Category: Torah

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Discussions Torah

Individual strength through unity: Why it was so important for Israel to have 12 distinct tribes (Numbers 32 & 36)

Individual strength through unity: Why it was so important for Israel to have 12 distinct tribes (Numbers 32 and 36). Six people clasp their left hands to the left wrist of the person to the right in a circle to form a Star of David of connected hands and wrists.

Paul, an apostle of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ), wrote in Romans 9–11 that it was necessary for believers from the nations (“gentiles”) to be “grafted in” to Israel so “all Israel will be saved.” The dual Torah reading מטות Matot (“tribes”) and מסעי Massei (“journeys of”) (Numbers 30–36) goes through great detail on how the 12 tribes (plus Levi) must be kept together yet distinct. From this and Paul’s writings we learn the key Bible lesson of strength in the whole — Israel — when it is made of up parts defined by their integrity of mission and morals.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

Why the Messiah has so much zeal for the LORD’s house. And why we should too (Numbers 25; John 2)

Why the Messiah has so much zeal for the LORD's house. And why you should too. (Numbers 25; John 2)

Passion to safeguard the ways of the LORD for future generation links the Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (Numbers 25:10–30:1) with its parallel passages about the final days of the First Temple (Jeremiah 1:1–2:3) and the anger from Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) about the turning of the Second Temple into a “den of robbers” (John 2:13–22). Those accounts underscore that God has a passionate love for His people and doesn’t want them to succumb to the disastrous ends of their passions.

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Discussions Torah

How you can recognize the Antichrist (Numbers 22–24)

How to recognize the Antichrist (Numbers 22-24)

The prophet Bilam (Balaam), described in the Torah reading בָּלָק Balak (Numbers 22:2–25:9), was a gentile prophet from the ancient country of Aram. We see that even though Bilam was a Gentile, he was a prophet of God.

God did not only send prophets to Israel. God, in His mercy, sent prophets to all the nations of the world.

Unfortunately, we meet with Bilam, not in his early years when God first called him to prophetic office, when his heart was open to God. Instead, we are meeting Bilam at the point when his evil inclination has overtaken the good in him. We follow along with him as his greed, corruption and vanity lead him to his downfall, which was so complete, that his story is given to us a template of how the Antichrist will one day function in the world, deceiving, if possible, the elect.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Red heifer and Messiah: Death isn’t supposed to a normal part of life (Numbers 19; Hebrews 9)

Death is not a normal part of life (Numbers 19; Hebrews 9)

The Torah reading חֻקַּת Chukat (Numbers 19-21) is the prerequisite to understanding Hebrews 9, and the latter’s explanation of how Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Messiah) cleanses our consciences from rebellion against the Creator is essential to understanding the Torah’s life-affirming yet mysterious lessons of the red heifer and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

What strong, selfless leadership looks like (Numbers 16–17; Matthew 12; Luke 6)

What strong, selfless leadership looks like (Numbers 16–17; Matthew 12; Luke 6)

How did Moses, Aaron, Samuel and Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) responded to those who rejected their leadership and betrayed them in the most heartbreaking and cruel ways? They responded to insult and betrayal with dignity and humility, asking God to judge those who slandered and betrayed them, not seeking their own vengeance.

The Torah reading קֹרַח Korakh, covering the infamous Korah rebellion in Numbers 16-18, and companion passages from 1Samuel and the Gospels show us how the Golden Rule is a key to transforming leaders and individuals to look out for the needs of others to ensure the survival of us all.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

How the 10 spies of the Promised Land reveal the dangers of confirmation bias (Numbers 13–14; Joshua 2; Matthew 10)

Confirmation bias: Only a strong faith in God can cut through fear and bias (Numbers 13-14; Joshua 2)

It is human nature to engage in confirmation bias. We have certain closely cherished beliefs, and we will give more weight to facts that confirm those beliefs versus facts that contradict those beliefs.

The Torah reading שלח Shelakh (“send,” Numbers 13–15) recounts how 10 “spies” of ancient Israel returned from the Promised Land with an “evil report.” They brought back the same basic facts about the geography, agriculture and social structure of the people currently living there.

The only difference was their interpretation of those facts. They looked at land through the bias of the world, while Joshua and Caleb looked at the same facts and view them through their bias of faith in the power of God. 

In Joshua 2, Rahab of Jericho overlooked her bias to see which deity was truly worth following. And in Matthew 10, Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) sent out His closest students with instructions to not be biased by the opposition they faced.

We easily and often fall into the same trap.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Are you hungry for God? Or are you bored? (Numbers 11; John 6)

Are you hungry for God? Or are you bored? (Numbers 11; John 6). A man is lit only by the light of the open refrigerator he holds open in front of him.

We find in the Torah reading בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ Beha’alotcha an interesting juxtaposition of the elders who were picked to be the LORD’s hands and mouth helping Moshe (Moses) in Israel vs. those who wanted to stuff their mouths with the flesh of Mitzraim (Egypt). The latter were “greedy” for “meat” and not the manna bread that came down from Heaven. Yet God provided those ungrateful complainers both.

his account helps reveal the important point behind the controversially cryptic words of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) in John 6: “eat My flesh” and “drink My blood.”