,” and covers Numbers 25:10 through 29:40. This is a very active Torah portion with many things going on in the space of only a few verses, and there are a lot of them, more than one could cover in a single commentary. So, I’ve chosen to focus in on three points of interest.
The first comes when the L-RD orders another census to be taken of the people. Initially, because some of the numbers are so similar, one could leap to the conclusion that not much time has passed; but this is not the case. The L-RD had earlier promised that not one of the generation of the Exodus aged 20 and up, except for Joshua and Caleb, would see the Promised Land because of their rebellion, and here we find out that forty years have passed and the L-RD’s promise has come to fruition.
Yet because of the L-RD’s goodness and for the sake of their righteous ancestors, the L-RD has not allowed the people of Israel to grow weak in the desert due to this passage of time and the deaths of so many. In the census taken at the beginning of the book of numbers, the number of men of military age – ages 20 and up – were 603,550. Now, forty years later after nearly that entire generation has died off, the number of men of military age is 601,730. The L-RD has kept their numbers strong so that when they enter the Promised Land, they will be ready for the battles that await them.
Of that initial generation, only two remain, as we read in:
To make matters even more interesting, the number of male Levites a month old or more has actually gone up. In the census at the beginning of Numbers, the Levites who were set apart by God from military service for service in the Tent of Meeting were 22,273. Now, they number 23,000.
So, this shows that the L-RD has honored the request of Moses, who begged the L-RD not to slay the generation of the Exodus all at once and thus give Egypt a reason to curse the L-RD. Instead, the L-RD has let their numbers perish, most often by their own disobedience and foolishness, over a period of forty years. In fact, the L-RD has gone beyond that promise and has actually allowed the Israelites to thrive, despite enduring a long period of testing in the wilderness.
The L-RD also shows his goodness toward women in this week’s reading. While many Bible critics will point out that Israel was a highly patriarchal society and that its women were treated more like property than people, that reputation comes more through the actions of some people than the commands of the L-RD.
Let’s take a look at this episode, in which the L-RD grants the daughters of Zelophehad property rights. And let me point out, this was nearly unheard of during the time of Moses among the cultures surrounding Israel.
We read of this in:
Now, the case they are making is a good one. After all, in the previous chapter, we see that Korach’s line is still counted among the Levites even though he was the point man for a rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. If the line of Korach can remain among the Levites, why should a man not part of the rebellion see his line and inheritance die out, simply because he had no sons? So Moses takes their request before the L-RD and we get this ruling in:
In this way, the L-RD shows that while Israel as a society is indeed patriarchal, it is not the L-RD’s will for things to be one-sided between men and women. Israel was surrounded by societies that indeed treated women was nothing more than property, and some of those societies – their descendants, anyway – still do to this day.
Yet this ruling in favor of he daughters of Zelophehad does raise this question for the people of Moses’ time: can property own property? Of course not! Through this ruling, the L-RD is offering a reminder of the sense of right-relatedness between men and women that was found in the Garden. While it remains elusive due to sin, the L-RD does remind us here, just as he did in Genesis that, “male and female, he created them.”
The world is fallen; the Adversary of the L-RD seeks to destroy all that God has created as good, and keeping men and women at odds – either through men treating women unfairly or, in other cases, women treating men unfairly – this is a goal of an Adversary bent on a mission to kill and destroy.
If God were truly as unjust toward women as His critics claim, the daughters of Zelophehad never would have had their case heard, let alone decided in their favor. That their case was both heard and decided in their favor is a testimony to Israel’s surrounding cultures that the L-RD does not look at what man looks at; man looks at the outward appearance, but the L-RD looks at the heart. He is just and is no respecter of persons, and that extends to whether someone is male or female; His justice, the prayer shawl or tallit of His protection, covers us all.
Finally, our study brings us to a sad episode in the life of Moses; he is about to be told his punishment that the L-RD has chosen for striking the rock to get water to flow forth, rather than speaking to it as the L-RD commanded. We read this in:
Moses knows what this means; for as humble as he was – and Moses was declared by the L-RD to be the most humble man on the face of the earth – his own sins and failures catch up with him. And I think it’s interesting to note here exactly where Moses failed.
Let’s remember when we first met Moses. He sees an Egyptian guard mistreating a Hebrew slave, and he strikes the guard down, killing him. Moses comes down from the Mount after receiving the tablets written by the L-RD’s hand to see the Golden Calf, and he flies into a rage that includes grinding the false idol to dust and forcing the Israelites to drink it. And then, at Meribah Kadesh, once again frustrated with the people, he strikes the rock rather than speaking to it as the L-RD commanded him to do.
What does all this sound like to you?
That’s right; as unlikely as it may seem for a man so humble, one of the big sins Moses struggled with has been right in front of us all along; he is a man prone to anger. And while God calls Moses a friend and honors him with intimacy that may never have been matched by anyone but the L-RD’s relationship with Messiah Yeshua himself, while He has honored Moses above all others among the patriarchs, it is true that Moses’ own sin – his anger – is what undoes him and prevents him from seeing the Promised Land.
Of course, Moses was wise enough to see this coming; from at least the time when God announced that of the generation of the Exodus, only Caleb and Joshua would be living when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, he must have suspected that his own survival was in doubt. Yet Moses faces his own mortality with a maturity the young cannot understand. Perhaps better than anyone aside from Yeshua, Moses knew this life was but an illusion and the world to come, the world the L-RD told him he was about to become part of, was the reality; God’s kingdom was ready to receive him, and yet we know that Moses has much yet to complete before he draws his final breath.
As we continue through Numbers and on into Deuteronomy soon, keep in mind that Moses knows he is living on borrowed time growing ever briefer. It is a thought that could lead to much prayer, for in time, God willing, all of us will be “gathered to our people.”
When we are young, this seems like a fearful notion. For someone like Moses, who had spent so much time in the presence of the L-RD, one has to wonder if it was not something that brought joy and relief, rather than fear. We have much left to learn yet from Moses, this shadow of the Messiah. We can even learn how to face our own mortality with the joy and relief of being reunited with Messiah Yeshua.
Shabbat Shalom.
Tags: eye cream, Pinchas, Torah commentary
This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 12:49 am and is filed under Torah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.