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Genealogy is a very popular hobby in our time. Many want to learn their origins. Some use insights history to understand where they are going. A springboard for such insights is the seemingly dull genealogical census in Torah reading בְּמִדְבַּר Bemidbar (“in the wilderness,” Num. 1:1–4:20).
The stories of our ancestors — whether recent such as those who served in World War 2 or ancient Spiritual ancestors in the Bible — can teach us to stand for what is right, even if we have to stand alone, instead of staying silent when the world is careening into evil.
There are many genealogists and historians who wish that the names of these men had been recorded for posterity, not just their numbers.
In the Torah reading בְּמִדְבַּר Bemidbar (“in the wilderness,” Num. 1:1–4:20) how Israel descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the 12 patriarchs then to a large multitude that is becoming a nation, under God.
As we are starting in this new book of the Torah, called Bemidbar or Numbers, it feels like the book of Leviticus was just an interlude inserted between Exodus and Numbers as the book of Numbers starts again with the first generation of the Exodus.
Good boundaries. Good Shepherd.
We also see in Numbers 1–4 how the tribes were oriented and camped around the Tabernacle and how the clans of Levi were oriented around the Tabernacle.
There was one gate to enter the Tabernacle, to be able to approach in peace. Any layperson who tried to enter the tabernacle by going over the walls, were sentenced to death.
Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) tells us that the Shepherd guards the gate and those who try to enter any other way then through the Shepherd’s permission are thieves and robbers (John 10:1–18).
Ransom of the firstborn: Freedom has a high price
The lesson of the ransom of the firstborn harkens back to what happened in Egypt. The firstborn of Israel were ransomed by the death of the firstborn of Egypt. Then later, the firstborn of Israel were ransomed by the anointing of the tribe of Levi to serve God in the Tabernacle.
The reason that the Levites assumed the place of the firstborn in the work of the tabernacle is that the tribe of Levi did not participate in the worship of the Golden Calf. It was at the feet of the Golden Calf that the first born sons of Israel showed themselves unworthy of coordinating the services of the tabernacle. Ransoming the first born is an acknowledgement of the true source of your strength and increase.
The ultimate Firstborn of Israel is Yeshua, Who redeemed everyone from bondage. Pharaoh and his predecessors who set up a pantheon of false gods were the ones who were ultimately responsible for the death of the firstborn in Egypt.
Why the census tax?
Money is merely a certificate of performance. When we have performed a service for someone, he pays us for those services. Then we take that money and use it to pay for what we need. We also give a portion of it to Heaven in the form of tithes and other offerings, to show HaShem that we value Him. But when push comes to shove, Heaven doesn’t need our stuff. Heaven wants us.
You are more than a number (Luke 15)
Yeshua told three different parables, as recorded in Luke 15, The Lost Sheep, The Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son. All these parable teach us that God is the God of the Lost and the Found. He is concerned about all the coins but also concerned about the one coin that was lost. He was concerned about both sons, the son who never left and the son who squandered everything his father gave him. Now you can see what Hosea and the other prophets were showing us of God’s great love for mankind.
The Tabernacle was built of living stones, of His people.
You are more valuable than sparrows (Luke 12:1–8; Matt. 10:16–39)
There are two different versions of the parable of the sparrows but both of them lead us to several truths. It is our job to send out HaShem’s invitation the entire world.
There are things worse than death. We face things that are worse than losing a job, or being ridiculed for our beliefs but we should never lose track of where we come from and where we are going. We have passed on the words of God from generation to generation since they were written down several thousands of years ago because they are so very important.
Lifting up the head is a Hebrew idiom that can either mean that someone is being lifted up for honor, such as what happened to Joseph in Egypt, or it can also mean that the head is detached from the body and lifted up for mockery. When we go through the book of Numbers, we will see examples of both meanings of this idiom, for honor or for correction.
In Numbers 26, we see there are tribes that grew in population, and tribes that lost a significant portion of their population over the 40 years in the wilderness. We will see that the reason for this is that there were many in Israel who loved their own life more than they loved the Kingdom of God.
How to stand up when you can’t even stand?
One quarter of the potential population eligible of serving in the Armed Forces are ineligible due to obesity. They have made themselves basically immobile. As we go through the book of Numbers, we will see examples of circumstances when the people of Israel need to stand up and prepare to serve. At the Golden Calf, only the Tribe of Levi stood up and served God. We will also see later with the 12 spies that only 2 of them actually stood up for God.
The USA modeled its laws, its colonial connections, based on the stories of the 12 patriarchs. They wanted to be united, yet separate. The states wanted some individuality, yet they want to serve the whole.
Recently, it was brought to my attention that there was silly poll that started on Twitter, asking “Where in Europe are the people most likely going to feed you if you come over to visit?” This poll found that people in Southern Europe and Eastern Europe were more likely to offer food and drink to unexpected visitors than those from Northern Europe and Western Europe. The Scandinavians were found the least likely to offer a guest any food or drink at all.
It was interesting because there was this Swedish man, reflecting on this issue. He said that many believe that socialism is just a euphemism for collectivism, either voluntary or forced, like we read about in the 20th century under either the Nazis or the Soviets, but if you actually read the works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, the goal of communism was actually individualism, that people should be free to pursue whatever they want to pursue and not have to worry about how to take care of oneself. It was about breaking the chains of Capitalism that are holding your back and making you less free to pursue your most selfish and decadent goals in life.
The freedom to exercise extreme individuality was the point of having “everything in common” (Acts 2:44; 4:32). But without a Heavenly “heart transplant,” communalism can devolve into sloth. That’s Apostle Paul warns that if you don’t work, you don’t eat.
Even though we’re all individuals, we are all helping each other. Wherever there’s a need, we just jump in and help. But then some take advantage of that situation.
How to be your brother’s keeper without ignoring your conscience
The Judeo-Christian ethic tells us that we are individuals and separate, but we also are supposed to look out for and serve others. It’s fine to share things in common, but if some in the community give until they are empty and some only take, that system will not be sustainable. We do not stand alone, we stand with others and we stand on the shoulders of those who proceeded us.
When Yeshua warns that family members will turn on each other because of Him, this is something that happened many times, in both Israel’s history and the history of the Christian church. You may find yourself standing alone for what is right.
It’s easier to take a stand for what is right when other people are standing with you. But as we just saw, in the warnings from these passages from the Gospels, we also have to carefully consider how to take our stand, if other people around us are silent.
Groupthink can paralyze us because we don’t want to stand out.
If we have the proverbial “three stranded cord that is not easily broken,” if we have help and support when we need it most to move forward and to stand for what is right is a blessing, but then on the other side, if you have to stand and no one else is around you is standing, can you actually do that? So those are two sides of the same, the same issue in the same ethic. It’s something to ask yourself now, before you’re faced with a difficult choice.
We were watching The Great Courses lecture series “A History of Eastern Europe” by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Tennessee. In one of the last sessions, about the end of the Soviet Union, he talks about the fall of East German and their secret police force, called the Stasi.
The Stasi had an extensive network of spies that was the envy of the other Eastern Bloc nations. After the Soviet Union collapsed and Germany was reunited, they opened the Stasi records. Regular German people were able to read their own files and many found that the primary informants against them were not random strangers, but were their own spouses, parents, etc., just as Yeshua warned would happen.
It’s not easy to walk in Torah and to stand up for the truth of God’s word day by day, and to walk in the right way. It’s tough to resist the ways of the flesh that everything else and everybody else may want us to go.
I come from a religious tradition of conscientious objection to carrying weapons in war. You might remember the recent movie Hacksaw Ridge, which is based on the true story of conscientious objector Desmond Doss, who won the Medal of Honor as an unarmed medic for singlehandedly saving about 75 gravely wounded soldiers from his regiment during the WW2 Battle of Okinawa.
My great uncle was also a conscientious objector and trained as a medic for WW2. He was involved in the Italian campaign, and he was the only survivor of his regiment. His story is well-known in our family, and recalling it reinforces important lessons.
It takes a lot of courage to charge forward into the line of fire to save other people. Stories like this are an inspiration for all of us.
When you ask yourself, “Who will be able to stand on the day of the Lord?” The standing really starts now with the “small stuff.”
Summary: Tammy