Mattot / Mas’ey
Torah: Mattot (Tribes), B’Midbar (Numbers) 30.2(1)-32.42
along with: Mas’ey (Stages) B’Midbar (Numbers) 33.1-36.13
Haftorah: Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 2.4-28
Suggested Messianic Writings: Ya’akov (James) 4.1-12
Shalom,
I’m sure you have heard statements similar to this: “The Old Testament is irrelevant, because all the God of the Old Testament did was kill people. Jesus is all about love, that’s what the God of the New Testament is all about.” And chapters such as B’Midbar 31 from our reading this week, when taken by themselves, can help fuel such thought. There was a Bible scholar in the 19th century named G.B Gray who called this chapter, “The Extermination of the Midianites”. That may seem a little harsh, but in fact it is essentially what the chapter is all about.
So who was Midyan (Midian), and why was HaShem so angry at them? To begin with, we go back to B’resheet (Genesis) 25.4, where we see that Midyan was one of the sons of Avraham and Keturah, Avraham’s wife after the death of Sarah. In Sh’mot (Exodus) 2.15, when Moshe ran away from Egypt as a young man in fear for his life, he went to dwell in the land of Midyan, who were the descendants of this son of Avraham.
Then we look at B’Midbar chapters 22-25, and we read the story of Balak and Bil’am (Balaam). Balak was the king of Moab who, along with their allies in Midyan, sent for Bil’am to put a curse upon Israel so that they could defeat them. As the story ended, a surface reading would make one think that Balak’s plan failed, for Bil’am could not curse Israel. Yet as the story continued, we read where Israel remained encamped in that area, and Bil’am had told Balak that a better way to defeat Israel was to infiltrate them and have their young ladies seduce the Israelite men.
In Revelation 2.14, the body of believers in Pergamum is chastised because they “have some people who hold to the teaching of Bil’am, who taught Balak to set a trap for the people of Isra’el, so that they would eat food that had been sacrificed to idols and commit sexual sin.” In the little book of Y’hudah (Jude), a discourse is given on evil individuals (1.4), “the ones written about long ago as being meant for this condemnation, [who] have wormed their way in — ungodly people who pervert God’s grace into a license for debauchery and disown our only Master and Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.” 1.11-12 continues: “Woe to them… they have given themselves over for money to the error of Bil’am… they share your meals without a qualm, while caring only for themselves.”
In B’Midbar 25 is the incident where Pinchas (Peen-khus, Phineas) slew the Israelite man together with the woman from Midyan. And as often happened, when Israel fell away from serving HaShem, they were punished by some nation. Then more often than not, the “punishing” nation went overboard, and HaShem would eventually punish them, generally to a greater degree than Israel was punished. So according to this chapter, it would seem that Midyan was “wiped out”. Yet later on in Torah, and throughout the Tanakh, Midyan is mentioned many more times. Archaeology has shown that Midyan remained alive well beyond this time frame. So what’s the deal?
In actuality, Midyan was not so much a nation with boundaries, but rather a basic geographic area, with several tribes scattered about who claimed descendancy from Avraham’s son Midyan. In the same way, Kena’an (Canaan) whom we are familiar with in Scripture was not a sovereign nation, but again was a general geographic area with several tribes scattered about who claimed descendancy from Kena’an, Noakh’s (Noah’s) grandson.
So yes, there are times in the Tanakh (Old Testament) where the destruction of an enemy of Israel (thus an enemy of HaShem) was ordered. The only way we can understand a call like that is to have a glimpse of the holiness of the mysterious tri-unity of the G-odhead. And most of us don’t have a real clear picture of that. And all too often, those who complain about all the killing in the “Old Testament” are the same ones who raise their voices in celebration when thinking of the coming destruction at Armageddon, when billions will be destroyed by the Messiah Yeshua! Hello! New Testament! Same God! Yeshua/Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
At the opposite end of the pole, take a look at a few different verses concerning the “God of the Old Testament”: Psalm 90:14 “Fill us at daybreak with your love, so that we can sing for joy as long as we live.” Psalm 119:165 “Those who love your Torah have great peace; nothing makes them stumble.” Song 1:2 [She] “Let him smother me with kisses from his mouth, for your love is better than wine.” Song 1:15 [He] “Look at you, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves.” Song 2:4 “He brings me to the banquet hall; his banner over me is love.” Jeremiah 31:3(2) “From a distance Adonai appeared to me, [saying,] ‘I love you with an everlasting love; this is why in my grace I draw you to me.’”
And now let’s compare those thoughts with these of the “God of the New Testament (Yeshua/Jesus)”: Matthew 3:12 “He has with him his winnowing fork; and he will clear out his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn but burning up the straw with unquenchable fire!” John 5:22-24 “The Father does not judge anyone but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever fails to honor the Son is not honoring the Father who sent him. I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent me has eternal life — that is, he will not come up for judgment but has already crossed over from death to life!” Ephesians 5:6 “Let no one deceive you with empty talk; for it is because of these things that God’s judgment is coming on those who disobey him.” Revelation 19:11-15 “Next I saw heaven opened, and there before me was a white horse. Sitting on it was the one called Faithful and True, and it is in righteousness that he passes judgment and goes to battle. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on his head were many royal crowns. And he had a name written which no one knew but himself. He was wearing a robe that had been soaked in blood, and the name by which he is called is, ‘THE WORD OF GOD’. The armies of heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. And out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down nations — ‘He will rule them with a staff of iron’. It is he who treads the winepress from which flows the wine of the furious rage of Adonai, God of heaven’s armies.”
And so on. Are we getting a picture here? Perhaps a little bit more of a glimpse of the holiness of G-d? Perfect love demands perfect righteousness, which in turn demands perfect justice and perfect judgment. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, he is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins.”
His ways are not our ways; His ways are far above our ways. And the holiness of HaShem demands that He care for those who are His. “Care for” may not necessarily be always we might picture it, but at the same time, “Adonai keeps his eyes on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers” (1Kefa/1 Peter 3.12). All the greater reason to endure all that troubles us in this life. Sha’ul (Saul/Paul) wrote to the believers in Thessalonica to encourage them, “Therefore, we boast about you in the congregations of God because of your perseverance and trust in all the persecutions and troubles you are going through. This is clear evidence that God’s judgment is just; and as a result, you will be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which you are suffering” (2 Thessalonians 1.4-5).
So don’t discount the Torah and the rest of the Tanakh (Old Testament) – it is just as relevant to your walk as Yeshua/Jesus is; at the same time don’t soft-pedal the New Testament. The Creator is much larger than any box we may try to put Him in; in fact, to try to shape the Creator into any form that we want is nothing short of idolatry. God is love, but that love is far above what humanity understands about love. His perfect love is just. Perfect love casts out fear; perfect love must judge sin and evil. But there is good news: Romans 6:3-8 “Don’t you know that those of us who have been immersed1 into the Messiah Yeshua have been immersed into his death? Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will also be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was put to death on the execution-stake with him, so that the entire body of our sinful propensities might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For someone who has died has been cleared from sin. Now since we died with the Messiah, we trust that we will also live with him.”
‘Nuff said.
שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
1 Irregardless of what various church doctrines might say about whether to be, and how to be, baptized, the history of the ritual is Jewish, and is a total immersion under water. That is what Yochanan the Immerser (mis-dubbed John the Baptist) did, this is what the apostles did, this is what the early church did. Not that the immersion is what saves you, but when one is immersed, this indicates a change of heart, an agreement with the will of G-d, an identification with the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah Yeshua.