Mattot "Tribes" & Masei "Journeys of"
Numbers 30:2-36:13
Jeremiah 1:1-2:3; 2:4-28; 3:4
Hebrews 4:14-16
The Torah portions Mattot/Masei hold two commandments that at first glance, are unrelated. At second glance, they both instruct Israel about blood revenge. In the case of the Midianites who seduced Israel to idolatry and sexual immorality, "Moses spoke to the people, saying, 'Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian.'" (Nu 31:3)
The Midianites were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israelites from plague and execution for idolatry. They had blood on their hands. In Masei, the instructions for cities of refuge establish the idea that if a person is murdered or slain accidentally, the manslayer can seek refuge in a specified Levitical city until a trial takes place. If the slaying was not done with malice aforethought, then he may remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Should he venture outside the city of refuge before the death of the high priest, the slain man's relative may pursue and kill the manslayer.
The reason for such justice is given in multiple places in Scripture:
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“For the life [soul, nefesh] of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” Le 17:11
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“Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in the heat of his anger, and overtake him because the way is long, and take his life (nefesh), though he was not sentenced to death since he had not hated him previously.” Dt 19:6
The Midrash commentary to the law of the goel, or kinsman redeemer, of blood holds some important points:
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“It is not the victim’s relative who needs appeasement, but the blood of the murdered man.” (ibid)
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“You have shed not merely his blood, but that of generations to come. The blood of his unborn children until the end of all generations cries out to me.” (ibid)
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The death of the [anointed, like Messiah is the "anointed one"] high priest and/or the perpetrator’s death atones for the blood of the one slain without hatred or forethought. Life for life. (Nu 35:9-30)
The commentary clarifies that when human blood is shed, it is the soul (nefesh) in the blood that remains agitated until justice is rendered. The first example is Abel's blood that cried out after Kain killed his brother. We are not told whether it was a spontaneous event or whether Kain lay in wait in the field. Regardless, Abel's soul was agitated until the Holy One intervened and held court, sending Kain away. This is similar to how a city of refuge works. It removes the killer from his place and plants him in an unfamiliar place.
In the case of the manslayer, he resides among the Israelite population that teaches Torah and observes the strictest rules of purity. His spiritual rehabilitation could take place there, and if needed, he can be brought to repentance. With repentance and the death of the high priest, the manslayer once again goes free.
This particular procedure is echoed in the book of Revelation. The souls under the altar cry out for atonement, which is brought through the vengeance of a blood relative or the death of the high priest...
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When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?” And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also. (Re 6:9-11)
As we saw in a previous lesson, the death of a righteous person is seen as a kind of atonement for his generation. A corollary to this is the death of the High Priest atones for the inadvertent sinner. It is an atonement that not even Yom Kippur can cover. This may explain an added dimension of Yeshua's atoning work as the most righteous man of any generation:
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Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need. (He 4:14-16)
By residing with the Levites and priests, the killer could benefit from the elevated environment of those who were servants of the Most High in his time of need as he sought repentance and atonement for taking a life.
There are two prophecies in the TANAKH (Old Testament) that hint to Yeshua assuming an additional role, one that we wouldn't usually associate with the "great high priest" who advocates and atones for the repentant sinner. The "seed" prophecy is given by the Prophetess Deborah:
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“LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the field of Edom, the earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, the clouds also dripped water. The mountains flowed with water at the presence of the LORD, this Sinai, at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel. (Ju 5:4-5)
Messiah marching from Seir, which is Edom, is found in Isaiah as well:
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Who were Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength?
- “It is I, the One who speaks in righteousness, mighty to save.”
- Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like one who treads in the wine press?
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“I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no one with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My clothes. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come. I looked, but there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath upheld Me. I trampled down the peoples in My anger and made them drunk with My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” (Is 63:1-6)
There is a tradition that the Torah was offered first to the descendants of Edom, Jacob’s brother. These were the “fields of Edom” and “Seir.” (Neviim Rishonim: Shoftim, Artscroll, p. 140) Whether this extends prophetically to literal Esau/Rome’s descendants in the “field of the world” is not certain. It is certain that Jewish tradition holds that the Torah was offered to the 70 symbolic nations of the world, but only Israel responded, "We will do, and we will hear." The field of Edom that Yeshua has trod in wrath may be the world itself:
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“...and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one..."(Mt 13:38)
When Yeshua comes from Seir and Edom in Isaiah’s messianic prophecy, there is a signal that reminds us of the wine at Shavuot. The mockers in Acts Two accused the disciples of being drunk on sweet wine. Natural wine. Instead, they were drunk with the spirit of the Word. Perhaps there will be again a great thrust into Edom, an offering of the Torah to the 70 nations, the gematria value of wine, yayin. Should they refuse, they will suffer His treading of the winepress. While those who receive it with joy of holy “drunkenness” are delivered, those who reject it will become drunk (confused) with his wrath.
- "Just as wine loosens the tongue and morals, so the wine of the Torah opens the heart to love the Giver of the mitzvot. The mitzvot and their good deeds were accepted with great love at Sinai. When a person’s heart is truly opened, there is no limit to how much Torah it can absorb. ‘The soul is never filled.’” (2§13 to Ec 6:7)
In his many roles as Messiah, Yeshua fills the role of advocate before the Heavenly Court for his beloved disciples. He intercedes for those who have taken refuge in his righteousness and repented. They sit among the purest, the priests, Levites, and scholars of their generation to learn more perfectly the way of the Word. When they cross over at death, they do not have to fear the avenger who would pursue them to take their souls, for their souls will not die-they will not be separated from the Presence.
For those who refuse to take refuge and repent, the Kinsman Redeemer will someday come. He alone will travel the field of the world and trample out grapes of wrath for the sake of the souls crying out under the altar of the Holy One above. Edom was Esau, The Red One. Edom, the Great Harlot's scarlet beast, could never atone for our transgressions, accidental or otherwise.
Yeshua's death atoned for us, and one day he will avenge his closest kin, for he is even closer than a brother. Open your heart to the Torah. There is no limit to the love you will find. There is no earthly wine that can bring joy to your heart like the joy of the spirit-filled Word.
