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I Warned You...
Naso "lift up"
Numbers 4:21-7:89
Judges 13:2-13:25
Psalm 67
Matthew 11:11-19; Acts 21:17-26
Thank you for the emails concerning the YouTube live stream. Bli neder, we'll live stream on Shabbat at 4:00 pm Eastern Time. For additional video information, scroll down to "What's New for You."
Rather than survey the whole Torah portion on Shabbat as we did in the online class, we will do an intense study of the trial of the woman accused as the proto-prophecy of the two Women in the Book of Revelation.
We'll be drawing from the material in Creation Gospel Workbook Two: the Seven Abominations, Seven, Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls.
Time permitting, we'll also review our progress with the Four Horses and Four Altar Judgments of Revelation: wild beast, sword, famine, plague.
Torah Portion Naso: I Warned You...
The "Trial of the Sotah," or the woman accused of adultery, is a bit of a puzzle with all its details. With only a superficial reading, it produces a bit of indignation. Why can only the husband initiate the trial? Why is the wife subject to a husband's perhaps unfounded whims of jealousy? Why is only the woman judged?
There are answers to these questions that Jewish sources and sages of the Hebrew text sought out millennia ago. Knowing those answers can change the whole passage. Even more importantly, those answers also unlock the prophecies of the two women in the wilderness in the Revelation of John.
First of all,
smikhut, or placement is key in the Hebrew Bible. How are the topics arranged? The following passage provides the hint and a link called "unfaithful" in English:
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying
, "Speak
to the sons of Israel, 'When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind,
acting unfaithfully against the LORD
, and that person is guilty,
then he
shall confess
his
sins which
he
has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and
add to it one-fifth
of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged
..."
Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his. Then
the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
"Speak
to the sons of Israel and say to them, '
If any man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to
him
...' (Nu 5:5-12)
The Hebrew word for "unfaithful" is
ma'al. It is doubled by verb and noun forms in the "mankind" verse:
limol ma'al.
The doubled
ma'al
suggests a double trespass, two realms. A
me'ilah
is the use of a sacred object for personal gain or use. An individual takes something that belongs to the holy spaces of the
Mishkan
.
For instance, while you are visiting your neighbor, you notice a basket of apples. While your neighbor steps out to make you a cold drink, you help yourself to an apple. Your neighbor returns, and, Oh, no! That basket of apples was set aside to take to the Temple for a Sukkot offering!
You inadvertently ate from the "holies," things that belonged to Heaven. You will have to restore the value of the apple plus one-fifth for the me'eilah. It would have been nice if the neighbor had warned you first!
מָעַל
mâʻal
;
to cover up
; used only figuratively,
to act covertly
, i.e.
treacherously
:-transgress, (commit, do a) trespass(-
ing
).
This is the link that ties together transgressions against the holy things and the woman suspected of adultery. They both belong to someone else, a caretaker, and to Heaven. The caretaker, whether farmer or husband, must show tender, protective care to the "holy" until he returns it/her unblemished, whole, back to the only owner, symbolized by the Temple and the priests receiving it. Once designated, by first fruit, tithe, or by marriage vow, the apple and the spousal relationship belong to Heaven. Each must eventually return to the Temple, one to the Temple above, one to the Temple on Earth. The first couple, Adam and Chavah, were created to be priests connecting these upper spiritual realms to the natural realm of earth.
Likewise, when a theft or use of the holy thing is suspected, the priest must conduct the ceremony of transgression. The suspect must be taken to the "House," or Temple for the priest to inquire as to whether a theft from the marriage has taken place. The trial is the only time in which the Sacred Name YHVH is permitted to be effaced. Our sacred relationships are that important to Heaven.
Likewise, the Seventh Abomination is to separate brothers (Pr 6:19), suggesting all holy relationships are dedicated to Heaven in some way, and there will be severe penalties to those who drive wedges between Israelites. These are not just any brothers and sisters, but the relationships among Israelites are Heaven's. We are only the caretakers of them, and we must return our brothers and sisters back to their only "owner" unblemished and whole. We should strive to return our families and all relationships back to the Father in better shape than when we began "farming" the seeds of potential He gave us.
The trial of the
sotah
was for suspicion of betrayal. The woman secluded herself with an individual against whom she'd been warned. The lines of modesty were blurred, like a
nazir (nazirite)
may tend not to consider his actions and blur the lines with alcohol. He would articulate the "grape-line" with the vow to abstain from all grape products for a specified time. We all must draw our grape-lines in order to preserve holiness in our lives.
In practice, there were criteria that had to precede the
sotah
trial:
*
If the jealous husband were not completely innocent of immoral behavior, he could not instigate the trial
*
The husband had to have warned his wife about the particular individual prior to the seclusion, and two witnesses must have observed that they were alone for a period sufficient for an immoral act to have taken place
*
The priests would speak to the woman for a prolonged period, encouraging her to confess if she were guilty and accept a divorce instead of a trial
*
The suspected marriage "thief," or male adulterous partner, had no right of refusing the trial like the woman; t
he guilty male marriage thief would suffer the wasting and swelling consequences precisely as the same time as the guilty female
Trees are a symbol of people. In the midst of the Garden were two "men."
Elohim warned Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He named it specifically, and they were not to seclude themselves with it. Perhaps Eve's conversation with the serpent was in seclusion from Adam. The serpent tempted her to blur her grape-line, and she did not properly consider her actions. She received the false doctrine of the serpent, the "seed" of another tree and another word, not the Tree of Life, the Word of YHVH, for the seed is the Word. The fruits of both trees had seed in them, but only one would bring forth eternal life.
The Tree of Life was a different "man." The Word permitted to them. Designated and set aside for them.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil will one day waste away and die, swell and atrophy, with the Scarlet Harlot in Revelation. The evil inclination mixed in human beings
will be bound. Like a soul without a body, the evil inclination
without a host body is dead. Yeshua, the Living Word, definitely holds that key to death, hell, and the grave!
While the Temple
was set aside to foster intimacy between the Holy One and Israel, a marriage is set aside from all others to foster intimacy between husband and wife. A violation of either is a violation of holiness, which is a condition needed for the relationship to grow.
The word
me'il
, for betrayal, was an act first done in the Garden, where Adam and Eve could hear the voice of Elohim walking (Ge 3:8). Although they were expelled, the Ark offered Israel a most holy opportunity to return:
The last verse of
Naso
explains how this holy
Mishkan
was to restore something of the intimacy in the Garden. It is stated after all twelve tribes brought their gifts to the
Mishkan
:
Now
when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him,
he heard the voice speaking to him from above [me-al] the
mercy
seat
that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, so He spoke to him
. (Nu 7:89)
"From above the mercy seat," the voice spoke with Israel like it spoke in the Garden. The double transgression
me'il
of wife to husband, mankind to Elohim, are misuses of something owned by Heaven, "something that belongs to a higher realm." (R. Kahn, p. 40) The play-on word gives depth to the parchment real estate.
The two
cheruvim
were a reminder of the Garden and how Adam and Eve vainly tried to cover their guilt and shame from their transgression committed with the one "tree" they'd been warned about. One definition of ma'al is to act covertly, to cover up. This is exactly how the first couple treated their transgression. From then on, human beings have been hearing-impaired when it comes to the holy seed, the Word of Elohim walking in the Garden.
"If we are guilty of
me'ilah
, if we trespass the sanctity with which we have been entrusted, we will be unworthy to hear the word of God from
me'al
that heavenly realm to which we aspire." (ibid, p. 43).
In graciousness, however, Elohim clothes us.
The trial of the sotah also is situated near the nazirite vow in which the nazir must abstain from mourning even the closest of relatives, any particle of a grape or its juice, and he may not cut his hair. His hair becomes the "crown" of Adonai on his head for the duration of its growth. It is no longer his or hers, so the nazir must consider carefully all actions that might compromise its holiness. He may not go near the dead or dying (who might die suddenly, thus profaning his/His hair), and he must scrutinize every bite of food and every sip of drink that goes in his mouth. Alcohol can blur the grape-line, and the nazir needs the highest degree of awareness to maintain his consecrated head. He even needs to think about the very expensive offerings he must bring at the conclusion of the vow and whether he has the income to purchase them.
Strangely, the nazir brings a sin-offering as one of his many expensive sacrifices.
The sages speculate that the
nazir
needs to bring a sin-offering for a number of reasons; one is that the
nazir
has not permitted to himself that which Adonai HAS permitted: grapes, cutting his hair, and proper mourning.
Grapes are a permitted food and drink, and mourning is a mitzvah.
Extreme asceticism must not be seen as the sole evidence of faith and righteousness. In fact, the withdrawal of the
nazir
cuts off many opportunities for doing
mitzvot
within his community and strengthening relationships.
The self-disciplinary task or aim of the nazir
must be so high that it justifies his withdrawal. Otherwise, the sin-offering warns the nazir that his seeking higher spiritual wisdom and elevation may produce a negative result. The olah (elevation, whole burnt) offering reminds him of
pride, and the
shlamim (peace) offering
of his missing presence where it could have brought peace among holy brothers and family. By working so hard on his own holiness, he has not exercised all the care for others that he could have.
Nevertheless, Adonai recognizes two important needs:
Some people are "wired" to withdraw from others periodically to draw close to Him.
Some people are wired to heal others and give grace.
Both must pull back and find balance in those natural leanings, both of which carry a high price. Yeshua leaned toward grace, yet he, too, needed extended periods of solitude and fasting. Yeshua taught:
Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is
least
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than {great as} he.
From
the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven
suffers
violence, and violent men
take
it by force.
For
all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
And
if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who
was
to come.
He
who has ears to hear, let him hear.
"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children
,
and say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not
mourn.'
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!'The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners
!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds
." (Mt 11:11-19)
The full context of the passage is repentance.
Yeshua
hints to
Naso's
more subtle threads of the
nazir
and two of the "personalities" of holiness. John ministered and called everyone to repentance as a
nazir
, yet even with the spirit of Elijah, John was
no greater than
any other righteous person.
Yeshua
came eating and drinking, not denying himself wine or grape products, neither did he avoid the dead. Yeshua also called people to repent, but often AFTER he healed them.
Yeshua
makes the point that their two "paths" to proclaim repentance were valid and Torah-based. Each appealed to certain inner sensitivities of the listeners. Some needed
Yochanan's
rough warning shake to awake. Some needed
Yeshua's
gracious power of healing, and then a warning to repent.
Some, however, would find fault no matter who came or how he came. Warnings go unheeded. The wine is the symbol of the personal grape-line that every person is prone to blur because of bad "seed," or self-talk. The comparison of the children who played both joyful and sorrowful tunes, and neither drew a response, applies to that other "remnant." Neither the strict
nazir,
nor the graceful healer will make them sorrow, nor will they dance for joy. There will be no sorrow unto repentance, nor joy for the opportunity to repent.
Let us each find our grape-line of holiness that preserves our own sacrifices as well as our brothers' and sisters' sacrifices: whole, mature, spiritually-elevated, and unblemished. After all, we own nothing. Holy relationships are in our care to have and to hold for Heaven. To love and to cherish. In sickness and in health. When we work humbly as stewards of Heaven and the Holy One, even death shall not part us, for long we both shall live. Eternally.
What's new for you? The Torah portion Naso on YouTube:
We'll be posting older class videos of Torah portions on YouTube in the future. In "The Service of the Service," the holy boundaries of the Israelite camp prophesy of the Edenic boundaries, and the core afflictions of the leper teach the underlying message of the four horses of Revelation. Investigate important treasure symbols such as silver, gold, and garments in the context of the Good News.
Come Home to Sukkot in Israel
Yes, yes, yes! We're still planning to c
elebrate Sukkot 2020 in Israel!
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| Sukkot Parade of the Nations 2019 |
The registration page is up so that you can make a deposit. The price may drop once negotiations are concluded and the final itinerary set. Click on
Sukkot of Glory to view or reserve your place with a deposit.
If travel conditions are not good at Sukkot, your deposit can be refunded.
Join us at REVIVE!
You never know what kind of shenanigans will go on...
We still plan to meet for
REVIVE 2020. We're back in the heartland of America in Franklin TN, right outside of Nashville for Revive 2020! Mark your calendars for July 2-4 for the biggest annual Hebrew Roots conference! Come enjoy worship, dance, and of course lots of heart and mind-provoking teachings from some of your favorite teachers as well as some fresh faces with fresh new teachings! Each year just keeps getting better than the last, and we know Revive 2020 will be no exception! We can't wait to see you!
LaMalah Children's Centre
Kenya is experiencing difficulty with floods, ant infestations, "Nairobi flies," and famine from locust swarms. To read a little more about the locust plague, click
here
. We will be disbursing extra funds again in June for 3rd Quarter support, which is necessary to counter rising food prices.
If you would like to donate to the Children's Centre through The Creation Gospel, click on the Donate link below. It will say The Olive Branch Messianic Congregation on your receipt. Our local congregation is the non-profit covering for our ministry. Checks or money orders may be sent to:
The Creation Gospel
PO Box 846
East Bernstadt, KY 40729
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